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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   3352 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 18, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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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?

On a slightly different note, what do you guys spend your money on?

I have a very high savings rate primarily because there isn't really anything I want to spend my money on. The only major expense I see among peer that I don't have is traveling.

Mortgage, private school tuition, major home renovation.

I do most of the home renovation work, but materials are expensive and sometimes I need a contractor to do something and it becomes very expensive.

I've 4 children, a wife and a mortgage.

Car, rent, and food uses up most of my after-tax income.

Apple keeps putting products at a faster rate than I can buy them..

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.

Do you and your peers have families and houses with yards to accommodate families? Activities and education for the kids? Those (along with certain health issues) are things that can take up any amount of money you're willing to throw at them. I probably make less than you, but am currently spending much of it on a mortgage for a house with a decent amount of space and two cars to get around the kind of area with a decent amount of space.

Travel Guns Backpacking gear Spouse Offspring

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