Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Networking
When you are networking suggest ways for the other person to improve and show them how you could help them with YOUR expertise. "Givers Get."
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Describe a significant leadership experience, which has enhanced your professional development.
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. I have been allowed the privelege to see and practice great leadership through civic, religious, and social venues. One of my most meaningful experience came while serving as an LDS missionary from the ages of 19 to 21.
At the ripe age of 19 I was given several leadership roles. One of these roles was as a trainer teaching brand new missionaries time management, cultural differences, teaching skills, proper work ethics, and goal setting. Basically I was teaching them everything they needed to know to be successful missionaries. Because these assignments started at only seven months into my tenure as a missionary it endowed me with a confidence that the mission leadership trusted me and thought I was equal to the task. From this I learned that people would rise to the occasion given the challenge and opportunity to do so. Given a new title and responsibility people will often start behaving in a way that is commiserate with that position. In future leadership roles I am excited to find, develop, and put people in positions that they themselves might not otherwise feel they are capable of to see how they grow and mature professionally in a way that is a boon to the company and its bottom line.
As I taught these new missionaries I deciphered a very effective means of training people. The steps for this practical process was to describe what needed to be done, give or show them an useful example, let them practice the given task, and finally give them constructive criticism on how they did. Often people need a mentor or at least an example to glean the skills necessary to successfully perform in their position. However, I also learned through teaching these young missionaries that people intrinsically desire feedback. People want to know how they are doing and how they can improve. People want to be good at what they do and be recognized as such by their peers and superiors. If they feel like you are helping them towards that then they will respect what you have to say and need them to do.
I was asked at one point to train a missionary that had already been working for well over a year, but had only been doing it in English and now needed to learn the language and cultural differences of working in Spanish. What I found was that it didn’t matter how I implemented the previously successful training techniques that I had employed with the three other missionaries mission leadership had given me to groom. I could not get this missionary on board for what he needed to do to be successful in his new opportunity. I informed the mission leadership of this issue and they demoted him back to where he was and they gave me another missionary that transitioned great from English to Spanish. What I learned in this leadership role was that sometimes when people aren’t in the right seat on the bus you can’t force them to want to be in the right seat and if they are obstinate enough that it is best to completely let them go as that type of attitude affects the productivity and morale of others negatively. This is when a leader makes the call to let the person go and cut their losses while they are still low and then move on to the next person that is willing to do what is needed to get the job done.
At the ripe age of 19 I was given several leadership roles. One of these roles was as a trainer teaching brand new missionaries time management, cultural differences, teaching skills, proper work ethics, and goal setting. Basically I was teaching them everything they needed to know to be successful missionaries. Because these assignments started at only seven months into my tenure as a missionary it endowed me with a confidence that the mission leadership trusted me and thought I was equal to the task. From this I learned that people would rise to the occasion given the challenge and opportunity to do so. Given a new title and responsibility people will often start behaving in a way that is commiserate with that position. In future leadership roles I am excited to find, develop, and put people in positions that they themselves might not otherwise feel they are capable of to see how they grow and mature professionally in a way that is a boon to the company and its bottom line.
As I taught these new missionaries I deciphered a very effective means of training people. The steps for this practical process was to describe what needed to be done, give or show them an useful example, let them practice the given task, and finally give them constructive criticism on how they did. Often people need a mentor or at least an example to glean the skills necessary to successfully perform in their position. However, I also learned through teaching these young missionaries that people intrinsically desire feedback. People want to know how they are doing and how they can improve. People want to be good at what they do and be recognized as such by their peers and superiors. If they feel like you are helping them towards that then they will respect what you have to say and need them to do.
I was asked at one point to train a missionary that had already been working for well over a year, but had only been doing it in English and now needed to learn the language and cultural differences of working in Spanish. What I found was that it didn’t matter how I implemented the previously successful training techniques that I had employed with the three other missionaries mission leadership had given me to groom. I could not get this missionary on board for what he needed to do to be successful in his new opportunity. I informed the mission leadership of this issue and they demoted him back to where he was and they gave me another missionary that transitioned great from English to Spanish. What I learned in this leadership role was that sometimes when people aren’t in the right seat on the bus you can’t force them to want to be in the right seat and if they are obstinate enough that it is best to completely let them go as that type of attitude affects the productivity and morale of others negatively. This is when a leader makes the call to let the person go and cut their losses while they are still low and then move on to the next person that is willing to do what is needed to get the job done.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Describe a significant career accomplishment that you found particularly rewarding
“Well thank you Brock, for showing us how to eliminate your position.”
As odd as that sentence may sound, hearing that sentence from my boss’s boss, the VP of Finance and Business Development, is my most significant career accomplishment.
I currently work for England Logistics, a Third Party Logistics Company that has gone from 18th in 2007 on Transport Topics’ List of Freight Brokerage Firms to 11th in 2010. We are a $237 million dollar a year company.
I was hired as a credit and claims analyst to process credit requests and claims, but also to tackle inefficiencies in our credit and claims processes. When I started I literally started with filing the claims folders. He then asked me to handle claims under $1,000 then $5,000 and now I handle any claim we have. Some are as high as $50,000 and require a considerable amount of time and effort when coordinating with insurance adjusters, government inspectors, factoring companies, our company, and salvage companies. I also helped create a spreadsheet tool that tracks the progress of cargo claims. This tool enables the company to keep track of the progress of a claim, thus eliminating costs of employees verifying completed steps in the claim process.
