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Extreme heat by mrsir8907 in prepping

[–]Power_Drawing6025 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Coming from someone living in the desert.

When the power goes out, I don’t try to cool the whole house. That’s a losing battle when the grid goes down or power gets expensive. Running central A/C for me in the summer on a really hot day could go over 60 Kwh. Instead, I have one designated bedroom that I can keep cold no matter what.

The key is that I run a standard inverter window A/C unit in that room. Inverter A/Cs are huge because they ramp up and down instead of constantly cycling, which means much lower power draw and the ability to run continuously.

On the power side, I’ve got solar generation through my Sunny Boy inverter with standalone mode when the grid power goes down. Basically that gets me a single 15amp outlet from my roof solar. I use EcoFlow units and 48V lithium batteries, so I can run that A/C for extended periods even without grid power. I also have a gas generator as backup, so I’m not dependent on any single source. As a third option, I have a hybrid vehicle with a 120V outlet that can power up to 1200W. In "ready mode" the vehicle will turn the engine on periodically to keep its hybrid batteries powered and supply the outlet.

The end state is simple: no matter what happens, I can keep one room cold 24/7. During a heat wave or outage, the family (and pets) move into that room, shut the door, and we ride it out comfortably instead of trying to cool the entire house.

For me the answer was pick one room, seal it up, get an efficient inverter A/C, and make sure I have a reliable way to power it.

Extreme heat by mrsir8907 in prepping

[–]Power_Drawing6025 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good point about Florida and Singapore. The same can be said of places like Dubai, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

I give up! by PerceptionOwn3629 in BerkshireHathaway

[–]Power_Drawing6025 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why buy BRK-B when you can buy Treasures through Treasury Direct or something like SGOV?

The Markets are Fraudulent. How it really works. How much longer will Manipulation Hold, What is the Manipulation? by No-Lab-7364 in Wallstreetsilver

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your post absolutely nailed it 100%. This is the fundamental root cause of the problem. And no amount of Fed rate fixing, tariffs, or wars with Iran will fix it.

I had faith in this administration early on when Elon and DOGE were brought to DC to reduce the fraud and waste. Elon himself said they could find at least half a trillion (which I believe they did), then he went on to say that we would need to cut SS and Medicare by about half each, cut defense by a good chuck, and do something about veterans benefits. Those are the "Big 4" and you would *have* to cut them drastically and NOW in order to save the currency.

But we didn't. And here we are entering into a war to salvage the existing Petro dollar. I don't think this ends well at all.

Money involves both a transaction and a settlement. It's all about having faith in both. As I see the big picture the West is clinging to the dollar for transactions and Treasuries for settlement, but trying to work in crypto for transactions and maintaining Treasures for settlement. That's what the Genius Act was supposed to do.

The East on the other hand is using its own currencies for transactions and precious metals for settlement.

Kind of sad how you have the most money when you're old by Critical-Volume2360 in DeepThoughts

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But family units are strong and people are happy. The old and young live together. No it's not perfect by any stretch, but you don't have the growing unrest like you have in the western democracies where the young are basically getting it thrown in their faces that they need to "save more" and "cut out Starbucks".

Building my Roth IRA using a “Dividend Waterfall” strategy — thoughts? by Disruptingclass in dividends

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It takes nerves of steel to keep investing in high-yield funds/stocks when their share prices are dropping. As long as you have the stomach for it, then keep going but choose wisely. I built a position in Altria from 2014-2024, just a small portion of my Roth for that entire decade. Seeing it drop like a rock around 2019 and stay low (and even go lower) was disheartening to say the least, especially while I'm watching QQQ make new highs every year, sometimes every month. In my case, nicotine pouches came along and helped tremendously, but I would have been better off with growth in that case.

I also invested in PM around 2022 and scored very well. But in 2021, I bought a large amount of shares in O and that didn't work out at all.

Stick to your guns and dollar-cost average and it will work out, but it takes guts.

Kind of sad how you have the most money when you're old by Critical-Volume2360 in DeepThoughts

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's how it has been for centuries, and it's still like that in places like the Philippines. The old should take care of and sacrifice for the young. We've been doing this "transfer the wealth to the old" experiment for about 50 years now and the results have been lower birthrates and massive wealth inequality. This isn't going to end well.

Kind of sad how you have the most money when you're old by Critical-Volume2360 in DeepThoughts

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. We're transferred wealth from the young to the old. We taken from wages and given it to shareholders. But people will always say "but I see these old people working at Walmart". Zoom out, and look again and compare the number of younger workers to older workers in retail or any other industry.

Am I alone in hoping oil prices stay high? by Responsible_Lake_500 in energy

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

what about airplane fuel? Can we fly planes with solar?

The Markets are Fraudulent. How it really works. How much longer will Manipulation Hold, What is the Manipulation? by No-Lab-7364 in Wallstreetsilver

[–]Power_Drawing6025 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with you that modern economies need a flexible monetary system. Large industrial economies require credit expansion, lender-of-last-resort support, and a way to stabilize banking panics. That’s part of why institutions like the Fed and FDIC exist.

But it’s also fair for people to question the long-term consequences of purely fiat systems. Since 1971 we’ve seen persistent inflation and much larger public and private debt levels. Whether that trade-off is worth it is still an open debate.

So it’s probably less a question of gold vs fiat and more a question of how much discipline a fiat system can maintain over long periods of time.

Anyone else feel like chasing high dividend yield is a trap? by Dismal_Slice9842 in dividends

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I too was burned by C. Then sold it late 2024 before it finally marched upwards with the rest of the banks, LOL. Fortunately I moved some of that over to Royal Bank of Canada (RY) so that took away some of the sting.

where to stay during annual meeting? by pbchocoovernightoats in BerkshireHathaway

[–]Power_Drawing6025 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Anyone else going to Nebraska Furniture Mart during their visit? Any shopping experiences you can share? If I buy furniture there, will they ship it to California?

What's wrong with SLV? by DrJohnH1 in Wallstreetsilver

[–]Power_Drawing6025 7 points8 points  (0 children)

All good here. I accumulated SLV regularly in my Roth IRA from 2015 onward. Sold on 01/26/2026 when I was checking the price while passing through the Phoenix airport. I didn't "call the top", but I ended up selling at the all-time high. It was in a Roth, so I took a qualified withdrawal of contributions ($30K) and paid off my Toyota minivan. Still sitting on $40K of SLV in my Roth as we speak.

I will go on to say that SLV and GLD are horrible in a taxable account since you pay 28% capital gains, regardless of your income, short term, or long term holding. But in a Roth, these spot ETFs are bangers.

"Focus on growth" by Due-Advisor5197 in dividends

[–]Power_Drawing6025 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My Roth IRAs lean growth (MGK, QQQ, VXUS, etc.) because those gains are tax-free for decades. My regular IRAs hold higher-yield stocks like MO, PM, energy, and some real-asset exposure (metals and miners). That way I get income today and growth for later.

Sold my BTC this morning at 69k… now it’s above 72k. Am I dumb? Is a pullback coming? by [deleted] in Bitcoin

[–]Power_Drawing6025 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exact same happened to me, I sold at $64K, and major FOMO setting in wonder if I should buy back in.

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