"If you make this assumption, it doesn't matter that you have equity in a house. You could not have a house and still be able to buy more with your increased salary."
No you can't because rent will also go up. What makes housebuying so powerful is that your mortgage payments are guaranteed to stay flat (other than changes in property tax/insurance which are a minor portion of monthly payments).
"The price of your house might double, but when the price of everything else you buy doubles too, you're back where you started."
Not true.
Let's say that there is 100% inflation in the next 10 years. My house is worth a lot more on paper, but more importantly, my salary has gone up but my mortgage is fixed; it then consumes a lower percentage of my salary, giving me more money to buy toys.
The other advantage of an illusionary increase is that it gives you more equity. I put 0% down on my home, but recent price increases let me have 20% equity in it on paper. This let me refinance to a lower rate. My loan is for the same amount as it was, but my payments are $350 a month less.
"Actually it could be worse. Unless you are extremely rich all your real estate is essentially bought on margin. It is fairly easy for investors to buy stock without having to purchase on margin, to buy real estate you typically have to take out a mortgage. If you live in a house, or you have your business located on the property no big deal, however, if it is an investment it can become a money sink, since you have to pay maintance, taxes, etc."
One thing you're forgetting though, is that you have to live somewhere. The price of me owning my house is really the difference between my mortgage (after home interest deduction of course) and what it would cost me to rent a comparable place. Home ownership is a great investment because you have to pay this money anyway.
If I lose my home, then I'm no worse off than if I had never bought it; it would be as if I had rented for those years. If my stock investments go under, I lose all of the money I paid for the stocks.
How the blerp do you plan for - say - a kidney dying followed by a bad transplant that leaves you out of work for 2-3 years and saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of hospital bills? It's very easy to have a health crisis that swamps any normal amount of financial planning.
And if there isn't enough private charities, then what? They're not going to just die quietly after all.
The safety net doesn't exist for the benefit of the poor. It exists for the benefit of the middle class so they won't have to deal with the consequences of a desperate underclass.
Archive.org offers thousands upon thousands of hours of live music, all completely legal to download. I can get a 3 cd show in about 2 hours. Amazing stuff.
I like the price discount because it means I get local channels on cable for about $2 a month. It's not that big of a deal EXCEPT that local cable carries the CBC and my dish only gives me US channels.
Re:And let's not forget who is funding a lot of th
on
New and Improved SETI
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· Score: 1
"Personally, I feel that making sure everyone in the world has at least the basic... "Food, Water and Shelter" requirements of life would be a good first step for investment. We can explore the intriquing and unimaginable vast expanse of pratically nothing, later."
That assumes that the exploring of the vast expanse of practically nothing couldn't lead to anything that could help the masses.
"It did adapt the original material rather faithfully to the big screen, though, keeping the atmosphere and ideas and cleverly translating them into an enjoyable movie. In other words, if you liked the book, it is a good visual adaptation."
Disagree. While I found the first two to be a little flat, the third is easily my least favorite Harry Potter movie despite being one of my favorites of the book. The look was fine but all of the reasons why a character behaved in a particular way were left on the cutting room floor.
I, for one, am tired of the fact that people who aren't good enough to be able to change careers at a moment's notice still can feed themselves and support a family. Why do we allow that anyway? It's time we take "Adapt or die" literally and shoot those who aren't changing fast enough.
You have more of a support structure there. No matter where you go, you're going to have other families around with other people who speak the same language as you. You have a lot fewer safety issues both physical and cultural.
I'm currently dating a woman who lives 1000 miles away from me. I'm active on many online communities. I understand how you can maintain friendships across distance.
However I also have learned the difference between friendships that are net/phone based and those that in person based. It's much easier to let the former be friendships of convenience, ones where you don't have to sacrifice and drop out of them when things get rough. Also when you can't go out and see a show or have a drink with your friends, there is an important element missing.
There is a difference between online friendships and real life ones and I prefer the latter.
That's great as long as you don't actually want to do anything other with your life other than work. Don't put down any roots or try to make friends or anything.
Why does everyone say that this city is lost?
on
Atlantis Found. Again.
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· Score: 2, Funny
I know exactly where it is. It's at the intersection of I-75, I-85 and I-20. I go there all the time. What's the big deal?
"Why would a really productive programmer want a union which represents them and someone who does a 1/10 as much productive work?"
Because 10 years down the road, there will be new programmers with more energy and a better understanding of the new technology and the really productive programmer won't be as productive anymore.
That's just by definition there. In any population some people will be more skilled than others. Not every person can be the best.
There's a difference by the way between feeling needed and being able to eat. If 90% of the population can't find jobs because they're just not skilled enough, do you think they'll just quietly starve and let the top 10% live well?
Slashdot Mirror
I listen to CD-Rs on my Sony cd players all the time. It might not have just been a problem with the player or the disc.
"If you make this assumption, it doesn't matter that you have equity in a house. You could not have a house and still be able to buy more with your increased salary."
