Financial Samurai

The US consumer is alive and kicking! With the world stock markets crashing last week, nobody really cares about the financial losses in their portfolios, except for whether they can save $100 on a netbook by standing in line for 5 hours!  I expect the markets to rebound this week as the UAE publicly declares it will back all of Dubai World’s debts.

We will never learn from our mistakes because the desire for things is just too great.  You can bet your last dollar that if there’s any hint of a bubble in a new asset class, it’ll grow bigger because everybody will want in to try and capitalize.  I know I will at least try!

The fact of the matter is, if you don’t care, I don’t care because a rebound in heavy consumer spending leads to robust profits, which ultimately leads to higher stock prices and a “better” economy.  We need others to spend, so the rest of us can get rich. With rabid spending on the rise, I’m hopeful 1Q10 is going to be a job market frenzy.  The in-store retail sales figures were only up around 0.5%-1% YoY last week, but we should expect a surge in online sales.

With only one month left in the year, do you feel you are on track to achieve your financial goals? My goals were simply to stay alive during Armageddon, squirrel as much money away into savings, and be the most invaluable colleague as possible.  Of course, what I should have done was bet the ranch on the stock market in February and win the World Series of Poker, but I’m not smart enough.

It warms my heart to see such robust community participation.  I’ve been to numerous sites where I ask a question to the webmaster and it’s just crickets (silence).  I rarely go back as a result.  Hence, I promise to continue being accessible!  To facilitate, I’ve installed the “Comment Luv” plug-in. This plug-in showcases your latest blog post title with link whenever you leave a message and click the box.  The highlight spurs me and others to check your posts as a result.

Finally, can someone educate me about Technocrati? I signed up a long time ago, and have done nothing except put the badge up.  Is Technocrati useful to you?  If so, in what way?  I’m also wondering what’s the point of the pfblogs.org, if you don’t donate money to them?  I signed up, but because I don’t give them money, I’m on the back page and my posts never get highlighted.  Time to remove?  Moving them to the footer sounds like a solution.

FAVORITE POSTS OF THE WEEK & CONTEST WINNERS: Read more…

Who would have thought that one of the most glitzy countries in the world would have trouble paying their own debt on time?  The fear of systemic contagion is real as investors sell first, and ask questions later.

If Dubai can’t pay their debts, who else can’t?  The US of course, but that’s OK!  Everybody will fund our debt as you observe the US dollar and US treasuries strengthen.  Don’t believe me?  The 10-yr US treasury yield has dipped below 3.25% again.  What inflation?  Cheap money forever!

Investors around the world can mock us, and debase our weak currency all they want!  You shouldn’t care, because all you have to do is watch what investors DO and not what they say.  Investors are rushing in to our arms today crying “We love you America!  Give us shelter!”

So many have disagreed with our “A Weak Dollar Doesn’t Matter Folks!” thesis.  Yet so many are going to shop till they drop for pieces of junk they shouldn’t be buying in the first place!  It’s Black Friday every day at Ross, TJ Max, and Craigslist, so save your stress and relax!  If you go shopping today and check your 401k and stock accounts when you return, you might just have to go back on Monday and return everything!

* CONTEST * Predict where the Dow Jones closes today (11/27) and win a free pat on the back!  I predict 10,288.  I’ll also highlight the winner in my weekly Katana wrap.

Readers, are there any out there who are relaxing at home in their pajamas being entertained by the media coverage of shopping frenzy?  Why don’t people just shop on-line instead, given similar deals?  If you make $20/hr from work, but stand in line for 5 hours to save $100 on a laptop, doesn’t the bring you back to even?

Dale Siegel is offering a second “The New Rules of Mortgage” book as a giveaway.  Why not just comment and give yourself a chance to win?  What’s cheaper than FREE?

Keigu,

Financial Samurai - “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Twitter @FinancialSamura and sign up for our RSS feed.

A Reuben. My Favorite!

There’s a fine line between being a jerk and being constructive.  As a parent, manager, spouse, or friend, most of the time we just want what’s best for others.  The problem is, we’re afraid to offend and we therefore lose any ability to help.

There’s no better reward than advising someone how to improve, and then watch them flourish.  Push the person too far, however, and you’ll engender resentment.  The Sandwich Method is one the best ways for delivering constructive feedback.

SCENARIO: Your friend Sam comes up with a corny idea for a website called “Financial Samurai.”  Sam thinks it will become a Top 25 personal finance site in the world one day and thinks the tagline “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries” is catchy.  He thinks he’ll be able to retire off the advertising revenue and is already thinking about buying the latest Audi S5 and quitting his day job with his expected income.

You know better because there are 50 million active websites out there (200+ million total), and only the top 100,000 (0.2%) sites earn 74% of all the revenue according to Alexa.  As a friend, how do you knock some reality into Sam, without crushing his enthusiasm?

THE SANDWICH METHOD TO HELP SAM FACE REALITY: Read more…

“The New Rules For Mortgages” by Dale Siegel provides a fantastic understanding of everything you need to know about mortgages.  For many, a home is the single biggest purchase of their lives, and the mortgage is a necessary instrument for making homeownership dreams a reality.

