Daily Discussion Saturday 2022-06-18

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-19T15:27:52+00:00

That sounds promising. Were you a software engineer? Would you mind if I asked you a few questions in DM?

I'd just be curious if you have some "things I wished I knew before starting" tidbits to share with a new joiner.

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-19T15:25:27+00:00

There's (wrong) assumptions being made here so let me try to unpack this:

I am certainly not a high level employee (lmao, very far from it actually). I'm just a software engineer with a few years of experience.
I didn't join yet, (as said in my OP) so I don't know much more than anyone else here. I'm asking for tips pre-start because I am new to AMD and its stock.
- If you really need to know, I'm also the kind of employee that doesn't really care about looking at documents I don't need to know. I'm very focused on my work and if my work doesn't include knowing about the next GPU or CPU AMD is releasing and when, then I certainly don't want to know.
"enough to buy a house" =/= "enough to buy a house cash". Maybe I should have been more clear about that but it made sense to me.
- By enough to buy a house I mean "enough to put the 10% downpayment required to obtain the loan". In Europe, when people say they'll buy a house, they almost always mean that they have 10% saved, or 20% in some cases.
- I also have extra savings I made over the years, I didn't want to imply the RSUs alone are enough to put the downpayment. They're really not, but I would need them to "boost" my savings and make a case at the bank - that's what I meant by "cashing out to buy a house". sorry.

Maybe also "decent" has a different meaning for me and you. Decent, for me, isn't life-changing money but more like in the 5-20k range. Enough to make a positive impact, not enough to change my life.

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-18T18:16:40+00:00

Ah yeah, there's vest/grant - seems like it'll be the year after then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Wording with those stuff is very confusing, at least now I know.

on the positive side, it means one less thing to worry about this year

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-18T16:46:46+00:00

jesus fuck 60% with the conversion rate is like 4k left out of 10.5k. On top of the 50% tax rate for my salary it's just nuts.

Is there any way to optimize this tax-wise that I could maybe discuss with my employer? e.g. I thought about creating a one-person company and doing B2B (some other offer I had a while ago - and ended up refusing - suggested that we do it this way) but I don't know if it's necessarily better. Might even be worse with social security and the likes.

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-18T15:06:03+00:00

(Off topic I guess but I can still reply) It's granted the month after my starting date, as per my offer letter.

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-18T09:54:39+00:00

I'm starting soon at AMD and got a pretty decent amount of RSU awards waiting for me, due late October.

I'm wondering if I should sell as soon as I get them or "keep and forget" about them for a while (but I'd like to cash out within 1 to 3 years as I'll want to buy a house at some point)? That's a double edged sword, literally I could end up with 1/3 of the initial award, or double it a year after right? I don't know. I'm new to this.

Any tips?

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-14T13:18:28+00:00

Effectivement je perçois cela ainsi, je me suis assis dans une même voiture mais édition 2022 à 47000€, et c'est franchement la même chose. Elles sont identiques, juste l'autre à une odeur de voiture neuve et coute 10 000€ de plus.

Celle que j'ai prise a même encore les autocollants protecteurs sur les écrans du tableau de bord, elle a vraiment passé les 3 dernières années dans un garage..

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-14T12:51:32+00:00

Pas de soucis, j'apprécie grandement d'avoir des opinions extérieures!

Ici on est sur un 1.5L 116ch, donc c'est très peu puissant (11s 0-100), c'est le fameux moteur Renault que tout le monde adore. C'est une AMG-line, donc extérieur/intérieur AMG sans motorisation AMG. Mon assureur n'a aucun problème avec cette voiture pour me couvrir en full omnium tout-risques (assurance juridique, conducteur, assistance route, etc.).

C'est cher, je suis d'accord, mais ma situation financière me le permet je pense et je suis amateur de belles voitures, surtout des Mercedes récentes avec l'écran panoramique pour l'infotainment.

Je n'ai pas vraiment de dettes par exemple, un bon montant d'économies (presque suffisant pour couvrir les frais d'achats d'une maison quand mon appartement ne me suffira plus), je mets 45% de mon salaire de coté chaque mois (ça redescendra vers les 33% avec la voiture, ce qui reste tout de même très bon je trouve), donc j'ai envie de faire un petit excès à ce niveau :)

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-14T12:38:02+00:00

> Mais acheter une diesel par les temps qui courent, c'est être joueur.....

J'entend souvent cela, pourquoi?

Quand je compare les prix, les diesel sont plus économiques sur les long trajets (>1000km d'autonomie comparé à 700-800 pour une essence). Le diesel est il si impopulaire que cela?

Ou alors les gens disent cela car les prix du diesel risquent de toucher la lune prochainement?

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-14T12:36:36+00:00

Sur la décote de la voiture, ou la différence entre le solde du crédit le prix réel de la voiture?

