The Economy

I agree that Medicare and Medicaid laws are complicated, and I know it’s too late for your situation. But for others, there is a way to transfer assets into an irrevocable trust in which if it goes longer than the five-year look back period for Medicaid, then Medicaid cannot touch those assets.

My parents did that with their house (I’m an only child). They put the house into trust so that Medicaid cannot take it if they ended up in a nursing home, and it’s been more than five years already.

 

Mrs. t_b_f is an only child, so her parents sold us their house for a buck years ago.

 

Good advice. And to add to that it is never too early to consult a lawyer about these issues. And find someone who specializes in these issues. The rules are very arcane.

 

Homesteads should be exempt from that rule anyway. That's one of the rules I want to see changed.

 

About time.

Justice Department sues Apple, alleging it illegally monopolized the smartphone market

 

I have semi documented my quest to buy a new truck on these hallowed pages.
The saga came to a happy end today with a new '24 Toyota Tacoma in my driveway.
Hooooo Laaawwwwd.
I'll give a detailed report later, but it's been a heck of a day. I don't want to do that ever again.
I was finally able to buy a new truck, though.

 

I recently went through it, as well. Going to a dealership is not a fun experience.

 

Literal sentence I uttered in a dealership: “I bought a house in fewer steps than it took for you to finally back off this anti-theft system surcharge on this SUV.”

 

Not a political question - but I'm very confused about the Digital World merger - can someone explain what a "special purpose" acquisition company does? Or why they are called blank check companies. I've found at least a dozen articles on the merger and still have no clue. Did they bring the value to the merger or did Truth Social? If so, how does DW make money?

 

The "money" he made is in shares of DWAC, which will become TMTG (or DJT?) on Monday-ish. He can't sell for six months, unless the board grants an exception. ... and he and his family control the board.

As for the value, it's a meme stock. It's alleged market cap is like $1.5 billion (and Trump is the majority share holder), but it reported $3 million in revenue ... not profit ... just revenue in the first three quarters of 2023.

So it's a social media startup, with much less than 10 million users, that is hemorrhaging money on scant revenue. The fundamentals make absolutely zero sense, and - barring a mass user migration from X to Truth - it's destined to go to the way of Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, and Trump Casino.

The only question is who gets to be the bag holder when the circus stops.

 

Convo I once had with a guy at a dealership trying to sell me some sort of major car repair insurance:

Dealership Guy: “If you have insurance, your repairs are free. If your engine goes while you’re away from home, it won’t cost anything.”

Me: “For the amount of money over the five years that you want me to pay for this insurance, I could just save that money and get a new engine anyways.”

Dealership Guy; “Um, yes, but what if it happens twice? The insurance would cover the second repair.”

Me: “What kind of lemon are you selling me that would have an engine die on me twice in five years?”

 

I headed that off by telling the dealer I might’ve built the engine he was selling me. Depends if it was built on first or second shift.

I told him I knew the wire harness was put on correctly. Everybody hated that job and it was my jam.