Disqus - Latest Comments for wamcvey

Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s

William McVey — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 14:28:05 -0000

I think the goal of most in the FIRE community, even among those that have retired, is to seek activities that bring on a sense of fulfillment and purpose. For me personally, right now, that comes from being able to meet my kids in the driveway as they get off the bus every day. While they are at school, I work on software projects that helps people make smarter decisions about their money and to help build communities of like minded individuals. When my kids are home for a teacher workday or a week long holiday, I'm present with them and able to plan out adventures. That said, if you're achieving fulfillment out of your current employment (as I was for years), no one is suggesting you have to quit your job. I would suggest though that working after having achieved a level of financial independence opens up opportunities to work on what is *most* fulfilling to you without necessarily needing to focus on the compensation package, which often is associated with a level of compromise. Again, if you're living your best life possible already, no one is suggesting you should need to change your employment status.

Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s

William McVey — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 14:05:13 -0000

I quit my job as a software engineer earlier this year. I enrolled in a Bronze plan through ACA for myself and kids. Some individuals in the community have spouse that continues to work and are covered on the spouse's insurance. Others are using health sharing ministries.

Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s

William McVey — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 14:00:47 -0000

I question whether you really understand how Social Security benefits are calculated. Social Security is directly based on how much you have contributed to Social Security in your career. They may not be contributing to SS now (though someone like Pete who continues to earn money during from his retirement activities will be responsible for paying self employment tax, which does fund Social Security), but if they end up collecting SS benefits, it's based on their past history of contributing into the plan. I'd very much recommend researching how the PIA formula (the amount one is expected to receive from Social Security in benefits) utilizes the AIME (average indexed monthly earnings) calculation, which is directly based on how much they have individually contributed into the plan.

As far as ACA benefits, I don't know a single person in the FIRE community who was involved in drafting the ACA. The fact that we utilize the law as it was passed isn't our fault. Healthcare.gov won't even let you not calculate your premium credits are based on reported AGI. This isn't the fault of the FIRE community. You can argue that the ACA is bad law in that it allows millionaires to qualify for lower cost insurance premiums, but you can't blame those in the FIRE community for following a law that they had no real influence in writing.

Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s

William McVey — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 13:48:48 -0000

There are those in the FIRE community who achieve their goals starting with non-engineer jobs. There is undeniably a floor below which someone just doesn't have any income that can be saved for the lifestyle they are currently living. In those cases, there are two basic choices: grow your income or change your lifestyle (or perhaps do both). Growing income can mean picking up a second job, starting side hustle, or perhaps picking up additional skills and changing careers to one that is more in demand. Changing lifestyle can mean lowering your expenses through taking on roommates or perhaps ditching the car or moving from the coasts to a low cost of living state. The ChooseFI podcast has featured many personal stories of individuals who have achieved Financial Independence in careers that aren't generally considered to be "high income" (e.g. teachers, trades, Target store manager, the military, author, etc). Episodes 41, 13, 95, 89 all come to mind.

Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s

William McVey — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 13:30:41 -0000

Perhaps. Though fundamentally, if one is doing activities one enjoys and happens to make money from it, I don't think that changes your retirement status. If I love running and in retirement I get good enough to win some races and some prize money, that doesn't mean I'm no longer retired. If I happen to love writing and sharing my philosophy in a blog, it doesn't detract from my retirement that I happen to be able to monetize that passion. Plenty of people have written memoirs or novels in retirement, but no one suggests that they aren't retired as soon as they sell a book. Plenty of people sell excess produce from their garden at farmers markets or curbside vegi stands. If you're doing something entirely outside of money being the motivator, I don't see any reason why the fact that you happen to make money at it would mean you aren't retired. The reality is MMM could choose to not write a single new article on his blog and he'd still be just fine financially. He writes his blog does his other activities because those activities bring joy to his life and if doing what brings joy to your life isn't not retirement, I don't know what is.

