How To Get Rich
How To Get Rich
February 13, 2020 By Machinist
Most people want to be rich. A smaller portion of those actually want to get rich. If you are one of the enlightened few who are willing to actually do the work of getting rich, then you are in luck, because this article contains pretty much everything you need to know about money and how to accumulate a great big pile of it.
There are really only three ways to get rich, but one of those is dumb luck, and you either have it or you don’t. That leaves only two ways to get rich that you have any control over. You can work for your money or you can put your money to work for you.
Actually, you are going to have to work either way. So, it would be more accurate to say that you can work for you money or you can work for your money AND let your money work for you. Whether or not you choose to participate in that second part will largely determine how long you’ll have to work.
Let’s start by talking about money.
The Curse of a High Income
.The Curse of a High Income
February 20, 2020 By Machinist
The Income Curse
Regardless of income level, the vast majority of people spend very nearly everything they earn, if not more. Most people know that living paycheck-to-paycheck is a problem. What they may not realize is that the higher their income, the bigger this problem actually is. Common sense tells us that more income is always better, but that’s not always true. If you have a high income and are spending it all, then you might be in serious trouble with limited options.
Consider the following scenario and think about who is financially more secure? Who is wealthier?
Introducing Bob and Bill
Bob earns a salary of $50k per year. He owns his 10-year-old Toyota Camry outright, makes the mortgage payment on his comfortable home, and is still able to save $5k each year in his 401(k) account.
Bill earns $250k per year and leases a new Land Rover every two years. He lives in a very nice house with a pool and a beautifully landscaped yard. Bill is also saving $5k per year toward retirement.
The Market is Falling. What Should I Do?
.The Market is Falling. What Should I Do?
March 10, 2020 By Machinist
In a Free-Fall
Falling markets are a normal and expected part of investing. The proper reaction to an ugly period in the market is to hold. In fact, the only logical response to a discounted market is an increased motivation to buy more. Selling may seem right emotionally, but it’s absolutely illogical and wrong.
Explanation
Timing the market is a fool’s errand. Timing only works if you know where the market is going. You can’t know where the market will be tomorrow or next month. But luckily, we can say almost with certainty that the market will be higher ten years from now.
Markets will recover, but you will only benefit if you are invested when they do. You are not investing for next week. You are investing for decades, so you’ll realize your best odds of success when you buy and hold for decades.
Investing involves risk. That means that the value of your stocks can and will drop from time to time. You should expect to lose several percent twice a year or even more.
How Many Companies Are Worth Less Than Zero?
.How Many Companies Are Worth Less Than Zero?
Notes From The Field By Simon Black May 26, 2020 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
By 1920, former New York Yankees outfielder George Halas’s baseball career was finished.
Halas had only played 12 games as a professional when a hip injury abruptly ended his dream of making it big. Being a baseball player was all Halas really knew, and with his career finished, he had limited prospects. Eventually he was able to find steady work in Decateur, Illinois, a small town about 3 hours from Chicago, where he took a job with the A.E. Staley Company.
The company’s founder, Augustus Staley, loved sports, and he recruited some of his employees to play on a company team that competed in a regional gridiron football league.
The team was known as the Decateur Staleys, and Halas became the manager.
How Should I Save For My Kids’ College?
.How Should I Save For My Kids’ College?
April 2, 2020 By Machinist
Priorities
One of the personal finance questions I receive most often is about saving for college. What am I doing to pay for my kids’ college? The simple answer is that 529 college savings plans are the way to go.
A better answer has to include a consideration of how college funding works in harmony with your other financial priorities. In other words, to adequately determine how to pay for your kids’ college you first need to determine what you are really trying to accomplish.
What Are Your Priorities?
It is a noble goal to raise your children to become responsible, well-educated adults that will play a meaningful and productive role in society. Sending your child off for a college education can be a fantastic way to cap off your efforts as a parent toward these goals. It may also improve Junior’s earning potential.
15 Typical Life Problems And How To Solve Them
.15 Typical Life Problems And How To Solve Them.
