Happy Monday, Barkada --

The PSE gained 81 points to 6512 ▲1.3%

Thanks to Dividend Pinoy for the positive feedback on the new format of the MB REIT Index and MB IPO Tracker images (an update was waaaay overdue), to Rami Hourani, Jing, and CHARToons for the meme love, to Kristoffer Notario and cryptomarcus for feeling my distaste for FILRT, to PHValueInvestor, Joel, Jesley Tan Uy, CFA, and SnooTomatoes5312 for the discussion on the MPI tender situation, and to ACT for the interesting context on the MPI valuation delay.
Shout-outs to Dividend Pinoy PGG, MikeyPylo97, Kristhan Quebec, Jonathan Burac, Chris Darko, Justn, Evolves Capital, Inc., LanAustria, CHARToons, DV Dindo, PNLperShare, KingArk, koninja, Vie, arkitrader, Tenkan Sen, Pao, Technimentalist, Jayman6000, Palaboy Trader, Lance Nazal, Chip Sillesa, and Jing for the retweets, and to CW Sale, Marvin Quezon, Genesis Umali, Evolves.co, Jayvee Menil, and Mike Ting for the Facebook shares.

▌In today's MB:

• COMING UP: The week ahead
  • May CPI data
  • CREIT Q1 div ex-date
  • FILRT Q1 div ex-date
• SPNEC suspended (public float)
• Figaro coffee biz gets PEZA nod
• Top Frontier getting P10.9-B from RSA

▌Daily meme Subscribe (it's free) Today's email

▌Main stories covered:

• [COMING_UP] The week ahead... This week is going to start quietly and then get a little weird on Tuesday when we hear from the Philippine Statistics Authority on our Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading for May. This is the data that we use to calculate inflation. Tuesday is also the ex-date for CREIT’s Q1 cash dividend. Then we have nothing until Friday, which is the ex-date for FILRT’s Q1 cash dividend.
  
  • MB: The BSP was initially full of bravado when it first hit the pause button last month, but it seemed to quickly walk back comments that it would pause for several periods in a row to say that it would still probably just follow what the US was doing. If the CPI data comes in hot (surprisingly high), then the BSP might be relatively quiet, but if the CPI data comes in cool (surprisingly low), then we might get another round of chest-beating about our ability to remain independent of the US on interest rate hikes and continue our pause. I don’t know which way it will go, only that the CPI data itself isn’t coming down that much on a month-to-month basis; the inflation “gains” that we might see could be low-base effects from the alarming acceleration of inflation that started this time last year.
• [NEWS] SPNEC suspended by the PSE for float violation... SP New Energy [SPNEC 1.46 suspended] [link] was suspended on Friday by the PSE for violating the PSE’s minimum public float rule. The suspension was announced after SPNEC disclosed that the SEC had approved SPNEC’s increase in authorized capital stock from ₱1 billion to ₱5 billion. The PSE appeared to base the suspension on SPNEC’s February 2022 disclosure that said the increase in authorized capital stock was meant to facilitate a massive share swap with SPNEC’s parent company; however, this understanding of the larger transaction doesn’t appear to align with SPNEC’s most recent telling of the deal’s structure from May 8, where SPNEC said that it would acquire the projects from its parent company using cash as payment (not shares). According to Nicky Franco, the head of research for SPNEC’s underwriter, despite the PSE’s misunderstanding of the larger picture, SPNEC is still in violation of the minimum public float requirement, and will still need to sell additional private placements to get its public float up above 20% before it can have that trading suspension lifted.
  
  • MB: This is kind of an ugly situation that caught a lot of people by surprise, and the confusion caused by the PSE’s disclosure only seemed to add to the uncertainty. To be clear, the PSE’s misunderstanding isn’t material: SPNEC regardless of whether the full deal is a share swap or a cash purchase, SPNEC still needs to have more of its shares sold to non-controlling entities for it to complete the transaction. It doesn’t matter whether those shares are sold by SPNEC directly or by SPNEC’s parent, the key here is that “the public” just owns too little of the company for the PSE to allow it to be traded as a public company. The problem for investors is that we don’t know how long this situation will last. SPNEC could crush out a deal or two over the weekend, or it could hit a few snags and/or get side-swiped by some external event, and the situation could take weeks to resolve. We just don’t know.
• [NEWS] Figaro gets PEZA approval for coffee production facility... Figaro [FCG 0.74 ▲8.8%; 174% avgVol] [link] disclosed that it received approval from the board of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for FCG, under its wholly-owned subsidiary, Figaro Innovation and Development (FIDI), to produce roasted coffee at its Laguna Technopark facility as an “Ecozone Export Enterprise”. This will give FCG’s coffee project a 5-year income tax holiday, with an additional 10-year “special” 5% corporate income tax once that holiday expires. FCG said that its primary goal for FIDI is to make “trailblazing products and processes” to “level up the F&B industry”, and to “promote Filipino brands, products and raw materials globally.”
  
  • MB: These tax holidays are significant, but they’re only as significant as the volume of the activity that is being taxed. FCG’s plans with respect to the export of its coffee are not particularly clear, considering the old “CTRL-F” of “innovation” (for the subsidiary), “PEZA” (for the plan to acquire tax-free privileges), and “export” (for the plan to export products globally) returned zero hits on the company’s most recent Annual Report and its two latest Quarterly Reports. The global coffee market is massive (~$500 billion/year), and is expected to grow modestly year-on-year (5% CAGR), but it’s hard to attach a potential value to anything without knowing more. The market didn’t care about them pesky details, pumping the stock 9% on the news.
• [NEWS] Ramon Ang pumping ₱10.9-B into Top Frontier... Top Frontier Investment Holdings [TFHI 120.00 ▲8.1%; 41% avgVol] [link], the parent company of San Miguel [SMC 106.90 ▲0.2%; 83% avgVol], disclosed that its board had unanimously approved the sale of 45 million common shares to Far East Holdings (FEH), at a price of ₱241.42/share, for a total price of approximately ₱10.86 billion. The per-share price of the deal is 117% higher than TFHI’s previous closing price of ₱111.00/share. FEH is owned by Ramon Ang, and the deal would increase Mr. Ang’s stake in TFHI to approximately 35%. The purchase will make Mr. Ang the second-largest TFHI shareholder behind Inigo Zobel. When asked about the purchase, Bloomberg reported that Mr. Ang said: “It’s a good investment”, and then added that he has “extra funds”.
  
  • MB: As the Bloomberg article mentions, FEH made some money in 2022 when it sold its holdings in Eagle Cement to SMC. In this game of “follow the money”, we’ll just have to wait and see what TPHI does with the new injection of cash. What we don’t have to wait for is the use of this deal as a contrast to how Manny V. Pangilinan has conducted the Metro Pacific [MPI 4.35 ▼0.5%; 463% avgVol] tender offer transaction. I wonder if COL Financial is going to send me a breathless email about TPHI’s upcoming shareholders’ meeting, too?

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Hi all, just started getting into the market again and I'm focusing on long term growth rather than the get rich quick stuff I failed at before.
So far my portfolio is pretty small but I plan on expanding as much as I can at the right time.
My Fidelity Roth IRA has $3000 in it currently, with half in FXAIX and the other half in KSKAX.
I have a high yield savings account (4.85%) with CIT that has $16000 sitting in it.
I'm looking to invest in more index funds, mutual funds, and ETFs but I don't want a ton of overlap. I'm also not sure if I should wait until the market "crashes" to put more money in.
Any advice would be appreciated

Five months down. Seven months to go until another year when we can do the whole countdown again. Until then, we have five days of government meetings that you might consider attending, participating in, or perhaps turning into a dance remix. On the latter, I can provide the soundbites if you provide the beat. Anyway, more details are in my newsletter for today, but this is a series of blurbs customized for Charlottesville.
​

