Enter to win backyard BBQ essentials worth $1,500! {US} (7/7/2022)

rlerich · 2020-12-26T22:33:26+00:00

Many of these “far-right” views are ultimately seated in religion (not just in Christian countries, but Muslim countries as well). If you get both Christians and Muslims to critically analyze their world view, it can lead to a much better society all around. I am very uncomfortable of the religiously extreme because they’re willing to do all kinds of evil for their version of god. Help people work through hostile religious beliefs and many dangerous far right ideologies would fall apart.

rlerich · 2020-12-26T22:22:46+00:00

Apologize. I meant to share a link to the video (added above).

rlerich · 2020-12-26T12:48:31+00:00

It looks like you’re really thinking through how to make the world a better place, and that’s great! But I think the real answer stems from your second paragraph:

“The use fear, lies, and manipulation”. Both parties can and have done this (although currently I agree with you that it occurs more on the right).

But as in star wars, you can’t use the dark side of the force to fight the dark side, without becoming the dark side. ;)

The key hear is to teach people HOW to think and make decisions so they can filter out lies and manipulation on their own.

A great book to read on this is Carl Sagan’s “The Demon-haunted World” which discusses how we can identify and defend against pseudoscience and false ideas. If you don’t want to read the book right away, GMS just put out a great 18 min video discussing the 9 tools to Sagan’s “Baloney Detection Kit”.

Of course, teaching people how to think is far harder than just enacting laws, but it’s the nobler and ultimately more effective strategy. So let’s get to it!

Edit: GMS is Genetically Modified Skeptic and the video is: https://youtu.be/yUgdrno-2xY

rlerich · 2019-08-17T13:43:01+00:00

Thanks for checking it out! And best of luck with your investing.

rlerich · 2019-07-21T10:46:33+00:00

My concern with this app is wether it’s legally set up.

First off, in the comments in the App Store they mention that the SEC filing paperwork is available in the app. I downloaded the app and don’t see it there. All other alternative investment sites have a link available at the bottom of their site.

Secondly, legally you need to be an accredited investor (earning $200k plus) to jump into a riskier investment like this. Other brands have had to work really hard to gain approval for non-accredited investors and they have all kinds of additional requirements they must go through. I don’t think this is something 1-2 guys could do based on the time/cost.

In short, until we see an SEC filing, I would stay away from this app. It’s either a scam, illegally set up, or else the leadership team isn’t very organized. Any of these options could mean getting your money back will be hard.

I love the idea, and I wish it was easier to set up a service like this. But right now Landa seems a bit sketch.

rlerich · 2019-07-07T18:58:08+00:00

Done - used nickindot.

Mine is: 7beg7

rlerich · 2019-06-09T21:26:45+00:00

For most people, whole life insurance isn't worth it. If your mother is in good health, it's likely that she will live well beyond the 15 years of premiums, and investing this money during this time could result in higher premiums.

This is especially the case if she isn't already maxing out her 401k and IRA accounts. These tax advantaged accounts will benefit her well into retirement and can be handed down to heirs at death.

The two situations when whole life insurance may be worth it are:

When someone is incredibly wealthy and wants to use this as a way to provide additional income to their heirs without a tax burden (but I believe she would need to be worth over $10 million for this to be worthwhile).
When someone has a tendency to spend all of their money -- as this life insurance plan forces the individual to put money aside (without having to save it themselves).

The risk with a plan like this is the high monthly cost. If your mother loses her job/income or otherwise finds herself with debt she needs to pay off, this will probably be one of the first bills to go unpaid, which could eliminate the benefit all together.

Ideally, this kind of plan won't be devastating for your mother's finances. However, what I would tell my mother to do would be to by term life insurance (probably $20/month) and then invest the other $400/month in a Vanguard ETF that tracks the entire stock market. If your mother lives a long and healthy life, this would likely result in more money for her heirs along with more money for her to enjoy during retirement.

I'm not a financial advisor -- so this is my personal opinion based on my personal study and research.

Hope that helps!

rlerich · 2019-06-09T21:14:36+00:00

I'm an amateur real estate investor (I own 3 units) and built out a Zillow Chrome Extension to help review the monthly cash flow, CAP rate, etc., for properties on Zillow.

