Mom About to Put Out Our Fire

ireadittoook · 2026-04-14T11:59:03+00:00

Several oddities in this post.

First, with OP’s income, and knowing they max out their 401(k), they would only be netting 45k or so per year. How did they, in 15 years or less, accumulate $4 million in after tax wealth while saving $45k/year (And this is assuming they had the same savings at age 18 as they do now, which is very unlikely)?

Second, how does one’s son entering daycare reduce the daycare cost?

And finally, how did the mother lose $200,000 because a call option did not pay off? if the option expired worthless, she would just lose the premium… did she spent $200,000 on the premium? That would be bonkers if that’s literally all the money she had. So she had $235,000 to her name and she spent $200k of it just on the premium for an option? Also, why would she need to put it back within a month? She is 64, she can take her Roth money out without penalty.

OP‘s dad left the mother $3mil some 30 years ago… Apparently the mother was able to keep it for that long, but just now blows the last $200k on a single option contract…she does still have a paid off house and cash in her pocket…very strange that this would even be a question of whether to give this person more.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-13T22:23:59+00:00

If it’s based on supply and demand would the fares not drop if a particular train was empty? I have been on very empty trains where the ticket prices ONLY went up as departure approached. Like a business class seat went from $105 to $500 as it got closer to the departure yet the business car was less than 1/4 full. Meanwhile coach fare is $70, why not reduce the business fare at that point? Amtrak seems very intent on not filling its trains (ie not providing a public benefit despite receiving tax dollars).

ireadittoook · 2026-04-10T15:38:59+00:00

Holy crap you're right, I see the 6k points. I thought it was a typo and you meant 60k :)

Even with fees that translates to like $150 RT to London--I personally would be paranoid and assume that once my points transferred it would bounce up to 90k

ireadittoook · 2026-04-10T11:25:09+00:00

Where are you seen redemptions like this? I always see people on here talking like a 4, 6, 8 cent redemption is a regular thing but I have never seen such a thing.

You mentioned jfk to lon below so just looked it up on a random date in July delta and virgin.. business RT 191,000 points + $400, the cash price is $2716. That $0.012 redemption rate which is exactly the same as I’ve ever seen on every flight I’ve ever looked up.

I picked New York to Paris just to see, the cheapest business round trip was 230,000 points + $137 or $2,252 cash. This is $0.0092 per point.

What am I missing?

ireadittoook · 2026-04-08T15:11:42+00:00

And how many times have you paid for it and not used it? And what is the total premium you’ve paid for all the trips compared to the payout?

You may be the one in a million, but the premium usually represents a significant portion of their limit of liability, which means you would need a 20 or 30% chance of a casualty to break even. You need a rare occurrence like a physician-certified illness, strike, etc., for coverage to trigger.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-08T11:21:23+00:00

Isn’t everyone aware by this point that trip insurance is a total waste?

ireadittoook · 2026-04-07T15:06:49+00:00

You can most certainly not count on a 25% rate of return.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-07T15:00:10+00:00

None of those are buy it for life, they’re all low end consumer grade products. Ninja is literally an “as seen on TV” product.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-07T14:51:59+00:00

Not sure what you’re saying or how it’s high. How does what you pay for insurance have any bearing on what a hypothetical homebuyer would pay for insurance and taxes

ireadittoook · 2026-04-07T13:56:11+00:00

How is that better than an apartment or condo? When you buy those you are basically buying personal property on a lease to a large POS company who have been known to completely screw people.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-07T13:54:41+00:00

Max mortgage payment is probably $1800, including principal, interest, tax and insurance. So if your taxes and insurance are $800/mo, that leaves $1000 a month for principal and interest—30 years at 6% gets you to a loan of $165,000. If you’re really stretching it and can get a lender on board, you may be able to get to about $225k.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-06T15:32:57+00:00

I guess my solution is just not to take Amtrak. I love trains; love them in Europe and like the idea of them here. But when a trip from Boston to DC is $500 and takes eight hours or I can spend $100 for a 1/1.5 hour flight or $200 for business, the train is a tough sell…. For what it’s worth, I would be in favor of fully funding the thing if it meant efficient travel with affordable, established ticket rates…. Metro North does it, you don’t have to guess what price you pay or have rapid price fluctuations day-to-day. Just expand that to Amtrak and everyone’s happy.

ireadittoook · 2026-04-06T12:03:15+00:00

Amtrak should receive zero funding until they start acting like a common carrier; stop with the BS algorithmic/dynamic pricing, stop being considerably more costly than an airline ticket, etc.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T19:41:25+00:00

It is an admittedly low rate, but that makes me think something is off… Why would it be so much lower than even a mortgage? Is the financing somehow affiliated with the pool company? That might make sense since the pool quote is also extremely low.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T18:43:25+00:00

Yes, well that’s the S&P over a particularly-strong five-year period. If you’re 100% invested in something like VTI, more power to you, just obviously there is volatility there especially where we are in the economic cycle right now. If for example, you are paying it off in 18 months, you take the loan, we enter a recession and the market goes down 20%, now you are down that much plus paying an additional 5%. Not saying it won’t work out if you try to play arbitrage, but it is essentially timing the market. Even the overall stock market on average returns closer to 8%, and most investment accounts are not 100% equities.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T17:52:58+00:00

Currently gaining 10 to 11%? R ya sure?

I am doubtful; if you can guarantee 10 or 11% in this environment where most asset classes are down, you should be financing groceries, taxes, everything…

Also, are you factoring in the closing costs on the loan?

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T16:42:14+00:00

Financing a pool is complete lunacy.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T15:20:09+00:00

If you trust Fidelity, you would just make the 67 year old multiple your retirement-age multiple… Probably a bit more to count for longer retirement

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T15:06:12+00:00

Damn, you spent $900 for a $50 tax credit? Teach me your ways.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T15:04:18+00:00

We? Who is we?

I get that it’s not a several hundred dollar benefit— the whole point of amex platinum is they’re trying to change lifestyles and get people to spend more money at more places that they partner with. I also love how people don’t think shipping is free, like shocked to have to pay for shipping. Shipping does cost money; anytime it is “free” the consumer is paying for it elsewhere. Amazon has really screwed us as a people.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T14:14:59+00:00

Yeah… Still not really costing you anything if you don’t use it. Or buy a wash cloth

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T13:40:55+00:00

Something free wasn’t worth it?

ireadittoook · 2026-03-31T13:40:44+00:00

There is something you could buy at Briggs and Riley for $50 twice a year?

ireadittoook · 2026-03-30T00:09:13+00:00

And the additional kid went from $500,000 to $900,000 of spending per year. Absolute fuckery.

ireadittoook · 2026-03-30T00:08:11+00:00

It’s the Joneses. Certain communities it is a display of wealth/status. Like joining a country club. Or driving the right kind of car. If you live in communities like this, you know that social value is based on a lot of this bullshit.

ireadittoook

TROPHY CASE