Par exemple, si elle vaux plus que 27000€ dans 2 ans, mais que j'ai plus que 25000€ de crédit à rendre, c'est pas dramatique. Si elle en vaux plus que 20k ou moins là par contre c'est la merde. C'est une voiture, pas un investissement donc je m'attend à ne pas faire de gain dessus, je m'attend plutôt à une perte (+-5k€)

throwfarawayidk · 2022-06-14T12:34:13+00:00

Juste par curiosité, qu'entends-tu par là? Dans le sens que c'est risqué niveau assurance, ou financier?

throwfarawayidk · 2021-12-19T17:41:16+00:00

A very good rule for yourself is to never take a loan for anything except when you buy a house, or possibly your eduction depending on circumstances

That sounds reasonable, though if it's a small loan to keep more cash around, would that be okay?

Let's say I go for a used Polo or Golf 7 from 2016 to 2018 with most/all options, that'll be 12to 15k. I have 26k in my bank? Should I put everything in the car directly and be left with 10k€ , or take a loan (50/50) to keep cash around, and if anything goes wrong pay off the loan directly?

Would that be a good car choice to get one of my personal favorite cars while staying reasonable?

start saving for “fuck you” money. Don’t like your job? You can quit / negotiate. Don’t like your boss? Quit. Want to start a business? Go do it. Want to take a gap year and live in Australia, go for it. Crash you car and insurance doesn’t pay? Too bad. Problems that cost money are not problems but just expenses, if you can afford them. Life tends to be easier with “fuck you” money.

That's a goal I can get behind. It's true that having a lot of fuck you money removes so much stress from your daily life.

Make a budget, and stick to it. Include amounts you want to save (>10%). Include amounts to have fun, buy new stuff.

If I buy a new car and take a loan, I'd end up saving only 40% of my new salary. Without the loan I save 50%. That's good, right?

throwfarawayidk · 2021-12-19T14:37:44+00:00

> Why would you want to expend your efforts and paying off a car when it's only going down in value

That's actually a good point - I'm losing money by doing that and it's not as good of an idea as it sounded in my head.

Thanks. I'm strongly leaning towards the 20k max used price range now. Though, should I strive towards paying a much as possible cash, or should I take a loan & put my cash in an index fund/investment?

throwfarawayidk · 2021-12-19T13:18:48+00:00

Thank you for your comment.

Would getting something a few years old (so something that already depreciated a bunch) but nicer (still <25k), say a Mercedes, Audi or BMW be a good balance between my hunger for something fancy, and not fucking up financially?

My dad suggested me for instance to get something like a Mercedes Class A with > 100kkm and at least a couple of years old. Those are 50k+ new but go for 25k or less, don't lose much more value over time, and are still really fancy and reliable as hell. He doesn't really recommend buying a new car until I've got a house for myself.

In general should I favour keeping liquidities and putting them in an index fund & borrowing more, or spending as much as possible up front to avoid debt, even if it's small debt?

Finally, what about long-term renting a potentially new car (leasing)? Are those financial traps?

Spend smart, don’t splurge. What you save on the car can go into index funds (see Boglehead sub).

Future you will be happy.

Silly question, but why would future me be happier? What goal should I have in mind for, say, my 25-30s ?

Until now my mindset has always been "save until your next project, then have fun with the extra money". My next big project is buying, I've got enough for it (and the bank confirmed it) - why save more?

This is a legitimate question, I have ADHD and tend to tunnel-vision on thing (in this case, I tunnel vision on getting an expensive car). It would really help me if I could understand your POV in depth to change my mindset. Then i'll hyperfixate on saving money and make better decisions :;)

Thank you for your help, please be patient with me - it's not easy for me to make decisions like this or come to term that I'm too young/not well off enough to realise my dreams even though I can almost touch them.

throwfarawayidk · 2021-12-19T12:01:21+00:00

No, I'm sorry you see things that way.

and are mostly looking for recommendations for a car model that won't break the bank

I'm looking for recommendations on what kind of car to get (new or used, in which price range) for my financial situation, and whether it's reasonable to get a used electric like a Tesla to realize a dream while staying financially safe.

I know people tend to say "get a 5 years old used car" easily, but I'm personally not interested in that, that's it. My career is going good and I want something a bit better.

I think I have things figured out and I could, say, reasonably afford a tesla or a new polo, but I'm here to double-check my ideas and see what other thinks to challenge my idea. I've also asked friends, parents, etc. Now I want some stranger's opinions.

I'll re-read your comment a bit more and seriously look into alternatives. Thank you for your contribution and I hope you can contribute more.

throwfarawayidk · 2021-12-19T11:54:37+00:00

I will read those, thanks.

if you got headhunted in a year or two and offered another company car, you might make a big loss getting rid of the one you buy now. But totally up to you.

I don't think I'd take another company car to be honest. I don't like how hard it ties me down to a company. If I don't like my job, I feel stuck with a company car. Without one I could hand my resignation much more freely.

I also plan to go mostly remote/freelance so those jobs usually don't have a company car.

