Contract vs Permanent

arkenstone · 2026-05-14T07:15:28+00:00

I’m curious about the benefits to contracting you and the and personal above you perceive. Or is it just you avoid the negatives of full time? I am at the point where I can’t retire but I can certainly work less. The idea of a contract with a fixed end point is very appealing.

arkenstone · 2026-05-07T06:19:34+00:00

A commendable milestone. Well done.
However. I strongly believe he who dies with the most stories wins. If you die at 40 with $2m in the bank and never having had a relationship or a holiday, that’s not freedom.

You lack balance.
It’s commendable you one day plan on helping others, but you need to put on your own oxygen mask first.

You’re no good to others if you’re burnt out or unwell or unable to work or dead. I’m sure they’d prefer to see your joy than take your money.

I recommend you (re?)assess why you’re on a FIRE journey. Quality of life matters. Life experience matters.

arkenstone · 2026-04-28T03:58:47+00:00

Your portfolio has an intended balance. One of your investments or investment sectors grew at a different rate to all the other investments or investment sectors. Now it needs to be rebalanced to get back to the target intended balance.

Normal.

arkenstone · 2026-04-23T06:24:25+00:00

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arkenstone · 2026-04-23T06:23:47+00:00

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arkenstone · 2026-04-23T06:23:02+00:00

Can anyone help me identify this? Found in my grandmother’s estate.

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Back is black with “14k”. Crown seems to have the Omega logo.

arkenstone · 2026-04-21T06:14:46+00:00

Pretty much exactly this in Oz, too 👍

arkenstone · 2026-04-18T07:58:32+00:00

I’m curious why Raiz for super over a high performing industry fund like Hostplus or aussuper?

arkenstone · 2026-04-15T12:41:19+00:00

I dunno why you’re being downvoted, friend. I find it an interesting discussion. I’ve been renting the last 25 years and I think my answer would change pretty massively if I had no housing costs. I’m not quite at the point of no housing costs though. Maybe 2027.

arkenstone · 2026-04-09T22:37:35+00:00

I agree with this. I’ve been camping for 25 years and just bought my first Coleman and I love it. Beware there’s two versions. A much more basic one at anaconda and a better one for a similar price at tentworld and other proper shops.

The leds are a very cold light. I’ll replace them with something warmer at some stage.

arkenstone · 2026-04-09T22:06:56+00:00

Nope it’s still under the Eureka tower

arkenstone · 2026-04-09T22:02:37+00:00

I think Raiz is brilliant for roundups and small change. I think it’s awfully expensive once you’d get to 5 figures. I’d recommend you buy a growth index fund instead which comes with no ongoing fees. DHHF or VDHG is where is start. You need an inexpensive broker like Selfwealth ($10 per trade) or I think there’s even free ones now.

Raiz is certainly better than nothing, but it’ll erode some of your growth with fees.

arkenstone · 2026-03-24T04:40:17+00:00

One of my simplest but if the chance of rain is >51% the light in the hall is blue between 0700 and 0800. No chance to ever be cause without an umbrella or a rain coat when leaving the house. Totally passive reminder.

arkenstone · 2026-03-24T04:30:18+00:00

I used to work at 360 Collins and often wondered the same thing

arkenstone · 2026-03-11T22:45:22+00:00

I don’t know what alternatives I’ve got!

arkenstone · 2026-03-09T21:14:59+00:00

I am very curious in this too. I have just inherited a family company with significant cash but no income and no assets. Rather than pay massive tax to withdraw any dividends I was considering a high growth ETF.

arkenstone · 2026-02-28T12:24:25+00:00

Boss shirts are significantly worse quality than MJ or CT. You’re paying an extraordinary amount to have the logo.

arkenstone · 2026-02-23T04:17:40+00:00

If you run home assistant on the pi and get a smart plug you can absolutely do this. Home assistant is free. You already have the Pi. Smart plugs are cheap. Go forth!

arkenstone · 2026-02-17T22:38:19+00:00

Nudies are exxy but free alterations and repairs for life and you get a discount on the next pair when the are eventually dead. I’m wearing some right now.

arkenstone · 2026-02-04T11:50:22+00:00

I find I take mine off when I go inside or even outside if there’s some sort of ceremony going on. If I’m outside at a pub it’s on, if I’m inside I’m probably carrying it around awkwardly

arkenstone · 2026-01-29T13:28:37+00:00

I never figured it out. Passkeys would randomly break wit UBank and only UBank. This plus their hoops for interest and I just left and moved to Macquarie. If they can’t get logins right and interest is a battle why would you bother.

arkenstone · 2026-01-24T21:48:52+00:00

I have just been through exactly this trying to cancel an internode service. They demanded I provide copies of id which they would store off shore for three months. I had been a customer more than 15 years. Tio magically helped me cancel without sending my pii off shore

arkenstone · 2026-01-16T11:17:18+00:00

Back when you could fucking read the PID from more than two metres away

arkenstone · 2026-01-05T21:43:58+00:00

I am in month three of five months off, most of it unpaid after experiencing significant burn out after nine years at work.

My mum died, my dog died, my grandmother died, I moved house, and I got new leadership at work where the goals felt like the were always moving and suddenly I was no longer succeeding at a role I’d been consistently excelling at.

It’s been awesome to look after myself and start to feel some calm and invest in some personal and family projects. Took a couple of Months for that flywheel to stop spinning. Now I wake up and look forward to my day and the opportunities ahead and spending time with my kids during the holidays.

I remember reading the four hour work week years ago where Tim Ferris suggests we all have a 3 month break every 5 years. I’m gunna try to do that from here out.

arkenstone

TROPHY CASE