@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Traffic is really heavy today. Posting is normal-ish. But site traffic is super high. Like 30% over a normal busy day. And solid, been going since yesterday. I wonder why.
I would like to say it is because I am wrapping up at this job and starting my new job next week, so my motivation to work hard is waning and I am posting more on ML, and reading more, but I don't think I could account for that much of traffic increase....
Transactions that happen in Mangolassi would be covered by US law because when you post on Mangolassi that is where it is hosted. I buy my house water filers from a company in Idaho. I live in Illinois. I can sue that company if I wanted in Idaho state court or in Federal court because it is commerce across state lines. I cannot sue them in Illinois court. They don't have a business presence in Illinois and are not required to comply with Illinois law. As the consumer, I am aware of this, I always look for where the person/business is that I am about to buy from is located. Someone in Spain who uses the internet and accesses something, not in their country is agreeing to use Mangolassi which is governed by US law and not EU. A person using the internet to access something in America is no different if they used a plane to come to American and do business either way they are covered under US law
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Really hoping that the new job makes that much more possible. Especially as the current plans with the new job are to have an office in the area.
That is awesome.
@scottalanmiller said in MSP charged with extortion:
Serious reminder that corrption in America, having to pay off local officials, is just the same as it is in the third world.
I didn't believe this until working at the law firm I work at now that mainly defends businesses. It is absolutely horrible what happens to businesses, especially SMBs.
My friend uses the Unifi switches. He has them to power the Unifi APs and the Unifi Cameras.
Waiting for the joust to begin at the St. Louis RenFair
@dustinb3403 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@scottalanmiller said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@dustinb3403 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@storageninja said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@zachary715 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
HIs whole argument here is that it's the public sector which is offering this benefit with "our" tax dollars. I think he's fine with private businesses doing this same matter because they aren't operating with a $20trillion and growing debt with no solution in sight
The alternatives are raising salaries a bunch for government roles (unpopular), or only historically rich, or the very stupid will end up working in government as the private sector absorbs everyone with debt who's smart. All of these options suck
Why are those the only options?
Why not just make people pay their bill, period?
Well, in this case, they are. He's paying it through a signing bonus. So while SOME student debt forgiveness might be a problem because it is not given fairly, that doesn't apply here where it is a signing bonus.
$63K is way more than I ever had in student loans.
I want a $63K gift. Do all of you mind giving me a lot of money for my inability to pay my loans? (@PenguinWrangler again just using you as an example as this is a rampant issue, not hating on you)
I understand your point of view. I have worked hard so I can be at a point that with or without this, my loans will be paid off. I am sorry but I am damn good at my job, and the public defenders office could really use me. This is what is throwing that job into the yes column after my current work offered me a $17,000 a year raise to stay, about $6,000 more than the government job.
What about offering this to doctors to practice in rural areas? Which I believe they do have a program for. Doctors out of med school can't practice in rural areas because of how much Med school costs and how much it costs to pay it back. This is how many rural areas and rural hospitals get doctors. There is already a shortage in rural areas.
@zachary715 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@storageninja said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@dustinb3403 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@penguinwrangler said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@dustinb3403 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@momurda said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
That isnt how it works from @PenguinWrangler description.
The forgiveness will be taxed as income, probably at the rate bonuses/lottery income, much higher than regular income unless he is making tons of money(he isnt if working for feds).
He is essentially an indentured servant to the federal government for the next decade.Also, people saying the government shouldnt be spending money on education, LOL.
It should be the highest expenditure of the federal government and local governments.
It should dwarf the War Department's budget.Spending on education is fine, spending to remove debt that someone agreed to is that individual persons responsibility. Not the public's responsibility.
I understand what you are saying. I get where you are coming from. I have set myself and family up to have my loans paid off in the next 5 to 7 years. Without the forgiveness. I have been eating a lot of ramen and pb&j for lunch. We have been watching our money closely. Whether or not the government should do this is one thing. I would be stupid not to take it though when it is available to me.
