mmmmm...beer

Initial plan is for me to hang out here and try to get as much stuff established as I can help with and head back to the States at the end of May. I'll fly back in to PDX... grab my rig and work gear and drive down to Colorado to hang out with our son until thr end of Sept/beginning of October. Then head back to Japan for the rest of the initial 3 year tour. Exciting stuff! Aaannnnd jetlagged as heil right now. 14 houe time difference.

Update.... today is the first full day in Japan. Initial thoughts... pretty humid. Like Puerto Rico or Cancun humid. Also way more industrial around Tokyo than I'd have imagined. Like huge abandoned factories and giant scrap yard industrial. Only been tooling around the base thus far. Excited to get off base and see some stuff this weekend.

I'm in... just been really busy the last 6 weeks. 2nd day in Japan rinnow.

Rollover

Congrats Neckbeard!

That's pretty cool. Last regular season game. Divisional # 1 & 2... a win by 4077 clinches the division by record alone. If the Sweatermeats snag the win regular season record is a tie and the total points will go to the Meats. Good job on the upset Peaces! How exciting!

This... seriously. Time has excellerated.

Ohh yeah we have the same birthday... 49 for me.

Boat sailed on weed a few years ago. Now it's cut throat...

Been thinking on selling the house with this PCS move to Japan. We should get something like $300 from the home sale if it all goes smoothly. What if instead of buying another house when we get back . We just invest the whole thing immediately? I mean... we put it in our Vanguard brokerage account? Vanguard 500 ETF (VOO), which is Vanguards SP500 mirror has averaged 12.92% each year since inception 13 years ago. If we do that... $300 in 10 years @ 7% is $590K 10% is $778K 13% is $1,018K When we get back we just rent or I get a VA loan for another house down the road with 0% down. When will we ever have $300k free and clear? Never... Also thought about maybe when we come back (3 years minimum, 5 max) we can use that $300k to down pay several rentals? My pops has rentals... and a couple AirBnB's he's been renting to companies for $2500 a month. So I could learn from him. After thinking about it for awhile, I feel like putting that $300 down on another house would just be a wasted opportunity.

Yeah good post. Most of the business/rental stuff will be when we return in 3 years. I'll be retired so want an income just tooling around.

Nope... the mainland, like 40 mins SW of Tokoyo

Wife applied and got a job that will move us there to an Army base, she's a fed civ employee. I can retire next year when I turn 50. Win win...

Yeah my Old man is a rentals guy... 14 plexes several 6 plexes etc. That being said... feels like we're waaaay over valued right now. Don't want to go the way of the Jerry.... You're exactly right @Whitewonder w'll see what it looks like in 3 years. Maybe we crash and there's shiz to buy.

I already have one and have talked about it a few times in here. Discover Bank Savings account. I started it in July and I currently have about $13k in there. I've been saving for a gap fund between retirement and pension kicking in. It has a current rate of 4.35%.

Current mortgage is $2300. Say we could rent it for $3500. $3500 - 2300 = $1200 - 8% management fee = $1,104 x 12 months = $13,248 a year (not counting any maintenance ie appliances/furnace going out) or paying taxes on that $13K as well. For that little... $300k × 4.3% savings account interest = $12,900/yr not even compounded. With zero risk.

I'll tell you what I'd do...

I really don't want the stress of living in Japan worrying that some idiots are destroying my nearly $700k house back in the States. Also... I didn't mention, the .gov is paying the realtor fees for the sale of the current home. That's a 6% gain for us we won't have to pay. So...$40k'ish savings.

Yeah I get you. Though I like the idea of a set it and forget it. "You may not be able to predict the performance of the S&P 500 Index for the next 20 years, but you are not alone. In one of his annual letters to shareholders, Warren Buffett included an excerpt from his will that ordered his children’s inheritance to be placed in an S&P 500 Index fund because the “long-term results from this policy will be superior to those attained by most investors—whether pension funds, institutions, or individuals who employ high-fee managers.” Unpack that a little. Here's a guy who makes his money being the last thing on that list right? Essentially saying, we high-fee managers can't beat the index.

So maybe I don't do any of it... just put it all in VOO and let it ride. Or... much more conservatively... I have a Discover Bank savings account @ 4.30%. I'd get roughly $15K a year just leaving it in savings...

Yeah I don't NEED the 300 really. I'll have a pension, SS (early supplement), and TSP (401K) should be somewhere around $110K not to include the wife's job. So this is just... money to make money.

I'm not worried.... the SP500 has averaged 11.8% per year since 1957... wars.. rumors of war.. recessions... what have you. Yes... can I lose money? Sure.. I'm still down $100k from my high in 2021 in my 401K... But I'm not overly worried it won't come back... sh!t always goes up and to the right eventually.

That Boy Good! https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy84kypOLtl/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

So ran into some anxiety/depression issues a few years back. Apparently ptsd from seeing dead people in all aspects, people beat to a pulp, etc can wear on a guy after 20 years. Anyway... I went through a bout of seeing someone to help that out. During this time we started discussing different aspects of childhood and how I currently dealt with negativity etc. She asked what my inner voice was like? How did I Speak to myself if I failed something or how did I encourage myself?🫤 I was like... uhhh... well... it's mostly things like "You stupid motherfocker! Fock you are dumb!" "How the fock are you so dumb?" She was like WHAT?!! You actually say those things? I response hesitantly... uhm yes... all the time. My whole life. Why? Is that not what it's supposed to be? She said no... no that's not what it's supposed to be. In fact thats really bad. Oh....