An example of tackling inefficiency in the credit request process since my arrival seven months ago is that credit requests now only take an hour instead of five. That is an 80% reduction in time spent approving credit! Once these stopgap measures were in place for claims and credit I was able to focus on other inefficiencies in the company.
At the beginning of my employment the company’s credit risk was about five hundred million dollars. That was the available credit extended to our customers to use (or abuse). My job is to reduce that risk. I analyzed our customer’s shipping needs, how often they ship, and the last time they shipped. I was able to adjust the amount of credit we extended to them and as a result of my efforts we have been able to reduce our credit risk by almost $470 million dollars! We’ve since safely extended another 10.7 million in credit to our customers.
Another fulfilling project for me was Dunn & Bradstreet analysis. I suggested using some university students to do statistical analysis of data we use when deciding on giving credit to a customer or not. This resulted in my supervisor thanking me for thinking outside of the box. That project is still a possibility as we study programming capabilities on our end, plotting of information, and statistical considerations.
My most significant career accomplishment to date though involved another initiative I took in automating the credit approval process for smaller credit amounts. This had me considering the complete automation of my position, resulting in complete elimination of human involvement. This effort is on hold till we hit a certain number of requests per year, which is currently about one half of the needed number in order to automate the process. Till then my position will still exist. My superiors, after reading my proposition said, “Well thank you Brock, for showing us how to eliminate your position.”
As odd as that sentence may sound, hearing that sentence from my boss’s boss, the VP of Finance and Business Development, is my most significant career accomplishment.
I currently work for England Logistics, a Third Party Logistics Company that has gone from 18th in 2007 on Transport Topics’ List of Freight Brokerage Firms to 11th in 2010. We are a $237 million dollar a year company.
I was hired as a credit and claims analyst to process credit requests and claims, but also to tackle inefficiencies in our credit and claims processes. When I started I literally started with filing the claims folders. He then asked me to handle claims under $1,000 then $5,000 and now I handle any claim we have. Some are as high as $50,000 and require a considerable amount of time and effort when coordinating with insurance adjusters, government inspectors, factoring companies, our company, and salvage companies. I also helped create a spreadsheet tool that tracks the progress of cargo claims. This tool enables the company to keep track of the progress of a claim, thus eliminating costs of employees verifying completed steps in the claim process.
An example of tackling inefficiency in the credit request process since my arrival seven months ago is that credit requests now only take an hour instead of five. That is an 80% reduction in time spent approving credit! Once these stopgap measures were in place for claims and credit I was able to focus on other inefficiencies in the company.
At the beginning of my employment the company’s credit risk was about five hundred million dollars. That was the available credit extended to our customers to use (or abuse). My job is to reduce that risk. I analyzed our customer’s shipping needs, how often they ship, and the last time they shipped. I was able to adjust the amount of credit we extended to them and as a result of my efforts we have been able to reduce our credit risk by almost $470 million dollars! We’ve since safely extended another 10.7 million in credit to our customers.
Another fulfilling project for me was Dunn & Bradstreet analysis. I suggested using some university students to do statistical analysis of data we use when deciding on giving credit to a customer or not. This resulted in my supervisor thanking me for thinking outside of the box. That project is still a possibility as we study programming capabilities on our end, plotting of information, and statistical considerations.
My most significant career accomplishment to date though involved another initiative I took in automating the credit approval process for smaller credit amounts. This had me considering the complete automation of my position, resulting in complete elimination of human involvement. This effort is on hold till we hit a certain number of requests per year, which is currently about one half of the needed number in order to automate the process. Till then my position will still exist. My superiors, after reading my proposition said, “Well thank you Brock, for showing us how to eliminate your position.”
Friday, November 25, 2011
Briefly explain how the MBA degree would assist you in your short- and long-term career goals.
This post and the two after are for posterity sake really is all.
As fast as information is promulgating in the world, you cannot know all the answers. As our country becomes more service oriented it is imperative that those in management positions know how to best serve the internal and external customers. A leader best serves their constituencies not by knowing everything but knowing which questions to ask in order to get the correct answers. This applies to both short-term and long-term questions. The ability to drill down to the fundamental issues and ask the right questions is what I hope my MBA education will afford me.
Since getting my undergrad, I’ve been exposed to workplace dynamics and politics. I have seen how those who are qualified will often get passed up for positions or responsibilities because they don’t have the proper letters after their name. I don’t want my lack of education and training to be part of the equation for myself. Receiving an MBA will allow me to get to the table so that I might be able to help my bosses, associates, and stakeholders with my expertise, critical thinking skills, and knowledge.
Going back to school will give me the chance to learn the intricacies of how things should interact with each other in a business setting. This understanding is necessary in managing the course corrections needed to get a business to run efficiently. These skills and understandings are as applicable to running a Fortune 200 company as an entrepreneurial venture. The case studies and coursework of an MBA will help prepare me for the dynamics of business, whether directing a third party logistics company, a laser manufacturer, or a blue jean zipper supplier.
