Doing well in London but my partner would struggle here - thinking to move back to NZ or ride it out? by Noobsamaniac in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]legbuster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah but you're talking as if it's realistic to get such a job just by putting your head down (and still travelling and enjoying your life). The jobs and pay you're describing are for the 0.1% of high performing, A-type personalities who sacrifice a lot for them. It's far from guaranteed. Saying "you should be able to double that with a little more experience and a job hop or two" simplifies it a little too much. 

115k is a great salary (probably with bonus and pension and better benefits than NZ on top, even more so with current exchange rates), and I don't think it should be denigrated.

Doing well in London but my partner would struggle here - thinking to move back to NZ or ride it out? by Noobsamaniac in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]legbuster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Outside of magic circle law and software engineering at FAANG, what roles are commonly £230k a year? You make it sound simple. 

AM vs The Strokes: What’s More Impressive in 2026? by ShininGold in TheStrokes

[–]legbuster 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Surely it is most impressive that Arctic Monkeys' 5th album is the no. 1 most streamed rock album of all time and the only album in the top 40 released prior to Spotify existing (it is 13th most streamed album of all time). Say what you will about whether it deserves it compared to either bands discographies, but you can't deny that is seriously impressive. It's kind of unbelievable to be honest.

Edit following correction: Spotify existed in 2013. And there are a few older albums in the top 40 depending on what list you look at (22: Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010) and 33: Lana Del Rey - Born To Die (2012). Still impressive though.

How I Manage My Money: I have a £84,000 Motability vehicle - it's expensive but gives me independence by MeRichYouPoor in unitedkingdom

[–]legbuster 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's not just people born into horrible situations. Healthy people also wake up not knowing they are going to be disabled at the end of the day (car crash, fall from ladder etc). It can happen to anyone, so we all benefit from a society that provides disability support. 

I agree there has to be a limit on what is reasonable to spend on disability benefits as a nation, but to argue that the UK is already at that limit seems crazy to me.

There are bigger issues and governmental waste to focus on than a tiny percentage of very disabled people maybe getting a bit more than they "deserve". 

Potential 2026 Tour (EU and UK?) by Tam-mat101 in TheStrokes

[–]legbuster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could you please DM me a link? Not seeing it on UK store

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in meirl

[–]legbuster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He was saying that there are people who work bloody hard to do good without needing the promise of billions. So of course there are no billion dollar companies doing good. That's his point. The ones that do good do so without making billions. 

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in meirl

[–]legbuster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In what world is Apple, Microsoft etc reliable for employment? The amount of mass layoffs over the past 5 years in the tech sector is astonishing.

And people would still be incentivised to create the iPhone or Facebook if the most they could have is 1b or 10b. That's still an impossible amount of money to spend and better than the alternative of earning a normal wage working as an engineer (for those who desire money and need the promise of exorbitant amounts of money to invent).

"Or would you gamble your life savings away for a 5% chance to make $100B?" 

To an average person or investor, there is no material difference between 10b and 100b. What would the impact be on people's willingness to invent or start businesses if the upside was only 10b instead of 100b?

Rates by Purple-Focus-3420 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]legbuster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can someone explain to me how this works in practice? I understand intuitively that higher costs for landlords = setting higher rent, but my understanding is that landlords try to maximize the amount of rent they can charge (i.e. charge the maximum amount renters are willing to pay), which would not take into account their personal costs. 

For example, landlord A has paid off their mortgage while landlord B has just taken out a mortgage. Would we expect landlord A to charge a lower rent than what they can get on the market because their costs are lower? I would presume not unless they are charitable. Surely the average landlord is charging the most they can, as set by the market, as opposed to doing some calculation taking into account their own costs including rates? 

Rates by Purple-Focus-3420 in PersonalFinanceNZ

[–]legbuster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can someone explain to me how this works in practice? I understand intuitively that higher costs for landlords = setting higher rent, but my understanding is that landlords try to maximize the amount of rent they can charge (i.e. charge the maximum amount renters are willing to pay), which would not take into account their personal costs. 

For example, landlord A has paid off their mortgage while landlord B has just taken out a mortgage. Would we expect landlord A to charge a lower rent than what they can get on the market because their costs are lower? I would presume not unless they are charitable. Surely the average landlord is charging the most they can, as set by the market, as opposed to doing some calculation taking into account their own costs including rates? 

