Aviation careers and emergency budgeting

jhugz said:
I’d love to see the math on this. Inflation is at about 4% per year. Debasement is only being pushed by crypto grifters to sell the MLM pyramid scheme. As long as you put the savings in a money market mutual fund, you’ll keep up with inflation.
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I love you man, but look at the prices of nearly everything now versus 5 years ago. Most things you need to survive, like food, housing, and energy have all inflated more than 4% a year. Money market funds are now sub 4%, and will drop as rates are cut, FWIW.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Yeah.

Oh, while the advice here is all reasonably good, make sure you go enjoy your life too. You don’t get to take any of this with you.
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A good book I’ve started reading is titled, “Die With Zero” by Bill Perkins. It’s a great read so far. A great reminder that more money = more freedom and time which should = less stress. Take that vacation, live life now. Be smart, but not to deprive yourself of the fruits of your labor, enjoy them while you still can! Anyway, it’s a great read.
 
nocturnalaviator said:
A good book I’ve started reading is titled, “Die With Zero” by Bill Perkins. It’s a great read so far. A great reminder that more money = more freedom and time which should = less stress. Take that vacation, live life now. Be smart, but not to deprive yourself of the fruits of your labor, enjoy them while you still can! Anyway, it’s a great read.
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Great book. There were a few expenses in there that I thought were ridiculously lavish, but the idea of investing in expereinces that youll remember for lifetimes is powerful. This assumes you arent running up debts and generally cant afford it. But just continuously saving for some unknown number and then not being able to physically use it is not a way to live life to its fullest. If you live until 85 your kids will be 55 and likely wont really need the money either!
 
Kingairer said:
Great book. There were a few expenses in there that I thought were ridiculously lavish, but the idea of investing in expereinces that youll remember for lifetimes is powerful. This assumes you arent running up debts and generally cant afford it. But just continuously saving for some unknown number and then not being able to physically use it is not a way to live life to its fullest. If you live until 85 your kids will be 55 and likely wont really need the money either!
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This sounds kinda like Ramit Sethi. Randomly, I was in a management class with him like 10 years ago
 
nocturnalaviator said:
A good book I’ve started reading is titled, “Die With Zero” by Bill Perkins. It’s a great read so far. A great reminder that more money = more freedom and time which should = less stress. Take that vacation, live life now. Be smart, but not to deprive yourself of the fruits of your labor, enjoy them while you still can! Anyway, it’s a great read.
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The single biggest cost advantage I have is not having children, ha!
 
Pilot Fighter said:
Makes sense. I was wondering if there was odd bidding scenarios at the bottom of the seniority ladder

So, captains in the right seat is an emergency after FO reserves are unavailable?

In a downturn, are captains ever demoted to FO? Probably all in the small print of the union contract.
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Yes. This just happened recently at my airline. Several members of this forum, in fact, were directly affected and at least one lost his Captain seat. He's an FO now.

ZapBrannigan said:
Most places in 121 Captains can’t fly as FOs. Years ago SWA had a position called Lance Captain where they could fly either seat, but that’s gone. The obvious exception is checkpilots.

When I flew 91 corporate you could fly either seat. Some days you were PIC, some days SIC, and regardless, whoever was flying the leg flew it from the left seat.
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I was mighty surprised to learn just last week that Captains at Republic have to right-seat qualify. Apparently, they've been known to use a deadheading captain as an FO in the event the FO calls out sick for the flight, which happened on my commute just last week. The four-striper FO was explaining this to my very shocked face.
 
It's weird how everyone is making currency debasement personal or an even more idiotic take about politics. Both sides do it. It is unstoppable. It's best to try and protect your finances from it. Sure having 50-100K in a savings account ready to go in an emergency would have been nice in October 2020 just for the piece of mind but I can't think of a time I'd need this money in an instant. Simply waiting a few weeks is fine.

The most important takeaway is to educate yourself about your fiat dollars and what is happening to the purchasing power of the dollars you are holding over time.
 
BEEF SUPREME said:
It's weird how everyone is making currency debasement personal or an even more idiotic take about politics. Both sides do it. It is unstoppable. It's best to try and protect your finances from it. Sure having 50-100K in a savings account ready to go in an emergency would have been nice in October 2020 just for the piece of mind but I can't think of a time I'd need this money in an instant. Simply waiting a few weeks is fine.

The most important takeaway is to educate yourself about your fiat dollars and what is happening to the purchasing power of the dollars you are holding over time.
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Look at you, little Wolf of Wall Street now
 
Maybe this is my selfish reasoning to deal with the self pity of realizing how little I take home compared to what I gross..

