~~ CEB Community Thread ~~

[Chris-]

1 hour ago, Nokra said:

Question for everyone:

 

What are some of your favorite resources for financial advice and information, retirement planning, investments, etc.? In my new job starting in about a month, I'm actually going to start having money left over at the end of the month , plus my new employer will award stock as part of my compensation package, as well as 401k matching, bonuses, etc. I'm completely ignorant about a lot of the vocabulary, programs, costs/benefits, etc. when it comes to financial matters because it just has never been available to me, but I don't want to waste the opportunity. 

 

I assume corporate will have some information but I don't want them to be my only source since they of course have their own agenda, like everyone.  

 

If this is too broad of a question I can try to narrow it down a bit. 

 

 

Most of the big brokers have enough content marketing that if you Google a question, you'll get a fair amount of reputable sources explaining it. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

1 hour ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

I’ve picked up a lot from the personal finance subreddit tbh. 

 

Follow the flow chart. Make personal tweaks as necessary but if you're following 90% ofnit you're laying a solid foundation for the future.

[CitizenVectron]

I will third the personal finance subreddit. The Canadian one is fantastic, I assume the American is similar. Just throw that money into index funds following the flowcharts and sit back, once you have a good emergency fund!

[Kal-El814]

I've paid an Ameriprise financial advisor for close to 20 years now, and it's worked out very well for me. I acknowledge that I could do a lot of my own research and come to similar conclusions but it's been worth outsourcing for me. I find that working with someone else makes me feel accountable in a way that I know I would not if left to my own devices.

[CitizenVectron]

Few big things here:

 

1. My street has been flooded due to a major water main break. Last night the whole neighbourhood was out watching the geyser down the block

 

2. The public school board in my city (with 66% of students in the city) has been taken down by ransomware, it seems. I work for the Catholic board (remaining 33% of students) and we haven't heard anything officially...but my next door neighbour is the lead on a big cyber recovery/security firm in the city, and he kind of wink-winked that yes, it's a ransom attack. So that sucks. Sounds like all of their systems (authentication, email, payroll, student data, etc) is all gone.

[Keyser_Soze]

Yet, somehow the two incidents are related

 

[CitizenVectron]

11 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Yet, somehow the two incidents are related

 

 

I took a shit so big it clogged the sewer and the internet pipes.

[Keyser_Soze]

6 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

I took a shit so big it clogged the sewer and the internet pipes.

 

Now that's what I call POUtine!

[Nokra]

How much time do you all spend commuting per day, on average? I'm currently spending about an hour in the car five days per week.

 

My lease is up in July and I'm tempted to move closer to work to win some time back, but I currently live in a cool neighborhood basically in downtown Portland and work is more or less in the burbs. 

[Keyser_Soze]

45 minutes ago, Nokra said:

How much time do you all spend commuting per day, on average? I'm currently spending about an hour in the car five days per week.

 

When I was going to work it was like a 20ish minute drive to and from work.

[CitizenVectron]

11 min by car, 21 by bicycle in the summer.

[Chris-]

About 15 minutes in the morning and 20 in the evening (I go a different way to avoid traffic, which I don’t run into often in the morning). 

[marioandsonic]

0, because I work from home now 

[Jason]

8 hours ago, Nokra said:

How much time do you all spend commuting per day, on average? I'm currently spending about an hour in the car five days per week.

 

My lease is up in July and I'm tempted to move closer to work to win some time back, but I currently live in a cool neighborhood basically in downtown Portland and work is more or less in the burbs. 

 

The drive is 30 minutes each way? That's not a long enough drive to be worth giving up living in a neighborhood you enjoy IMO. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

If you can find a way to take public transit I'd recommend that. Even though my trip is ten minutes longer each way when I take the train, on the train itself I can read a book, watch a show, or dick around on D1P.

[Keyser_Soze]

29 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

If you can find a way to take public transit I'd recommend that. Even though my trip is ten minutes longer each way when I take the train, on the train itself I can read a book, watch a show, or dick around on D1P.

 

Where I live public transportation is pretty bad. It would be a 15 minute drive or an hour long bus ride.

[Anathema-]

Literally the worst traffic in the country, don't ask me.

[Nokra]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

 

The drive is 30 minutes each way? That's not a long enough drive to be worth giving up living in a neighborhood you enjoy IMO. 

