Usually hedge socks have a star

He's getting sneaky

AggieKatie2 said:

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Built in Austin's Colony in Bryan starting Jan 2017, moved in May 2017.

Purchase price - @$335k (@116 sqft)
Current value - @$550k (@194 sqft)

If I was to buy/build the same quality sqft house somewhere else in town I'd pay AT LEAST AN EXTRA $1500/mo (principal, interest, property tax, home insurance) for my 30 year mortgage payment. That's with 20% down.

ZERO incentive to be in market

Auto market is a little bit better, but still terrible.



Yet I see people building and buying left and right with two new cars sitting in driveway…I don't get it.

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I think a lot of the people building/buying have made similar or even better gains on their current homes over the last decade, which helps. But also, BCS market is extra inflated imo because of the modern WFH/flex schedule model. It's near some major metro areas, but without all of the crime and mess that comes with those places.

There are a lot of markets in TX struggling more than BCS. I know like 7 or 8 families that have moved there in the past 5 years or so.

I'm on F16 and I'm not a millionaire.

But my Super Model wife is.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Mike Hancho said:

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Its insane knowing the statistics and yet people are fighting over $45 stanley cups like they found literal gold

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Heard a school teacher talking about this the other day. Kids showing up to school with these cups and kids getting bullied because they got a knockoff stanley cup. Teachers not teaching but mediating disputes caused by stanley cups.

Also that kids are walking around with phones that cost $1000 in their pockets.

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Starting in 6th or 7th grade everyone should be required to take personal economics every year, especially regarding retirement savings. Unfortunately, the leftist progressives would take over any program and corrupt it just like they have done with everything else.

Mike Hancho said:

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Seems like everybody I know has new cars, homes, frequent vacations. Going to sporting events, concerts etc...

Are people just making money hand over fist now a days?

Are these people saving money for retirement etc...?

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this is more or less the answer:

There is a reckoning coming.

JohnLA762 said:

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Look at the statistics. The average person is screwing themselves left and right.

Take care of your business and kick back and laugh at them when they are still working late in life and still broke…

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you don't think they've thought of that already? they'll take your 401k (or tax it heavily) and you won't be laughing very long.

Shoefly! said:

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AggieKatie2 said:

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It's houses for me. The number of new builds being bought up in BCS despite high property prices and even higher interest rates.

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Yes, I don't understand it. Where do all these people work? A500k-700k house the payment has to be 5k per month with taxes and insurance.

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Honestly, in B/CS, I don't think a lot of them actually work. There seem to be a lot of retirees moving in.

I was paying $5,800/mo to be locked down in Covid infested Los Angeles until I sold it for $1.1M, moved to Texas and couldn't be happier. But... I do need a place to live. $500k sounds pretty reasonable.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Also that kids are walking around with phones that cost $1000 in their pockets.

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Which they think cost $0 because it's subsidized by the carrier or financed for some long term.

I think we're close to seeing people be upside down on their phone trade-in.

I've got a guy who reports to me who pays AT&T about $450/month for 8 devices, phone plans, data plans, etc. I cringe every time I approve his expense report.

Welcome back Friend, keep your weapons oiled and your powder dry!

Exactly, but as parents we know they aren't teaching this in schools anymore so it is our responsibility. If we can't convince the school to do it we have no choice. Either way I am not letting my kids grow up without learning basic money handling

rocky the dog said:

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Love the quote, but that's a $150k+ cabin on a very large amount of land...

Aggie95 said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Look for this to become an issue over the next 2-years.

If this trend continues the IRS will change the rules in the dead of night.

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I understand part of this...but here's what I don't totally understand. If someone is in a really bad situation...say

$40k in consumer debt
$125k to $150k in 401k

as you approach retirement age, that $150k isn't going to do much and in reality, with the debt, you only have $110k in theory anyway. Is it that penal to pull the money out before retiring? I would assume it is because financial people harp on it so much.

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Agreed on this.

If a person could finagle a way to withdraw that money penalty free and clear come consumer debt or even mortgage debt, how would it not make sense to do so?

If you got a mound of debt you swimming upstream as it is.

But you right financial people lose their mind on this strategy.

For the people going into too much debt to get the latest toys and finest house have no concept of delayed gratification. We lived frugally for years and bought our dream house later for cash.

one safe place said:

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Being in debt for houses (including a main home and maybe a beach house or lake house), and cars, and boats, and motorcycles, and vacations isn't anything new. With bidenflation they cost more, as does the interest on the debt.