Re: How these penny-pinchers retired in their 30s

William McVey — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 13:21:36 -0000

Do you wear a helmet when driving a car or truck? Studies have shown that while bicycling accounts for < 5% of major head injuries in a year, motor vehicle accidents account for between 45-55% of major head injuries, yet no one suggests driving your car should be associated with a helmet. If someone is engaged in a bike race or navigating a section technical single track on their mountain bike, it makes total sense to don the helmet. These competitive activities at great rates of speed do have higher incidents of more severe crashes. Someone biking around town running errands though? The data I've read doesn't support the assertion that it is any more dangerous than not riding your car with a helmet. There is a lot of good data on this subject matter at cyclehelmets.org. Personally, I have a bike helmet because I used to compete in triathlons. Since my helmet is available and I am comfortable with it, I wear it, even on short errands; however, I recognize that those that don't aren't necessarily being foolish, but likely have a better appreciation for the real risk.

Re: Joe's 3D Workbench: Creality CR-10S and GPL Violations

William McVey — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 20:31:37 -0000

It's patently false though to think they have no ability to redress the issue. They just need to start shipping the CR10S running stock Marlin. They lose some features (temporarily, but gain more... eg mesh bed levelling), but are in compliance with the law and the ethics of the GPL.

My disappointment though doesn't extend to just them. They are a chinese company (with obvious difficulties with the English language). I really can cut them some slack for making a misstep with the GPL. Truly I can. But as I said above, it's your endorsement and continued use a product that you know to be violating other people's licensing that most bothers me. I see that link to buy the CR10S on the video and my brain triggers "complicit". I watch you acknowledge that the conditions that the content creators of Marlin placed on their creation have been violated, but go on to announce the fact that you'll continue to use the printer and praise their engineering. I can't help but think of a teacher praising the perfect test score of the kid the teacher already busted for cheating. I really do think Creality and other printers in violation of the GPL should be deprioritized by the community if they engage in behavior the community acknowledges is wrong. Youtube, and blog reviews of these products *are* their marketing and sales channel. You hold much more power than you give yourself credit for. Of the youtube folks I watch, you're literally the only one who continues to feature the CR10S unabashedly (which is why I've been focussing my ire on you.)

Full disclosure... I'm a software developer with software covered under the GPL. That's entirely where this self of injustice comes from. I don't even own a 3d printer (yet). I've been using Youtube channels such as yours to learn the field and survey the products. Anyway, it just seems like the intellectual property of the enabling technology of your pasttime (profession?) is being deprioritized so that you can enjoy a couple of optional features (and a continued revenue stream).

Re: Joe's 3D Workbench: Creality CR-10S and GPL Violations

William McVey — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:02:50 -0000

I just can't seem to let this go... Partly I believe due to the respect I have for your videos and the associated disappointment I have in your position on this matter.

Less than a week ago, you left a comment at: https://www.youtube.com/wat...
stating "It doesn't matter if it's a digital file, a book, or a sculpture. As soon as it's in fixed form the creator has the right to determine how and when it's copied and what's done with those copies." I don't understand how you can hold this opinion and heap praise on those that undermine a creator's express wishes of how their creation is to be redistributed. It really is as if someone had told you that you shouldn't mind the violations (theft?) of your intellectual property because at least the print quality of the models sold on E-Bay was good.

At https://github.com/MarlinFi... the express wishes of the creators of a digital work specify:
" 6. Conveying Non-Source Forms.

You may convey a covered work in object code form under the terms
of sections 4 and 5, provided that you also convey the
machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License,
in one of these ways:"

There really is no ambiguity here. Creality is conveying non-source forms of other people's intellectual property in a way that "undermine a creator's express wishes of how their creation is to be redistributed." And your response was to call them the good guys in this conversation and you're willing to back them up in this conversation. I just don't get it. We're suppose to "respect that" and "not push them" because they feel they can't live up to the obligations they took on in using someone else's creative work (10:57 in your video). How is that at all different from if Just3DPrint(it) had said "We don't feel like our business model supports honoring the license of your creative work"? To be clear... My objection to Creality's position has *NOTHING* to do with wanting their cool features for a device I don't even own (I had been planning a CR10S, now likely to be buying the Prusa MK3). It has *EVERYTHING* to do with wanting companies to respect the rights of content creators that their businesses are built upon. Seeing you continue to build, use and advertise a device that you KNOW violate a creators "right to determine how and when it's copied and what's done with those copies." stings the worst.

