patrick.net

What did you have for lunch?

Pasta.

Now I feel like sushi for dinner. :(

Now you remind me to crank out some pasta for dinner. That piece of dough has been sitting for long enough!

Now you remind me to crank out some pasta for dinner. That piece of dough has been sitting for long enough!

Oh FRESH pasta!!!

I am also conceptualizing some white-wine cream sauce for ink pasta.

StuckinBA,

Good analysis! And you're right, I've bet on rates on gotten burned (who hasn't, right?)

More importantly though the difference between "needing" the loan and "choosing" is an important distinction. A nice problem to have. If Stretch is a 1099 guy (or...... could potentially become one) that changes things considerably.

If you have a classic like X's T-Bird (not a daily driver) than obviously cash is the way to go! But for something that's sharing the road with half-wits that think "it'd be a kick to be on Cops" I'd let the bank and the ins. company take the risk. That's just me.

But remember the golden rule of shortcuts - anything that makes it easier on the way IN will make it proportionately more painful on the way OUT.

No exit strategy then.

SP,

Proportionately or exponentially?

Btw, what IS "ink pasta"? Anybody? :(

Btw, what IS “ink pasta”? Anybody?

A type of pasta made with squid ink. It is usually black in color.

So..... mortgage+gang+bangers+bankers?

I think we have one for WordSpy!

It sounds like I need to give you alittle more background so you can help me analyze this decision. Thanks in advance for indulging me. I am indeed a W-2 wage earner who is married. My wife and max our 401k's each year at the $15,000 limit. We are in the 30% tax bracket and have a household income between $200k - $300k. We are renters and have somewhere between $350k - 400k in liquid assets which are not retirement related. Our only debt is the 50k car. What do you think?

I believe Peter P is thinking of pasta made with squid ink, for inky black goodness!

HAHA

Mortgage Bangsters is hilarious! Nearly spit out my soda on that one!

"So….. mortgage+gang+bangers+bankers?"

Can I have that in German?

Peter P,

Is that right? Is this a dish that has a precedent?

Is this a dish that has a precedent?

Sure.

http://tinyurl.com/3xmrum

Peter P,

Hmm, that doesn't look too appetitizing...

Making risotto with squid ink is a traditional Venetian dish, or so my cookbook claims.

Hmm, that doesn’t look too appetitizing…

This is why I propose a wine-cream sauce. It needs something white. And perhaps some cherry tomatoes.

Also, I think restricting seafood to scallops, prawns, and clams would be better.

Hmm, for some reason I thought it was a Spanish dish

Making risotto with squid ink is a traditional Venetian dish, or so my cookbook claims.

IIRC Cascal on Castro in Mtn View has a paella dish with black ink noodle.

I like fried calamari, as long as it's fresh and made with a very light batter.

I like fried calamari, as long as it’s fresh and made with a very light batter.

Same.

I also like calamari or octopus stewed in a spicy tomato sauce.

Actually, tempura batter (light batter with ice + water) is pretty good too.

Tempura is good, but I think it would result in too much batter to calamari for my liking.

Tempura is good, but I think it would result in too much batter to calamari for my liking.

True.

What is the best dipping sauce for calamari? I like mayo.

My wife loves calamari salad with lime juice and red onion (Thai style).

I have no idea about "best," I prefer malt vinegar or basalmic vinegar on most things.

Malt vinegar! I love Fish and chips too.

Peter P's pasta precedent is a classic Venetian dish, spaghetti al nero di seppia... spaghetti in cuttlefish ink.

The Corte Sconta, a restaurant in the Castello district of Venice had the 'original' on the menu last winter. It was terrific.

Worchester sauce can be very good, especially the Chinese variant.

Worchester sauce can be very good, especially the Chinese variant.

I use that on Chicken a la King.

Wow - I once some cooked beets, forgot about it and gave myself quite a scare the next morning. I wonder if squid ink also has the same effect on your um… post-digestive output.

YES it does. Somtimes it will come out BLUE.

Forgot what I just said.

SP, this being the Internet and all, I wouldn't be surprised if someone out there has put together a multi-colored ...um... fountain show, kinda like that one in Barcelona

/ducks and runs

Did we just open the pandora's box?

Dinor,
You are starting to sound like The Mortgage Professor. Admittedly, half the battle is a psychological game -- paying down the mortgage is an "enforced" savings that can be hard to beat without some discipline.... Oh, and I can only hope for MID phaseouts in the future.
Uh-oh, this is starting to sound like a Monty Hall problem: behind door number 1, the SD; door number 2, max 401(k) contribution; and door number 3, MID. Hmmmm, or is this more of a horse/cart issue. My wagon is hitched to MID so now I have to decide if I fully fund the 401(k) (actually SIMPLE IRA). Of course I take the company match off the top, but after that... perhaps some crumbs for a 529. I mean, I can avoid retirement, but not the education expenses :-)

StuckInBA said:
My investment track record is quite decent
Nice call on oil a couple of weeks ago. Are you a weatherman? :-)
I'm long Chevron, Conoco, and CHK (for natural gas exposure).
Seriously, though, dollar cost averaging indexes over a 30 year period does involve some risk, but I'm willing to bet that you can beat your return from paying down the mortgage. Plus, homes have that ... uhhh... illiquid aspect.

EBGuy :

I went long on XLE. Somehow USO makes me uncomfortable. It's plain luck though. Oil is such a complicated commodity. Politics plays a bigger role. I don't think even the Saudis like $75 a barrel.

Seriously, though, dollar cost averaging indexes over a 30 year period does involve some risk, but I’m willing to bet that you can beat your return from paying down the mortgage.

Maybe. I should take a look at the bubblizer and see if it can help answer that question. Sounds similar to what it is trying to do.

Plus, homes have that … uhhh… illiquid aspect.
How much liquidity does one need anyway ? Keep some and have a HELOC ready for more severe emergencies.

Peter P :

I am not sure what white sauce will do to that. Even if it is lighter and grayish, hmmm I don't know ... Maybe it was a bad photo.

Stretch :

You are in an enviable position. So tell me again, given what you have said about your assets, why do you care about the 50K being liquid ;-) ?

Anyway, your guess is as good as mine about interest rates. I don't think the Fed will increase rates. The CPI can be arranged to be kept around 2 forever. You think they will increase the rates in 08 - an election year ?

After age 50 or so, I am banking on working at reduce pay but hopefully still gets medical (if that doesn’t work, I would have to leave the country).

CB, 50 is the new 30. :)

Very very relevant to the current discussion.
http://tinyurl.com/yudfcy

Very very relevant to the current discussion.

Oh, it is not about ink pasta any more.