On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was a 6
figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far less impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years.
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel, such
as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop or more
for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a $100K budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado claims
to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps, since those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with assumptions, not facts.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party display beyondMy desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The Apple
display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for viewing
images.
jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls work correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated speakers, camera, etc.
-hh
On 10/7/2025 11:12 AM, -hh wrote:
On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was a 6
figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far less
impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years.
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel,
such as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop or
more for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a $100K
budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado
claims to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps, since
those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with assumptions,
not facts.
My desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The Apple
display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for
viewing images.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in
the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party display
beyond jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls work
correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated speakers,
camera, etc.
They were all over $100k. Yes, they all spanned several years, ...
... the
wheels of justice move slowly. There was very limited travel for these three, all short domestic trips. I do not have detailed P&L by project,
but the business earned a 92% gross margin over its lifetime.
That
includes international trips to Europe (1), Canada (1), Australia (1)
and Latin America (3). Yes, a few international travel expenses were
paid direct by the customer and are not included in the costs.
On 10/9/25 07:21, Tom Elam wrote:
On 10/7/2025 11:12 AM, -hh wrote:
On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was a
6 figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far less
impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years.
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel,
such as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop
or more for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a
$100K budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado
claims to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps, since
those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with assumptions,
not facts.
My desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The Apple >>>>> display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for
viewing images.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in
the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party display
beyond jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls work
correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated speakers,
camera, etc.
They were all over $100k. Yes, they all spanned several years, ...
David, here's a good example of how there's more details beyond the
original cherrypicked brags.
FYI, Tommy invariably whines when I paramaterize from his claims, but to illustrate, his above statement is suggesting that the only times that
there were any consultant contract of $100K or more was when it was multi-year.
Thus, taking his "over $100K" claim as $120K and 3 years for "several" claim, then what appears to be likely typical is in the ballpark of:
$120K/3 = $40K/year gross...
...but note a couple of things.
... the wheels of justice move slowly. There was very limited travel
for these three, all short domestic trips. I do not have detailed P&L
by project, but the business earned a 92% gross margin over its lifetime.
Where "these three" appears to be stating that there's only been three
large projects: TE: "But two legal cases went over $100k. Another was about $80k."
...but didn't he just claimed that the multi-years were "all over
$100K"? Well, I guess in Tommy Math that $80K is more than $100K. /s
In any event, these numbers are his self-employed level gross before overhead expenses, such as Social Security & Medicare. For a self- employed, the business has to pay the same as employee, which is
7.65% ... and that's nearly all of his "92% gross margin" claim. Before the employee's SS/Med, above $40K SWAG drops to an employee gross of no
more than ~$37K/year just from this one gross-to-net adjustment. There's others possible too, such as employer contributions to a 401(k).
In any event, with the rest being smaller than apparently $80K over his "2002-2023" twenty two year working period, which at his present age of
79, covers working years from age 56 to age 77, and all together he humble-bragged "The total revenue was well over $1 million."
Since he would have bragged $2M had it exceeded $2M, this has bracketed
the total possible between $1M and $1.9999M. Taking off 8% for his employer overhead and dividing by 22 years, the lower & upper limits on
his claim are $41.8K to $83.6K ... and YMMV on if that is good or bad,
but with the context that national median for PhD holders is around $100K/yr, even the $83K for the $1.9999M best case doesn't seem like
he's been crushing it.
That includes international trips to Europe (1), Canada (1), Australia
(1) and Latin America (3). Yes, a few international travel expenses
were paid direct by the customer and are not included in the costs.
(8% - 7.65%) * $1M = $3500; for $2M = $7000. The claimed 8% total
overhead budget doesn't appear to have enough bananas to cover more than
one or two such trips, let alone five.
-hh
On 09/10/2025 20:23, -hh wrote:
On 10/9/25 07:21, Tom Elam wrote:
On 10/7/2025 11:12 AM, -hh wrote:
On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was a >>>>>> 6 figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far less >>>> impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years.
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel,
such as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop
or more for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a
$100K budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado
claims to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps, since
those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with
assumptions, not facts.
My desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The
Apple display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for
viewing images.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in
the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party display
beyond jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls work
correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated speakers,
camera, etc.
They were all over $100k. Yes, they all spanned several years, ...
David, here's a good example of how there's more details beyond the
original cherrypicked brags.