Long term the MBA will help me be a proactive leader rather than being a reactive manager to the dynamic changes that are a trademark of our global economy. A MBA will help me know what needs to be done versus relying on others telling me what needs to be accomplished. Bosses want someone who says, “THIS is what needs to be done next.” Additionally, I have seen how those with the ability to make changes simply don’t either because they do not see the need for the change or they lack the confidence to make a bold move, which could flop, or on the flip side, could benefit the company. A Masters of Business Administration will give me the knowledge and confidence to be proactive in the various roles I will have throughout my career.
I have been impressed by the Apple’s recent success. They are a prime example of having first mover’s advantage. Their competitors are reacting instead of being proactive to their success. Apple’s success is causing “creative deconstruction” to the rest of the PC industry with their “post PC” products. This is just one aspect of business that the rest of the business world is seeing come to light and I hope that getting an MBA will shed light on this and many other practices shared by successful companies that I do not currently know of.
I believe a MBA will make me a more productive employee, a wiser manager, and a more successful entrepreneur. I will always continue to educate myself but the structure and expertise of your MBA program will usher me to a higher level of business practices. This will ultimately allow me to have more to offer my employer, my family and my community.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Who Moved My Cheese
Who Moved My Cheese
By
Spencer Johnson, M.D.
What I learned from this book is that not only should you open to change, but also you should be looking for it. Once you spot it, you should move forward going after it and try and stay ahead of it. My brother sent me a link to a video describing social media, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It was wild to see the stats flashing across the screen. Basically the point of that video to me was that things are happening in big ways in social media and if you aren’t using it to your advantage via those sites or a blog then you are and will continue to fall behind. If you don’t believe me keep reading.
The average American I just read spends 6.83 hours on Facebook each month. That is over 81 hours a year. That is over 81 hours a year people. 81 hours is two full workweeks! Spent on one social networking website. I’m going to bet that a good majority of those same people also spend equivalent time on Twitter and You Tube and paying their bills online and Pinterest and, and, and. That said we’re talking about a full month (conservatively) spent on social networking sites and if you aren’t there then you’re not anywhere and future employers and schools aren’t in your future either.
Who’s to say that colleges and universities don’t make it a requirement as part of their admissions process that you have a certain number of ‘friends’ or blog posts? Why would they do that? Why would you want to be around someone or let someone into your college club who is socially awkward and doesn’t know how to interact with people and would be more a hindrance then help to your mission?
Think about change and embrace it.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Big Short
The Big Short
By
Michael Lewis
The one thing that I picked up from this book is that “If you want to predict how people will behave you only have to look at their incentives.” In the book it mentions several examples of this, but one that stuck out to me was of Xerox. They had made a better machine, but because their salesman were getting less commission off of them they actually sold fewer machines than was normal and kept selling the older and less dependable machines to increase their commissions.
There are a plethora of things that could be taken from this and implemented in my life. In my personal life with my wife I could change or implement structure in how I interact with her so that we both mutually benefit from an increased love for each other since the incentives are properly placed. One way of doing that change is doing activities together that we both like to do.
In business if I don’t like how I’m being compensated I could ask for a change in how my pay or bonus structure is so that achieving those incentives is challenging, exciting, and rewarding. Who really wants to do a job they know they can’t get done no matter how hard they try? Let me answer my own question since it is my blog. Nobody. In fact over time I bet that people will naturally tend to work less and less diligently if that is their particular situation.
Recently my company rolled out a program for the bonus structure that almost completely rules out getting your full bonus potential. It is possible to get, but it is very difficult. I spoke up in the meeting saying that the new program didn’t quite feel right and after the meeting (nobody else spoke up about it until I had and they almost closed the meeting until I piped up) several people, including my own boss, said that they didn’t like the structure and that they were glad that I said something.
We could also implement incentive changes in government. To be honest I’m not really sure what would be the best way to change things. What if we disallowed somehow that a private sector individual could not become a public sector representative and vice versa? This would avoid people being manipulated by lobbyists since they wouldn’t receive later benefits based on how they voted. There a million ways I’m sure we could change the incentives of our elected that would be for the better of our country, but changes could and should occur based on our current issues we face as a nation.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
1031 Exchange
Who cares about this and why is it important to make the leap to big investment money? A 1031 Exchange is a tool you can utilize to avoid paying taxes on the gains from selling your property. You have to roll it into another property within a certain period of time and it has to be into another property of similar use. This allows you to capture the gains instead of losing them to taxes and roll those gains into another place as an investment.
What’s great about this is that you can take a property that you’ve fully depreciated throughout the years and sell it with its value also having appreciated and roll those gains into another property. There are many reasons to do a 1031 exchange. The following are just a few reasons why you’d want to. Upgrade or consolidate property, relocation to another area, and change ownership of property types, i.e. change from owning residential real estate to commercial or retail.
Ultimately my goal is to own enough rental property or businesses that allow me to live comfortably on the monthly cash flow in retirement. This exchange allows me the ability to potentially grow my investments exponentially through economies of scale. That is what I’m excited about in the future. This is what Robert Kiyosaki did with his wife when they were starting out in rental properties. They were able to take their 20 or so rental properties, sell them, and traded up for 2 bigger apartment complex units. What is nice about this is the track that it leads them down. Eventually with enough experience/success larger investors will start to come at you with deals that you’d be able to finance or find financing for that would lead to infinite return deals using OPM (Other People’s Money), which is the best possible way to maximize your returns.
