I’m honestly thinking about ditching my Amex for a Visa card from JP Morgan Chase🙄
I mean, given how many places just flat-out refuse to take Amex lately—it’s getting old. I really don't feel like heading out to the mall just to have to pray🙂 that they actually accept it instead of leaving empty-handed
Grace Thompson57 said:Just standard prevention stuff. Like, watch your posture, get enough calcium and Vitamin D, stay active enough to actually get blood flowing to your spine...
I hit Pilates twice a week...
but does hitting up a chiropractor even make sense? A buddy of mine went, and now his neck doesn't even "pop" anymore. 🙄
ugh, just got my test results back and I am freaking out... please help... so basically, I had an MRI done on my spine because my neck keeps popping—like, every single time it "clicks," I get this absolutely brutal headache... 😢
The report says:
Reduced bone density in the vertebral bodies and arches of the cervical spine, though the overall structure looks okay. Vertebral bodies and intervertebral spaces are normal height. There is flattening of the physiological lordosis, which suggests partial arthrosis. Also, there are more massive transverse processes at C7 on both sides.
Why can't these doctors just speak like actual human beings? 😍
hiddensailor60 said:Look, what you’re saying only makes sense if you aren't capable of disciplining yourself to save. This way, the bank essentially forces you into "forced savings"—though I question whether we can even call it saving; in my view, you’re just losing money.
I said that if you have the cash for a car—and let me add that I also have some monthly surplus that could be set aside—personally, I find it unprofitable to shell out all that cash upfront for a vehicle:
Based on that cash, you secure a loan from the bank under terms you negotiate to suit your own taste, specifically regarding the loan term and the monthly payment amount.
You receive funds from the bank and use them to buy the car; here are my specific reasons why I believe this logic holds up: 1. Once the loan is paid off, your initial cash is returned to you. This means you effectively owned the car and were saving money simultaneously... without the loan, you would still be saving, just a smaller amount.
If I had the cash for a car—let's say $25,000—I would put it into a stock mutual fund, take out a margin loan against 70% of the value of those shares, and buy the car over a three-year period. I would only pay the interest; I'd leave the principal until the very end. Let's assume that the fund yields a 20-30% annual return; after three years, the holdings would be worth $40,000. I pay off the $17,500 margin loan (70% of the $25,000), and at the end of three years, I have the car and $22,500 in cash. (Granted, I was paying interest for three years, but that's a negligible amount in this context).
Doesn't my math look better? 😁 Of course, I emphasized the word "assume"—funds can lose money, too—but I am quite confident that over the next three or four years, one doesn't need to worry about "serious" US equity funds.
And for the strategy you were describing, you'd also need to be in a position to afford the monthly payments $667 for the car, which is no small feat.
But then again, everyone does what works for them and what they perceive to be most profitable, right? 🙂
Hmm, looking at things from where we stand today? Honestly, probably not. I mean, maybe—but most likely, no. 😁