Lotus-eater

Cornelius Hackl: Well, what am I now? Horace: You're an impertinent fool, that's what you are!

"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig [or dog] satisfied." --John Stuart Mill

About a dozen years ago they dug up a large stretch of Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs to upgrade the sewer and water lines. Guess what else they dug up? A lot of big roaches, which scurried all over the sidewalks. Unfortunately, you can't completely get rid of them.

There's this group, which is gay-friendly and meets at Starbase 505, which took over the military-themed room in Antique Galleries. https://www.meetup.com/palm-springs-board-gamers/ (Meetup's search suggested that I might also like a lesbian group's Build a Vulva workshop 🫣)

As someone who has been carjacked at gunpoint, mugged at gunpoint, and punched and mugged, I'm very leery of putting myself into a potentially dangerous situation, so I'm not going to stop on the side of the road at night. Hope you have a full and swift recovery.

If you're considering investing some of the money in stocks (which you should do if you don't plan to spend some portion of it for another 5+ years), you might want to look at a simple target date fund, which will give you an idea of a good stock-bond allocation based on when you plan to retire (or are already retired). Being in Europe, you'll have to decide whether you want to invest solely in European stocks, the U.S., or the entire world (the US stock market has been outperforming international stocks for quite a while but international stocks beat the US last year, which may signal a long-term shift or it could be just a temporary blip). If you are domiciled in Europe, you'll also need to consider your country's tax rules.

Bogleheads tend to like PlanVision, which is a good endorsement.

The pen is mightier than the sword:

It's not the landlord's responsibility to provide her with a 2 bedroom apartment that she can afford. Too bad if the entitled snowflake needs to get a roommate or to move to a small studio. Lower paying jobs are not designed to be exhausting; plenty of high paying jobs are also exhausting. If she wants a higher standard of living, she needs to work toward a better paying job or move to a more affordable location, which people do all of the time.

https://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/villa-santandrea-lake-garda-1237542016/ The guest house 😁:

https://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/ray-kappe-house-los-angeles-pacific-palisades-1237534042/

On the bond you bought in 7/22, you earned 9.6% for 6 months, then 6.89% for the next 6 months, and a lower interest rate each time it reset every 6 months thereafter (as inflation declined)...until today when you are earning 3.12%, which is the interest rate that is displayed on your dashboard when you log in now. The higher interest rates you received during those earlier periods is reflected in the total current value of the bond.

The total interest rate of an I-bond=inflation rate + fixed (real) rate. The inflation rate resets every 6 months to reflect current inflation (which has declined a lot since 2022 and therefore so has the total interest rate). When you buy the bond, the fixed (real) rate, which is usually very low (it has varied between 0% and 1.3% over the past 5 years), is what you get for 30 years. So you're buying inflation protection plus that small fixed rate, which is your real return. If you cash in the bond before 5 years have elapsed, you give up the last 3 months interest. For example, if you cashed in a bond bought in 2022 one year later, you'd would have received about 7.2% in interest instead of 9.6%. If you cash it in now, you'd get about 2.25% instead of 3%. So cashing it in now and investing in something else that pays more won't cost you very much. The interest you received depends on exactly when you purchased the bonds. If you missed that window and bought in November of 2022 instead of May-Oct., the interest rate fell to 6.89% (and lasted only 6 months until the next reset).

I-bond interest rates are reset every 6 months, so those high interest rates back in 2022 are long since gone. The interest rates paid on your bonds have been steadily declining as interest rates in general have declined.

That woman is living beyond her means. She makes only $2K a month and yet rents a 2 bedroom apartment. She could get a roommate and cut her housing expense in half. Even worse, she cries because she has to work 40 hours per week: "working makes me soooooooooo exhausted" that she can only rouse herself to do other housework/errands on weekends, which leaves her with no free time. Talk about the stereotypical snowflake Gen Zoomer.