What’s great about this is that you can take a property that you’ve fully depreciated throughout the years and sell it with its value also having appreciated and roll those gains into another property. There are many reasons to do a 1031 exchange. The following are just a few reasons why you’d want to. Upgrade or consolidate property, relocation to another area, and change ownership of property types, i.e. change from owning residential real estate to commercial or retail.
Ultimately my goal is to own enough rental property or businesses that allow me to live comfortably on the monthly cash flow in retirement. This exchange allows me the ability to potentially grow my investments exponentially through economies of scale. That is what I’m excited about in the future. This is what Robert Kiyosaki did with his wife when they were starting out in rental properties. They were able to take their 20 or so rental properties, sell them, and traded up for 2 bigger apartment complex units. What is nice about this is the track that it leads them down. Eventually with enough experience/success larger investors will start to come at you with deals that you’d be able to finance or find financing for that would lead to infinite return deals using OPM (Other People’s Money), which is the best possible way to maximize your returns.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Infinite Return
If I have zero dollars invested in an asset and I receive $1, a return on zero is infinite. How is this possible?
In real estate they way it works is you buy something and force appreciation through improvements to the dwelling, at which point you would then refinance the property and since it is refinanced it is tax free the amount you get out of the refinance. Once that is done you can then roll the proceeds into another property via a 1031 exchange, but you still get to keep the first asset, which means you have an infinite return on the first property since you technically have no money invested in the property.
In real estate they way it works is you buy something and force appreciation through improvements to the dwelling, at which point you would then refinance the property and since it is refinanced it is tax free the amount you get out of the refinance. Once that is done you can then roll the proceeds into another property via a 1031 exchange, but you still get to keep the first asset, which means you have an infinite return on the first property since you technically have no money invested in the property.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Paradigm Shift for me on Economics 101
Talk about a paradigm shift for the econ 101 guy here. Man here is another reason to invest in commodities. Just this week the Japanese said they’re going to devalue their yen as it appreciated to record post World War II highs against the dollar.
GOLD AND THE ONGOING CURRENCY WARS
by Jeff Nielson of Bullion Bulls Canada
We live in a world almost entirely populated by economic charlatans. Nowhere is that indictment more blatantly apparent than in the world of international trade. For proof, look no further than the ongoing attempts by governments to win export market share by devaluing their currencies - also known as the "Currency Wars."
To see why these measures hurt all involved, the reader must understand why countries (and individuals) trade. It is elementary economics that profitable trade is founded upon a single principal: the doctrine of comparative advantage. It states that nations produce what they are especially adept at producing, and then trade those goods to other nations for the products which they can produce with greater efficiency.
Put another way, if Nation A can produce computers 10% cheaper than Nation B, but Nation B can produce automobiles 10% cheaper than Nation A, then both nations will be better off if they begin trading computers for automobiles. If we assume two equally-sized economies, and balanced trade, we essentially multiply our efficiencies by a factor of three: each nation produces twice as much of what it is good at, while also avoiding squandering resources by producing goods it is not efficient at producing.
Governments have throughout history attempted to interrupt this mutually beneficial arrangement in order to "protect" local industries from competition. While the old weapon was the tariff, the new weapon is competitive devaluation - and like the atom bomb, it's destructive power is orders of magnitude larger than the old weapons.
"Devaluation" means to drive the value of one's currency toward zero. "Competitive devaluation," then, is a race between governments to see which one can drive its currency toward zero the fastest.
As a result, instead of nations only producing goods which they are efficient at producing, and trading those goods for the efficiently produced goods of other nations, we have an entirely different paradigm. We have nations driving the wages of their workers toward zero in order to export goods at which they are entirely inefficient at producing.
And they're competing to see who can get to economic ruin first!
It gets worse. To maximize our losses on this inefficient trade, much of what is produced is heavily subsidized - meaning even before we factor in the damage of falling wages, we are selling these goods at an economic loss. We are totally impoverishing our own populations in order to inefficiently produce goods, which we then sell for a loss.
Among the infinite list of negative consequences from this economic folly are a steadily declining standard of living and vastly increased demand for government entitlements. Transforming the US middle class into the working-poor has resulted in close to 50 million Americans relying upon food stamps, and the numbers continue growing each month. Meanwhile, these subsidy-dependent, unprofitable businesses are very vulnerable to any downturn that might hurt their bottom line. There is no cushion of profitability to prevent massive layoffs at the first sign of trouble.
Meanwhile, with less and less real wealth off of which to leach, Western governments are making themselves more insolvent by the day. Thus, the only question which bond-holders should be asking themselves is: what will drive the value of government bonds to zero first, competitive devaluation or formal default? Yet, despite this very real and indisputable threat to investors, the media seems obsessed with speculating whether precious metals - perhaps the only constant in a world gone mad - are in a "bubble."
To understand the lunacy of the Currency Wars is to understand why gold and silver prices are skyrocketing. Driving the value of a currency down means exactly the same thing as driving-up the prices of real assets denominated in that currency. So, as governments engage in competitive devaluation, of course gold is going to rise in price. The new price just reflects that there is still the same amount of gold floating around while there are tons of new dollars/euros/yen.
