Category: life

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Is It Okay to Use the Word “Androgynous?”

Our world is always growing and changing, hopefully in ways that make it more inclusive and comfortable for every single person who inhabits it. Most of us want to adapt in order to help make that possible, but the truth is, sometimes we just don’t know the answers to the hard questions – and we’re afraid to ask!

If you’re wondering if the word “androgynous” still has a place in the current lexicon, if it’s the same or different than modern terms like “nonbinary” and “genderfluid,” we’ve got your back.

Image Credit: iStock

Syracuse University professor Rose Bell is someone who identifies as all three of those terms – but points out that’s not true of others who identify with one (or more) of them.

“These are very different; someone can be one of these things without being the others, or they could be all of them! Androgyny can mean a number of things.

I most often hear it used to refer to gender presentation. In this sense, it means someone whose appearance does not fit either masculine or feminine norms – who doesn’t look or dress like a man or a woman.

But some people also identify as androgynous, which isn’t the same as looking androgynous.

And both of these things are different from ‘nonbinary,’ although there is definitely some overlap.”

If someone is “cisgender,” their actual gender is the same one they were assigned at birth. “Transgender” people’s actual gender is different from the one they were assigned at birth. And “nonbinary” individuals experience a gender identity that is neither male nor female.

They may also call themselves gender fluid, agender, a third gender, or some other term that feels more right.

“Nonbinary is an umbrella term that describes anyone who has a gender identity that is not strictly one of the ‘big two’ binary categories.

There are many different identities under that umbrella.

It’s important to remember that not all nonbinary people have androgynous gender presentation!

Nonbinary is about who you are, not about how you look.”

Which is to say, as ever, you can’t judge a book by its cover – or how a person prefers to dress.

Image Credit: iStock

Androgynous people might identify as any gender, or if they’re gender fluid, that might change from day-to-day.

Physical androgyny has had fairly good media representation since the 1970s and 1980s, when people like David Bowie and Annie Lennox defied gender norms in front of cameras.

Image Credit: iStock

Scott Barry Kaufman wrote a piece about the difference between physical and psychological androgyny in Scientific American.

“Physical androgyny was creative in the ’80s because it was actually innovative. It did challenge gender stereotypes. It got people to think differently about stereotypical male and female roles.

It wasn’t the superficial physical aspects of androgyny that made it so creative, it was the psychological aspects that it represented.”

Psychological androgyny is defined as crossing “sex typed standards of desirable behavior.”

Image Credit: iStock

Bell reminds us that representation continues to matter, and that we’re not done until every single person can look to some form of media and see themselves there.

“Androgyny as a presentation isn’t always connected to gender identity. Many people who are nonbinary also look androgynous. But not everyone.

And the opposite is also true; not everyone who appears androgynous is nonbinary. A nonbinary gender identity can be a very personal thing — you don’t always have to wear it on the outside.

There should be space to be whoever you really are. I want people not to expect things from me based on what they think my gender is and putting ‘nonbinary’ or ‘androgynous’ in a box is just another way of doing that.”

I would hope that, wherever you fall on the gender spectrum, however you choose to embrace and display your gender through your clothing and behaviors, you could find a way to feel comfortable in your skin.

Everyone being understanding, being willing and open to learning more, and supporting representation in media, will go a long way toward making utopia a reality.

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Hilarious Memes to Help Shake off the Fall Blues

It’s that time of year when it gets dark around 4 p.m. so you know that season depression’s just about to hit.

While sunlight might be limited, the memes are always in abundance.

Here are 15 memes to help you fend off the gloom and start your day on the right foot.

1. An iconic moment

We all know what this feels like.

Photo Credit: someecards

2. The ultimate third wheel

Whoopi Goldberg seriously had to have nerves of steel to put up with these two.

Photo Credit: someecards

3. This one’s harsh

Well, at least we’re not alone.

Photo Credit: someecards

4. Exactly

Seriously, what happened to earning your stripes?

Photo Credit: someecards

5. Wish I had a time machine

Remember planking?

Photo Credit: someecards

6. That’s real

Of course the pounds accumulate in the most inconvenient place.

Photo Credit: someecards

7. Oof

This must be why my dad’s stand-up set hasn’t changed since 2004.

Photo Credit: someecards

8. Can we make this a reality?

It’d be amazing if anxiety counted as exercises.

Photo Credit: someecards

9. The most precious thing on the internet

Come on, how could you not look at this and smile?

Photo Credit: someecards

10. Relatable

Ready to retire like this.

Photo Credit: someecards

11. Same

A few texts is more than good enough for me.

Photo Credit: someecards

12. Ugh, amazing

This is great news for all of us.

Photo Credit: someecards

13. That’s friendship

It stands the test of time and endures every form of violence.

Photo Credit: someecards

14. Yep, pretty much

I, too, would have zero dollars.

Photo Credit: someecards

15. An olympic athlete lives in all of us

I’m just going to pretend that I look like this.

Photo Credit: someecards

Well, that managed to energize me. It’s great to know that we can always count on the internet for funny memes to help keep the blues away.

What are some memes that always cheer you up? Share them with us in the comments below!

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Absolute Champions Who Quit Their Jobs With Sophistication and Class

Are you finally at the end of your rope? Trying to find a civil way to leave that terrible, no good, dead-end job?

Don’t sweat it; there are always answers on the internet.

Take a tip from these 13 heroes who already did it for you.

1. That’s one way to do it

Talk about making a loud and proud exit.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

2. Apparently this is a popular choice

I’d say it’s super effective.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

3. It’s never too late to change careers

Use this for when your boss is a total Bowser.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

4. Short and sweet

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

5. Points for creativity

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

6. The classics never go out of style

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

7. Ah, the sympathy cards

Because, truly, it is their loss.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

8. Freedom is so, so sweet

And so is this cake!

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

9. Surprise!

Check out this double whammy.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

10. Fitting

As they say, do unto others…

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

11. This one’s wild

Stockpile up on this card for your future reference.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

12. That’s fancy

Cookie cakes might be the cheapest of the cakes, but they’re also the best of them.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

13. This is the best one yet

Booking a limo for an entire posse of coworkers? Now that’s what I call leaving in style. hope they hit the club for 36 hours straight.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

Well, I feel like I just vicariously experienced all these people living their absolute best lives. Hats of to them for following their guts and ripping off the unhappy employment bandaid with tons of glam.