My stance isn't with you. It's with the system, how it's rigged and royally helping 1 and screwing over 1000.
You said your self that this 63K debt is tax-free. That's insane.
Depends on which tax schedule you use.
The tax on 63K at long-term capital gains rate (it's a long-term payback, and it's not THAT much money) is 12% or ~7.56K note a huge amount.Also, lots of stuff is tax-free. I didn't pay taxes on the money I put into my 401K. That's $5940 (or $11,880 joint filed, as I'm maxing out my wife's account) worth of taxes I'm not paying every year! The earnings in my Roth IRA are tax-free (I put in 11K last year, and the 8% gains for the year on it are tax-free!)
Semantics here.... but assuming traditional 401k, that's tax-deferred not free. On the Roth side though you are correct earnings are tax free.
The money you put into a Roth IRA is free, not the earnings. If you put in a ROTH IRA 10,000 and earnn 2,000 the 10,000 is tax free because, you have already paid taxes on that 10,000. The 2,000 it earned can be taxed. I have been checking on what to do with my 401K
@anthonyh said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
TL;DR - It doesn't work out for everyone.
It's not quite as simple as how @PenguinWrangler may be explaining it. I work for the gov't (state) and have looked into this (I have way more student loan debt that I'm willing to admit, unfortunately)...
You must make 120 qualifying payments towards a federal student loan before they will forgive the loan. They will forgive the remainder of the federal loan once that requirement is met. And these qualifying payments do not start until you're on an Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan.
If you leave the public sector that clock resets, so you must work for the public sector for the entire 120 payment stint.
You must also be on an Income Based Repayment plan. In my case, because I have so much friggin' student loan debt, my IBR payment was astronomical. And, for some reason I could never understand, the calculations for my IBR payment made it so that I'd have the loan paid off in ~120 payments anyway. so there would have been minimal, if any, money to be forgiven. I think it was due to not having any dependents at the time (wasn't yet married nor had any kids). This was in 2010.
I did have, however, a substantial (to me) mortgage that I valued more than paying my student loans off early (which worked out well for us fortunately).
Fast forward to 2013 where I was happily married and had newborn twins. Oooh, great, time to look into the student loan forgiveness plan! Nope. Given the 3 years of payments I had already put in (which did not count since it wasn't on an IBR plan), the calculations still balanced to where I'd have the loans paid off within the ~120 payment timeframe.
It would've been a nice perk, but I have to think of it in terms that I'm lucky to be able to afford to pay off my student loans and still live a somewhat middle-class life.
You are correct. I didn't dive into the deep details. I worked for the State of Missouri for 6 years and none of that counts. I am paying more than my income-based repayment plan requires each month, which I will probably just pay the IBR amount now, however, I still have to make 120 on-time payments which are 10 years of payments. This all supposes they don't end this program before I work for 10 years as well.
@dustinb3403 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
@momurda said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
That isnt how it works from @PenguinWrangler description.
The forgiveness will be taxed as income, probably at the rate bonuses/lottery income, much higher than regular income unless he is making tons of money(he isnt if working for feds).
He is essentially an indentured servant to the federal government for the next decade.Also, people saying the government shouldnt be spending money on education, LOL.
It should be the highest expenditure of the federal government and local governments.
It should dwarf the War Department's budget.Spending on education is fine, spending to remove debt that someone agreed to is that individual persons responsibility. Not the public's responsibility.
I understand what you are saying. I get where you are coming from. I have set myself and family up to have my loans paid off in the next 5 to 7 years. Without the forgiveness. I have been eating a lot of ramen and pb&j for lunch. We have been watching our money closely. Whether or not the government should do this is one thing. I would be stupid not to take it though when it is available to me.
@dustinb3403 said in Student Loan Forgiveness Rant:
I as someone who's paid every penny of my student loans haven't received a government benefit from paying my bill.
