I reject the concept that working has to be slave labor.  Both of you guys are smart enough that if you put your focus  and efforts into finding a way to make money, doing what you love (or at least doing something that creates an automated cash flow system-- like a web business) you could be free ...

Just cut the cable myself and don't regret it for a second.

I bought a Tivo Premiere and an HD antenna.  The Tivo charges $15 a month, but it's a great DVR and I can set a series recording for all of the network shows you'd get on Hulu (as well as the sports that aren't on Hulu).

The rent vs. buy decision is always an interesting argument.  It largely comes down to where you live and to some extent your personality. For ER purposes, I prefer minimizing the known monthly expenses.  Having no rent or mortgage payment is far more valuable for cashflow security than a little mor...

I'm also on the ER path, planning to retire from a full time job in the next few years before I'm 40.  I agree that your (reasonable) investment style really doesn't matter so much for the ER type in the accumulation phase compared to your savings rate.  But I can't think of a better portfolio than ...

Interesting question. I'm a pro-life libertarian, but I am also Christian so religion does influence my beliefs. (EDIT: RuralEngineer makes a good point below, and I'd still be pro-life even if I wasn't religious.) I offer this link with the disclosure that I searched for this only after reading you...

This one is easy.

When you make money, it's clearly skill. When you lose money, it's bad luck.

One of the things new PP investors should get comfortable with right off the bat is the idea that one or more of their assets probably WILL decline in value after it is purchased, and that is okay . Yep -- that took me a little while, but eventually I came to accept that if every investment is goin...

My first reaction is perhaps  this will mean freedom from liberal brainwashing.  I wonder what long term consequences that will result in. Not so fast.  If anything, this will consolidate education into the hands of a small handful of famous professors at prestigious colleges.  Those few will have ...

It always amazes me how quickly distracted people get in their natural instinct to "fix the problem" when something terrible happens.  Unfortunately, there are no quick legal fixes for the fundamental problem that there is evil in the world and occasionally mentally deranged murderers lose...

I love Penn & Teller's knack for making controversial topics entertaining.


http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dhXOuuHcjbs

Here's where I don't claim to be an expert -- I'm mainly falling back on forum knowledge here.  Perhaps I'm wrong. My impression is that EDV is a bit too volatile, and VGLT holds up to 20% non-treasuries.  I've read here before that many really only recommend TLT as a LTT ETF option for the PP. But ...

Honest question:  In what way is IAU less appealing than other gold ETF alternatives for taxable accounts? IMHO, the only downside with IAU over the other gold ETFs is that it's a BlackRock fund, and for those who like to diversify among fund companies, it's easier to diversify with the gold compon...

Mortgages are not inherently evil.  Like any financial decision, you just have to be smart and work through your alternatives to find what makes most sense. I bought a modest house on a 15-year fixed mortgage recently, and chose that over paying cash for a myriad of reasons based on our financial si...

Here's what I meant.  ETF - Fund Provider VTI - Vanguard TLT - iShares SGOL - ETFS SCHO - Schwab That's 4 asset classes managed by 4 separate companies. Yes, an ETF has more risk than directly holding the assets but by dividing your money across multiple ETF providers you help minimize your exposure...

For those who like ETFs for their convenience, just diversify the fund families. Something like VTI, TLT, SGOL, and SCHO builds a firewall so that any problem with an ETF supplier is limited to 25% of the portfolio. Personally, I'd even take steps to make sure directly held bonds aren't with the sam...

I recently bought a house, and went though the same thought process. For me, a 15-year fixed mortgage near 2.75% seemed best in the wealth accumulation phase by keeping cash free for investment return while greatly reducing interest paid relative to a 30-year mortgage. And I still have the ability t...

Another engineer INT* here. ; ). And I wholeheartedly recommend Shop Class as Soulcraft as well. Great book. Nice list, Jake. The only things I'd add are a few steps between 1x annual spending in savings and 33x in savings, as that's a wide gap. The moment your potential monthly investment volatilit...

Boeing737 wrote: And what's wrong with this picture?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article ... 21,00.html

Heh.

The main problem I personally have with carbon trading schemes is that best case, even if you 100% believe that reducing manmade CO2 will have a long-term impact on climate, it is impossible to measure the impact of your system in real time.  15 years after the Kyoto Protocol was signed, no one can ...

Saw this recently and found it interesting.  Incentives cut both ways.

Incentive to Slow Climate Change Drives Output of Harmful Gases - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/world ... wanted=all

I'm also a libertarian on social and economic issues. But for me, dealing with terrorists and nuclear-armed dictators is one area where I appreciate having a strong and serious leader actively looking out for my best interests.   Laughing on camera while talking about Iran and throwing your own inte...

Leadership.

The purpose of a televised debate is not to win accolades from partisan media.  It's to win over swing voters by allowing them to see you without a filter.   I actually think Biden did pretty well on the arguments (other than his laughable excuses for Libya and outright lie about his own votes on th...

If you're a Republican, you thought Ryan won.  If you're a Democrat, you thought Biden won.  If you're an independent swing voter not up to date on detailed foreign policy issues, the main takeaway is that Biden is an insufferably rude douche. 

Advantage Ryan. 

My personal opinion is that buying art is sorta like buying a house.  It's possible to make money on it,  but more realistically you should simply expect a good one to be a decent store of value and buy for your own satisfaction rather than thinking of it as an investment.