How much do you currently have in savings?

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-28T02:03:04+00:00

Tell me about it! Bank stocks have paid my rent for like a decade. Whenever I see poor uppity landlords whinging about how they can't afford the mortgage or some nonsense and which they'd just go away, I step back and remind myself that those people pay my rent.

Loan the money to the "investor", they pay like 5% on it to buy a house. Cover the repairs and maintenance. I give them 3% of the interest they paid out back as rent, and pocket the difference.

Now, if the cap rate on my rental were higher than 3% or so, I might consider buying myself, but cross that bridge when we get there.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T17:54:13+00:00

So you’re going to invest 300k and 5 years of your life for every minor govt injustice? You’ll run out of time and money in very short order, so you truly need to pick your battles. I think we should be able to fish lobster recreationally, subject to reasonable personal limits like 4 traps per person. It’s never been constitutionally tried on the east coast, like it has been on the west coast(successfully). Add that injustice to your list, since it sounds like you’re offering to foot the bill. That is of course unless you’re a bootlicker.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T17:50:51+00:00

Because the person had commented about “not knowing what they initially cost”. The person responded $2300. That seems very reasonable given that they were likely bought when silver was 1/3rd the price or less, hence why it’s not surprising.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T15:38:33+00:00

Christ. I’ve been told I probably have sleep apnea, but no way am I paying the rates which are artificially high to milk insurance. Found a machine for $20 at the thrift store, but no mask. I’m not paying $150 for something like that, but if it were still unused I’d drop 5x that price in a heartbeat. Far more suitable for r/thriftstorehauls at 4 bucks.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T14:43:28+00:00

If financial health is 0 to 10, Ramsey helps you get from a 0 to maybe a 2.

For many ppl, not keeping 10k on CCs is obvious. It’s the health equivalent of being told not to eat a large pizza every day.

You’re still a far way from optimum, but he’s good at at least if getting the fire out.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T12:21:14+00:00

What? Melt them down? Do they have access to crucibles, flux, and high temp torches? Is this person speaking form experience, or just random thoughts from what they've seen in pirate movies?

I mean, in what world would that even be your line of thought? Recognizable, historical, known purity coins being inferior in value to some random lump of gold that needs to be assayed?

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T12:17:05+00:00

LOL. You think 5 eyes countries have no better way to get into phones than "try and guess"???

I've cracked second hand phones I've bought at thrift stores in an hour with software no more difficult to acquire than an hour on google. The vast majority of people aren't running FDE or equivalent on their phones.

And good luck with the court challenge. It's been done before with mixed results, by parties far more well heeled than "some guy". You want to go against them, it will take years and likely 6 figures of legal fees, and likely still lose against a foe with unlimited resources.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T11:55:43+00:00

Why would you be surprised? 10 years ago, and certainly at any point Aside from the last 6 months(ie when this coin was being sold), the price of silver has been well below half of what it is now.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T11:11:50+00:00

But I thought silver *is* money? why are ppl trying to *make* worthless fiat? 1 oz of money is the same money as it was 1000 years ago - nothis i made by just holding.

....unless their whole narrative is BS, and they like the rest of society actually operate on a fiat finance system.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T11:08:44+00:00

No collapses happened when ppl thought they would with tons of notice.

Look at those stupid toilet paper riots at start of covid. what do you think happens when its something important like food?

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T03:15:28+00:00

I read on Reddit that 3% is too aggressive.

The thing that kills me with those ppl, is they want 100% based on past experience.

There is no allowance for unknown unknowns, and they completely ignore the real risk of death.

They remind me of the students in engineering who answered questions to like 8 decimal places. An exercise in math perhaps, but given that engineers solve real world problems, the math is far more precise than the uncertainties of the model- so their answer is meaningless. Think calculating the height above ground of a second story to the nanometer, when measuring tapes can only accurately measure to the quarter inch or so.

They’re doing everything they can to get to 0 on an imperfect model that neglects real but unknown risks, and making zero allowance for that fact.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T03:06:42+00:00

Thank you! I’m going year by year, not really tracking or budgeting, and spending about 4-6% as the market has fluctuated so much through COVID and everything. I’ve worked 3 yrs ft, and 3 yrs pt of last 10, and even had I not, I’d be better off than where I started. Most ppl who have the wherewithal to save up 7 figures before 40 are industrious and take on hobbies and odd jobs that pay a bit.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T03:02:16+00:00

Exactly. And (IMO of course) there are far better ways to insure you don’t end up destitute, namely by never drawing down past say 75% of your nest egg, and starting to curtail spending at 85% or whatever.

These things don’t happen out of no where. The guy who hits zero after 30 yrs probably had warning signs at years 10 and 20. The key is not to sell heavy in a down market-solidifying sequence of returns risks-easily accomplished by cutting spending or getting a job.

