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Episode-1621- Listener Feedback for 8-10-15

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Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Today on the Survival Podcast I take your emails on pattern recognition, zones, tool maintenance, tools, air compressors, irrigation, saving money, corporate structures and more.

Make sure if you submit content for a feedback show that you put something like “comment for jack”, “question for jack” or “article for jack” in the subject line to assure proper identification for my screening process.

Please understand I receive several hundred emails a day and can’t get them all on the air.

I also do put out a lot of information on Facebook from emails that I can’t fit on the program though so keep em coming.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Emails On

  • Parenting classes teach the statist approach, well duh
  • Have bad lending practices restarted, may be, may be not, and yes they have
  • Thoughts on tool maintenance and linseed oil and good old WD40
  • What air compressor I carry in my truck and why
  • Thoughts on city water for your garden, don’t sweat it
  • Millennials are saving and this is bad because?
  • Is it better to have multiple companies or just one, it depends
  • The EPA just dumped 3 million gallons of toxins into a river by accident

Resources for today’s show…

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Comments

Episode-1621- Listener Feedback for 8-10-15 — 42 Comments

  2. Jack
    I would get a AC professional to look at your AC unit….Lots of times if your AC is dripping from the tube leading to the outside of your house, This could be the secondary drain, meaning that the primary drain is stopped up. It Could lead to AC failure or even water damage to your ceiling…. Not all AC’s are like this but in most cases that hose leaking to the outside is a secondary drain.

  3. Right out of college, I got a job as an “analyst” for a Wall St. firm. This was during the end of the housing bubble. So, I have an intimate first hand knowledge of what was going on with the loans at that time.
    I’m very nervous about the return of these absurd lending practices, but I haven’t seen anything that resembles what was going on at the time. There’s no minimum wage gardeners getting approved for $700k mortgages on a negative amortization loan etc. at least not yet. But, the banks are doing similar lending practices in auto loans, and they can and will do them again in housing as soon as they think the market will buy them.

  4. Regarding the bad advice millenials are getting.
    We are told you need to put 20% down to buy a house responsibly. We are told you need to get an education at any cost. We are told that housing prices being high is a good thing. We’re told that a house can be used as a tool for funding retirement. And we’re told that even the smallest amount of savings should “be doing something with it” which somehow always means putting it in places the oligarchs can steal from it.
    Well, baby boomers… who’s going to buy your house, so you can fund your retirement with such great advice given to our generation?

  5. One thing about air compressors, I’m sure the one you recommended is great, but for the people who can’t afford the $250, I just want to say that having a cheap $20 one in my car at all times makes a world of difference over not having one at all. There have been a number of times when I have had a slow leak and that has saved me from having a blowout — and one time before I had it when I was not saved. It may be noisy and take 20 minutes to inflate the tire, but it is still much better than nothing.

  6. The few things I have to add to a very long history segment are so minor I’m going to drop them and agree with Jack.

    Here is the relevant paragraph from “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War” by Nathaniel Philbrick…

    “[…] there was a third name for the spirit Massasoit’s people associated with death, the night, and the bitter northeast wind: Tisquantum, or Squanto for short. By assuming the spirit’s name, Squanto was broadcasting his claim to an intimate relationship with an entity that the Pilgrims later equated with the devil.”

    There is also a supporting quote from William Bradford himself…

    “But by the former passages, and other things of like nature, they begane to see yt Squanto sought his owne ends, and plaid his owne game, by putting ye Indeans in fear, and drawing gifts from them to enrich him selfe; […] he made them beleeve they kept ye plague buried in ye ground, and could send it amongs whom they would, which did much terrifie the Indeans…”

    So… Squanto was telling the tribes that the Englishmen had Plague stored in barrels that could be released at will and thus controlled the tribes through fear and lies.

    What a sweetheart.

    Alex Shrugged

    • “So… Squanto was telling the tribes that the Englishmen had Plague stored in barrels that could be released at will and thus controlled the tribes through fear and lies. ”

      Change “Squanto” to GWB, “Englishmen” to Iraqis, and “tribes” to American People, and the story takes on an even more familiar air.

      It’s pretty clear that Squanto was just another self-serving politician.

      • I am a little more forgiving to Squanto. The man was snatched up, taken as a slave to Europe, had the good fortune to be freed and get back to his homeland. He gets there and most of his people are dead.

        Frankly the white men did have the plague in barrels so to speak.

