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Post by Chahta on Jan 28, 2021 19:32:09 GMT
But ..but..that is in Thailand.
OK, I designed spy satellites in the late 70s. Maybe tracking your subs. Doubt they will be after me anytime soon.
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Post by Capital on Jan 28, 2021 23:45:31 GMT
Is it safe for us to know that admin is Chang. If not may I be on record that I do not know this. I also have no idea what Chata was doing in the 1970s. Never heard of anything called a spy satellite; nor, have I ever seen one if they do exist. In fact I don't even remember ever being here. All I remember is sitting in my living room watching all that scary stuff that the news people are saying. Welcome to Game Stop, where a whole bunch of little people made some rich people lose a few billion dollars; and, Robin Hood woke up and made them stop. Brings us a whole new meaning to online gaming.
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Post by acksurf on Jan 29, 2021 2:44:02 GMT
People who worked in the Naval Nuclear Power Submarine Program had super-secret clearances, and are used to remaining anonymous . Especially if they worked for an old codger Admiral named Hyman. Rickover! (Oh, that's me too) R48 Must have been interesting. My neighbor in Massachusetts was in the Navy and served on the Nautilus back in the day. He might have been in intelligence/secret clearance - he went to Yale and Harvard so not out of the realm. He also spent time in Idaho which I always thought odd as a kid because there aren't many ships there :-)
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Post by chang on Jan 29, 2021 4:56:04 GMT
People who worked in the Naval Nuclear Power Submarine Program had super-secret clearances, and are used to remaining anonymous . Especially if they worked for an old codger Admiral named Hyman. Rickover! Must have been interesting. My neighbor in Massachusetts was in the Navy and served on the Nautilus back in the day. He might have been in intelligence/secret clearance - he went to Yale and Harvard so not out of the realm. He also spent time in Idaho which I always thought odd as a kid because there aren't many ships there :-) Top-secret indeed! That's how we've always been able to keep one step ahead of the Russians. But the Chinese already found out our biggest secret.
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Post by chang on Jan 29, 2021 4:57:54 GMT
Welcome graust! Always nice to see someone from the old M* cadre find us and join!
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Post by retiredat48 on Jan 29, 2021 23:51:12 GMT
People who worked in the Naval Nuclear Power Submarine Program had super-secret clearances, and are used to remaining anonymous . Especially if they worked for an old codger Admiral named Hyman. Rickover! (Oh, that's me too) R48 Must have been interesting. My neighbor in Massachusetts was in the Navy and served on the Nautilus back in the day. He might have been in intelligence/secret clearance - he went to Yale and Harvard so not out of the realm. He also spent time in Idaho which I always thought odd as a kid because there aren't many ships there :-)
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Post by retiredat48 on Jan 30, 2021 0:05:06 GMT
Ah acksurf...I'll let you in on a little secret.
In Idaho, about 50 miles from no-where, there exists a Naval Nuclear Reactor Site/Training facility*. This is where sailors go for initial reactor training.
You see, submarines and reactors are like building a new Boeing airplane. Some planes never get into production. So a series of subs is designed (at GE for instance, where I worked) and a PROTOTYPE built on land. Idaho hosts such a prototype. It is an exact mockup of the center of a submarine...with an operating reactor. The sailors train on it, and then go to an assigned sub. If the ship/reactor does well, it goes into production.
The theory is the prototype will also be used to be the lead unit to test out the design. It is operated way more than sea-based ones. Thus if a problem occurs over time, it should show up on the "high-mileage" prototype. It often did. But serious USA reactor problems are somewhat rare.
BTW I have been to that Idaho site...employees take buses to it in 50 mile rides, usually during darkness, and in winter it is hell-on-earth cold and windy outside/reactor warm inside.
*Edit to add: I just googled it, and it is public knowledge, as NRF, the Idaho Naval Reactor Facility, being its name.
