Is this guy crazy or what

There are always jobs that some people have to do. We should not look down on the people doing these jobs for us. They are no slackers, and could be working harder, and for less pay, than paper pushers in bureaucratic government or megacorps.
 
redduck said:
I just figured something out, both you (Big_Hitter) and marko have the SAME dad and you can both hear him talking to you. (He seems have the same message for both you boys).
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This answers a question me and my mom have had for years!!! :LOL:
 
Seriously, there have been several comments about this guy possibly having some sort of mental issues.

If that's the case, maybe his choices should not be within the context of LBYM, retirement or the perspectives of the general millennial population.

We'll likely never know if this is a financial choice or a mental health choice, but I'd hate to think many here (myself included) were bashing this guy when he was just trying to stay sane.
 
marko said:
Seriously, there have been several comments about this guy possibly having some sort of mental issues.

If that's the case, maybe his choices should not be within the context of LBYM, retirement or the perspectives of the general millennial population.

We'll likely never know if this is a financial choice or a mental health choice, but I'd hate to think many here (myself included) were bashing this guy when he was just trying to stay sane.
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agreed - uncool to bash for mental issues
 
NW-Bound said:
There are always jobs that some people have to do. We should not look down on the people doing these jobs for us. They are no slackers, and could be working harder, and for less pay, than paper pushers in bureaucratic government or megacorps.
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I'm not looking down on anyone that does good, honest work. Not sure where that came from...:confused:


Based on what I've seen the last several years I am afraid that kids nowadays don't have the same work ethic we did 30 years ago. That's all.
 
Big_Hitter said:
that was then, this is now

I wouldn't mind living in that garret if I was in college or just out of school.

I've studied and worked too hard to live like a pauper.
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Not everyone needs big homes and cars to be happy. From a historical and worldwide perspective, average American homes are really big and use up a lot of resources to build and maintain. But according to most happiness research, home size isn't what makes people happy. It is more factors like social connections, getting out in nature, helping others, leisure time and exercise which the guy in the video is getting more of now that he has changed jobs, downsized, works less and simplified his life.
 
daylatedollarshort said:
But according to most happiness research, home size isn't what makes people happy. It is more factors like social connections, getting out in nature, helping others, leisure time and exercise
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it's actually possible to have all of that, believe it or not
 
Big_Hitter said:
it's a great message - kids nowadays should hear it, all day every day, then maybe we would have some real growth in this country instead of turning into a nation of slackers
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Why should people value economic growth vs slacking off (i.e. taking it easy and minimizing stress)? There has been no wage growth in decades. All the growth does is go to mega corp... which unfortunately very few people own stocks. So they see no benefit.

I do wish that more people would invest money. So that they could see some of the gains from neo-liberalism, but given all the booms-busts I'm not surprised they want no part of it. From what I understand millennials are staying out of stocks almost entirely. So if they can't benefit from growth, why not slack off and get more free-time? Seems rational to me.
 
Big_Hitter said:
it's actually possible to have all of that, believe it or not
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It might be possible, but many posters on this forum don't seem to have figured it out. I'm sure they would enjoy hearing more on how to do that. Many hate or did hate their jobs. There's threads on that topic practically daily. How many threads are there on dreading Sunday nights because it means work the next day?

I also see many threads on downsizing here in order to ER, travel, reduce expenses or to free up time from housework and home maintenance chores.
 
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ESRwannabe said:
...From what I understand millennials are staying out of stocks almost entirely...
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Oh no! Who's going to buy my stocks, now that I am already in the distribution phase?
 
daylatedollarshort said:
It might be possible, but many posters on this forum don't seem to have figured it out. I'm sure they would enjoy hearing more on how to do that. Many hate or did hate their jobs. There's threads on that topic practically daily.
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keep your head down for 25 years (i.e. don't give up) w*rking in a large city with a very robust economy and low COL, save money, move somewhere nice with a similar j*b, on a golf course, 30 minutes from a ski hill with a 10 minute commute

the difficult part is getting a similar j*b somewhere nice. that's where we lucked out. plus we never had any kids.
 