No you can't because rent will also go up. What makes housebuying so powerful is that your mortgage payments are guaranteed to stay flat (other than changes in property tax/insurance which are a minor portion of monthly payments).
Fortunately, I'm good friends with my mortgage broker so I don't have to deal with that sort of stuff.
"The price of your house might double, but when the price of everything else you buy doubles too, you're back where you started."
Not true.
Let's say that there is 100% inflation in the next 10 years. My house is worth a lot more on paper, but more importantly, my salary has gone up but my mortgage is fixed; it then consumes a lower percentage of my salary, giving me more money to buy toys.
The other advantage of an illusionary increase is that it gives you more equity. I put 0% down on my home, but recent price increases let me have 20% equity in it on paper. This let me refinance to a lower rate. My loan is for the same amount as it was, but my payments are $350 a month less.
"Actually it could be worse. Unless you are extremely rich all your real estate is essentially bought on margin. It is fairly easy for investors to buy stock without having to purchase on margin, to buy real estate you typically have to take out a mortgage. If you live in a house, or you have your business located on the property no big deal, however, if it is an investment it can become a money sink, since you have to pay maintance, taxes, etc."
One thing you're forgetting though, is that you have to live somewhere. The price of me owning my house is really the difference between my mortgage (after home interest deduction of course) and what it would cost me to rent a comparable place. Home ownership is a great investment because you have to pay this money anyway.
If I lose my home, then I'm no worse off than if I had never bought it; it would be as if I had rented for those years. If my stock investments go under, I lose all of the money I paid for the stocks.
This is why I stuck with a fixed rate. When rates are at record lows, it doesn't make sense to gamble that they might get even lower.
How the blerp do you plan for - say - a kidney dying followed by a bad transplant that leaves you out of work for 2-3 years and saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of hospital bills? It's very easy to have a health crisis that swamps any normal amount of financial planning.
National Review is a balanced source now?
Remember, there's no such thing as sudden health crises. Everyone always gets exactly what they should based on their actions!
And if there isn't enough private charities, then what? They're not going to just die quietly after all.
The safety net doesn't exist for the benefit of the poor. It exists for the benefit of the middle class so they won't have to deal with the consequences of a desperate underclass.
Well yeah, but since i download tons of stuff from archive, I appreciate the faster speeds.
Archive.org offers thousands upon thousands of hours of live music, all completely legal to download. I can get a 3 cd show in about 2 hours. Amazing stuff.
I like the price discount because it means I get local channels on cable for about $2 a month. It's not that big of a deal EXCEPT that local cable carries the CBC and my dish only gives me US channels.
"Personally, I feel that making sure everyone in the world has at least the basic... "Food, Water and Shelter" requirements of life would be a good first step for investment. We can explore the intriquing and unimaginable vast expanse of pratically nothing, later."
That assumes that the exploring of the vast expanse of practically nothing couldn't lead to anything that could help the masses.
"It did adapt the original material rather faithfully to the big screen, though, keeping the atmosphere and ideas and cleverly translating them into an enjoyable movie. In other words, if you liked the book, it is a good visual adaptation."
Disagree. While I found the first two to be a little flat, the third is easily my least favorite Harry Potter movie despite being one of my favorites of the book. The look was fine but all of the reasons why a character behaved in a particular way were left on the cutting room floor.
The brothers were siamese twins?
If there are no other jobs out there, who will hire the home builders?
Yes!
I, for one, am tired of the fact that people who aren't good enough to be able to change careers at a moment's notice still can feed themselves and support a family. Why do we allow that anyway? It's time we take "Adapt or die" literally and shoot those who aren't changing fast enough.
Probably the planet that has a Canadian Thanksgiving holiday in October.
Being an army brat isn't the same thing.
You have more of a support structure there. No matter where you go, you're going to have other families around with other people who speak the same language as you. You have a lot fewer safety issues both physical and cultural.
I'm currently dating a woman who lives 1000 miles away from me. I'm active on many online communities. I understand how you can maintain friendships across distance.
However I also have learned the difference between friendships that are net/phone based and those that in person based. It's much easier to let the former be friendships of convenience, ones where you don't have to sacrifice and drop out of them when things get rough. Also when you can't go out and see a show or have a drink with your friends, there is an important element missing.
There is a difference between online friendships and real life ones and I prefer the latter.
That's great as long as you don't actually want to do anything other with your life other than work. Don't put down any roots or try to make friends or anything.
I know exactly where it is. It's at the intersection of I-75, I-85 and I-20. I go there all the time. What's the big deal?
What?
Oh AtlantIS.
Sorry.
"Why would a really productive programmer want a union which represents them and someone who does a 1/10 as much productive work?"
Because 10 years down the road, there will be new programmers with more energy and a better understanding of the new technology and the really productive programmer won't be as productive anymore.
That's just by definition there. In any population some people will be more skilled than others. Not every person can be the best.
There's a difference by the way between feeling needed and being able to eat. If 90% of the population can't find jobs because they're just not skilled enough, do you think they'll just quietly starve and let the top 10% live well?