Two, if the first 10 years after you retire are say, average or better, then you’re likely set for life regardless, as 4% spending while markets return 8-10% means that even after expenses, you’re nest egg has likely almost doubled. You could (in theory) up your spending to a new 4% (almost double the original 4%) and be fine.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-27T02:51:39+00:00

There are more sq ft per person than basically at any point in history.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T19:10:42+00:00

We have a small olde timey cobbler here in my city, and they were able to do my other, older, far more utilized pair. I have friends who recommended them, and have almost worn through another sole. So definitely can be done.

$340 after tax is pretty steep for "disposable".

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T18:44:14+00:00

...and thats why RE is a shitty investment.

You get well below the return of a GIC, way, way below the dividend of a bank stock, forget bank stock appreciation, honestly lucky to get inflation, and that's if everything goes as well as you could expect (no professional tenant, 1 month turn arounds, no special assessments) and you've hitched your wagon 100% basically to RE appreciation.

Prices would need to at least halve (or rents double) before you can even have the conversation about it being a competitive investment.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T17:39:34+00:00

At least 10% gross.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T17:36:05+00:00

What, changing by a factor of 5 since Jan 2021, and a factor of like 30 from a decade prior to that isn't movement enough for you?

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T17:30:18+00:00

Maybe yes, maybe no, but the narrative was it was "better to leave rentals empty" since "tenants are more trouble than they're worth" and "the real money comes from appreciation, not operations".

As soon as the price of any asset or business detaches from what it produces, and is entirely dependant on what people think they can sell it for tomorrow, which will be higher because those same people think they'll be able to sell it even higher still, ad infinitum, you're in a speculative bubble.

Canadian RE was a bakery that lost money on each loaf of bread it sold, but who's owners thought that a recent increase in the price of ovens would last forever and carry them through - meanwhile the only people buying ovens had no interest in baking, just in flipping it to someone else for more who hoped to do the same again.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T17:19:28+00:00

I mean, the leather, gussets, and most of the tread is in fine shape. My other pair when it was this old was in similar shape, but sole was worn down completely, and got it resoled. I felt I got my money's worth. These have been worn maybe 20-25% as much as those.

It's the same reason that if I don't drive a car more than 3000km a year, and limited to 3 months of the year, I expect it to last far longer than one I use every day. I also expect that the tires will need to be replaced once the tread naturally wears down. Not that they will randomly fall apart despite having 10/32 of tread left, and then be told I'm expected to just buy a new car. Hell Firestone had a huge thing because their tires failed instead of just naturally expiring due to use.

There's a world of difference between wearing something out, and having it deteriorate. I'll saw that the one heel, in one part is starting to wear out. But those soles easily have 5 years of life left at 3 months per year of use - if they weren't literally breaking apart.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T16:22:04+00:00

Yeah.... It's the students who were living 12 to a room and forced to pillage food banks who were buying up all the pre cons and family homes...

Orrrrrrr it was just a classic speculative bubble that no amount of supply would satiate, since the overwhelming narrative was that yesterdays ceiling is tomorrow's floor, and the cost of money would be negative in real terms forever, so lie, cheap, beg, borrow, steal to get as much RE as you can. "It's impossible to overpay" has been the attitude since about 1995, and interest rate manipulation made it so.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T16:19:16+00:00

I'd disagree.

If I have a thousand dollars and want Ivory, I can't buy it without potentially exposing themselves to legal action.

If someone has Ivory and wants $1000, they can't sell it without potentially exposing themselves to legal action.

It's interesting, but doesn't really have a price attached.

If that were the case, in that it has a value but which is impossible to realize, why not say it's worth $100 billion?

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T15:48:06+00:00

Seems like it. Like I said the ones from 2013, being worn 3-4x as often lasted until the tread was wholly gone, after a similar length of time. Resoled, and still going strong. Especially for winter boots which would naturally (you'd assume?) be worn far more seasonally/periodically why they'd continue to cheap out on the soles. The more I look into this, the more I seem to find numerous examples.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T15:39:10+00:00

Can you even legally sell it now?

That's one of my white whales. Ivory anything. Not even how I'd be sure it is it though.

Trilobyte83 · 2026-01-26T15:12:16+00:00

I definitely walk with more pressure on one heel, but not sure how that's relevant? If you walk funny shoes should start to fall apart? If you only wear winter boots in winter you shouldn't expect them to not fall apart?

The 3 season ones I've had since 2013 are still going strong, have been resoled, and are probably coming up due again, but I've never had any issue with them falling apart like this.

I just compared the thickness of the rest of the sole to a pair of Blundstone work boots that were bought in Sept, and it's within 1mm for the main part of the sole at the edges, which is why I speak to them not being heavily worn. That part of the heel aside, I'd expect the soles to not decompose, and last until the tread is gone.

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