        I just see this guy as having a mix of good and shitty luck, trying his best to survive and in the end dying while having to serve people who invaded his nation, took him prisoner and saw him as a lower form of life then themselves. Do that shit to me and I would likely call my self spirit of the night and get pretty damn dark myself.

        • All good points, for sure. And it is important to view the situation holistically, to get a contextual view of Squanto’s actions.

          I just always have a difficult time finding any justification for ruling through lies and intimidation.

          I love the history segments! Thank you Jack and Alex!

    • I just wanted to point out (and will continue to point out) that the 1600s were royally F-‘d up, so running into men and women acting F-‘d up should be expected. There is a tendency to idealize these times. In 70 years from today, if you are still alive, you will be shocked by how your great grandchildren will idealize your times. Even with a full record available (which does not exist even today) our children will generally idealize us.

      I may occasionally push very hard against that ideal in order to wake everyone up, including myself.

      A princess of the Middle Ages did NOT run around in pink velvet slippers. A scientist of the Renaissance was NOT a solidly objective analyst. The American Indians were NOT “the Noble Savage” as the philosopher Rousseau imagined him. The physicists of the 1890s had NOT discovered everything there was to discover. World War I was NOT “the war to end all wars”. None of these people knew their future. We can see it, because we live in their future. They were blind, struggling to find their way through the dark.

      Alex Shrugged

      • Are not we too blind, struggling to find our way through the dark? We have the light of 20/20 hindsight to view the past, but not our present.

        • Excellent point. I would add that we are fortunate enough to have a much larger, broader, and accessible volume of recorded history with which to look back and analyze.

    • Yea see that isn’t it though, that is an extender and it has two different fittings. The one that comes with it and works with all the accessories has the female quick release on both ends. Why you can’t buy one I just don’t understand.

  8. On the parenting thing:
    I use a similar method that was mentioned. The wife and I learned it from an online “positive parenting” course.
    I don’t think it’s too “statist”.
    It goes something like this:
    On brushing teeth, there are two choices. You can brush your teeth, or not. If you choose not to, you won’t get anything sweet tomorrow. That’s your choice.
    We give my son choices, and let him decide which. But we don’t force anything. Is that statist? I’m not sure. But it works like a charm and we haven’t had to yell or get into power struggles in quite some time.

    As for the air compressor, I carry a Home Depot special. It’s a $100 Husky compressor, with a 12v cig lighter and a 120 plug for the inverter in my truck. I have tires possibly similar to Jack’s, 10-ply truck tires. I keep them at 55psi. It’s not a high dollar item, but it’s not the el-cheapo one that will die after a few uses. I’ve used it several times with no issue. If and when it craps out, I’ll be getting a heavier duty one.
    But as for it being a “hard pill to swallow”, like I tell my wife, “I only want to cry once”.

    • Yea in many ways I find it statist. But it depends, I did that with my son with eating dinner and do it now with my grandson. But you know what it is an HONEST choice. He really can choose to not eat dinner.

      Brushing your teeth, nope there is no choice and I have no need to create an illusion for a child that you can choose not to. That is a rule in our house, you are just going to do it.

      The example given by the other guy though is PURE statism.

      I pick two shirts and now the kid is told you get to choose one. Not only is it statist it doesn’t work.

      Kids are not stupid and when you say you can have this or that they 9 times out of 10 say I want “the other”.

      Here is a real choice, go put your shirt on or I will do it for you. 10 seconds the shirt goes on and you are out the door instead of spending twenty minutes negotiating with a fricken toddler.

      Toddlers are terrorists and Pappa Jack doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. I find the entire concept of this shirt or that shirt or other such things with children to be just pointless. When you learn to put your clothes on when you are told to, you can do so, until then you getting dressed and we are going out the door. Because others are waiting on us and we respect them.

      Dictatorship? You are damn right, a home for a child NEEDS to be a dictatorship for a time, each and every day that kid should get a little more and a little more freedom. I see it this way if you have any rules other than rules you would have for any house guest for your kids by the time they are 18, you have in some way failed.

      False choices in my view are a mistake, we ingrain this thinking in kids by the time they are 5 and wonder why they can’t make a fucking decision for themselves by the time they are 18.

      Get in the car and into your car seat. But I don’t want to————–sounds of buckling, door closes, vrooom, down the road.

      Next time, get in the car and into your car seat. Child just gets in.

      In a few more times, kid is ahead of you, into car seat, self buckled and done.

      Why? No fake choices, no illusion that once started must be entertained. What this results in is real choices, food eaten, teeth brushed, trips over, what do we do now Pappa Jack, well kiddo anything you want.

