That's your lack of 'Musk derangement syndrome' speaking. I DO have a SpaceX product, and for now many (most?) people do have other options. I recently came across this: Top 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Get Starlink Internet | HighSpeedInternet.com It's heavily weighted against SpaceX and despite the May-2026 publication date it's somewhat behind the times - but the data that are there are.....interesting. Unlimited low latency home internet @ roughly 100mb/s...for $55/mo after a roughly $300 buy-in? NOT earth shattering or life-changing today for most people - but then again most people have terrestrial options some of which are price or capability competitive. HOWEVER!!! (comma....) Starlink is only going to get cheaper because the Starship is only 2x more expensive to launch than a Falcon-9 but it can loft more than 2x the number of birds per flight - and Starlink is already capable of direct-to-cell. As for myself? My $200 Starlink Mini is only a piece of damage control equipment and a $10 per month self-monitoring plan for my alarm system and camera. If the fit hits the shan I can log in and unlock 100mb/s - mobile, if needed with a 20w power draw and no dependency on copper, glass, or local cell towers.
He has politics? WHEN the blazes does he find the TIME?! -never really noticed WHAT his politics are, but then my opinions about him have never really changed that much over the years.
Or you could have put that money in a fund that provides monthly dividends at the rate of 8-10% annually, paid your electric bill and had 1000s extra every year to play with plus your principle. Life is full of choices. Let's be real Bob, no matter how you manipulate numbers, it's unlikely you will ever see a savings of even 30% of what you paid on this 'investment'. Hell, Bob, give me 50k and I'll sign a contract to give you 2k a year for the rest of your life. You just doubled your return of what you're saving with your solar, right?
Don't do it Bob! A real annuity company will give you a whole lot more, e.g. ~$5000/year for life! Or $4800/year with 10 years guaranteed, so that your beneficiaries continue to get the payments if you pass earlier. Or if you are now married, to a woman ~60 years old, then get a joint-life payment of $3400/year with that same 10 year guarantee in case you both pass earlier. Numerous other choices also available. You will have to pay some income tax on just a portion of it, but from previous threads it appears that you are normally in the 10 or 12% tax bracket (except that year you sold the stock), but after tax you'd still be getting a lot more. Don't be so afraid of taxes that you shoot yourself in the foot. E.g. when my spouse had to take over her father's care a quarter century ago -- I'll call him "Fritz" -- and I took over his finances, I discovered he was so tax-averse that he was keeping a large amount of money in the bank in a non-interest-bearing form, avoiding over $7000/year in very easy interest income in order to qualify for a ~$300 low-income senior citizen property tax reduction. Had he chosen to collect interest, some of it would have landed in the 10% tax bracket, but he still have been more than $6000/year ahead. (I promptly moved it to interest-bearing form, picking something that he had already considered with an unregistered 'financial advisor', but hadn't moved on.) Don't be like Fritz. Don't avoid a much larger after-tax return just to avoid paying some taxes.
Ok , you win. Will you take payment in a solar roof system. Pickup in Huntsville. Of course this begs the question: offered to everyone? Bob Wilson
currently, i'm concerned about the fdic, along with everything else that's in danger from a depression. i'd buy gold if it weren't so expensive
Lucky you didn't buy SpaceX but actually invested in something that would guarantee returns. It will be interesting to watch Musk and the other AI bros to see what their next moves will be. Without the hard currency, how long can the house of cards remain standing, the bills still have to be paid and wealth based on share value does not convert to hard currency .... any attempt to sell any of his shares in any of his ventures would send a tornado through the house of cards, what hard assets does he actually own that aren't really mortgaged to the people who keep lending him money ....... T1 Terry
There are lots of entertaining YouTube videos about how to find gold by panning and sophisticated metal detectors. I suspect the real gold profits are selling gold mining equipment to ‘prospectors.’ Bob Wilson
That would be the case a lit over here as well, but there are a lot of gold prospectors that are out there with yrs of experience, building up a nest egg for their retirement plans. A lot of them clean up small nuggets that look like something, if it's suggested to you first, and sell them for more than the spot gold price as necklace or charm bracelet items, or if they can get 2 items very similar, earrings, and they sell for double the gold price. Still a lot of gold to be found over here, but pumping and sifting/slouch boxes are illegal in the nation park reserves where these gold deposit nuggets are found, washed down from who knows where, every time a big rain event comes through, so the good stops get refilled every so often, if you know where to look ..... The gold detector users make more money on the beaches, recreation areas and kids playgrounds in the early hrs, drunks playing on the swings and losing jewelry or gold coins ... too much commitment for me, I can make a lit more at RV free camps fixing mechanical or electrical problems T1 Terry
Over 4,000 SpaceX Employees Just Became Millionaires "With SpaceX finally making its long-awaited debut on the Nasdaq, fans of the Elon Musk-backed rocketry venture—most of whom have been unable to buy a stake in the company until now—are having a great day. Probably having an even better one? The many current and former SpaceX employees who picked up equity during their time working for the engineering giant and, thanks to this Friday’s record-breaking IPO, can finally cash out on the public markets (at least eventually)." Elon Musk’s biggest wealth-creation moment: SpaceX IPO turned 4,400 workers into millionaires overnight - The Economic Times "Elon Musk's startup SpaceX's historic IPO made around 4,400 employees millionaires overnight as they accumulated significant wealth through company stock. This massive employee wealth creation event saw individuals from various roles, like welders and engineers, benefit from their equity. Read more at: Elon Musk’s biggest wealth-creation moment: SpaceX IPO turned 4,400 workers into millionaires overnight - The Economic Times"
That is how Clan Trump make its first big fortune. Near here just outside Seattle, then in the Yukon, before eventually returning to Germany, then draft-dodging by re-immigrating to NYC. And selling not just equipment and supplies, but also services and, uh, "other services".
Just 4,000? That's all? I must be jaded from living in the shadow of local tech companies that produced many more than that, back when a $million was still real money. Including numerous ex-coworkers who went there after being laid off from or taking buyouts from my employer. But to be fair, this SpaceX count is just for the IPO event, not multiple decades of operations since.
