Down goes the Dow

what's that saying? good manners make for for poor breeding? Which is a harsh way to say that good manners/spelling/grammar can make up a lot of ground for you if you were born outside of the upper class.

There's a case that public schools should make a priority to teach manners along with spelling and grammar to help kids climb social ladders and not feel out of place in college or wherever they may find themselves.

But the US prefers to think of itself as classless, so that won't happen. And teachers unions won't let it happen either.

*good manners make up for poor breeding*

heh typo

Secret handshakes, special words used in certain ways within the group, utensil placement, hyper attention to grammar that adds nothing to the understanding of what is being communicated.

Sad

Phenomenal how you’ve already completed 2022.

Carmine, sometimes—actually most of the time, if not all the time—one needs to exhibit the appropriate affectations in order to be communicated with at all. Without all of that stuff you mention, and more, there IS no communication, because one never gets the chance, or one is summarily dismissed.

Maybe you have never found yourself in a situation where those tools of conduct are valuable—but every interaction has its unwritten codes, and during communication you use tools of conduct as much as does anyone.

Regarding those specific things that the idiot mentioned, they have been literally the most valuable tools I have ever used, in addition to several languages and understanding how to dress and groom. Yes, seriously. And I know how to weld, do CAD, graft plants, design circuits, fight, fly planes, conduct trials and hearings, etc etc etc.

Maybe you are still young, but deportment, comportment, and etiquette are found in every interaction, and are eminently practical.

Any recommendations for my 401k? I've been 100% total market fund for the past few years. Age 38. Should I move some to bonds or stay the course? Balance is about 285k. It fell to the 220k range earlier this year.

Correction is fell to around 260k not 220k.

I'm not ignoring you noob, I just don't want to give you any advice without knowing much of anything about you.

Never seen the term YTD?

Let me help you.

It means year to date.

What was that?

I realize that Putin’s biggest fan may not get this, but for some of the younger folks on this thread with remaining mental flexibility let me expand on mas’ comments.

Whether we like it or not, we are continuously measured and judged by the way we comport ourselves, and this includes the degree to which we follow group norms. If one wants to fit into a particular group, it is necessary to understand and adopt some or all of their accepted norms. By not doing so, you are immediately recognized as an outsider. That may never matter to you, in which case pay no heed.

Many opportunities in life, like it or not, exist within or under the control of a particular group. If you want those opportunities, you need to bend to the ways of that group to some degree. This could be something as simple as social acceptance, or it might be access to particular business opportunities, as examples.

An easy way to be marked as a tourist abroad, for example, is to dress exactly as you would back home. There’s no shame in being recognized as a tourist, so don’t get me wrong about where I’m coming from. But if you’d prefer to fly under the radar like a local, it doesn’t take much. We’ve lived in Europe before, and our wardrobes fit in, and we attempt to use whatever words we can of the local language, so we are usually treated like locals, at least at first (until the language difference becomes more obvious), which makes every interaction easier.

as far as knowing a place setting for Buckingham palace, you just never know when that might come in handy. While I am just a typical professional of some sort, I married up and my partner has had roles where we’ve interacted with people way outside my sphere. We’ve dined and otherwise socialized a few times with European and middle eastern royalty, heads of state, ambassadors and cabinet ministers. Having some training in etiquette from my military years, along with decent education, some world experience and command of proper English (plus some decent ability in a second language) came in very handy.
None of that makes me any better than anyone else, but I was able to survive and benefit from those experiences largely because of a few soft skills and mostly useless knowledge picked up along the way.

My parents came from humble backgrounds, but that did not stop them from teaching proper behavior and manners. My wife’s parents were a step higher in manners and culture; breeding and a military father. We host several formal dinners for the family on major holidays. One of my job is to set the silverware, where the wife models one place settings with me to follow for the appropriate number of guests. Salad fork in or out? 😹

In my view if you do not reallocate you will be under $150k over the coming year.

I LOLd.

A 52% drop? Well damn. Should I get some SPY 237.5 puts?

Options not available in your 401k.

You're only 38, assuming you're not trying to go the FIRE route you've 20+ years to ride out any correction/recession in the near term. Not a bad idea to add some bonds for ballast but you could probably stay 100% in equities for the next 10 years or so and do just fine. Just my 2 cents.

Screw the bonds. You have another 30 or 40 years till retirement. You can get some target retirement funds which transition to bonds over time but bonds will be a drag on your retirement. Go hard core on equities/stock funds.