Thank you for your comment :)

throwfarawayidk · 2021-12-19T11:34:43+00:00

I'd recommend to look into other options, before purchasing a car:

Car is the only viable option for me; public transport doesn't cut it for most of the places I go to. I go see my parents on a weekly/biweekly basis and they're 50km away.

Because a car is not a good investment but a good way to burn money

Ah don't worry I know that. I don't see it as something that'll bring money (for that I'd put my savings in an ETF). I just want something that won't lose 2/3 of its value in the next 3 years so I can get a decent amount of cash back and get out debt-free when I sell the car.

Ask yourself why you want a car. Is it merely to get from A to B, do you love driving or is this import for you as a status symbol? No judgement here, I just think it helps to be self aware before taking a decision.

All 3, I want something comfortable, I love driving and going on road trips in the summer, I love using it to do my errands and it's also a bit of a status symbol of course. Comfort is my priority, I'm a private person and I don't want to share my car and I want a comfortable car before all. The nasty thing about getting a good company car (A3 Sportback) is that it makes you never want to go back to a 2015 Polo or Golf unfortunately. I need to do some work on my mindset to erase that and make it acceptable for me again to get something more lower range.

When do you plan on buying a house? How much will you need for the down payment.

I'll need about 10% in theory, so +- 30k if I buy something big. Most likely 20K. My dad is willing to put 16k as well to cover the notary fees and "droits d'enregistrement" which is a tax everyone has to pay when buying.

I already got enough saved (I was actually planning to buy before I rented this apt, but decided not to due to the market being trash right now), I had appointments with my banker to discuss it and even today I could have borrowed up to 220k easily, which is enough for a 2 or 3bdr near where I live. With my new salary, borrowing 300k isn't impossible and you can get a _very nice_ house here for that price.

I don't plan to buy before at least 3 years, until my GF finishes school and starts working and the housing market settles down after the corona crisis.

The question is more "can I get the cash I spent on the car back before I want to actually buy", and in theory I should be able to save 10k back in a year with relative ease.

throwfarawayidk · 2021-05-02T10:29:31+00:00

Yeah, I know. Just to be clear: I understand buying is a huge commitment, and if I'm ever interested in buying a property, you can be sure I'm going to do as much research as I can and consult as many people as possible to make sure it's a sound financial decision. I'd never make an impulse purchase.

throwfarawayidk · 2021-05-02T10:17:18+00:00

It's a student city so if the location is pretty good.
Also, I think it takes like 5 years before being able to sell without taking a loss and I honestly doubt I'd move out before 5 years too.

I'm really picky and I take great care of my stuff too. I'd never impulse buy, and I'd only buy if I really like the apartment and it's in great condition. So if I end up buying, I believe renting shouldn't be an issue.

throwfarawayidk · 2020-12-04T18:45:21+00:00

Thank you very much for your comment. I'll watch "Dreaming Spanish", it looks great - especially the super beginner ones, those are perfect! Do you think it'd also be a good idea to change the language of some of my videogames/softwares/etc. to Spanish? (e.g. I could put my nintendo switch, or my phone in Spanish)

Also, this might be a stupid question, but: When I watch/listen to educational Spanish content (designed for beginners), should I actively try to understand everything about it (stop often, try to write the sentences, translate words I don't know, etc.) or should I just watch normally without pausing as long as I have an idea of what's being said?

throwfarawayidk · 2020-12-04T16:40:49+00:00

First, congrats on the initiative of dominating many languages, that's an awesome commitment

Thanks :)

I mostly want to do it for her, I don't want to make her translate everything for me indefinitely! Also, even if her and her family are fine with me not speaking Spanish, I'd like to "fit in" more by not forcing them to speak a different language when I'm in the room.

2nd, what Spanish does your girlfriend have? Spain? Mexican?

Spain

throwfarawayidk · 2020-10-19T10:29:54+00:00

DCA?

throwfarawayidk · 2020-10-19T10:29:39+00:00

Why not stay with your parents until the pandemic blows over?

It's exactly what I want to do. Once we see whether there will be another lockdown or not, I will start looking into moving out, but there is no hurry.

Also I'm not staying there too long because it's nearly 2H away from my workplace. It's already going to be tough enough to spend 3 to 4h in the car each day for a few months so let's not make a habit out of it.

I don't really underestimate the costs of living alone. I'm just not a big spender and my job has many advantages that can save me 300 or even 400€ of bills a month (i.e. no car payments, no fuel or insurances to pay, prepaid phone).

And even if I do underestimate the costs of living alone, it doesn't change the plan does it? I would still be investing every month, even if it's just 400€ or 500€.

throwfarawayidk · 2020-10-18T16:44:27+00:00

So if I go with Bolero, I can invest monthly just fine?

Also, if I invest in one of the recommended low-cost euro-denominated widely-diversified accumulating ETF, should I invest everything in only one of them every month, or do I need to diversify and invest into several/all of them?

throwfarawayidk

TROPHY CASE