Tim Denning Jul 17, 2018
All of our problems are the same. This is the 156th time I’ve written this fact (for those of you counting).
Problems are forever and we can’t avoid them. You’ll wake up tomorrow and have problems for breakfast. You’ll jump on the train and read a problem in your email inbox.
You’ll get to the office and get a problem smack bang in your pretty face!
The typical problems we face can be solved.
Here are 15 typical life problems and how to solve them:
.“Even If Not Intentional Discrimination, It’s Still Discrimination.”
“Even If Not Intentional Discrimination, It’s Still Discrimination.”
.Going Cashless Looks More and More Like a Capitalist Scam
By Ankita Rao Mar 22 2019
Paper vs Plastic
Lawmakers argue bans on cashless stores could protect tens of millions of Americans without access to credit cards.
When Bluestone Lane decided to go cashless, the people running the coffee franchise were thinking of efficiency.
“Cash takes time,” said Andy Stone, vice president of brand marketing and events at the company, which was inspired by cafe culture in Australia.
“In New York, nobody wants to be waiting in line.” There’s also the counting of cash, the moving and transferring of it in actual trucks, which can be vulnerable to theft.
It’s Easier to Be Rich If You Don’t Have to Look Rich
.It’s Easier to Be Rich If You Don’t Have to Look Rich
January 30, 2020 By Machinist
That Looks Rich.
Wealth is a fascinating paradox. People who look rich, especially those who really care about looking rich, usually aren’t actually rich. On the other hand, as we learned from The Millionaire Next Door, there are millions of incognito millionaires all around us. I have had my own experiences with perceptions of wealth, and I’ve discovered that it’s easier to look rich than to actually be rich.
More importantly, I’ve learned that it’s much easier to get rich if you don’t care about looking rich. The choice is yours. Would you rather look rich or be rich?
Look Forward
.Look Forward
Jonathan Clements | May 23, 2020
IT’S BEEN AN UNHAPPY few months. Stepping outside means risking our health. One out of six U.S. workers is unemployed or soon will be. The stock market has suffered its worst decline since 2007-09. And while we can take steps to help ourselves, the situation is largely out of our control.
Feeling glum? One of my abiding interests is happiness research, and that research offers ideas that can make our current situation a little cheerier. But how?
We can think of any occasion—perhaps it’s a fun experience we’re planning or a purchase we want to make—as having three elements: the time before, the event itself and the time after. Each offers the opportunity for happiness, but it takes effort on our part.
Does Frugal Have A New Normal?
.Does Frugal Have A New Normal?
May 24, 2020 Mr. Tako
Do you consider yourself a frugal person? I used to think Mrs. Tako and I were pretty frugal people. If you remember our backstory, the two of us were good savers in our 20’s and 30’s which allowed us to reach financial independence by age 38.
We saved, but we didn’t suffer. We traveled internationally quite a bit, ate delicious meals, and generally had a very luxurious life — all while saving a good chunk of our income.
That was the past, and this is now. Today I’m not feeling nearly as frugal as I used to. A lot of it has to do with changes happening in the world with response to COVID-19. All the little things we used to do to save money are now being done by A TON of people.
For example, instead of eating out, more people are cooking meals at home. Many of the same people are making coffee at home instead of going out for a daily latte. They’re also cutting their own hair, working-out at home, and DIYing housework instead of hiring it out.
Does any of this sound familiar? It’s because many of those frugal behaviors are things I’ve written about on this blog. The same little tricks that Mrs. Tako and I used to save up to our multi-million status.
Would You Risk Months Of Prison To Set Your Kids Up For Life?
.Would You Risk Months Of Prison To Set Your Kids Up For Life?
By Financial Samurai
Every parent can attest they are willing to do everything in their power to give their children a good life.
Once you have kids, the money will come because you become so motivated to work harder. Not only will you work harder and pay better attention to your finances, you’ll also likely get in better shape because you want to increase your chances of seeing your kids grow up!
Given the desire to give our children a better life, it’s understandable why wealthy families try to bribe their children into various universities every year. We live in a hyper-competitive world.
When Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli’s plea bargain deal was announced, I was shocked.