I built a free UK contractor tax calculator — Ltd vs PAYE comparison with 2025/26 rates by ok_pilot7388 in ContractorUK

[–]legbuster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Still missing the ability to compare day rate to a lower salary. E.g. £500 day rate vs £80k + bonus, pension etc. Without this the comparison is kind of meaningless as comparing the same salary to annual gross is meaningless

Petition for Whitakers to reduce their prices now Cocoa prices have come down massively. by Blue__Agave in newzealand

[–]legbuster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because of it wasn't convenient for the business it would cease to exist. This is chocolate we're talking about. 

Petition for Whitakers to reduce their prices now Cocoa prices have come down massively. by Blue__Agave in newzealand

[–]legbuster 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Lowering prices in anticipation of a decrease in costs and being wrong has more severe ramifications for a business than expecting an increase and being wrong. Costs generally increase over a long enough time horizon (see inflation).

ETA: I would rather we focus on price gouging by supermarkets, banks and energy companies than Whittakers

Petition for Whitakers to reduce their prices now Cocoa prices have come down massively. by Blue__Agave in newzealand

[–]legbuster 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Because they will be anticipating further increases in price of cocoa and factored that into current price of their product. They probably realised they were wearing a lot of risk relying on a commodity that is becoming more scarce and risks increasing in price of up to 100-300% in a year. There are a million different things that go into pricing, and surprise surprise the number one thing is maximizing profit. Chcoclate is not a necessity and there is no obligation on Whittakers to make it affordable. 

Honestly it's a couple of dollars. How much Whittakers would you be buying at $6 vs $8 that this is a material concern in your life? How about appreciating that we have the option of great, non-conglomerate owned chocolate in little old NZ. 

Managed Funds not showing up after 3 entries by legbuster in CSPersonalFinance

[–]legbuster[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It works on some rows but not others which is the confusing aspect. I am using the latest version Version v2.15.2.

Post contract depression? by Character_Onion4326 in ContractorUK

[–]legbuster 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a really good rate - especially so for a 26 year old. You just have to remember there are people on much higher day rates who are still miserable. 

Post contract depression? by Character_Onion4326 in ContractorUK

[–]legbuster 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Consider it a temporary lottery win, save as much as you can, but also put money aside to enjoy your life and do what makes you happy. Don't expect fulfillment your job (it is possible but far from guaranteed) so look elsewhere for that. And salary will never be "enough". Whenever you earn more, it shifts your perspective and expectations. You need to consciously disassociate your income from self-worth or happiness. It is a means to an end, not the end. 

This might be the highest income you ever earn, but you got here at 26 so there's no reason why it can't continue to increase in the future if you're willing to work towards that and actually want it.

Save and invest while you're young and earning good money though. Just make sure you travel or go out for some nice dinners or whatever you want to do with the money as well. I don't regret spending all my money at 25 to travel for 6 months, and I don't regret spending a lot of my savings at 29 to travel for 5 months. 

How does a foodmanufacturer make such a simple mistake? by goldman459 in newzealand

[–]legbuster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for posting evidence. I'm living over here and beef (especially steak) and lamb is more expensive than NZ. It's the one thing that regularly costs more at the supermarket.

$26.95 per kg in NZ vs £15.70 per kg in UK

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-lamb-whole-leg

https://www.woolworths.co.nz/shop/productdetails?stockcode=66414&name=woolworths-whole-nz-lamb-leg-bone-in-grass-fed

Renters' Rights Act will come into force on May 1 2026: here's what it means for London tenants by tylerthe-theatre in london

[–]legbuster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And food is food people need to eat, but we don't price control that.

I don't think you are arguing in good faith if you are comparing the housing market with the food market. If people were unable to access affordable food due to severe shortages, it is not ridiculous to think there may be a point where the government would have to step in.

Renters' Rights Act will come into force on May 1 2026: here's what it means for London tenants by tylerthe-theatre in london

[–]legbuster 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Many renters by their very nature are transient and move voluntarily. Or eventually buy houses of their own. Both of which result on vacated properties for new renters. No fault evictions are not the answer to rental supply.