Even absent competitive devaluation, there are a plethora of fundamental reasons for investors to hold a significant allocation of precious metals in their portfolios. With competitive devaluation, I find it difficult to get myself to hold anything other than gold or silver. And to the hordes of bond-lemmings out there, I can only say, "caveat emptor."
Jeff Nielson studied economics and law at the University of British Columbia, obtaining his degree in 1989. He came to the precious metals sector in the mid-'00s as an investor and quickly decided he wanted to make it the focus of his career. He is the co-founder of Bullion Bulls Canada, a precious metals website with a global audience which provides economic analysis, commentary on precious metals, and detailed information on more than 100 North American-listed mining companies.
Since starting Bullion Bulls Canada, Mr. Nielson's work has been widely published on sites such as Seeking Alpha and TheStreet, along with dozens of precious metals websites. For more of Jeff's insights and analysis, visit www.bullionbullscanada.com.
GOLD AND THE ONGOING CURRENCY WARS
by Jeff Nielson of Bullion Bulls Canada
We live in a world almost entirely populated by economic charlatans. Nowhere is that indictment more blatantly apparent than in the world of international trade. For proof, look no further than the ongoing attempts by governments to win export market share by devaluing their currencies - also known as the "Currency Wars."
To see why these measures hurt all involved, the reader must understand why countries (and individuals) trade. It is elementary economics that profitable trade is founded upon a single principal: the doctrine of comparative advantage. It states that nations produce what they are especially adept at producing, and then trade those goods to other nations for the products which they can produce with greater efficiency.
Put another way, if Nation A can produce computers 10% cheaper than Nation B, but Nation B can produce automobiles 10% cheaper than Nation A, then both nations will be better off if they begin trading computers for automobiles. If we assume two equally-sized economies, and balanced trade, we essentially multiply our efficiencies by a factor of three: each nation produces twice as much of what it is good at, while also avoiding squandering resources by producing goods it is not efficient at producing.
Governments have throughout history attempted to interrupt this mutually beneficial arrangement in order to "protect" local industries from competition. While the old weapon was the tariff, the new weapon is competitive devaluation - and like the atom bomb, it's destructive power is orders of magnitude larger than the old weapons.
"Devaluation" means to drive the value of one's currency toward zero. "Competitive devaluation," then, is a race between governments to see which one can drive its currency toward zero the fastest.
As a result, instead of nations only producing goods which they are efficient at producing, and trading those goods for the efficiently produced goods of other nations, we have an entirely different paradigm. We have nations driving the wages of their workers toward zero in order to export goods at which they are entirely inefficient at producing.
And they're competing to see who can get to economic ruin first!
It gets worse. To maximize our losses on this inefficient trade, much of what is produced is heavily subsidized - meaning even before we factor in the damage of falling wages, we are selling these goods at an economic loss. We are totally impoverishing our own populations in order to inefficiently produce goods, which we then sell for a loss.
Among the infinite list of negative consequences from this economic folly are a steadily declining standard of living and vastly increased demand for government entitlements. Transforming the US middle class into the working-poor has resulted in close to 50 million Americans relying upon food stamps, and the numbers continue growing each month. Meanwhile, these subsidy-dependent, unprofitable businesses are very vulnerable to any downturn that might hurt their bottom line. There is no cushion of profitability to prevent massive layoffs at the first sign of trouble.
Meanwhile, with less and less real wealth off of which to leach, Western governments are making themselves more insolvent by the day. Thus, the only question which bond-holders should be asking themselves is: what will drive the value of government bonds to zero first, competitive devaluation or formal default? Yet, despite this very real and indisputable threat to investors, the media seems obsessed with speculating whether precious metals - perhaps the only constant in a world gone mad - are in a "bubble."
To understand the lunacy of the Currency Wars is to understand why gold and silver prices are skyrocketing. Driving the value of a currency down means exactly the same thing as driving-up the prices of real assets denominated in that currency. So, as governments engage in competitive devaluation, of course gold is going to rise in price. The new price just reflects that there is still the same amount of gold floating around while there are tons of new dollars/euros/yen.
Even absent competitive devaluation, there are a plethora of fundamental reasons for investors to hold a significant allocation of precious metals in their portfolios. With competitive devaluation, I find it difficult to get myself to hold anything other than gold or silver. And to the hordes of bond-lemmings out there, I can only say, "caveat emptor."
Jeff Nielson studied economics and law at the University of British Columbia, obtaining his degree in 1989. He came to the precious metals sector in the mid-'00s as an investor and quickly decided he wanted to make it the focus of his career. He is the co-founder of Bullion Bulls Canada, a precious metals website with a global audience which provides economic analysis, commentary on precious metals, and detailed information on more than 100 North American-listed mining companies.
Since starting Bullion Bulls Canada, Mr. Nielson's work has been widely published on sites such as Seeking Alpha and TheStreet, along with dozens of precious metals websites. For more of Jeff's insights and analysis, visit www.bullionbullscanada.com.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Video Games and Rated R Movies
Ah yeah its time to talk about video games if only briefly though. The other day my wife, my brother, and I were driving to watch the 7th game of the World Series and we were talking about stuff when my brother said he was impressed about me returning a certain game due to the amount of cussing in the game. I said I couldn’t take all the recognition as my wife had gently guided me in the right direction. What followed were lame excuses from yours truly for why it was fun and ok to play those games. My wife then said that the games were worse then rated r movies cause they have more violence and more cussing and hot chicks with big boobs then rated r movies. The logic was and is undeniable and has officially been duly noted.
Why this even matters is cause I am a Latter-day Saint and don’t watch rated r movies. I was being a hypocrite by playing those games. That is why it matters. The point is…this story is just another example of why it is a good thing to be married. I get free coaching from a beautiful girl.
Why this even matters is cause I am a Latter-day Saint and don’t watch rated r movies. I was being a hypocrite by playing those games. That is why it matters. The point is…this story is just another example of why it is a good thing to be married. I get free coaching from a beautiful girl.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Commodities and Bubble Mania
Commodities started a bull market in the early 2000’s to 1999 timeframe. China and India are both going through their industrial revolutions and as such the demand for commodities from that region will be high for the foreseeable future. Countries that export large quantities of commodities will fare better than those who do not in the upcoming downturn, but make no mistake that they also will feel the pain of a global economy in turmoil. The key is finding who is going to e hurt the least if you’re looking for something or somewhere to invest your money. Reason I even mention somewhere is because the US is uniquely positioned to be completely stripped of its title of THE world superpower due to its excess and from my studies I’m finding that commodities in all its forms are what are going to do well in this coming downturn.
Countries that have a strong export presence and low unemployment will be good places to look at. Recently Peter Schiff and Axel Merk did an interview where they commented on their five favorite currencies to invest in. That is a good place to start if you are planning on investing abroad as they give insights to not only economic issues, but political issues, which as we can see with the Eurozone and Greece right now is a big deal for investors domestically and abroad.
I love Peter Schiff’s commentary on bubbles. If you notice on any of the news agencies they call bubbles all the time. Lately it is more prominent in commodities due to their meteoric rise over the last decade. What’s sad is that there are those who correctly predicted and profited off of the last bubble bursts of the last few years and they’re saying that we aren’t close to popping in commodities.
For example, throughout time the gold to silver ratio is around 12:1. Now it is about 51:1. Over the last century, when we were on the gold standard, the ratio was around 47:1. Historically the Dow to gold ratio has been about 4:1, but right now the Dow is overvalued at a ratio of about 7:1. If you are familiar with statistics and means this means that gold is undervalued and the Dow and even real estate are overvalued. To get back to the mean we have to shoot past the mean in either correcting direction in order to get back to the mean (average).
An interesting sign with bubbles is the speculation that occurs with companies involved in the underlying asset that is in its bubble mania. For example, the Internet was invented/gained traction and revolutionized communication. The Internet didn’t really hit a bubble though, as far as investing in companies on the web is concerned at least because certainly it is still growing, until people started speculating on the companies involved in the Internet, hence the dot.com bubble and subsequent burst.
We’ll know we’re in bubble territory for commodities once speculators start going nuts for commodity producing companies. This means for gold specifically we’ll know that it is in a bubble when people are buying into gold stocks just like they bought into dot.com stocks in one of the last bubbles that occurred in the stock market. People will speculate on the different types of gold mining stocks and some will be good bets and others not so much. When taxi drivers and the average joe start buying gold and silver you’ll know it is in a bubble and that is far from the case right now. Central are barely becoming net buyers instead of net sellers of gold right now. What would be interesting to find out is if those big investment banks ever offer any CDS on the speculative or even large gold mining companies.
Specifically with gold and silver these still have a ways to go till they top off because of demand. Silver is the most widely used commodity in the production of goods with thousands of different uses, some of which will continue indefinitely as some are related to medicine, batteries, and mirrors. As the BRIC countries continue through their industrial revolutions demand for all commodities are going to continue up. To ramp up production though requires a lot of capital-intensive investment, which takes time. Limited supply of a commodity then will lead to increased prices in the underlying asset, which in turn leads to more demand, which leads to more investment in production until demand falls, at which point production capacity will have been over extended and some of those companies that were great will turn out to be duds and the bubble will start to fall for the equities and commodities involved.
This blog post makes me want to learn more about oil. Peter Schiff says that oil should be about 1/10th the price of gold. Well gold is about 1750, but oil is only around 90 bucks a barrel. We also know the 7 billionth baby was born recently and so demand for oil is going to go up. I wonder what huge macro economic consequences are going to result from HUGE increases in the price of oil. To be continued…
Countries that have a strong export presence and low unemployment will be good places to look at. Recently Peter Schiff and Axel Merk did an interview where they commented on their five favorite currencies to invest in. That is a good place to start if you are planning on investing abroad as they give insights to not only economic issues, but political issues, which as we can see with the Eurozone and Greece right now is a big deal for investors domestically and abroad.
I love Peter Schiff’s commentary on bubbles. If you notice on any of the news agencies they call bubbles all the time. Lately it is more prominent in commodities due to their meteoric rise over the last decade. What’s sad is that there are those who correctly predicted and profited off of the last bubble bursts of the last few years and they’re saying that we aren’t close to popping in commodities.
