Search found 1090 matches

by WildAboutHarry
Thu Jun 30, 2016 6:11 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Variable rate mortgages
Replies: 7
Views: 2544

Re: Variable rate mortgages

With 30-year rates at or near all-time lows, why not get the cheap fixed-rate money? Harry Browne recommended a variable rate when rates were significantly higher than now.
by WildAboutHarry
Sun May 01, 2016 10:26 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Tax-deferred vs taxable savings
Replies: 23
Views: 10718

Re: Tax-deferred vs taxable savings

You should get competent tax advice before counting on this. It has been quite awhile but IIRC (at one time at least) NYS wanted to tax emigres (to another state, that is) on their "windfall tax reduction" when doing this. Other than state employees, of course, whose pensions weren't taxed at all a...
by WildAboutHarry
Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Tax-deferred vs taxable savings
Replies: 23
Views: 10718

Re: Tax-deferred vs taxable savings

Your working years tax status versus retirement years tax status makes a difference. Working in a high-state -income-tax state (e.g CA, NY) and retiring in a state with lower state tax rate favors full tax deferral via 401(k) or IRA.  You get to defer the higher rates and withdraw at lower rates.  S...
by WildAboutHarry
Fri Apr 29, 2016 12:54 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Really Big One
Replies: 21
Views: 9933

Re: The Really Big One

[quote=MachineGhost]Sounds like someone is in denial about a river not being in Egypt. 8)  1 in 3 is pretty formidable odds compared to relatively minor events like tornadoes, floods and other inclement weather that you can escape from ahead of time.  Especially when you're already 73 years past the...
by WildAboutHarry
Fri Apr 29, 2016 12:43 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Really Big One
Replies: 21
Views: 9933

Re: The Really Big One

[quote=dragoncar]This is the church, this is the steeple... 9.0 eathquake.. where are the people?[/quote]

Touche  :)
by WildAboutHarry
Thu Apr 28, 2016 9:24 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Really Big One
Replies: 21
Views: 9933

Re: The Really Big One

Yawn. There was a small quake centered near Vancouver Island a few months ago.  So I don't know if there will be many stress-relieving quakes, one big one, a bunch of middlin' ones, etc. I know for a fact that there are going to be tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, etc. with loss of life this year NOT ...
by WildAboutHarry
Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:56 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Licensing Laws Are Shutting Young People Out Of The Job Market
Replies: 54
Views: 17698

Re: Licensing Laws Are Shutting Young People Out Of The Job Market

[quote=MachineGhost]The government has no constitutionally legal interest otherwise.[/quote] Promote the general welfare seems to cover just about everything.  Interstate commerce probably covers the gaps.  I could cross state lines to get my fish pedicure.  :) But I agree in one sense.  We either n...
by WildAboutHarry
Mon Apr 25, 2016 5:13 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Licensing Laws Are Shutting Young People Out Of The Job Market
Replies: 54
Views: 17698

Re: Licensing Laws Are Shutting Young People Out Of The Job Market

Unnecessary licensing rules aren’t the only challenge facing young people. The whole economy seems stacked against them. Oh for f**k's sake.  It has always been tough on those entering the job market. That makes sense for doctors and accountants, but the requirements are increasingly spreading to b...
by WildAboutHarry
Wed Apr 20, 2016 9:44 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Income Tax hacks
Replies: 9
Views: 5896

Re: Income Tax hacks

[quote=Mark Leavy]Too many times when we discuss taxes we think of taxes as an employee. W-2 wages and investments. Optimizing these taxes is optimizing the small.  Move away from the employee mindset. Better to move taxes away from W-2 to K-1. Then ditch the K-1 and move to 1099-INT and 1099-DIV an...
by WildAboutHarry
Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:14 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Is American Olive Oil About to Have Its Moment?
Replies: 5
Views: 3152

Re: Is American Olive Oil About to Have Its Moment?

