"Be as self sufficient as you can."
Easier said than done.
I talked to a local chap the other day, about small scale farming. I knew from before, that he has about an acre of land, did some farming for his family. He said with the price of feed, it is way more costly to raise his own chickens for eating. He does raise chickens and ducks for eggs but not for meat. Of course the quality of meat in growing your own chickens is far superior, but it comes at a cost. He also raised pigs, the cost to feed, to dress them also makes it un-economical. Maybe it is cheaper in other locales, but not here in S. Ontario, it isn't economical anymore. He said it is cheaper to buy off a bigger local farmer that grows his own feed.
It is hard to feed yourself with gardening when you only get one crop per year and even then it is dependent on the weather conditions.
I have another local friend that has 50 acres, he said it is a waste of time/money to clear the land, fence it off, to even raise beef cattle anymore. He is a hunter. He does hunt deer on his own land. Has his name on the police file for road kill pickups
He does fish, he does farm and grows his own potatoes and other vegetables. I supply him with some of my sweet pepper plants that I grow from seeds.
I heard in the news last night that the CDN senate has decided to tie the price of federal tax on liquor to the inflation rate. Know way would they would set the social security rate based on the inflation rate.
New stats, there are more deaths is CDN, based on alcohol related causes than with heart attacks. Alarming, we are drink ourselves to death these days.
Rained so much last night that my sump pump is on again, the ground is saturated again. Odd that it is happening in the end of June. Last year it was 2 moths of drought, this year it is too much rain, so much for farming.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, I don't want to go there."
I talked with the local Jehovah witnesses one day upon there annual canvas of the neighborhood. I asked them a few questions about their religion. They said to me they believe in reincarnation. I said that it nice all the animals and humans get to come back. They said, no it is only the humans that get to come back. I said that is f'd up, you guys have it backwards, it is the humans that are destroying the planet, not the animals, how the hell do you get to choose who comes back I did not see them again for many years.
have a nice day.
Easier said than done.
I talked to a local chap the other day, about small scale farming. I knew from before, that he has about an acre of land, did some farming for his family. He said with the price of feed, it is way more costly to raise his own chickens for eating. He does raise chickens and ducks for eggs but not for meat. Of course the quality of meat in growing your own chickens is far superior, but it comes at a cost. He also raised pigs, the cost to feed, to dress them also makes it un-economical. Maybe it is cheaper in other locales, but not here in S. Ontario, it isn't economical anymore. He said it is cheaper to buy off a bigger local farmer that grows his own feed.
It is hard to feed yourself with gardening when you only get one crop per year and even then it is dependent on the weather conditions.
I have another local friend that has 50 acres, he said it is a waste of time/money to clear the land, fence it off, to even raise beef cattle anymore. He is a hunter. He does hunt deer on his own land. Has his name on the police file for road kill pickups
He does fish, he does farm and grows his own potatoes and other vegetables. I supply him with some of my sweet pepper plants that I grow from seeds.I heard in the news last night that the CDN senate has decided to tie the price of federal tax on liquor to the inflation rate. Know way would they would set the social security rate based on the inflation rate.
New stats, there are more deaths is CDN, based on alcohol related causes than with heart attacks. Alarming, we are drink ourselves to death these days.
Rained so much last night that my sump pump is on again, the ground is saturated again. Odd that it is happening in the end of June. Last year it was 2 moths of drought, this year it is too much rain, so much for farming.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, I don't want to go there."
I talked with the local Jehovah witnesses one day upon there annual canvas of the neighborhood. I asked them a few questions about their religion. They said to me they believe in reincarnation. I said that it nice all the animals and humans get to come back. They said, no it is only the humans that get to come back. I said that is f'd up, you guys have it backwards, it is the humans that are destroying the planet, not the animals, how the hell do you get to choose who comes back
I did not see them again for many years.have a nice day.
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Only those who haven't farmed recommend it.
That approach is in line with Prepping, rather than investing. I follow the basic notions of "Mr. Money Moustache".
They boil down to Spend less, save more.
I don't know. If wages stay stagnant, but costs continue to increase for everything, you cannot save enough to retire comfortably. If you can, find a way to keep working forever if possible... die on the job. I find retirement routinely boring. If I do anything interesting, it will cost more than most retired can afford. And being a baby sitter grandparent isn't my idea of fun, either. With everyone being squeezed more and more makes it hard to pay off a house and maintain it so it is worth living in when you retire. Better have plenty for the repairs and maintenance costs after retired even if paid-off.... not even going to mention medical situation. Its 110F here and my retired neighbors cannot afford to repair their A/C.
Its all very bad situation getting worse for most people and when that happens a country usually has a revolt.
OK. I put my money only in big capital stocks which produce dividends. Live off dividends, keep principle intact, social security and some state retirement (1K/mo). House is paid off. That is a MUST if you ever expect to retire.... no rent or mortgage payments. Add spouse social security.....
But all in all, I would stay working in my field... even part time. It can get boring being retired without enough money.
-Richard Marsh
Its all very bad situation getting worse for most people and when that happens a country usually has a revolt.
OK. I put my money only in big capital stocks which produce dividends. Live off dividends, keep principle intact, social security and some state retirement (1K/mo). House is paid off. That is a MUST if you ever expect to retire.... no rent or mortgage payments. Add spouse social security.....
But all in all, I would stay working in my field... even part time. It can get boring being retired without enough money.
-Richard Marsh
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RM, you get up early. had your coffee yet?
I think that is exactly what the gov expects these days.