• Earlier this year, a man filed an application with Albemarle County to operate a firearm storage business out of his home around Free Union. The permit is for a “home occupation” which has to be granted if it meets the technical requirements. Some neighbors got wind of the application and filed a petition and made an appeal to overturn the home application. On Tuesday, the Board of Zoning Appeals will take up their request. There are limits to what local governments can do but there are always avenues for groups to try to stop something. What will happen in this case? (learn more)
• (Edit: I'm seeking to get the timeline in place here per comment below - hold tight for fact-checking) When the West Main Streetscape was a $50 million project with four phases, the University of Virginia agreed in principle to pay $5 million to the city for the one in their sphere of influence. This was also due to pressure from former Mayor Nikuyah Walker who felt that the city should not turn over Brandon Avenue to UVA for free. Now the West Main project is dead, and the UVA commitment will go to the Fontaine Avenue Streetscape and the Emmet Streetscape. Council will take a vote on this Monday. Is that all UVA will pay for on the Fontaine Avenue project? The research park will be the location for the new biotechnology institute, a major driver of traffic and growth. Is this the sort of thing that gets talked about in the closed-door meetings that used to be public meetings? (learn more about the Council meeting)
• In the future there will likely be many more people on public water in Louisa County. At some point a plan to bring water from the James River to Zion Crossroads for both Louisa and Fluvanna will be implemented. But public water supplies depend on the availability of water. What happens if there is a drought? A standard response is to impose mandatory restrictions for customers, but right now Louisa doesn’t have the ability to do that legally. So there will be a public hearing to give them the ability to do so? (learn more)
• On the same topic, there’s a public hearing Monday at Charlottesville City Council for utility rate increases. For water and sewer, increases are proposed in part to cover the cost of infrastructure projects undertaken by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. The RWSA handles that and then bills both Charlottesville and the Albemarle County Service Authority for wholesale services. The city and the ACSA then charge their ratepayers a retail price. (learn more in the staff report)
• On Wednesday, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will have a work session on recent trends in the siting and permitting for utility-scale solar projects. They’ve hired the Berkley Group to write up a report and to discuss some of the issues. This was put in play as Supervisors were considering a major facility. There’s a lot to learn in the report. (read the report)

Some one-liners:
​

• Both Charlottesville and Fluvanna County have new attorneys this week.
• Council will also be asked to approve $5.3 million to purchase the county’s share of CATEC, as well as to transfer $137,500 from funding set aside for housing vouchers to allow the public housing agency to purchase a single-family road on Harris Road.
• The new owner of Duner’s wants a new porch and that will go before the Albemarle Architectural Review Board
• We’ll get more details on Albemarle’s plans to buy 462 acres near Rivanna Station.
• Will Fluvanna County go ahead with service cuts for Jaunt that correspond with Supervisors’ decision to cut funding by ten percent for FY24?

Please ask questions! I will try to steer you toward more info and provide more context. Share with friends!

Posting here as the post is getting banned from personalfinance. Please lmk if this is not allowed here or suggest any other subreddits to post in.
I (28M) and GF (28F) wish to buy a house to live in once the current lease ends and want to start the pre-approval process.
A bit of background.
Income (excluding interests & dividends): Me: $205k/year. GF: $225k a year.
House:
The kind of houses we want to buy are around 550k but we are willing to stretch it to 650k.
Savings:
It's only 1-1.5 years since we got almost 100% bumps after switching jobs (same industry). While fortunately, we haven't fallen into lifestyle creep yet (we hope we keep it that way), we feel terrible and stupid that we have been just parking all the money in a checking account losing its value to inflation and wasting an opportunity to make it grow partly due to having no idea what to do and partly procrastination.
I have about $35k in my 401k (started really late). I used to have around $115k in my checking account but after discovering the personalfinance Reddit sub a couple of months ago, I put $70k in an HYSA at 4%, and $40k in some blue-chip stocks & ETFs on Robinhood before figuring out what to do with it.
Over the last 5 years, I sent around $200k back to my account in my home country for my dad to make investments in my name as it wasn't decided if I would stay in the US permanently. He invested around $100k in Index funds and $100k in long-term mutual funds under my name which he says I should treat as a part of my retirement fund. But after my decision to stay in the US permanently, he says I should not make any further investments in my home country and I should learn how to invest in the US. It's also better that way for diversification and currency fluctuation as well.
GF has around $150k in 401k and about $200k in an HYSA paying 4% interest.
Debts & Expenses: We share a car that I bought a year ago for $35k (still owe 20k. $550/month for 4 years), but the APY is 1.75%, so I haven't paid it off as I am getting more than what we'd save in the HYSA.
Our monthly expenses are around $2500-3000 each including rent, utilities& leisure while our take-home pay is around $9.5k-$10k each (after maxing out 401k).
Questions: My credit score is around 780 while my GF's is 800. I am guessing even with a high score and a low Debt-to-Income ratio, the best mortgage rate we'd get would be around 6.5% in today's market. Please correct me if I am wrong here.
We're both engineers and do not have any experience with investing and finance. We were wondering if it'd be a good idea to make a significant downpayment from our HYSA (30-50%) or make big payments towards the principal to lower the interest payments since we are naive at investing. This also frees us from the investment analysis paralysis partly due to the fear of having a large sum to invest which makes us more afraid to get our feet wet in water.
After the downpayment, we could slowly learn and invest slowly in the market in small amounts from the money from our next paychecks.
Theoretically, we know it's a bad idea since in the longer run, the stock market always pays more than what you'd save in mortgage interest, but we are not sure if that's for everyone, especially for people like us who are newbies to investing. And considering current high-interest rates, is it worth taking that risk on the stock market beating guaranteed savings of mortgage interest of 6.5%?
Are there better alternatives or suggestions in our case? I know the initial few years on a mortgage is where most of the interest goes due to the nature of amortization. So was wondering if it's wise to play it safe and cut that down.

Posting here as the post is getting banned from personalfinance. Please lmk if this is not allowed here or suggest any other subreddits to post in.
I (28M) and GF (28F) wish to buy a house to live in once the current lease ends and want to start the pre-approval process.
A bit of background.
Income (excluding interests & dividends): Me: $205k/year. GF: $225k a year.
House:
The kind of houses we want to buy are around 550k but we are willing to stretch it to 650k.
Savings:
It's only 1-1.5 years since we got almost 100% bumps after switching jobs (same industry). While fortunately, we haven't fallen into lifestyle creep yet (we hope we keep it that way), we feel terrible and stupid that we have been just parking all the money in a checking account losing its value to inflation and wasting an opportunity to make it grow partly due to having no idea what to do and partly procrastination.
I have about $35k in my 401k (started really late). I used to have around $115k in my checking account but after discovering the personalfinance Reddit sub a couple of months ago, I put $70k in an HYSA at 4%, and $40k in some blue-chip stocks & ETFs on Robinhood before figuring out what to do with it.
Over the last 5 years, I sent around $200k back to my account in my home country for my dad to make investments in my name as it wasn't decided if I would stay in the US permanently. He invested around $100k in Index funds and $100k in long-term mutual funds under my name which he says I should treat as a part of my retirement fund. But after my decision to stay in the US permanently, he says I should not make any further investments in my home country and I should learn how to invest in the US. It's also better that way for diversification and currency fluctuation as well.
GF has around $150k in 401k and about $200k in an HYSA paying 4% interest.
Debts & Expenses: We share a car that I bought a year ago for $35k (still owe 20k. $550/month for 4 years), but the APY is 1.75%, so I haven't paid it off as I am getting more than what we'd save in the HYSA.
Our monthly expenses are around $2500-3000 each including rent, utilities& leisure while our take-home pay is around $9.5k-$10k each (after maxing out 401k).
Questions: My credit score is around 780 while my GF's is 800. I am guessing even with a high score and a low Debt-to-Income ratio, the best mortgage rate we'd get would be around 6.5% in today's market. Please correct me if I am wrong here.
We're both engineers and do not have any experience with investing and finance. We were wondering if it'd be a good idea to make a significant downpayment from our HYSA (30-50%) or make big payments towards the principal to lower the interest payments since we are naive at investing. This also frees us from the investment analysis paralysis partly due to the fear of having a large sum to invest which makes us more afraid to get our feet wet in water.
After the downpayment, we could slowly learn and invest slowly in the market in small amounts from the money from our next paychecks.
Theoretically, we know it's a bad idea since in the longer run, the stock market always pays more than what you'd save in mortgage interest, but we are not sure if that's for everyone, especially for people like us who are newbies to investing. And considering current high-interest rates, is it worth taking that risk on the stock market beating guaranteed savings of mortgage interest of 6.5%?
Are there better alternatives or suggestions in our case? I know the initial few years on a mortgage is where most of the interest goes due to the nature of amortization. So was wondering if it's wise to play it safe and cut that down.

