Yesterday I used my 150mm Knipex Cobras at home. I've been carrying them for about 6 months now and have used them as general pliers a few times a week -- but wasn't doing anything nearly any other pliers could do. Yesterday I was replacing some braided water hoses under my vanity/sink in the bathroom and couldn't get the full size channel locks on due to no room (no chance with a shifter and fitting was larger than my biggest open ended spanner). Hoses had been over tightened and were about 15 years old (so a bit rusted on too). Perfect tool for the job! Worth buying even if you never carry them.
I've been using ubank high interest account for my cash buffer and have had no bonds at all during my FIRE journey. A paid-off PPOR and a chunk of EFTs have been enough for me. At the moment I'm still working and looking to spend about $40k on a new car in Q4 2024 so I can gift one of my existing cars to my son. Would asx TBIL be a better place for this money than ubank? I can tolerate a fair bit of risk as I'd be happy enough with a still-under-waranty 2nd hand car if the ASX TBIL went down too much (or even if it failed to match new car price inflation).
I've just (11 months ago) swapped over from technical work to account management for a dominant market leader in a B to B space. I have substantial experience in my area and have been offered roles in senior managment at some of my current customer sites. Sales is more suited to my life balance preferences at the moment, but I'm still getting used to the lack of respect from customers as their default mode of interaction.
We recently lost a product specialist who was abe to take a customer across to his new company with him as he had a good relationship following 10+ years of support. One of my contacts at that customer site is lying about it and being very unprofessional (not turning up to
I currently have around $1.4m in total assests with about $600k in shares, $400k in PPR (house) and $400k in super, $30k in cash. Annual expenses ~$40k (very loose number, with changes to cars from an allowance to tool-of-trade confusing things). I've recently downshifted with a view to work until the kids are finished school (two kids, youngest in year 6). However, the recent rally has me thinking. Once I've settled into my new role and have a long enough work history, I could take out an investment loan on the house, and retire. Another couple of hundered thousand (ie only accessing 50% of my house equity) should let me withdraw $50k per year (6%) for the 14 years until I can access my su
