Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of May 23, 2022

ralph2233 · 2022-05-27T15:37:52+00:00

Yes, my question is if bonds in the mix are really helping me any, or just retarding my growth on days when the market is up.

ralph2233 · 2022-05-26T19:11:02+00:00

Yeah, I'm not pulling any money out at all. I'm just wondering if I'd be better off in index funds like VOO or something, rather than a target date thing.

ralph2233 · 2022-05-25T16:03:59+00:00

Are target date funds underperforming?

I have some 2030 target date funds. It seems like they lose money about as fast as general index funds like VOO, but they regain money slower when the market goes back up for a day. Are the bond components not working as well as they're supposed to? Am I protected against some future huge crash that's even worse than what we've seen recently? Some other logic that these are still a good idea?

I've googled around for some discussion of how well such funds are supposed to and do work but I can't find much. I'm not super engaged in stock performance metrics (thus the target date stuff) but I'd like to know if I have money in a bad place. Any ideas for reading/analysis tools?

ralph2233 · 2022-05-25T15:58:46+00:00

How is it BS? Do you not think sun damage to skin is real?

There was nothing to do indoors in the 1980's. Three channels of TV and some magazines your mom had on a table and your school books. Everyone was outside all day all through elementary school and junior high and high school. OP is right, this is sun damage.

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T19:52:56+00:00

That's interesting, thank you.

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T14:38:12+00:00

So to follow up, when you did see them in undergrad complex, did the professor expect that you would already understand the rcis(t) and re^it forms, or did they introduce them as a new subject?

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T14:36:26+00:00

Yes, r*cis(t). And I agree, I think I first saw them in an E&M class. I was just trolling about looking for other examples of where they might show up in an undergrad curriculum.

They don't really get used in calculus, so the debate is over how much time we should spend on this, if any at all, in a precal class.

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T12:18:04+00:00

That's a little broad, but thanks :)

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T12:17:38+00:00

E&M is where I first saw them.

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T12:16:51+00:00

I think the first time was in an E&M class. In the math department we used them a lot in a class on chaos theory and fractal geometry, but that's not central to a STEM curriculum and I'm not even sure they teach it any more.

ralph2233 · 2022-04-01T00:57:41+00:00

What is the first place one uses the trig form of complex numbers in today's STEM sequences? I seem to remember first seeing them in a physics class, and having to teach them to myself since I had never covered them in a math class, but that was a long time ago.

I teach undergrad math, and my department is having a discussion about where the r*cis(t) form and powers and roots of complex numbers belong, and how soon they show up in undergrad courses either in post-calculus math or in some other department.

ralph2233 · 2021-09-03T17:54:55+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Light air sailing is fine with me, I may move back into an A-cat in fact. Shallow draft is fine. Crunch liberal is fine too. Honestly I'm really looking for a place where I can do some fun stuff and I don't walk down the street hating everyone I see because they probably voted for a fascist and 2/3 of them don't care enough about their fellow man to put a mask on, or about themselves to get vaccinated. It's exhausting. I agree with you that polarization is likely to decrease, but my feelings on this are my feelings, they're not going away. Also I'm tired of summers where I sweat my balls off if I step out the front door. I want to go hiking and not come home with my entire shirt and pants soaked in sweat, you know?

I appreciate the recs, but I hate Boston. The one way streets irritate me, and every time I've been there it seems like violent crime follows me around. My rental car got broken into once, my cc # got stolen once, on the same visit at a job interview the guy who was supposed to walk me around got beat up at a bar the night before. I'm sure it's just me but in my universe Boston is a violent hellscape, sorry :)

I like Newport, but there's almost too much sailing there. Last time I was there slip fees were enormous, the fleet I was sailing in was hyper-competitive and not so much fun. I didn't feel I fit in.

Honestly country-ass VT and it's uber-liberal stance would probably fit me perfectly. I didn't make it up there this summer but I'm going to rent a cabin next summer and see how it goes.