For example, throughout time the gold to silver ratio is around 12:1. Now it is about 51:1. Over the last century, when we were on the gold standard, the ratio was around 47:1. Historically the Dow to gold ratio has been about 4:1, but right now the Dow is overvalued at a ratio of about 7:1. If you are familiar with statistics and means this means that gold is undervalued and the Dow and even real estate are overvalued. To get back to the mean we have to shoot past the mean in either correcting direction in order to get back to the mean (average).
An interesting sign with bubbles is the speculation that occurs with companies involved in the underlying asset that is in its bubble mania. For example, the Internet was invented/gained traction and revolutionized communication. The Internet didn’t really hit a bubble though, as far as investing in companies on the web is concerned at least because certainly it is still growing, until people started speculating on the companies involved in the Internet, hence the dot.com bubble and subsequent burst.
We’ll know we’re in bubble territory for commodities once speculators start going nuts for commodity producing companies. This means for gold specifically we’ll know that it is in a bubble when people are buying into gold stocks just like they bought into dot.com stocks in one of the last bubbles that occurred in the stock market. People will speculate on the different types of gold mining stocks and some will be good bets and others not so much. When taxi drivers and the average joe start buying gold and silver you’ll know it is in a bubble and that is far from the case right now. Central are barely becoming net buyers instead of net sellers of gold right now. What would be interesting to find out is if those big investment banks ever offer any CDS on the speculative or even large gold mining companies.
Specifically with gold and silver these still have a ways to go till they top off because of demand. Silver is the most widely used commodity in the production of goods with thousands of different uses, some of which will continue indefinitely as some are related to medicine, batteries, and mirrors. As the BRIC countries continue through their industrial revolutions demand for all commodities are going to continue up. To ramp up production though requires a lot of capital-intensive investment, which takes time. Limited supply of a commodity then will lead to increased prices in the underlying asset, which in turn leads to more demand, which leads to more investment in production until demand falls, at which point production capacity will have been over extended and some of those companies that were great will turn out to be duds and the bubble will start to fall for the equities and commodities involved.
This blog post makes me want to learn more about oil. Peter Schiff says that oil should be about 1/10th the price of gold. Well gold is about 1750, but oil is only around 90 bucks a barrel. We also know the 7 billionth baby was born recently and so demand for oil is going to go up. I wonder what huge macro economic consequences are going to result from HUGE increases in the price of oil. To be continued…
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
E-Myth and how it Relates to the B & S quadrants
I can’t help but think that those business owners that are stuck in the small business frame of mind or the S quadrant in Rich Dad’s four quadrants are so because they haven’t implemented the principles of the E-Myth and aren’t taking advantages of taxes, or as my oldest brother once told me, massaging the numbers, i.e. taking deductions whenever possible. I didn’t know this, but there are allowances for deductions (payouts to employees) being at the company the longest and for safety. As long as you don’t electrocute yourself turning on and off your computer this could qualify you for that deduction.
My main take away from that book is that you’ve got to flatten out your business as much as possible. That means making every process as simple as possible. You want to make things as simple to do as possible so that you can hire the people that work your business as cheaply as possible, just like McDonalds does.
You also do that by creating systems. With a system people know exactly what to do, just like you know how to solve an algebra problem, i.e. input the variables into your system and solve the problem.
If you haven’t read the E-Myth, do so immediately. One of the best books I ever read on business and taught me more than most of what I learned throughout my schooling years.
My main take away from that book is that you’ve got to flatten out your business as much as possible. That means making every process as simple as possible. You want to make things as simple to do as possible so that you can hire the people that work your business as cheaply as possible, just like McDonalds does.
You also do that by creating systems. With a system people know exactly what to do, just like you know how to solve an algebra problem, i.e. input the variables into your system and solve the problem.
If you haven’t read the E-Myth, do so immediately. One of the best books I ever read on business and taught me more than most of what I learned throughout my schooling years.
Monday, November 14, 2011
5 Favorite Currencies for Next Five Years with Peter Schiff and Axel Merk
Anglo sphere is where they speak English, but aren’t US and Great Britain. Namely this consists of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Peter likes Australia due to it having more exposure to commodities and is a little more stable politically then New Zealand. Canada is heavily tied to the US, but will start to export elsewhere once the downturn happens and so they’re still a possibility as a place to invest in before, during, and after the economic collapse of the U.S.
Nordic Bloc allows exposure to Europe without being in the Euro zone. Countries included are Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and Estonia (northern region). Both like Sweden because they really embrace free markets and no bailouts, i.e. not bailing out Saab, which recently declared bankruptcy. Specifically peter likes the Norwegian Krone due to its exposure to oil, on which he’s very bullish. They’ve also got a better balance of trade, higher interest rates, and fishing.
Continental Europe. Japan has a strong currency despite a down economy over the last 20 years. Why? The more ineffective the Japanese government is, the stronger the currency appears to become; and the reason is that they have a current account surplus. Having a current account surplus means that the economy slows down, consumers save more, and the currency gets stronger. Peter likes the Swiss Fran due to it being strong. It’s strong because of high export growth, and hardly any budget deficit, but with sound fiscal policy. With them pegging their currency to the Euro, they’ll reduce the cost of employees and paying them, but they simultaneously expose themselves to the bankrupt/eventual bailout of PIIGS countries. Euro will gain ground against the Franc in the short term with the recent peg, but the Franc will long term win because it will eventually sever its peg and appreciate accordingly.