      A REAL HONEST CHOICE

      Again I get what you are saying and there is a place for it, though generally not with kids under 5 in my view. I did it all the time with my wireless network when my son was in those early teen lazy ass years.

      Wash the dog.

      Dog doesn’t get a bath.

      Change wireless router password.

      Dad

      Yes

      The network doesn’t work

      Yea well the dog doesn’t have a bath either and you have no wireless router nor do you have DSL service you pay for, those are mine. I let you use them when you do your share of work around here. Have a nice day.

      Dog washed, password restored.

      But the choice is real! And he is old enough to get it at that point.

      Likely we agree more than we disagree and I won’t lie, I didn’t know all this shit when I was a new father, I think you get a boost of wisdom from the universe or something when you are called grandpaw or pappa for the first time.

      I’ll check into that compressor.

      • In the beginning, when my son chose to not brush, all we had to do was make good on our threat of “nothing sweet tomorrow”, and he hasn’t chosen that since.
        We tell him to brush, leave the room, and he does it on his own, every time.
        Whatever it was, it worked. I’m no longer the father that held his head against my stomach to brush his teeth for him. I hated being caught up in power struggles with him.
        He gets into the truck, he brushes his teeth, he picks out his own clothes. But he still sometimes chooses to not eat what we cook for him. And thats his choice to go hungry. But I agree, there are some things that he must do. Wear clothing is one. Don’t want to wear shoes outside, fine. But those rocks will hurt. He now puts his shoes on without asking.
        He’s almost 5 now, so I think he’s on the cusp of getting out of this “fuckin fours.”

        I’d like a larger compressor, but will need a truck box first. The Husky is about the size of a shoebox, and it slides nicely under the back seat. I have a few items in the bed, but nothing of real value, until I get a lockable box. Axe, shovel, hitches, straps all ride in the back. The rest is inside with car seats, go-bag, recovery gear, etc.

        • I think we agree like I said more than disagree.

          The example the writer gave though was like the duck shirt or the hippo shirt. This is a fake choice a lot like the coming presidential election. Trust me shoving a shirt on him if he doesn’t do it himself in such instances and tossing his butt in the car so fast no objection is possible works better. You want a choice, you earn it. And it will be real. In your example the choice was real, though I wonder if he didn’t cave how real it is. When ever I offer a choice I make damn sure I can be okay if they don’t cave.

          Can you find a link to that compressor? I only found 29 dollar cheapos

        • Newtopian wrote: “He’s almost 5 now, so I think he’s on the cusp of getting out of this ‘fuckin fours.'”

          You mean there’s an end to this stage? Thank God! My son turned 4 in May and if we have to live through more than a year of this, he likely won’t make it much past 5.

          Our daughter was NOTHING like this at the same age.

    • We use the same “Love and Logic” system as well. I think it may have been misrepresented by the caller. The choices you give your children are meant to give them input into things they otherwise have no control over.

      “You are going to wear a shirt to Grandma’s house. Whichever shirt you choose is irrelevant, but no shirt is unacceptable. Now, which will it be, the red or the blue?”

      It’s not an illusion of choice because she does have some say in what happens. And before, she’d throw fits and make all kinds of hell for us. Now, she feels like she’s part of the process and instead of a stubborn and frustrated kid, we have a pretty well-behaved and cooperative one.

      Now, the little, inconsequential choices may seem pointless, but the thing is, they’re supposed to grow in importance and complexity as your child grows older. They learn that decisions have consequences and as they show responsibility, you grant them greater privilege. The course is designed to develop critical thinking and rational decision making in children.

      I’m thinking that if this is the same course the State endorsed, then perhaps they didn’t read to far into it. It’s about 30 pages in, though, so probably not.

      • See here is how I feel about it. If you are old enough to choose a shirt that means you are old enough to be able to put it on.

        My method is, go put on a shirt. Not red or blue, not duck or power ranger, I don’t care which shirt. Unless we are going somewhere that attire is important (not often) just put on a clean shirt.

        Now that is a choice, a real one. Any shirt you want, not two pre determined shirts. Kids are not slow to make a choice because they don’t know wht they want, you paring it down to two doesn’t fix a thing. The stall, the delay is either a game (control or just to see what comes of it) or they don’t want to go and this is one method to stall.

        So go put on a shirt, nothing more, 2 minutes go by, grab kiddo, shirt on, in car, down road, DONE.

        What this results in is go put on a shirt, kid chooses and puts on shirt.

        The parental objection I get.