What’s the wildest way you’ve put in your two weeks’ notice? Let us know in the comments below!

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This is Why We See Such Beautiful Colors in the Fall

Fall is such a great time of year. It’s a time of transition from summer to winter, and nothing quite embodies that transition like the changing colors of the leaves.

According to an Iroquois Native American legend, the leaves change colors in the winter because a group of young hunters slew the Great Bear, and its blood turned the leaves red.

While a vivid illustration, there’s actually a much simpler and less gory explanation for why the leaves change colors in the fall.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Do you remember learning about photosynthesis in school? If not, let’s do a quick refresher.

Photosynthesis is the process of plants converting carbon dioxide, water and sunlight into energy. Photosynthesis cannot happen without chlorophyll.

According to Gardening Know How,

“chlorophyll, which resides in the chloroplasts of plants, is the green pigment that is necessary in order for plants to convert carbon dioxide and water, using sunlight, into oxygen and glucose.”

So, does that mean the leaves turn shades of yellow, orange, and red because the plants are running out of chlorophyll?

Well… yes and no.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Chlorophyll isn’t the only pigment present in leaves, even when they looks green. Pigments carotene and xanthophyll are also present, although we can’t see them.

In the fall, when the days are shorter and colder, and the air is dryer, there isn’t as much sunlight for the leaves of the trees to absorb.

Without sunlight, those leaves can’t convert carbon dioxide and water into energy, so they stop their food making process.

The chlorophyll in the leaf breaks down, revealing the other beautiful pigments that were always there.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Have you ever wondered why the leaves fall as they change color?

This happens because as the days get shorter and colder, each leaf grows a layer of cells that seal it off from the tree.

The tree keeps living, and the leaf detaches and decomposes, so that a new leaf can grow in the spring.

While carotene pigments give rise to orange leaves, xanthophyll pigments give us those beautiful yellow leaves like you might see on a Big-leaf Maple.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Some leaves, like those of most oak trees, will simply turn brown. Red or reddish-purple leaves will have various mixtures of anthocyanin pigments residing within them.

Some years you might see more vivid red leaves. This is because weather plays a role in determining how much anthocyanin pigment can be found in certain leaves.

Sunny days mixed with low evening temperatures, above freezing, generally lead to more anthocyanin production in trees like maples.

With the sun shining, the leaf can produce energy, but the cool evenings cause the tree to absorb as much sugar and nutrients from the leaf as possible.

The result is a higher amount of anthocyanin pigments.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Isn’t science cool?

Hopefully, the next time you take an autumn stroll through the park or in the woods, you’ll remember how the colors of fall come to be, and appreciate them all the more.

Personally, I love a maple full of yellow leaves.

What do you think is the most beautiful type of tree in the fall? Let us know in the comments!

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People Talk About Things That Are Not Serious but Can Ruin Your Whole Day

If you’re anything like me, sometimes you let little things ruin your whole day.

I know, I know, it’s definitely not a good thing and I’m trying to work on it, but I’m still guilty of letting it happen from time to time…

Do you let things that are not serious ruin your day sometimes?

Here’s what AskReddit users had to say about this.

1. The absolute worst.

“Getting in the most comfy position in my bed, but the sudden urge to pee arises.”

2. Now I look stupid.

“When you’re trying to show someone something and at that very moment, whatever you’re trying to show them is fine/isn’t working and you look dumb.”

3. Here we go again.

“Waking up to the wet choking sound of your cat or dog puking on carpet, with just enough time to hear it happening but not enough to prevent it.”

4. Back in the day.

“It’s going to sound stupid, but back before the times of all online schooling/social distanced sxhooling – someone taking your seat in class.

Doesn’t matter if it was highschool or college I would get very put off from not being in my seat in class. I was told once it’s probably connected to anxiety or something but ehhhhh.”

5. Time to rage.

“Food I had left at home that I was looking forward to eating after a long day at work being guzzled down by a family member.”

6. That’s not mine.

“Wrong coffee order. It kills me for the day.

I know it’s not a big deal and I can’t get mad at a little mistake but f*ck, not my coffee.”

7. Uggghhh!

“Being on hold with customer service for over an hour and then getting hung up on.”

8. Oh, no!

“Feeling good about yourself and then walking past a shop window or something and catching a glimpse of your own reflection.

Day ruined.”

9. Bad mood.

“Getting a flat tire.

If you know what you’re doing you can have it fixed and be in your way in 10 minutes, but now your day is ruined, your mood sucks, and you’re going to probably have to pay for a new tire.”

10. Let’s do this later.

“For me, it’s my wife talking about planning things before my 1st cup of coffee.”

11. None of it is true!

“Hearing rumors/ lies about yourself.

It doesn’t matter especially when it’s not true but certain days it stings more than others”

12. Like losing a limb.

“Realizing you left your phone at home 20 minutes after you leave the house…”

13. May I speak?

“Repetitively getting cut off talked over mid-sentence when discussing things in the work place.

I’m speaking because I believe I have something to add. Being talked over repetively then, having folks do it on purpose after they realize it’s my tick completely deflates me.

It enforces the notion of not being valuable to the team, and I shut up.”

14. All bad stuff.

“Not being able to sleep the night before.

Spilling coffee on yourself right after you get dressed.

Cat puked on the carpet.

You open a weird book and unleash a demon older than the world, and the cafeteria is out of a lot of stuff.”

Now we want to hear from you.

In the comments, tell us about the small things that can ruin your whole day.

Thanks a lot!

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People Discuss the Really Bad Financial Decisions They Seen Folks Make

It’s really hard to see people go through very difficult times because of bad financial decisions that they’ve made in their lives.

And, as you probably know, it happens to quite a few people.

So what’s the worst financial decision you’ve seen someone make?

Let’s check out some interesting stories from folks on AskReddit.