I add, they expect to work you to the bone, drink you to death, so that you die minutes/days after official retirement, so that they do not have pay out on any pensions, quite the plan
Seems to be working.I am sipping on my tea, waiting patiently for the social media revolt
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US Currency in circulation has grown from ~$850bn to $1,470bn in the past 10 years. About half of US Currency is held abroad, as a store of value and medium of exchange. First time I went to Poland you could use euros, zlotys or dollars! In places we've been to in Donegal they take Euro, Sterling and Dollars (haven't tried Swissy).
Not necessary at all if you have saved the funds to pay off your house it is better to have a very low interest only loan and invest in dividend paying stocks. the government subsidizes you via tax deductions on the interest. So at 2.25% for a 7 year interest only loan you have a net 1.7% cost for money that can earn 6% in the market, a no brainer. After 7yr. you cash out and usually the equity in your house has increased win win. On my second round. No magic here there are folks that are totally risk adverse and are happy with their 2.25% return at no risk.
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sequence of returns critical in short term
you can catch a wave or be crushed - all luck in the short term
only hope is to start investing early enough to ride out several waves, get those long term average returns
few have the discipline to ride out expected 10, 20% market 'corrections', much less stay in when a recovery can take 3-5 years
I have a few of the Motely Fool paid services, did plunge in 2009 maxing out home equity line - have more than doubled investment while spending more than when employed
looking at my prior index fund investments in 2009 I had ~7% return - total, for the previous decade
you can catch a wave or be crushed - all luck in the short term
only hope is to start investing early enough to ride out several waves, get those long term average returns
few have the discipline to ride out expected 10, 20% market 'corrections', much less stay in when a recovery can take 3-5 years
I have a few of the Motely Fool paid services, did plunge in 2009 maxing out home equity line - have more than doubled investment while spending more than when employed
looking at my prior index fund investments in 2009 I had ~7% return - total, for the previous decade
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Yes, I was going to suggest that investment doesn't have to be financial, but forgot! Investing time in yourself and other people can be very rewarding
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C'mon Scott.
For so many persons, the best thing you're going to do in your life is to sacrifice along the way and pay off your mortgage while your income is at its peak. Once that is outta the way, the world is your watermelon. Tough on the outside but juicy on the inside. So many fail to realize your 'comfortable' savings today are not what they are 20 years from now. I remember in my 20's thinking I needed $100K to be set. What a 'thought' that turned out to be.
I said that it nice all the animals and humans get to come back. They said, no it is only the humans that get to come back. I said that is f'd up, you guys have it backwards, it is the humans that are destroying the planet, not the animals, how the hell do you get to choose who comes back
Genius, and it's the truth.
I've got about 5% of my liquid net worth (excludes real estate) in a purely mechanical, "algorithmic" stock trading strategy called The Golden Cross which you can google if you wish. At the moment the trading vehicle is an exchange traded fund, symbol QQQQ, and the position is Long. Have I taken every signal, every time, immediately? Yes. Was it painful? No. Was it successful? So far it has been; but anything can happen in the future and Murphy is out to get you.
I don't know the situation in Canada, but down here your home mortgage interest is deductible from gross income for purposes of Federal Income Tax while a huge chunk of the gain on sale of your house isn't taxed so having a mortgage is very advantageous.
All this being said, I paid off my mortgage as soon as I had the dough!
@mark -- i have friends who are "algo" traders -- but short term cap gains are taxed as ordinary income...
my best recent trade in the electronics sphere was Avago when it was brought public (having once been a part of Hewlett Packard). Not one firm was covering the company as it had a lot of debt and, I believe, had a corporate domicile in Singapore.
sometime in the 1980's Morgan Stanley issued a report presciently anticipating the growth prospects of "analog" -- so I bought Burr Brown, Nat Semi and Analog Devices. Cost basis on Nat Semi was something like two bucks.
had a friend, chief investment officer for an insurance company, having problems in the "man-plumbing" department. he bought Pfizer when the FDA approved viagra.
cuts both ways -- we had an investment in a Canadian company with a gold concession in the Irian Jaya -- the head mining engineer jumped out of a helicopter -- stock went to zero.
my best recent trade in the electronics sphere was Avago when it was brought public (having once been a part of Hewlett Packard). Not one firm was covering the company as it had a lot of debt and, I believe, had a corporate domicile in Singapore.
sometime in the 1980's Morgan Stanley issued a report presciently anticipating the growth prospects of "analog" -- so I bought Burr Brown, Nat Semi and Analog Devices. Cost basis on Nat Semi was something like two bucks.
had a friend, chief investment officer for an insurance company, having problems in the "man-plumbing" department. he bought Pfizer when the FDA approved viagra.
cuts both ways -- we had an investment in a Canadian company with a gold concession in the Irian Jaya -- the head mining engineer jumped out of a helicopter -- stock went to zero.
About 2/3rds of Golden Cross "trades" (entry and subsequent exit) last 366 calendar days or more. For those who hate Hate HATE the idea of paying short term capital gains, let me introduce you to Aperio who replicates the performance of the S&P500 while at the same time performing "tax loss harvesting". You get SP500 long term capital growth while at the same time, experiencing lots and lots of short term capital losses. Minimum investment seven figures.
yes, that works for some Does it work for people with gross average income of $51K/year households? I mean paying mortgage and saving enough as well for the end game?
For average people with around average incomes, that is impossible to save the funds needed to pay off the house. Maybe when houses were much cheaper...
-RM
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