Posting here as the post is getting banned from personalfinance. Please lmk if this is not allowed here or suggest any other subreddits to post in.
​
I (28M) and GF (28F) wish to buy a house to live in once the current lease ends and want to start the pre-approval process.
A bit of background.
Income (excluding interests & dividends): Me: $205k/year. GF: $225k a year.
House:
The kind of houses we want to buy are around 550k but we are willing to stretch it to 650k.
Savings:
It's only 1-1.5 years since we got almost 100% bumps after switching jobs (same industry). While fortunately, we haven't fallen into lifestyle creep yet (we hope we keep it that way), we feel terrible and stupid that we have been just parking all the money in a checking account losing its value to inflation and wasting an opportunity to make it grow partly due to having no idea what to do and partly procrastination.
I have about $35k in my 401k (started really late). I used to have around $115k in my checking account but after discovering the personalfinance Reddit sub a couple of months ago, I put $70k in an HYSA at 4%, and $40k in some blue-chip stocks & ETFs on Robinhood before figuring out what to do with it.
Over the last 5 years, I sent around $200k back to my account in my home country for my dad to make investments in my name as it wasn't decided if I would stay in the US permanently. He invested around $100k in Index funds and $100k in long-term mutual funds under my name which he says I should treat as a part of my retirement fund. But after my decision to stay in the US permanently, he says I should not make any further investments in my home country and I should learn how to invest in the US. It's also better that way for diversification and currency fluctuation as well.
GF has around $150k in 401k and about $200k in an HYSA paying 4% interest.
Debts & Expenses: We share a car that I bought a year ago for $35k (still owe 20k. $550/month for 4 years), but the APY is 1.75%, so I haven't paid it off as I am getting more than what we'd save in the HYSA.
Our monthly expenses are around $2500-3000 each including rent, utilities& leisure while our take-home pay is around $9.5k-$10k each (after maxing out 401k).
Questions: My credit score is around 780 while my GF's is 800. I am guessing even with a high score and a low Debt-to-Income ratio, the best mortgage rate we'd get would be around 6.5% in today's market. Please correct me if I am wrong here.
We're both engineers and do not have any experience with investing and finance. We were wondering if it'd be a good idea to make a significant downpayment from our HYSA (30-50%) or make big payments towards the principal to lower the interest payments since we are naive at investing. This also frees us from the investment analysis paralysis partly due to the fear of having a large sum to invest which makes us more afraid to get our feet wet in water.
After the downpayment, we could slowly learn and invest slowly in the market in small amounts from the money from our next paychecks.
Theoretically, we know it's a bad idea since in the longer run, the stock market always pays more than what you'd save in mortgage interest, but we are not sure if that's for everyone, especially for people like us who are newbies to investing. And considering current high-interest rates, is it worth taking that risk on the stock market beating guaranteed savings of mortgage interest of 6.5%?
Are there better alternatives or suggestions in our case? I know the initial few years on a mortgage is where most of the interest goes due to the nature of amortization. So was wondering if it's wise to play it safe and cut that down.

I’m in my early 30’s and just moved abroad for work. My company will be paying for my housing, so my only major expenses are food, one car (paid off, just gas and maintenance), and basic life upkeep costs. My base salary is $127k plus $32k hardship allowance (which I think is taxable). I don’t have kids, and COL where I’m moving is incredibly low, so I’ll be able to pocket a nice chunk of change. No debt to speak of.
I’ve never been in a position where my expenses will be so low compared to my pay, and want to take the opportunity to make smart saving/investment decisions.
I already contribute to my 401(k) to max out my employer match, and want to increase my rainy day savings to 30% per paycheck. But beyond that, what should I be looking at? Mutual fund, CDs, etc. Since I’m relatively young and without kids should I be exploring higher risk/higher reward investment opportunities? It’s appealing but I’m a novice and am afraid of making a bad bet. I’ve done some research on my own but have to admit I’m a bit lost/overwhelmed by all the options.
For more context: In terms of financial goals, I’m mostly looking to have a hefty savings account as I plan to immigrate to a pretty expensive country once this gig is over (in 3 years) so liquidity will be important to help me get on my feet. Other than that, main goals are building wealth and being able to comfortably start a family in a few years without feeling too stretched.
Ty in advance!

I’m in my early 30’s and just moved abroad for work. My company will be paying for my housing, so my only major expenses are food, one car (paid off, just gas and maintenance), and basic life upkeep costs. My base salary is $127k plus $32k hardship allowance (which I think is taxable). I don’t have kids, and COL where I’m moving is incredibly low, so I’ll be able to pocket a nice chunk of change. No debt to speak of.
I’ve never been in a position where my expenses will be so low compared to my pay, and want to take the opportunity to make smart saving/investment decisions.
I already contribute to my 401(k) to max out my employer match, and want to increase my rainy day savings to 30% per paycheck. But beyond that, what should I be looking at? Mutual fund, CDs, etc. Since I’m relatively young and without kids should I be exploring higher risk/higher reward investment opportunities? It’s appealing but I’m a novice and am afraid of making a bad bet. I’ve done some research on my own but have to admit I’m a bit lost/overwhelmed by all the options.
Ty in advance!
ETA for context: In terms of financial goals, I’m mostly looking to have a hefty savings account as I plan to immigrate to a pretty expensive country once this gig is over (in 3 years) so liquidity will be important to help me get on my feet. Other than that, main goals are building wealth and being able to comfortably start a family in a few years without feeling too stretched.

Hello All,
I have an LLC with 50k in a bank account. It is just sitting there and I have decided to invest it long term. Is it a good idea to open a Vanguard account and if so what funds should I invest in? Or should I invest in a REIT like fundrise?

Trying to get as much funds as I can towards moving into this new place. Its renting a room. Its a very good deal and I would be able to leave a situation where Im living with transphobia (Im enby), ableism, and so much toxicity. I'll be able to finally see what its like to not live in constant survival mode. I have friends who are going to help me out and I will be in the same area as my local mutual aid group and my friends, atm Im over an hour away from them in an area with hardly any resources for disabled/poor people. Theres also public transportation there. Being able to move will open up so many doors and possibilities for me. (And my ESA cat Leia <3 )
My friends are helping with as much as they can, and anything yall could donate would go to necessities and making the financial cost for them less. Thank you so much <3
http://www.paypal.me/Fyre8 https://www.etsy.com/shop/FyreCrafted

Hi all -- I've had this 403b account for the past several years (can no longer contribute) and have been using the automatic "GoalMaker" to handle fund selection, allocations, and rebalancing. I've started to take a more active role in my finances and would love to have some help ... do the funds and allocations make sense? The expense ratio seems too high! Thanks!
Current funds and allocations:

name	ticker	gross expense ratio (%)	allocation (%)
American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund Class R-5	RERFX	0.51	16
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares	VTSNX	0.08	15
ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Fund Class A	SASMX	1.18	13
JPMorgan Small Cap Value Fund Class R5	JSVRX	0.86	13
Fidelity Contrafund Fund	FCNTX	0.55	11
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares	VIIIX	0.02	11
American Funds Washington Mutual Investors Fund Class R-5E	RWMHX	0.41	11
PGIM Total Return Bond Fund -Class R6	PTRQX	0.4	5
Guaranteed Interest Account	--	0 (-3%)	5

​
Which funds would you pick from this list? I'm debating between going VTSNX and VITSX (seems like these are equivalent to VXUS and VTI?). What are people's experience with BlackRock's target date fund? The guaranteed interest account seems interesting... would it be a bond equivalent?

available funds	ticker	gross expense ratio (%)	asset class
Guarenteed interest account	--	-3	stable value
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional Shares	VBTIX	0.035	Fixed Income - Intermediate Core Bond
PGIM Total Return Bond Fund -Class R6	PTRQX	0.4	Fixed Income - Intermediate Core-Plus Bond
BlackRock LifePath Index Retirement Fund Class K Shares	LIRKX	0.13	Allocation - Target-Date Retirement Income
BlackRock LifePath Index 2025 Fund Class K Shares	LIBKX	0.14	Allocation - Target-Date 2025
BlackRock LifePath Index 2030 Fund Class K Shares	LINKX	0.14	Allocation - Target-Date 2030
BlackRock LifePath Index 2035 Fund Class K Shares	LIJKX	0.14	Allocation - Target-Date 2035
BlackRock LifePath Index 2040 Fund Class K Shares	LIKKX	0.15	Allocation - Target-Date 2040
BlackRock LifePath Index 2045 Fund Class K Shares	LIHKX	0.15	Allocation - Target-Date 2045
BlackRock LifePath Index 2050 Fund Class K Shares	LIPKX	0.15	Allocation - Target-Date 2050
BlackRock LifePath Index 2055 Fund Class K Shares	LIVKX	0.15	Allocation - Target-Date 2055
BlackRock LifePath Index 2060 Fund Class K Shares	LIZKX	0.15	Allocation - Target-Date 2060
BlackRock LifePath Index 2065 Fund Class K Shares	LIWKX	0.17	Allocation - Target-Date 2065+
Vanguard Balanced Index Fund Institutional Shares	VBAIX	0.06	Allocation - Balanced Blend
American Funds Washington Mutual Investors Fund Class R-5E	RWMHX	0.41	Large Cap - Blend
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares	VIIIX	0.02	Large Cap - Blend
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Institutional Shares	VITSX	0.03	Large Cap - Blend
Fidelity Contrafund Fund	FCNTX	0.55	Large Cap - Growth
Columbia Select Mid Cap Value Fund Institutional Class	NAMAX	0.88	Mid Cap - Value
BlackRock Mid-Cap Growth Equity Portfolio Institutional Shares	CMGIX	0.81	Mid Cap - Growth
JPMorgan Small Cap Value Fund Class R5	JSVRX	0.86	Small Cap - Value
ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Fund Class A	SASMX	1.18	Small Cap - Growth
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares	VTSNX	0.08	International - Large Blend
American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund Class R-5	RERFX	0.51	International - Large Growth

Hi all, I've been reading up a lot since deciding to start investing, but one thing I havent seen much info on is WHY to choose a mutual fund vs index fund vs target date vs ETF?
I can only fund a taxable brokerage account right now, and I've seen some comments that ETFs are best in these, though I'm not sure why.
Should I just go ahead and get ETFs or should I still consider the other types of funds? I have Schwab already so was just going to buy Schwab ETFs given they're fairly equivalent to the Vanguard ones recommended.
Thanks for any help!

