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Spankytoes

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Everything posted by Spankytoes

  1. You haven't showed Surly your vagina yet. I reject your premise.
  2. Smart phones aren’t a luxury if your job is elevated past being a cashier at Walmart. Any white collar job will require access to email on the go.
  3. I was going to say “Because whites are racist”, but this is fine too.
  4. Haven’t watched late night in 20+ years but I watch clips online. Don’t get the love for Colbert. His interviews are awkward and he always seems disengaged. (I don’t find him funny either) Fallon flat out sucks with his fake laughing. I don’t take Myers seriously enough to have an opinion. Kimmel has some decent bits and seems the most natural in interviews. Conan is the king. Most enjoyable bits and guest interactions.
  5. I can tell you that my wife and I have zero intention on retiring in NY. The taxes are way too high for it to make sense. Unless we refinance again, our house in Long Island should be paid off when I turn 60. It will be kept as a vacation home. I can't speak to other states, but I'd imagine that you're better off staying in Texas if they decline to institute a State Tax. To give you an idea, we paid $24,000 in property and State taxes in 2018 for a house in Texas and a house in NY. Because of the new tax law, we are capped at $10,000. That would not have been an issue if we only had a house in Texas.
  6. At the very least, we know that Social Security will not be around in its current form in 2040. At best it won't pay out 100% and at worst it will be non-existent because the fund have been exhausted. So yes, YMMV. SS doesn't even factor into anything I plan for in my personal life or have provided as an example. It would be gravy to being financially responsible for many years. As you will cross over into the realm past 2037, I don't think that strategy is viable past your 12 year period of usage. Also, I don't think you are taking inflation into account. $48,000 in today's dollars will be approx. $51,520 in 2037. So either your standard of living drops or the amount you have to withdraw will increase.
  7. Honest question: Why do you think that is?
  8. I'm not sure how that math works. Conventional wisdom says that you should rely on at least 70% of your end game salary to maintain the same standard of living. If we assume a 2% wage increase annually from the age of 30, your household income at 67 would be $223,200 per year. That means you will need to withdraw $156,240 per year to maintain the same standard of living as a base. You're simply reallocating funds. Instead of paying for gas and increased car maintenance to travel to a job, you have to invest more into life insurance policies and medical needs since they aren't subsidized by an employer. Inflation is figured at a 2% per year rate as well. So $156,240 in 2040 would be like $90,620 in today's dollars. At a stagnant rate, you will burn through $1.7m in 11 years. If you become more frugal in your old age, which defeats the purpose of being frugal in your peak earning years, you could maybe stretch things to 14 years if you remain in relatively good health. If you retire at 67 in 2040, you had better hope that you don't live past 82 when the money runs out. That's why so many retired people take other jobs to help subsidize their wages. Any thing less than $2.5m for a married couple is anxiety inducing. (Assuming you retire in 2040)
  9. Was just coming to edit that. Yes, $64,000 total. Same statement. Sure, you can. If you are in good health, are OK with no luxuries and don’t travel.
  10. Are you supposing for a single person or a married couple? $1.7m for a married couple retiring at 67 with a life expectancy of 92 isn't going to cut it. That's $32,000 per year + whatever may be left in the Social Security coffers. Medical care and taxes will eat through that pretty quickly.
  11. Right, which is exactly what I'm saying. While the math isn't perfect, it is very difficult for a family of 4 to live comfortably off $3,053.58 a month. Even if you cut your retirement contributions to $19,000.00 per year, you're only raising your disposal income to less than $6,000.00 per month. That's much easier to live frugally on. But, you've cut your retirement nest egg by more than half due to compound interest rates. To make this viable, you have to shun credit cards, new cars and be in relatively good health. Otherwise, you will burn through your savings pretty quickly as life issues come up.
  12. I said a household annual income of $90,000. $90,000 - $38,000 = $52,000 gross. I agree with your second sentence. That was the main idea of my entire post.