FYI, Tommy invariably whines when I paramaterize from his claims, but
to illustrate, his above statement is suggesting that the only times
that there were any consultant contract of $100K or more was when it
was multi-year.
Thus, taking his "over $100K" claim as $120K and 3 years for "several"
claim, then what appears to be likely typical is in the ballpark of:
$120K/3 = $40K/year gross...
...but note a couple of things.
... the wheels of justice move slowly. There was very limited travel
for these three, all short domestic trips. I do not have detailed P&L
by project, but the business earned a 92% gross margin over its
lifetime.
Where "these three" appears to be stating that there's only been three
large projects: TE: "But two legal cases went over $100k. Another was
about $80k."
...but didn't he just claimed that the multi-years were "all over
$100K"? Well, I guess in Tommy Math that $80K is more than $100K. /s
In any event, these numbers are his self-employed level gross before
overhead expenses, such as Social Security & Medicare. For a self-
employed, the business has to pay the same as employee, which is
7.65% ... and that's nearly all of his "92% gross margin" claim.
Before the employee's SS/Med, above $40K SWAG drops to an employee
gross of no more than ~$37K/year just from this one gross-to-net
adjustment. There's others possible too, such as employer
contributions to a 401(k).
In any event, with the rest being smaller than apparently $80K over
his "2002-2023" twenty two year working period, which at his present
age of 79, covers working years from age 56 to age 77, and all
together he humble-bragged "The total revenue was well over $1 million."
Since he would have bragged $2M had it exceeded $2M, this has
bracketed the total possible between $1M and $1.9999M. Taking off 8%
for his employer overhead and dividing by 22 years, the lower & upper
limits on his claim are $41.8K to $83.6K ... and YMMV on if that is
good or bad, but with the context that national median for PhD holders
is around $100K/yr, even the $83K for the $1.9999M best case doesn't
seem like he's been crushing it.
That includes international trips to Europe (1), Canada (1),
Australia (1) and Latin America (3). Yes, a few international travel
expenses were paid direct by the customer and are not included in the
costs.
(8% - 7.65%) * $1M = $3500; for $2M = $7000. The claimed 8% total
overhead budget doesn't appear to have enough bananas to cover more
than one or two such trips, let alone five.
-hh
You appear to be taking a pop at someone for whom you should have more respect.
Why is that?Amongst other things, wishing death on others who disagree with him.
On 10/9/25 17:20, David B. wrote:
On 09/10/2025 20:23, -hh wrote:
On 10/9/25 07:21, Tom Elam wrote:
On 10/7/2025 11:12 AM, -hh wrote:
On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was >>>>>>> a 6 figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far
less impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years. >>>>>
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel, >>>>> such as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop >>>>> or more for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a
$100K budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado
claims to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps,
since those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with
assumptions, not facts.
My desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The
Apple display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for
viewing images.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in >>>>> the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party
display beyond jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls
work correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated
speakers, camera, etc.
They were all over $100k. Yes, they all spanned several years, ...
David, here's a good example of how there's more details beyond the
original cherrypicked brags.
FYI, Tommy invariably whines when I paramaterize from his claims, but
to illustrate, his above statement is suggesting that the only times
that there were any consultant contract of $100K or more was when it
was multi-year.
Thus, taking his "over $100K" claim as $120K and 3 years for
"several" claim, then what appears to be likely typical is in the
ballpark of: $120K/3 = $40K/year gross...
...but note a couple of things.
... the wheels of justice move slowly. There was very limited travel
for these three, all short domestic trips. I do not have detailed
P&L by project, but the business earned a 92% gross margin over its
lifetime.
Where "these three" appears to be stating that there's only been
three large projects: TE: "But two legal cases went over $100k.
Another was about $80k."
...but didn't he just claimed that the multi-years were "all over
$100K"? Well, I guess in Tommy Math that $80K is more than $100K. /s
In any event, these numbers are his self-employed level gross before
overhead expenses, such as Social Security & Medicare. For a self-
employed, the business has to pay the same as employee, which is
7.65% ... and that's nearly all of his "92% gross margin" claim.
Before the employee's SS/Med, above $40K SWAG drops to an employee
gross of no more than ~$37K/year just from this one gross-to-net
adjustment. There's others possible too, such as employer
contributions to a 401(k).