1. Irresponsible.

“People who make over $250k (sometimes WELL over), no withholding, not paying estimated taxes throughout the year, can’t afford the tax bill with the return EVERY YEAR, then b*tching because they can’t afford the installment payments on the taxes they owe from two years ago.

Motherfu*ker, sell your gaudy McMansion, take your teenage daughter’s credit card away, let your drunk driving son stay in jail and get a public defender, and tell your wife to stop spending all day at the tennis courts sipping mimosas.

Get your sh*t together and pay taxes throughout the year like the rest of us. You aren’t being persecuted by the IRS, you’re just an idiot.”

2. Sad.

“I work for a bank.

One of our branches had a customer who was basically homeless. Then, he wins the lottery! Over the next few months, the staff watched him come in to withdraw thousands of dollars every day to spend on extravagances.

Everyone tried to convince him to sit with a financial advisor to help him make the most of his money. Less than a year later, he’s in slightly better shape than when he started; he’s at least able to live in the car he bought.”

3. Yowza.

“I’ve had a client where I noticed this guy’s credit debt always remained hovering $13k to $15k.

I asked him why he only makes minimum payments on his credit card instead of paying it off, because I see he has roughly $11k sitting in a bank account. Interest per month on that credit card bill is roughly $250, and according to his repayment patterns it will take him roughly 19 years to pay it all off.

His answer to me is the bank charges him $7.99 per month for his bank account if his balance dips below $10k… So to save the $7.99 per month this guy is paying $250 in interest on his credit card.”

4. Do your research.

“What I’ve seen, countless times, is someone who started a business with ZERO research, no understanding of what running a business involves. (Here’s a hint: practically every business involves paperwork and deadlines.).

The business models come in waves… for awhile it was Barbecue shacks, then it was cupcakes, then house flippers, then food trucks. I think they see it being done on TV shows that make it look fun. It isn’t fun when they come to me with debt, tax levies and lawsuits.

IRS and state labor department and health department on their backs, and suppliers taking them to court for unpaid bills. Some of them cashed out their retirement account to buy a business; others put their house up as collateral for an SBA loan. it’s a nightmare.

If they had come to an accountant first, we might be able to help them (or even better, dissuade then). I usually see them after 18-24 months of screwups and by then it’s usually too late to rescue them.”

5. Uh oh.

“An older gentleman came in worrying about a ton of overdraft fees on his 18 year old sons account. The fees added up to a hefty amount and he was worried that the charges were fraudulent.

Upon looking at the account history, every recent purchase was to OnlyFans. The fees were happily waived and no detail was given as to what OnlyFans is, as the kids old man clearly didn’t know.

I think about that kid often. I wonder how he’s doing.”

6. Car problems.

“Claims Adjuster here, and I see it happen all too often – trading in vehicles with negative equity.

Why? Why can’t you be financially responsible and pay off your vehicle instead of rolling the leftover loan onto that new shiny machine you just can’t resist, and rinse/repeat a couple of years later. Your loan is just getting bigger and bigger.

I had one client (recent, otherwise I had more than that) – who totaled his vehicle. He blew pass a stop sign and collided with another vehicle. Guess what friend, out of that $70,000 you still owe to the bank because you’ve traded in 4,5 vehicles over the years – we are only covering you for what your current vehicle is worth today, around $25,000 or whatever it was – depreciation applies unless you have the proper endorsement in place. That means you will be paying the bank for the leftover loans of some vehicles, none of which you own.

Own one vehicle, one loan – if you ever totaled your vehicle, insurance will provide you enough to cover the loan. If it doesn’t quite cover it because of high interest, it sure as hell isn’t a $45k loan left.”

7. Bummer.

“I had my former boss decide it was a great idea to buy land in Texas, our company was based in PA, in the middle of nowhere because he talked to another business owner who told him it was going to take off.

Myself and my co-worker advised against it but things were slow and he didn’t listen. At first it was going to be a place of operations but then he decided we would just rent out rooms to the people who worked down there in the oil industry. Dumped loads of money, time, and blood, sweat, and tears into it for it to just go bust not even a year later.”

8. Play nice.

“Worked in a family law firm.

Way too common of an occurrence is a client ignoring the lawyers advice for a balanced separation agreement and instead ambushing their spouse with an agreement that says they are getting everything.

Now instead of a relatively amicable breakup and maybe some mediation to sort out some sticking points it’s tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation costs.

If you are going through a divorce play nice. The only ones that win in a bad divorce are the lawyers.”

9. Hmmmm…

“I audit larger companies so I don’t work with individuals. However, my friend’s dad mentioned that he pays 3.5% annually in advisor fees to his financial advisor, and that’s not even including the fees that the mutual funds he’s invested in are charging him.

So annually, he’s paying out in the ballpark of 4.5% of his portfolio. That’s right, every freaking year. I tried to explain to him that these fees are potentially costing him millions more than a reasonably priced advisor who recommends low-cost mutual funds would charge him throughout a life time. He just kind of shrugged and told me that he felt comfortable with the guy.”

10. Time to mitigate the damage.

“A 94 year old woman withdrew a $540,000 annuity that she THOUGHT was a TAX FREE life insurance policy. She owed the IRS over $90,000 and the State of Michigan $14,000.

When I explained it was an annuity and not a life insurance policy she panicked. What was done was done and we just had to mitigate the damage.”

11. That’s not good.

“The parents of a young woman bought her a condo. They paid cash so she wouldn’t have a mortgage. She sold it so she’d have party money.

Not only did she no longer have a place to live, she owed taxes on the gain. But she’d already spent the proceeds so didn’t have money to pay the taxes.

Oh, and she didn’t have a job because it would interfere with her partying schedule.”

12. Family drama.

“Grandma pulls 50k to help grandson pay off college debt. He blows all the money, steals another 10k from her.

She won’t file police report because “they are family”, daughter steps in, grandma is furious with daughter for telling police what happened. Grandma takes daughter off as beneficiary, replaces her with grandson.”

13. “Still haunts me…”

“I’ve seen plenty that made me cringe, but the worst one wasn’t because there was a lot of money involved.

So I’m working at this bank branch years ago, I was tired of being stuck in the drive thru so I made a lateral move to be a floating teller among other things. But occasionally I’d have to fill in at the old branch, which sucked because the manager there hated me.