41% because of the following:
-After taxes filing single in California.
-Child support that is pulled out post tax, at significant rate (2k a month)
-All the other goodies that get pulled out between company, union and govt.

This leaves me with the choice of continuing to live like a frugal person with the hope that tomorrow may be better, or…. Finally saying Eff it, enjoy some of the things I’ve worked for and not have a that safety net you speak of. My responsible side does sound alarms here and there, but between a company funded healthy contribution to 401k, being relatively healthy for the time being and just beat up from living like a broke ass for well over a decade now I give myself some grace finally.

Truth is saving up for a 6month safety net will take me a few years at just a few hundred a month. Because current financial obligations are quite steep with cost of living and being a single parent. So trying to balance the stress of the what if’s and the right now is a dance I’m still trying to learn.

Great conversation and good advice here for most
 
JDean3204 said:
Maybe this is my selfish reasoning to deal with the self pity of realizing how little I take home compared to what I gross..

41% because of the following:
-After taxes filing single in California.
-Child support that is pulled out post tax, at significant rate (2k a month)
-All the other goodies that get pulled out between company, union and govt.

This leaves me with the choice of continuing to live like a frugal person with the hope that tomorrow may be better, or…. Finally saying Eff it, enjoy some of the things I’ve worked for and not have a that safety net you speak of. My responsible side does sound alarms here and there, but between a company funded healthy contribution to 401k, being relatively healthy for the time being and just beat up from living like a broke ass for well over a decade now I give myself some grace finally.

Truth is saving up for a 6month safety net will take me a few years at just a few hundred a month. Because current financial obligations are quite steep with cost of living and being a single parent. So trying to balance the stress of the what if’s and the right now is a dance I’m still trying to learn.

Great conversation and good advice here for most
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Interest rates for small conservative saving are definitely getting worse. It was a nice few years in that regard at least.

I remember reading a kid’s book about money when I was a kid (1990s) and seeing them talk about bank savings rates between 5 and 7% as normal things. I laughed then got sad just thinking about it.

0.15% on my money market savings? How generous!
 
Kingairer said:
No reason not to have your money in an easily accessible "right now" account at 3%ish. Do some bank shopping if youre getting .15%.
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Most of the money doesn’t live there for that reason, but yeah.

I do like my pokey little credit union for the operational side of things; they’ve never once dinged me for an overdraft on the rare occasions they happened. It’s also one of the rare places in our modern economy where I can vote with my money and legitimately steer clear of some evils. Only some, though.
 
BEEF SUPREME said:
Not all assets are crypto or stocks.
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BEEF SUPREME said:
We’ve all seen it happen over time slowly then suddenly:

View attachment 86340

There are dozens of indicators. I’ve already posted lots of information on this and in typical JC fashion it’s ignored every time. Also I’m now accused of being a “crypto grifter” lol even though I’ve specifically said on this thread it’s not the best place for your Emergency fund.

Here is one of the best summaries on the debasement of your dollar:

www.visualcapitalist.com

Purchasing Power of the U.S. Dollar Over Time

$1 in 1913 had the same purchasing power as $26 in 2020. This chart shows how the purchasing power of the dollar has changed over time.
www.visualcapitalist.com www.visualcapitalist.com


Don’t take it from me take it from Morgan Stanley our dollar could lose 20% of it’s value this year:


Those index funds in the 401K. The reason they are going up at around 14% a year is because the rate of return is measured in dollars…

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We all know inflation is a thing. It is a common attribute for all viable currencies and is considered to be essential by economists as it encourages people to keep moving their money rather than stuff it under their mattress like with crypto. My high yield savings has surpassed the inflation rate every year I have had it while having the least risk possible.

Your debasement stuff is commonly used as a fear mongering tactic by people with an incentive to get you to buy their specific investment. For example you posted a Big Mac picture that Bitcoin people like to post to show shrinkflation when the actual claim is completely unfounded.

www.snopes.com

Big Mac Went from $0.50 to $8 Yet Lost 40% of Its Size Since 1980?

Social media users claimed the well-known burger fell victim to shrinkflation.
www.snopes.com www.snopes.com

You still seem to forget that part of the risk assessment is what will occur to your money/assets in a downturn and how quickly those assets can be liquefied if needed. Money Market / High Yield accounts are some of the safest savings platforms that can be used for emergency funds while remaining liquid and keeping up with inflation. They also wont tank with a *insert your investment here* market crash.

Trust me, I am 100% against too much savings. You need to make your money work for you. The problem we are talking about is for financial security which necessitates safer investment platforms. Even gold can be volatile.
 
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