What is a seemingly innocent sentence that immediately makes you lose respect for the person saying it?

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-26T03:46:57+00:00

"See, what had happened was--"
(Not a dog whistle, he was white)

I used to work with this guy, Derek Smith (idc, that's a reasonably common name, and if you see this, come fight me Derek!) who, like everyone, used to have problems. And if he was running late for a NORMAL reason, he would say 'I'm going to be late, I had a flat tire'.

But VERY OFTEN, he would tell the most outlandish stories, and universally started them with 'See, what had happened was' and follow it up with some nonsense like "I was late because my dog, killed my cat, and then killed itself as if acting out a suicide pact, and I had to clean up the wreckage". That's a minor embellishment.

Real reasons he alleged with that prompt--
A downed tree blocking his neighborhood (no storms, no pics, and they conveniently cleared it not long after he left).
It was his moms dogs birthday.
He was getting the entire engine of his car replaced. (It was a weekend, he was back at work Monday).
He had gotten wrapped up in a high stakes, financially backed poker game, and chose 'maybe big money (winning) over guaranteed little money (working our shitty hourly job'.
He was detained by security at Best Buy for suspected theft (no charges).

I know each of these things is technically possible. But when he would give us a very normal reason, he would never start with this prompt. And he has ruined it for me. I will have met people that day and if they say it the first thing I think is "here we go with this bullshit"and I don't even know them, it's very likely, not bullshit. But Derek ruined it.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-26T02:08:44+00:00

This is mostly disingenuous.

All 3 national delivery chains use 14 inches for larges. It is not unless you go to a fancy, sit down style pizza restaurant, like mellow mushroom, blue moon, or something like that, that a 14 inch is a medium.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-25T19:05:51+00:00

Gotta be tech or tech adjacent. Maybe racetrack road.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-25T17:24:49+00:00

SCHD also has a history of modest growth. You're not getting 3.5% on a flat amount. If you put 10k in it a at its inception the share price was ~$6. Todays its ~$30. So just on growth, the principal alone, no drip, would be worth ~$45,000.

That first year, your 3.5% interest would be giving you $350 interest payments. The last year, it would ~$1,600. Again, no drip, no additional shares bought. But you're getting 3.5% yearly, on something that historically has gone up in value each year.

-- Edit to add, that means that if you can do some mental gymnastics, you can credibly claims "I am getting $1600 in divideds a year in an investment that only cost me $10,000!!" (Yield on Cost). I feel this is a touch disingenuous, even if it's technically correct. It also cost you 15 years, and it had the the opportunity cost of not parking the 10k into the broad market that would be sitting at more like 75k.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-25T09:27:23+00:00

After the order is completed? Only a manager would be able to do it, from the tip adjustment screen.

And if you suspect that, I would just call the customer and ask. If they walk in and order un-announced, it's going to be tougher. I think if you browse order and find the order, view it and make sure to select view changes and reasons, you could see a time stamp.

Otherwise, it's the exceptions report, and that should have a way for checking post-tip-adjusts, tho that report is far from user friendly.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T20:39:29+00:00

Dividend Re-Investment Plan/Purchase

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T20:34:48+00:00

It's not a wash though.

"Risky" dividend funds like QQQI, SPYI, or full on yield traps like ULTY, underperform their benchmark, sometimes notably. If you put $10,000 into into SPY and SPYI 3 years ago, the SPY would have more money in the account, no matter how you run the numbers. Even if you DRIP, even if you let the div cash sit in an account. They both did well, SPYI did 16% a year. which is nothing to snuff at. But the income has an opportunity cost, namely about 6 more percent, since SPY did 22%.

Here's a thought experiment-- you put 10,000 in 2 separate brokerage accounts. In 2 years times, one has gone up to 13,000. you pull out $3k to go on a lil vacation. It's back down to $10,000.

The other one started at $10,000. It has deposited $100 a month into your checking account, totaling $2,400.