        What if he puts on a dirty shirt from the floor? Shirt pulled off, shirt in laundry, clean shirt slected, on kid, no time to screw around, in car seat, car backs out, kid still is frankly confused as to what happened, it sinks it, there may be complaining or tears, they don’t last long.

        Result, put a shirt on now means and you also know not to put on a dirty shirt so kid stops doing it.

        Next objection “what if he puts on a super hero costume” or what if she puts on her “Disney Princess get up”, etc.

        My response, wow, who is the adult in this? Okay fine! Here you go, first if you are going to grandmaws or anywhere that such a things isn’t really a problem. Screw it, grab a change of clothes incase it is needed, tell kid to get in car and let it be. Trust me the time your kids will be willing to be that much fun and that imaginative in public is VERY SHORT. My grandson has been to restaurants as spiderman, the hulk and as captain america. Nothing bad came of it, no one really cared, all people did was smile. Now if you are going anywhere that is it truly not acceptable, “put on a shirt, no costumes”.

        If I have to tell you what to do at this point if he/she puts on a costume or complains they want a costume, all key strokes above were wasted.

      • I was the one that sent in the story to Jack.

        What really made me laugh about the advice the state was providing was the fact that they told us to narrow the choices down to 2, and make sure that they are both choices that you are okay with, and relatively arbitrary in nature. That’s where I really lost it, because they might as well have said: ‘Do you want corrupt politician who’s a slave to big money interests with a D after his name? Or an R after his name? If you don’t choose one… you can’t bitch and you’re unpatriotic’ And the fact that they knew they could tell us this information and trust we wouldn’t turn it back on them says a lot about what they think of us. Also, I was literally the only one in the room that saw it (including the instructor), so they apparently think pretty accurately of us.
        FWIW – we follow a Montessori style program (more or less) with our son, and that does include a lot of choices, but they’re REAL choices, presented at appropriate times (i.e. it’s playtime now, would you like to play with the train, or the dump truck?) The kid really gets to decide at that time what he wants to play with. They don’t just get to play with the dump truck in the middle of a funeral because they want to, but at a time when it is appropriate to do so. And the choice has to be appropriate for their cognitive ability, which will vary with every child at every stage of development.
        In my very limited experience, offering a young child who isn’t ready for the choice between two arbitrary things will either result in an answer of BOTH!, or NONE! Also, giving a choice to a child that cannot vocalize the choice results in a child that is WAY too old just pointing and grunting their answers to everything.

        • “FWIW – we follow a Montessori style program (more or less) with our son, and that does include a lot of choices, but they’re REAL choices, presented at appropriate times (i.e. it’s playtime now, would you like to play with the train, or the dump truck?) The kid really gets to decide at that time what he wants to play with.”

          I’m not sure how this example demonstrates a “REAL” choice, or is that different than the shirt example. It’s just my opinion, but playtime is actually one of the times that I would not want to offer such specific choices, and step back a bit to see what activities the child gravitated towards, in the absence of pre-determined options.

          I’m not criticizing your approach to playtime activities, just offering a differing view. The fact you are even thinking about offering your child choices and being engaged in playtime activities shows you are a loving, caring parent, already headed down a solid path.

          Good luck with the Montessori school. I have heard pretty positive things about their program.

        • Our daughter is in a Montessori program as well, which ironically led to the problems we were having. She wanted to wear her sandals to school but because of the mulch and the sand in the yard, sandals were not allowed because the kids kept getting crud under their shoes and complaining about it.

          Every day at 6 AM, Dearie Pie would be giving us hell because she wanted to wear her sandals. She used to get to wear her sandals, it’s so hot outside, Mom wears sandals… So many valid reasons why she should get to wear sandals and she either didn’t understand or care that it was the rules. It was a daily thing. And yes, I can be quite convincing when I lower my voice and make a demand, so it didn’t matter- she didn’t wear the sandals.

          But it was messing up MY day to have every flipping day start with an argument, fits, threats, punishments, etc. Now, sandals aren’t an option, and they’re never discussed. She can wear the pink shoes or the purple ones. If she replies with sandals, pink shoes it is and we’re off. I’m not arguing and neither is she. We’re all a lot happier.

          Of course, mileage may vary.

          As she moves into new phases, I’m going to do the best I can to teach her how to think critically and rationally. To see the emperor wears no clothes. It’s going to be a serious task to educate against state propaganda and the statist sheep mentality of what I imagine will be all her friends and family except for me.

