One finds himself organizing and reorganizing his life many times as his first child's birth approaches. There is a constant assessment of the "known-knowns, known-unknowns and unknown-unknowns," as Donald Rumsfeld would explain it. One of the fields in constant flux over the past few months has been finances, specifically how much a new baby will cost, how much we should buy beforehand and finally how much should be spent on certain items. My wife and I have had many great debates on these issues and found at the end of it all a philosophy of money and spending that both of us have come ...
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It amazes me the amount of financial advice availabe today. Books, seminars, blogs, dvds, etc. with the sole purpose of showing you how to make money. I'm all for it to be honest, the more information available the better....although there are a lot of crooks and idiots out there as well. So, you have to be careful who's advice you take. I found a blog yesterday entitled I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur. While I admit I haven't had the time yet to read through all of his articles, I was in agreement with his ...
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Many young people today struggle with something I’ve blogged about before—the need for instant gratification. After all, this is America—we want it when we want it, and we want it now, even if we can't afford it. People fail to realize what a purchase will actually cost them in the long run. Here are a few hot items most young people can’t afford but purchase anyway: (1) The toys we deem necessities for survival: iPod, PS3, cell phone, high speed internet, cable TV, etc… (2) Eating out: appetizer, main course, drinks, dessert, etc (3) Driving a fancy new car I see some different issues ...
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With the DOW hovering around 13,000 from the mortgage crisis fallout, I felt compelled to give you some investment advice: know yourself; determine your time horizon; and start now. Know yourself : I’ve had people ask me: What is the best investment? Easiest answer: It depends. The first step to successful investing (notice I’m making a distinction between investing and trading) is knowing yourself. What is you tolerance for risk? During rough times will you continue investing or jump out a third story window? Determining your tolerance for risk sets the stage for all your investments and will help give you a proper mix ...
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I blogged about my holdings in Conoco Phillips (COP) back on September 6th , and felt compelled to discuss oil with you again after reading an article today by Robert Kiyosaki . He makes the argument that higher fuel prices are cause for alarm in all parts of the world—which I agree with wholeheartedly because ultimately oil drives economies. Moreover, prices across the board will continue to rise. According to Kiyosaki, “Not only will fuel costs continue to go up, so will food costs. As our dollar drops in value, countries like India and China import more food from the United States.” The reason ...
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