In any event, with the rest being smaller than apparently $80K over
his "2002-2023" twenty two year working period, which at his present
age of 79, covers working years from age 56 to age 77, and all
together he humble-bragged "The total revenue was well over $1 million." >>>
Since he would have bragged $2M had it exceeded $2M, this has
bracketed the total possible between $1M and $1.9999M. Taking off 8%
for his employer overhead and dividing by 22 years, the lower & upper
limits on his claim are $41.8K to $83.6K ... and YMMV on if that is
good or bad, but with the context that national median for PhD
holders is around $100K/yr, even the $83K for the $1.9999M best case
doesn't seem like he's been crushing it.
That includes international trips to Europe (1), Canada (1),
Australia (1) and Latin America (3). Yes, a few international travel
expenses were paid direct by the customer and are not included in
the costs.
(8% - 7.65%) * $1M = $3500; for $2M = $7000. The claimed 8% total
overhead budget doesn't appear to have enough bananas to cover more
than one or two such trips, let alone five.
-hh
You appear to be taking a pop at someone for whom you should have more
respect.
Because whatever respect he once had has been squandered.
Why is that?Amongst other things, wishing death on others who disagree with him.
-hh
On 10/9/25 07:21, Tom Elam wrote:
On 10/7/2025 11:12 AM, -hh wrote:
On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was a
6 figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far less
impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years.
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel,
such as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop
or more for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a
$100K budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado
claims to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps, since
those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with assumptions,
not facts.
My desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The Apple >>>>> display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for
viewing images.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in
the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party display
beyond jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls work
correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated speakers,
camera, etc.
They were all over $100k. Yes, they all spanned several years, ...
David, here's a good example of how there's more details beyond the
original cherrypicked brags.
FYI, Tommy invariably whines when I paramaterize from his claims, but to illustrate, his above statement is suggesting that the only times that
there were any consultant contract of $100K or more was when it was multi-year.
Thus, taking his "over $100K" claim as $120K and 3 years for "several" claim, then what appears to be likely typical is in the ballpark of:
$120K/3 = $40K/year gross...
...but note a couple of things.
... the wheels of justice move slowly. There was very limited travel
for these three, all short domestic trips. I do not have detailed P&L
by project, but the business earned a 92% gross margin over its lifetime.
Where "these three" appears to be stating that there's only been three
large projects: TE: "But two legal cases went over $100k. Another was about $80k."
...but didn't he just claimed that the multi-years were "all over
$100K"? Well, I guess in Tommy Math that $80K is more than $100K. /s
In any event, these numbers are his self-employed level gross before overhead expenses, such as Social Security & Medicare. For a self- employed, the business has to pay the same as employee, which is
7.65% ... and that's nearly all of his "92% gross margin" claim. Before the employee's SS/Med, above $40K SWAG drops to an employee gross of no
more than ~$37K/year just from this one gross-to-net adjustment. There's others possible too, such as employer contributions to a 401(k).
In any event, with the rest being smaller than apparently $80K over his "2002-2023" twenty two year working period, which at his present age of
79, covers working years from age 56 to age 77, and all together he humble-bragged "The total revenue was well over $1 million."
Since he would have bragged $2M had it exceeded $2M, this has bracketed
the total possible between $1M and $1.9999M. Taking off 8% for his employer overhead and dividing by 22 years, the lower & upper limits on
his claim are $41.8K to $83.6K ... and YMMV on if that is good or bad,
but with the context that national median for PhD holders is around $100K/yr, even the $83K for the $1.9999M best case doesn't seem like
he's been crushing it.
That includes international trips to Europe (1), Canada (1), Australia
(1) and Latin America (3). Yes, a few international travel expenses
were paid direct by the customer and are not included in the costs.
(8% - 7.65%) * $1M = $3500; for $2M = $7000. The claimed 8% total
overhead budget doesn't appear to have enough bananas to cover more than
one or two such trips, let alone five.
-hh
On 10/9/2025 3:23 PM, -hh wrote:
On 10/9/25 07:21, Tom Elam wrote:
On 10/7/2025 11:12 AM, -hh wrote:
On 10/7/25 04:31, David B. wrote:
On 06/10/2025 22:07, Tom Elam wrote:
...
Nothing sad about the need to update my Windows laptop, That was a >>>>>> 6 figure project completed to the clients satisfaction.
Did you do work for someone and generate payment of $100,000+?