Anyway, during my time there I became acquainted with an older gentleman, he was a world War II vet and was always wearing his navy vet cap. I talked to him every time I saw him and he was always really nice, had a great sense of humor, and even in old age he was still mentally sharp.

So this one day I’m filling in at the branch covering for the new accounts person. This guy walks in and I immediately knew something was off. I greeted him and asked how I could help him, and what he said broke my heart. He told me that he wanted his daughter off of his account, that she had been taking advantage of him and his money was being wasted.

I did my due diligence and brought up some history and asked him about specific charges, I remember there were a bunch for a couple of salons, so clearly those weren’t his transactions. The last few times I had seen him, there was a younger woman with him that I hadn’t seen before, and he was pulling out cash and giving it to her.

It dawned on me that each time I had seen him, he was there with someone else that did all his stuff for him, and that this time he had come in alone, which never happened.

So while looking at his account I noticed that his daughter is an owner on the account, meaning he can’t just remove her, she has to consent to it. When I asked him if he thought she would agree to that, he said no and started crying.

Normally we weren’t supposed to keep pushing a situation like this, but I really wanted to help him. I told him I couldn’t get her off the account, but I could open him a new one where he would be the only one on it, and then we could transfer the money over.

I could tell he was relieved when I said that to him, so after a few minutes I took care of everything for him. I specifically remember that after I finished, I gave him my business card, and told him that if he had any issues he could call me. A few minutes later he left happy, and I briefed the manager on what had happened.

A day or two later I’m working at another location when I get a call on my cell from my boss, she asked me if I had helped an older gentleman with his account when I was at my old branch. It turns out that after I had helped him, his “daughter” had tried to use the account to pay for more of the sh*t she was wasting his money on, and the card was declined.

She had gone into the branch and raised hell, screaming at the employees there and demanding they bring her the person responsible. The business card that I had given the man didn’t have my direct number on it, the number went to my boss. She had screamed at my boss and demanded that I be fired for what I had done.

My boss as well as the branch manager that hated my guts had both defended me and neither of them would give in to her demands. But I found out later on the next time I saw my boss, she had forced the old man to either move all the money back to the old account or to make her an owner on the new one. When anyone asked her about the situation, she just claimed that he had dementia and didn’t know what he was doing.

I honestly hope she was telling the truth, but I never saw that man again, and had moved into another role and then to a different company not long after. I went to anyone that would listen about what happened, but no one could do anything because elder abuse is so difficult to prove.

The whole thing still haunts me, I saw an old man asking me for help and did the best I could for him. In the end he either made the decision to keep her around or was forced to, and I worry I just made things worse for him.”

14. Wow.

“My brother had a long standing client of around 10 years get married after only knowing a woman for 12 months. He was almost 55, she was in her early 30s.

55 y.o. man wanted to add her as a signatory on his retirement account. Basically giving her 100% power over the account. A quick soft credit check showed she was not good with money. My brother offered up many different options as to how to give her access to the money but with limitations. He even straight up refused to do it, saying that he needed to think about it for a few days.

The guy came back in the next morning saying he would file a complaint against him if he didn’t set it up. My brother said that he would need to get the documents notarized, and sign a waiver that this is against the institutions advice.

The guy comes back in later that day and finalizes the deal.

You can guess what happened within about 6 months.

The account had around 600k in it to begin with, and she had managed to run off with about 65k before the account was frozen by my brother for review of withdrawls.

The man was p*ssed and tried to lawyer up twice. Neither time did it even go to court.

His advice is that if you are married and have investment accounts, just keep them separate unless you REALLY have a reason to give them access. You can totally notify the agency about your marriage, and sometimes in certain situations the spouse can get limited info confirmed for medical bills and such.”

How about you?

What’s the worst financial decision you’ve ever seen someone make?

Tell us your stories in the comments! Please and thank you!

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People Share Their Opinions About Good Things That Have Happened in 2020

Even though it’s been a rough year, there’s still a lot of positivity in the world, right?

Darn right! We have to look at the good side of things or else you get dragged down and you bring down those around you.

So what are the good things that happened in 2020?

Here’s what folks had to say on AskReddit.

1. Good for you!

“I quit smoking cigarettes. It’s changed my life.

I was using an inhaler multiple times every single day and now it’s somewhere in my closet… I don’t need it anymore. I’m sleeping way better and there’s no irritability or impatience in me.

Next week will be six months clean and this week I already felt gratitude for being 10 months sober! I’ve never had this much control over my addictions and myself in my entire adult life.”

2. All good stuff.

“I got a higher paying job, paid off some debt, moved, lost some weight, got back into an old hobby and bought a house.”

3. In love.

“I got a second chance at love!

I’m still young but my last breakup devastated me and with chronic illness I thought nobody would be able to handle it or I wasn’t worth it.

So far, things are going really well with him.”

4. We all liked it!

“That video with the guy longboarding to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and drinking Ocean Spray.”

5. Congrats!

“Astronomer here! I

finally in May became Dr. Andromeda321 via virtual PhD defense. While virtual is not what I wanted, it was a goal I worked hard to achieve for about eight years despite several obstacles along the way, so it was really awesome to get it done!

And the university is still holding my official diploma, with the plan to have a big fancy ceremony whenever it is safe to do so in person.”

6. Nice work.

“Long story short, I pulled some kids out of a burning vehicle AND got a raise and a very nice bonus afterwords.

Company-wise, my boss has been very good to me this year.”

7. Your rock.

“I realized, after spending copious amounts of time with the husband, I married my best friend.

I think we are more in love now than before we got married. 2019 was a terrible year for our family. My dad died in December (he was only 58). Honestly, 2020 has been way better.

My husband has been a rock through all that.”

8. Movin’ on up.

“I got a job that I genuinely like that pays well. I interviewed in March over zoom and started working in April.

This has allowed me to start saving up money and get more financially secure.”

9. Good friends.

“My friends and I started Zooming every weekend.

We’ve never been closer since graduating high school 26 years ago.”

10. Win-win.

“A lot of people (including myself) have cut out thousands of miles of commuting this year and are now working from home.