R48
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Post by chang on Jan 30, 2021 3:20:26 GMT
Ah acksurf...I'll let you in on a little secret. In Idaho, about 50 miles from no-where, there exists a Naval Nuclear Reactor Site/Training facility*. This is where sailors go for initial reactor training. You see, submarines and reactors are like building a new Boeing airplane. Some planes never get into production. So a series of subs is designed (at GE for instance, where I worked) and a PROTOTYPE built on land. Idaho hosts such a prototype. It is an exact mockup of the center of a submarine...with an operating reactor. The sailors train on it, and then go to an assigned sub. If the ship/reactor does well, it goes into production. The theory is the prototype will also be used to be the lead unit to test out the design. It is operated way more than sea-based ones. Thus if a problem occurs over time, it should show up on the "high-mileage" prototype. It often did. But serious USA reactor problems are somewhat rare. BTW I have been to that Idaho site...employees take buses to it in 50 mile rides, usually during darkness, and in winter it is hell-on-earth cold and windy outside/reactor warm inside. *Edit to add: I just googled it, and it is public knowledge, as NRF, the Idaho Naval Reactor Facility, being its name. R48 The Navy has prototypes in Idaho, New York and Connecticut. (Well, they used to; my knowledge is out of date.) This is where submarine sailors train for months before they ever get into a boat. These facilities are also used to test new materials, parts, etc. Interesting historical fact that will surprise some people: the only fatal nuclear accident in the U.S. occurred in Idaho in 1961, not far from the NRF. It was the Army's SL-1 reactor. A nuclear excursion (not that different from what happened at Chernobyl, i.e., a supercriticality accident) killed three workers. It is a fascinating story; you can start with the Wiki write up (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1) but there are also other articles, videos, etc. That's why you don't let the Army develop nuclear power. Serious jobs are for the Navy.
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Post by acksurf on Jan 30, 2021 14:18:43 GMT
That's why you don't let the Army develop nuclear power. Serious jobs are for the Navy. LOL Thanks for the interesting history.
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Post by Capital on Jan 30, 2021 14:29:22 GMT
I have had some friends that served in the Navy in the past. I can remember one that told me that the reason the Marines were established was to make sure that there was no reason for the Army to ever have a need to have their troops on a Navy ship. He may have been the same friend who told me that the second part of a ship to be built (just after the laying of the beam) was the part for housing Army personnel. Once that was built the rest of the ship was built above.
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Post by retiredat48 on Jan 30, 2021 20:42:38 GMT
Off forum a week or so ago, Chang and I were reminiscing about NAvy Nuc times. I shared this story with him:
"One time, I (R48) was working overtime at GE, on a reactor problem at D1G Reactor, 20 miles away. (This is the prototype test site located in up-state NY). A large snowstorm was developing. With about 4 inches on the ground, 10pm, my manager said...let' go home. I called my wife and said I was leaving for home.
I was a few miles outside Schenectady, in heavy snow, when a car came up behind me, high beams flashing. I pulled over. My manager approached, saying we had to go straight to Kesselring D1G plant. Didn't have cell phones then to alert my wife. We arrive at D1G, got into full radiation protective gear, and at midnight, entered the reactor compartment. We determined that a Control Rod Drive Mechanism was making unusual sounds when operating. Kesselring would later replace it.
While standing on the reactor at 5 am, sweating from the heat, I asked the control room folks if they would call my wife and tell her where I was. They did so, to my surprise patching me in from the reactor, to talk to her directly while suited up! My wife was a real trooper, fully understanding, as this emergency stuff could happen anytime. Not often, for the CRDMs were quite good devices, but about once a year got calls at 3am from Naval Reactors about potential submarine problems. Was part of the job.
When times got tough, the Navy Nuc guys could do anything.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
R48
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Post by Chahta on Feb 3, 2021 22:19:29 GMT
I am retired. My husband took care of all of our financial things but he no longer can. I hope I will learn some things about handing our investments here because my husband can't explain them to me any more. Thank you. Earlier today I posted a new topic you are apparently familiar with, after reading for the first time this introduction. I understand some of your other posts better now. More power to you and I hope I and others here can help. But you are one smart person I think.
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Post by judger on Feb 11, 2021 18:46:58 GMT
Per encouragement to introduce myself. Retired. Active investor in TIAA and brokerage accounts. NOT a trader. Almost all assets are in retirement funds with routine conversions to Roth accounts to reduce future taxes for the spouse and family beneficiaries and to get around the new tax laws prohibiting stretch IRA's for beneficiaries.
Started out my career developing software for large proprietary telephone systems at national laboratories. Did little investing until I worked for a few years at an investment banker developing software for pension fund evaluation services. Moved into lots of mutual funds as I aged and educated myself using investment research such as The Telephone Switch Fund/Fabian literature. Wrote investment software for PC's in my "spare" time that I hoped to sell. Decided that a one man shop could never keep ahead of large development teams and supporting a family too.
