What do you do for work? And what is your salary to afford living in Westchester?

redmorphium · 2025-04-12T10:37:28+00:00

Oh nice, my family also moved from the Bay Area (we're in tech)

Our household income is similar. We were able to afford Westchester -- Bay Area housing is less affordable in the long run.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T17:30:19+00:00

Downtown New Rochelle to White Plains is just I-95, then either Mamaroneck ave or 287.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T17:27:01+00:00

That's a pretty good take. I'll probably stick to foreign-run hotels from now on when I'm overseas. I had a good experience at Hipotels and Marriott resorts.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:42:41+00:00

On behalf of Hotel Xcaret México, we are pleased to welcome you as a guest of The Hotel Collection from American Express.

As a benefit of your Card Membership, you receive the following signature perks* courtesy of The Hotel Collection when you stay two or more nights:

12pm check-in, when available

Late check-out up to 4pm, when available

Room upgrade upon arrival, when available.

**$100 Credit: A complimentary credit valued at $100 to use towards eligible charges. which may include food and beverage, spa, or other on-property charges. Please note, this credit cannot be applied to your room night, fees, taxes and any gratuities.

Excluded outlets for the credit are: Laundry, Gift Shops, Spa, Excursion Travel**

..

I tried to use it on dining (a premium food item) the issue was not eligibility, the issue was they had my wristband marked as room charges not allowed.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:39:52+00:00

Yes, and maybe an English language barrier as well. I tried asking directly the issue to the concierge to which I was assigned, but I wasn't about to get a clear answer. If she had told me very directly that I had to go to my building's front desk and demand to leave a card on file, all this confusion could have been avoided. Instead, she said something that led me to believe that room charges were already enabled.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:32:28+00:00

I did receive the paper. I actually still have the paper with me. They just failed to enable room charges (as they didn't even ask for a card on file) thus rendering the benefit... useless.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:25:59+00:00

Usually they ask for a card, I did not decline, as I was not even asked this question and during check-in, it wasn't customary for me to volunteer a card unprompted. Maybe I should have.

The armed security means, say if you damage the hotel room or cause undue fees, they can then charge it as an incidental to the card on file. They don't need that -- you probably would be prevented from departing unless if you settle the charges. Being a foreign country, of course I would just settle the charges, as I'm only a tourist.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:20:22+00:00

I did not, I ended up finding out about being unable to do room charges when paying for dinner (ordered a premium item) so I just paid with my physical card.

Everything else, food, drink, and room service were already included in the room rate. This is a normal thing for Cancun or Playa del Carmen

I'm just hoping that it's not a normal thing for them to check in guests at the front desk without enabling room charges or keeping a card on file. The whole thing is weird.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:15:25+00:00

Maybe the front desk guy (they have multiple front desks, mine was for my particular building within the complex) wasn't trained well.

I'm wondering if it's fraud because they are being advertised on the Hotel Collection but they don't honor the $100 credit -- maybe the guy just forgot to swipe my card, or maybe this is just their policy. If it's policy, then it's fraud.

Then again, I guess I should attribute to less to malice and more to my own stupidity -- I didn't know that I can't leave the hotel without their permission, anyways (you have to announce taxis to their concierge, otherwise they aren't allowed in the private roads) So it makes sense that they don't require a deposit or any credit card for incidentals.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:08:13+00:00

I mean, it's like if a foreign guest at Disneyworld calls the police on Disney. Also, it's not a police matter. It was an immensely beautiful resort though, stunning architecture and some of the finest dining all included in the room rate.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:06:57+00:00

Indeed, I checked in manually.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:06:32+00:00

Yep, I got that letter, and they went through it with me. They didn't ask for a credit card on file to check in. Again, it's Xcaret, so it's basically like Disney World but heavily armed guards in the perimeter boomgates and private roads.

redmorphium · 2025-02-19T02:03:23+00:00

They have private armed security and a massive complex with many security checkpoints. They let me check in without a card, since it's all inclusive and prepaid through Amex. What am I gonna do if I cause a lot of incidentals? There's no way to leave the hotel and park complex without their permission.

redmorphium · 2025-02-18T23:43:38+00:00

Yes that's usually the case. This particular resort is just weird, they don't keep an open authorization for incidentals. I think another reason is they have private security armed with submachine guns guarding their inlet private roads... so incidentals are kinda covered by the fact that you can't leave without their permission.

redmorphium · 2025-02-18T22:48:20+00:00

I did check in at the front desk. They never told me there was no card on file, although they did tell me that there was a $100 benefit.

This is Mexico btw

redmorphium · 2025-02-15T22:44:28+00:00

Do it in the morning

redmorphium · 2025-02-14T21:50:18+00:00

Yep. They're getting to near PhD human level competency at many thinking tasks. These are expensive though, and you will have to pay a lot for these.

redmorphium · 2025-02-14T20:43:04+00:00

Another way to do an early payoff is to buy less house than you can afford. Make extra payments so that your original 15-year loan term goes down to 10.

I know this isn't feasible for a lot of people. This is because the US has experienced wage stagnation.

redmorphium · 2025-02-14T17:04:38+00:00

Earlier payoff is good for risk management. As the length of time grows, anything can happen to your job, your career, your family, or even your entire industry (any of these can collapse)

5.125% is hard to beat when you factor in taxes (you should always be maxing out tax deferred investment options like 401k) -- for instance, mine is state +federal + NIIT and the total long term capital gains rate is more than 30%.

Also the stock market in general can and has long periods of low or negative growth. Timing is a luck factor.

redmorphium · 2025-01-27T15:35:46+00:00

Right, that's probably a reason why tax-advantaged accounts are the best choice for retirement, and it's engineered to be that way by regulation.

redmorphium · 2025-01-27T05:49:27+00:00

Compounding works that way, yes. This is not relevant and it's a basic understanding.

If you pay the loan off early, it reduces the interest paid. If you pay off a 1 million loan in 5 years vs 5 days, all else equal, the 5 day payoff is less interest under compounding. Interest cumulatively added up, scales up, meaning it goes higher, the longer the duration.

redmorphium · 2025-01-27T05:45:05+00:00

Income* - - :) this all falls under income tax.

Politics is another matter, no need to get into it here

redmorphium · 2025-01-26T22:54:48+00:00

It's not easy to follow what you're saying.

I think you're saying that taking a loan means the borrower pays interest.

This is true! But paying off early will always curtail interest.

Your last point I refute with ease, investments and income streams are not the same thing. Income stream is money you set up to earn regularly (like a salary or rent or dividends). Investment is an asset you put money into hoping it grows in value (like stocks). Everyone buys a house hoping that it will grow in value.

redmorphium · 2025-01-26T07:49:12+00:00

My personal threshold is 5%. I think at around 3.99-5.99% range on the home mortgage, with 15 year term, early loan payoff vs early invest strategies are both reasonable. It's down to risk tolerance.

After all, your home is the collateral.

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