That’s a lot of money I’m not spending on gas, and less car exhaust polluting the air. Seems like a win-win. Plus the extra free time not spent fighting traffic is a nice bonus.”

11. Your best friend.

“My 9 year old cat, Icy is cancer survivor. It has been over 2.5 years since she had her cancer removed.

Every six months she goes for a recheck x-ray to make sure it hasn’t come back. A couple months ago her x-ray had a questionable mark on it. She went back a couple weeks ago and my Ice Ice Baby is cancer free! Best part is the mark is gone and we don’t have to take her back for 6 months.

Our vet did say she is getting fat so she is on a diet. I blame her brother and sister. They always leave a little food behind after meals and Icy treats it as an all you can eat buffet. But she is on a diet now so only one treatsie a day and no extra food.”

12. A good year.

“Best year of my life, got close to a really good friend, introduced my sister to a really good friend of hers, lost a lot of weight, Edge returning to WWE.

It just became official that I am moving to 1st shift 30 seconds ago of me typing this, met a girl I really like and found my place in life.”

13.

“In Feb I got to speak at a conference in Hawaii before the shutdown. I had enough time and resources from the shut down to do tasks I never had, spent time getting sober, paying off debts and building a nest egg.

I got scuba certified and a couple of publications under my belt. I played all the videogames and watched all the TV series and read all the comics I never had time for. I am still depressed as hell, not just for myself but for those around me.

But I am only working one job and have two days off a week, with a net positive income every month. Romance sucks and I am not in a position where I can be a hoe again, but I am not sleeping with people I dont like to validate my self worth.

I am getting in great shape and working on doing projects I love and eventually getting a career i want and mental stability. There is a lot of sh*t, but I am doing my best to do everything I can for myself and my communities.”

14. That’s great!

“Everyone is talking about themselves, which is great, but I’m interpreting the question as it being in general.

Africa has been declared free of wild polio which is an outstanding milestone which has not been mentioned much due to covid!!”

Okay, now it’s your turn.

In the comments, tell us about some good things that have happened to you this year.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post People Share Their Opinions About Good Things That Have Happened in 2020 appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Discuss the Worst Financial Decisions They’ve Ever Seen

Have you ever made a terrible financial decision that affected your life in an extremely negative way?

Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of good folks out there who made a bad money decision for one reason or another…and the aftermath can be pretty ugly.

Here are some stories about really bad financial decisions from people on AskReddit.

1. You gotta pay your taxes.

“Had a client who was extremely wealthy about eight years ago tell us he was no longer going to use our services. Last year we get an extremely angry phone call from his wife asking us why we haven’t been filing their taxes.

We showed her the paperwork where her husband said he was no longer going to use our services. And then sh*t hit the fan. This dude apparently just decided he wasn’t going to pay taxes anymore and didn’t file a return for eight years and had been lying to his wife.

They were rich and owed almost 1.4 million dollars in taxes not including interest and penalties. And oh yeah they got absolutely fried by the IRS. If you are in a relationship with someone you need to be involved in financial decisions.

Never let one party handle all of the money and make all of the decisions. That is how bad things happen in both business and in relationships.”

2. Start-up.

“Saw a guy invest about 600k in a start-up. He confirmed in the 1.5 pages agreement that he was fully informed about everything going on.

Please if you invest in that size, ask a lawyer to at least review the agreement.”

3. Didn’t take your advice.

“I had one client that had the money to pay for his kids college without taking out any loans. Instead, he decided to take out a loan on his house to pay for college in order to claim a deduction on his tax return.

When I explained to him that the benefits he’ll get from claiming the interest deduction on his return would not outweigh the amount he spends on interest he was certain I was wrong, even after I showed him the total amount of interest he’d pay and compared that to the expected tax benefit he’d receive for it.”

4. Big winner.

“I had 1 client that won the lottery. It was a $10,000/month annuity FOR LIFE, give or take. Pretty sweet deal, right?

Well, he never went and claimed the prize because he didn’t want to pay the taxes. I told him f*ck the taxes, he can retire and never work another day in his life while still earning $120k/year. Nope, he’d have to pay the taxes so he didn’t go claim the prize. I think he even threw the ticket out.

Dude makes like $60k/year and he turned down the lotto winnings. Like, if you’re not going to claim the winnings because you’re THAT against paying any sort of taxes why bother playing the lottery at all?”

5. A bad move.

“I had a client in her 70s put her whole savings in Tilray stock.

At the time it was trading above 150 per share. I told her it was a terrible idea to put all of her savings in one investment but she told me I was wrong. She argued with me for a good 15 minutes until I relented and said okay, it’s your money. So she put 300k in.

Couple weeks later it starts dropping, I call her and get no answer. It’s sitting at 6 dollars a share now, her account is down to about 12k. Last time I spoke with her I took no pleasure in telling her she’s no longer my client.”

6. He was warned…

“A client who tried to time the market with the coronavirus drop back in March.

He was 55 and had a 7 figure amount in his 401(k) and was 90:10 equity:bonds. His plan was to time the market by shifting his entire allocation to a money market/ bonds, wait for the market to drop more, and then shift back into equity.

This was at the end of March. I tried to warn him. He didn’t answer my subsequent calls.”

7. Credit card hell.

“I’ve had SO MANY people with credit card debt who talk about investing/ saving for a big purchase, but they have 5 figures of 20%+ credit card debt. “I’d rather focus on investments for this call” well you’re gonna get 10% in the market if its a decent year and you’re paying 26% in interest so you’re losing money.

You have a 50% debt to income ratio, you can’t get a mortgage. Yes, I know the kids really wanted a pool this year, but you have $50,000 of CC debt to pay down before it makes sense for you to start saving for their college. 90% of the time they seem irritated and ghost me because I don’t have some magic solution to make their credit card debt disappear.”

8. No understanding.

“I had a client who wanted to know how to give away her 401k because her and her husband’s pensions were already enough for their lifestyle and she didn’t want to be in a higher tax bracket.

She was in her 60s, worth millions, and did not understand how marginal tax brackets work. Or even basic math. She wasn’t looking to get a deduction through gifting stock.