Worked for a large energy research laboratory developing large custom business software, IT management and project management for IT/telephone system equipment purchase and installation. Enrolled in a vested TIAA/CREF retirement plan there. After leaving and working in a number of different industries, turned the vested TIAA retirement funds into the basis for retirement investing. Went from a very simple 100% TIAA Real Estate or 100% TIAA Account strategy to a much more active investment strategy using brokerage accounts, ETF's, closed end funds, very few stocks with the advice of many anonymous friends on the TIAA Morningstar forums and later other M* forums.
I am still looking for activity on M* but I am now finally fanning out looking for the scattered herd of Internet M* friends. :-)))
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dirt
Ensign
Posts: 9
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Post by dirt on Feb 18, 2021 11:53:11 GMT
Good day, I've been an ongoing reader on numerous investment sites, including both M* and ArmChair Investing. I am a married 72 years old and we did not start investing for retirement until the mid/late-1990s. Early on I posted a few of questions on M*. R48 was the first responder to most of them. Again, thank you retiredat48,R48. Being a novice making numerous investment mistakes in an increasing hostile posting environment I became a lurker. I hope to change that. My investment goals and style have changed over the years. Like Fred495, I like Chang’s post: "I don't really need a lot more money - but I certainly don't want to lose a lot. I need to remind myself to err on the side of caution." Additionally, the wife has no desire to manage our PV so I have been simplifying our accounts and using balanced funds as our core. The wife would put everything into the bank and use CDs as her wild side. My ROTH still has a small number of aggressive growth funds, ETFS and CEFs. Chang/R48 - I am retired Navy. Qualified on Submarines with too many deployments. Not a nuclear engineer. Navigation and weapon systems were my areas of expertise.
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Post by chang on Feb 18, 2021 12:14:50 GMT
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Post by steadyeddy on Feb 18, 2021 13:13:12 GMT
Good day, I've been an ongoing reader on numerous investment sites, including both M* and ArmChair Investing. I am a married 72 years old and we did not start investing for retirement until the mid/late-1990s. Early on I posted a few of questions on M*. R48 was the first responder to most of them. Again, thank you retiredat48 ,R48. Being a novice making numerous investment mistakes in an increasing hostile posting environment I became a lurker. I hope to change that. My investment goals and style have changed over the years. Like Fred495, I like Chang’s post: "I don't really need a lot more money - but I certainly don't want to lose a lot. I need to remind myself to err on the side of caution." Additionally, the wife has no desire to manage our PV so I have been simplifying our accounts and using balanced funds as our core. The wife would put everything into the bank and use CDs as her wild side. My ROTH still has a small number of aggressive growth funds, ETFS and CEFs. Chang/R48 - I am retired Navy. Qualified on Submarines with too many deployments. Not a nuclear engineer. Navigation and weapon systems were my areas of expertise. Welcome dirt !! You will find that this board is more civil, more focused on the topic of investing, and does not veer off into personal attacks or political meanderings.. So far it has been a pleasure to be a part of this board and please lean in and share your knowledge/perspectives with the rest of us.
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dirt
Ensign
Posts: 9
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Post by dirt on Feb 18, 2021 18:19:20 GMT
Thank you Chang and steadyeddy.
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Post by retiredat48 on Feb 18, 2021 22:02:19 GMT
Good day, I've been an ongoing reader on numerous investment sites, including both M* and ArmChair Investing. I am a married 72 years old and we did not start investing for retirement until the mid/late-1990s. Early on I posted a few of questions on M*. R48 was the first responder to most of them. Again, thank you retiredat48 ,R48. Being a novice making numerous investment mistakes in an increasing hostile posting environment I became a lurker. I hope to change that. My investment goals and style have changed over the years. Like Fred495, I like Chang’s post: "I don't really need a lot more money - but I certainly don't want to lose a lot. I need to remind myself to err on the side of caution." Additionally, the wife has no desire to manage our PV so I have been simplifying our accounts and using balanced funds as our core. The wife would put everything into the bank and use CDs as her wild side. My ROTH still has a small number of aggressive growth funds, ETFS and CEFs. Chang/R48 - I am retired Navy. Qualified on Submarines with too many deployments. Not a nuclear engineer. Navigation and weapon systems were my areas of expertise. Hi dirt...welcome. Glad to have helped in the past. I know thousands have been reached over the years. Was awe-inspired once when I attended a Boglehead.org conference in San Diego, when about 20 people introduced themselves as lurkers, stating they followed my posts daily. One guy said he gets up each day, makes a cup of coffee, and reads the previous days posts by (poster) valuethinker...and then mine. I also post on the Fidelity Forum but it is open to "invite only". I am trying to re-post here, anything I think is useful to readers. BTW may I ask in what State do you live? Good day... R48
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dirt
Ensign
Posts: 9
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Post by dirt on Feb 19, 2021 0:34:40 GMT
R48 - thank you for the reply.
