The wealth-building thread

[JeffS7444]

But then you need to wait 22 months to get the thing you want, which might be a problem if you need it right now.

When we're talking about home audio, there's no such thing as "need it now".

 

[antcollinet]

People have software failures more than hardware failures. They drink, drug, have their mind on work, spousal disagreement, kids, are just generally stressed, get tired, lack sleep are in a hurry etc while driving. Robots won't have any of these issues.

Are incapable of focussing properly on more than one task at once. Easily distracted by all sorts of stuff. Attention wanders. Reaction times are (by comparison) pathetic. Struggle to see at night, have "body spasm" events (cough, sneeze etc). Show off to thier mates. Vastly overestimate their capability to drive like racing drivers and so on... and on and on.

Not much of a surprise at the amount of carnage out on the roads.

 

[bachatero]

When we're talking about home audio, there's no such thing as "need it now".

But then what timeline do you use? Because if you waited just a couple more years, you could get even more return on your investment.

 

[JeffS7444]

But then what timeline do you use? Because if you waited just a couple more years, you could get even more return on your investment.

Therein lies the problem: The more I appreciate the power of compounding interest, the harder it becomes for me to spend money.

 

[antcollinet]

The number of Tesla recalls is mind boggling. Can't imagine ever wanting a car that weighs so much the tires wear out in 2 years, where insurance is 50-100% more, loses it's value faster than just about any other car or where the recall list is so crazy high. I prefer a well maintained 20 year old vehicle with as few gadgets as possible and low mileage.

Not to mention, Elon Musk is an utter dick, and I wouldn't spend £0.50 on a bar of chocolate if the money was heading his way.

And the article I read recently suggesting he has seriously fucked up by relying on cameras only, rather than including Lidar for the machine vision subsystems.

But Tesla aren't the only org working on driverless vehicles - and I remain confident in my (carefully non time framed) prediction

 

[Ron Texas]

The number of Tesla recalls is mind boggling. Can't imagine ever wanting a car that weighs so much the tires wear out in 2 years, where insurance is 50-100% more, loses it's value faster than just about any other car or where the recall list is so crazy high. I prefer a well maintained 20 year old vehicle with as few gadgets as possible and low mileage.

https://www.tesla.com/support/annual-and-recall-service

What's low mileage on a 20 year old vehicle? I don't believe they are too easy to find. The EV thing is not going the way government regulators would like. It started with Ford Mach-E's piling up on dealer lots. Last year Ford lost $4 billion on EV's. Lucid went broke abandoning its customer base. Battery factories are being canceled and across the auto industry EV production plans are being scaled back and replaced with non plug-in hybrids. One battery maker is switching from automotive to stationary power storage products. You mentioned a few of the problems. Lack of a public charging infrastructure is often cited. What happens when the regulations require that more EV's be sold than what consumers want to buy?

 

[JeffS7444]

You might want to spend some of that money. Have some fun!

I wouldn't say that "I've arrived" (yet!), but I've had some luck, made some good decisions, and made fewer and smaller stupid ones. I've also had some good role models, but you won't find them on social media showing off their latest toys.

Lately, I've spent more money than strictly necessary on: Bedding, soap, fresh produce, tea, books, magazines, and as of last week, car maintenance. Am in no rush to discover shinier things to buy: Goodness knows I'm surrounded by people who seem to love buying More of Everything. But one thing they don't seem to have is the freedom to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it, for as long as they want to do it.

 

[Ron Texas]

My 2003 has 60,000 miles and the vehicle was garaged when not in use.

Hybrids make sense but there are many more parts that can fail on these gadgets. EV might work eventually if they can drop the weight, charging time is less than 5 minutes and refill stations are on every corner. EV's are the key cause for electric Kilowatt rates jumping higher in the USA in the last 2 years. What you really want is a car that can charge itself via solar instead of switching out gas bills for higher electric rates.

Hybrids are a product of a regulatory regime. I haven't seen any studies on total cost of ownership as compared to ICE cars but consumers want them which is a completely different situation from EV's. Increases in electric rates are also due to data center consumption including crypto mining. Electric rates are also rising due to regulatory action. Highly subsidized wind and solar make building new dispatch-able fossil fuel generation unprofitable. When the sun goes down demand is at a peak which causes wholesale rates to spike.

Lower weight (higher energy density), faster charging and a public charging infrastructure would increase consumer demand for EV's, but I'm afraid regulations demand their adoption before these other goals are met.

