Here we are at the end of another week, or the beginning of another weekend, depending on how you want to look at it. I've actually got a lot going on this weekend that I will get to in a little bit. We had a pretty amazing sunrise the other day on the East coast of my home state. I snapped this photo to share with you. I actually thought about using my master key to get access to the gymnasium roof to take some better shots from a higher vantage point, but I wussed out.
Maybe next time...
Meanwhile, the markets are looking just about as pretty as this sunrise. I kind of thought we would be to 100K again by now, but then again, I have given up trying to guess what the markets are going to do at any given time. It's best just to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
It is time again for another Finance Friday/Friday Finance. This is a series I started where I talk about random bits of financial stuff that I have seen, gathered, or experienced during the week. I hope as a reader you find it informational, entertaining, or both. I also hope it can generate some good discussion and edify the community.
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Trust
@mrsbozz and I finally got our estate planning and trust squared away with the lawyer. I went to the office on Monday this week and picked up our copies of the paperwork. I also paid the $2500 bill, which honestly doesn't feel too bad considering our friends paid $6000 for their services.
Now I need to find a safe place to keep the original copies of our paperwork and get the secondary beneficiaries adjusted to the trust in our investments. This is something I have put off for much too long and I am glad we finally have it set up and taken care of.
Government Debt
As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, my wife and I had a friend stop by last Friday night to visit for a bit. She works in the real estate industry and she had just been to a conference where they were talking about all manner of things including the real estate landscape as well as other financial topics. She was telling us about an economist who was a guest speaker. He was hammering hard on the idea of investing in government debt.
From what she remembered he was saying that a lot of it is going to come due soon and when that happens people how have invested in it are going to make a lot of money. I did a quick Google search which brought up phrases like "Treasury Securities" and "Treasury Bonds". I honestly don't know too much about it, but you might want to dig in a little more if you are interested.
Then again, the guy might be full of crap. I'm sure folks on here like @edicted have some opinions on the matter.
Prices are still going up!
I've got a lot on my plate this weekend, but most of it should keep me around the house. One of those projects is a planter box that @mrsbozz has been asking for. I ran to Home Depot the other day to pick up the wood I think I need for the project and I was a bit shocked when the total came to just shy of $300. That 4x4x8 cedar post you see in the foreground was $50 alone.
Sure, I could have gotten pressure treated wood, but I didn't want something that was going to be so heavy to move it would take four bodybuilders to do it. It's just crazy how much the cost of lumber has gone up. I saw a post the other day estimating that new home construction costs anywhere between $300 and $500 per square foot.
That's just crazy! It makes you wonder how all of these new homes are being built everywhere.
Slate
If you are like me and you think the Tesla Cyber Truck is an abomination of the most heinous kind to your eyes (sorry @ericvancewalton), you should check out Slate. I stumbled upon this start up backed by Jeff Bezos (Amazon) the other day and believe it or not the truck actually looks like a truck.
In addition to that, the target price point for the Slate truck is right around $25,000. That's pretty impressive for an electric vehicle of this size. I haven't done a ton of digging into the details, but I think this is interesting enough that I am going to keep an eye on this company.
It will be interesting to see if they can compete with the battery life, distance, comfort, technology, and functionality at that price point. It might not be bulletproof, but how many of us need that anyway?
Travala
I picked up my rewards for doing the quarterly tasks in Travala the other day. It ended up being about 97 AVA tokens which at the current price is something like $50. It's a little depressing to see the increase be so low. Last cycle AVA was in a bit of a pump and the additional tokens made a bit more of an impact on my wallet.
I have little doubt the price will go up again, but until then I just need to keep stacking the token. I will definitely be participating again when the next cycle comes around.
Gold/Silver Auctions
I've been kicking around the idea of trying my hand at some gold and silver auctions. I know there is a lot of debate about how good of a deal they are. I've seen some folks in the silver gold stacking community say they never participate in auctions and I have seen other say that's how they get their best deals.
I like the idea of picking up something that might not carry a premium because it is new. I will likely wait until the next round of auctions takes place from my local bullion dealer KZoo Bullion. It looks like they haven't done one since the beginning of February, so I might have to wait a bit. Some of the pieces that sold in past auctions are pretty impressive though and it looks like folks got some good deals.
Holozing
Finally, I was able to justify that my @holozing rewards have increased due to the recent adjustment in the payout process. The team has started setting a higher reward on your collection, so if you haven't picked up any vials yet and you want to earn some more ZING, you should look into that. I've been kicking around the idea of picking up some more vials myself.
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