          Taking a deep breath…

        • @Marcus Greybeard –
          Maybe that’s not a great example, I was just coming up with one off the top of my head. The important thing is that he is learning through play, and not just running around knocking things over. Or just looking like a zombie while staring at a TV screen.
          I do consider the choices that he gets to be REAL choices, and obviously as he gets older he will get more choices.
          Yes, you’re right about the play having more choices available than just two, I just wasn’t going to write them down in the comments section of this page.

        • @ BillyS –
          Wow, you and I sound similar!

          FWIW, I consider you limiting the choice to only shoes that are appropriate to be still giving real choices. My son would choose fleece footsie pajamas when the temperature is 100 degrees+ or shorts and sandals if it’s below freezing given the option. I don’t make any apologies for limiting the choice of super warm pajamas for cool nights or shorts and sandals for hot days.

          If it’s of any help at all: My son was doing the same thing when he wasn’t ready to make a choice, and everything I offered was just NO! So, I took the choice away from him and just got him dressed for a little bit, without giving him a choice and then he started asking for specific shirts or shoes etc. indicating to me that he was ready to have the choice back. So I would just tell him that he could, if he asked me politely, “Daddy, can I please wear my Thomas the Train shirt today?” or whatever. After a couple times of modeling it, he began to do it on his own, which had the added benefit of having a 2 year old that speaks in complete sentences while my friends are making excuses for why their 4 year old only points and grunts. Or occasionally says something like, “MINE THOMAS!” as if we’re supposed to understand that.

          Best of luck!

  9. FWIW- I reguarly listen to a real estate podcast and recently one of the guests discussed how they were moving into mostly commercial deals (apartments of 5 units or more) because commercial loans were so easy to get right now. I believe he even said something like “pre-collapse easy.”

    • God, I’m so glad I got out of the industry!

      But, I don’t get why the guest would brag about that? He’s basically saying that he’s investing heavily in a space that has already been artificially inflated by the banks to the point where it’s about to collapse for no other reason than he doesn’t have the financial means to do something wiser.

      • I don’t think that is where he was headed. I could be wrong about the specifics, but if I remember correctly the discussion was about obtaining mortgages to buy more investment properties. Banks that sell to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac will only allow 4 loans so then investors start looking for portfolio lenders (smaller banks who keep the loans in house.)

        Once they have maxed out those options, most of them have been successful enough to to move into larger properties. The person being interviewed just made an off hand comment that they were mostly concentrating on commercial loans as that is where they were at now in their business goals and that the commercial loans were easy to get currently, at least in his area.

  10. On the compressor, if you have room and don’t have a Steven Harris battery bank, you could always do the less expensive, more flexible, Porter Cable and buy an inverter that would clamp to your battery. Both the PC compressor and inverter would be lees expensive than the one specialized unit, leaving you with 2 very useful tools.

  12. So I did a quick search on the Stefanie O’Connell who was quoted in the financial article that Karim sent in, and it’s even worse than you thought, Jack. Here’s her profile on the US News and World Report website:

    Stefanie O’Connell is a New York City based actress and freelance writer. She chronicles her struggle to “live the dream” on a starving artists’ budget at thebrokeandbeautifullife.com and her book, “The Broke and Beautiful Life,” is now available.
    http://www.usnews.com/topics/author/stefanie-oconnell

    Now, perusing through her article titles I see a bunch of stuff about how to live frugally and spend less money while still enjoying yourself. That by itself is not exactly a bad thing. But why on earth she is being quoted giving INVESTMENT advice when it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t even do any investing herself is just baffling.

  14. Regarding chloramine in the water, chemically it can be broken down very quickly with Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).You only need about 20mg/Gallon of water. Just buy vitamin C 1,000 mg tablets and treat a 55 gallon barrel with one tablet with every refill. At that point, the remaining chlorine will gas off like normal in a few hours.

  15. There are some paint strippers that use orange oil as the active ingredient. I used one a while back and it claimed to keep working for up to 24 hours. Much more pleasant than petroleum distillates.

  16. Couple of things.

    WD40 sucks for rust prevention. It drys and leaves no protection. I’ve had rusted guns after wiping down with WD40.