 

[Petrushka]

Probably one of the best things people can buy these days is a quality AC or Heat Pump. It's not getting any cooler, electric rates are on the rise and you don't want to be without when you need it. The unbelievable heat we are experiencing keeps rising. The price of these units has gone up 100% in the last 6 years and another 30% jump is already scheduled for next year's models.

I got a $30-40,000 quote for a mini-split system for the house. Instead I bought five Midia window ACs, also mini-splits, for $350 each at Costco. Last month, July, it cost $100 in electricity to cool the house to 74F (23C). For that price I get an app that monitors and controls each unit. When no one is visiting I can reduce cooling room by room. They are unbelievably quiet, comparable to a Bosch dishwasher.

Midia is beginning to sell window heat pumps. The rumored price is $3000 each. Even that would be half the custom installed price, and each one would be individually replaceable.

 

[hvbias]

One I wonder about with the "BTC is a store of wealth" thing, it more or less tracks Nasdaq but with 3-4x its beta. BTC people (at least the ones on /r/bitcoin) get offended when you call it what it really is, just a highly speculative instrument.

 

[hvbias]

There is always something I could worry about. Instead, I try to follow the big boys option activity and ignore the chatter.

This is the type of post that surprises me on a science based forum. You are essentially saying you can time the market? If so that's a fool's errand, more money has been lost trying this than DCA.

 

[Ron Texas]

BTC has absolutely no value but what the greater fool will pay for it. It has no earnings, no dividend, can't make Jewelry out of it and it doesn't exist in the real world. The only thing it's good for is illegal activity and apparently there is plenty of that going on.

At least with tulip bulbs you get a flower.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Anyone active in the commodities markets? I'm not and it seems not much more than gambling so just curious.

 

[bachatero]

Anyone active in the commodities markets? I'm not and it seems not much more than gambling so just curious.

Day traders love commodities for some reason, but I don't trade those because apparently it's hard to get an edge.

 

[JeffS7444]

Probably one of the best things people can buy these days is a quality AC or Heat Pump. It's not getting any cooler, electric rates are on the rise and you don't want to be without when you need it. The unbelievable heat we are experiencing keeps rising. The price of these units has gone up 100% in the last 6 years and another 30% jump is already scheduled for next year's models.

Now that's a good idea, and the window unit mentioned by @Petrushka seems like something which might be a good fit for my apartment. Currently got a smaller window unit, but it's noisy, and on a hot day, 82F/28C is about as cool as it gets. And yes, I've ensured that it's not clogged with dust. Electrostatic air purification might be a welcome thing too, for those times when forest fires put a lot of particulate matter into the air. Kinda crazy how hot days, nights that don't cool like they used to, and so many fires aren't freaking people anymore.

Electric and hybrid vehicles are very popular in my area, but although the intention may be good, I wonder if "shopping for change" is actually a toxic sort of feel-good consumerism which is making matters worse.

 

[Ron Texas]

Anyone active in the commodities markets? I'm not and it seems not much more than gambling so just curious.

Yeah, I bought 16 gallons of regular yesterday.

 

[Doodski]

I'm on a fixed retirement income these days. Not high and not low. I am comfy. I think I can spare maybe my expendable cash flow of say a easy to produce $300 a month over and above my necessities and entertainment, skiing etc. What is a secure and decent investment that I can access and liquidate easily as I age?

 

[bachatero]

I'm on a fixed retirement income these days. Not high and not low. I am comfy. I think I can spare maybe my expendable cash flow of say a easy to produce $300 a month over and above my necessities and entertainment, skiing etc. What is a secure and decent investment that I can access and liquidate easily as I age?

Money Market Mutual Funds (MMMFs) are very liquid and have yields of 4-5%, but that's just one option. There's also CDs, bonds, and High Interest Savings Accounts (HYSAs), all of which also usually bring 4-5% yield.

 

[Doodski]

Money Market Mutual Funds (MMMFs) are very liquid and have yields of 4-5%, but that's just one option. There's also CDs, bonds, and High Interest Savings Accounts (HYSAs), all of which also usually bring 4-5% yield.

Hmmz. Can I take more risk and play blue chip and even more risky stuff with a degree of security and confidence?

 

[bachatero]

Hmmz. Can I take more risk and play blue chip and even more risky stuff with a degree of security and confidence?

That risk is up you because the stock market could crash at any moment and you'd die penniless, while CDs and a couple other options are up to the banks to take the risk of. There are a couple special exotic options (search "SVOL" for one example) but those are for traders who are ready to take on the extra risk.