Math, Personal Finance, Asking the Right Questions, and Other Random Thoughts

One of the great takeaways I remember from math class - there were math problems that could only be solved by doing the steps in the right order. Otherwise, the problem was unsolvable. Of course, I can't remember any of these problems off the top of my head, but the concept always stuck with me.

Maybe its having kids, but I end up reading a lot of personal finance stuff to get ideas. There's this whole FIRE movement where people plan to save like 50% of their paycheck and then retire early. FIRE = Financial Independence Retire Early. I don't get these people. I think they're asking the wrong question about their own lives. Strikes me, they're asking: how can I "retire" ie not work, or perhaps "not work for money." When, to me, the question is: what do I do with this time I have? Just imagine you were born into money, you'd still need to figure out something to do. So this idea of laser focusing on "retirement" seems to me a really weird way of thinking about ones own life. Maybe just me.

Andre Drummond by all accounts does everything right - dominates using the skills he was born with, works hard, improves every year, sort of follows all the ancient virtues - and yet - seems to be doomed to NBA irrelevance. It sucks. And why tragedy is the greatest of all story forms.

Housing is more expensive for the younger generation than it was for older generations. Investing (using index funds, etc) is cheaper. My suggestion: buy less of what costs more and more of what costs less.

And this.

7. You’ll end up treasuring almost nothing you buy. Over the years, I’ve had fleeting desires for all kinds of material goods. Sometimes, I caved in and bought. Most of the stuff I purchased has since been thrown away.

And then this other random thought: what songs from the last couple years will be remembered 15-20-30 years from now and played at parties and sung at karaoke? My votes: Let it Go (from Frozen) and Old Town Road. Sorry, I know neither of those are cool answers.

Allow yourself one (or maybe two) life indulgences. I used find $5 coffee offensive. Evidence of everything wrong with coastal America. Why pay $5 for something I could make for 10 cents? I've done a 180. Maybe it's having kids. In fact, I'd argue there is some relaxational element to saying to yourself - fuck it - I like coffee and if I want a fucking $5 flat white, I'm gonna drink a $5 flat white whenever I want. You're not damaging the world, and not damaging your future self by doing so. I think the problem in life is living ONLY in indulgences. I kinda sorta think allowing yourself one (or maybe a couple) indulgences is maybe the key to NOT giving into too many indulgences or just becoming too anxious in general. Just a working theory, I don't know. But for instance, I now indulge in coffee drinks and drink way less alcohol and have almost no inclination or desire toward gambling whereas in the past I maybe enjoyed drinking and gambling. Of course, this could also just be age and life circumstance.