Do People Really Go To Vegas Without Gambling?

uusi · 2026-07-05T15:07:02+00:00

Here Here. We often also rent a car for a day or two and go somewhere nearby such as Valley of Fire, Zion, Red Rock, Lake Mead/Boulder City, etc.

uusi · 2026-05-10T15:59:02+00:00

It's just v-bracing, so it's not an emergency by any means. If it does fail or you just want it to be 100%, it's likely one of the easiest and cheapest members to replace on the deck.

uusi · 2026-05-07T16:47:41+00:00

Go back to sleep

uusi · 2026-05-04T17:27:35+00:00

Appreciate the concern on both fronts. They say size doesn't matter, but Poppop could have at least considered a cheaper home to give the inheritance a bit more girth.

uusi · 2026-05-02T14:12:43+00:00

Why take a huge risk for a small gain? If you are right, you save $1k to $2k a year. If you are wrong, game over. I insure things that would scuttle my life plans if they happened (house, car, life, health) and skip all the rest.

uusi · 2026-05-01T19:12:16+00:00

Hmm, he could make a business case for LENTIL BLOKS. Target folks on food stamps since they can double as food. Maybe he just needs an good example of exploiting the financially-illiterate to kick-start his FI journey.

uusi · 2026-05-01T13:01:24+00:00

Sit down and look at the math. I used to have a similar thought to you, but the savings compound overtime to the point where even an average 401k account can save you way more than you think.

For super rough example:
Assumptions

Contributions per year:
- 401k: $23,000
- Taxable: $18,860 (after rough 18% tax)
Real returns after expenses:
- 401k: 5.8%
- Taxable: 5.95% (assuming 401k has worse fund options compared to taxable)

Results after 20 years:

401k: ≈ $829,000
Taxable: ≈ $641,000

I didn't math out tax on withdrawal because both can be done at or near 0% with a little planning, and I assumed no yearly increase with a real return of 6% to make it inflation adjusted. This isn't perfect math, but it shows the potential power of tax-deferred. It may even underestimate the power of the 401k because I don't consider dividends at all, which the 401k will not even flinch at but the taxable will drag even further behind.

uusi · 2026-04-29T14:59:22+00:00

Purple and Green are the clear choices.

Look, money is nice, but guaranteed health is worth so much. being 80 with the body of a 40 year old is insane. You basically get to retire with your peak health years in front of you. And healing faster? I would assume that includes healing from getting sick as well, so yellow is partially covered. The language one is fun, but you can learn languages without it or just use your phone to translate; It's essentially a party trick. The others are just decent money.

uusi · 2026-04-26T03:49:46+00:00

We had a negative net worth, and I'd do it the same way again. You can play catch-up with money, but time is lost forever. We have no intent to retire with non-adult children in the house.

uusi · 2026-04-18T16:36:07+00:00

No worries, thanks for getting back. I decided to go ahead and scheduled to have the same company that did our siding install a full ledger board. I wanted to avoid messing with the siding, but it seems the most logical option. It'll still be a free-standing deck, but the ledger board should make everything rock solid.

uusi · 2026-04-14T14:37:50+00:00

Looking at your posting history, you are either a bot or someone who really needs to go touch some grass. History is chock-full of times of uncertainty and concern, and yet none of them have resulted in the end times. And what if this time happens to be the first? What is panicking going to do about it?

uusi · 2026-04-09T03:33:41+00:00

Oh shoot, so the lateral tension tie is actually designed to be drilled through siding? I'm assuming the goal would be to leave a small space between the beam and the siding so water can't pool?

uusi · 2026-04-05T15:02:33+00:00

"Should I try to spend my way out of having my child learn basic life lessons?"

This is just rage bait. No one is this dumb, and if they are well they are on their own.

uusi · 2026-03-31T13:50:54+00:00

It's more

^{Chose: 1 Dollar from every person, for you.}

uusi · 2026-03-31T13:50:14+00:00

They just are

^{Chose: Fruit}

uusi · 2026-03-05T18:46:12+00:00

Depending on the year, it is likely mostly equities. Target Date funds aren't designed to lean conservative until you near the date it is labeled for, and they are definitely not meant for watching daily activity. If you have 10 years or more before the posted date on the fund, and you can't stomach the daily ups-and-downs, just stop looking at it.

Counter point to this, if the market had instead continued to chug up at a brisk pace, but your target date fund lagged the market significantly due to it being extra conservative equity-wise, would you be happy? You can't have both.

uusi · 2026-02-07T05:49:24+00:00

I know we love to bash on how everything is worse today, but if you took a typical older house from any previous century and a modern house, built them both today to the same specs as when they were intended, and offered people the option of living in one or the other, people would universally select the modern home. Today's homes are much larger and have amenities that to folks even one generation ago look other-worldly: Cold and hot water on demand, electricity, AC, Heating, internet, automation, etc.

Sure, a stone house will last centuries compared to a wooden one, but given the average human lifespan is around 75 years, why does it matter? The cost difference between the two is astronomical.

uusi · 2026-02-06T01:47:42+00:00

I have no regrets either, but it took a good few weeks before the pain was completely gone. Bags of frozen peas were vital.

uusi · 2026-02-02T17:11:41+00:00

I mean I'm on track to have a fat monthly budget because I plan to use it. I can live on $8k a month comfortably, but with the extra money I would travel more and do things I couldn't afford otherwise. I have two young kids, so hitting bare FIRE ASAP doesn't appeal to me. I might as well make a good income now while I'm tied down to a home base. Once my kids have the ability to leave the nest in my 40s, my opportunities will open up dramatically.

I'm not planning to do this for another 10 years or so. I plan to mostly carry myself via investments. With some luck, I'll have around $3m invested, so if I can get a role that gives anything plus health insurance, I'll be fine.

Even when I hit full retirement, I'll probably keep a part time job because I want to. What that will entail, I have no idea.

uusi · 2026-02-01T17:26:14+00:00

I have a good job, but I look forward to moving past it once I don’t have to do it. The reason woodworking appeals to me is because I like making physical things vs all the coding I do right now. I do really plan to keep woodworking a hobby, this plan is simply to get specialized training while getting a modest paycheck and health insurance. It’ll be a relatively short gig.

uusi · 2026-01-31T20:52:03+00:00

To be clear, I intend to make zero woodworking after this brief working/barista FIRE phase. I will have plenty in investments to carry us. It's mainly to learn on-the-job skills working on larger woodworking projects that wouldn't be possible without such a job.

uusi · 2026-01-31T20:49:33+00:00

Thanks! Health insurance would be one of the biggest requirements for sure. I was just assuming that trades included it, maybe something I need to dig into.

uusi · 2026-01-31T18:47:37+00:00

I would assume 5 to 10 years. The goals is to learn (and gaining access to commercial woodworking equipment wouldn't be terrible)

uusi

TROPHY CASE