I have read your commits on Fidelity. Yours and a large majority of the posters here have been helpful over the years. I started reading M* Investment Forums about 20 years ago.
I live in the western portion of the Florida Panhandle.
Dirt
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Post by BearMkt on Feb 19, 2021 0:48:22 GMT
R48 - thank you for the reply. I have read your commits on Fidelity. Yours and a large majority of the posters here have been helpful over the years. I started reading M* Investment Forums about 20 years ago. I live in the western portion of the Florida Panhandle. Dirt Interesting I remember the first person (yogibearbull) to respond to my first post on M* in around 2011 I believe. I spent a lot of time in the central part of the Florida Panhandle - over where the boy scouts hang out.
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Post by steadyeddy on Feb 19, 2021 0:54:52 GMT
Good day, I've been an ongoing reader on numerous investment sites, including both M* and ArmChair Investing. I am a married 72 years old and we did not start investing for retirement until the mid/late-1990s. Early on I posted a few of questions on M*. R48 was the first responder to most of them. Again, thank you retiredat48 ,R48. Being a novice making numerous investment mistakes in an increasing hostile posting environment I became a lurker. I hope to change that. My investment goals and style have changed over the years. Like Fred495, I like Chang’s post: "I don't really need a lot more money - but I certainly don't want to lose a lot. I need to remind myself to err on the side of caution." Additionally, the wife has no desire to manage our PV so I have been simplifying our accounts and using balanced funds as our core. The wife would put everything into the bank and use CDs as her wild side. My ROTH still has a small number of aggressive growth funds, ETFS and CEFs. Chang/R48 - I am retired Navy. Qualified on Submarines with too many deployments. Not a nuclear engineer. Navigation and weapon systems were my areas of expertise. Hi dirt...welcome. Glad to have helped in the past. I know thousands have been reached over the years. Was awe-inspired once when I attended a Boglehead.org conference in San Diego, when about 20 people introduced themselves as lurkers, stating they followed my posts daily. One guy said he gets up each day, makes a cup of coffee, and reads the previous days posts by (poster) valuethinker...and then mine. I also post on the Fidelity Forum but it is open to "invite only". I am trying to re-post here, anything I think is useful to readers. BTW may I ask in what State do you live? Good day... R48 R48 - It is a moment of pride when readers say they used to seek out/follow your input on their investing needs. Glad you are a member on this board.
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Post by retiredat48 on Feb 19, 2021 23:28:31 GMT
Steadyeddy posted: "R48 - It is a moment of pride when readers say they used to seek out/follow your input on their investing needs. Glad you are a member on this board. " Thanks for your support, eddy. If we keep things civil, I plan to be here. R48
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Post by steadyeddy on Feb 20, 2021 0:42:06 GMT
Steadyeddy posted: "R48 - It is a moment of pride when readers say they used to seek out/follow your input on their investing needs. Glad you are a member on this board. " Thanks for your support, eddy. If we keep things civil, I plan to be here. R48 R48 - I must say that I benefited from your advice as well and I have been reading your posts with interest through the many years on M*, and recently noticed your Fidelity presence with the same screen name. Thanks for your thoughtful contributions. So far, this board has been civil and people should be vocal when they see things that are not civil.
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Post by retiredat48 on Feb 20, 2021 22:11:17 GMT
Be aware, steadyeddy, that on M* I always made it a point to read your posts. You bring good experience, with a detailed way of analyzing investments...and a goal of helping others.
R48
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Post by retiredat48 on Feb 20, 2021 22:34:37 GMT
OK, Here's my Member Profile:
About Me: Engineering Degree, Penn State University. Entire career with General Electric Company in design, construction and fleet support for selected classes of Naval Nuclear-Powered Submarines, for the Navy. Have made over 20,000 posts on the Morningstar Investment Forum, over a decade+ of involvement. With M* I created and was moderator of a forum titled: Portfolio Design/Management. I have been with both Fidelity and Vanguard, each since they were founded.
My Location: Port Saint Lucie, FL and Saratoga Springs, NY
Investing Since: 1967
Profession: Quality Assurance Manager, GE (retired)
Industry: Naval Nuclear Powered Submarines Program
Retired: let me check...yes, 1993, age 48, 28 years ago
Investing Interests: assisting others; portfolio design and management
Disclaimer: My posting is strictly for educational, entertainment and investing purposes. I take no fees/monies from anyone. All investors are fully and solely responsible for their actions taken.