This is kind of the way I'm leaning, especially since in the new job I'll actually have a bit of money to enjoy the neighborhood. And especially if I'm able to do a hybrid WFH/office thing, it may be pretty manageable. 

 

3 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

If you can find a way to take public transit I'd recommend that. Even though my trip is ten minutes longer each way when I take the train, on the train itself I can read a book, watch a show, or dick around on D1P.

 

Agreed in principle... When I was living in Germany, I took the train all the time and got a ton of reading done. Here, the train/bus would make my commute go from 30 minutes to an hour or more each way and it isn't nearly as direct. Still, I might look into this as an occasional option. Thanks for the reminder! 

[CitizenVectron]

We hung a pride flag in our office window today. Our IT department is located inside a Catholic high school, so we may be asked to remove it. But fuck it.

[CitizenVectron]

@silentbob Are there any strains you'd recommend for chronic back pain, or anything customers find helpful (even for helping to sleep)? My mother-in-law had back surgery to fuse some stuff and has had bad pain ever since. Opioids work but she doesn't want to use too much. 

[silentbob]

18 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

@silentbob Are there any strains you'd recommend for chronic back pain, or anything customers find helpful (even for helping to sleep)? My mother-in-law had back surgery to fuse some stuff and has had bad pain ever since. Opioids work but she doesn't want to use too much. 

I would go with a balanced oil for her. She would get the relief for her pain and the CBD would help her fall asleep and negate some of the negative effects of the THC. My former manager was a big guy at +300lbs, had a couple back surgeries himself and has a high tolerance for his stuff. So his go to for himself/customers was called Mood Rings Balanced Oil . Said it worked really well for him and for his elderly mom with her pain for sleep. 
 

There are some balanced strains for smoking too and the popular ones were Orchids Pink Runtz CBD (never tried, but have recently done pure THC flower of the strain.  Clear and energetic high, not coffee energy, but stayed focus. Didn’t notice much pain relief but I’m funny with my weed recently) Divvy’s Nebula II or their Black Widow CBD we’re popular as well in a pre-roll form (sold in flower too) My best pain relievers grown myself have been Do-Si-Dos, strong Indica that would probably put your mom to sleep but did great with my wrist pain. Bruce Banger(Banner #3) is my mom’s go to strain for her sleep, eye pressure and relief of pain from her knee replacement from a few years back. Find it does well with inflammation but breeders have versions that lean both Indica or Sativa. Also can’t go wrong with the classic GSC or Girl Scout Cookies as well.

[marioandsonic]

My current bed is about 6 and a half years old.  Is it too early to start thinking about a new mattress?  I definitely use mine more than most people because of WFH and such.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

15 minutes ago, marioandsonic said:

My current bed is about 6 and a half years old.  Is it too early to start thinking about a new mattress?  I definitely use mine more than most people because of WFH and such.

Depends but maybe. Mine is 10 years old and is still in great shape and I have no plans to get a new one anytime soon, but it was made from very high density foam that isn’t much on the market anymore as a competitor to Tempurpedic. If you’ve got an innerspring it may be time to get a new one. If there’s a noticeable body impression and/or you’re not getting restful sleep, it is definitely time. 

[marioandsonic]

23 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Depends but maybe. Mine is 10 years old and is still in great shape and I have no plans to get a new one anytime soon, but it was made from very high density foam that isn’t much on the market anymore as a competitor to Tempurpedic. If you’ve got an innerspring it may be time to get a new one. If there’s a noticeable body impression and/or you’re not getting restful sleep, it is definitely time. 

 

I don't feel any discomfort, but it's definitely showing its age with stains and things like that.  Maybe I'll wait a few months and get one for myself at Christmas time if there's a sale.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

1 hour ago, marioandsonic said:

 

I don't feel any discomfort, but it's definitely showing its age with stains and things like that.  Maybe I'll wait a few months and get one for myself at Christmas time if there's a sale.

Labor Day is the next big sale day historically

[Jason]

Stepped in shit in the middle of my walk today. Good odds it was human shit. I've gotten the sandal cleaned but I feel like the sandal will feel forever unclean now.

[Anathema-]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Stepped in shit in the middle of my walk today. Good odds it was human shit. I've gotten the sandal cleaned but I feel like the sandal will feel forever unclean now.

 

trayf

[CitizenVectron]

I need help with car decisions.

 

My 2013 Focus has been doing okay, but requires more and more work. While I have no pressing need to replace it, if I wait until I actually need to replace it, then I won't be able to get anything good due to shortages everywhere.

