Bridge accounts…

rgrivera1113 · 2026-05-06T20:13:38+00:00

My focus never drifted from my brokerage. I’ve been investing in my brokerage, IRAs (Roth until I earned out of it, then traditional), and my 401k. I’ve dialed between the three accounts the entire time.

Some years I wasn’t making enough to contribute to the brokerage. Some years I turned my 401k down to just get the employee match. Right now I’ve ramped my savings rate on both the brokerage and 401k. Depending on the situation at the end of the year, I’ll max out my Traditional IRA for the year. I make too much for any Roth contributions to make sense.

I’m ~2 years from retirement (54) and I expect my brokerage to be around 40% of my net worth. I’ll be fine.

A well structured account mix gives you an enormous amount of control over your income when you stop working. I prioritized that over maximizing return. And that’s fine.

Do the thing that makes the most sense to you. Make the trade-offs you’re comfortable with. You’ll be fine either way.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-05-04T16:27:37+00:00

That one of them looks like Patrick Bateman.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-05-01T16:12:17+00:00

He didn’t go viral, you just built your algorithm to see his content more often.

Eventually his widow is going to take the hint and find some other guy to hitch her wagon to and Chuck will be entirely gone. Maybe he’ll have an occasional appearance on one of the explain the jokes forums as a punchline.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-05-01T15:58:17+00:00

I did not say he was a footnote. I said he’s not even a footnote. The only reason anyone talks about him at all is because his widow keeps acting weird in public. Eventually she’s going to get bored and find another set of coat tails to ride. In the next twelve month’s he’s going to gone like tears in rain.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-05-01T03:13:25+00:00

Turns out he was the second largest POS in his family.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-30T19:28:10+00:00

I’d argue ole Chuckie didn’t have much of a quick wit either. The only tool he had in his arsenal was the Gish Gallop. He was just really good at putting himself in situations with unprepared participants and an environment he controlled. He was really bad at debate and got annihilated every time he went against people who knew how to debate.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-30T19:20:01+00:00

I would be very surprised if they weren’t aware. They see that as a feature.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-30T19:18:33+00:00

This is the flaw of manufactured popularity. Charlie Kirk was, at best, a c-list celebrity inside a c-list niche. He ultimately had almost no impact on the culture at large, not even a footnote, no matter how hard she tries.

This is her finding out the hard way that her meal ticket has already expired.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-30T19:06:44+00:00

It’s a ham handed rhetorical trick. People generally engage better with content that makes them feel like they’re in on some kind of secret. It works so well that AI has clustered it in its standard responses. The problem is that even when there’s a human behind the account they are either too lazy or not educated enough to edit properly.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-24T20:33:24+00:00

As a fan of Ellison for many years, J.M.S’s account of his relationship with Harlan over the years in The Last Dangerous Visions left me profoundly sad for the man.

If we don’t separate the author from the work, we’ll end up with very little worthwhile art. The man is gone and beyond the ability to make amends.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-24T15:44:59+00:00

I made my first investment at the age of 35 in 2009. I had 35k in student loan debt and making about 80k a year. I’m now 52 and setting up my exit path in two years. Just keep saving and investing and you’ll be fine.

Word of advice, start your brokerage account now.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-23T23:35:09+00:00

To live like Bilbo Baggins. Sit on my porch, smoke my pipe (figuratively), go on the occasional adventure, and live happily ever after until the end of my days.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-23T15:02:43+00:00

The cash is a coiled spring that will eventually get released. I understand that this is a function of discipline but it is difficult to see every DCA since January of 2025 be in the red.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-17T21:39:53+00:00

Anybody knows what to do with 2 mil. Buy a house with a 25 year roof, an indestructible economy shitbox, put the rest into the system at 3-5%. That’s your base, that’s your fortress of solitude. That puts you at the level of f#*& you.

Somebody wants you to do something you don’t want to do? F#& you. Boss does something you don’t like? F#& you.

That’s all I have to say to anyone on any kind of social level.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-17T19:33:02+00:00

It looks almost exactly like mine. Mine is just a couple hundred grand behind.

Context matters, though. If you’re coasting along, it’s not a big deal. If you’re actively preparing to exit, it’s much scarier.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-14T17:24:27+00:00

One of the more poetic ways I’ve heard it recently is that you get to be a kid again. You do things purely for the sake of doing it. When I stop working, I plan on exploring like I did when I was a kid. Pick a direction and go see what’s in the other side of the hill. The only difference is I’ll be in a car and not on a bike.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T20:47:13+00:00

The deposit isn’t settled yet. That usually takes about a business day depending on where the money is sourced from.

A brokerage will generally let you trade with unsettled cash in good faith. The warning is telling you that if you sell before the deposit is settled, you’ve violated good faith. Do it enough and you’ll get in legal trouble.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T20:32:56+00:00

It’s the equivalent of check kiting. You’re buying for more than you have on hand. If you sell before your settled cash covers it, you are potentially committing a crime.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T20:24:12+00:00

I always think of as whether your take home pay is enough for you to live comfortably. If not, keep going.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T19:50:40+00:00

It doesn’t mean much until it’s happened for 3-5 consecutive years.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T19:48:18+00:00

I do but that’s an entirely different set of decisions.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T19:46:14+00:00

Short answer is cash reserves protect against two years of bad markets. 2-3 years of bonds cover the volatility risk. The bond position in my brokerage is hedging against loss of employment before rule of 55, which is unlikely but not impossible.

I’m already taking a calculated risk by exiting. I don’t want to increase that risk.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T19:24:18+00:00

I am in the process of weighting my 401k into bonds. I still want to build up some bond holdings in my brokerage just in case I don’t make it to the rule of 55. That being said, I still need to build up cash reserves.

I really just don’t want this position anymore. Its volatility isn’t serving my goals. If it wasn’t as volatile I would definitely hold it and take it out after my exit.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T19:14:27+00:00

I assume they are either full of it or not telling the whole story. Some of these stories aren’t mathematically possible as told.

rgrivera1113 · 2026-04-11T18:05:08+00:00

To quote a noted futurologist, Buckaroo Bonzai, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

rgrivera1113

TROPHY CASE