What I watched: We took a TV break this week, except for the PBS news hour. So I shall use this space to request other folks to do a Brain Drain now and then? You DeadSplinterites always comment so nicely and offer what you are watching, reading, and listening to – wouldn’t you like to drive the entire post some week? Your Brain Drain column would be most appreciated – just message me to start!
What I read: Edinburgh Midnight (Ian Hamilton Mysteries Book 3) by Carole Lawrence. This series gets better as it goes along (score!). Set in 1880 Scotland, the characters include a young Arthur Conan Doyle during his med school years, rascally street urchins, and in this book, spiritualists.
Also started last week’s SplinterRIP-recommended series about Sandman Slim. I’ve now read the first two and concur – good stuff. Here is what the highly accurate blurbs say about the books:
“An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece. -William Gibson; and “A sharp-edged urban fantasy, drenched in blood and cynicism, tipping its hat to Sam Peckinpah, Raymond Chandler, and the anti-heroes of Hong Kong cinema….A bravura performance.”San Francisco Chronicle
What I listened to: Hanni el Khatib, Peace, off his new LP Flight. The whole record is tight and good.
Honne, No Song Without You, a sweet little song and video.
Thank you for draining your brain of the week’s effluvia and sharing only the good stuff here! Soooo, what did you watch, read, or listen to?
What I watched: “Rebellion” on Netflix, about the Irish uprising of Easter 2016. So far the 2nd season is not as good as the first but it’s interesting.
What I read: “Saints of the Shadow Bible” by Ian Rankin. Another in the Inspector Rebus series. And I started a short story anthology by Kurt Vonnegut, who I have never read before.
What’s in the CD player: Havok, “Time is Up.” Proof that thrash metal is alive and well, or at least it was in 2013.
Inspector Rebus for the win, as always!
Mrs. Butcher and I have recently started watching the BBC series Poldark. Very well acted and written. Also, strangely, quite topical for the day.
Recently read a rather concerning piece in The Atlantic about the next bank collapse. To the surprise of absolutely nobody with more than two brain cells to rub together, the banks have been engaging in more risky shit since they got bailed out in 2008–and this time the shit their doing is much, much riskier. Of course, the chances that there will actually be a wider set of reporting about this problem BEFORE the banks drag us all down again are essentially zero.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/coronavirus-banks-collapse/612247/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I’m a big Sharon Jones fan, so recently looked up the Daptone label’s roster list and found the James Hunter Six. Great stuff. This is their latest album, Nick of Time.
Daptone has a non-obnoxious email I enjoy. Okay now, serious question. Where do you think one should put savings?
I’m not sure I understand the question. Do you mean whether to put it into a cash savings account or invest it in some way?
Oh, based on your thoughts and the Atlantic article? Should we become hoarders and buy gold? Invest in bitcoin? Real estate? (Not that you can buy extra houses or anything.)
I meant me, not that I can buy extra houses!
With the usual caveats that I’m not an investment expert, I can tell you what our plan is: almost nothing. Meaning, I won’t be retiring for another 21 years, and the stock market pretty much runs on a 10-year cycle. So, I won’t even be adjusting my investment mix towards more stability for another 5-10 years. In the meantime, I plan to keep socking cash into our savings account per our current plan. Aside from the very real matters of the unbanked population, and tips for service workers, what the “cashless society” people never seem to remember is that when the economic shit hits the fan, cash is what matters most. People who “buy” gold aren’t actually buying gold–they’re buying illiquid shares of gold. Cryptocurrencies are already super niche and not readily accepted at most places–and if the CLO crash hits, those cryptos are going to go right down with it. Real estate, likewise, is illiquid and could very well get caught in the crossfire.
So, it’s putting a few hundred a month into savings for us, not messing with our stock/bond investments, and generally not getting too worried about it. After all, the banks will always get bailed out, which means we won’t be living in a post-apocalyptic hellscape any time soon. We’ve been dirt poor before, and if we are dirt poor again, at least we know how to get through it. We’re simply not rich enough to have an escape plan.
Also, I bet Meg has some thoughts that are very likely more relevant than mine.
Your plan is solid: keep doing what you’re doing, save as much as you can & always make sure you get whatever match your 401K offers. Roths are good if you qualify b/c when you take the $$ out it’s already been taxed. And Miss Ellie not to call you out but I believe you are able to do catch up contributions to retirement accounts at this point.
My match is shit–only 1%–but I’m putting 15% into the 403(b). I’m hoping to bump it to 19% in about five years. I only was able to start saving 8 years ago when I started working for my current employer, so my timeline is relatively short.
Can confirm. I wrote investment newsletters for years. The formula is always the same: accumulate 3-6 months’ worth of savings for emergencies, do your best to hit your 401(k) max (definitely try very hard to get your full employer match — it’s FREE MONEY). Don’t try to time the market — select a solid mix of investments and rebalance annually. If you’re not familiar with different types of investment vehicles (stocks, bonds, money market) then see if your employer has a target date fund. You select the date you want to retire and they handle it from there. IF they don’t, take some time to learn a bit about the investment options you have through your 401(k). Extra money goes into an IRA, preferably a Roth as Meg noted.
Pick your investments and DON’T KEEP LOOKING AT THEM. It will drive you crazy and if you move things around you’re more likely to lose money than make it. It’s called “buy and hold.” Check them once a year, maybe twice.
Never, ever take money out of your IRAs or 401(k) or 403(b) unless it’s truly, truly a serious emergency. Loans are better than withdrawals but only a little bit, so that should be a last resort.