Qualifying for a mortgage is daunting, but it doesn’t have to be under Dale Siegel’s guidance.  After all, who’s better to give instructions than the president of her own mortgage company?  It’s important to highlight that Dale truly tries to provide readers knowledge about mortgages and doesn’t use her book as a sounding board for her company.  The book is like a secret weapon for first time home-buyers who dare tip-toe past enemy landmines.  The enemy is the industry which has adeptly blown off many appendages via exotic liar loans and oh-too-high fees. Read more…

In a stunning move to shore up a $535 million budget gap, the UC Regents in 2009 voted to raise student undergraduate tuition by 32 percent (to $10,302/yr)!  Nothing like a little 16X increase over the rate of inflation to get blood boiling.  And now in 2011, the UC Regents voted to raise tuition by another 18% over 2010 to a total of $13,500 a year.  Talk about runaway inflation as just two years ago that figure was sitting at $8,000.

It’s really sad that during a difficult economic climate, the University of California Regents can conceivably raise tuition by such a magnitude.  Part of the reason why many of these fine students attend the UC system is because of cost.  Students from UC Berkeley or UCLA, for example, can easily get into many of the best private schools in America.  But for many, $40,000 a year in tuition is just too hefty a burden to carry.

The reality remains that due to careless spending by the state, budget cuts and a competitive market place for attracting top professors, tuition increases are inevitable.  The California state government has messed things up for so long that it’s now time for students, who have no money of their own to pay the price.  As a result, there is a fantastic silver lining to this tuition hike: the grooming of future conservative leaders of America and more empathy towards hard working, tax paying Americans.

TUITION HIKE FOR THE POOR IS LIKE A TAX HIKE FOR THE RICH Read more…

After observing the users of promotion sites like TIP’d on Twitter, I’ve come to the conclusion that there needs to be an endless amount of self-promotion to initially move up the rankings.  It just feels weird asking for votes, so I don’t think I’m going to bother participating too often.  I’d rather just focus on publishing good content here.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about how a new hoard of students will grow up to be ardent fiscal conservatives and agree with our flat tax argument. We’ll also talk about work place equality, dealing with cock-ups and one of my favorite inspirational videos for the rest of the month so stay tuned!

I enjoy posting every other day because I’m selfish and like reading other sites on my “days off”.  Furthermore, there’s such a good amount of community participation, it’s fun to learn from all of you.  BG, David, LeanLifecoach, and Credit Card Chaser were particularly insightful this week, highlighting hybrids could actually be WORSE for the environment than gas guzzling SUV’s.

In case anybody was wondering how to get an Avatar next to their name when they comment and input their e-mail address, simply go to GRAVATAR and follow their instructions.  It’s so easy to sign up.

Finally, publishers and readers should really think about installing the Alexa Toolbar owned by Amazon.  For those who don’t know, it’s a nifty tool which gives you a ton of traffic data about the site you’re visiting (supposedly 50mil+ have signed up).  For publishers, it’s particularly fun to observe your own rankings and see if they improve.

FAVORITE POSTS OF THE WEEK Read more…

Last week was pretty busy.  I traveled to three cities and saw 10 different clients with one of my senior colleagues, Jim.  Jim, aka Superstar, is 45 years old, has his PhD in Economics, and could probably retire now if he wants to.

Jim is a great speaker who engages his clients with insightful anecdotes.  At 5 foot 5 inches tall, Jim stands more confidently than his stature would suggest.  With a staff of 30 people serving his every wishes, Jim never has to worry about not getting his way.  He’s a meticulous man with particular demands, which leads us to our little adventure.

MR. CHAIRMAN Read more…

Why is it that some hybrid vehicle drivers eventually start looking down at non hybrid-owning drivers in disdain?  Is the “holier-than-thou” complex too hard to contain during flights of fuel sipping passion?  It’s natural to feel that whatever you purchase is the right purchase.  After all, if I overpaid for a hybrid vehicle (zing!) in hopes of saving the environment when a similar non-hybrid vehicle will do, I’d defend my decision and look down on others as well!  Don’t be mad, let me explain.

THE FINANCIAL SAMURAI VEHICLE

For those of you who have been following this site for a while, you’ll know that I’ve had plenty of cars over the past 10 years, and I now drive a 9 year older beater SUV which is MAYBE worth $6,000.  I love “Moose“, as I affectionately call him, because he adeptly takes us up the snowy mountains during the winter with its 4-wheel-drive capabilities.  Moose can conveniently carry up to  5 people with plenty of storage space, which is especially helpful when our parents visit.  Too bad Moose only gets 15mpg in the City, and 19mpg on the highway.  I can hear the hissing and booing now!

I bought “Moose” for $8,000 three years ago, from a woman who was in a hurry to dump her car before relocating to Amsterdam.  Special brownies anyone?  The hybrid craze at the time was dizzying, where seemingly rational people would spend $25,000 for a Prius vs. $15,000 for a comparable Toyota Corolla.  If people did the calculations, they’d realize the premium price paid for the car is much greater than the gas savings over an average 7 year ownership period.

Consumers weren’t adhering to our “1/10th” rule either, as I knew plenty of sub $100,000/yr income earners spending $25,000 for these hybrids.  I must repeat here again that it is absolutely financial destruction if you are spending more than 1/10th your annual gross income on a car.  Multi-millionaires follow this rule, why shouldn’t the rest of us?  Don’t give into your weak desires!

MOOSE GETS DISRESPECTED, I FIGHT BACK Read more…