nsplayr

Will you still feel the same if the US is able to shepherd a peace deal between Saudi and Israel? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/us/politics/saudi-arabia-israel-united-states.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare I’m not necessarily for this deal (devil’s in the details), but IDK, the possibility being floated to me shows that our influence as a nation isn’t waning whatsoever. China wants to compete, and they’re fairly the world co-number two with the EU, IMHO, but we’re still the top dawg. I also don’t see that changing given China’s slowing economy and disastrous demographic challenges ahead.

Of which century? 🧐

Diversity of thought & debate is fine, but "dis gonna coz WWIII" isn't an appropriate retort to every counterpoint. A) Despite numerous foreign policy mistakes, America is the unquestioned global economic, military and cultural superpower, and we are closely allied with most of the other key players (EU/NATO/AUS/JAP/SK/etc.). If the last 50 years are a "strategy failure" please sign me up for 50 more years of similar failures so I can live out the rest of my days in relative peace and prosperity! B) Putin has agency. He personally controls Russia's nuclear arsenal. No one is forcing his hand to push the button. NATO expansion may be legitimately threatening to him, but he has choices and can choose to use nuclear weapons or not. It's not unreasonable to blame him if he chooses to do that in response to anything other than a nuclear first-strike conducted by the West, which isn't going to happen. Invading your neighbor, failing to win the conventional war, feeling "backed into a corner" because you suck at war and are losing, and escalating to a nuclear first strike are all choices, and at every step along that shitty path, Putin can and should choose otherwise. He's not a victim here or an automaton who "can't" choose to do anything else. C) I don't understand the arguments that "we aren't thinking of adverse effects" or "we are giving Ukraine a blank check." I haven't found that to be the case at all! A cost-benefit analysis & moral argument has been made that supporting Ukraine with lethal aid has been the right thing to do. Congress has allocated money in an orderly process, the President is supportive and has signed appropriations into law, and a coalition of democratically elected leaders across party lines supports our efforts so far. I happen to agree with the analysis and our actions so far, but even if you don't, it's kinda weird to just claim that no analysis was done. Like I'm pretty sure a pre-invasion cost-benefit analysis was done for invading Iraq in 2003...they sure screwed the pooch but like, there's no shortage of evidence that the administration didn't just trip & fall their way into massive coordinated military action! Same with this conflict, we're not doing this by accident, it's a strategic decision and you can feel free to disagree, but our involvement is not an unplanned accident that can be magnanimously corrected by some genius internet strategerizing by a handful of crack Air Force FGOs. No beatings needed though...righteous mockery is only reserved for those not willing to engage in good faith. I'm legitimately open to discussions of a desired end-state and what the US & Europe should accept if/when Russia decides to slap a tourniquet on the whole thing and negotiate with words rather than guns 🍺

Guys, y'all arguing with @BashiChuni on this is as pointless as Putin throwing away too many young Russian men against the hard rocks and advanced weapons in Ukraine. Probably time to quit.

I mean I think @Stoker did a pretty good job! "Vladimir Putin is being defeated in Ukraine and America's economy is stronger because of his failed war." Put that on a bumper sticker, and also continue the policies that are making that come true.

Do you have a TL;DR for the 58min podcast? I might listen on my drive, but if you already did, any take-aways are appreciated!

Can't is not correct, won't is accurate for me at least. You haven't engaged in the topic like someone open to debate or nuance, but more like someone whose mind is made up regardless of the evidence. You think this will cause WWIII and we should not intervene and let Russia I guess just takeover Ukraine and so sorry, too bad, you're not NATO, enjoy your stay Vlad! I've made my views clear, and I guess so have you. Nothing more to discuss!

I don’t buy your argument at all. The last DOT Secretary who was an “expert in transportation” was probably Mary Peters 2006-2009 under GWB, and I am 99.69% sure you have no idea who she is or what, if anything, she accomplished leading the department. It’s a cabinet position, they are political appointments to oversee bureaucracies. Some folks do better than others but domain expertise actually isn’t really necessary IMHO. Hell, Rick Perry said in a presidential debate he would eliminate the Department of Energy as President, had zero idea the department’s primary function is dealing with nuclear weapons and managing research labs shortly before being nominated to lead it…and I still happen to think he ended up doing a pretty ok job! I also just don’t buy for a second that “wokeness” is crowding out so much valuable time to focus on your job. Haven’t seen that in the military (active or guard), not in my civilian job. Certainly can’t correlate DOT HR training policies with private company freight train derailments. Executing primary duties at least decently and masterfully slobbing the right Bobs’ knobs has always been the primary vector onward and upward 😅

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/delta-pilots-ratify-new-contract-union-2023-03-01/ Looks like the new Delta contract is done. Congrats!