Make sure your partner/family/significant other knows about your investments and is listed as the beneficiary. Write them all down so YOU don’t forget them. You wouldn’t believe how many people forget about retirement accounts they had years ago.
If you can consolidate them, do so. But sometimes it’s not possible — not every time of retirement account can be combined with others. But if you do consolidate it, make it a direct transfer to the other retirement account. Don’t collect a check and then deposit it — Uncle Sam will want a word.
I am not an investment adviser but I have written thousands of newsletters and blogs for them. That said, past performance is no indication of future performance, and disclaimers blah, blah.
Edit to add:
Oh, yeah. If you haven’t started this, START NOW. The longer you have for your money to grow, the better off you are. Even if it’s only a little bit from each paycheck, START NOW.
Bryan is on it!
Like the Butchers we made it a priority as soon as we were able. Thank you, bryanlsplinter, for the smart info!
No worries, Ms. Meg, I’ve earned these years 😘.We are doing the Butcher-Baker plan as well. Although the stock cycle means I will be working till age 70.
I’m a big James Hunter fan and am obsessed with the new lp.
Will stalk him on Spotify, my playlists are getting boring.
Love Poldark and I love me some Aidan Turner. The UK version of Being Human was my intro to him; Mrs. Butcher might enjoy, just sayin’.
I never watched Poldark because I assumed it was a bodice ripper. Was I wrong?
It’s got everything: family drama, romance, Aidan Turner with his shirt off… where was I? Oh, lovely scenery of Cornwall etc.
MegMegMcGee has it right: it’s a great ad for Cornwall and is very pretty to look at. It’s got a lot of drama and I think of it as a fancy soap opera, everyone is pretty to look at and they’re always falling into trouble. It’s not my favorite and I haven’t finished the series but it’s overall a good watch and it’s nice to watch the characters grow into their roles and the writing get better as time goes on.
Sandman Slim is excellent reading. We’ve just binged Peaky Blinders on Netflix – also excellent. The soundtrack is amazing for that show.
Does anyone know or have an opinion on whether Boardwalk Empire is as good as the Peaky Fooking Blinders?
Don’t have Netflix, but I’ve seen Boardwalk Empire and it was really very good.
I watched the first couple of Peaky Blinders seasons but can’t remember where I left off, I may have to start the whole thing over. Boardwalk Empire is good, great cast.
We just started the first half of season 15 of Supernatural. Why yes, Keitel humors me. And I will watch his choice,some German time travel show called the Dark. I don’t like time travel, or Dr. Who (ducks and covers).
currently watching the boys
its good…but im not sure i could reccomend it…its more of a watch at your own risk thing its dark and funny (if you have a fucked up sense of humor like me) and im pretty sure some scenes will trigger the fuck out of people who’ve been through it
its also got full frontal male nudity and at least one ass bomb….i havent finished it yet…there may be more…
reading…still the expanse… they’re big books…and i only read in bed
and ive been listening to me favourite radio station
https://www.radio.net/s/bananaska
That looks very good. Will at to list!
I watched the first episode of I May Destroy You and it was difficult. It’s very well done, the tension is palpable. At one point at a fork-in-the-road moment I literally found myself on the edge of my seat whispering to the protagonist ” go home, now, go home!” It’s even worse because I read an interview with Michaela Coel before it came out and the show is autobiographical, based on the assault she suffered while beginning production on Chewing Gum. I’m glad I can only watch it week to week, there’s a lot to process.
It sounds very good. The older I get the more I find myself telling TV show characters what not to do 😜.
And…the Saturday mornings cook-off is complete! Angel hair pasta/parmesan crusted shrimp bake; lime/portabello/corn/cilantro roast for corn tortillas (or maybe the ones Throbbin showed us last week in FYCE); a mushroom beef ragout for my carnivorous spouse; banana bread; chocolate chip cookie bars; the strawberry simple syrup coming up at 2PM ET today; Asian slaw (also a previous FYCE); and cooked some 90% lean hamburger crumble to hide the 4 pills 3x a day the elderly Chihuahua requires. And now, it is cocktail time! Drinking the most excellent one I mention today in FYCE!
I’m a lucky guy.
You really are!
That sounds good. I’m having trouble finding things I want to eat. I’ll make something I think I want, but don’t like it when meal time rolls around. I had coffee for lunch because nothing is appealing.
My neighbor gave me this last night to borrow:
And I just got Christopher Moore’s new book (signed!) from an independent bookseller.
Now I just have to be motivated to read…that’s is the problem…
I looked at Say Nothing online. I’m not sure I’m up for murder right now. But I love Christopher Moore, I’m going to see if my library has the e book.
IDK who needs to hear this but Knives Out is on Prime now.
I’ve been watching more documentary TV lately which has been nice, but sometimes I fall asleep while watching by accident.
A new favorite is “An American Aristocrat’s Guide to Great Estates” on the Smithsonian Channel. The series follows Julie Montagu, an American who married a Viscount/future Earl of Sandwich Luke Montagu. She visits various English Estate Homes where she observes how they run their estates and to get some English history lessons in preparation for her own efforts to run her family’s estates. The series is shot beautifully and I think more than half of the appeal is Julie herself because she is so “American” and so open and friendly. The people she meets are friendly too, but in an English hospitality sort of way. The hosts and staff at the estates have lots of interesting stories to tell. It’s a recommended watch if you’re interested in the subject/need something to relax to.
That sounds good! I like this one for soothing background noise: