Recent content by bbuzzard

Great question! I have always felt that the middle income w2 earners get shafted with supporting the low income retirees.

I have a 800 pound gun safe/fire safe bolted to the monolithic reinforced concrete slab-on-grade foundation with four 5/8" anchor bolts (on the interior) with a total tensile strength of about 30,000 pounds. I am not too worried. OTOH, it would take about 60 seconds to cut a 18" diameter hole...

I have a big floor safe at my house. I keep all my cash in the safe in 1 dollar bills so that I can go swimming every morning and evening in my money. Very therapeutic. ;D

I like this game. Try Hearne, Texas. Lots of free standing single family homes for under $50K [Moderator edit: Another shorter link.]

As always, different people will accept different living conditions. I forgot yesterday that I lived in an apartment complex about 1/2 mile away (next to my office) for 9 months after I moved to Houston in 1990 (until my present house was finished). At the time, with no kids, I found it...

I worked for 12 years within 1/2 mile of this location. This area is not an area in which most people would want to live, and you certainly could not leave your condo for a month and call it worry free. It is surrounded by apartments and is at the edge of an area suffering from a (Katrina...

Obviously, you want to hedge in entities that own O&G, not just produce it. IYHO, what is the best way to do this other than owning your own wells?

Good question. Every now and then my paranoid side comes into control and I wonder if I should have 2-3% of my stash converted to gold and cast into the grade beam of my house. I actually think this is not a totally ridiculous idea, and in fact I have about $2000 in silver in the gun safe. I...

Please give a link to the Fido calculator we are discussing. Thanks

Good point. I essence, I am ignoring the fact that I will still have 225,000 after the mortgage is paid off. And your math is correct, I have about 10 years left on the note.

This is my point.

Amen. I have found that almost everyone is honest until dishonesty benefits themselves. At this point most people become dishonest. Playing with your parents assets to avoid paying off debts at death is another place that honest people have a large problem staying honest. Many of my friends...

Spanky, I have reviewed many (all?) of these threads, and agree that "if you are sure (or confident) that your investment rate is higher than your mortgage on a consistent basis, you should not pay off the mortgage." My point here, and I think it may be new, is that if a 4% SWR is the right...

Note that Houston curve? That is where I live :(.

I have always believed it is pretty clear from the financial side of the house that it is better to keep a mortgage if you are disciplined enough to invest your extra cash instead of spending it. However, I also believe that peace of mind has value and I am paying off my mortgage at an...