---------------------------------------------------------------
R48
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Post by Chahta on Feb 20, 2021 23:40:55 GMT
I could not imagine being retired at 48. First of all I could not have afforded it. But not sure what I would have done with so much free time. What else are your interests?
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Post by retiredat48 on Feb 21, 2021 1:38:18 GMT
I could not imagine being retired at 48. First of all I could not have afforded it. But not sure what I would have done with so much free time. What else are your interests? Hi...has been asked often, answered often. The below link had over 50,000 views.(Boglehead forum truncated replies). retired at 48 is just a "catchy name"... I surely didn't "retire" but never employed again for pay. Here's the deal: This was not really retirement, but financial independence day. (I did stop working). I have less time to read books in retirement, than when I was working. The plan was to get to age 88...and if we ran out of money, to call the kids and tell them to come and get us. And what are some of the things spouse and I did when not working?...Here: (List was made more than two decades ago before the term buckets list evolved) Top 100 Things Desired to do yet in lifetime: www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13323&highlight=&sid=3e9f1fc6611c23643b83004cebdbe28f -------------------------- I've done 67 to date. How many have you (or others) done? Enjoy... R48
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Post by Mustang on Feb 21, 2021 3:30:42 GMT
Chahta, thanks for the invitation. I'm a member of both Morningstar and Arm Chair Investing. I quit going to Morningstar because I wasn't able to navigate their new forum. I'm 70 years old, married with adult children and no grandchildren. I'm retired Air Force, a retired CFO of a manufacturing company and a part-time professor mainly teaching accounting. My ancestors have been on this continent a very long time. They came through the Cumberland Gap first settling in Kentucky and then moved across the river into Indiana. As residents of the same county in Indiana they fought in the Civil War, WWI, WWII and I was in Vietnam (actually Udorn, Thailand.) I don't invest in individual stocks or bonds. I prefer mutual funds and have owned Vanguard Wellington at least 40 years. I am currently transitioning from the accumulation phase to the withdrawal phase and have been consolidating individual stock and bond funds into balanced funds. Our risk tolerance is moderate. Our investment goal is a stable income with some growth so we can leave something for the kids. Simplicity is a driving factor. Eventually my wife will have to take over managing the investments. When the transition is complete we will be invested in two moderate-allocation funds and a conservative-allocation fund. One moderate-allocation fund in our traditional IRAs. And, one each in our taxable account. We will be using two withdrawal strategies. MRDs from our traditional IRAs and a modified version of the 4% Rule from our taxable funds. Since MRDs are a dynamic withdrawal method I am comfortable having only one fund in our traditional IRAs. Dynamic withdrawal methods are designed to protect the portfolio's value but are absolutely terrible for stable income. Income goes up and down with market performance. If the fund loses 30% then income goes down 30%. The 4% Rule is a fixed withdrawal method. Fixed withdrawal methods are designed to provide a stable inflation adjusted income. Because of this two funds are needed to protect the portfolio: a moderate-allocation fund and a conservative-allocation fund. For the initial withdrawal they will equal each other. For subsequent withdrawals the withdrawal will come from the fund with the highest end of year balance. That automatically re-balances the portfolio. Overall asset allocation will be somewhere around 55/45 stocks/bonds. 60/40 in the traditional IRAs and 50/50 in the taxable accounts. It varies because the fund managers vary their allocations. Using historical performances Bengen, the Trinity authors and others have determined that for best performance the asset allocation needs to be between 50% and 75% stock. Using balanced funds is a simple, easy way of getting the desired asset allocation while diversifying across a variety of individual stocks and bonds. We are currently living off my military retirement and social security and are investing the MRDs and most of my wife's social security. Withdrawing from our investment portfolio will come later. I hope its a lot later but one never knows. I am still trying to figure out a good investment and withdrawal strategy and I'm open for suggestions.
P.S. Mustang is a slang military term for an NCO who later becomes an officer.
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Post by Chahta on Feb 21, 2021 14:36:16 GMT
Mustang, great to see you here. BTW my old screen name was GAry1952 at M*.
R48, I remember seeing that list! I also like the idea of calling the kids.
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Post by johntaylor on Mar 16, 2021 14:36:08 GMT
My name is Inga, I'm 19, and a member of the Swedish Bikini Team. Just kidding! I'm a boring investor who had careers as a soldier, lawyer, and businessman.
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