Blog :: Happycrow is on fire

I'm still reading my blogs, even though I'm not writing much anymore. Well, check that - I've written a ton lately - but it's all technical stuff, mostly in the form of classes to teach programmers new technologies. What I haven't written much of lately is anything about the cultural/theological/political areas that still fascinate me.

Fortunately not everyone is so moribund. One of my regular reads has been on fire lately: Happycrow is an interesting character with a frequently interesting point of view. Fair warning - if you aren't an X'er you'll probably find him profanely cynical. I like him just fine :)

Advice from his most recent post about demographic/economic trends How to surf the boomer holocaust:

1. If you’ve got a job, save, save, save, save. Or, even more importantly, de-leverage. Get OUT of debt. Ignore the hucksterism about mortgage interest deductions — those are for the upper middle class, not for Random Guy #13. If you make less than six figures and are in a house you can actually afford to live in, you’ll be getting the “standard deduction” anyway. If you make less than six figures and actually have enough mortgage interest to beat the Standard Deduction, you have Too Much House, or are living in a zip code that’s beyond your means — you’re setting yourself up for poverty down the road. Learn this truth: housing is a cost. There’s cost of living, and cost of surviving. They’re two different things: any plan you make should minimize the latter. If you’re paying a third to one-half your paycheck simply for the privelege of taking up space, you’re in trouble. Get the cheapest mortgage you can get in the cheapest house your wife will let you buy, and then KILL IT OFF.

This is good advice - I agree so strongly that I took it about a decade ago!

Posted on March 8th 2013, 08:58 AM

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