We [30M, 30F] have been together for 6 years. We get along well and we enjoy spending time together, she's a real sweetheart. We have some mutual and some different interests, but we also have some different values, beliefs, and goals, which might make us incompatible.
TLDR: This makes me doubt whether we should stay together and have kids or if we should split up.
I'll go into these differences now to try to give some context, but these next two paragraphs are pretty skippable. I'm not religious, but she is. For now this has only caused conflicts on religious holidays, where she wants me to engage in religious holiday stuff. She very much wants to have children and to raise them in a religious way. I very much don't want children (or at least not any time soon, but I realize our time is running out). And if I did, I'd want to keep religion out of their lives. This is the biggest issue we have, but there's also some smaller ones.
I'd prefer to live in the city and be close to people and events related to my profession and interests. She prefers the suburbs and to be close to her family. She and her family value producing their own food on a field they own. We will eventually get a part of the field and will be expected to work it. Sounds silly, I know, but it's not something I'm looking forward to. This combined with the suburbs, the potential kids, and our jobs, ensures that we won't have much free time. Her parents don't. I want to have free time, though, and lots of it. I am a bit ambitious and I want to work on some personal projects.
If we stay together and have kids and all that, we're both sacrificing something. I'm sacrificing my ambitions and freedom from religion. She's sacrificing bringing up kids the way she wants and having the family dynamic she wants, as I won't be participating in the religious things and I'll share my non-religious views with the kids.
The obvious answer (at least for this subreddit) is to go our separate ways... but I can't get myself to do it. I've tried and we've talked about it, but I always steer the conversation away. I don't know why, I guess I don't really want to leave her. She doesn't want to leave me either.
I know I'm selfish, wasting her time, and wasting her fertile years. So I want to either leave her now or to somehow stop doubting, suck it up, and live as I'm expected to.
Both options suck for me. Either I have to live without her. Or I have to set my interests and ambitions aside. There's a third option, but let's not go there.
For her, the first option will leave her heartbroken for a while, but I hope eventually she'll find someone better and be better off. The second option will make her very happy, but what if my doubts/ambitions come back? Then we probably won't be happy. Neither option is certain to have a good outcome for her either.
Not much of a question, I know, but maybe an outside opinion or experience can help me with my indecisiveness.

First of all, let's think about how much money you actually might need for "financial freedom" which probably means something like, you don't need to worry about all of your bills any more for the foreseeable future and don't have to work any more and can just enjoy life.
This isn't about showing off and flexing on insta in lambos and Gucci or whatever vapid influencer bullshit people like that are in to. You won't be traveling much on private jets and shit like that.
Well, for one you need to own a home/condo with the mortgage completely paid off. Which might be around $600K - $1.5M depending on where you live.
And then you would ideally want to be generating like $65k-$100K a year in passive income. You probably need another $800K-$1.5M invested in safe dividend stocks, some reits, mutual funds, managed accounts and thinks like that.

How much money do you think you would need as an initial investment in crypto to get $2M-$3M?

People joke all the time about how do you make a million in crypto? Start with a billion.
If you already have that kind of money ready to throw into crypto, then you shouldn't be saying shit like "crypto is my only hope".
What are you going to do? Yolo into "ignore fud" token. (This is a real token btw it was trending on cmc recently)
At least max out your 401K and other types of tax advantaged accounts in your country.
Diversify your investments.
Stop "investing" only in crypto where the real investment case actually is "I'm buying this token and I hope more people buy it after me at higher and higher prices until it's time for me to sell".
When I invest in AAPL I don't desperately hope that others after me go and buy the stock too. I would much rather they buy Apple Products like Ipads, macbooks etc.
Let me know your thoughts.

A little new to this community, and not sure if I am calculating the right way. Below is my status:
I am 32 (married), and hit a combined net worth of 2Cr (?)
Allocation mix:

• Equity 50%
• Debt 11%
• Gold and Cash 15%
• Real Estate: 24%

Granular split:

• Indian Equity (Mutual Funds only): 40L
• US equity (Nasdaq FoF): 4L
• Stocks from prev employer: 29.5L
• Stocks from current employer: 25L
• NPS, EPF, PPF: 13L
• Real Estate: 52L. This is one flat we own (no loan) in my native tier 2 city, currently occupied by parents. (Should this be included in NW? Parents have their own flat which is on rent)
• Emergency corpus (liquid instruments): 16L (~10 months of my runway)
• Partner savings: 23L (10L in EPF, 4L cash, 9L physical gold which is unlikely to be sold)
• Other assets: One flat that I currently live in. There is a home loan against this. Bought for 1.7Cr, Outstanding loan 1.14Cr, Current market value 2.5 Cr. I am not counting the flat as I live in it. Also, not including the outstanding loan. Reason is, if push comes to shove, I'll sell the flat and clear the loan.

I have been investing since early 2017 and started really small (had to clear off education loan of ~22L before I could invest significantly). Was doing a SIP in Indian MFs till about 6 months ago. Skipped the last 6 months to clear off home loan on the first flat. Will restart again.
Current monthly expenses: ~1.7L as a family (have one 2 yr old kid). On top of this there is home EMI of ~1.07L
My questions:

1. Are there any mistakes in the above calculation? Should I factor in any other nuances?
2. How do I take it to the next level from here? Most of the gains in the past have been due to the bull run - both in equity markets and job market. I don't see my salary going up anytime soon meaningfully.
3. I haven't been super disciplined with investments. Sold about 17L of Indian MFs and 26L of company stocks for home downpayment. Is this right? Hopefully I shouldn't need to do this anymore.
4. Also, the day I try to liquidate any of the above items there will be tax levied. For e.g., if I sell the flat I will end up paying capital gains tax. In such cases, should the NW be calculated after removing the tax? Right now, all the numbers are the current value and assume no tax.

​
Thank you so much!

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but there seem to be no Schwab fund options in my Schwab workplace 401k or Roth 401k? Looking at it because I'd be perfectly happy with SWTSX over VTSAX or a Schwab TDF over a Vanguard due to the transaction fees, but they don't seem to be options?
List of the available options below. Any insights are appreciated!
-------------
694 - Aggressive Growth Model
693 - Growth Model
VTWNX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 Fund
VTTVX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund
VTHRX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 Fund
VTTHX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund
VFORX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund
VTIVX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund
VFIFX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund
VFFVX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2055 Fund
VTTSX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund
VLXVX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2065 Fund
VTINX - Vanguard Target Retirement Income Fund
Stocks
Large Company
RFNGX - American Funds Fundamental Invs R6
MLAIX - MainStay Winslow Large Cap Growth I
MEIJX - MFS Value R4
VFIAX - Vanguard 500 Index Admiral
VTSAX - Vanguard Total Stock Mkt Idx Adm
Small/Mid Co.
BMGAX - BlackRock Mid-Cap Growth Equity Inv A
FLMVX - JPMorgan Mid Cap Value L
LSSNX - Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth N
VIMAX - Vanguard Mid Cap Index Admiral
VSMAX - Vanguard Small Cap Index Adm
VSOIX - Victory Sycamore Small Company Opp I
Intl/Global
RERGX - American Funds Europacific Growth R6
MINHX - MFS International Intrinsic Value R4
VTIAX - Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index Admiral
Specialty
CSRSX - Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L
Balanced
692 - All Weather Model
RLBGX - American Funds American Balanced R6
PAAIX - PIMCO All Asset Instl
Bonds
EIGOX - Eaton Vance Government Opportunities I
JCBUX - JPMorgan Core Bond R6
MWTIX - Metropolitan West Total Return Bd I
VBTLX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Adm
Capital Preservation
WFVTZ - Galliard Stable Return Fund C
Other
690 - Capital Preservation Model

