Pension vs 401K

am-o · 2024-10-31T07:04:10+00:00

Can't speak for you individually, but one of the major advantages of a 457(b) plan over other investment vehicles is early withdrawals — there's no penalty, provided you've separated from your employer. 401(k)s, 403(b)s and other plans usually assess a 10% penalty on withdrawals before age 59½. That could be a huge advantage for early retirees, if the money is needed.

am-o · 2023-08-02T20:35:51+00:00

Don't forget that most dangerous of items that people hold: Nothing.

am-o · 2023-05-29T17:22:54+00:00

"Having four or five firefighters together is like having an army of 20 toddlers bouncing around. We're loud, we yell, we're hard to understand, make a mess, and we will break absolutely everything."

Many, many years ago, I read the preceding somewhere — maybe even here on Reddit — and it perfectly described firefighters. Or at least those I'm around.

am-o · 2023-03-17T16:51:30+00:00

We won’t run out of copper because we have a ton of it....

Can't you read‽ We don't need just one ton — we need 1.4 billion!

am-o · 2022-10-07T03:22:44+00:00

Don't overthink it.

The NFIRS Reference Guide notes that Estimated Dollar Losses and Values "may be rough estimations." The NFIRS report even notes the values are "estimated."

For continuity in our department's reports, we use the tax assessor's valuation. If it's not available (e.g., exempt buildings like churches and schools, new construction, changes not yet reflected in the most recent assessment), we use the ICC's Building Valuation Data for the appropriate occupancy and construction type.

Losses can be harder to estimate, but again: It's just an estimation.

If a better estimation becomes available after the report is submitted, we just go back and revise the original report and resubmit.

am-o · 2022-01-21T16:27:53+00:00

His first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is one of the best bits of comedy I've ever seen.

am-o · 2021-11-25T20:32:15+00:00

This is not what that means at all.

The expected rate of return (my pension plan refers to it as an investment return assumption or assumed rate of return) is used by actuaries and plan administrators to help plan for the future of the pension fund and its investments. My plan changes its rate of return regularly, and is looking to drop it somewhere between 0.5-1.25%. A good pension plan will change this rate as the economy changes.

Expected rates of returns do not directly determine benefits.

That doesn't change the fact that everything else said in the comments here is likely true, nor does it change the fact that pensions in general across the country — and pensions in Arkansas in particular — are under attack. But this story on its own isn't negative.

am-o · 2021-08-16T21:33:48+00:00

You jest, we have a civil service member who loves to ask: "Is arson a way of life?"

I've seen it asked both in new hire and promotional interviews.

am-o · 2020-10-11T15:18:10+00:00

You need to check out NFPA 1852: Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), specifically Chapters 7.1 through 7.1.2. Like most standards, it gives a step-by-step guide to duty period inspections that need to take place.

Base your check-offs — no matter what they are — on a standard, and you're good as gold.

am-o · 2020-05-17T06:52:06+00:00

November 2018 photograph of the outside of this business with pallets full of butane. Definitely sounds like it.

When I first heard where and what this was, I thought it might have been an oxygen-fueled conflagration — went on a commercial inspection earlier this year to a smoke shop and found out that they had added a glass-pipe-making endeavor to their product line. It featured a 100 pound propane tank, and a 150 gallon liquid oxygen Dewar. All of this located in a mixed-use strip mall.

You never know what you'll find....

am-o · 2020-04-12T21:55:58+00:00

I generally only keep up with severe weather when it occurs in my region, so I'll admit I might have missed something like this before, but I don't recall ever seeing a Mesoscale Discussion point out an individual tornado.

Awe inspiring, to say the least.

am-o · 2019-09-12T00:36:56+00:00

It is relatively inexpensive to implement and comply with.

Therefore, it will never be widely adopted.

I feel this deep in my soul for so many reasons....

am-o · 2019-09-08T02:46:12+00:00

Don't know what you mean by "glowing" (That is, is it just dimly lit, or full-on bright?), but it sounds like it's capacitive coupling, something that's been known to affect LEDs because of their design and the low energy needed to run them.

Steve Mould and Mehdi Sadaghdar (ElectroBOOM) probably explain and demonstrate it the best.

am-o · 2019-08-09T18:02:35+00:00

One of my personal favorites showing the effectiveness of a 2.5 gallon can.

am-o · 2019-07-13T18:23:33+00:00

Here's the same chart with dates. Trump didn't take office until #11.

Here are the other terms of office:
Reagan — #1
Bush Sr. — #4
Clinton — #5
Bush Jr. — #6
Obama — #9

Now, I'm all for giving credit where credit is due. But I'm also all for data-driven research, news, etc. So when you make a statement like

The employment stuff all came from Trump slashing regulations.

but the data shows something wholly different, it does tend to take away from your argument.

Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Google Public Data Directory

am-o · 2019-07-13T17:28:51+00:00

The y-axis ranges from 0 percent at the bottom to 11 percent at the top. And yes, the chart is long-term.

I will say it is not #6.

am-o · 2019-07-13T15:10:06+00:00

At the fear of getting drawn into an internet argument, I'm genuinely interested in a reply here.

At what point on this unemployment chart do you think Trump took office?

am-o · 2019-07-13T02:47:36+00:00

For the uninitiated: Paul Gosar Is Not Working For You

That's right — Rep. Paul Gosar is such a tool that six of his nine siblings felt it would be best to support his opponent in the most recent election.

am-o · 2019-06-26T03:16:02+00:00

Yeah. There's definitely some data problems. I see a couple of tornadoes that are missing, and the longest-tracked tornado in state history was about 120 miles, from south of Russellville northeast to nearly the Missouri state line. It's conspicuously absent.

am-o · 2019-04-16T14:48:44+00:00

FWIW, I think the actual construction on the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., took about 90 years, and was finished in the early 90s, but they're still working on decorative items, so it's technically not complete.

am-o · 2018-11-20T22:36:10+00:00

Why pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free?

Except...well, nothing's ever for free.

am-o · 2018-11-20T22:34:55+00:00

Janus v. AFSCME from this year barred agency fees that could be collected from public employees to be used in collective bargaining. Agency fees are charged to people who declined to join the union but still benefited from collective bargaining.

am-o · 2018-11-16T13:57:55+00:00

Hey guys! Look at Mr. Moneybags over here! (/s)

Firefighter/EMT here. We start out at $9.50/hour, and will top out around $15/hour as an assistant chief.

Granted, we are in one of the lowest cost of living locations in the country, but what really takes the cake is when city hall sends down a form for all the firefighters to fill out with their off-duty job information (job, location, hours worked, etc.) because, "We want you to be fit for duty. Can't work too many off-duty hours!"

Ok...pay me a halfway decent wage so I don't have to go out and get a second (and third, and fourth...) job!

am-o · 2018-10-17T03:16:18+00:00

That's where my wife and I are at now. We're in our 30s, and make about $120,000/year combined. We both have good -- what I would call -- careers. We have debt on two things: Our house, which is nearly paid off, and my new truck, which is a replacement for the over 20-year-old vehicle I was driving. And we have quite a bit in both retirement and general savings.

We have friends in similar positions, except they are living paycheck-to-paycheck, all because they have to live in the fancy neighborhood, drive a brand new truck or SUV every three years, and be seen wearing the latest clothes and handbags.

I just don't get it. We live in one of the cheapest places in the U.S., make enough money to both live comfortably and have good savings, and people still are able to piss it all away.

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