She (clearly) was nowhere near that level of understanding taxes. She just spent her entire life working hard and being extremely frugal, which led to her being a millionaire who lacked a basic understanding of money. Not really a bad decision but I found it really interesting.”

9. A scam.

“Former manager at a credit union.

One seemingly smart lady in her 70s got one of those lottery scam letters saying she won, but needed to send them money to process her winnings. They kept getting her to send more and more money. We were telling her it was a scam from day 1, but we couldn’t stop her.

She burned through her IRA which had about 200k. Took out a loan against her paid off house for another 200k. Sold her jewelry. Probably paid out 500k total before finally realizing.

We truly did everything we could. Got her family involved. Several of us would confront her every time she came in and would plead with her to stop.

It was sad but at some point you have to cut your losses and realize it’s a scam.”

10. Listen to your accountants, people.

“Best friend is a CPA, and when he had his own practice, he had some pretty big-name clients (Senators, musicians, pro athletes, etc.)

One of the biggest mistakes people made were thinking they were smarter than an accountant. His biggest challenge were the people who heard about the “sovereign citizen” nonsense. To no one’s surprise, a random guy on YouTube doesn’t know more than an actual CPA with 40+ years experience.

At least a few of these new-found “sovereign citizens” ended up doing time for tax evasion.”

11. Lost everything.

“Watched a client walk out of my office after I explained the risk in liquidating his 401K to start his own business.

He started it with no management experience or business model, real “fly by the seat of his pants” kinda guy. Wanted to start a career flipping houses in a college town, turn them into upscale rentals. Did it in a bad neighborhood and lost EVERYTHING.”

12. Gold coins.

“I had a client Buy numismatic gold coins with an entire retirement account. She bought 266k worth of coins at almost double the price of bullion.

I got the gold salesman on the phone and asked him to justify the reasoning and I he said it was because the dollar was paper money and worth nothing and that gold was going to go to 10000 a coin. I asked him what he exchanged this gold for and he said “well she paid me dollars”.

Then I said “why would you accept a worthless currency for your rapidly appreciating gold currency?” He cursed at me and hung up and said I didn’t know what I was talking about.

I still haven’t met a gold salesman that can answer this. Their whole pitch is that the dollar isn’t worth anything but they happily take them in exchange for gold coins. The whole thing is sh*t. Poor lady. She can’t sell them now even with gold bullion as high as it is for anything close to what she bought them for.”

13. A shame.

“Former bank teller here.

Had an older gentleman who would typically only come in once a month and pull out a few hundred dollars for living expenses, nice old guy btw. One month he comes in twice in two weeks and pulls out $5k which was bizarre for him. When he came in the third week in a row I planned on asking him if he was remodeling his home or something but I didn’t have to.

He came in to get another $5k out and told me he had won the lottery but had to pay the taxes on his winnings, some of you already know what’s going on. He had received a letter that he won around $3mil from the Kentucky state lotto, we were in Florida, but before he could claim it he had to pay the taxes on it. His account was setup that you could only withdraw $5k a week hence him coming every week.

I tried to explain to him that he was being scammed and to stop sending them money. He was no longer a nice old man when I said that. He accused me of being jealous of his winnings and that “he’d show me” when he deposited his millions in a different bank, then he left. I talked to my manager who then talked to the cops and they said there wasn’t much they could do since it was out of state.

His family even contacted us and begged us not to give him anymore of his money when they found out what was going on, which we cannot legally do. The only thing we could do was close his account because we didn’t want to have any responsibility in his downfall. He came in the following week, manager explained what was going to happen, and he left with a cashier’s check after quite a few more expletives.

Found out a few months after that the scammers got another $50k out of him before his family was able to get power of attorney and control over his finances. Not sure what happened to him after that but it’s a d*mn shame.”

Now we’d like to hear your stories.

What’s the worst financial decision that you’ve seen someone make?

Talk to us in the comments!

The post People Discuss the Worst Financial Decisions They’ve Ever Seen appeared first on UberFacts.

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What Should You Do in Your 20s to Avoid Regrets Later in Life? Here’s What People Said.

Life should be about constantly evolving, constantly learning, and constantly trying to improve yourself.

You go through a lot of peaks and valleys during this interesting ride, and sometimes you just have to experience things firsthand for them to really sink in and force you to make changes.

BUT…I have to admit that if I could do it over again, I would’ve done some things differently in my twenties so my thirties would have been a little bit easier.

But we all live and we learn…

Check out these words of wisdom for twenty-somethings from AskReddit users.

1. Important.

“Learn how to budget. Even if it’s just a simple excel or google sheets file with one column of income, and one of expenses.

When you see everything you buy in a month next to each other, you realize where you can save money pretty well.”

2. Do it yourself.

“Learn how to be independently happy.

I wish someone could have screamed this in my face with a megaphone whenever I was about to do something codependently stupid in my 20s and early 30s.”

3. Good advice.

“Don’t smoke.

Don’t drink every day

Exercise

Eat healthy.

Save your $ and invest.

Don’t marry crazy regardless of how good the s*x is.”

4. Go for it.

“Take chances.

Someone you fancy? Ask them out.

Want to try a new education path or hobby? Do it.

Have trouble with anxiety/self worth/past crappy experiences? Get a good therapist and work on it.

Your 20s are the time you get to figure out who you are.”

5. Very true.

“Protect your hearing!

Wear ear plugs at concerts and don’t always crank up the music in your car.”

6. Goals are good.

“Make sure that if you have a relationship with someone you actually nail down the long term goals and agree on them.

Like kids. How exactly will that work? Marriage? Find your deal breakers and take them seriously.

From 20-30 the time really flies and you don’t want to miss it.”

7. Be active.

“Exercise.

Even lightly once a week. Just do something. Stretch too, yoga is great.

Some won’t try it because of the stigma, but just do it at home with YouTube videos if you want to.”

8. Do it!

“Learn how to cook and eat healthy.

You’ll save money and your body will appreciate it.”

9. YOU DO YOU.

“Live your life the way you want to, not the way your parents tell you is “best”, and not the way society “expects” you to. Unless that actually lines up with what you want.

