All Forum Posts by: Jeremiah Dunakin

 Gotta disagree. If a person maxes out 401k/roth they can make a lot of money. We had this conversation at work today. If a person starts in thier twenties and maxes them out. They can sit on2/3 million in the future. Saving 25k a year at 8% returns adds up fast. In less than ten years you can be making 20k a year in returns. Yes waiting till 59 sucks. However some places allow you to take loans on 401k that you pay back with interest to yourself. 

It’s getting to election season. In October/Nov gas prices will go down, student loan will be forgiven, rates will be cut a few times (although not anything meaningful), cpi or whatever flavor of the month that’s used to calculate inflation will be down, cash payments will be in discussion for people, border crossings will be down, truce will be brokered in Middle East,funding for police will be on table, our streets will be safer, it will be “cold and flu season”, certain political parties will be against voter rights and anti everything. 

There is nothing new under the sun. Rates will drop slightly, people will act like it’s the greatest thing in the world and will magically have mind cleared of reality.

I find the work full time job comical. I have been working seven days a week for 13 years. We shut down for a day in spring, the forth of July week and sometimes Christmas week. Literally we work every day for months at a time. We also will work 12 hour days 75% of the time. 14/1500 hours of overtime at my shop is normal. That said we remodeled a small house and manage it working those hours. I have gained seniority and down work those hours as much anymore but I will still work seven days a week with a couple 12s. Most days would work 3 am to 3pm go to rental rehab work till 5/6 eat shower and go to bed by 8.
It is doable people just want an excuse. It’s doable if you want it. 

I think is a bit of luck in things, however a lot of “luck” is being right place right time. But you have to put yourself in that place. Some examples of luck I’ve heard. People buy a unit thinking they were getting a single family. They bought expecting a single unit, come to find out it was zoned multi family, adding a 2000$ window makes a multi. I work with a guy who had bought mineral rights to his property(not luck) then had a massive oil pipe bust that no one knew about. Now what he collects in payments from oil company more than pays his mortgage. 
We make some of our own luck. That said playing sports there is luck. A guy hitting a 3/4 shot in basketball who couldn’t hit a standard three point shot is luck. A Defensive back slipping at line of scrimmage and Wide Reciever catching a wide open pass is luck. Hitting the lottery is luck. Rich family members leaving some idiot offspring an inheritance is luck. 

I will say this though most things are blessings and neither luck nor skill. I was blessed to be born in USA. I was blessed to be able to think somewhat logically. I am blessed to have pretty good health. These things are way beyond the scope of anything I could do. I can’t choose where I was born and raised, I didn’t choose to have good health it was given to me(yes I know lifestyle choice factor into health). 

 It’s cool. Most people when they think of the word inflation they think about buying power for the most part. We can go by the technical definition. 95% of people will not go by that. People just know that they ain’t got no  money now. They know that credit cards balances are all time high. They know that it cost double for everything. Call it devalue of the dollar, inflation, or dollar erosion. Call it what you will. The government has changed the terms and how inflation is measured. Call it what u will. 

Gas, food and lumber was every bit 1/2 of what it is now. Things doubled in a matter of a couple years. Not over time. Yes the poor will continue to struggle. They make poor decisions. Wages have not kept up with inflation. When I started my union negotiated job I made 4x what a McDonald’s worker made now I make 2x. Wages have gone up some but not for a lot of middle class jobs.according to Fox News or CNN take your pick. Americans are paying 709$ more per month for same goods and services than they were two years ago.By my very simple calculations. At 160 working hours a month that is  4.43/ hr lost. I don’t know anyone in my area or line of work that have gotten more than 4.44 an hour raise to keep up with that. Let alone outpace it. Yes some unions have gotten that. But the majority of Americans have not seen that wage growth. Most people get around 3% a year. 80000$ year job at 3% is about a 1.15$ / hr increase. Over two years that’s 2.30$/hr far below the 4.43$ we have lost to inflation. Again I’m a simpleton factory worker but what I see in working class has been a huge reduction in wealth. 
As far as traveling. People are doing that. We also have a credit crisis in our nation.Maybe all these people aren’t paying on credit but I’ve a hard time believing they ain’t. 

 I don’t know a lot I’m a simpleton. Here is what thoughts are. We live in a society that does value work. From the top down there is encouragement not to work. Culture has dictated less work more money. This is a recipe for disaster. At my shop we just went through a union contract. The new hires wanted the whole world given to them and they loathe seniority. This also goes in the public sector. We have an administration that has encouraged people not to work. The labor shortage is very real. This causes not as much to be produced and what is being produced is more expensive because of labor cost. 

A short while ago I bought gas for 1.60 and a family pack of chicken thighs were 4.00. So I could go to work and eat dinner for 5.60. Today it’s 3.00$ gallon and 8 dollars for thighs. Same trip 11.00$ yes it’s doubled. Ground beef was 1.75/ 2.00 lbs. now it’s 6.00+ a lot. A 2x4 is 3$ plus used to 1.66$. This is true inflation forget all the metrics. That is just accounting. Most Americans are paying twice what they used to pay for stuff. Rent is through the roof. The cost to borrow money to invest is insane. Look at the price of a new truck compared to 5 years ago. Co pays at the hospital is higher. My work insurance is about to go up 25%. A few years ago I could go to McDonald’s get a double cheeseburger and a medium chocolate shake3.50 now it’s 8$ and it takes twice as long to get it

While I agree that most don’t know. Here is my two bit thought. Making a rational educated guess can help you navigate waters.Basically plan for the worst and if it happens you prepared, if not you in better shape. There are things that you can try and predict. Rates will start going down next year. Inflation will “go down” gas will go down, food will go down, there will also be cold and flu season. It is an election year. I would be willing to bet in the months leading up to November prices will be down so that the last four years are forgotten for better or worse. Especially in today’s political climate some things are easier to predict than in years past. Me personally I try and sometimes fail to think about future events and how they can affect my wallet. If there is a changing of the guard in the next election cycle I think most can tell where things will go, or if they stay the same we can also know how that wil go. 

I have a vanguard 401k account at my job. I am able to take up to two loans out on it that I pay back to myself. I did one for first property and I’m glad I did it every first of the month. 

If I had something destroying my property I’m taking care of it and worrying about details later. Not saying this applies in every scenario, however in this I feel it does. Go set a live trap catch remove it and be done with it or pay a local company to do it. If that thing starts to destroy the house a 100$ will be insignificant.