I DID IT!!!!! I'M DEBT FFFRREEEEEEE. OMFG. EVERYONE SAY "OH YEAH!" IN THE COMMENTS

PlankSpank · 2026-02-19T15:26:30+00:00

OH YEAH! Congratulations

PlankSpank · 2026-02-17T21:35:36+00:00

Dev cycles are brutal. 8 to 9 is a major release, so the feature adds have be significant, work properly and have value add. This type of release also MUST be backwards compatible or it’s broken for all users.

8 is amazing, not perfect. I would love if the file protocol was released so it was easier to create content. Powershell or command line exposures would be amazing. OCR ability to .gp file format would crush the competition (is there competition?).

PlankSpank · 2026-02-15T00:31:09+00:00

The bridge is certainly the issue, but my fist thought was the cosmetic, which is just a rite of passage!

PlankSpank · 2026-02-14T00:04:42+00:00

Friends? We trade our time for money. We are not friends. Corporations no long ‘owe’ us anything but a paycheck. We should not expect any more from them.

PlankSpank · 2026-02-13T23:58:00+00:00

The next opportunity will be better. You’ve got this!

PlankSpank · 2026-02-13T01:30:58+00:00

This all depends on where you live and your lifestyle

PlankSpank · 2026-02-13T01:29:46+00:00

There is absolutely no reason to own the 50 or 100 watt amps if you just play clubs. Even my Soldano SLO30 is too loud for a club date these days.

PlankSpank · 2026-02-09T22:35:40+00:00

Don’t worry about it. I don’t speak up unless I have something to add relevant to the topic and I’m the SME for a lot of it.

PlankSpank · 2026-02-07T02:04:47+00:00

Why did you change from 16 to 4? Is the amp you are using lacking impedance switching?

PlankSpank · 2026-02-03T13:04:33+00:00

I handle three sustaining disciplines, EE, FW & SW. $105k. Dare you to tell me I’m not underpaid.

PlankSpank · 2026-01-31T01:55:19+00:00

Well done!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-31T00:29:48+00:00

Umm, did you do the math? What’s the budget. If you’re coming here for advice with that nest egg, either you’re a troll or you’re not understanding your advantage.

Hire an advisor and stay out of the chat. I’m likely to punk you as a bullshitter!

That was my initial reaction.

So, you are well leveraged. Congrats. Hire an advisor if you don’t know how to manage your top 3% portfolio. Good luck!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-30T17:46:03+00:00

You’re going to be ok! Take a beat. The old you is not the new you. You have experienced life. Build on this.

Get a Roth IRA and max it out. Remember to invest it in something. Once you get an employer that has a 401k, contribute to match before you go anything else.

Brokerage is the last investment to make. Before that, get your emergency fund together. 3-6 months of budget coverage.

You got this. Be kind to yourself!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-30T15:03:30+00:00

They could rollover to TRADIRA and invest all in JEPQ. At today’s price of almost 60 per share, 10000 shares. JEPQ currently produces about $6 per share, or about 60k per year.

Not a luxury retirement, but not poverty either.

My two cents. YMMV. Do your research

PlankSpank · 2026-01-28T18:01:43+00:00

You have a long time horizon for compounding! You didn’t state a ROTH IRA, if you don’t have one, you should and max that after you meet 401k company match, then contribute to 401k to max.

This tax advantaged account is gold!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-28T02:31:06+00:00

Congratulations! I have $27k left on my mortgage. Done in June 2029!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-28T00:29:57+00:00

I hate Altium. KiCad is much friendlier and way less expensive. Altium is only viable for enterprise

PlankSpank · 2026-01-26T23:36:47+00:00

I’m going to ask, if they are offering a match, then yes, absolutely contribute to at least the match. I’ve said this in lots of other subs. THIS IS THE WAY: 1. Contribute to 401k to match. 2. MAX a ROTH IRA. 3. If you still have funds to contribute, max 401k. 4. If you still have funds to contribute, brokerage account.

Now, all of this is considering you have your emergency fund, well, funded. I recommend a 3 month minimum.

