As 2007 draws to a close, lets take a moment to reflect on what we have learned by highlighting our financial mistakes. We all make them, there are no exceptions to that rule. The only variable here is how big of a mistake was it.
As 2007 draws to a close, lets take a moment to reflect on what we have learned by highlighting our financial mistakes. We all make them, there are no exceptions to that rule. The only variable here is how big of a mistake was it.
To those of you who invest in the market, I am curious to know you measure your performance come the end of the year?
Come January 1st, 2008, when you look back on the 2007 year, what would make you say "YES, this was a good year for me in the market" (i.e., "I beat the market averages", "I made 20% overall", "I didn't lose money", ect.)
When you’re a full-time student it can be difficult to find ways to earn enough money to cover your expenses during the school year. As a result, it’s vital that college students are smart about how they spend their money and maintain a strict budget. Having been there, done that and gotten the diploma, here are a few tips I wish I’d known when I first started college.
A.) When I hit a certain monetary figure in total assets. (i.e., $1 million dollars)
B.) When my passive income exceeds my expenses thus giving me the luxury of never having to work again unless I choose too.
C.) Being "RICH" does not have anything to do with money at all. I consider my life "RICH" and I am in massive debt from college still :-)
Just curious as to what others think. I always hear people say "I want to be RICH!". I'll throw my 22cents in after hearing some responses.
Sometimes after I read a good blog post, I feel like I owe the writter for their efforts and want to say thank you. I can say "thank you" in two ways. The first way is to simply leave a comment. The second way is to click on one of their ads.
I do this not in a spammy kinda way, I just look on the page for an ad that I would potentially be interested in and click on it. I then do take a moment to look at the advertisers website. So let me ask you - if I came to your site and read a good article of yours, what would you choose as your "reward"? A comment or some extra change in your pocket?
@Mike
I expect you be wearing that track suite of yours when I come down for the bachelor party ;-)
JPhill - how about both.
I would be interested to hear where many of the successful 9rule's members started off in their lives...
My first job ever was first-mate abord the Runnin' Rebel (charter fishing boat) on Lake Ontario. It wasn't as scary as "Deadliest Catch" but we did get tossed around pretty good some days.
I always thought that mid-30's would be fun. Hopefully by then I am finally settled in life. No financial worries, wife, kids and everything is stable and secure at this point in time. I am old enough to get respect from the world and still young and healthy enough to play golf without a cart :-)
Just this past week I turned another year old and eclipsed the quarter century mark. I shared this day with two other co-workers who turned 30 and 45 respectively. It got me thinking if you could pick any age and stay there for the rest of your life, what age would you pick?
The best business leaders do their best to hire those whom are smarter than they are. Its a weird concept to think the owner of a company is the least intelligent one there.
$3.25 for premium here in upstate NY....... grrrr.....
Joey -
I use a service called "FreshBooks". Similar to blinksale. Check them out at freshbooks.com to get more information. The main difference between blinksale and freshbooks is that blinksale charges per invoice sent while freshbooks charges per client you keep on the books. Hope this helps :-)
Kind regards,
Chad
Speaking of record highs.... Apple (aapl) announced record revenues last night. The stock should see a nice pop today. Congrats to those of you who own Apple (both on paper and in real life)!
Joey - I live right on Lake Ontario also. Rochester, NY. You on the American or Canadian side of the big-O?
Estarla - stay disciplined with spending is a good one! It is so easy to get out of control. I should talk after just dropping $500 on 3 new golf clubs.
Mike - if you get a chance, you have to hit the Taylor Made R7 (both driver and 3-wood). Totally nasty! My whole bag is Titleist except for those two clubs now. I am playing in a couple tournaments with Adam this year so wish us luck. Gotta win another trip to the Homestead!
Just curious what (if any) summer goals you have for 2007. I am looking to save for a new house and take a nice long break down at the Atlantis, Paradise Island. Of course my goals conflict with each other :-) Aside from that I look to spend a good deal of time out on Lake Ontario fishing and hitting the links at my local country club. Let me know when you want to play a round Rundle. Hope you can handle the blues ;-)
szczupak, I signed up for a textlinkbrokers account and haven't sold any in a month. My TLA account has been sold out for months now and I have recently started another section of them and have already sold 4 in about 3 weeks here. TLA has been good to me.
