Financial Samurai

Over the last several days I’ve spent a lot of money.  First, I splurged on a 50 minute massage for $67 dollars that came from $260 in poker winnings the other night.  Does the $67 dollars count as “real money” since I didn’t have the money before the game?  Yes, because I could have easily lost $260 as well.  Saving any winnings from poker is a very empty feeling.  Instead, I like to spend it on something rewarding since the excitement of taking down a hand lasts about a nanosecond.

Second, I went on a double date with a client and his wife at this new French American restaurant and picked up the $230 bill.  The place definitely wasn’t cheap, what with the oysters, wine, cheese plates, bouillabaisse, and 24 layer crepes.  However, it was a good time and great for relationship building.  As he is officially a client, there was no hesitation to pay unlike my outing with the real estate agent the other week.

Finally, after two months of waiting and mingling, I’m now officially a member of this cozy old school tennis club.  I handed over my credit card to the member rep and watched her swipe it for a cool $10,000.  Curiously, I didn’t blink an eye because I was so excited to finally be apart of the family.  The process overall has taken 2 months!  There’s something about going to a place where everybody knows your name.  The club feels like one big family.

EXPERIENCES ALWAYS WIN Read more…

When it comes to making deals, I think women have an edge.  A friend of mine has a vacation property up in Lake Tahoe and he says he let’s his wife do all the marketing, negotiating, and selling.  Peter marketed their place for the first 12 months to mixed results.  Some months were very strong, and others not so much for what normal rent should be during various times of the year.  Peter said he averaged around $1,800 a month.

Enter Julia, Peter’s wife who just rocks Peter’s world.  After 12 months, Julia averaged a healthy $2,500 or a 39% per month increase in rental income over Peter’s best efforts.  As Peter and I discussed more about Julia’s all-star sales abilities, we came to the conclusion that women are naturally more trustworthy than men.

WHY WOMEN ARE BETTER AT NEGOTIATING & SELLING Read more…

President Obama’s State of The Union address was well delivered.  He said almost everything right – from restoring spending discipline to improving education to allowing everyone access to affordable health care.  The one thing President Obama didn’t say correctly was regarding taxation.  He said illogically not to let millionaires get away with their tax cuts at the expense of X, Y, and Z.

Can anybody guess where the inconsistency is in President Obama’s words on income taxes?  On the one hand, President Obama attacks millionaires, yet he so strongly pushes to raise taxes on individuals making only $200,000 and couples making $250,000!  Last time I checked, someone making $200,000 a year isn’t making a million dollars.  And someone making $200,000 a year isn’t necessarily a millionaire!

SAVING FACE THANKS TO POOR NEGOTIATIONS

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I want you guys to visualize a world where there is no media schadenfreude.  Imagine never reading stories debasing others out of delight in order to make the writer and you feel better about yourself.  My how nice the world would be!

The reason why there are so many negative articles out there is simply because there are a lot more people making a lot more money and doing much greater things than one realizes.  If you can’t make it on your own, it’s easier to just try and bring others down.  Don’t do that!

You know from a previous article that $60,000 to $75,000 is such a silly low range for what researchers and the media think is the ideal income level where happiness rises no more.  It’s so silly because that is clearly not the case if you ask anybody who has ever made more.  Is it a coincidence that researchers and reporters make on average not much more than $75,000?  Of course not and therefore it helps makes them feel better about their wages.  It’s perfectly rational.

THE SECRET MOVEMENT Read more…

About a month ago, I went to an open house and met a realtor named Sally.  I was immediately drawn to Sally due to her wealth of knowledge.  I’m currently very interested in building my real estate portfolio given the lag in property prices and very attractive rental yields vs. borrowing costs.  As a result, we got to talking and we agreed to have a follow up conversation during happy hour sometime in the future.  Realtors are always looking for new clients and I’m always looking to get up to date about the real estate environment.  This post is not a topic of whether one should be buying property now.  This post is about deciding who pays the bill.

The last time I let a woman pay the bill was never, especially for an acquaintance I hardly know.  In fact, even for new male acquaintances, I always pay the bill.  It’s just the way I grew up.  I asked the Twitter community whether I should pay or not since I am a prospective client, and I immediately got a range of responses from “don’t be that guy,” to “you are sexist for even thinking about wondering whether you should pay.”  Pretty tough responses, which leads me to believe that sharing any questions I have in public just opens oneself out for attack.  I also understand why people shy away from others and keeps things to themselves.

THE REASON

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On Sunday, January 16th Yakezie.com received around 6,300 visitors thanks to Little House’s (Yakezie Scholarship Committee Member) efforts to reach out to other organizations online.  That organization was Fastweb.com, a site that helps students find monetary support for education around the web.

Not expecting such a surge in traffic, immediately things started going haywire.  My registration e-mail notifications started flooding in, and then personal e-mails started coming in asking why they didn’t get an e-mail confirmation to register to the allow them to apply.  Frantically, I tried addressing all problems over comments, Twitter, and e-mail myself as Chris was not near a computer.  When Chris returned, he did some testing and things seemed to work, but because of the sheer flood of visitors, things locked up.

Our e-mail system (Google) supposedly has a ~200 limit per day on sending e-mail notifications for new registrants.  After about 1:30pm on Sunday, the 200 limit was quickly hit but the registrants kept coming in.  As a result, any eager student who was looking to register and compete could not.  Oh my, how bad I felt for them.

MY FEAR AND GUILT Read more…

I have to admit, I’m having withdrawals from not driving a different car for over 3 years now.  I used to get a new (used) car every year by wheeling and dealing on Craigslist, but I stopped once I found Moose.  Moose is so handsome and adventurous, even the ladies love him.  I picked up a friend of mine one evening to go grab some grub, and she mentioned a week later that her stalking neighbor, who has a crush on her said he’s frustrated that guys who own “Moose-like” cars always gets the girl.  Maybe buddy, it’s the creepy way you stare out the corner of your window to spy on women that makes you still single?!

A year ago, Moose’s passenger side electronics seat stopped working to my dismay.  Luckily, the seat was in a comfortable, semi-reclined position so I let it be.  I told myself then that it might be time to start looking for another car soon as fixing the thing might cost $500+ dollars.  And so, I made a decision that as soon as the driver’s seat electronics also stopped working, I’d go and buy me another car.

Each week that went by, I started secretly hoping my seat would stop working.  I was hoping for something bad, but not too bad to happen, so I could justify buying something new!  Screw it, I thought.  I’m going to go visit the dealer and check out the new rides anyway.  Moose ain’t ever gonna fail me!

THE BENEVOLENT DEALER Read more…

Working out sucks.  I hate it with a passion because I find it so wasteful to expend energy on doing nothing.  I would rather use the energy to build a house in Somalia, landscape the backyard, or play sports than lift some stupid weights.  That said, working out is also convenient because there’s a gym right across from me that I attend before every team or client dinner outing.  I figure I better pump some iron and jog a little before blitzing my diet!

One of my goals in 2011 is to win a tennis tournament.  To do so, I have to improve my endurance given I faded in both tournaments since we had to play back to back matches each day.  The season really gears up in March, leaving me with a solid two months to get in shape.  I know there is no way in hell I will be able to go to the gym 3X or more a week so I’ve thought about enlisting a personal trainer for help.

THE BIG BUCKS MIGHT BE WORTH IT Read more…