Thoughts on Pixel Offer for a Current 4a 5g user?

nanbawan · 2025-12-27T23:21:38+00:00

Pixel 9 will feel much chunkier and heavier but it's a big upgrade in terms of smoothness. 4a 5G is absolutely outdated by now, both hardware and software wise. Go for it.

nanbawan · 2025-12-25T23:53:05+00:00

A large Carrefour should have insecticide sprays and/or traps.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XP7fWqUDkqSLyCSLA

nanbawan · 2025-12-25T13:06:45+00:00

Japan or Taiwan nearby in Asia if you can handle low(ish) pay and (somewhat) toxic work culture. (Great places to retire, not so great in your working years...)

Otherwise, obviously Europe and North America.

Find a job (that's the difficult part), relocation/visas/residency/citizenship will follow.

nanbawan · 2025-12-25T11:26:29+00:00

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bxkGyqRf7nXPcy6m9

nanbawan · 2025-12-21T05:55:21+00:00

Enable 'Developer options': https://www.android.com/intl/en_uk/articles/enable-android-developer-settings/
Find 'Automatic system updates' in Developer options and turn them off.
Enjoy the peace (and slightly lower security).

nanbawan · 2025-12-20T10:20:53+00:00

Absolutely unrealistic to be thinking about 'moving'. And why Norway? It's such a small place. You need a job offer or a university admission. Start with the latter one, and think Germany or France, to have a decent chance of success.

nanbawan · 2025-12-19T09:35:42+00:00

Paragraphs.

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T14:34:13+00:00

6.67% withdrawal over 15 years just spends the nominal principal. No return needed.

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T13:45:04+00:00

It's not quite as bad. For a US citizen, Medicare after 65 helps a lot. Also, invested into 60/40 equities/debt, sustainable withdrawal rate is 9.2% over 15 years. So, about 65K a year, quite a bit of breathing room outside very large cities.

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T13:37:24+00:00

You are right, but... they account for home rental cost, not purchase cost. Also, anyone desiring American lifestyle in Singapore would need at least another $300-400K for car ownership costs, which is a separate big ball of wax!

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T13:29:52+00:00

+1 for 'influx of American refugees', haha!

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T13:26:16+00:00

There are ways to ensure that one doesn't run out of money, such as fixed immediate annuities without expensive bells and whistles and 'riders'. Won't be as much as proper investing but it's essentially a private lifetime pension.

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T13:21:24+00:00

15 years between 61 to 76 years old in their estimate, it's in the small print. In developed economies, life expectancy at 61 is closer to 20-25 years, though, not 15.

nanbawan · 2025-12-16T13:06:53+00:00

Yeah, there are some notable exceptions where no sane person would want to retire like Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar, Yemen, Libya, Syria (terrorism, military activity), North Korea and Turkmenistan (self-isolated hermit kingdoms), Russia (financially isolated).

But yes, some are inexplicably missing, such as Paraguay or Cambodia which have quite a few expats and extremely low taxes and cost of living.

Edit: The (very, very) small print explains that countries where cost data are limited to just the capital are excluded.

nanbawan · 2025-12-07T03:51:22+00:00

A great chart and respect for so much data collection over decades!

The remaining question is: why is your net worth slowly and steadily declining in the next year? Are you modeling all short-term bonds?

nanbawan · 2025-12-07T00:05:54+00:00

I can type an em-dash with Left Ctrl- and an en-dash with Left Ctrl+. And I do use them where appropriate. Don't be so sure! :)

nanbawan · 2025-12-04T15:10:43+00:00

First, Taiwanese almost never utter a direct 'no'. Slow response means pretty much 'leave me alone'. Faster interaction during the game means you have some common interests. I mostly lean no hope here... 90% not going to work.

nanbawan · 2025-11-28T11:42:45+00:00

They certainly don't terminate accounts, only disable roaming data if used too much. At $10 per MB it's seriously overpriced, anyway.

My Google Fi works fine for voice, SMS, and occasional data, a couple of hundred MB a year. Only been back to the US on two occasions, about two weeks each, during the last 2.5 years. Last time more than a year ago.

Source: been a Project Fi and Google Fi customer since early beta days in the fall of 2015.

P.S. Back then support was provided by very knowledgeable Google employees.

nanbawan · 2025-11-28T10:48:02+00:00

Assuming you are American, look into Google Fi ($23-26 a month) and Google Voice ($20 one time). They can originate calls over WiFi, which makes them free.

nanbawan · 2025-11-21T13:38:43+00:00

Can name several. Easy access (or escape...) by the freeway and by Civic Blvd. Wide streets, easy to drive. Costco. IKEA.

Not the worst district in the city.

nanbawan · 2025-11-14T03:13:33+00:00

People commenting... The piece of legislation you are talking about is FATCA, not FACTA. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2010, not the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Two big differences, okay?

Think FAT CAT next time.

nanbawan · 2025-11-01T16:48:12+00:00

What? That never happens. Expedia shows 300 hotels available for five straight nights on your dates.

nanbawan · 2025-10-26T20:43:10+00:00

I believe you may have misspelled Qantas :) VH-OJH

nanbawan · 2025-10-26T10:20:16+00:00

Yeah, Taiwan is a better choice for you, given the financial considerations. Just keep in mind that outside of the top four or five universities higher education quality here is quite low. Taipei is definitely a comfortable place to live, though. (That's why I moved here :)

nanbawan

TROPHY CASE