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Anyone have hands on experience with the Foundation Passport hardware wallet? Thoughts on privacy/security/usability? #bitcoin #wallet

I am ready to start a new audiobook and I will likely go with Lyn Alden's ā€œBroken Moneyā€. Audiobooks are great, but finance books can be tough in that medium. Often you lose the context in accompanying charts. So, traditional book or audiobook?

Replying to Avatar Lyn Alden

The complicated aspect about the Social Security system in the United States is that it was falsely marketed.

It's called an "entitlement" because people pay into it and are supposed to get it back like a pension, regardless of whether they are rich or poor when they retire. And so the Baby Boomer generation views any cuts to their social security as a rugpull, basically. It's not insurance or charity; it's an entitlement.

However, although it was marketed as like an entitlement/pension, that's not how the math worked out in practice. And it's because population growth is slowing. It was based on ponzi math, assuming that every generation will be bigger than the one that came before it. But the Baby Boomer generation was huge.

In addition, when Social Security was created, the retirement age was set near the average life expectancy. Many people would not live long enough to collect it, and most would collect it for a handful of years. Only a small minority of outliers would work for like 40 years and then live off social security for like 20+ years. But then over the decades, life expectancy increased by like 15 years, so the default assumption is indeed that someone can work for 40 years and then have 20+ years of retirement, even though the amount they pay into it doesn't really mathematically cover that. It's not designed for that en masse.

And so Baby Boomers had like a 3.5 worker-to-retiree ratio to support in their peak earnings years, while Millennials will have more like a 2.5 worker-to-retiree ratio or less to deal with. Which means they get a worse deal. Many Millennials don't even think they'll get it at all, despite paying into it.

That breaks up the social contract and sets up inter-generational political conflict. "Fourth Turning" stuff.

It's a big reason why "defined benefit" plans are inherently unstable; they rely on being able to predict the future.

And it's also a big reason why, when speaking about deficits, nothing stops this train.

The system needs review and a reasonable discussion of potential adjustments. No politician is willing to engage on the topic due to potential impacts on their reelection chances. More aggressive ideas like allowing a portion to be privately invested (in bitcoin?) have even less chance of progressing. So, the default answer is ā€œdo nothingā€.

Starlink is a fantastic option for those who want to live rural

#rural #homesteading #technology

Actually that would be these lyrics:

We found our love in a country song, where the heartache and the hurt are strong

We danced beneath the neon lights, with our arms wrapped around each other tight

And though the road ahead may twist and turn, I know we'll make it through together, baby, that's for sure

Wisdom for the day from the song ā€œ Buy Dirtā€:

Find the one you can't live without

Get a ring, let your knee hit the ground

Do what you love but call it work

And throw a little money in the plate at church

Send your prayers up and your roots down deep

Add a few limbs to your family tree

And watch their pencil marks

And the grass in the yard

All grow up

'Cause the truth about it is

It all goes by real quick

You can't buy happiness

But you can buy dirt

#music #wisdom #philosophy

Replying to Avatar Jameson Lopp

ā€œUnder democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed and are right.ā€ - H.L. Mencken

Replying to Avatar Lyn Alden

Keanu movies the theme of the day? "Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K."

I think it relates to the formative nature of those years which we emotionally associate to the music, sometimes stated as ā€œmusic is the soundtrack of lifeā€. There is also a theory called the ā€œReminiscence Bumpā€ that touches on this topic.

Baby boomers and Gen Xers have a large proportion of their assets in 401ks and IRAs. Many of the custodians for these accounts do not allow direct bitcoin purchases. Love ā€˜em or hate ā€˜em, the bitcoin etfs serve a purpose in these cases.

Was there anything more amazing than being a kid on a summer day in the '80s? The world felt intimate, free from the distractions of technology, and the sense of freedom was unparalleled. You could simply hop on your bike and spend the entire day exploring the physical world.

The fidelity bitcoin etf is the only etf to self custody

ā€œTea in the Sahara" by The Police is an underrated song

Fair point. Do you think the potential ā€œhigher needā€ in Nigeria drives them to overcome more friction?