And yes, most on here are millionaires and they fully fund their 401(k), also contribute to an IRA, fully fund their HSA, fully contribute to the 529 for their kids, are up 47% in 2023, with plans to retire at 42 with around $20 million in liquid assets. Oh, and they always catch a limit of fish like I do.

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You lost a lot of us on the limit of fish.

Graduated in '89.

When went to Northgate would buy a pitcher of Shiner for something like $2.50 or $3.

I barely had enough disposable "income" for that once a week indulge.

I know lol poor is me... yes, I even lived in non-a/c Law Hall too.

I visit College Station once a year for a home football game.

It amazes me seeing 21 year old college students buying rounds-upon-rounds of shots and pitchers of beer at Northgate.

Where does all that disposable coin come from? Credit cards, parents, student loans that nay never have to be paid back?

Anyway... FUP!

Eh, I don't know.

I've been debt free for many nears, retired early, and have a ginormous nest egg. But there are times when my wife and I wish that we would have been a little more profligate along the way. It's a lot harder to do everything you really want to do when you start to get older, and you never know when health issues will kick you in the gut.
Wife was seriously ill for 5- 6 years and our retirement wasn't exactly what we thought it would be (she is much better now, thank god!, but still).

So I say a healthy balance is nice. Don't spend so much that you'll be destitute if you make it to retirement, but spend enough to live your dreams. You can't take it all with you.

Just sayin.....

100% debt free and it is a good feeling!

Shoefly! said:

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Welcome back Friend, keep your weapons oiled and your powder dry!

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Already joined the local gun club and most importantly, retrieved my (not California compliant) "assault" pistol and "assault" rifles from the back of my parent's closet. I think my mom was glad to have the extra space back.

Trajan88 said:

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It amazes me seeing 21 year old college students buying rounds-upon-rounds of shots and pitchers of beer at Northgate.

Where does all that disposable coin come from? Credit cards, parents, student loans that nay never have to be paid back?

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I remember the girlfriend of one of my buddies back in 1992, saying something to the effect of "my Mom is going to be mad when she gets the credit card bill".

I was just stunned that she had a credit card. I didn't even get to the part where her mom who worked as a receptionist was going to pay the bill for her.

I assume all those kids spending money in College Station are 100% funded by their Moms.

Quote:

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Love the quote, but that's a $150k+ cabin on a very large amount of land...

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Cabins & land are cheap in Siberia, comrade.

northeastag said:

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Eh, I don't know.

I've been debt free for many nears, retired early, and have a ginormous nest egg. But there are times when my wife and I wish that we would have been a little more profligate along the way. It's a lot harder to do everything you really want to do when you start to get older, and you never know when health issues will kick you in the gut.
Wife was seriously ill for 5- 6 years and our retirement wasn't exactly what we thought it would be (she is much better now, thank god!, but still).

So I say a healthy balance is nice. Don't spend so much that you'll be destitute if you make it to retirement, but spend enough to live your dreams. You can't take it all with you.

Just sayin.....

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Great post. I'm glad to hear your wife is better.

To your point about not being able to do as much when you get older, I'm glad I took my kids snowskiing when I was in my 30s because it would be much harder to do in my 50s from a physical standpoint.

Ironically, I could totally afford it now, I just can't do some of the stuff I used to do as easily. And have lost the appetite for much of it anyway. Running around Asia as a drunken Gaijin in my 40s was a blast but I don't really have any interest in doing that anymore.

I saw something the other day about foreigners buying houses in Japan dirt cheap. There appears to be a whole lot of rural houses in Japan that are available pretty cheaply and various foreigners are buying and moving into them.

sleepybeagle said:

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The only advise I ever give anyone younger than me is:

1) Always pay off your credit cards each month
2) Pay for your cars with cash.

These two simple rules will help keep your lifestyle within your means.

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1 is good advice, 2 is frequently bad advice. Car loans are some of the cheapest debt you can get - even with rates elevated like they are right now, lots of dealerships will give you a few years of 1-2% interest to tempt you to buy.

Don't pay cash when somebody is offering you 1-2%. You're throwing away money.

NE PA Ag said:

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For the people going into too much debt to get the latest toys and finest house have no concept of delayed gratification. We lived frugally for years and bought our dream house later for cash.

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What if you died before you were able to pay cash for it?

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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sleepybeagle said:

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The only advise I ever give anyone younger than me is:

1) Always pay off your credit cards each month
2) Pay for your cars with cash.

These two simple rules will help keep your lifestyle within your means.