I spent way too much time doing what I thought were the “right” things or the “best” things and I was actually miserable.”

10. Something to think about. 

“Don’t get married until you are able to be fully self sufficient. If you get married thinking the other half will “complete you,” you are dead wrong. Make sure you know who you are.

When in school get jobs in different fields that interest you. This will help you figure out what you really want to do.

Realize you aren’t stuck anywhere. You can change, you have time.

Have fun! You’ll have plenty of time to be miserable.”

11. Discipline.

“Create discipline.

Find what your goals in life are and set steps to achieve them. Create a minimal workout regimen that you must do (walk, push ups, swim, pullup bar by bathroom, whatever).

Create a diet you want to adhere to. 21 meals a week? You can only do fast food/unhealthy restaurant 4 times or so many desserts a week or so many unhealthy snacks a day.

Read! Read whatever interests you, and always try to find unbiased (yeah right) articles or at least read the side you disagree with too. Open your mind to feel empathy and know others live in this world.

Learn a little more than basic math. Learn an instrument or a couple songs on bass/guitar/drums. Get into at least 1 sport. Last, but not least, learn another language, more if you can.”

12. It’s harder to make friends as you get older.

“Seek out and/or retain social friendships.

College is over, and you probably won’t see a lot of those people very much anymore.

Don’t be afraid to look around for meetup groups or events in your area to meet new people.”

13. Let them know.

“If you don’t want to get married to the person you’re with, tell them.

It’s far better to have some hurt feelings now than to have severe regrets and a lot of legal fees later. Just listen to your gut.”

14. A black hole.

“Don’t get into credit card debt!

if you must get into credit card debt (life can be cruel sometimes), then know the best ways to pay it off over time and set a schedule for yourself. Then stick to it.

The minimum payments will kill you in the long run, but sometimes it’s the best you can do, and that’s okay. Credit card “debt” can save people from being homeless, take care of a medical emergency, help get more time with their kids, etc.

Sometimes it’s okay to but one thing that will help your mental health, too. Just know your limits and stop at one. Then make a plan to pay it off the way that works best for you and do it.”

15. It’s okay to change your mind.

“Always know that change is an option. Many people, myself included, start down a path and think that since I committed to that path, it’s the only path for me.

Don’t get caught in that thought process.

If a choice (career, location, relationship, etc) doesn’t feel right down the road, know you can make a new one. It may be uncomfortable at first, but you can make it through (and likely for the better).”

Now we want to hear from you.

In the comments, tell us what advice you think all folks in their twenties should hear.

Please and thank you!

The post What Should You Do in Your 20s to Avoid Regrets Later in Life? Here’s What People Said. appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Share the Scariest Things They’ve Ever Seen in Their Lives

The world can be a scary place.

One minute you can be walking down the street minding your own business and the next minute you witness a horrible accident or you find yourself in the middle of a sketchy situation.

I’m not trying to get you to barricade your doors and hide inside your houses, but it is important to be aware of your surroundings because it’s wild out there.

Let’s get scary with AskReddit users.

1. This is terrible.

“Junior high school. Was supposed to meet my buddy Nick at the swimming pool.

He didn’t show, so I walked the three blocks to his house to yell at him. His mom let me in and I walked up to his room and opened the door.

Found him hanging from a belt tied to his ceiling fan.”

2. A bad accident.

“Making the long drive home from the lake house, and following behind a tractor trailer* on the highway, in the middle of nowhere way up in the Canadian Rockies .

We round a bend, and out of nowhere a small car coming the other way far too fast for the bend loses control and hits the tractor trailer head on at highway speeds.

Big cloud of car parts explodes into the air, the small car spins violently into the ditch. Instinctively I jump out and run to the small car, shouting at another motorist to call 911. Get to the small car, and there’s basically nothing left of the front – the engine was sitting on the other side of the highway.

I look in what’s left of the car and can’t find the driver. Confused, I look around, and see him in the ditch. I run over, check his carotid pulse, but nothing.

I step back and it’s only then that I realize that his arm is missing. His leg is missing. His other leg is pointing completely the wrong way at the hip and is bent in a number of horrific angles.

They shut the highway down for 8 hours investigating the scene. The image of his mangled body hasn’t faded though.”

3. SuperDad.

“My friend and I got lost in downtown KC while on our way to a concert. We had pulled over and were looking at the directions. Across the street was a very high steep hill with a sidewalk.

I suddenly see a a little girl in a toy car start rolling down the hill toward oncoming traffic. A man is right behind, presumably the father, doesn’t notice immediately. In a matter of seconds this little girl is flying down the hill and her father is sprinting after her.

My friend I are holding our breath horrified at what we are seeing. The road at the base of the hill is bustling with cars. Suddenly, the father launches himself in the air (think superman flying) and catches the handle of the car. It was absolutely insane and terrifying.

But also an incredibly powerful moment. The father gave no thought to his injuries just dove to save his daughter.”

4. Gruesome.

“I was downtown getting eating pizza with my roommate and outside the restaurant, a man attacked a woman and bit her in the face.

He ran off and she ran inside of the restaurant to get help. I could see that he had taken a chunk out of her face and it was just gruesome.”

5. This is bad.

“Worked at a boat and jet ski rental business during the summer. Season was winding down so we only had 2-3 rentals a day at this point, so days were pretty quiet and uneventful.

Some Korean kids, early twenties, take 3 jet skis out for an hour. Normal sh*t, had to constantly tell them to keep the skis away from each other and slow the f*ck down near shore and docks.

I was on my phone during the last ten minutes of their rental, could hear the jet skis buzzing in the background. All of sudden I hear a this and no buzzing. I look out and immediately yell at my coworker to call our boss. I hopped on a spare jet ski and rushed out there.

They had hit each other going around top speed and completely ripped one ski in half. I see one guy with almost no teeth and a swelling face, blood f*cking everywhere. Two others in the water next to him. I pull the guy with the face on to my ski and start screaming at my coworker to call 911.

Guy had broken every bone in his face and lost all but two teeth. I had blood all over me. The other guy broke his leg in three places and had a hole the size of a golf ball through his foot.