This is my headcanon for the events following Suzerain as the game played out in my (communist) playthrough:
Disclaimer 1: This obviously includes many spoilers from the game.
Disclaimer 2: This story is written with storytelling and lore at the forefront, not necessarily gameplay accuracy.
(Part 2 is on my page if you can't find it elsewhere)
Disclaimer 3: This is only the first chapter (and backstory) of this headcanon story/fanfic/whatever you want to call it. I want to write more, but would like to see what people in the Suzerain community think about the writing so far and if they’d like to see more of it. :)
Background:
Anton Rayne got elected President of Sordland in his first term by promising progress and an end to the recession. In his term, he managed to fulfill these promises and more.
He ended the recession through several economic programs including an infrastructure program that included the building of a highway in Agnland, the distribution of stimulus checks for people in need, an agricultural revitalisation program in the city of Sarna, an economic revitalisation program in the greater region of Bergia, and the establishment of the Fair Trade and Competition Commission.
Rayne had also enacted his foreign policy that prioritised self-determination and non-intervention, which resulted in improved relations with many nations and many new trade deals with Wehlen, Agnolia, and Valgsland. In slight contrast with this policy, however, Rayne entered Sordland into the Contanan Security Pact. While this move alienated Sordland from some western-alligned nations such as Lespia and Arcasia, it increased trade and cooperation with nations of the east and many of the rising powers in Rika and Xina.
Rayne had also enacted gradual reforms of the economic direction of the country by nationalising several large corporations, most notably Gasom and Bergia steel. In order to temporarily appease the oligarchs, Rayne had through his nationalisation of Bergia steel, let Marcel Koronti, one of Sordland’s most powerful oligarchs, increase his power within his circle of oligarchs. He had also, through the extra income the state had earned from nationalisation and trade deals, been able to cut taxes for all, which further appeased the oligarchs. Rayne, as a communist, saw the oligarchs as a threat, however, he saw the sollists, nationalists, and fascists as a bigger threat that required a temporary appeasement of the oligarchs in order to focus on a larger threat within the nation. Towards the end of his term, however, when the old guard had in large part been brought down, Rayne removed the independence of Sordland’s central bank, a body of financial governing that had long been an extension of the power of the Lothenburg Group.
One of Rayne’s big promises of progressive reform included an increase in the healthcare and education budgets. This was also a promise Rayne was able to deliver on, and through the skillful leadership of education minister Ciara Walda and healthcare minister Paskal Beniwoll, the government was able to efficiently use this budget to make many positive changes to the education and healthcare systems in Sordland.
The increased healthcare budget was used to improve the quality of healthcare services provided in the country, especially in rural areas, as well as a complete subsidisation of dental care and prescription medicine for all and the relocation of doctors to rural areas. The Rayne administration also enacted several taxes on consumer products harmful to the health of the people, including a tax on tobacco and alcohol products.
The large educational reform that Rayne embarked on included a large scholarship program for impoverished families, the building of several hundred schools across rural areas of the country, and the relocation of teachers to rural areas. The reform also radically changed the curriculum of Sordish schools, with desollinisation of schools and an implementation of critical pedagogy and a larger focus on science, physical education, and the teaching of subjects unburdened by sollism. Rayne later established rural education institutes across rural areas of Sordland in order to further improve the availability and quality of education in rural Sordland.
The rights of women and minorities also became a critical issue for the Rayne administration. The first lady, Monica Rayne became a large figurehead in the battle against patriarchy and alongside Ciara Walda they established the Commission on the Status of Women and passed the women’s liberation act that included policies that helped victims of domestic violence, abolished the gender pay gap, affirmed equal access to education for all, and enacted maternity leave laws and state-funded daycare. The support of this commission and its policies, along with Rayne’s personal funding of the Sordish League of Women made them a loyal political ally to Rayne and his inner circle.
President Rayne also became known for his pro-Bludish sentiment that led to a political alliance with Mansoun Leke and the declaration of the minority rights act, the establishment of the minority rights commission that would be headed by Leke, and the granting of amnesty to soll-era political prisoners, many of which were Bludish activists.
Rayne’s other progressive reforms included a vast expansion of the sordish welfare program, that came to include the establishment of the Comission of Social Progress and Uplift, the workers rights act that gave better pay and better conditions to workers across Sordland, two new social benefits programs, one for the unemployed and one for impoverished families, as well as a complete subsidy of public transport and a lowering of the retirement age.
As a communist and subscriber to the ideas of Karlos Marcias, Rayne believed that for Sordland to enter a new age of socialism and communism, the power of the existing dictatorship of the bourgeoisie had to be toppled and replaced with a dictatorship of the proletariat. He saw the judiciary and legislature as being tools of the bourgeoisie. However, the presidency, now under a communist president, was Sordland’s chance for the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Rayne believed that he had to topple the bourgeois institutions of government, and replace them with new ones that represented the proletariat. During his first term, he started doing this with a very risky play. Namely reforming the constitution to give wide-ranging powers to the presidency while he continued to build a dictatorship of the proletariat.
The constitutional reforms included the replacement of the presidential veto with a pocket veto, removing the supreme court’s power to vote on constitutional amendments, removing the ability for the president to be impeached, decreasing the electoral threshold to 8% thus allowing Rayne’s Bludish and communist allies into the legislature, removing the requirement of reviews of presidential decrees, removing the immunity of judges, and abolishing the honorary position and immunity of Tarquin Soll.
Rayne used his new powers to crush the reactionary forces of Sordland, starting with a complete reshuffling of the supreme court. As an extension of the removal of Tarquin Soll’s immunity, Soll was then put on trial in front of a new supreme court that found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. After Soll’s imprisonment the Rayne administration started their de-sollinisation efforts in full. Rayne also established the anti-corruption police that he used to investigate corruption within the old guard.
The ACP found evidence of several sollists collaborating with the Young Sords in order to assassinate communist politician Bernard Circas. The investigation led to the arrest of many sollist politicians, most notably minister of interior Lilias Graff and former members of the supreme court Orso Hawker and Heron Garaci. With the old guard crippled, Rayne took advantage of the situation in order to change the manifesto of the United Sordland Party to move away from sollism and towards socialism.
In order to further consolidate his power, Rayne used his presidential decree powers to purge the general staff and thus remove the military’s power in internal political affairs. In the aftermath of this purge, minister of defence Iosef Lancea was also made commander of the sordish armed forces in place of Valken Kruger. Rayne also established the Sordish Radio and Television Supreme Council that he primarily used to further rein in the propaganda spread by the old guard, liberals and oligarchs. Rayne also started funding the Red Youth, an organisation he had previously been a member of, thus winning him another political ally outside of government.
The rising threat of Rumburg was also handled during Rayne’s first term. Using his diplomatic skill as a former diplomat in the foreign ministry, Rayne de-escalated the conflict and made Rumburg appear as an aggressor on the world stage. Any uncertainty about the threat of invasion was then put to rest when Rayne entered Sordland into a military alliance with Valgsland and later joined the Contanan Security Pact.
But as elections approached instability within the Rayne cabinet appeared. First with a political scandal that led to the arrest of Illana Vance, the Rumburg spy that had posed as President Rayne’s assistant. This scandal also led to Vice President Petr Vectern resigning, retiring from politics, and going to rehab. Lucian Galade was appointed Vice President in his stead. The instability continued however, with the resignation of several ministers including minister of economy Symon Holl due to ideological differences with the President, minister of health Paskal Beniwoll due to concern for the President’s machiavellian tactics, and minister of justice Nia Morgna and minister of education Ciara Walda both due to the President’s constitutional reforms.
This flood of resignations coupled with the arrest of minister of interior Lileas Graf and the retirement of foreign minister Deivid Wisci left a vacuum of power within the administration that Rayne had a clear plan on how to fill after his reelection.
After the election, the results came in with a big change in the political environment of Sordland. The USP came in first with a slight increase in votes since the 1953 election, the NFP came in second, thus becoming the second biggest party in the country, and the PFJP suffered a loss, losing a significant amount of votes to the USP, BFP, WPB, and CPS. The Communist party of Sordland finally made the threshold and due to the popularisation of communism under the Rayne administration they were able to become a legislative power to rival the PFJP. The Workers party of Bludia were unable to make the threshold however, due to the Bludish vote being split between the WPB and the BFP.
As Rayne took to the stage for his victory speech, he reaffirmed his commitment to a turn to the left and to the east and promised further expansion of Sordland’s welfare system and political and social reforms. He declared that this was the start of the Sordish Revolution.
Chapter 1: Inauguration Day
In the aftermath of Rayne’s victory speech and after meeting with the people of Sordland at a USP rally, Anton Rayne entered the black presidential car and was met with a smile through the rear-view mirror and the eternally joyful voice of his driver, Serge, greeting him: “That was a great speech Mr. President, I am glad you got re-elected. Where to now?” Rayne smiled slightly as he always did when hearing the voice of the man who had become one of his closest friends during the last four years. “I am glad to hear that Serge, thank you for all of your support these years, I am really grateful for all your kind words.” Rayne took a slight pause before continuing “We’re off to 137 Wisci Avenue.” “Right away, sir.”