Re: Joe's 3D Workbench: The real problem with the CR-10mini Video

William McVey — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 13:18:29 -0000

Have only recently started watching your vids and I appreciate the insight into the challenges you face with the reviews. As far as suggestions on what to do with prints... for one, I think you could probably find a print that you own the rights to (or license) and use a site like Etsy or E-Bay to sell off the prints to other people. Shouldn't be too hard to find an outlet for repeated copies of a print, especially a design that is of practical use (I've been digging the 3d pegboards that have been featured over on Make Anything - e.g. https://www.youtube.com/wat.... Alternatively, you could do prints of chesspieces... with 32 pieces per set, you could do good number of reviews and just donate to set to a local chess club (or auction it off... or raffle to a viewer). Personally, I lean to a classic Staunton chess piece, but I know there are many other designs that could provide a better testcase for your printers.

Anyway, thanks for the video reviews. (And I'm now looking more closely at your blog and see you have your own posts on pegboards and boardgames. Oops. Need to spend more time on the blog beyond just the Youtube channel. :-) ).

Re: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask)

William McVey — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 17:44:35 -0000

A "point", when referring to an index, is just a whole number unit of that index. Meaning, if the Dow Index was at 22,200 and it went up twenty-two points, then it'd be at 22,222, or up (0.01%) What do those whole numbers actually represent though? Well, it depends on the index. For the Dow, you simply add together the stock price of all the components of the Dow and divide it by the "Dow Divisor", which is currently a little more than 0.146. Thus, one "point" of the Dow is a change of about 14.5 cents. Or looked at the other way, a $1 net change in the Dow components shifts the Dow 6.85 points. The S&P500 index is a little more complicated in that it measures the market cap of a stock (not just the market price), so that companies with huge numbers of small shares and companies with a small number of expense shares are roughly weighted equivalently. It also has a divisor associated with the whole index so that new companies added into the index don't invalidate past index values (e.g. adding SNAP won't just immediately make the S&P 500 jump in value).

When referring to an individual stock, a "point" is just a dollar value change in the stock. It makes no difference the value of the stock. A point change on PG ($93.55/share) is the same dollar change as a point change for Berkshire Hathaway A Shares ($268,322/share).

Re: Simone was $187,000 in debt. Within two years, she had paid it off.

William McVey — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 17:34:38 -0000

Well sure, I'd prefer to have a diet of donuts to lose my 30 lbs of belly fat, but it's not gonna be effective at addressing the problem. A lot more fun and enjoyable perhaps, but not effective at addressing the actual problem.

Re: 5 Reasons You Should Shop at Aldi

William McVey — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 11:23:12 -0000

Deb, care to share which supermarket you use that *doesn't* sell those pesky foreign fruits and vegetables that are stealing valuable shelf space from the hard growing American produce that is barely getting any attention in the marketplace? I mean seriously... If you buy a banana at Kroger or Aldi or even WalMart, it's going to have crossed a border or two.

Re: How to avoid the tax traps of restricted stock units

William McVey — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 17:21:16 -0000

Another way to look at it... if the customer had been given an equivalent amount of cash for compensation as they were given in vested RSUs, would they go out and buy their own company's stock with that cash? If the answer is no, then it should be an easy matter to convince the customer of the equivalence of the two conditions. If the customer *would* invest a large portion of new cash into their company's stock, then work should be done to develop to an asset allocation plan to provide structure to these kinds of decisions. I'll keep my employee stock plan purchases around until they qualify for better tax treatment, but generally the day my RSUs vest, I liquidate and follow my plan.

Re: Report: People Are Put On The Terror Watch List To Fulfill Quotas

William McVey — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:21:21 -0000

For what it's worth, the 7News report that is quoted in this article is from July 2006. Very nearly 10 years old. I'm not suggesting that the problem doesn't still exist, just that this is hardly a "new report" and may very well not be the current policy.

Re: 4 Pro-Gun Arguments We're Sick of Hearing

William McVey — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 15:07:45 -0000

There is a logic flaw in your rebuttal to #2 in that you aren't counting the incidents that were stopped before they became mass shootings. Take the case of the Uber driver with the concealed-carry permit who back in April 2015 shot and wounded a gunman (Everardo Custodio) who opened fire into a crowd in Logan Square in Chicago. Custodio was shot and incapacitated before he was able to become a perpetrator of a mass shooting.

