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by Pointedstick
Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:00 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

Atypical indeed! Very impressive. I used to aspire to that level of power frugality but had to throw in the towel after my kids were born. Our consumption is still very much below average, but not like what you're doing! With such a low level of consumption, I'm surprised that you're shopping for a ...
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:30 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

Upgrading to 200 amp service is something you would want to do if you plan to upgrade the rest of your gas appliances to electric in the future. An electric oven uses a 50 amp breaker, an electric water heater is 30, and so on. They add up, and the panel is sized for everything being on at once.
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:30 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?
Replies: 341
Views: 141446

Re: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?

Such a defensive portfolio is probably effective at achieving its goals, at the cost of ease of access if you're really going to go all in on asset custodianship for your gold and cash. And of course this won't be free so the returns will be lower compared to more paper/liquid assets that expose you...
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:21 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?
Replies: 341
Views: 141446

Re: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?

I Shrugged wrote:
Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:02 pm
BTW according to Barton Biggs, I forget the name of his book, those two war loser stock markets actually preserved a fair amount of wealth assuming one held on into the post war years.
Yep, buy and hold if you're young or wealthy.
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:51 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

All house projects are investments of some sort, it just depends on how you look at them. Your new driveway wasn't a financial investment, right? You did it for the use value (old driveway was deteriorating) and potential value maintenance (not doing the project would lead to lower resale value). A ...
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:41 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?
Replies: 341
Views: 141446

Re: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?

Exactly. I stick with 100% stocks because the kinds of historical calamities that wiped out stocks typically wiped out bonds and cash as well. It's hard to tell what gold would have done at the time, had it been a freely tradeable commodity without a fixed price, but I suspect it would have gone up ...
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:27 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?
Replies: 341
Views: 141446

Re: Are most people here sticking with Treasuries?

Jack Jones wrote:
Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:34 am
In my mind, the 100% stock investor is putting all their money on the table w/ AA pre-flop. On average, they will end up ahead. However, some outcomes will be close to ruinous, e.g. Germany or Japan 1939-1948.
How well did bonds, cash, or gold do during those times?
by Pointedstick
Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:46 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

4. I agree / disagree with you regarding this particular roofer. He is only 30 years old and has owned the business for only a year. But he's been in the business for 14 years. He said he had the option to buy the business he'd been working for but that would have required him to support all the bu...
by Pointedstick
Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:46 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

I've been a super saver / super frugal all my life that making this solar investment is not going to affect my lifestyle in any way. If it's not going to make your life better why go through the hassle? This is a good question to ask. On its own, owning a solar PV array doesn't make your life bette...
by Pointedstick
Mon Aug 01, 2022 10:45 am
Forum: Politics
Topic: On Civility
Replies: 54
Views: 6079

Re: On Civility

You're welcome! I'm glad it was a thought-provoking argument. From the "evolutionary stress" perspective, I think it's important to keep in mind that humans aren't solitary predators; a key part of our power as a species is our capacity for social organization, and communities evolve too. We humans ...
by Pointedstick
Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:11 am
Forum: Politics
Topic: On Civility
Replies: 54
Views: 6079

Re: On Civility

Thoughtful post. And "hey!" waves hand . Your comment above is the only part that eats at me. And probably because I just want better than that. I think that that prescription ( work on our civility and tolerance ) is probably the best approach in a community of average folks. A community that I ha...
by Pointedstick
Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:18 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Prepper Compound for Sale
Replies: 5
Views: 766

Re: Prepper Compound for Sale

LOL! There's a part of me that's really attracted to this sort of thing, but it's counterbalanced by: 1. the miser side of me that recognizes how expensive it would be to maintain, just like living in any mansion would be 2. the practical side of me that recognizes how lonely and limiting of a life ...
by Pointedstick
Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:08 pm
Forum: Politics
Topic: On Civility
Replies: 54
Views: 6079

Re: On Civility

It's easy to play the civility card, and I definitely think that's part of it, but I also see something else as the root cause. This used to be the Permanent Portfolio forum, back in its early years. We were a bunch of oddballs connected together by our shared interest in this unconventional portfol...
by Pointedstick
Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:59 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

Mountaineer wrote:
Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:39 pm
Good to see you Pointedstick. I've always enjoyed your insights and perspectives. Wow, you, Maddy and Sophie back posting in less than a week - I'm excited!