    Cleaning your tools and using simple mineral oil will do a better job it doesn’t dry, yes of course it will collect dust, but it’s easier to wipe of dust than remove rust. AMSOIL metal protector is a better rust protectant (dislaimer I’ve got financial interest with that statement so take it for what’s it’s worth)

    On the Wood protectant, I’m partial to Boiled Linseed Oil (B.L.O.) be sure to get the stuff that is actual oil and not some synthetic chemical. All my wood handles are treated, I prefer the sanding method for a couple of reasons.
    1. you can get handle smoother and free of imperfections, most handles are rougher’nacob. taking it down to 100 or even 150 grit makes for a nice feeling handle.
    2. I have yet to use any varnished type of handle that doesn’t give blisters. I nicely finished BLO handle will not do this over extended use.

    On to treatment, don’t get that shit too heavy on your applications, it will be tacky, sticky and gooey if you do and that will surly give you blisters. Use some 0 or 00 steel wool if it’s tacky. That will take off the top layer, then reapply a small amount of BLO let it sit for about an hour and wipe it off. Also it’s best to apply on a warm, non-humid day or it takes forever to dry.

    Last on the BLO, it reminds me of being a kid, my dad refineshed gun stocks and the smell of BLO takes me back to my childhood.

    • You seem to have a bur in your ass or something. WD40 doesn’t suck it works just fine, I have tools sitting for a year with it with zero rust unless you leave them in the rain or something .

      The rest of your ramble I just don’t have time for today.

  17. On to the financial.

    I’m not sure where this 90 days emergency fund thing came from. Oh and a $1000 doesn’t buy shit if you have an emergency. I’m partial to 1-3 years emergency fund. The size of your emergency is directly proportional to the size of your emergency fund. I prefer the larger the better.

    Most people can cut $100-$300 a month of bullshit from their budget to put towards savings. It’s not that hard to do.

    As far as safe investments. I talked with millennial last year that was only earning 5% but guaranteed to never go down. His “financial adviser” told him he needs to have other investments to gain more ROR. The so called adviser said you have plenty of time before retirement that if the market goes down you will be able to make it up.

    His rebuttal was, your right I have plenty of time, that’s why I don’t need work risk on trying to get a high ROR. “I’ve got so long to compound, and my money will never go negative that I will stick with the lower return”. Of course the financial adviser didn’t like that.

    Lastly, I believe many people discount the risk of business, and other investments compared to the stock market. I’m just the opposite, while yes being a business owner can be risky, it has far great potential than any market returns over the long term, and as far as being risky, isn’t having a job putting all your eggs in one basket? I doubt 100% of my customers will quit buying all at once.

    • Well let me educate you on the 1K and the 90 days.

      1K will cover almost any incidental like new tires or a break job. It is an easy goal and you don’t stop saving you just now have that met.

      90 days is the average length of time it takes a person who gets the fuck up off their asses and tries to find a new job needs to get one without settling for flipping burgers. When you add in something like unemployment that will usually cover about 20-50% of prior income (more for lower income earners) that 90 days is extended to about 6 months even if you don’t cut any expenses during this time, THOUGH YOU SHOULD.

      Once these two mile stones are met the INDIVIDUAL must make a choice. Do I extend my emergency fund to 180 days or start investing. There isn’t an option C, fuck it start spending all my money and use only what I have as a fall back and damn the future.

      At this time if the INDIVIDUAL is comfortable with 90 days the SAME amount or more is continually saved, it just goes into a new bucket, one now that can begin to be invested. When options are not great even that bucket is held as cash. Note that invested doesn’t mean IRA or 401K those are simply two vehicles one might use and I personally despise 401s.

      What this does is keep a buffer of LIQUID cash at zero risk easily accessible to the INDIVIDUAL. Money that can’t be lost, can’t lose value other than inflation and has no tax consequences or penalties for withdrawal.

      The additional savings goes into a brokerage account and sits in a cash value account until earmarked for investments. About 10-20% at all times is held as a cash equivalent, and can be converted to liquid in 48 hours or less. The remainder is used to invest in anything from ETFs to Funds to individual stocks to real estate or just about anything with upside potential and down side risk.

      Building a business doesn’t change any of this though it does allow for additional redundancy and protection from down side losses.

      In the end you have three main buckets with various commidities and assets in them.

      Immediately liquid emergency funds

      Mid term invested money and assets that are not tax deferred and therefor available with no real consequences if you need them.

      Long term IRA type deferred investments.

      Personally MY INDIVIDUAL opinion is that the middle bucket should have at least 6 months of your income in it before you bother with tax deferred stuff.

      Perhaps now it makes more sense?

  18. I like the bucket method, that makes a lot of sense. Especially the investing bucket. So many are stuck in this dollar cost averaging, whereas if they had a good sized bucket of money they could take advantage of quantity discounts or larger investments that the potential of higher returns.

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