  13. In truth, Millennials gets a lot of shit for all the wrong reasons when it comes to retirement. The average household income in America is $61,372.00 per year. So let’s assume that the husband makes $55,000.00 per year and the wife makes $35,000.00 per year for an annual household income of $90,000.00. Considering today's job market, and baby boomer’s refusal to leave jobs, that’s a pretty high estimate. The husband and wife max out their 401K contributions at $38,000.00. Husband gets another $2,200.00 from his employer on a 4% match and wife gets another $1,400.00 from her 4% match. Their annual contributions would be $41,600.00 per year. If they remain constant in their savings with an average return of 6% for 37 years (Age 30 – 67), they will end up with $5,971,276.18, which is an excellent nest egg. But, the reality is that is hardly achievable. If you are contributing $38,000.00 of your salary to max out your contributions, you are left with a gross of $52,000.00. Assuming that the average taxes are 16.03%, your net annual take home would be $45,043.00 claiming 0 deductions. (Also assuming you live in Texas and do not have to pay a State Tax) Then, you have further revisions such as insurance. If you are paying $8,400.00 annually for insurance ($700/mth. for family), your net is further reduced to $36,643.00 per year or $3,053.58 per month. Unless you’ve inherited a house, at least half of that will be eaten up by your mortgage, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance. So you have to figure out how to live off $1,500.00 a month, or $375.00/week to subsidize your transportation, food, entertainment, incidentals, maintenance, kids, etc. Not to mention, needing savings to remain liquid. And you certainly can’t afford credit cards without earning interest or have high school loans to pay off. Even if you live frugally, and earn almost $30,000.00 more than the average annual household income, it’s improbable that you will be able to sustain that level of retirement contributions. Especially as a 30 year old with a family, whose immediate needs outweigh the possibility that you will live to 67 and beyond. In reality, you will need to cut your retirement contributions in half to have some breathing room. That will essentially dwindle your nest egg to $3,000,000.00, which is on the border of what will be enough money to retire with due to inflation and increased medical costs once you leave the workforce. You also have to suppose that you will receive raises to offset the differential and remain employed without a large gap, which may be out of your control.
  14. I have two (2) personal trips this year of merit: Wife and I went to Ocho Rios January 16 – 21. We flew on AA, in Business, JFK-MIA-MBJ. Total cost for our tickets was $99.20 in taxes on the departure. We had free AAdmiral’s Club access with our tickets but elected to use the Centurion Lounge instead through my AMEX Platinum. Our Uber to the airport was $33.35. We flew JetBlue on the return and were upgraded to Even More Space seats for MBJ-JFK. Our cost on the return was $172.30 in taxes. I have the Priority Pass Lounge Pass complimentary with my Chase Ink, so we hung out in Club Mobay before our flight for food and drinks. Our Uber from the airport to the house was $36.25. We stayed at the Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort & Spa, which is an adults only all-inclusive hotel. (All drinks, food and gratuities) We were afforded complimentary roundtrip shuttle transfers to/from MBJ. I used 240,000 HHonors points for our stay, which represents four (4) nights at 60,000 points per night for a Standard Room. As a HHonors member, I get my 5th night for free when using points. As a Diamond member, I was upgraded to a Premium ocean view room with a balcony for free. We booked a few excursions through Viator using Citi Thank You points. This took care of trips to Jewel Dunn Falls, the Blue Hole, river tubing and a booze cruise to the Luminous Lagoon at night. My total cost was 29,753 Citi TY points. The total cost of my trip, including an ill-fated trip to Margaritaville to check it out, was a little over $425.00 for both of us, or $212.50 each. Had I booked the traditional way for our dates, the cost would have been over $6,250.00. So we ended up with a 99% savings for the trip. In September-October, I am heading to Munich for Oktoberfest, Amsterdam and Brussels with a friend of mine from Dallas. Our flights cost me 35,700 Citi TY points for JFK-LIS-MUC on TAP Portugal due to a sale. (Flying in Coach) I booked a flight from DFW-JFK for my friend on AA the day before our departure for $5.60. I will pick him up from the airport and he’ll crash in one of our guest rooms. It will cost about $40.00 for a LIRR ticket and subway fare to show him NYC and take the AirTrain to JFK. On the return, I booked BRU-LHR-JFK and BRU-LHR-JFK on BA/AA for $209.26. (Again, in Coach) Because I have Platinum status