Jingthing

The US can help Ukraine beat Russia without sending troops. I'll ignore your personal flame.

Permanent ceasefire!?! You're tripping. Hamas needs to be crushed first. Israel needs to win. You clearly want them to lose.

You can't negotiate with Putin's Russia. They intend to WIN no matter what and the only realistic response is to make them LOSE. Very similar to WW2 and fools who thought you could negotiate with Hitler.

This sounds like super great news IF it passes. A Bill to Eliminate Taxes on Social Security Benefits Has Been Reintroduced — And It Might Keep the Program Afloat for 20 More Years. Here’s How | Moneywise

I don't see what's happening in Gaza as literally genocide, and I don't believe that Israel has genocidal intentions towards Arabs as Hamas, etc. has genocidal intentions towards Jews. HOWEVER, there is no doubt that there is a humanitarian disaster happening there. You can share the blame between Hamas who started this current war and uses their own people as human shields and Israel who is trying to crush Hamas and can't avoid the tragic consequences to civilians, but it's still real and horrible whatever you call it. So definitely much more needs to be done to address the suffering in Gaza but it's still not reasonable to demand that Israel surrender to Hamas.

Unfortunately, the Maga fascists the same as war criminal genocidal dictator Putin cannot be ignored until they're soundly defeated.

It's totally on topic! Who is blocking desperately needed military aid to Ukraine? Trump, Johnson, Greene, etc. -- Maga fascists. Blood on their hands and shame on all pro Putin Americans as well.

Taxation is another factor to consider. If you do take out big chunks that means more tax if your withdraws are subject to tax meaning drawing down too much if there is tax increases the chance of running out of money. Of course the fear of running out of money when you are past earning money is the main and very real fear factor in these decisions.

I think if Putin thinks he can get away with it, he'll go for any target including NATO countries (the Baltics are particularly vulnerable). The west caving in Ukraine aided by the Maga fascists would give him confidence. There are also non NATo countries in the east that interest him. Obviously of course Putin thought conquering Ukraine would be much easier and quicker but it hasn't been and yet it's clear that he will never stop as long as he lives! There is no such thing as fair negotiation with Putin. As far as long term damage to Russia, yes some of that has already happened, and continued damage to Russia which is unfortunately slow is the best chance for Ukraine to prevail. It's amazing what Ukraine has done with blowing up Russian oil refineries and sinking black sea ships. All the maga fascists look at is the Ukraine map and lack of progress taking back stolen lands. But much more is going on. Taking out the Kherson Bridge is probably hopefully inevitable and that would be a huge turning point. Ukraine has proven that Putin's red lines where he is going to use nukes are all bluff. Yes all this may take years or many years but so do many historical wars (should the allies in WW2 caved to the Nazis after two years?), and it's clear to me that the only way Ukraine loses is for the west to lose its resolve. An irony is that with a weakened Russia, China will be tempted to pounce on to Siberia using the same kind of historical narratives Putin uses against Ukraine. Also about Ukraine. Yes Ukraine is special to Putin. He really believes his perverted narrative of history that Ukraine doesn't exist separate from Russia. Negotiations at best will create a pause for a later push.

I retired earlier than that but early retirement has different math considerations. You can retire at 30 if you can afford it, but probably most such people shouldn't be drawing down before their 60's.

Can you be deluded AND immature?

I see it differently. It's a war of choice by a Russian dictator. NATO is just a covering talking point for him. He has an ideology calling for the expansion of the current Russian empire. He doesn't consider Ukraine a legitimate distinct language, culture. people, or nation from "Mother" f-er Russia. So in effect his intention is genocide of Ukraine. Become Russified or become dead. Ukraine is not his only expansionist target, far from it. but if Russia wins against Ukraine it's a message to the entire illiberal world.

The math on this issue is not too complicated, but the emotional stuff can be. Obviously these are very individual decisions as each person has different finances, different situations, and different probabilities on life spans. It's similar to decision Americans make on social security benefits as far as the starting age impacting the annual payout. As a general rule most people shouldn't be thinking about drawdown until older age, probably for most people some time in their 60s. You can look at the traditional 4 percent withdrawal guideline when you start to retire, again for most people in their 60s or later. Under that guideline, the formula includes adding an additional increment annually as well. For Americans with taxable retirement accounts the government forces us to withdraw more than 4 percent starting at about age 72. So it's a moving math game competing with biological realities. The idea of spending down to nothing is fun to think about of course but crazy because you can't predict when the perfect time to have nothing will be unless you intend to off yourself then. I guess I think the middle path is best. Draw down yes but in a reasonable way that doesn't make running out of money likely. Easier said than done as I'm now old enough to draw down but spend so little that my net worth keeps increasing! So yeah I need to work on this harder. Good topic to get people to think about this.

News flash. Not everyone is you.

You don't say!

What's a check?

Israel demonizers will never acknowledge that Jews are indigenous to Israel For them its always the false narrative of rich "white" Jew oppressors vs poor dark skinned innocent victims.

Nothing surprising. Israeli is a democracy and they will discuss a range of options.

You really hate Israelis, huh?

Cabal? Really? We can always count on you and other western pro maga types to repeat Kremlin talking points.

Yep. Ukrainian blood on their hands. Maga is not just isolationist. They are anti-Ukraine, and pro Putin.

Look at the bigger picture. Trump tells us what he's about, again and again and again. Presidential Historian: Trump Actually Doing 'Us All A Favor' With Fascist Rhetoric (msn.com)

Meaningless statement without being more specific.

You haven't heard? How convenient for you. Do you think it helps your credibility as an obvious Israel demonizer to act so dumb? Hamas’s Genocidal Intentions Were Never a Secret - The Atlantic Understanding Hamas’s Genocidal Ideology A close read of Hamas’s founding documents clearly shows its intentions.

Again NEITHER side wants a two state solution. A one state solution means the end of Israel. Don't ask me what a solution could be because looking at the history nobody has come close to cracking that nut.