u/backtobrooklyn

I’m a first-time homeowner in LA and my condo was about $600k. Earthquake insurance is tricky for condos, since there’s the outside of the building which would be covered by the HOA and inside where some is covered by me and other parts (like pipes) are the building.

I don’t have like insanely expensive art or furniture or anything like that inside. With that, my current policy is:
- Dwelling: $150k
- Personal Property: $31k
- Loss of Use: $15k
- Loss Assessment: $5k

Is this way too low, too high, not enough? If you have experience here, what would you recommend?

So even though I've been in the Amex ecosystem since around 2008, I've never held the Amex Green, Amex Gold, or Amex Platinum cards. I just got rid of Amex Biz Platinum card and my goal is to get the Schwab Amex Platinum within the next 1-2 years, but since I know applying for that will mean I can never get the Amex Green or Amex Gold SUB's, I'm trying to decide on my strategy right now which is either:

Option 1

• Get the Amex Green for 40k SUB
• Wait for an upgrade offer to Amex Gold and hope it's high (anything under 60k means I should have just gone for the Amex Gold to start)
• If I don't get an upgrade offer for Gold, apply for it on my own in a year

The main benefit of going this route is I could potentially get an upgrade offer of 80k-100k points so that I'd earn 120k-140k points total, but I'm not sure how rare that is. The main downside is that it will extend how long it will take me to get a Schwab Platinum card (could be 1-2 years before I get it), since I might have to wait 6-12 months for an upgrade offer or apply for the Gold seperately.

Option 2

• Get the Amex Gold for the 100k SUB bonus now
• Apply for the Schwab Platinum in 6-12 months

The main benefit of going this route is that it locks in the 100k SUB for Gold now, which I know is at or near an all-time high. The main downside is it means I'll never get at Amex Green SUB offer (I know 40k isn't amazing, but I'm looking to get the new card sooner rather than later)

Some other factors to consider are:

Even though I can apply for the Green, Gold, and Schwab Platinum separately, I'd like to avoid applying for all 3 as I've signed up for 3 personal credit cards in the last year (Atmos Summit, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Citi AAdvantage Platinum)

I've historically been a high spender with Amex generally putting around $100k-$150k/year in spend on my various Amex cards, at least over the last few years. Only mentioning this in case it makes it more likely that I'd get a nice upgrade offer from Green to Gold

I do not want to take advantage of a Green to Platinum offer, as I want the Schwab Platinum as a forever card, so if you think there's a decent chance my Green upgrade offer will be to Platinum and not Gold, let me know.

Questions are:

• In my shoes, would you go for Option 1 or Option 2? Why?
• What do you think the odds are of me being offered 60k or more to upgrade to Gold?

And if there's another path/strategy you think I should consider, I'm all ears!

So even though I've been in the Amex ecosystem since around 2008, I've never held the Amex Green, Amex Gold, or Amex Platinum cards. I just got rid of Amex Biz Platinum card and my goal is to get the Schwab Amex Platinum within the next 1-2 years, but since I know applying for that will mean I can never get the Amex Green or Amex Gold SUB's, I'm trying to decide on my strategy right now which is either:

Option 1

• Get the Amex Green for 40k SUB
• Wait for an upgrade offer to Amex Gold and hope it's high (anything under 60k means I should have just gone for the Amex Gold to start)
• If I don't get an upgrade offer for Gold, apply for it on my own in a year

The main benefit of going this route is I could potentially get an upgrade offer of 80k-100k points so that I'd earn 120k-140k points total, but I'm not sure how rare that is. The main downside is that it will extend how long it will take me to get a Schwab Platinum card (could be 1-2 years before I get it), since I might have to wait 6-12 months for an upgrade offer or apply for the Gold separately.

Option 2

• Get the Amex Gold for the 100k SUB bonus now
• Apply for the Schwab Platinum in 6-12 months

The main benefit of going this route is that it locks in the 100k SUB for Gold now, which I know is at or near an all-time high. The main downside is it means I'll never get at Amex Green SUB offer (I know 40k isn't amazing, but I'm looking to get the new card sooner rather than later)

Some other factors to consider are:

• Even though I can apply for the Green, Gold, and Schwab Platinum separately, I'd like to avoid applying for all 3 as I've signed up for 3 personal credit cards in the last year (Atmos Summit, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Citi AAdvantage Platinum)
• I've historically been a high spender with Amex generally putting around $100k-$150k/year in spend on my various Amex cards, at least over the last few years. Only mentioning this in case it makes it more likely that I'd get a nice upgrade offer from Green to Gold
• I do not want to take advantage of a Green to Platinum offer, as I want the Schwab Platinum as a forever card, so if you think there's a decent chance my Green upgrade offer will be to Platinum and not Gold, let me know.