with AA, we will at least get Main Economy the entire way with an outside shot at Business/J Class. We fly BRU-LHR together and then divert for our flights home. We’ll get the MUC-Rosenheimer Platz S8 train, which runs beneath our hotel, for $30.00 roundtrip. We are staying four (4) nights at the Hilton Munich City Center in an Executive Twin Room. (280,000 Hhonors points) With Hilton Diamond status, we’ll get Executive Lounge access for free food/drinks to pre-game and complimentary buffet breakfast each morning. We’ll need two (2) additional days of a metro pass for $40.00. We are renting a Porsche Boxter from Sixt, which is located at the hotel, for $130.00 with fuel to drive to Neuchwanstein and Innsbruck as a day excursion. I booked our flight from MUC-AMS on Lufthansa using 16,000 United miles + $85.00. We are staying at the Intercontinental Amstel for 180,000 IHG points in a Twin Executive City View room for three (3) nights. Because I am a Spire Elite, we will be upgraded to the next room category. I have Intercontinental lounge access, so we’ll have free food/drinks throughout our stay, including breakfast. Getting from AMS to our hotel roundtrip will be $12.00 on the train from Centraal. We are ideally located, so we’ll prett much be walking everywhere. We are taking a train from Amsterdam Centraal to Bruxelles Central. It’s too early to book, but I will use 12,500 City AMEX points to cover the cost for Business Class seats. We are staying at the Hilton Grand Palace for one (1) night at a rate of 60,000 HHonor points. All the aforementioned Hilton Diamond status perks will apply. Our roundtrip transport to Bruxelles Central will be $20.00, which we will also use to get to the airport to catch our flight home. My Uber from JFK to my house will be around $36.00. My buddy will be picked up by his wife. So, for all transport, 5-star hotels, food and breakfast for 2 people, our final cost is less than $600.00, or $300.00 each. Obviously beer, additional meals and other “substances” will add to the total. So the final total will be closer to $1,200.00, or $600.00 per person. Most of this was covered by churning cards and through strategic spending on a few key cards I hold on to. Though, I admit, I did get a little boost on Hilton points through business travel. The point is that it can be done, and done well, with a little effort. So maybe you have to stay at a Hampton Inn instead. WGAS? Have fun!
  15. There is merit to this train of thought. But, it's all about context. If someone went in blackface to a Texas game wearing a VY jersey, I think that there would be outrage across the board. If someone went to a costume party in the same outfit, the outrage wouldn't be unanimous. It's a costume party, which by definition relaxes the social norms. No one is going to get offended if a black guy puts on white makeup to be a vampire. But, even then there is a line to be drawn. Showing up as a Boston bombing victim or a 9/11 hijacker is in extremely poor taste. Personally, I would not participate any any of the above. Where I take issue is when people use a situation that does not have racial intentions and turn it into a cause for outrage. Dressing up as MJ isn't demeaning to anyone in the least. If you went true black face, including the cartoonish white lips, that's something completely different as the intent is obviously aimed as a shot at black people. The yearbook photo is clearly racist and all people SHOULD be offended. I just don't buy that the circumstances merit the proposed consequences because a 20-something didn't have the foresight to see that he would be called out on it 35 years after it occurred due to the current political climate where white people are under intense scrutiny for anything they say/do to a person of color. Every politician has dirt from their youth that may or may not have been memorialized.
  16. As someone that has received 2 DWIs (21 years old; 30 years old) I can tell you that the best thing for me was getting caught and having to pay the price for my mistakes. Paying all that money, getting an interlock on my car and knowing that a 3rd violation meant actual jail time was enough of a deterrent for me. I rarely even drink outside of my house anymore, and if I do, I make sure that I'm covered with a ride to/from said watering hole. Being VY doesn't excuse your actions. Especially since Uber/Lyft is a thing now. In fact, because you are VY, you have even less of an excuse. Literally 100 out of 100 sober people will go out of their way to help you for free in the Austin area.
  17. I speak fluent Cajun, so I'll be the designated translator.
  18. That doesn’t sound like exercise to me.
  19. Yep. Like all voting Americans, I had to make a choice between 2 shitty Candidates. And?
  20. C’mon now. ONE Republican candidate did all that. Clinton v. Paula Jones was documented prior to Bill’s re-election.
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