401k and Personal Finance

Probability and compounding

Reading Time: 4 minutes I came across an interesting probability problem yesterday. It was in Chinese, but I will translate it into English below. The defensive missile can shoot down the offensive missile successfully 70% of the time. If the defense shoot 3 missiles toward the offensive missile, what’s the probability that they are successful? Think about it for… Continue reading Probability and compounding

YTD thoughts: first half of 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes This is the worst stock market I experienced for last few years. As shown below. I am not disheartened though. Because I think long term is always good to get rid of the extreme speculations, just like the subprime mortgage last time around (2007 to 2009), this time it seems the speculation in cryptos is… Continue reading YTD thoughts: first half of 2022

Alternative investments to cash

Reading Time: < 1 minute Inflation adjusted bondSeries I Savings Bonds (wiki) S&P 500 index fundsHow to Invest in the S&P 500. There are many, below is one from Vanguard. I know fidelity has one too. There should be others. Some of the stocks I think it’s safe to own for long timeBAC (bank of America)KO (Coca Cola)BRK.A or BRK.B… Continue reading Alternative investments to cash

Weekend thoughts 05-07-2022: Berkshire Hathaway 2022 shareholder meeting

Reading Time: 5 minutes I went to Omaha last weekend, left STL on April 29 Friday, attended meeting on April 30 Saturday, and left Omaha back to STL on May 1st Sunday. The full comment and Q&A session (including the actual shareholder meeting) is broadcasted by CNBC and available at YouTube. Note when I drove to Omaha on Friday… Continue reading Weekend thoughts 05-07-2022: Berkshire Hathaway 2022 shareholder meeting

Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting 2022

Reading Time: < 1 minute PDFs Genenal info; Omaha visitor guide Hotel (below is copied from the general info PDF above) TRAVEL & HOTEL ASSISTANCEIf you need assistance in arranging lodging, we recommend contacting Travelink, American Express:Travelink, American ExpressHotline: (866) 301-3011(615) 277-5179 (Outside the U.S.)Email: to teampearl@travelink.com Hotels fill up fast, especially in the downtown area. There are many options… Continue reading Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting 2022

Competition

Reading Time: < 1 minute My old daughter Serenity is a sweet girl. She is so sweet so that she doesn’t like competition. I get it I don’t like competition either but if I don’t compete I probably won’t be here. Lots of smart kids in my class of probably 40 in the village elementary school in China in late… Continue reading Competition

Weekly thoughts 12-16-2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Looking at the 5, 10, and 20 years chart of $CAT, $LUV and $SPY, then $MA. It seems in 5 and 20 years, $CAT beats $LUV and $SPY, while the 10 year performance was the opposite. Note I haven’t counted the dividend (or dividend re-investing in all cases). Then when I put the $MA in… Continue reading Weekly thoughts 12-16-2021

Self checkout lane

Reading Time: < 1 minute The self checkout at grocery store and warehouses. Personally I think Costco $COST got it right, they have plenty of staffs to assist: for scanning as well as alcohol overwrite. Sam’s Club has one staff helping multiple lanes, but it also has a #scanandgo option in its app. /1 The scanning feature in the app… Continue reading Self checkout lane

NerdWallet ipo

Reading Time: < 1 minute 感觉这个市场还是有些泡沫的. EV 就不说了：昨天傍晚🌆的时候开车时我的七岁小女儿说看到一个Tesla. I was thinking buy a share of $TSLA just now, but I changed to $F instead [呲牙] || Separately I noticed NerdWallet the personal finance / credit card 💳 bonus website went public last week. I worked in the credit card rewards space in the past and I used to get some… Continue reading NerdWallet ipo