Questions are:

• In my shoes, would you go for Option 1 or Option 2? Why?
• What do you think the odds are of me being offered 60k or more to upgrade to Gold?

And if there's another path/strategy you think I should consider, I'm all ears!

I started my FIRE journey at 34 and at that point, my stretch goal was to have $1m invested by 45. I’m currently 41 with a $2.3m NW and $2.1m of that invested - so by all accounts, I’m crushing my goals (and yes, I realize how lucky and fortunate I am to be in this position).

My hope is to hit FI in the next 3-5 years, but this last part of FIRE has been the hardest for me (at least, mentally/emotionally). In the first and middle parts, success was based largely on my actions: how much income I earned, how much I saved, and investing wisely, whereas this last part feels like it’s almost entirely out of my hands. For example:
- Whether I hit FIRE is now now more dependent on how the market performs than how much I earn/invest. I graduated into the Great Recession, so relying on the economy gives me a ton of anxiety.
- With inflation and some lifestyle creep (mostly moving from a rental studio to a 1-bedroom condo, getting the dog I always wanted, and taking bucketlist kind of vacations more often), the goalpost for how much I need to retire seems to keep getting further away.
- There’s a non-zero chance that AI could drastically reduce my earnings. And yes, I’m doing what I can to prevent that from happening, but it is still a possibility.
- I feel less resilient than ever, which is ironic considering my financial position. I grew up poor, but I’m now comfortable being comfortable. Could I go back to a studio and budgeting in coffee every week? Sure. But I really don’t want to, if I can avoid it. Also I live in a HCOL area and while I know I could retire somewhere cheaper right now, I have a great social life and friends here that I don’t want to leave.

Has anyone else struggled with the last stretch of FIRE? Any tips?

I keep running into the same issue in my neighborhood -- though there are clear signs saying dogs must be kept on a leash, on almost every walk I go on with my dog, there are at least 1-2 dogs we run into that are off-leash. When I first got my dog I didn't mind much, but then he was viciously attacked by an off-leash dog and so now I'm very aware of it.

I'm just trying to understand what's going through peoples' heads when they decide to walk their dogs off leash when they know they are in an on-leash area? Even today, I told a dog owner "Hey, this is an on-leash area -- can you please put your dog on-leash?" and he just ignored me (even though he had the leash in his left hand). A few minutes later, his dog ran up to me and my pooch and I said "HEY! This isn't cool - can you please put your dog on leash?!" and he just didn't respond and instead crossed the street with his dog. A few minutes later, another dog owner was having a similar issue with his dog.

I'm a very consciousness person. For example, an acquaintance of mine told me she's bothered by people wearing cologne and I haven't worn cologne since then whenever I'm somewhere I know she's going to be. So for me, it's hard to understand not thinking of others when I do something -- and I'm just trying to understand what goes on in the heads of people who think it's fine to just ignore the rules and do what they want with their dogs.

FWIW, my question probably could be applied more broadly than just dog walks -- like what is going through peoples' heads when they're at an airport and decide to listen to music or watch a TV show on their iPhone with no headphones on? Given how my mind works, it's so hard for me to understand.

I’m currently seat 53A (Club World) for two 10+ hour flights on BA, both A380s, and it looks like their first class is currently pretty open.

I was looking at pics online of the A380 first class and it doesn’t seem like over-the-top amazing - it seems more in-line with QSuites than like, Emirates or even Lufthansa first.

With that, just wondering if it’s worth upgrading to first and if so, how much you’d personally pay per flight? Both flights are technically red eyes but I doubt I’ll be able to sleep the full flight for both.

It looks like I may qualify from Romanian citizenship by descent and I am very excited about it. That said, I don't know any Romanian right now and I'm curious how long it would take me to learn it and the best ways to study?

I can devote 5-10 hours a week to it and am willing to have at least weekly sessions over Zoom with a tutor, possibly more. Would ideally love to be at this level in less than 1 year, but I'll put in whatever effort it takes.

I don't speak any language other than English, though I used to be okay at conversational Spanish.