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1 is good advice, 2 is bad advice. Car loans are some of the cheapest debt you can get - even with rates elevated like they are right now, lots of dealerships will give you a few years of 1-2% interest.

Don't pay cash when somebody is offering you 1-2%. You're throwing away money.

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Deputy Travis Junior said:

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sleepybeagle said:

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The only advise I ever give anyone younger than me is:

1) Always pay off your credit cards each month
2) Pay for your cars with cash.

These two simple rules will help keep your lifestyle within your means.

---

1 is good advice, 2 is frequently bad advice. Car loans are some of the cheapest debt you can get - even with rates elevated like they are right now, lots of dealerships will give you a few years of 1-2% interest to tempt you to buy.

Don't pay cash when somebody is offering you 1-2%. You're throwing away money.

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I've been told that they really love those offers because quite a few buyers will renege on the payment plan and the interest rate will shoot up to rates that nobody would agree with. Even one day late is enough.

NE PA Ag said:

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For the people going into too much debt to get the latest toys and finest house have no concept of delayed gratification. We lived frugally for years and bought our dream house later for cash.

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It takes a truly amazing amount of cluelessness to encourage people to wait to buy until they can pay cash on the tail end of a 3 year stretch that saw home prices double. If you'd told somebody this in 2019 and that person had been dumb enough to listen, you would have destroyed that person's homebuying ability as he/she watched the price of that otherwise "completely affordable on my salary" dream home increase by several hundred thousand dollars.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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sleepybeagle said:

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The only advise I ever give anyone younger than me is:

1) Always pay off your credit cards each month
2) Pay for your cars with cash.

These two simple rules will help keep your lifestyle within your means.

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1 is good advice, 2 is frequently bad advice. Car loans are some of the cheapest debt you can get - even with rates elevated like they are right now, lots of dealerships will give you a few years of 1-2% interest to tempt you to buy.

Don't pay cash when somebody is offering you 1-2%. You're throwing away money.

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Agreed.
But a majority of the folks who are financing their 75K truck, are paying much higher interest rates.
You can get 7 year car loans now? That's nuts.
We just paid for a compact SUV with cash, because discounts were better with financing. Then we just paid the entire loan off with our first payment.

There is some good, basic financial advice in this thread.

But the jokes on us. There are a lot many more folks who make bad financial decisions, and these folks vote. At some point when things get really bad, the government will bail them out and those of us who made good financial choices will be footing the bill.Student loans are just one example.

Democrats have made a living out of this, though obviously poor financial decisions are not limited to that party's voters.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/economy/us-household-credit-card-debt/index.html

Credit debt is record highs and massive layoffs are planned for this year.

samurai_science said:

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https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/economy/us-household-credit-card-debt/index.html

Credit debt is record highs and massive layoffs are planned for this year.

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And unemployment numbers will magically continue to remain low.

Trajan88 said:

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Graduated in '89.

When went to Northgate would buy a pitcher of Shiner for something like $2.50 or $3.

I barely had enough disposable "income" for that once a week indulge.

I know lol poor is me... yes, I even lived in non-a/c Law Hall too.

I visit College Station once a year for a home football game.

It amazes me seeing 21 year old college students buying rounds-upon-rounds of shots and pitchers of beer at Northgate.

Where does all that disposable coin come from? Credit cards, parents, student loans that nay never have to be paid back?

Anyway... FUP!

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Who needs northgate when you have all of those late night toga parties with your rampmates? Poor is me indeed living in the shadow of the Playboy mansion. Pooh-ah!

In keeping with the OP, what I am always amazed at is when I am around water, wherever it is, I see $500k+ boats. In marinas. Being trailered (I live in Sarasota). In docks. Texoma, Possum Kingdom, Tampa Bay, Lake Tawakon...well, maybe not there. But almost any body in America that I have been to in 57 years I see monster boats, middle monster boats, and then just regular boats. When I think of boat payments, slip rentals, insurance, taxes however small, and fees to the state, I wonder who the hell are these people? That's before you buy fuel and whatever else. I've been at the marina here when someone pulled up with a somewhat big boat (prob 36 foot) and filled up to the tune of $800. I can't help but wonder where all this money is coming from to pay for it. And I very regularly see $500k fishing boats being trailered in Sarasota to the public boat ramp. I've actually just sat in my car at the ramp to see the amazing boats people trailer there to go out on the gulf or the intracoastal. Mind boggling.

So glad my folks instilled in me the value of savings and to not spend above my financial means. I've witnessed many people over the years stressing out over their impulse buying.