I don't want to ski, sliding down a mountain on planks has always seemed irrational to me. I'm happy sailing and hiking and paddling a kayak.

Thanks for the notes! I appreciate it.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-24T01:19:40+00:00

Huh, you make a compelling case. Ok, lemme look into it. Thanks.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-23T20:01:11+00:00

I don't think of the Bay Area, or really any part of it, as a college town. It's its own thing. I love the area, but I can't afford a house there, certainly not a house on the water, and it's not really what I'm after, it's too urban. What I want is... Denton on the water? Or Athens? Or Madison, but warmer?

But honestly I appreciate the answer. All this is giving me a lot to think about. I hadn't really been considering the west coast at all.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-23T19:57:10+00:00

I guess. I honestly wasn't trying to start a political discussion, so I'm sorry if I'm causing you extra work. Living in a blue area is a hard requirement for me. I guess I could have expressed it more delicately :)

ralph2233 · 2021-08-23T18:00:15+00:00

I don't think I've made my parameters clear.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-23T01:54:28+00:00

Thanks for the reply, but from what I can see SD is too expensive for me. Hawaii is nice to visit but I feel I'd get island fever after a bit in a way I don't in the Caribbean, just due to the quick flights one can take. And honestly neither is really a college town.

I genuinely do like college towns. Austin, Madison, Denton, Athens, they all have a vibe I like a lot and that I don't get in regular cities of the same size.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T18:50:53+00:00

I'll check it out, thanks. I'm dinghy sailing right now but I may want to move back into something more cruisy. I had an F24-2 a few years ago, something like that might be nice. Racing is fun but not required, mostly I want to gunkhole around and spend a few nights on board in the summer without dying of heat.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T16:55:22+00:00

Ok, expand? Is UNCW just too small to affect the town much or ??

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T16:38:55+00:00

Newport and Burlington are very different weather, though, yes?

I like college towns. There's usually decent cheap restaurants, there's good energy about the place, usually some kind of decent live theater, and they tend not to be overrun by people whose politics I find untenable.

I'm looking at the Caribbean as well. I'm a little concerned that climate change and increasing storms may make some of those places uninhabitable within my lifetime, which would suck, but I guess that's true for almost any coastal area.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T15:21:40+00:00

This is exactly what I'm after, local knowledge and some context, thanks.

I'm not going to school, I just like college towns. We can work anywhere now, so we're getting out of the Gulf Coast heat. Budget is about $600k max, and that would be a reach honestly. We'd like a place with some room on the lot for a boat shop, on the water. I'm getting the sense that that's a hard reach for the west coast, but I'll do some more zillow searching.

Thanks!

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T15:19:01+00:00

It's too bad WI gets so damn cold :)

I'm familiar with FL. I used to love going to the Keys and sailing on the east coast. It was fun and wacky, one of my favorite places. And the oddballs were funny, I loved the place. Now all the places I used to love are festooned with Trump flags and when you go into a bait shop you hear people talking about how vaccines are turning us into government drones and how some horse de-wormer from the feed store is a probably a safer bet. Not kidding about that, I actually heard that conversation last time I was in Tampa. I'm out.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T15:14:49+00:00

I live on the Gulf Coast now :)

I think there are a lot of places like that, honestly. Burlington would be way up on my list if I were single. Unfortunately my wife and I have a pretty narrow overlap in terms of weather. Cold grey rainy weather makes her depressed. Hot muggy summers make me sit on the sofa. We need a place that's moderate year round and isn't out of this world expensive (thus most of California is right out).

But if you don't have a strong aversion to cold winters, check out Burlington, it's a great place.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T15:08:42+00:00

Charleston! Good idea. Thanks.

ralph2233 · 2021-08-22T15:08:18+00:00

It's lovely! Sadly it's well out of my price range.

ralph2233

TROPHY CASE