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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 2d

Take a break from fighting fascism with Amedeo.

Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 2d

So I never quite got my business of the ground. I had some interesting ideas around royalties and revenue that resulted in getting interviewed in a regional magazine and on the radio (late night on WDET). Which led to some connections that almost came through. But, in the end, I had to close up.

Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 2d

I was working a full time job during the day for health benefits while trying to start a business at night. Musicians may gig at night, but the business of music is still done during the day. Back in the 90s, I had just enough savings to live on, but not without insurance.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 2d

Namely, that these don't benefit lower income people nearly so much as they do small business owners and entrepreneurs. My own attempt at starting a record label was largely thwarted by the lack of health insurance options.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 2d

www.briefingbook.info/p/how-cuts-t...

Work from and old professor and his gang. They'll shiv you with a Difference-In-Difference in a in faculty lounge for sure. They bring an important aspect of health care subsidies that's often missed.

How Cuts to the Insurance Marketplaces Will Harm Entrepreneurs

Small business owners and the self-employed rely on the marketplaces, and coverage is about to become less affordable

www.briefingbook.info

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 2d

If you wind up with imaginary numbers in economics and policy, you are doing something very wrong. On the other hand, using fictitious numbers is just fine.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 7d

Amedeo is hibernating in anticipation of another brutal LA Winter.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 7d

Jago wakes up, smells the coffee, and decides not to bother.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 16d

Word of the day "Poka-Yoke". I gotta love a profession which has vocabulary like this. It's a Japanese term referring to safety design.

Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 22d

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 28d

The world isn't all bad. Thanks to AI, cats can now take selfies.

Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

I mentioned something about betting on policy. That's something I can't actually do due to my position. So, I use an outside manager for my investing. I might even have to revert back to mutual funds in the future.

Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

Small investors would do well to stick with well understood financial instruments. All this assumes you have the surplus cash to invest which fewer and fewer do. If you do have that surplus, patience and regular investments over time will win out. I

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

As you build more of a balance, you can take more risks. But, be very careful in areas like private equity and crypto currency. Crypto is very, very volatile and it's an emerging phenomenon. Not even the people who invented it understand the markets that trade in it.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

Build an outside savings using things like money market accounts and CDs. Not sexy, but you don't run risks of losing everything or worse. Worse? Some kinds of deals can make you liable for more than your investments. This isn't bad per se, but you do have to know what you're doing. Which I don't

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

I might bet on macroeconomic impacts of policy. That's the level of training you'd need to operate in that world. What to do? Get that matching employer contribution. Invest in well diversified stock mutual funds to start, set up automatic contributions.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

I'm doing very well financially at this point in my life. So would I invest in private equity deals or hedge funds? Nope. Why not? Basically, I don't have an MBA and lack the sophistication to understand the details of these instruments and the specific deals.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

A lot more risk. There's already a great deal of risk in owning stocks. I have quite the portfolio myself. I've been making money. Most of the time. But, I've had rough rides some years. Even when I've taken advantage of the diversification inherent in mutual funds.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

The administration wants to change 401K rules to allow you to invest in private equity? Should you? The answer is that it depends. Private Equity (Hedge Funds) operate outside the reporting and enforcement rules of the SEC. That's not necessarily bad. But, it involves taking on more risk.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

I don't know if anyone imagined an Internet where truth drowned in an ocean of communication, crowded out by misinformation, disinformation and lies. Vernor Vinge did warn us "It's not called the Net of a Million Lies for nothing." One character said about the interstellar network in that story.

Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

For the moment, Bluesky is a bit of a refuge for decency and moderation on the Internet. I was an engineer early on in the development of the Internet. We all envisioned the possibilities of instant connection in a globalized world. We thought peace love, and understanding would be invevitable.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

Beyond that, it played a significant role in spurring ethnic violence across the globe. FB rapidly became platform without a conscience. I have no doubt it will now amplify calls to violence in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

The platform, however, was degenerating day by day. I was getting more and more right wing and often violent content foisted on me every day no matter how I adjusted preferences. Suggested content completely overwhelmed my friends posts. Which were the one reason I stayed on the platform.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · 29d

I'm a little sad today. I finally deleted my Facebook account. This is small amid the violence today and that which many are promising for the future. I'd been putting off deleting the account for a while. Truth is that I met some neat people through FB and renewed many a friendship.

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Tony Castelletto @acastelletto.bsky.social · Aug 22

Indeed. Or, as I used to call it, any day that ended with a y.

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