Friday Fun Thread for February 14, 2024
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Notes -
How are you changing your investment/savings strategy as AI timelines get shorter? I’m still in my boring ol’ index funds but have decreased my savings rate down by 5-10%.
I know very little economics, but the popular sentiment seems to be that interest rates will get very high and raw capital will be incredibly important in a post-AGI world. Does this matter for the average person like me who just wants to be financially independent in his 40s?
Fellow high savings rate enthusiast here, I save 80% of my income. I spend on food/groceries, car repairs, and hanging out with friends. I'm a single 26-year-old guy and live with my parents, so no rent.
I travel maybe once a year, but I usually visit places where I have existing friends and family so that I can save on accommodation and transport. I recently took a two week vacation to the East Coast of the US from Dubai (my home base) for ~2k USD, lived with friends and family and basically had 0 accommodation costs, ate at diners and fast food joints and backyard cookouts, etc. No one even comprehends let alone believes I went to the US for 2k USD. They think I lived with bedbugs and rats. But most people have a distorted idea of how much travelling actually costs because they think of travelling + living in luxury.
The above won't even be an issue if you are travelling to non First World destinations. Just don't have the 5-star luxury hotel instagram worthy experiences.. You will still experience a new country, smell new smells and see new things.
I live like a broke college student even though I make a tech worker's salary. I understand this makes me profoundly uncool in this day and age where just about everyone else in my demographic are major spendthrifts and live paycheck to paycheck (Seriously, GenZ and Millenial financial habits are atrocious). I also take a get a lot of shit from people calling me straight-up cheap and miserly to my face. But I like the idea of sitting on some raw cash so that I can finance anything from a car to a vacation last minute.
I mean, having friends and family that can give you a room is doing a lot of the work here.
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