Recent content by Scrooge

When I finally perfect my time machine design, I promise I'll let you know, folks! Until then, Astro's explanation will have to suffice ;D

Well, this was my introductory thread a couple of months back, but then I posted quite a bit in late July - August. Check the post count ;)

A quick update. A few weeks ago I wrote: Although it took longer than expected, the new project finally jelled together a month ago and I am now working in the Rocky Mountains region. Knock on wood, but so far everything looks just as I hoped it would be: the work is much more interesting --...

I too have over $10K in my checking account, but for a very different reason. I am a roaming consultant and when my roaming takes me out of state, which happens about 50% of the time, my monthly expenses can be quite high. Of course, the client eventually reimburses me -- and I even break even...

Unless you guys are extreme do-it-yourselvers, $2.4K/y on home maintenance and remodeling (!) sounds very low, especially given your stated spening levels elsewhere. Are you sure that number will survive collision with reality as your house ages?

I'll go out on a limb here and volunteer a guess: the answer is "money"! ;D

Well, I don't know if I would go that far, but I think I am making baby steps in the right direction. I spent an hour earlier this week going through my software and slimmed it down from 4 boxes to 1. Next on the agenda: about a hundred (very) old computer and science books that I will never...

Er, who said anything about it being rational?  :-[ I don't think you understand. I could only wish I had 3,000 books. I bought this house 13 years ago because I had 8,000 books then and needed more space. Of course, once I had the extra space, it only got worse. Much worse. I donated 600...

I can see how CMM can be used that way, but I have never heard of XP as an outside requirement. How often does it happen?

Well, it's a highly personal decision. For example, you have a wife and a small child, so your moving costs (money, aggravation, etc) would be higher and you would need to rent a reasonably big place for the family to live in and raise the child(ren). I don't have a family and have been known to...

Congratulations! 18 years in IT and counting here, so I know how you feel ::) The advice about not making any drastic changes in the first 12 months (or so) is likely sound based on a number of people's experiences. Professionals even have a term for people flailing around after retiring...

You sell the house and rent for 4 years?  8)

If you start in 1980-1985, when median income was just under $40k and look at the next 20 years, it has grown to $46.3K today. As far as the quintile distribution goes, all five quintiles have seen their income increase over the last 20 years. See Table A-3 on page 47 of the PDF file linked...

I suppose it's another way of saying that you should try to minimize the chances of unexpected expenses in retirement when your financial situation is less flexible. Sounds like the old adage about becoming more conservative with your investments as you get older: you sacrifice potentially...

Real median houshold income has been growing for the last 40 years, although it has had its ups and downs. See Figure 1 at http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p60-231.pdf