pyoung

7 ms·

1.
by pyoung 2y ago
They provide free data-only sim cards. And you used to be able to sync all of your texts and calls in the hangout app, but they got rid of that. The last time I tried syncing the Messages app to a data o my device, it didn't work too w
2.
by pyoung 2y ago
I think they just load up on debt, so they aren't really buying it with their money. But what I don't understand is how they get people to loan them money when they know that they are just going to strip mine the company for all v
3.
by pyoung 2y ago
As a "forever renter" here are some of my thoughts on where things are headed (at least in the bay area, although some of this applies nationally). 1. The housing market is very thinly traded, illiquid market. Additionally the
4.
by pyoung 2y ago
I know plenty of millennial homeowners that would not be able to afford todays prices at current interest rates. They bought before the covid bump (or earlier) and could barely afford it then. Had they rented instead they would probably be
5.
by pyoung 8y ago
The house-price-to-income ratio has been historically high these last 1-2 decades, which will result in interest rates playing a bigger role in prices than they have in the past. Especially in the hotter coastal markets where affordability
6.
by pyoung 8y ago
I get what you are saying, but I think interest rates have a broader impact beyond just monthly payments. Real estate investors will start getting squeezed for example, so demand will dry up there. Also, I think downward prices impact the
7.
by pyoung 8y ago
I agree with the others on this thread. You can't cash out unless you move out of the area or you downsize. And I may be wrong on this, but unlike CA (prop 13), your property taxes are going up. And regarding timing, 5 years ago was p
8.
by pyoung 8y ago
Anecdote, but my wife and I dropped out of the market recently and rented instead. The rent was 30-40% cheaper than a mortgage would have been on a similar place (including taxes, insurance, etc...). So we figured we would just put the afte
9.
by pyoung 8y ago
Most CA utilities have low income programs[1]. On top of that, most rate plans are 'progressive' in that they charge more the more you use[2]. [1] https://www.pge.com/care [2] https://www.pge.com/en
10.
by pyoung 8y ago
Perhaps I should clarify what I mean by rolling stop. The behavior I see is probably better described as a yield. The car will slow down, to 5-10 mph at the stop sign before accelerating back up to 25-35. I regularly walk through this nei
11.
by pyoung 8y ago
Anecdote, but if you hang out in the central/outer sunset neighborhood in SF, you will see this behavior. Tons of stop signs with limited access to thoroughfares in a quiet low-traffic neighborhood. I would say well over 25% of cars d
12.
by pyoung 8y ago
You should look into an e-bike conversion. I do 14 miles a day, and just added a kit to my bike for about ~$500. For an extra 100-200 you can probably get a kit that covers 30 miles fairly easy. And the power/battery will probably be
13.
by pyoung 8y ago
> Most debt is fixed-rate While technically true, the term of the loan matters. The government (and most companies that issue bonds) have revolving debt. I.e. they are continuously issuing new debt as existing debt expires. So while in
14.
by pyoung 8y ago
As an example (real-world) a seller turned down a few early under-list-price cash offers, and eventually got an at-list offer from a mortgage buyer. But the buyer ended up having trouble finalizing the loan and as a result it took almost tw
15.
by pyoung 8y ago
I mentioned this elsewhere, but 'closing certainty' is a real concern in the real estate market, to the point where many sellers will take a lower offer price in favor of a cash buyer.
16.
by pyoung 8y ago
Right, but if the point is to increase liquidity, the low hanging fruit is mortgage backed purchases. Homeowners will often take a smaller offer price in favor of cash because the closing process is easier/more certain. So Zillow might
17.
by pyoung 8y ago
Not sure why you are getting downvoted, as this is the best solution that I have seen so far. Even in the Bay Area, 500k salary is an outlier, and the op can easily afford to hire a part time local developer or full time in a lower cost of
18.
by pyoung 8y ago
The OP is saying 'there are icebergs ahead', and you are saying 'lol, nothing to worry about, we are moving at record speed!'. The recent market volatility has more to do with the debt markets than near term quarterly ea
19.
by pyoung 8y ago
Think tanks are basically lobbyist/pr firms in disguise. While I am not necessarily disagreeing with your main point, I don't think this particular incident is all that controversial. When companies hire lobbyists, they expect th
20.
by pyoung 9y ago
If you plan for a 20 year retirement, but live an extra 10-20 years and run out of money, that is a pretty significant downside. Another advantage of retirement policies that can take advantage of actuarial risk, is that they can also adjus
21.
by pyoung 9y ago
Just a random guess, but they may have been hunting for a self-incriminating admission of drunk driving. I got pulled over for speeding once, and the first thing the cop asked was "Why do you think I pulled you over?". I shrugge
22.
by pyoung 9y ago
> if the NFP comes out about X we sell, if it comes out below X we buy The stock market works on supply and demand. For every seller, there needs to be a buyer. Let's assume that TSLA stock changes hands at a rate of 10k shares pe
23.
by pyoung 9y ago
Not 100% on this, but I don't think you can use a cc to buy lotto tickets.
24.
by pyoung 9y ago
Yeah, the author didn't quite connect the dots, but the general point was there. 'Craft Brewery economics' are really interesting. The margin on beer sold out of the brewery taproom is insane, 400-600%, largely because they a
25.
by pyoung 9y ago
So if I understand this right, they are creating a fake account on some other site (aliexpress, etc...) with his address attached. And then they ship the 'gift' from the Amazon tracking number, so that he is more likely to accept
26.
by pyoung 9y ago
Ha, yeah that is weird. Random thought: Maybe to help prevent package theft? It usually takes about a month for shipping, so I imagine a lot of people forget about their order. By sending the throw away package first, the recipient is &#
27.
by pyoung 9y ago
One of the main arguments in favor of a negative income tax is that it would require less bureaucracy, not more. With the tax, you could just let the IRS handle it, whereas with UBI you would probably set up another agency, similar to soci
28.
Self-operating shuttle bus crashes two hours after launch(nypost.com)
3 points by pyoung 9y ago|0 comments
29.
by pyoung 9y ago
I have been looking at houses as well, and I do this too. My main reasoning though is that there is generally a lot less value left to capture in these houses because as the house trades hands, most of the 'low hanging' remodels&
30.
by pyoung 9y ago
There is nothing hypocritical about opposing a tax 'reform' plan that adds $1.5 TRILLION to the deficit, doubly so if this bill raises my taxes. If my tax burden goes up to pay for government programs, than I am generally (but no

More ›