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Puff piece by a guy trying to get people to use his startup. I think it's actually way worse to use his technology to automatically move money around your accou
by seibelj 11y ago
Puff piece by a guy trying to get people to use his startup. I think it's actually way worse to use his technology to automatically move money around your accounts. I like to be on top of where my money is.
And "emergencies" happen several times a year. In a few month span I had to replace a water heater, then a dishwasher, then tires on my car. Several thousand bucks of expenses in a couple months. Having to withdraw from a 401k for life's unexpected issues is insanity.
- Sleaker 11y agoReplacing tires on a car is not an emergency unless you happened to blow a tire, and even then that's usually covered under warranty unless you screwed something up and like drove your car over a curb causing the damage.
- sliverstorm 11y agoErr... running over a nail, for example, is not generally covered by warranty.
- Sleaker 11y agoreally? Every tire I've purchased has included free flat fixes. I've had nails and screws pulled. All covered no charge.
- superuser2 11y agoMany people, particularly those interested in personal finance, wouldn't dream of buying a car new enough to be under warranty.
- Sleaker 11y agoTire warranty != Car warranty. Tires include their own warranties up to a certain number of miles, they also (in my experience) cover many types of damage.
- crpatino 11y agoAgreed. Same can be said about the water heather and the dishwasher. If they both failed so close one another it was either an Act-of-God (and outlier that no one ought to experience more than once, statistically speaking) or more likely the result of malign neglect. If the GP had just bought the house, he/she ought to have made a better job at surveying the infrastructure and considering repair cost in the total price. If that's the case, it reflects poorly on them to have been taken by surprise by those events.
- mberning 11y agoIf you followed his advice and not bought a house you would have had 2 less emergencies. Also, renting in the city you would have had no need for a car and thus 0 emergencies.
- lawpoop 11y ago"The City" being Manhattan or perhaps Chicago, the only place sin America where we have usable public transportation.
- eropple 11y agoBoston/Cambridge/Brookline, Atlanta, Seattle...
- Swizec 11y agoSan Francisco is very bikeable/longboardable/electricgizmoable. Source: I don't have a car, but I do have a motorized longboard.
- ghaff 11y agoDepending on lifestyle and place of employment, being carless without a lot of sacrifices isn't necessarily limited to New York and Chicago. I know people in Boston and San Francisco without cars who use some combination of public transportation, Uber/taxis, Zipcar, and conventional rentals. That said, it's somewhere between inconvenient and very difficult in many places--including urban ones.
- lawpoop 11y ago
- ssmoot 11y agoI assume that's short-hand for taking a loan against your 401K (penalties mentioned as a worst-case-scenario?). Which you pay back "to yourself", with interest. I have an emergency fund because "I'm supposed to", but in hindsight, paying myself 4% would've been a higher rate of return than my 401K has seen this year. In light of that, is the advice really that bad? Even if it was a good year and it turned out wrong, you've probably only lost a few points on that money over the term of your loan. If the alternative is putting money into a Savings Account returning a fraction of a percent, and actually becoming worth less over time? Just thinking out loud. I don't consider myself all that financially savvy.
- pilom 11y agoI agree that he was thinking a 401k loan but the biggest downside of 401k loans is that if you leave your current employer (are fired or choose to leave) the full amount of the loan is due immediately. This is a huge set of handcuffs to your employer that make it more difficult to jump ship for more money.
- alistairSH 11y agoThat depends on how you define emergency. Water-heater and car tires don't qualify as emergency for me. Heck, car tires are a regular maintenance expense. Emergency is something like the house burning down, the car getting stolen, or my health taking a turn for the worse. All of which I insure against.