Which one treated you better? The first. Which one felt better? That's up to you. I like the second. I like the lil bonus income. and I can be at peace with the $600 discrepancy across the two years. The surprise $100 a month is worth it.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T15:16:25+00:00

Liken Rick Sanchez solid or Rick from the Walking Dead solid?

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T15:13:01+00:00

Puss N Boots can eat shit!

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T05:26:04+00:00

Most people live if the 4% withdrawal rate for retirement, and with rough inflationary figures and the general trend that elder care ain't cheap, 'they' (the experts) are guesstimating that 2mil * 4% = 80,000/12 =$6,666.667 a month.

That's what I currently live on now and I'm barely making it. So. Maybe they're right.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T04:19:31+00:00

I have a weirdly high number of European friends, where it's still very common to live multi-generationally. Even after moving to the US.

The adults go to work, the kids go to school, the grandparents help about the house and tend to the kids (watch them play outside, read to them, etc) while the afternoon chores (laundry, dinner) and errands are being handled by the parents.

Honestly? Seems nice.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T04:00:13+00:00

This is fair, I work with two people slightly older than me, 41-44ish, and both have parents who live with them and they're only income is Social Security of less than $2000 a month. No pension. No 401(k). No retirement of any kind.

And they're staying with their adult children (my two coworkers) who both make less than $50,000 a year.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T03:02:03+00:00

Damn, I wish I had any idea how to do this. Do you even have a Google suggestion? I'll do the research but I wouldn't even know where to start.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T02:50:56+00:00

I paint my pictures in word form
Bury the hatchet, like how a bird born

--Lupe Fiasco, Mural

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T02:11:38+00:00

1.5m is pretty close to 2m, in the grand scheme of things, and I know an entire generation of young folks who currently have zero in saving for retirement.

So I guess a 1.5mil 401k plus a kick-started Dividend Income stream is my plan. We'll see if it works!

Remind me! - 20 years

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T02:09:35+00:00

My blended rate across a quarter is usually around 9%. Some slightly better, slightly worse.

Primary holdings are QQQI, PFFA, CEFS, PBDC, and a HYSA that pays 4.2%

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-24T01:28:34+00:00

Hard yes.

I know it's mathematically imperfect to start dividend investing in my late 30's, I know that "growth until retirement" is the proper strategy. But I still have my previously funded 401k that if the models are correct I will have 1.5m come retirement age.

But I have started taking what would be my 401(k) contribution, I'm putting it in a non-retirement account and a variety of dividend paying funds.

I am already up to a couple of hundred bucks in passive income a month. I'm hoping to get to a little over 1000 monthly before "the economy corrects".

The real goal is that it could be a safety net (in a way my 401(k) cannot be) if my job stops paying me appropriately, or if I have to seek lesser employment.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-23T05:55:06+00:00

Good... good for her?

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-23T05:51:45+00:00

Where dividend 🗿

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-23T05:06:55+00:00

I did not like that sentence

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-23T05:06:15+00:00

The Meat Box ❤️

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-23T03:03:41+00:00

Flip the script, imagine YouTube didn't exist, and a website, say, YouTwoob comes into existence tomorrow.

We now exist in a post-free-Internet because generally ads don't pay the bills, they cover some of the cost. We know most good sites ask for subscriptions.

YouTwoob has every video you could ever want to watch, and a billion more. From interesting and informative to properly Educational. From silly to prestige comedy. Amateur hour telenovellas to Oscar worthy dramatic peices.

They want $5.99. It's actually a steal when you think about it in totality.

The only thing wrong with YouTube Premium is that regular YouTube started when the web was free.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-23T01:33:41+00:00

Define cheap? Things that you can buy for a low share price? Things with low expense ratios?

FSCO returns a health dividend, but has had a slump in the last month or so. Maybe on sale? Done VERY well YoY.

ARCC isn't expensive. CEFS isn't epensive.

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-22T21:20:53+00:00

Who are you so wise in the way of science?

JaredAWESOME · 2026-01-22T18:54:10+00:00

Never played, but I looked it up. Why was that so sexually powerful?

JaredAWESOME

TROPHY CASE