• 15 Posts
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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: November 19th, 2023

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  • Noone should ever be putting money into savings accounts. You lose the difference between 2% interest you collect on savings account and the inflation rate while money is in savings account. Your finacial buying power is decreasing by like 5% the entire time it sits in there.

    IRAs should be the new “put your money in savings” response. They should look up the options like 529 plans or ESAs (rducation savings account, formerly known as educational IRA) with an advisor for their tax advantaged benifits like not paying capitail gains taxes on growth or interest accrued as long as its used for education or medical dispersments. People rarely understand how much money they make by taking advantage of tax free contributions and withdrawls options.

    The average growth rate for IRAs in the US is 7%-10%. So instead of losing 5% buying power from the money you save in a savings account, you are now earning 7-10% ONTOP of the 15% you make by NOT PAYING CAPITAL GAINS TAX.

    Got a kid? Start putting $20 direct deposit into ESA at conception. 52 weeks times $20 = $1,040 per year. Times 18 years = $18,720. Avg cost of 4 year tuition at non-private school in US span from $8,000 to $18,000.

    You could even set it up so the 401k you contribute to, rolls the same amount your employer matches per paycheck from your 401k (or 403b) account into a ESA where you would be taxed on the roll over contributions, but because you are only moving the amount your employer matches, then technically your employer is covering the taxes paid contributing to you kids ESA. The total amount saved and used to pay for college is then 100% tax free to you.

    Compare that to paying back a loan at time tuition is due and you are responsible for the taxes taken from each paycheck, the interest on the loan and all ontop of the loan itself. Its adds up to thousands of dollars you spend for not preparing ahead of time.

    If your kid is dumb then go with shit like a 529 plan that can be used at any time for any amount as tax free distributions as long as it goes towards medical expenses, educational expenzes or i wanna say new home purchases. (Dont quote me on the last bit)





  • Fix-a-flat. Its compressed can of air and goo that will plug up surprisingly large punctures and keep your tire drivable to get to shop to fix. Keep 2 cans on my 4 wheeler and 2 cans in my truck.

    The other carry everywhere item i have on 4wheeler and truck is the battery charger/aircompressor combo units. They sell them at any auto store or walmart. Its a battery charger that you plug in to charge and also has a built in air compressor.

    Afrer a year or two of carrying both those items with me I stopped paying for AAA. Oh but also carry bags of cat liter in my car in the winter time for weight and get out of the ditch or snow pile aid. I guess add the cat liter and collapsing shovel to the winter everyday carry items.

    The truth is, mechanics tools in your car are fenerally useless. You arent carrying with you every part that could ho wrong or need replacing with you, there isnt much that can go wrong that doesnt involve buying a part to fix. I spent decade and a half driving around $500-$2000 cars because it made more financial sense than buying newer vehicle. Anything broke that cost more than half the car id scrap them and buy the next. The last thing ill add is that any vehicle 5 years old or newer is guna need oem tools to fix for like 70-100% of everything that could possibly go wrong with them. Even the dumbest most common shit like swapping winter/summer tires on rim certain shops cant do any more for a bunch of makes and models because of the change in rim design without buying a new tool. Spend the money on a rolling cabnet toolbox for your mechanics tools and rolling stackable toolboxes for your home repair tools because they are things you will buy once and store a life time of tools in for decades.

    Edit: add ratchet straps for anyone not redneck who wouldnt laugh at the notion of ever not already having ratchet straps in their vehicle, even for a car. Hood latch breaks-strapit, door latch or lock breaks-strapit, tailgate wont latch-strapit, muffler falls off after bottoming it out jumping the tracks-strapit, people ne3d ride to town who are gross or scummy - close ratchet in trunk and let strap free for scummies to hitch on skateboard or bike.