That's what he'd like to believe, isn't it?
Of course, "six digits" could also have been #1,234.56
Plus even if it was $100K, over what period of time? It is far less >>>> impressive if it was for a project which spanned over 3-4 years.
Similarly, with what non-labor expenses: when it includes travel,
such as to inspect manufacturing sites, it can easily run $5K a pop
or more for international; just five such trips consumes 25% of a
$100K budget.
And so on. Point is that when someone cherry-picks their bravado
claims to resist the temptation to fill in their missing gaps, since
those gaps invariably exist to filled in by readers with assumptions, >>>> not facts.
My desktop display is a 3 year old Dell 27" 3840x2160 HD. The Apple >>>>>> display no doubt looks better, but a 2-3x the price.
Apologies. I've no doubt your 27 inch screen is also great for
viewing images.
Probably most 27" 4K screens today will do a fine job; the Devil in
the Details probably falls to other aspects of a third party display
beyond jut the image, such as if Apple's keyboard controls work
correctly for brightness & sound, if there's integrated speakers,
camera, etc.
They were all over $100k. Yes, they all spanned several years, ...
David, here's a good example of how there's more details beyond the
original cherrypicked brags.
FYI, Tommy invariably whines when I paramaterize from his claims, but to
illustrate, his above statement is suggesting that the only times that
there were any consultant contract of $100K or more was when it was
multi-year.
Thus, taking his "over $100K" claim as $120K and 3 years for "several"
claim, then what appears to be likely typical is in the ballpark of:
$120K/3 = $40K/year gross...
...but note a couple of things.
... the wheels of justice move slowly. There was very limited travelWhere "these three" appears to be stating that there's only been three
for these three, all short domestic trips. I do not have detailed P&L
by project, but the business earned a 92% gross margin over its lifetime. >>
large projects: TE: "But two legal cases went over $100k. Another was
about $80k."
...but didn't he just claimed that the multi-years were "all over
$100K"? Well, I guess in Tommy Math that $80K is more than $100K. /s
In any event, these numbers are his self-employed level gross before
overhead expenses, such as Social Security & Medicare. For a self-
employed, the business has to pay the same as employee, which is
7.65% ... and that's nearly all of his "92% gross margin" claim. Before >> the employee's SS/Med, above $40K SWAG drops to an employee gross of no
more than ~$37K/year just from this one gross-to-net adjustment. There's
others possible too, such as employer contributions to a 401(k).
In any event, with the rest being smaller than apparently $80K over his
"2002-2023" twenty two year working period, which at his present age of
79, covers working years from age 56 to age 77, and all together he
humble-bragged "The total revenue was well over $1 million."
Since he would have bragged $2M had it exceeded $2M, this has bracketed
the total possible between $1M and $1.9999M. Taking off 8% for his
employer overhead and dividing by 22 years, the lower & upper limits on
his claim are $41.8K to $83.6K ... and YMMV on if that is good or bad,
but with the context that national median for PhD holders is around
$100K/yr, even the $83K for the $1.9999M best case doesn't seem like
he's been crushing it.
FYI, total income (IRS basis) 2002-2025 is about $5 million. We had some other income too, you know. Pretty substantial other income.
That includes international trips to Europe (1), Canada (1), Australia >>> (1) and Latin America (3). Yes, a few international travel expenses
were paid direct by the customer and are not included in the costs.
(8% - 7.65%) * $1M = $3500; for $2M = $7000. The claimed 8% total
overhead budget doesn't appear to have enough bananas to cover more than
one or two such trips, let alone five.
As usual you take a few data point and extrapolate way beyond those. In
this case you are WAY off.
First, the term Gross Margin is total income - direct costs. That means
that taxes are not subtracted.
Second, the total income was over $1.5 million, implying direct expenses
of about $120,000. Most of that was travel I paid. Most of my projects involved no travel at all. The rest was supplies, office expense and incidentals.
Also, clients furnished some of the international tickets,
so not included in income or expenses. I had enough FF miles to take the wife on some of those early international trips too.
I made max contributions ($550k total) to my self-employed 401k from
2002 to 2019.
Social Security and Medicare did take out a chunk of the
contributions, but I still put in the max based on ample other income
and the business. The 401k and other investments have worked well. Our
net worth was about $750-800k in late 2001, now over $4 million. And,
that with some very conservative funds early on. All the while, annual income has remained steady and very comfortable.
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