Chuckanut
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
IMO, the need for diversification is as great today as it ever has been in my lifetime. I take nothing for granted other than my own ignorance of the future.
IMO, the need for diversification is as great today as it ever has been in my lifetime. I take nothing for granted other than my own ignorance of the future.
I believe PGE here in NorCal is right on par with HECO, a few pennies higher, in fact.There is a new story every night on the news about something that is about to cost our state a ton of money (several stories lately on folks still living in hotels at state expense due to the wildfires on Maui. IIRC it's a billion/year so far)
HECO (our electric company - already the most expensive electricity in the nation) is trying to anticipate the fall out from the Maui fires AND trying to become green by 2045 and fixing crumbling electrical infrastructure. They want to add even more "special categories" to our rate bills. IOW, without ever turning on a light, your light bill is already over $20. So now they want to pass all their poor planing onto rate payers.
The Rail project is an abject failure and almost no one is using it. When it begins to break down due to lack of maintenance, it will get even more expensive.
There was a story last night that we don't have enough condos in the state. What a revelation! Well, it turns out that the COST of building condos here is (wait for it) 56% due to (wait for it) regulations! So more than half the cost of a condo is to be sure there are building permits, environmental assessments, burial ground assessments, traffic assessments, on and on, etc. I still recall our first Walmart being held up for something like 2 years because they found a couple of ancient bones on the site.
Property crime is through the roof. The big complaint that retailers mention: "They cost me $2000 in damage to steal $100 in petty cash or $200 worth of merchandise." The police only catch the thieves if they happen to catch them in the act. Hundreds of such break ins occur and maybe once or twice a year, there is a story of a "ring" being busted. They're all on camera (every business has cameras) but the police don't use the footage to track them down - even though vehicles are always involved and visible.) Guess who ultimately pays for all of this crime.
I could go on, but my point is, on a micro basis, the economy is under a lot of stress. And we are one micro-recession away from a tourism crash which will REALLY be devastating since we now exist on tourism and military - that's it. That's our economy.
Oh, and the Covid money (which has been sustaining our economy) is finally drying up. So there is a "feeling" of "doom" among people here. Things are humming along, but everyone knows that the next shoe to drop could be a state wide disaster. YMMV
One thing I've noticed from 2020 forwards, is these types of places have seen zero drop off. Hotels like FS are hard to find under 1k in major/seasonal locations, and, yet, yes, packed.Just got back from Chicago. Had dinner at a great steak place on the river. Cheapest steak was $70, average was $90. On a Wednesday night, the place was mobbed!! Our dinner for four came to $825.
Stayed at the Four Seasons (not cheap), again the hotel was packed.
I think it's a case of the rich getting richer and the rest struggling with groceries and gas.
Probably true, but DD has just applied for further relief money for the organization that employs her. Not guaranteed they'll get it but I'm amazed there is still government cash available for this.Covid money (which has been sustaining our economy) is finally drying up.
I marvel that there are enough people who can afford such "luxury" and marvel even more that there are enough people willing to PAY such prices for such luxury - whether they can afford it or not.Just got back from Chicago. Had dinner at a great steak place on the river. Cheapest steak was $70, average was $90. On a Wednesday night, the place was mobbed!! Our dinner for four came to $825. Every other restaurant in the area was similarly packed!
Stayed at the Four Seasons (not cheap), again the hotel was packed.
I think it's a case of the rich getting richer and the rest struggling with groceries and gas.
Well, I'm a big believer in "if you're not good to yourself, who else is going to be?" ( my late mom's philosophy)I marvel that there are enough people who can afford such "luxury" and marvel even more that there are enough people willing to PAY such prices for such luxury - whether they can afford it or not.
I'm sure I could pay those prices occasionally, but refuse to do so. (Heck, I'm on a "stay-out-of-fast-food-joints-because-the-value-is-no-longer-there" kick.) YMMV
In other words, BTDWell, I'm a big believer in "if you're not good to yourself, who else is going to be?" ( my late mom's philosophy)
Plus our age coupled to our ever growing portfolio and having no children leaves us with the dilemma of: "if we don't spend it our heirs will". With 15 or 20 years left, and maybe only 10 of them good ones, we're running out of time.