As the two sat in the car in momentary silence, Anton regretted having to leave his wife and daughter at the rally with Lucian. But Monica was strong, he thought to himself. She would be able to handle herself against Lucian if he were to try anything. After another few moments of silence, it was finally broken when Anton realised this wasn’t the same car he had been chauffeured around in earlier in the day. It was similar enough he hadn’t noticed, but it was newer and frankly more comfortable to sit in. “When did you get a new car, Serge?” “Finally noticed it, eh Mr. President?” He continued “But it isn’t my car, it’s yours, you’re the President, I am merely your driver” “The car was a gift. Sent from Chancellor Hegel in Valgsland, as a congratulatory gift for winning the elections. It seems you made quite the impact on him when you visited him in Haelm.” Anton adjusted his posture in his seat and asked Serge what he thought of the Chancellor. “Oh, I don’t follow the politics of other countries that closely sir, but if he made a deal with you he must be a smart man.” Rayne, slightly tired after the rally, simply replied “You’re too kind, Serge” and resorted to staring out the window as the ride continued through the streets of Holsord.
After a while, the two men in the car started to see a gradual decline in the quality of the houses and infrastructure on the streets as they got further from the hill of pride. Once the car rolled onto Wisci Avenue there seemed to be a slight improvement in the quality of the street, however it was still a far cry from the hill of pride. Suddenly the car stopped. “Here we are, sir. 137 Wisci Avenue.” Before Anton could say thank you, Serge was already outside of the car opening the door for his president. Anton stepped out and was then able to thank his driver for the pleasant drive and conversation.
He stepped onto the cracked pavement as Serge got back into the car. Anton instinctively put his hands in his trouser pockets, only to find a packet of cigarettes there. As he took them out of his pocket he was reminded of the time he had caught his son, Franc, smoking, and he further was reminded of the promise he made to Franc to stop smoking. Granted it had become easier to stop after the tobacco tax had been implemented, but it was still a difficult task. Anton promised himself he would call Franc when he got home to see how he was faring in medical school in United Contana. He looked back at Serge and called out his name. “Could you take this and throw it away for me?” Anton threw his last packet of cigarettes to Serge who nodded back at him in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Serge. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Anton said as he walked into the building ahead.
It was a two-story flat-building, more specifically it was the home of Ciara Walda, among other people. As the President walked into the building he was surprised by the interior, which was far more well kept than he expected. As he walked up the stairs however, there was still a quite distinct creak with every step he took. When Anton reached the top he stood directly in front of a door that said “1B Walda Residence”. Rayne knocked on the door and was soon met with a slightly dishevelled former minister of education. Ciara looked her usual self for the most part, aside from looking quite a lot less put together than usual. She was sporting an old bathrobe and slippers, as opposed to her usual political uniform of a pantsuit or dress. “Mr. President?” Ciara blurted out, trying to hide her slight surprise at the situation. “Please Ciara, you don’t work for me anymore, and I know you don’t care for formalities.” Ciara slightly adjusted herself and tried to put on her poker face she had become known for during her time in politics. “Would you care for a drink, Anton?” She didn’t wait for a reply however and simply entered her home, leaving Anton to catch the door and come inside.
“Tea would be nice” Anton replied as he walked into Ciara’s flat. He heard a call from the kitchen “Already started making it.” Anton let out a slight chuckle at Ciara’s unique demeanour as he followed her voice to find his way to the kitchen. The flat was a lot nicer than he expected. Far from luxurious, but it was nicely decorated and brightly lit with large windows, something that was somewhat surprising given that this flat belonged to Ciara Walda of all people.
As Anton found the kitchen, Ciara had already moved into the living room with two cups of tea in her hands. Anton sat down across from her and thanked her for the tea as she sat it down on the coffee table. “I suppose congratulations are in order” she said with a barely detectable sadness in her voice. “I hope congratulations will be in order for you too” Anton said, giving Ciara a slightly puzzled look on her face. Before she could ask what the President meant, he continued “Rejoin my cabinet. I know you miss it.” He paused for a brief moment, “And I need you.” he continued. “You are a talented politician, but you’ve been able to keep your ideals. I need ministers like you. I know you don’t approve of my methods but who will you support if not me? Ricter? Kibener? Leke and Stahler don’t stand much of a chance without my support, so by supporting either of them, you’d be supporting me still. Why not take that opportunity to rejoin the cabinet and make some real change again. Continue the reforms you started with me and Monica.”
Ciara looked down for a few seconds before replying “You know why I left. You know I cannot stand by and support your constitutional reforms, they aren’t democratic and-” Before she could continue, Anton cut her off “What would be democratic then?” He paused before continuing to speak “To give power to an indirectly elected assembly of capitalist leeches and fascists who want to kill half the country and oppress the other? To keep the institutions put in place by a sour old man who wants to stop the world from moving on?” That last comment about Soll made Ciara chuckle slightly. “I’ve never heard you talk about him like that.” Anton replied with a smile “Well, I couldn’t bad-mouth that old fool too much when his lackeys still had such a firm grasp on the country.”
“Listen, I know you might not support my constitutional changes, but-” Before he continued he stopped to rephrase himself “You are familiar with Marcian dialectical materialism I assume?” Ciara looked slightly offended. “Of course I am” “Who do you think you’re talking to?” She said with a slight scoff. “So then you know that class struggle is an antagonistic struggle. You know that capitalists won’t give away the means of production willingly. Oppressors must be taken down by force, not by the systems that gave them power in the first place.” Anton sighed “I know it isn’t ideal, but it isn’t supposed to be. If Karlos Marcias taught us anything, it’s that ideals don’t bring change, material conditions do. Reality does. And reality is messy. Ideals are pure, but as long as they remain that way they are just ideas, they cannot bring real change if they cannot exist within material reality. What does this idealist notion of liberal democracy mean compared to the real material change that comes with socialism?” Ciara sat back on her couch and sighed deeply, looking at Anton the entire time. “I still don’t know, it just doesn’t seem right.” They sat in silence for over a minute before Anton got up and sighed for a final time in defeat. “Thank you for your service to the people of Sordland, we’re going to miss you Ciara. Both me and Monica”. Ciara looked back down at her floor after Anton stopped talking and started walking towards the door.
“Wait” she said as he was on his way out. Anton turned back around. “You stood by me in my educational reforms, you stood by me-” she stopped for a moment “Us, you stood by us as we fought for the rights of our gender.” She looked away out her window for a brief few seconds, “I’m not sure even Leke or Stahler would’ve done that. At least to such an extent. I owe you at least another chance. Both you and Monica” she said with a slight glimmer in her eyes. ”Thank
you Ciara. Really, thank you. Because between Gus, Iosef and Lucian, I could really use an ally in my cabinet” They both smiled at each other as Anton exited the flat. As he started walking down the stairs he heard the door open again. As he looked back Ciara bid him farewell “Good luck, Anton.” “You too, Ciara.”
As Anton walked out of the building he saw Serge leaning on the side of the car. As he noticed Anton he quickly stood upright and opened the backseat door for his President, bowing slightly as he did it. “I got a call while I was waiting for you sir. Your wife and daughter have left the rally along with your cabinet and are on their way to the maroon palace for the celebration dinner.”
While Anton’s first term had been ceremonially opened with a grand ball at the maroon palace, the event had ended catastrophically with the assassination of Bernard Circas, which drew a lot of bad press to the tradition. It had already been criticised before for its over-the-top extravagance, a criticism Anton agreed with. However, the event still occurred during Rayne’s first inauguration as it was still a quite popular affair, particularly with sollists who wanted to honour the traditions of the nation, and with oligarchs who wanted to take the opportunity to cosy up to politicians. But with the assassination, and the loss of power suffered by sollists and oligarchs during the first Rayne administration, it became easier, and frankly more popular, to replace the event with a more modest one. Namely a televised dinner with the President and his cabinet, along with their families.
Due to the wave of resignations at the end of Anton’s first term however, the dinner might come across as a little too modest though. Especially with Lucian who was married to his work, and Iosef who was married to his own idealised version of Sordland. It was unclear if Ciara would attend. She definitely knew about the event, as she was one of the people campaigning for an end to the inaugural ball. She was welcome to attend as she was to rejoin the cabinet, but Anton hadn’t thought to ask her. Especially as she wasn’t fond of any sort of ‘style over substance’ meeting.
Anton was brought out of his deep thoughts as Serge cleared his throat, and he realised he’d stood there for a solid half a minute. He shook his head for a moment and saw a bin in the corner of his eye that he hadn’t noticed stood next to the building he’d walked into. Anton noticed his packet of cigarettes laying there along with another pack that looked just as newly thrown away. He smiled to himself and walked into the car, letting Serge close the door behind him and get back into his own seat in the front.
“You trying to quit as well Serge?” The president’s driver looked shocked for a moment, as Anton realised what that might’ve sounded like. “Cigarettes.” he assured Serge. “Oh! I got a tad confused there for a second Mr. President.” he nervously tapped the steering wheel as he started the car's engine. “Yes! I’ve decided to quit Mr. President. I couldn’t have done it without you though! I saw the press conference you and Mr. Beniwoll did on television before he resigned, warning of the dangers of tobacco.” Anton grinned slightly as he heard Paskal’s name, before Serge continued. “And as I noticed you were throwing away your last pack, I thought I’d do the same. Follow the example of a great leader.”