We got them back to the dock, EMTs arrived and I had to spend the next three hours pulling the ruined skis out of the water and cleaning a lot of blood.”

6. Terrifying.

“Was at an NFL game sitting up in the nose bleeds.

It was pouring down rain so most of our section had cleared out, but my buddies and I decided to stick it out because we were broke college kids and knew this was probably the only chance we had to see our team.

There were a group of drunk kids behind us (probably high schoolers or freshmen in college) who decided to climb over the seats to get down rather than taking the stairs. One of them slipped and went tumbling down at least 10-15 rows, just bouncing off of seats.

He landed in the first row right where the railing was. We all thought he was going to go flying over the edge to the bottle bowl. It was the most terrifying 7 seconds of my life.”

7. Saw it as a kid.

“Watched an old warbird fighter jet slam into a restaurant and burst into flames while attending an airshow. I was quite young, so I have only a couple mental images from that day, but the emotions attached to each of those images are enduring.

One image, the strongest, is a sea of legs, all running in confusion. Being little, that was my perspective. The emotion was pure terror. I thought my folks had lost me (years later, they said they never lost sight of me), and the pandemonium coupled with being lost scared the heck out of me.

The other image is a column of pitch black smoke. From my vantage point, it appeared to be coming from the top of the control tower. The emotion there was puzzlement, wondering why this big tall building was on fire.”

8. Didn’t see that coming.

“I was eating dinner at a Ruby Tuesday’s with my girlfriend one night, when this guy walked in all casual from the back, didn’t think much of it when a cop rushed in behind him and told him to “Drop to the f*cking ground!”

With his gun drawn as he started to run right by our table another group of officers rushed in and tackled him to the ground and we witnessed them confiscating a gun from him as we were eating our appetizers.

Definitely the scariest dinner I’ve ever had.”

9. A bloody scene.

“I grew up in a pretty small, rural community. Like, no lie, the entire county only has one stop light and 3/4’s of the streets in the county seat are one way.

It’s very much an “everyone knows you and your business” kind of place. So on the day in question, the high school and middle school kids were already on the bus (i was in middle school) and we were circling around the one way streets headed to the funnel of our county’s only stop light so we could eventually get to the elementary school.

As we were waiting to inch closer to the light, we pulled up to the end of a small cross street that had the only 3 bars in town just in time for me to look to my left out the window to see one of my classmate’s dad shoot a man in the face with a double barrel shotgun from maybe 4ft away.

Guy was standing on the sidewalk against the white wall of a small restaurant across from the bars and my friend’s dad was standing on the curb of the same bit of sidewalk. Blew his head about completely off and i will never in my life forget that man’s skull and brains dripping down that white wall on an otherwise beautiful fall afternoon.

After he shot the guy, friend’s dad just turned and sat down on the curb with gun next to him, lit a cigarette, and waited for the cops to show up. I was the only person to actually watch him pull the trigger, everyone else didn’t turn until they heard the blast.

My bus driver got on the radio and called it in but couldn’t move the bus out of the way because of the stoplight bottleneck and one way streets. So a bus of about 20 middle and high school students got a front row seat to a mostly headless corpse for almost 15 minutes while we waited for emergency crews to bust through traffic to the scene and get it moving enough that our bus could finally pull away.”

10. Be careful when riding bikes.

“I was visiting NYC and my friend and I were trying to rent bikes, but they were all gone.

This couple was going back to Europe the next day and they really wanted to go on a bike ride, but they only had one bike. I gave them the one I was going to rent and they were so happy. The excitement on their faces made my day.

My friend and I go to another bike rack like 1/4 of the mile away and get two bikes. As we were riding down the path we hear sirens and a sh*t ton of people are huddled in an area with a garbage truck like 10 feet away.

Apparently the brakes on the rented bikes didn’t work and this person got hit by a garbage truck. There was a trail of blood like 10 feet long and the person on the ground was seizing very badly.

As we got closer, the guy from earlier was hysterical and the person on the ground was his wife. The same couple we made so happy by giving our bikes to them had their lives change forver in an instant.

Honestly, the scene of the accident made it very clear she wasn’t going to survive. It was really bad.

That has f*cked with me for awhile because that was supposed to be MY bike. I was supposed to get the bike with the non-functioning brakes. In what was an act of kindness on my part was the demise of that beautiful couple.

What would have happened if I never gave my bike away? Would I have gotten hit by that garbage truck?”

11. Can’t unsee that.

“Came upon a car accident and went to help. Upside down car with wheels still spinning.

Dude crawls out of back seat with blood everywhere. He looks up at me and his eye is hanging out by the nerve and rolling around his cheek.

Got him clear. Professionals came. I left.”

12. Scary stuff.

“Was walking back to my family’s car after my great grandmother’s funeral. Not exactly casual but it was a quiet sunny afternoon and she had basically died of old age.

We were about 40 yards from our car when we heard the loud snap of wood breaking to our left.

To our horror, a large dump truck had just barreled over a small tree and was heading down a hill directly towards our cars with no one behind the wheel. Two of my younger brothers were already running to our minivan to get the “good seats” and were close to it’s path. I still remember the screams of my parents and uncles/aunts as everyone realized what was happening within a few seconds.

Amazingly no one was hurt. My brothers stopped in their tracks and the truck missed our car but absolutely crushed my grandpas car right behind it and multiple gravestones across the road before finally coming to a stop.

We would later find out the driver had forgotten to engage the e-brake when parking. One of the scariest, most surreal moments of my life for sure.”

13. Saved just in time.

“A wired patient running down a hallway naked, screaming that he was going to kill me before being stopped by a hospital guard.”

14. That’s crazy.

“I left work for lunch walking to a restaurant just 2 blocks away. As I rounded the corner a car accident happens right in front of me.

A lady walking just 10 feet in front of me is hit and pinned between the car and a building.

She was conscious and mad as hell.

Despite her legs being obviously broken she let loose a stream of verbal abuse on the driver about her shoes, her dress, her phone, everything except her injuries.

It was surreal.”

How about you?

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever seen?

Talk to us in the comments!

The post People Share the Scariest Things They’ve Ever Seen in Their Lives appeared first on UberFacts.