If your goal is to own broadly diversified stocks in your TSP, then yea, that’ll probably work. Are you going to rebalance to maintain those proportions? What do your other investments look like? Do you really have informed opinions on the right mix of stocks you could or should or would like to own (large cap / small cap / international) as represented by these three funds? Without knowing all the answers to the above, I would recommend pursuing one of the following strategies: 1. Simplicity: lifecycle fund closest to your estimated retirement date (actual retirement, eg age 65), then never think about it again. TSP will smartly adjust your allocation between the funds and slowly dial in more lower-risk assets into the mix as you age. 2. Optimization: consider your whole portfolio, rebalance, take advantage of TSP’s unique qualities (eg the G fund). Determine your portfolio-wide desired asset allocation (X% stocks, X% bonds, X% cash-equivalent) and adjust your TSP in concert with your other accounts. Rebalance every 6-9 months to maintain your desired allocation and adjust your desired allocation appropriately with age and changes in your risk tolerance. I currently do #2 because I enjoy investing and life optimization / scheming in general. Many people do not enjoy that at all however! #1 is a totally defensible choice IMHO…TSP is very low cost and an L fund chosen well will do about 69% of the work for you, automatically, for free. My perhaps different take on asset allocation: most folks who will receive a mil pension can afford to invest their other retirement savings much more aggressively, because you are backstopped by a life-long, inflation adjusted annuity backed by the most stable payer in the world. If you consult with a CFP, have them run an asset allocation for you with your expected pension and I bet they will let you know you can do much more swinging for the fences (allocating more toward stocks and possible alternatives) rather than the “normal” stock/bond allocations that adjust with age that are recommended for typical people who won’t ever enjoy a pension at all. Example: I’m late 30s and at about 90% stocks, 10% other, but I plan on staying in that zone likely into my late 50s or beyond, because my plan is an active duty O5 pension that would provide a tremendous cushion if stocks take a massive dump right as I’m “retiring.” Lots of upside, and my downside risk is covered because with my pension I’ll never be hungry or homeless or really lacking anything necessary.

My RPA unit is Drill + 1 fly day where you can log 2-3 sorties to (kinda) maintain RAP. 8 days a month...sheeeet...I'll work ~16/7 a month and I'm a full-timer! Especially if you have a lucrative civ job where you're giving up a lot of money to serve, I would do what others have said, find the min commitment required via an IMA or a unit/airframe asking less of it's DSGs.

Off topic, but parts of Reddit are amazing resources and communities. It all just varies wildly by r/ because they're all moderated differently and attract different people. Some are massive dumpster fires with the worst of humanity on the prowl, others are awesome niche communities where people share tons of helpful info that's hard to find elsewhere. I've had a great time in some EV, solar, DIY and hobby subreddits. Staying away from anything remotely political is probably good advice. Truly, more than probably anywhere else, YMMV.

Belongs here: https://www.reddit.com/r/rareinsults/

To me it's all just the PITA factor and what you're willing to put up with for a slightly higher rate. My hierarchy for preference for "cash" is: High Yield Savings > Money Market Fund > T Bills > Bank CD > Brokered CD, sorta rate dependent if any one of the above is a true outlier high or low. I value not having to f around too much and remember ladders and buying/selling/etc. plus having liquidity for my actual cash. HYS and MMF retain both and I don't have to think about it at all. If T Bills or Bank CDs are significantly higher, might be worth the asspain to lock up some of my money. I'm not a fan of brokered CDs because there's a little extra risk but the again I'm not super smart on them so maybe I don't fully understand them compared to a bank CD. Big picture I want "cash" for an emergency fund (like if I slept with the WG/CC daughter and get super-fired, etc...credit cards are for actual "normal" emergencies haha), but I also keep enough liquid money to jump on other investment opportunities and I don't want to have it locked up if I don't have to. I'd love to buy another rental property if/when prices & rates come down but I'm not exactly holding my breath...shoulda bought another one when I bought in 2021 but hindsight is 20/20 and if I had that I'd just do sports betting Back to the Future style and call it a day. That being said I did buy a ton (for me) of I Bonds over the last 18 months because the rates on those were redic. 9.62% from May to Oct 2022 was 🤩 for something that's damn near completely safe. In that case I was willing to trade ease and liquidity for rates.

There’s no convincing some folks here and TBH it’s not worth trying that hard. Pro tip: don’t vote for someone who shares @BashiChuni’s views in the 2024 primary or general unless you are comfortable with a radical change in policy toward Ukraine come Jan 2025. It’s not my top issue and probably not you’re either, but I at least think it’s important! And can some of my Republican friends get Ronny D a copy of some of Ronny R’s greatest hits and get him on the side of opposing Russian tyranny in Eastern Europe? Seems like it should be a layup for any Republican, but I think he’s been reluctant to go that direction due to the base being at least 45.69% in favor of completely capitulating to Putin. 🤦‍♂️ Reasonable Dems and Republicans can agree: Putin sucks, he’s failing in his war of conquest, and we’re getting amazing value by supporting the Ukrainians as well as actually doing the right thing morally, which in this case to me at least is crystal clear. Let’s not give up before the fight is over.

I use Marcus by Goldman Sachs. FYI that is a referral link…both you and I would get an extra 1% on all balances for 3 months. I referred someone recently so have my cash balances at 4.75% rn which is great. Also their daily transfer limit is $100K not some BS $5K like some other places. Easy/fast/free transfers, recurring, etc., all the stuff I have had complaints about with other companies. Before them I had a few others over the years chasing rates here and there but Marcus has been solid, they get my endorsement.

Hell my high-yield savings account that maintains full liquidity at any time is paying 3.75% right now and it's only going up as the Fed continues to raise rates. Crazy for someone my age who has never seen savings rates worth caring about in my adult life.

Biden on the ground in Kyiv showing continuing strong support for the Ukrainians 🇺🇦🇺🇸 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/20/president-biden-kyiv-ukraine-visit-war/

The Ukrainians have mastered goose technology…it’s over like when Vince stuck his arm in the rim!

Yea damn we should negotiate a deal with them where they maybe wouldn’t be allowed to do this in exchange for economic benefits…IDK just spitballing here.

I haven’t reached this stage with my kids yet but Tricare dental covers 50% of orthodontics 🤷‍♂️ If your average cost for braces is approx $5K, and insurance covers half…IDK that seems manageable, especially when spread over a year or more. YMMV I guess, good luck!

Navy women…so not semen…seawomen? Shoulda been Air Force 🇺🇸

For sure…we really need that light gun with unlimited ammo!

2 was is reaaaaally loose trail.