A bit of background about myself. I'd never driven an EV prior to yesterday. My only exposure to driver assistance features was in a 2021 Subaru Outback which I owned for 1.5 years in which I used the lane centering and adaptive cruise features extensively (both highways and city streets). I sold the Subaru for a $1,500 profit a few months ago due to the crazy market and I'm using my old 2005 Toyota Camry. I decided to have some fun with my 15 year old son this weekend so we rented a Tesla. I'm also seriously considering purchasing one in the next year or so. Here's our experience so far:

• We got the Tesla with a 93 percent charge, but I arrived for my appointment 30 minutes early so it probably would have been charged to 100 percent. They were very straightforward and friendly.
• They require an 80 percent charge upon return or they'll charge a fee which is an obvious attempt to gouge the customer.
• We only got a quick introduction to the car from the Hertz representative but that's because I insisted I watched tons of videos, etc. Once my son and I were left on our own, we were lost for about 15 minutes just trying to find the general screen for the controls, etc. I wanted to put the rental agreement in the glove box, and that took like 5 minutes.
• After using the car for several hours, the layout for the features and controls is getting to seem natural and second nature. I'm not finding the lack of buttons and knobs in the cabin to be an issue whatsoever, and if anything it should make it easy to clean the car on car wash days.
• Autopilot Positives: This is a big deal for me! The idea of taking long road trips on the highway and letting the car manage the braking/acceleration and steering is awesome. Compared to my Subaru with Eyesight, the autosteer (lane centering) on the Tesla is MUCH more capable. The Tesla can handle very tight curves on highways and on backroads that the Subaru would have immediately disengaged on. Also, pressing down twice on the stalk to engage the system is much easier than the three separate buttons I need to engage on the Subaru to initially engage the system (once the system was engaged, it was easy to reengage).
• Autopilot Negatives: The positives of the autopilot system are impressive, but so far I've found significant drawbacks. Every 15 to 25 seconds the system requires me to put pressure on the wheel which is understandable. However, it doesn't sense the pressure I put, and I'm putting a decent amount of back and forth pressure on the steering wheel. Usually the system eventually recognizes the pressure, but sometimes I inadvertently force myself out of autopilot and have to tap down twice on the stalk to go back in. This is really distracting and takes away from the experience. To make matters worse, twice I've had this incredible obnoxious message come up indicating I was locked out of autopilot for the rest of the ride. I'm putting pressure on the wheel. I'm an alert and active driver. I know how to use these systems. Stop fucking around and let me enjoy my drive. So yeah, these is a serious distraction.
• Autopilot Negatives Cont: I'm lumping the adaptive cruise feature into the autopilot umbrella for convenience. Overall I like the adaptive cruise feature on the Tesla, but the system on the Subaru is MUCH MUCH better. On the Tesla I feel like I'm too close to cars sometimes despite supposedly having 7 different distance settings. On the Subaru, I could totally set the adaptive to be too close for comfort but I could also set it too stupidly far. Also, the Tesla seems to lack refinement. If I'm coming up on a vehicle going 25 MPH slower than me, it seems to wait longer than it needs to to begin to slow down which makes the braking more abrupt. The Subaru would begin to slow the car much earlier and make the 25 MPH decline in speed seem almost unnoticeable. Mind you, I didn't feel "unsafe" with the way Tesla handled these situations, it just seemed more abrupt and therefore significantly less refined and less comfortable to the driver and passenger.
• Autopilot Negatives Cont: When changing lanes, you need to reengage autopilot. That is obviously done on purpose so you'll pay $6K for the upgraded autopilot. So here's why this really sucks. With the Subaru, I could have lane centering with adaptive cruise set to 85 MPH and be behind somebody going 60 MPH in the slow lane. I'd hit my left blinker and the Subaru would already begin to increase RPMs to prepare for the pass! By the time I got into the left lane, not only would lane centering and adaptive cruise still be active, the car would already be accelerating to pass the car! And, once you pass the car, right blinker, move back to the slow lane, and everything still remains engaged! You get none of that experience with Tesla autopilot. It keeps the adaptive cruise engaged but it doesn't pass nearly as well or as seamlessly, and the system doesn't work nearly as conveniently.
• Rain Sensing Wipers: Me and windshield wipers have a long history of mutual hate. I have never used a wiper system I've liked. Not once. I can never get my Toyota wipers to match rain fall satisfactory and the Subaru was no better. None of the cars I owned ever were. I would resort to pressing up on the wiper stalk to manually manage the wipers on my own! Well yesterday we had rain, and the rain varied. It would rain hard, it would rain soft, I would rain medium, and it would change rapidly in terms of value of rainfall. I'll be damned if that wiper system didn't perfectly handle matching the speed of the wipers to the amount of rain fall in real time. Seriously, it did it better than I could have done. The hilarious part is I didn't know the Tesla had a system, so for like an hour I was using the controls on the screen and bitching about how it was worse because I had to press a screen instead of using controls on the steering wheel. At one point, it started to rain and the wipers began moving on their own and I was like...no fucking way! So yeah, color me impressed!

Updates below here.....

• Autopilot cont: The volume knob scroll wheel "hack" worked so well I never bothered trying to find the right pressure on the steering wheel. I still have the car for the rest of this evening until 5 PM tomorrow (but I work tomorrow) so I'll still give it a try. I have to say the volume knob scroll wheel "hack" worked so well it's slightly better than applying pressure on the Subaru was. You add that with autopilot's ability to recognize lines and steer around steep curves, and it makes for a great system....but but.....we are about the enter the land of controversy, I have a feeling!
• Autopilot CONTROVERSY: I'm just telling you an experience as it unfolds. This is not an opinion. My experience today is what happened, don't blame the messenger. I'm going to give specific parameters where this event took place so those in the area are welcome to give it a try. The location was State Highway 50 from Pueblo, CO to Florence CO and back again. This stretch of highway is extremely straight and in the plains of semiarid open space where one can see for miles. The first negative event occurred was a pedestrian walking along the shoulder of the highway, well to the far edge of the shoulder away from the highway. The Tesla promptly reduced speed and slowed down about 8 MPH before I began to accelerate and take over. Beyond that, I experienced minor phantom braking on the trip to Florence, CO. On the way back, I was following a motorcycle that was actually gradually gaining distance on me. During this period of time I experienced some severe phantom breaking that occurred 4 separate times. The last time I got really pissed and disengaged cruise control altogether and drove the rest of the way on my own accord. Oh, to add salt to the wound, my Subaru could do that stretch of highway perfectly including seeing the lines, steering (not a lot of turns) and managing the braking and accelerating flawlessly. This wasn't a hard section of highway, and I expected the Tesla to eat it for breakfast but that is not what happened.
• Driving Experience: The driving experience is awesome freakin awesome! When I first got the car, I was slightly overwhelmed. The steering seemed too aggressive but changing it the comfort addressed that. At first the regenerative braking was set to the highest setting, and that was absolutely a "no go", I set it to the least aggressive which was "roll" I think. But, after getting used to everything, setting the regenerative braking to the most aggressive setting "hold" not only helped with a slight increase to range with city driving, it enhanced the experience overall. Somehow getting stopping power immediately after releasing the accelerator makes for an enhanced, increasingly predictable driving experience. You combine the immediately stopping power with extremely smooth, predictable torque and acceleration, and the car is very controlled. You can drive the car precisely. The acceleration was amazing. Merging on the highway was absolutely enthralling and invigorating. Seriously folks, they have these cars for sale for $37k if you but them in stock, and even with the negative aspects in listed above, these cars are an amazing value!
• Sound System: The sound system is highly adaptable with EQ settings and it absolutely stunning. I have never in my life heard a sound system as beautiful as in this car. I have been in cars with custom sound systems that cost upwards of $3,500 and they did not hold a candle to this. While the system provides amazing bass, there's "separation" so that you never get a "muddy" effect and which means you somehow get a combination of amazing bass while at the same time hearing the vocals from the artist like they are singing in your ear. My God, I'm not sure how known Teslas are for their sound system, I focus on tech, autopilot, self driving, but that sound system is something special.
• Fuck With a Truck: Yeah....so apparently there must be animosity towards Tesla drivers from Big Trucks? I thought that was a Prius thing? At least that was my experience. This huge, raised F350 with a raised kit crossed across three lanes in front of my lane and was about to "roll coal" when I immediately cut two lanes over and accelerated past his ass. As I looked back at him, he was looking behind him with a smile but then turned to see me ahead of him with a look of disappointment. I proceeded to decelerate behind him a couple of more times and accelerate past time while my 15 year old son gave the universal hands over the face for crying symbol followed by the universal symbol for a small penis. Yeah, I could get used to this lifestyle!