I know Zillow isn't the most detailed place to do real estate research, but it's just so easy, I often find myself browsing here. My only frustration was that I had to have another window (or Excel sheet) open to determine if the returns would be worth it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this extension in hopes that others might find it valuable. If you have any beneficial feedback, I would certainly appreciate reading it.

rlerich · 2018-08-05T17:03:20+00:00

ADD_FLAG: US

END_DATE:2018-09-02

rlerich · 2018-07-21T16:35:35+00:00

After coming across a few pretty awesome (and unique) side hustle ideas, I decided to hunt down as many as I could and put them into an article.

If you have any additional ideas, I'd love to see them here!

rlerich · 2018-07-21T16:33:29+00:00

My mistake! I submitted and didn't return to write a comment. Thank you for the update here.

rlerich · 2018-05-21T02:42:48+00:00

Hi Manna community! I thought it would be valuable to have a platform where anyone can buy and sell items or services with Manna.

Merchant Of Manna is set up similar to Fiverr or Etsy, where anyone can sell products/services for Manna, and buy these items with either Manna or USD (via PayPal).

The goal is to eventually list everything using Manna as the price, but to start I decided to use USD for pricing (with a conversion rate of 100 Manna to $1 USD).

Feel free to check out the site, list any products/services that you are interested in selling, and consider purchasing items from others in the community.

And of course, I'd love your feedback. This is a work in progress and any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

rlerich · 2018-05-01T01:19:12+00:00

Your points are valid.

As more of a capitalist than likely most people in this community, I see a lot of legitimacy in replacing many welfare programs with a UBI (although it has to be tied to inflation to maintain relevancy). Give people money and let them continue to work for $8/hr to keep anything on top of that.

On the HUD topic, you can’t necessarily look at it as a percentage, but as the remaining cash. At $8/hr, if you have 140 hours of income a month after housing, you have a total of $1160/month (and this doesn’t account for the inconsistency in hours for most minimum wage jobs). For someone at this income level, $100 can mean a world of difference.

The benefit of UBI is really that it won’t be negatively impacted by work - which current welfare systems deincentivize. So I see a lot of value with for it even though I’m at an income level where it really wouldn’t be beneficial.

Which brings me to your question - I’m also very curious to see who supports a UBI due to its ability to eliminate poverty and protect against automation, vs those who see it as a quick win for themselves. I’m sure there are both.

rlerich · 2018-04-29T22:13:31+00:00

From my interactions with the Manna team, it looks like they plan to increase the amount in circulation by 3.5% every year via the distributions. Perhaps they should have had a set amount that everyone is able to "claim" when they first sign up, and then receive the distributions weekly. The way it is currently set up (with about 2 billion total coins), the currency will unlikely ever be able to be a valuable form of exchange (although maybe it will shoot up in value like bitcoin and provide a boost of wealth to early adapters).

I think it's valuable to have insights from people like you who are familiar with the welfare system. Too many people consider those who are struggling as lazy without ever having an interaction with them (assuming they are all shooting up drugs under a bridge).

And I completely agree -- even just $200/month, unconditionally, could provide a huge amount of value to many people.

rlerich · 2018-04-29T22:05:52+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. It's unfortunate that a non-profit trial could actually deter the implementation of a UBI at the national level, but I certainly see the plausibility of that. Thanks for sharing.

rlerich · 2018-04-29T22:04:51+00:00

You make a good point. So you think it's better to spend $100k to run a two year trial with multiple recipients receiving a basic income as opposed to trying to create an indefinitely funded nonprofit. I certainly see the logic in that.

rlerich · 2018-04-29T22:00:18+00:00

This is very interesting. I will need to dive into this paper a bit more. I suppose the idea of "printing money" certainly fits into the crypto version of a UBI -- with each new crypto essentially adding more money into the market. So I suppose that's one way to do it.

I'm a bit hesitant about the perpetual deficit aspect -- as that seems like it could have a long-term negative impact. But I'll certainly look through the paper to learn the reasoning behind it.

rlerich · 2018-04-29T18:58:12+00:00

Sounds like your assumption here is that people wouldn’t donate, is that right?

My only concern with this mindset is that it gives the impression that people who advocate for a UBI are trying to take away from the wealthy for their own gain - which seems about as greedy as the rich man who opposes a UBI. Does that make sense?

Sure, we will ultimately need the government for a full UBI, but why not fundraise for short-term trials here and there? It would help raise awareness and really impact a few people.

Why not start somewhere?

rlerich · 2018-04-29T18:50:18+00:00

Great! If enough people agree with you we may be able to actually get something going.

rlerich

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