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Big_Hitter said:
keep your head down for 25 years (i.e. don't give up) w*rking in a large city with a very robust economy and low COL, save money, move somewhere nice with a similar j*b, on a golf course, 30 minutes from a ski hill with a 10 minute commute

the difficult part is getting a similar j*b somewhere nice. that's where we lucked out. plus we never had any kids.
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That may be your idea of an ideal life, but it is not everyone's idea of ideal. For some it might be the opposite of what they want in life.
 
daylatedollarshort said:
That may be your idea of an ideal life, but it is not everyone's idea of ideal. For some it might be the opposite of what they want in life.
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it isn't for everyone, that's for sure - our profession has a very high weed out rate - some people want 8 kids; I get that. I was just saying it is possible to achieve all those things you posted earlier, I have.

part of it was very difficult, no doubt - working and studying for exams for the first 10 years for example, but I didn't quit
 
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Big_Hitter said:
it isn't for everyone, that's for sure - our profession has a very high weed out rate - some people want 8 kids; I get that. I was just saying it is possible to achieve all those things you posted earlier, I have.

part of it was very difficult, no doubt - working and studying for exams for the first 10 years for example, but I didn't quit
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The video guy left a job with golden handcuffs that made him miserable. I am not sure I would call that quitting - just changing his goals in life and what was important to him. He lowered his overhead for more time freedom and to work at a more socially rewarding job. I quit a utility job out of college because I didn't want to work at a boring place, never learning any marketable skills for 30 years and end up like my older, bitter and golden handcuffed co-workers I saw around me. It wasn't about the money. The money was great. It was about not feeling trapped for 30 years.

Our society would not function without people holding down jobs from all skill levels and pay scales from farm workers, gardeners and housekeepers, retail clerks, engineers, directors to CEOs and hedge fund managers. I don't think there is a cutoff where everyone below the top level positions is a quitter or loser.
 
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daylatedollarshort said:
Our society would not function without people holding down jobs from all skill levels and pay scales from farm workers, gardeners and housekeepers, retail clerks, engineers, directors to CEOs and hedge fund managers. I don't think there is a cutoff where everyone below the top level positions is a quitter or loser.
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I think we may be able to function without hedge fund managers....

Do I sound elitist or something? it's possible :eek:
 
Hedge fund managers make beaucoup money. Do they contribute commensurately to society? Some say that their contribution is negative.

But are they the only ones with negative contributions? How 'bout politicians?

Uh oh, some will say "my politician is good, but yours is bad". :)

I think that in any profession there are positives and negatives. Perhaps what hedge fund managers do, the good and not crooked ones that is, is to make the market more efficient. They turn every rock, and look for market mispricing. They buy low to help the market not crashing as badly otherwise in a recession, and sell high to dampen out bubbles.
 
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NW-Bound said:
Hedge fund managers make beaucoup money. Do they contribute commensurately to society? Some say that their contribution is negative.

But are they the only ones with negative contributions? How 'bout politicians?

Uh oh, some will say "my politician is good, but yours is bad". :)
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They are all both good and bad, depending on the issue. :-D
With both sides being so entrenched in their own ideology, and so unwilling to work with the other I do believe that we are at a time when term limits for Congress is a good idea. Get some fresh blood on there, and have it so that you won't have individuals with decades of time there and little fifedoms. Too few pull too many "strings" on both sides of the aisle.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
 
When I first saw your response, I thought "term limit for hedge fund managers"? What the heck? But then, I saw that you are talking about politicians. :)

Yes, but Congress will have to pass the law, and why should they do that? You can call them anything, but they are no dummies.

PS. Even though your reply started by mentioning ideology, I was still thinking of hedge fund managers. You see, there's ideology in investing too, religion even. :)
 
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Their bid prices are too low. Darn low ballers. My WR will go through the roof.
 
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