Two and a half days in Chicago, including airfare cost us a little over $7k. Yeah, that's a lot but you know what? It was worth every penny. The service, the attention to detail, the comfort, being treated like a human being. We're going back in the fall.
Yup, cannot disagree with this.More generally, my take is that there's a lot of money out there. The wealthy are getting wealthier and the have nots are scrambling to buy groceries. Sad, but that’s the facts of where we are at this point.
+1. William Gibson said " the future is here, it's just distributed unevenly ". I think the same is true for the recession/expansion of the economy.I don’t worry about reconciling macro trends with personal micro observations. Things are very diverse in my personal experience and I tend to focus on my day to day micro and lots of unique happenings.
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Just got back from Chicago. Had dinner at a great steak place on the river. Cheapest steak was $70, average was $90. On a Wednesday night, the place was mobbed!! Our dinner for four came to $825. Every other restaurant in the area was similarly packed!
Stayed at the Four Seasons (not cheap), again the hotel was packed.
I think it's a case of the rich getting richer and the rest struggling with groceries and gas.
Pretty much the same story in 1929.....To me this is much like 2008 situation, IF you kept your job and didn't do something insane like pull your money out of the market, you did pretty great after that. However plenty of people lost their job, drained their savings, and then lost their house and were starting over at 30/40...they did not do ok for a very long time.
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I wonder how much of the "feel" is made worse by our splintered media. I don't recall the late 70s much, but inflation was much higher then and I don't think there was this much angst about it, especially our current unemployment rates, higher wages, higher stock market.I am a bit late to the party here. I believe that the "feel" of the economy lags behind the numbers. The numbers clearly show that inflation is down. However, those inflation rates compare to last year, not pre-Covid prices. And the numbers may not reflect any one individual's or location's increases. I don't think we will ever get back to pre-Covid prices. We may see some items lower such as mortgage interest. How can that happen get to 4% when the banks are paying 5%? The parties-that-be are trying to hold inflation to ~2%. If they are successful, we will still see next year's prices higher than this year's. We will still feel that inflation is high though.
Most walking around "out there" will tune in to Reddit, FB or some other social media channel and hear what they want to hear, then rail against the other reality.I wonder how much of the "feel" is made worse by our splintered media. I don't recall the late 70s much, but inflation was much higher then and I don't think there was this much angst about it, especially our current unemployment rates, higher wages, higher stock market.
People with the top 1% of net worth in the U.S. in 2025 will have $11.6 million in net worth
The top 2% will have a net worth of $2.7 million
The top 5% will have $1.17 million
The top 10% will have $970,900
The top 50% will have $585,000
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Are You Rich? U.S. Net Worth Percentiles Can Provide Answers
See the U.S. net worth percentiles and what Americans think is the magic number for them to be considered rich.www.kiplinger.com
Lately I've been reading more social media to try and understand what others experience. It has been pointed out many times that your internet experience becomes tuned to what you want to see. So we really are in echo chambers to a large extent.
I don't know about $18 Big Macs but I would doubt you can get 2 for $5. That must be another sammich. Of course, I could be wrong. I was once so YMMV.I see all the threads on reddit about $18 big macs while I can go on the app and get 2 for $5 here so its hard to tell how much of this is real or its an election year and people are stirring the pot.
Deal last week to satisfy my wife's craving was buy 1 get one for $1, so $5.82 with tax for two.I don't know about $18 Big Macs but I would doubt you can get 2 for $5. That must be another sammich. Of course, I could be wrong. I was once so YMMV.
Got a Taco Bell cravings box yesterday for $6. 20% increase from the $5. It tasted good and I felt full.Deal last week to satisfy my wife's craving was buy 1 get one for $1, so $5.82 with tax for two.