Recent content by 220volt

The US is really disadvantaged geographically for international travel. Most destinations are just too far away and will be taxing on you. Even within the US, the distances are so large. And if you're not in one of the major cities, connecting flights will be a nightmare. This is why DW and I...

There's an old saying among wealthy: Have a friend with a boat"

My grandfather used to say: "The best place to live is wherever I'm currently not" When it's cold we want it hot. When it's hot, we want it cold Always wanting, what it's not.

My co-worker flew economy to Australia from Kentucky few years ago (via San Francisco I think) and he said the flight was grueling. He watched all three Lord Of The Ring movies on his iPad and then realized he still had 6 hours to go! Not an advice I know, but it might mentally prepare you for it.

Depending on the area and your lifestyle, one can make countless “great” arguments for either or. But one advantage of home ownership over renting is inescapable: The mortgage you lock in stays the same until the end regardless of inflation. While the rent will almost always increase with (or...

The saying goes "Don’t retire from something, retire to something."

I pay Google Drive $10/month for 2TB of storage and I use what we in IT industry call 3-2-1 backup. Meaning, have at least 3 copies of all of your important data. 2 at home on different storage devices (external and Internal drives) and 1 off site (Google Drive)

That's exactly how teleportation in Star Trek works. You get disintegrated (dematerialization) into particles and then information gets send out to a receiving station which re-assembles you again based on the information provided (rematerialization). But you literary die as soon as you get...

Ray Kurzweil has been heavily criticized by experts from many different fields ranging from AI, medicine to psychology and cognitive science. Critique was varying, from unattainable, and naive to pure fiction and rubbish. Especially since many of his prediction failed. A side note: he used to...

So come 2035 will they immediately cut benefits to all existing retirees, soon-to-be retirees or will they start preemptively cutting future benefits of younger generations who haven't earned SS credit yet? I read it as 20% cuts immediately across the board - existing and future.

No, but their healthcare seems to be less affected by political changes. We are also originally from Europe so we are comfortable on either side of the Atlantic. It all depends on which one offers a better health care solution at the time of FIRE.

You should never, ever bet on any kind of certainty in the US considering its political system. Not ACA, not Roth not SS. Especially something as divisive as ACA. Nothing is safe anymore. Who is to say congress won't start taxing Roth or full SS? Temperature of the system an d the whole country...

We thought about doing this when we retire, but lately, we came to the conclusion that it might not be worth it. Basically what you’re gaining is only a free place to stay, but have to deal with someone else’s property and lives of their pets. No matter how careful and responsible you are...

I would buy the best asset money can buy; an extra piece of mind. Invest in treasuries at 3% a year and then every year go on a nice vacation, buy a car or whatever, without ever touching the principle.

We stayed in Paris for 7 days and then took the train from Paris to Aix Provence. Stayed in Aix Provence for 5 days and then train from Aix to --> Nice. Stayed 3 days in Nice and took the train couple of times to Monaco and back. Super easy. Takes literary 15 minutes. Then we drove from Nice...