2014 Off Topic Thread

[MMA_scientist]

Wow i take it you must be able to make quite a bit of money working full time. Do you own your own law firm?

kind of. I get a W2 salary from a law firm that I work for, but I also run my own practice, which is mostly just local counsel stuff (where a bigger law firm hires me to appear at their local hearings). I get paid a flat fee of $500 per hearing, and I can do as many as I want, up to about 20 per month max. As it stands, with my other job, I usually do anywhere from 6-15 hearings "on the side."

Bottom line, yeah, I am making a lot right now. But I don't really care because all I want to do is ride my bike, do some bjj, and play with my kids. I say this a lot, but I really don't care much about money aside from the freedom from wage slavery.

[edman5555]

I would wait another year and take the financial hit. Wait until november and see if repubs take control of congress. If they do i think there will likely be a push for healthcare reform. What happens is anyones guess but there could likely be an improvement in your position. Maybe youll pay 500 instead of 1000 and get someting better than catastrophic. It sounds like your making over 100k per year so you might not want to give that up. I would consider the difficulty level of getting it back. Or you can try to get them to pay you in hookers and beer. Under the table of course so uncle sam/Obama doesnt find out.

[Mr. IWS]

Considering moving into a cheap house I can pay cash for, and just messing around for all my days. My total monthly expenses will be about $2000, so I can pretty much work like one day per week or continue to work FT and retire in style soon.

Thoughts?

Worth the cost to kids and wife?

Thats the dream right there for Me.

[MMA_scientist]

It isn't really about the insurance, at least not entirely. It is more just a whole life approach. I have what I need basically, the only reason I am working at this point is to pay for the home we live in and to save for early retirement (I already have enough saved for traditional retirement). But if reduce expenses, I can either achieve financial independence earlier or just reduce my expenses and live a slower pace of life now, while not saving much.

So it is really not about the ACA. It is more about whether I should just get off the treadmill.

[MMA_scientist]

Thats the dream right there for Me.

yeah, me too. And I am fortunate enough that I could probably do it right now. I could buy a $130k house and just say fuck it. My wife says she is on board if that is what I want, but I have also set it up as a false dichotomy between me and the house. I also feel a little like I am being selfish for moving my kids out of their nice house and into something half the size. Although, in my heart, I know it won't affect them and will probably be good for them. I think they would rather have me there over time than have an extra playroom.

[MMA_scientist]

Edman, I also found a way out of the ACA shit, at least until 2016. I am just going to get a series of short term health plans, I will have to re-qualify every 6 months, but my family are all physical specimens, so we're good.

[edman5555]

Youve already got enough for retirment? you must have one helluva 401k

[MMA_scientist]

Youve already got enough for retirment? you must have one helluva 401k

Yeah, for traditional retirement at age 65. I don't have enough to retire today forever. I am about 10 years away from that, if I change nothing with my current life. If I downgrade my expenses to $2000 per month, and continue working at the same rate, I am about 5 years away from forever retirement.

I don't have a great 401k plan, I just save almost half my income and I don't require a lot of money to live on. It is a lot easier to reduce your needs than it is to save more for an extravagant life. I have found that the things that bring me the most happiness don't cost much, so I don't need that much.

[edman5555]

That is nice. The best things in life are free. It reminds me of a quote from a friend of mine a long time ago. He said some of the best times in our life were when we were broke. That said, money is nice to have because it brings about options. We can talk all day about how unimportant it is but if were too broke to go out to dinner we will be pissed.

[MMA_scientist]

That is nice. The best things in life are free. It reminds me of a quote from a friend of mine a long time ago. He said some of the best times in our life were when we were broke. That said, money is nice to have because it brings about options. We can talk all day about how unimportant it is but if were too broke to go out to dinner we will be pissed.

Not if you don't go to dinner, or see any reason to go to dinner. I can't retire in 10 years, and then take trips to Italy every year. But then, I don't care about that so I am not pissed. I wouldn't want to be completely broke, but I also don't want to do the "work 40 years, retire 10 years, die" plan.

[edman5555]

Yeah i hear ya. If the things you enjoy are free and readily available at your fingertips it might be worth it for you. You can always try scaling down your hours and trying to maintain your business relationships so you can go back to working full time if you change your mind.

[MMA_scientist]

Yeah i hear ya. If the things you enjoy are free and readily available at your fingertips it might be worth it for you. You can always try scaling down your hours and trying to maintain your business relationships so you can go back to working full time if you change your mind.

There is a balance for everyone, I do like eating out, but then, I can live what I consider to a pretty hedonistic life on $2000 per month if I have no house payment. My current non-mortgage expenses are about $2500-3000, but some of that is gas related to work, and utilities for a bigger house. I really don't even try to be frugal right now, but I just don't spend a lot of money on shit.

[edman5555]

Well if i was you i would work two or three days per week. You dont need every day off. Going from working five days per week to working three would be very nice. If you were being literal about working one day.

[edman5555]

Edman, I also found a way out of the ACA shit, at least until 2016. I am just going to get a series of short term health plans, I will have to re-qualify every 6 months, but my family are all physical specimens, so we're good.

I just read this. Good news. Fuck the government. Lol. Nice, you seem resourceful.

[MMA_scientist]

I just read this. Good news. Fuck the government. Lol. Nice, you seem resourceful.

Thanks. Yeah I am trying to stick it to the man. I don't know how resourceful I am, but I will take that. I think it is more that I am really a fringe of society type of person, trapped in a suburban dad body