 

So, my thoughts were that I should put a deposit down now on a new vehicle knowing that it might take a full year (or more) to receive it. 

 

I've basically narrowed it down to (in order of likelihood):

1. 2022 Corolla Hybrid (HEV)
2. 2022 Prius Prime (PHEV)
3. 2023 Ioniq 5 (full BEV)

The Ioniq was initially at the top of my list, but realistically it will be more than 18 months away and double the price of the first two. The Corolla would be almost double my current fuel efficiency, and the Prius Prime would likely be used as electric-only for 90% of my driving.

 

While I think I want the Prius Prime the most, I'm leaning towards the Corolla because the expected delivery times are 12+ months and 6+ months, respectively.

 

I have $13,000 saved up and my car would likely bring trade-in of around $5,000-$6,000, and the three vehicles are around:

• Corolla - $35,000
• Prius Prime - $39,000
• Ioniq 5 - $62,000

With the price of gas the Ioniq would pay for itself eventually, but not for a long time since I am mixed WFH/office and typically only drive 10-15km per day on average.

 

Thoughts? I'd love to go to full BEV right now, but I think that hybrid or plug-in hybrid is probably the better choice due to my needs, the affordability, and the wait times. Any input is appreciated!

 

[Guest]

I would never buy a non-electric car again. So many quality of life imprisonments beyond the total cost of ownership.

[CitizenVectron]

1 hour ago, sblfilms said:

I would never buy a non-electric car again. So many quality of life imprisonments beyond the total cost of ownership.

 

The main reasons I am leaning against full BEV at the moment (though obviously I want one) are:

• Charging infrastructure in Saskatchewan isn't great, which means we are limited to the city (for comparison, Saskatchewan has the same land area as Texas, but only 1.1 million people, so cities/towns are spread quite far apart)
• Range in the winter is cut 30-50%...and it's winter here for 7 months a year

If the first point is fixed then the second doesn't matter quite as much. But, if I can at least go PHEV for now, then most of my driving will be handled by the battery (provided the base range is 40-50km per charge). Unfortunately we do drive around the province a fair bit in the summer, and there is no transit of any kind besides flight now (bus lines all shut down over the last few years), and flights only go to the two major cities. So if we want to go to my mom's site up north we'd...have to rent a car? 

[rc0101]

My current truck is a hybrid but once the Ford Lightning is more available I’ll be trading in my Powerboost for the Lightning. I live in MT with winter 7 months out of the year but I will just charge at night from my house. 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

47 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

The main reasons I am leaning against full BEV at the moment (though obviously I want one) are:

• Charging infrastructure in Saskatchewan isn't great, which means we are limited to the city (for comparison, Saskatchewan has the same land area as Texas, but only 1.1 million people, so cities/towns are spread quite far apart)
• Range in the winter is cut 30-50%...and it's winter here for 7 months a year

If the first point is fixed then the second doesn't matter quite as much. But, if I can at least go PHEV for now, then most of my driving will be handled by the battery (provided the base range is 40-50km per charge). Unfortunately we do drive around the province a fair bit in the summer, and there is no transit of any kind besides flight now (bus lines all shut down over the last few years), and flights only go to the two major cities. So if we want to go to my mom's site up north we'd...have to rent a car? 

Sell the car get an ebike and the best cold weather gear money can buy. Rent a car when you need long distance or hauling. This is the way

[Jason]

There are cheaper BEVs than the Ioniq 5.

[Nokra]

Whelp, just tested positive for COVID. I'm supposed to start my new job on Monday, so I guess that will be delayed.  

[CitizenVectron]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

There are cheaper BEVs than the Ioniq 5.

 

Any good recommendations? Key thing here is that it has to have good range since it's cut in half during winter. Also needs resistive heating or heat pump to keep up with the cold.

 

On a different note, my wife and I (who is Bi) walked in the Pride Parade today with my coworker and his husband. Turnout was amazing, thousands and thousands of people, and the atmosphere was amazing. It was a nice bit of positivity especially after the anti-trans stuff that is in the news all the time.

 

In the prep area as it started:

 

 

Down the road to the provincial Capitol. The flagpoles on the final bridge crossing had every type of pride flag flying, representing all different sexualities, genders, etc.

 

 

We walked with a trans-support foundation that was playing great music. Just ahead of them was a float of drag performers dressed as flamboyant nuns, which was great.