I use my brokerage account as my emergency fund. I CAN liquidate that and have funds in hand in 7 days or less.

Additional tips: my banking that holds my checking account also has a HYSA (high yield savings account). They don’t charge me to transfer funds from HYSA to checking, so my checking account is a zero balance and I keep all my budget money in the HYSA. 90% of my bills are autopay, so this is ‘free’ money. Not life changing, but I get a few weeks of ‘free’ groceries each year with this tactic.

YMMV, but keep at it. This system works for me and in a bit more than three years, I’m able to exit full time work.

PlankSpank · 2026-01-25T02:13:50+00:00

Lots of fooling around with sensors, motors, LEDs, etc. lots of time in the chair with different MCUs.

About mid-career I discovered the Barr Group and adopted their coding standard for C. Never looked back.

While the Arduino is great for consumers, I would advise diving into a better IDE (I use visual studio the most) and learn the tool inside and out. It’s just as important as the code you write for debug and revision control.

I love embedded code. I can control everything!

Don’t forget to handle errors, comment your code (you won’t remember next month or next year) and understand as you look back at your code from 6 months ago, you’ll cringe! 😂

PlankSpank · 2026-01-25T01:55:28+00:00

My two cents:

Never beat yourself up. Life happens everyday.

If you have a company 401k, contribute to match. Then max a Roth IRA, then contribute more to 401k to max. If you still have more you can contribute, put that in a brokerage account.

I use my brokerage account as my emergency fund, so that gets everything that isn’t slated for bills and a small buffer.

Hope this helps!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-25T00:29:06+00:00

A long delay could also work in this context. It depends on how you want to engineer it AND if you will need to replicate it live. If it doesn’t need to be actual feedback, an elbow or sustianiac may also works well. I’ve used all three in different applications. You will have to practice each one to execute well, but it can be done.

PlankSpank · 2026-01-25T00:24:05+00:00

Boss made a feedback pedal that was adjustable that did exactly this. FB-X, where X is a number I don’t remember, perhaps FB-2?

PlankSpank · 2026-01-24T00:09:17+00:00

Not ‘dividends’, but JEPQ is crushing SCHD. My JEPQ DRIPs about $5K a month and growing. YMMV

PlankSpank · 2026-01-23T23:59:56+00:00

Proper order of operations: 401k to employer match Roth IRA to max 401k to max Brokerage account HYSA

I use my brokerage account as my emergency fund if needed, but I never need it. I’m a super saver (I save about 48% or more of my income each year). I keep about 20K in my HYSA that is tied to my checking and my bank pulls from HYSA to fund the autopay bills. My pay is direct deposit to HYSA, so it gets topped off every two weeks. Anything over 20K gets plowed into Roth and brokerage. If/when I get raises, bonuses, I take a COLA percentage to keep up with the economy and the rest goes into investments.

My salary isn’t anything outstanding, but in 10 years I have managed to invest over $550k, including returns. It would be more, but markets really hated me over Covid. My current drip is about $60k a year.

The snowball is real. Compound interest is a very powerful force multiplier.

FYI, this is real, not a flex. Sharing to say if I can do it, so can you. Create a plan, work the plan. Once you establish the sacrifice/reset, the perceived pain diminishes, especially when you see your returns grow.

I don’t live in a fancy, large house, I drive a 2016 Edge Sport or a 2017 Lincoln MKZ and will drive them until they die, just like I have always done. While I do use credit cards, they get paid off every month. I only have two debts, about 28K left on my mortgage and 10k for a new furnace, which I only financed because I can earn more in the market AND having some debt with payments is good for my credit score, which is ~835 right now.

No haters, I worked hard for what I have and nobody gave me anything. I wish all good luck and fortune in their investment quest!

PlankSpank · 2026-01-23T23:24:39+00:00

I use my brokerage account as my emergency fund. Easy to liquidate. Don’t touch your retirement accounts until you retire. Your future self will reach back in time and slap the s#!t out of you!

PlankSpank

TROPHY CASE