GrapevineTigah

re: The economy is figuring the tariff situation out.

One of the commentators on CNBC yesterday pointed out that the relative success of the economy despite the tariffs seems to make the democrats' tax/spend case for them.

Seems like the s and the a in your name might be reversed.

I try to pay cash, or pay off the loan asap. I've had 2 Toyota Camry vehicles that each lasted 17 years. My current fake truck is 9+ years old. I use the term fake truck because it's a Honda Ridgeline. That works for me but if I needed to drive off-road it probably wouldn't work. I have avoided the high dollar purchases because I had to drive a bit to work, and I value being able to get my kids through college, afford to retire, etc. I've kept a good emergency fund that I've used to buy a vehicle when needed. I've seen others get rid of vehicles at 100k miles but 200k + has been the norm recently without significant repair bills. The only exception was a Chrysler Van when the kids were little. I also value the vehicles that have high resale value over time, on consumer reports.

I bought in October of 2025 also. I'm up 15% plus dividends. The reason I bought it was as a defensive stock, with the market in what I considered overbought territory. Worst case I get the solid dividend and wait for the high fliers to drop. It's outperforming the QQQ. It's clear we have lots of traders on this board. I'm retired so the goal is to not lose. I also bought CHV and ABBV around that time and have seen similar results. :cheers:

I was a boy scout. Our troop members were ushers at the games in the mid 70's. I got to sit on the steps in spilled drinks, but I was in Tiger Stadium! I remember TigerVision and watched (or listened) to away games any way I could. When I moved to Texas in 1986 I bought a 32 inch TV with rabbit ears to watch Dale Brown's final four team. It was sitting on the floor because I had no furniture. :geauxtigers:

Because LK's job change exposes the problem with College Football today. Few enforced rules. It's wild west, all about money. The portal window and signing dates make no sense with regard to when coaches can "move up". As Verge said, he's doing what makes sense for LSU. If the higher level organization (NCAA/CFB) wants to improve things, they'll rethink the early recruiting window, the portal dates, and have some rules on timing of coaching changes.

In the recent past this may have been true/accurate. With NIL, injuries, and players going to the NFL after 3 years that is likely no longer a valid assumption.

Sounds like you're doing great! Congrats! Index funds are the way to go. Since you're young this may not matter as much, but roughly 35% of each of VOO, VTSAX, and BEQGX are in NVDA, AVGO, GOOG/L, AMZN, APPL, MSFT, and META. So, the historical diversification of such funds is up to debate.

Fidelity shows a 7.24% return for the life of FFFEX, with higher recent returns. The question should (for retirement planning purposes) be what are the expectations moving forward? I wouldn't expect to match that return (in a target fund or otherwise) as the last 10 years have been historically good for the stock market.

My math and assumptions need to be checked, but I would think about it like this: 30k now or 12k a year in 25 years? I use the 4% assumption quite a lot, ignoring the current lower interest rate bias to address the hypothetical question. That means you'll have $1200 of income (4% of 30k) now vs $12000 income (1k a month) in 25 years. So another way of phrasing the question is would you think an IRA could be used to grow that 30k by ten times in 25 years? Many projections show SP500 growth of 5 to 7% over the next 10 years. So assuming 6% growth your 30k would double every 12 years (rule of 72). In 24 years at the same rate your 30k invested in the SP500 in an IRA would be a little over $120k. That would only earn you $4800 a year in income. I'd go with the state retirement plan if the 1k a month in 25 years is real. :cheers:

He knows that when he goes folks will sell shares. Then BRK can buy it back cheaply and they'll have lots of cash on hand. They'll also be able to be "greedy when there's blood in the streets". I think that was one of his quotes.