So how does one invest for the upcoming changes in the administration at the end of the year? Since you don’t really know, do you stay put, or keep it all in cash, or invest like crazy?
I think my head is going to explode.
Stay the course–have an asset allocation plan and stay the course; that’s the standard advice on the bogleheads.org forum and it seems to have worked for most of the folks there very nicely.
Even though Hillary has a decent chance to get up there, I am still holding on to some of my biotechs. 
I do not plan to sell for another 15-20 years.
@IxnayBob - Mr. is going to test drive the tin can tomorrow. Have you done your test drive yet?
4 years ago we were very worried about a change in administration and got the solar panels put on the house before the wind changed.
? what tin can?
ahhh. there lies that reason we may be adding solar panels. just a different future model.
I am trying hard to convince Mr. that Model 3 is the ultimate answer to his solar power cravings. 
I hope my can last 5 more years. After that I will buy a driverless car for retirement.
Whatever you do, don’t follow my plan. Every fund I invest in usually hits the toilet. I opened a new 50/50 stock Bond fund in December with a big deposit and the market promptly hit the toilet. I invest every other week in it as an investment outside retirement but for retirement. In hindsight I shouldn’t have put so much in at one time but should have broken it up over a year.
@BunsenBurner, no, I haven’t had a test drive yet. I’ve seen one in the flesh at the Service Center, but it wasn’t a demo model, so I couldn’t even sit in it. I apparently have a lot of faith to be committed to buying a car without a test drive, but I read a lot about it :))
My car is on the production line. After it’s finished at the factory, it takes a week+ to get it to the East Coast (shorter by truck, longer by train), at which time it is gone over multiple times before it is released to the buyer. It’s an interesting way to tune production, and they closely examine the quality issues of the first cars, feed back the results to Freemont, and reprogram the robots or give new specs to suppliers. If it’s a software issue, the current owners get a software update via wireless/wifi. If it’s a hardware issue, they do a soft recall (i.e., not mandatory unless it’s safety related). The Service Center is 10 minutes from my house, so I won’t mind.
After it’s all set, it should just be annual service. It doesn’t take much service if your propulsion isn’t based on thousands of explosions per minute :). I guess in China, they’ll have to replace the HEPA filter more often.
On a practical level, the Model 3 will be the vehicle that makes EVs a viable solution.
Just returned from the test drive. The batwings will not be practical in my rainy city. Any wind, and the water will drip inside when the wings are up. It is a perfect car for a 2-person family or for a large family living in a dry climate, like in CA. At this point, Mr. is still deciding. But the acceleration is awesome! Hope they get rid of the batwing design…
“It is a perfect car for a 2-person family or for a large family living in a dry climate, like in CA”
You’ve lost me here. Do family members No. 3, 4 etc in CA ride on the roof?
@BunsenBurner, I’m not a big fan of the batwings myself, Tesla calls them Falcon Wing Doors. I’ve heard that they’re actually pretty good in the rain, but I have no personal experience. Elon Musk (who lives in CA) wanted them so that children could be placed in car seats without the parent needing a chiropractor afterwards, and so that even tall people could enter the car in comfort. Me, personally, I’d rather have gotten the car two years sooner
The acceleration, even without ludicrous mode (an extra $10k to reduce 0-60 time from 3.8 seconds to 3.2 seconds), is insane. I opted for the P90D model, and will just have to deal with being 0.6 seconds slower
I chose the 6 seat option, which I strongly encourage Mr to consider if he decides to go for it. If Tesla were believed to stick to estimates, I’d say wait for the Model 3. Elon Musk is a genius, but he’s never met a deadline he couldn’t slip. I am paying extra for the P version because it will arrive earlier; I call it a tax on impatience.
@mycupoftea , the car currently can be configured as a 5, 6, or 7 seater.
What BunsenBurner was alluding to is that in wet climates, the 2 occupants don’t need to use the Falcon Wing Doors (FWD). In dry climates, occupants 3-7 can safely and comfortably enter using the FWD.
Yes, thank you! That’s what I meant. We test-drove the six-seater, and I liked that configuration a lot. The only problem with that configuration is that the middle seats rock gently back and forth on their pedestals, which I suppose was designed to counteract the impact of acceleration, and it made me a little queasy. The car is extremely roomy and handles like a dream. The self-driving feature is a bit scary - the motorcyclist next to us was not amused. 
Did you have a “Look, Ma! No hand!” moment with the motorcyclist, @BunsenBurner?
What was your heart rate after the test drive?
@BunsenBurner, in addition to the self-driving, I expect that the regenerative braking might take some time to get used to (i.e., rather than coasting when you take your foot off the accelerator, it noticeably slows down). I understand that there’s a setting to make it feel more like what you’re accustomed to in an ICE vehicle.
Fitting in with the retirement/aging angle, I am expecting the self-driving capability to improve faster than my reflexes decline, so that I can be independently mobile for longer.
DS’s car has adaptive cruise control, much less autonomous than Tesla’s, but I find that it’s great for the ~ 2 hour trip to pick him up at school and the 2 hours back. I am much more relaxed not having to micro-manage the car’s speed. I had been hoping to pick DS up at school for break in my new car. Oh well, next time.
@coolweather, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=426gaKrAs0s
I’m guessing a heart rate of 120, although the car was only doing 100. Full disclosure: it was a model S.
“Whatever you do, don’t follow my plan. Every fund I invest in usually hits the toilet.”
Hey, @eyemamom, you’re a copycat. That’s my plan for stock investing. Maybe I could pass on to you when I invest in a stock, and you can short it. Or when I sell it, then you can buy it. You could get rich doing the opposite of what I do! $-)