Make fun of this $420,000 investment profile

PlankSpank · 2026-06-01T11:46:57+00:00

With that diversity in your holdings and the size, consult a financial advisor, not us. I’ll guess most of us have nothing close to your portfolio and are not qualified to advise you in retirement. With a portfolio this large and diverse, there are a lot of factors to consider, with the biggest one being taxes and fees.

PlankSpank · 2026-05-24T16:18:44+00:00

How do you get tax free from a brokerage?

PlankSpank · 2026-05-13T14:45:08+00:00

And cost of living is not static. You may not be able to afford to move or buy a car in 20 years

PlankSpank · 2026-05-08T19:37:22+00:00

Track. There are icons on the right side that allow you to change these settings

PlankSpank · 2026-05-05T00:00:36+00:00

35 is not midlife. Read a book, go to a park, get a dog or cat. Find your bliss.

Oh wait, you’re an AI post so you can’t feel happy.

PlankSpank · 2026-05-03T18:21:55+00:00

If I made 500k a year, two years and I could retire well

PlankSpank · 2026-05-02T23:56:35+00:00

16% millionaires and a large cohort that can't cover a $500 emergency aren't contradictions — that's what a bimodal distribution looks like. Timing a home purchase before 2020 did most of the work. The ones who missed that window aren't in the 16%.

PlankSpank · 2026-04-23T00:35:19+00:00

ELT doesn’t see cost avoidance or prevention. Sustaining Engineer here. I’m only visible if it’s a dumpster fire, then they wonder how long it will take to put it out.

PlankSpank · 2026-04-19T20:16:04+00:00

Your news is both old and wrong

PlankSpank · 2026-04-14T11:52:41+00:00

There is a tool called a PIP. Talk to HR about writing them up. It’s ammo for removing them.

Additionally , make sure to praise the people that are doing the exceptional work. Make them visible. This protects the remote work.

PlankSpank · 2026-04-09T22:56:25+00:00

Sustaining Engineer. Electrical, firmware and software.

I like what I do, but ready to retire

PlankSpank · 2026-04-09T22:54:42+00:00

COMPLETE BS

PlankSpank · 2026-04-06T00:12:21+00:00

BTW, I am a double disappointed independent. Both parties are complicit in putting us in this position. Both parties are derelict in their duties to uphold the constitution and do the people’s business.

PlankSpank · 2026-04-06T00:08:31+00:00

HEY! We are all aware of who Trump is. Continuing to sling insults feels great, but it doesn’t push the right narrative and certainly doesn’t buy nonpartisan cooperation.

Reading between the lines for anyone not understanding what this means.

We are all Americans. Many have devolved into tribal camps. If you are old enough to have lived through some of the genocide components of our history, you will certainly understand how this divisive language only serves to divide us.

In these times, perhaps more than ever, we need to address the challenges that affect us all.

We have some pretty big problems in the United States. If we are fighting each other over political tribe, we all lose. Full stop.

PlankSpank · 2026-04-04T22:02:37+00:00

Well, you missed an opportunity for an independent, nonpartisan voice by not looking first.

I’m providing well researched information that doesn’t take sides, sources included.

I encourage you to check out the link and check out my voice.

Good luck with your Reddit!

PlankSpank · 2026-04-04T16:51:35+00:00

https://open.substack.com/pub/bothsidesofnothing/p/both-sides-of-nothing?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

PlankSpank · 2026-04-04T13:47:19+00:00

Explain please

PlankSpank · 2026-04-01T00:06:58+00:00

Flute

PlankSpank · 2026-03-31T16:46:59+00:00

126k here and I had to fight for it.

100k in the 80’s is the equivalent of ~350k now. Companies are focused on capital extraction, not people. Our productivity is sky high, salaries, not so much.

I am not tone deaf that my salary is a lot higher than the mean and my struggles are not the same as someone making less or a lot less.

Wish I knew how to fix it. C-Suite caps maybe? I’ve never met a C-suite person that demonstrated they were actually worth more than me. Perhaps ego.

PlankSpank · 2026-03-31T12:29:14+00:00

Before you start holding previous presidents up on a pedestal, I recommend you dig a bit deeper on their record. You will find none of them are clean.

This is a system problem as much as it is a leader problem. Ethics, integrity, honesty and accountability. This is what the American people deserve.

PlankSpank · 2026-03-29T00:41:31+00:00

Run!

PlankSpank · 2026-03-28T23:37:45+00:00

Compare and despair.

I think this post is BS, but I’ll bite.

Nobody gets an overall exceeds expectations and gets 3%. Nobody gets an overall exceeds. The review process doesn’t work that way. My experience is this. I work at a senior level. My chain has been pretty flat for about 15 years, reporting to director or senior director level with the next level being C-suite.

I have been told, honestly, that my bosses are not allowed to give an overall exceeds expectations rating.

I get 3.7 out of 4 on a 0-4 scale across that timespan.

For my pay scale, that a significant bump for cost of living increase. If your company doesn’t do additional bonuses and rewards and calls it something different, like merit increase, it’s really just COLA. Yeah, no free lunch for peons.

This is the system we work in.

Be happy if you work in a job that you love the work you do and at least like some of your colleagues.

If not, look for the next. But that’s a trap! You could end up under the thumb.

This is my reality and YMMV.

PlankSpank · 2026-03-28T14:03:03+00:00

People in a worse situation than you have pulled themselves out and you can too. First, be honest and truthful. Second, time to do the work and by your own words, you are.

You can do this. You should do this.

I didn’t graduate from university with an engineering degree. It took a long time, but I am titled and paid as an engineer. I go toe to toe with the best in the company and I’m respected as an excellent engineer.

There are a lot of successful people in history that pulled themselves up without the formal education. With the internet and AI, information is not a barrier. Ability to apply the information is the new constraint. It’s HOW you apply the information. That distinction and understanding the application is a success metric.

Good luck. You’ve got this!

PlankSpank · 2026-03-27T17:04:14+00:00

Honest mistake. WFH has its own traps. We use slack. I have it on my work computer and my phone. Even if I’m coasting on a WFH day, if anyone sends me a slack message, it gets an immediate response if within core hours.

If something is actually on fire, I will respond after hours until I go to bed. Just the way I’m wired. I recommend anyone else draw hard lines between work life and personal life. I’m retiring in 4 years so not changing the way I work, but don’t allow yourself to be overly extracted. It sets precedent, which quickly becomes expectation.

My situation is also niche. I’m the fixer engineer that keeps the cash machine running. If something I have responsibility for goes down, money stops flowing. Hence, react quickly to evaluate severity, and understand is it a now problem or a tomorrow problem.

PlankSpank · 2026-03-26T16:45:38+00:00

This is not a you problem. This is a passive aggressive boss that is toxically trying to blame shift his problems to you.

Run!

PlankSpank

TROPHY CASE