The Bloomberg graphics are a bit suspect.  A casual glance suggests that Alaska is also in the olive oil business.
by WildAboutHarry
Mon Apr 11, 2016 1:53 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Bully for Baristas
Replies: 3
Views: 2781

Re: Bully for Baristas

[quote=MachineGhost]“locomotive in human pants.”[/quote]

This has kind of a pornographic ring to it.  :)
by WildAboutHarry
Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:29 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Wildest Idea on Earth
Replies: 7
Views: 3896

Re: The Wildest Idea on Earth

[quote=MachineGhost]P.J. O'Rourke is funny but he seems to be eternally stuck as a right-winger[/quote]

He is funny, but his books vary between brilliant stuff and so-so material.  All The Trouble in the World falls into the former category, I think.
by WildAboutHarry
Thu Apr 07, 2016 10:47 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

[quote=Pointedstick]For sure. But I was talking about likelihood, difficulty, and what you get if you don't make a decision at all, not mere possibility.[/quote] I do see your point.  People tend to gravitate toward what they know, and let events overwhelm their lives.  Of course I could rely on the...
by WildAboutHarry
Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:44 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

[quote=Pointedstick]How likely is this person to go off to college out of state and give up his life in his hometown instead of working in the mill?[/quote]

Many do.  And the mill might be a good choice or a bad choice, depending on circumstances largely out of the individual's control.
by WildAboutHarry
Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:34 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

[quote=I Shrugged]The standard of living in that scheme would drop like crazy.  Specialization and division of labor is what made us all prosperous.[/quote] To a point I agree.  A 787 is not likely to be forged by a family company.  But there are elements of the economy that could be handled by smal...
by WildAboutHarry
Thu Apr 07, 2016 7:00 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

[quote=Pointedstick]I think it can be hard for people like us sometimes to realize how hard this is for many to most. "Lifehacking" comes easily to people with reasonably logical minds who use their brains for a living. This is really the major problem: the default choices for society are terrible, ...
by WildAboutHarry
Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:20 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

[quote=MachineGhost]I agree with PS that the finger needs to be pointed at the system.  It is the nurturing environment that either abuses or disabuses our meatbag hardwiring. [/quote] Except that "detached neoluddites" living off the land generally have to have internal combustion engines, solar pa...
by WildAboutHarry
Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:11 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

PS - All true, but having more time gives us more choice.  We can certainly make bad choices and waste time, and there are perhaps innate tendencies in humans that lead to sub-optimal behavior. I think it was Richard Dawkins who said that humans are "wired" to like sugar and sex.  But that Nature di...
by WildAboutHarry
Wed Apr 06, 2016 10:47 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave

[quote=Libertarian666]but it is still true that mass production makes hitherto unaffordable luxuries available to the average person[/quote] Quite right. Mass production also gives us time.  What we choose to do with that time is another matter. Washing machines and other modern "conveniences" were ...
by WildAboutHarry
Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:27 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions and capital investment

[quote=Maddy]If I don't light the fire in the wood cookstove, I'm going to freeze my ass off[/quote]

If you are using a cookstove that is hardly Luddite behavior  :)

And let us not get started about the means to light that product of the industrial revolution!
by WildAboutHarry
Tue Apr 05, 2016 10:22 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions and capital investment

[quote=Pointedstick]I read a sad local story the other day. The cops busted a guy for illegally running a home engine repair business. Evidently the noise was annoying the neighbors. [/quote] That is a sad story, but I can certainly see some of the motivations for such regulation:  noise, safe dispo...
by WildAboutHarry
Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:38 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Labor transitions, capital investment, and the societal meaning we all crave
Replies: 100
Views: 32502

Re: Labor transitions and capital investment

I recently came across Distributism, something I'd never heard of, probably thanks to the quality of my state college economics courses.  Although since the spell checker choked on Distributism, perhaps it is a really obscure avenue of economics. Basically it seems to be pro-private property, with t...
by WildAboutHarry
Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:27 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Ambient Music
Replies: 16
Views: 5267

Re: Ambient Music

If you are old enough, try the Beau Hunks , a Dutch ensemble. [quote=Wikipedia]The Beau Hunks Orchestra was originally a quintet organized to perform soundtrack themes from Hal Roach film studio comedies of the 1930s, including those of Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, The Little Rascals, Charley Chase, Th...
by WildAboutHarry
Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:34 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Wildest Idea on Earth
Replies: 7
Views: 3896

Re: The Wildest Idea on Earth

On second thought, I am usually very skeptical of octogenarians telling all the young folks what to do, after the octos have already had their fun. I am reminded of P.J. O'Rourke book, All The Trouble In the World .  His chapter about overpopulation and Paul Ehrlich was titled "Just Enough Of Me, Wa...
by WildAboutHarry
Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:27 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Wildest Idea on Earth
Replies: 7
Views: 3896

Re: The Wildest Idea on Earth

I'm for it, so long as those stingy marine organisms are willing to share half the ocean with us landlubbers.  Floating cities!