Devin, that is awesome you were featured on their blog! I am heading on an 8 hour road trip soon and will be getting the audio book (6 discs worth) to play in the car on the ride.
Haha - yeah Mike, its great stuff. If you don't have time to sit down and read it, then I would also suggest the audio book for your car (or work). It makes for great road trip company.
What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?
Just a couple questions answered in a recent book I read title FREAKONOMICS by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Dubner’s “Freakonomics” book uses seemingly unthinkable comparisons to examine the economics which make up our everyday lives and I have to say it was one of the most interesting reads. I couldn't put the book down and was further motivated to write a larger review of Freakonomics on my site.
Have any of you read this book and were you as fascinated by it as I was?
Yeah Mike - I agree. Very loud and crazy. Very smart when it comes to company fundamentals and market analysis but falls short when it comes to market timing and that is why his "Actions Alerts Plus" portfolio often sees minimal gains. Far be it from me to tell someone who is worth over $100 million now how to trade the market but he could drastically improve his gains if he paid more attention to technicals.
Just curious how many out there watch Jim Cramer and what are you thoughts on him and the Mad Money show. I will share my opinions later.
Gradient
The book: Personal Finance For Dummies, 5th Edition by Eric Tyson (Author) Complete Finance Guidebook.
The link: http://22Dollars.com
Leave a comment and it could be yours! I usually give away one a month. Good luck everyone.
Wow guys... I am blown away by the new Ali overhaul. I would say GREAT job but that would be an understatement. Keep up the good work. I can't wait to explore the site some more.
Maria Bartiromo - hands down! Money, Power, Intelligence & Gorgeous! My girlfriend and I made a deal with each that we could each pick out one celebrity and IF the chance should ever arise with that celebrity of choice, we could take it and it wouldn't count as cheating. A "get out of jail free card" if you will. I picked Maria and she picked Prince William. Wish us luck :)
Hey friends,
My broker is Scottrade. I would recommend them to anyone. Great price and all the options that I need. Quick customer service. The only complaint that I have about Scottrade is that recently (a couple months ago) they decided to do away with the option of being able to transfer money in and out of my account via a wire transfers that hooked up directly to my checking account. This means in order to fund my account I have make a trip to the bank and do a wire transfer that way and that costs an extra $11 dollars plus gas and time I didn't use to have to waste. Of course if you have a Scottrade in your area you can go and just give them a check and fund your account this way. Other than this, I would highly recommend Scottrade.
Chad (22Dollars.com)
2222
Here is mine. I haven't had a chance to update it in a while, but here it is reguardless.
Kyle - here are two articles from my friends over at The BeanCounter about some tax breaks you can get from buying gas efficient cars.
Hope this helps :-)
Oh and if you want a good example of this then check out Rackable Systems (RACK). Recently announced great earnings but in the conference call they hinted at the slightest slow down in growth and possibly not being able to make the guidance expectations of the market for the rest of the year. Stock gets hammered for 40% today. A company whose earnings were as good as they have ever been, see's the stock tumble 40% because of growth concerns.
cmarsh - keep in mind that often times, how a company performs and how a companies stock performs are two very different things. The market is always looking for growth in a stock/company (consider it the holy grail of the stock market). Even if the company is rock solid in terms of their business model and revenue, should they fail to find a way to grow over the next quarter or year to the expectations of the market, then the stock could see some bumpy road ahead. Does this mean the company is struggling - maybe yes, maybe no. But my point is that the company stock is not always an accurate reflection of how the company itself is doing but rather how they are doing with respect to how the market thinks they should be doing.
Haha - Colin, having 0 dollars invested is not always a bad thing... I know plenty of friends that would attest to that.
Scrivs, there are a LOT of people out there who want to see more yahoo finance widgets like this. Jeremy Zawondny has a good discussion going about other Yahoo widgets people would like to see.
» Best personal finance advice after college? ... Last Reply: 1 year ago by creat1ve.
My best advice is to not wait till after college to start thinking about how your going to handle your finances. If fact, I remeber back in college days, staying up late with my room mates talking about how to make extra money on the side to help pay off these huge college bills we each had. We addressed the problem early and today I think each of us (4) are college debt free.