Why should you get a benefit for working for a government agency receive a benefit that isn't / wasn't available to me?
@dustinb3403 It could be available to you. You are not barred from working for a non-profit or the government. How is it any different than a company saying if you work for 'x' amount of years we will pay off your student loans or a company saying we will pay for you to go back to school?
The idea behind it is to keep people in government/non-profit service that typically pays less. For example, the public defenders office, where I will be working, qualifies for this so they can get attorneys and other professionals to work there longer than just a year or two because they don't have the ability to compete with the private sector most of the time. So it is a benefit for you staying for 10 years. So if I stay for 10 years, and make 120 on time qualifying payments, so it is not all of my student loans, which is the plan. That with me is going to be between 5,000 and 6,000 for each year of service. That puts my salary about where it should be, my current work countered me with more money than what the federal government is offering but no student loan help. When I calculate that in it is a wash. I have 7 years of Legal IT experience with one of the largest firms in the region. So I have the skills that the public defenders office needs. This forgiveness is what is giving them the edge right now in obtaining me. It is "Forgiveness" but it is a benefit for staying and working in the government/non-profit for that period of time and not jumping to a better paying job somewhere else. A lot of companies will do this as well. Trust me, I was beginning to pay on my student loans because I have paid off my other debt, and I would have paid it all off with no complaints, however, this is open to me and I am not going to just not take advantage of something that is available.
@coliver said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@penguinwrangler said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@coliver said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Spent most of the nights this week trying to get rusted or galled bolts out of the truck front end. Trying to replace the hubs and struts as the ones that are there are shot. Resorting to heat as nothing else seems to work.
I usually just pay someone to do that. Could I do it? Yes. Do I want to....HELL NO.
Mechanics aren't cheap up here. We'd be looking at 90-120$ per hour depending on where we go. Plus, as a benefit, my father restores old Volkswagens, so he has all the tools we need to get this thing in running order.
I have helped enough mechanics out with their computers/surveillance for their shops that they don't charge me much, as I give them a cut rate as well.
@dustinb3403 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@coliver said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Spent most of the nights this week trying to get rusted or galled bolts out of the truck front end. Trying to replace the hubs and struts as the ones that are there are shot. Resorting to heat as nothing else seems to work.
Buying a new vehicle usually works for me. . .
My friend has a dealer license so he gets me a "new" vehicle from the auctions at dealer cost. He was able to get me a salvaged vehicle of the same model/make/year as I have now, the engine and transmission were good, put in a lower mileage engine and the transmission all for $1,500. The new engine/transmission had 120,000 fewer miles than what I had.
@coliver said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
Spent most of the nights this week trying to get rusted or galled bolts out of the truck front end. Trying to replace the hubs and struts as the ones that are there are shot. Resorting to heat as nothing else seems to work.
I usually just pay someone to do that. Could I do it? Yes. Do I want to....HELL NO.
Just found out that I qualify for partial student loan forgiveness with this new job. Becuase of my divorce and subsequent child support payments I haven't paid off any of my student loan debt. Now I might have up to $63,000 forgiven.
@dustinb3403 said in New Job:
@penguinwrangler said in New Job:
Woot! I got a new job today! Turned in my resignation! I will be an assistant systems administrator for the Federal Government.
Oh great now I can never read another post from @PenguinWrangler because he'll be trying to weaken my encryption and steal my data.
it's okay, I have already gone through all your files.
@tim_g said in Category 5 Hurricane DSL Antenna:
I agree with making it portable.
You can see hurricanes coming days in advance. Take it apart and put it away.
Personally, since CAT 5 is total destruction, the antenna would be closer to the bottom of the list of things I care about.
I agree. CAT 5 to me is what it is like when EF5 tornado hits (I live in Tornado Alley). My work has employees who lived in Joplin when it was hit. When something like that hits then I am sorry but I could care less about a damn antenna and who has internet.
