Search found 284 matches

by farjean2
Mon Jan 01, 2018 3:36 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385637

Re: Figuring Out Religion

farjean, You are free to disagree, but your post exemplifies many of the things that MediumTex was trying to avoid in this forum (and in this thread). This should not be a place that raises anyone's blood pressure. Please tone down the name-calling and the swearing. That's rich, considering the nat...
by farjean2
Mon Jan 01, 2018 2:41 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: 2017 PP Return Poll
Replies: 33
Views: 19100

Re: 2017 PP Return Poll

Ended up with these totals after being in balance with the Golden Butterfly at the beginning of the year. http://i65.tinypic.com/2ecj5fo.jpg I calculated a ROI of 8.9% best I can figure and I'm pretty happy with this being my first full year of retirement and the start of my retirement "sequence of ...
by farjean2
Mon Jan 01, 2018 2:16 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385637

Re: Figuring Out Religion

From a Sermon on New Year’s Eve by Pastor C. F. W. Walther: For Baptism is a bath that washed me not only once when I received it—washed me pure with Christ’s blood—but it continuously washes me clean even daily for as long as I hold it in faith. For just as that same water of the flood drowned the...
by farjean2
Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:58 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: My 2017 Juicy PP returned 16.47%
Replies: 3
Views: 4138

Re: My 2017 Juicy PP returned 16.47%

It appears my golden butterfly returned about 8.9%. The two stock allocations had only grown from 40% to 44% so I don't think I will even rebalance.

Not a bad start as far as sequence of returns goes for my first full year of retirement. I'll definitely take that every year.
by farjean2
Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:41 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: 2018
Replies: 15
Views: 9802

Re: 2018

Maddy wrote:Good idea, WiseOne. . . but what on earth is "Life Hacking?" (I suspect I'm giving away my age.)
WiseOne can answer, but I think mostly little things, or at least things you never thought about, that can make life simpler.
by farjean2
Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:28 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: 2017 PP Return Poll
Replies: 33
Views: 19100

Re: 2017 PP Return Poll

I vote NFC (No ******* clue).
by farjean2
Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:19 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: 2018
Replies: 15
Views: 9802

Re: 2018

A most Happy Eve of New Year's Eve to all the PPers. What will be the topic(s) of preference for January 2018? Politics, religion, money, taxes, Trump, medical, Xan the man, North Korea, return of the Machine Ghost and/or Pointedstick? 8) If you are asking for predictions then I think I would have ...
by farjean2
Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:59 pm
Forum: Variable Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Constant $ withdrawal
Replies: 26
Views: 16308

Re: Constant $ withdrawal

Yes, you are in a muddle and I suggest that since it's New Years Eve you should just chill out, have a beer or two or three or more and let tomorrow worry about itself. I retired last year and it's really not as complicated as you are making it. We have accumulated X dollars that has to last for Y n...
by farjean2
Thu Dec 28, 2017 7:32 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: 2017 PP Return Poll
Replies: 33
Views: 19100

Re: 2017 PP Return Poll

This is my second year using the Golden Butterfly variant. I would give you the exact figure but since they discontinued Google Finance I would actually have to do some work to figure it out. Last I checked it was doing quite well and as far as I recall Gold was still the surprising winner of the as...
by farjean2
Tue Dec 26, 2017 4:25 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: The GOLD scream room
Replies: 3689
Views: 1656474

Re: The GOLD scream room

For some reason, the feeling in the air today has me really liking gold as a safe haven. It is not perfect but I can't think of a better worldly insurance policy. I was really hating it just a month or so ago. Edit: Of course this means that it is about to really tank hard. So probably a good time ...
by farjean2
Sat Dec 23, 2017 12:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year — as drug overdoses soar
Replies: 20
Views: 11047

Re: U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year — as drug overdoses soar

Thanks for the link, Dualstow. BTW what's the story behind the new avatar? It looks like a collector's item plate. However, I am absolutely dumbfounded at the theory put forth by this video, that distributors are "pumping drugs" into people who don't need them and are therefore responsible for thei...
by farjean2
Thu Dec 21, 2017 4:42 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year — as drug overdoses soar
Replies: 20
Views: 11047

U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year — as drug overdoses soar

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/americas-heroin-epidemic/u-s-life-expectancy-falls-second-straight-year-drug-overdoses-n831676 Really bad news if you were born last year. Because of heroin.... Overall life expectancy for a baby born in 2016 fell to 78.6 years, a small decline of 0.1 percent, the ...
by farjean2
Wed Dec 20, 2017 3:34 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: New Tax Plan Deductions
Replies: 33
Views: 16890

Re: New Tax Plan Deductions

Looks like I was wrong about employers immediately passing the tax cut benefits on to their employees. At least some of them are....

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/45 ... investment
by farjean2
Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:13 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Out of balance
Replies: 55
Views: 29792

Re: Out of balance

This is like when my kids ask me for advice about a situation they have gotten themselves into and I can tell them how they got themselves into it but not necessarily how to get out. If you really think you'll be leaving the company soon maybe you don't want to do anything right now. Assuming you wi...
by farjean2
Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:38 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: New Tax Plan Deductions
Replies: 33
Views: 16890

Re: New Tax Plan Deductions

It's simplified in some ways, by getting rid of a stack of deductions, but new tweak-worthy elements were introduced. I bet the tax forms & schedules won't change much. Don't see postcards in anyone's tax future. So here's a question: does anyone think that the businesses that you buy most of your ...
by farjean2
Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:26 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: How much is "enough" in the Permanent Portfolio?
Replies: 33
Views: 20516

Re: How much is "enough" in the Permanent Portfolio?

I retired last year (involuntarily) at the age of 67 and after I got my last paycheck I had almost exactly 1 million dollars in the PP. Fortunately I'm not having to draw from it yet because my wife is still working and also this year turned out to be a very nice start as far as sequence of returns ...
by farjean2
Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:48 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Trump as tragicomedy
Replies: 958
Views: 379987

Re: Trump as tragicomedy

Donald Trump is NOT Ron Paul. He's a war-monger police-statist who could care less for due-process, human rights, the 1st/4th Amendments, limited war-making powers, or limiting the scope of the nefarious powers of the CIA or the NSA (he thinks Snowden should be executed, remember?). He might disagr...
by farjean2
Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:51 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: When the cops are the criminals
Replies: 293
Views: 113414

Re: When the cops are the criminals

I'm not sure what you guys think is the problem here. The cop thought the perp was armed, told the guy not to move his hands or he would shoot him, and the idiot disobeyed and got what was promised. If I was the cop, I would have shot him, too. You think the cop should have let the guy potentially ...
by farjean2
Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:33 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: When the cops are the criminals
Replies: 293
Views: 113414

Re: When the cops are the criminals

Caution. If you're like me this might be the most sickening thing you've ever seen and it might leave you disliking cops.... https://youtu.be/VBUUx0jUKxc The background is simple. Shaver was a traveling pest control worker. He was in his hotel room (a La Quinta Inn) showing off to guests a pellet gu...
by farjean2
Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Is Trump Restoring Separation of Powers?
Replies: 24
Views: 15406

Re: Is Trump Restoring Separation of Powers?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/a-second-judge-blocks-trump-administrations-proposed-transgender-military-ban/2017/11/21/d91f65e4-cee1-11e7-81bc-c55a220c8cbe_story.html?utm_term=.112bd1e98682 So the commander in chief apparently does not have the authority to stop the military fr...
by farjean2
Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:23 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Teaching gender stereotypes
Replies: 19
Views: 12314

Re: Teaching gender stereotypes

I love how you put Ehrman in the same paragraph with "unbiased scholarship." Surely you can see he's a very angry, reactive sort, no? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but please disabuse yourself of the "unbiased" myth. I take it you don't like him very much but I've never actually seen ...
by farjean2
Sat Nov 18, 2017 10:46 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Teaching gender stereotypes
Replies: 19
Views: 12314

Re: Teaching gender stereotypes

Re female ordination... I grew up Catholic before converting to Orthodoxy so I am going to take a swing at this. The Pope can change the discipline of the church but not its doctrine. Discipline are the man made rules set up by the church for (presumably) good and practical reasons. This might cove...
by farjean2
Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:51 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Teaching gender stereotypes
Replies: 19
Views: 12314

Re: Teaching gender stereotypes

Re female ordination... I grew up Catholic before converting to Orthodoxy so I am going to take a swing at this. The Pope can change the discipline of the church but not its doctrine. Discipline are the man made rules set up by the church for (presumably) good and practical reasons. This might cove...
by farjean2
Thu Nov 09, 2017 2:16 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Screaming helplessly at the sky
Replies: 32
Views: 20260

Re: Screaming helplessly at the sky

If we're going with personal anecdotes, I've seen modestly more ridiculous reactions to Obama than Trump. I could go into detail, but most of them involve the n-word, accusations of being a Muslim, or just wild predictions of economic collapse that are his fault because he's a communist or close-to...