Re: How I retired at 33 and so can you

William McVey — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 16:35:22 -0000

You've got a lot of assumptions wrapped up in that comment. The Root of Good guy describes a rough outline of how he funded school at http://rootofgood.com/early... (hint: undergrad in engineering funded mostly on scholarships, while taking on profitable summer gigs/internships). He started his own company while getting his law degree, which helped fund the law degree and the house/condo. That condo got flipped a few years later after California housing market went nuts. More details are in the link.

Re: How I retired at 33 and so can you

William McVey — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 16:29:14 -0000

http://rootofgood.com/early... has a lot more of the nitty-gritty details and a general timeline. Mostly, he graduated undergrad with an engineering degree in 3 years at a state school, mostly on scholarships. Earned money in engineering and then got his law degree (while wife was working). He started a business during law school, that helped fund his education and buy his house. Seems like he really didn't ever take on a lot of student loan debt.

Re: How I retired at 33 and so can you

William McVey — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 16:19:29 -0000

If he's earning an income stream from a hobby he'd be doing anyway, I'm not sure I'd consider that "employed". He certainly has no employer and if he stops blogging for month (or 10), he's still got the income stream coming in.

Re: Why you should start taking Social Security as soon as possible

William McVey — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 09:45:08 -0000

The biggest problem with this article is that it totally fails to consider the fact that delaying taking of benefits increases not only the retirees monthly payouts for life, but (potentially) spousal benefits as well. The almost doubled benefits between someone who takes SSI at 62 and one who waits and takes at 70 pays off not over the course of one's lifetime, but (depending a spouses income history) potentially over the life of each of both spouses. It also fails to even mention how the advice can be inappropriate for widows or widowers who have potential survivor benefits that they could begin claiming early while their own primary benefit continues to grow. Others on here have already covered how the tax advice is likely misleading as well, so I won't reiterate their words. I will point out that while many people believe tax revenue will necessarily need to increase for the country to stay solvent, that does *not* necessarily mean that the tax bracket *rates* need to change. There are lots of ways to raise revenue (e.g. removing FICA caps, adding additional fees on activities like short-term trading, upping the employer tax) that don't necessitate politicians having to commit political suicide by messing with the income tax brackets of their constituents. The picture of a grandma in a nursing home complaining about her tax bill, circulated among AARP members is certainly one that most congress members would prefer to avoid.

Re: Friends Question Decision to Retire at 50

William McVey — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:01:00 -0000

Dear Abby, there are reasons why someone might choose to not be employed beyond a lack of motivation to contribute to society. It's arguable whether a financially independent 50yr taking a job that he neither needs to support himself or apparently really wants is really a contribution to society at all. The poster could have been encouraged to engage with society through volunteerism or engaging in new social past times that might introduce new friends into his life who don't tease the poster on his lack of dating someone (or might have introduced him to potential individuals who he'd like to date). Your recommendation for counselling seems to miss the mark by a mile.

Re: Avengers: Age of Ultron honest trailer is worried for Joss Whedon

William McVey — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 13:49:12 -0000

Or the 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), which first introduced the word "robot" into our vocabulary...

Re: How A $2.5-Million Patek Philippe Watch Is Made

William McVey — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 12:55:33 -0000

The feature (complication) you are looking for is a Perpetual Calendar. Be prepared to spend at least $30k on a watch that can track the day of month (including handling leap years). The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar watch is one such watch with this feature. I'm pretty sure the watch featured in this vid would have this complication. Other Patek Philippe introduced perpetual calendar complications back in the 1940s (the Patek Philippe Steel 1518). This doesn't seem like a watch they'd skimp out on.

Re: Marine's Wedding Prayer Photo Goes Viral: See Caleb, Maggie Earwood's Emotional Pic

William McVey — Thu, 28 May 2015 10:49:02 -0000

Genesis 6:6

Re: Marine's Wedding Prayer Photo Goes Viral: See Caleb, Maggie Earwood's Emotional Pic

William McVey — Thu, 28 May 2015 10:47:39 -0000

Exodus 32:14

Re: Best Bonus Credit Cards

William McVey — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:59:49 -0000

Thanks Patrick. I've actually seen that one, but passed on it because of the whole category resetting each quarter aspect of the bonus. That said, it is a good percentage back and certainly worth consideration if it fits people's usage patterns.