​

“Hundreds of patriotic young people are subjected to cruel torture in Aliyev‘s prisons on false charges.”
(Lack of) Human Rights and Liberties
A group of writers and poets appealed to President Ilham Aliyev regarding Alizamin Salayev, a member of the opposition party who has been on a hunger strike for more than 114 days protesting against his illegal arrest. Azadlig newspaper shared the letter: “As a result of the hunger strike, he fell into a coma several times. Yesterday, doctors warned him that he would die if he did not stop his hunger. Salayev was arrested on charges of hooliganism, and the Garadagh court sentenced him to four years in prison. He considers his arrest and the decision unfair, saying that all the evidence proves his innocence. Therefore, he declares that he will not stop his hunger, even if it may end his life. We believe that you would not give consent to the death of an activist of the opposition party of the country as a result of a hunger strike. We, the undersigned writers, ask that you order his house arrest and reconsideration of his case.”
Alzamin Salayev stopped his hunger on the 115th day. Salayev was promised that his case would be considered objectively in the Court of Appeal. Salayev told his lawyer that if justice was not served this time, then he would choose death by dry hunger.
Chairperson of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) Jamil Hasanli said that he had attended the trial of political prisoner Abbas Huseyn, one of the leaders of the Muslim Union Movement. Hasanli: Judge Ilgar Murguzov did not conduct such an investigation when he said there was a judicial investigation. He simply upheld the unlawful verdict of the district court. Abbas was chained to an iron pole in the courtyard of the penitentiary institution when the degree was above 42 Celcius. In January 2023, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that Abbas Huseyn was tortured in prison and ordered the government to pay compensation. However, the government has not paid anything yet. Abbas is a very honest, patriotic, and faithful young man. His main “sin” is protesting against injustice. Hundreds of patriotic young people like him are subjected to cruel torture in Aliyev‘s prisons on false charges.”
Governance and Corruption
Azadlig newspaper reports that US President Biden sent a letter to president Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. According to the letter, The United States will stand with Azerbaijan as it undertakes reforms that will promote the rule of law and advance opportunities for the Azerbaijani people. In addition, Biden also mentions that his administration will continue to support a sustainable and just peace in the region –which will help promote security and prosperity across the South Caucasus for generations to come.
Radio Liberty reports that there are concerns and dissatisfaction among the leaders of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called “Lachin Yolu Eco Activists.” Tahira Mammadova, one of the activists, expressed disappointment that a promised 15,000 manats were not allocated for her project. Instead, only 6,000 manats were given for a documentary film about the Shusha martyr, which Mammadova considered to be an insult. Rade Abbas, the head of the “Social Assistance to Women Veterans” organization, also shared her dissatisfaction. She mentioned that her organization had meticulously calculated and proposed a project worth 15,000 manats. However, they were only provided with 7,000 manats for their annual activities, along with demanding a high level of work. Rade Abbas believes that this amount is inadequate and insufficient, as it wouldn’t even cover her taxi expenses.
The Lachin Corridor, which is an important land route connecting the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia, has been inaccessible to civilian and commercial traffic for over four months as reportedly Azerbaijani protesters, purportedly supported by the government, have blockaded the corridor. According to the local Armenians, the blockading of the Lachin Corridor had severe consequences for the people living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as it cut off their connection to Armenia and the outside world and it disrupted the flow of essential goods, humanitarian aid, and other supplies. The alleged involvement of Azerbaijani protesters, who were the NGO representatives claiming that the Armenian side damaged the environment, suggested that it was a deliberate action to exert pressure on the region.
The visit of the President of Israel, who visited Azerbaijan for the first time, “is of great importance in terms of the development of relations between the two countries,” said the member of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Part (APFP) Fuad Gahramanli. “Because today, the relations between the two countries have reached such a level that Israel is considered not only an ally for Azerbaijan but also an important partner and security guarantee against the threat posed by Iran. Azerbaijan accounts for 17% of Israel’s arms exports, underscoring the depth of their military cooperation. In return, Azerbaijan satisfies 69% of its weapon requirements through Israeli sources, demonstrating the mutual dependency between the two countries. Furthermore, Israel actively contributes to the development of Azerbaijan’s military industry, and their intelligence agencies maintain close collaboration. Cybersecurity has emerged as another important area of cooperation between the two nations. Notably, the President of Israel, in a strong statement, depicted Iran as a common threat to Azerbaijan and accused it of engaging in acts of terrorism. This portrayal highlights the shared perspective and concerns of both countries towards Iran, solidifying the notion that Iran poses a collective threat to their interests.”
The Minister of Digital Development and Transport delivered an interview addressing the challenges within the taxi service industry. The interview focused on the concerns about the financial well-being of taxi drivers and gave signals of future reform. However, the minister’s interview brings forth concerns regarding possible increases in the prices of taxi services. Experts believe that given past experiences of consolidating sectors of the economy under the ruling family’s monopoly in the guise of reforms, the cost of taxi services will be increased.
On June 1st, Azerbaijan commemorated International Children’s Day. Despite having ratified several international conventions to safeguard children’s rights, approximately 2.5 million Azerbaijani infants are denied child benefits. Chairperson of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) Jamil Hasanli commented on the occasion, saying that, unlike neighboring countries like Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and other Central Asian republics Azerbaijani government refuse to pay child benefit. Hasanli: In 2006, Ilham Aliyev decided to cut off the social benefits for children who received child support even during the country’s most challenging times. They cited a decline in poverty levels to 5 percent as a justification for the cancellation of child benefits. Child benefit is provided in Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and other Central Asian republics bordering Azerbaijan. In this region, Azerbaijan is like an island that does not pay child benefits. Tragically, the consequences of this decision manifest in approximately 100,000 children missing out on education due to inadequate nutrition and the inability to afford proper clothing. Moreover, in numerous regions of the country, girls are being excluded from schools. Ironically, while the government neglects the needs of Azerbaijani children, Ilham Aliyev and his government members amass wealth for their own children, investing in properties worth millions of dollars across European capitals and Dubai.”
The Ministry of Finance made a statement regarding the changes to the 2023 state budget. According to the statement, the revenues of the 2023 state budget will be increased by 3 billion 5 million manats to 33 billion 779 million manats. Budget expenses are predicted to be 36 billion 568 million manats, which is 3 billion 215 million manats more than the approved indicator. A large part of the increase of 3 billion 215 million manats, namely 2 billion 260 million manats or more than 70 percent, will be directed to the construction, restoration, and reconstruction works carried out opaquely in the liberated territories. The rest of the increase will be divided between the costs of strengthening the country’s defense and economy.
Chairperson of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare Party (ADWP) Gubad Ibadoghlu said that the new amendments to the state budget once again prove that the government has no intention to increase wages. Ibadoghlu: The wages, pensions, social benefits, and support for war veterans and martyr families have yet to see an allocation increase. Unfortunately, this lack of attention to vital areas coincides with rising prices, burdening the population, particularly those in the low-income bracket, with the costs of inflation. The recent proposal sent to parliament by the government regarding changes to the 2023 state budget further reaffirms that enhancing the people’s welfare is not the primary focus of the Aliyev regime. Instead, it highlights a concerning priority: the appropriation of budget funds through corruption.”

As the title suggests.
Too many instances of news being reported about cash being looted to the tune of lakhs and sometimes crores from unsuspecting and even non gullible people with scammers using techniques that are just unprecedented .
As someone who usually has very low balance kept in the bank savings a/c as most of it is in third party mutual funds, FDs, stocks, ETFs etc, wanted more opinions on the security of such holdings vis-a-vis cash in bank accounts.
Is it much safer? Are there reports of scams and thefts with these investment options too? What are some best practices?
I don’t know why people who get scammed of such large sums keep it in savings accounts. And even if they do why don’t they set limits (TPT- Third party transfer) to avoid losses.
Just wanted to have a healthy discussion on this. Thanks in advance.
Edit: Please read the comment below from DarkHumourFoundHere- I am not talking about defaults etc but about tangible security threats by digital scammers and thieves in comparison to cash in bank savings accounts.