... Mountaineer
Thanks, you too!
by Pointedstick
Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:55 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

Oh and one more personal update: However in the meantime I have no gas bill and expect to receive a check from the electric company for all the extra electricity I produced this year, which I could alternatively use to charge an electric car FOR FREE. That's right, once I get an electric car, it wil...
by Pointedstick
Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:39 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer
Replies: 131
Views: 60885

Re: Renewable electricity sources are now a no-brainer

Vinny: $25k for a 6 kWh PV array seems high to me. I'd shop around. That's what I paid three years ago for my 7 kWh system in a part of the country with lower labor costs. I bet you can find someone to do the job for $22k before the federal tax credit is applied. And the solar companies are wrong ab...
by Pointedstick
Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:22 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Quality Time Left
Replies: 26
Views: 3369

Re: Quality Time Left

Relatable topic. Looking back, I was most obsessed with the PP specifically and finances & investing in general during the period of time when I was most financially insecure--with debt, low net worth, and high monthly expenses. Over a similar-ish period of time, I eventually came to where you're at...
by Pointedstick
Thu Jun 30, 2022 12:38 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Bitcoin in the PP?
Replies: 81
Views: 27206

Re: Bitcoin in the PP?

PS, do you own Bitcoin? If that's your line of reasoning then BTC must have no value either, no? I don't own any Bitcoins, or any cryptocurrencies. I did years ago, and even accepted payment in Bitcoins back when I was running a small business. Ultimately I lost faith in the concept of cryptocurren...
by Pointedstick
Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:34 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Bitcoin in the PP?
Replies: 81
Views: 27206

Re: Bitcoin in the PP?

Yeah, I think privacy for gold isn't really a thing either. Nobody buys or sells krugerrands in an alley unless they have a death wish. If the best cryptocurrencies can muster is "well, if you use exotic means to jump through a bunch of risky hoops, it's at least theoretically no worse than gold", t...
by Pointedstick
Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:00 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Bitcoin in the PP?
Replies: 81
Views: 27206

Re: Bitcoin in the PP?

I think gold is the closest analog to bitcoin so Ill pull that one out. There is no intrinsic value, all value is subjective valuation of individuals. Gold is valued (by individuals) for some small % of industrial use, price history, SHTF no electricity scenarios, hold it in my hand, etc. But none ...
by Pointedstick
Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:00 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Bitcoin in the PP?
Replies: 81
Views: 27206

Re: Bitcoin in the PP?

It's important to understand what a blockchain actually is: an immutable public record of exchange transactions, trackable back to both parties in the exchange. Unless the thing you've built on top of a blockchain benefits from this trackability, no value has actually been generated by doing so. Qui...
by Pointedstick
Fri Jun 17, 2022 9:38 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Bitcoin in the PP?
Replies: 81
Views: 27206

Re: Bitcoin in the PP?

Most of us lost faith in "Austrian Economics" when we figured out that it's failed to explain basically anything about the way modern economies and monetary systems work over the past 50 years. So defining inflation to mean "an increase in the money supply" re-defines it into uselessness. I don't ca...
by Pointedstick
Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:29 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: How much can you not afford to lose?
Replies: 34
Views: 7193

Re: How much can you not afford to lose?

I don't think a bird is necessarily going to change its feathers just because it hit some milestone. Savers will always save. Spenders will always spend. Gamblers will always gamble. There's a lot of wisdom here. Definitely don't expect that after you hit that number, you'll act differently. You'll...
by Pointedstick
Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:52 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: How much can you not afford to lose?
Replies: 34
Views: 7193

Re: How much can you not afford to lose?

Personally I think it's the opposite: while you're working, and especially when you have a lot of time before retirement, you can afford to lose quite a bit. This is because your income comes from your career or your business, not your investments. Yes, you may have to live off your savings for a ti...
by Pointedstick
Sat May 28, 2022 6:37 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: What kind of inflation are we experiencing?
Replies: 33
Views: 5939

Re: What kind of inflation are we experiencing?

It's often suggested that Japan is 10 years ahead of us, but if that's the case, we can look forward to some pretty good stock returns for at least a little while longer as the Nikkei has been generally rising for 10 years. :) And this a time when their demographic issues have gotten even worse; dea...