East Asia. Peter likes the Singapore dollar most due to minimal government interference, low taxes, and low regulation. They don’t have a minimum wage. It and the Chinese Renminbi are set to rise significantly as soon as they stop pegging their currency to the dollar. Overall the Renminbi will grow like crazy once they let their currency appreciate relative to the US dollar, but until then the Singapore dollar is the way to go, but even then and WITH the peg of the Franc to the Euro, the Franc is still stronger in Axel’s opinion as a safe haven currency. Peter likes the Hong Kong dollar and sees its potential as THE currency of choice for global investors in the next five years.
These currencies would be based on a buy-and-hold portfolio for retail investors building stocks and bonds portfolios. Axel also tells his investors in his newsletter that adjusting your position on a daily basis isn’t the dumbest thing to do as sometime huge macroeconomic changes occur that have big consequences for the involved currencies.
Nordic Bloc allows exposure to Europe without being in the Euro zone. Countries included are Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and Estonia (northern region). Both like Sweden because they really embrace free markets and no bailouts, i.e. not bailing out Saab, which recently declared bankruptcy. Specifically peter likes the Norwegian Krone due to its exposure to oil, on which he’s very bullish. They’ve also got a better balance of trade, higher interest rates, and fishing.
Continental Europe. Japan has a strong currency despite a down economy over the last 20 years. Why? The more ineffective the Japanese government is, the stronger the currency appears to become; and the reason is that they have a current account surplus. Having a current account surplus means that the economy slows down, consumers save more, and the currency gets stronger. Peter likes the Swiss Fran due to it being strong. It’s strong because of high export growth, and hardly any budget deficit, but with sound fiscal policy. With them pegging their currency to the Euro, they’ll reduce the cost of employees and paying them, but they simultaneously expose themselves to the bankrupt/eventual bailout of PIIGS countries. Euro will gain ground against the Franc in the short term with the recent peg, but the Franc will long term win because it will eventually sever its peg and appreciate accordingly.
East Asia. Peter likes the Singapore dollar most due to minimal government interference, low taxes, and low regulation. They don’t have a minimum wage. It and the Chinese Renminbi are set to rise significantly as soon as they stop pegging their currency to the dollar. Overall the Renminbi will grow like crazy once they let their currency appreciate relative to the US dollar, but until then the Singapore dollar is the way to go, but even then and WITH the peg of the Franc to the Euro, the Franc is still stronger in Axel’s opinion as a safe haven currency. Peter likes the Hong Kong dollar and sees its potential as THE currency of choice for global investors in the next five years.
These currencies would be based on a buy-and-hold portfolio for retail investors building stocks and bonds portfolios. Axel also tells his investors in his newsletter that adjusting your position on a daily basis isn’t the dumbest thing to do as sometime huge macroeconomic changes occur that have big consequences for the involved currencies.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Online Trading Webinar
These are the notes that I took from a trading webinar I ‘attended’ online.
Number one rule of trading is risk management.
Avg. S&P growth is around 7-8%. Take a 20 year old. Invests 1000 into S&P. After 65 years, 40 to retire and 25 to die, that 1000 will turn into 140k. However with brokerage fees the return is more like 5-5 ½%. That reduces the 140k down to 32k…BEFORE TAXES!!!
Write down a goal to make passively.
Fundamentals are hard for people to understand because there is so much going on they don’t know where to start.
Brokerage account can be as little as 300-2500 or a free account with a ‘virtual account’
MACD = Moving Average Convergence Divergence (measures a change in direction)
Indicators tell you when to buy/sell a stock.
Mutual Funds/managers ONLY do long of stocks.
Don’t waste time learning tricks of the trade.
Number one rule of trading is risk management.
Avg. S&P growth is around 7-8%. Take a 20 year old. Invests 1000 into S&P. After 65 years, 40 to retire and 25 to die, that 1000 will turn into 140k. However with brokerage fees the return is more like 5-5 ½%. That reduces the 140k down to 32k…BEFORE TAXES!!!
Write down a goal to make passively.
Fundamentals are hard for people to understand because there is so much going on they don’t know where to start.
Brokerage account can be as little as 300-2500 or a free account with a ‘virtual account’
MACD = Moving Average Convergence Divergence (measures a change in direction)
Indicators tell you when to buy/sell a stock.
Mutual Funds/managers ONLY do long of stocks.
Don’t waste time learning tricks of the trade.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Real Estate CD
I listened to a CD recently from my Cashflow 202 game that talked about real estate and here are the notes on it.
Know what collateral means. Know what equity means. 8 years for phd. 8 weeks to learn half of what you need to know for real estate investing. Other half comes with experience.
5 golden rules of real estate investing.
Never fall in love with the property.
Only buy from a motivated seller.
Never be the first to name a figure.
If they’ve listed the property/asking price then they’ve named a figure.
Always buy with zero or little down, put in as little money as possible.
The steal of the decade comes around once a week.
What do you do to get started in real estate? Live a frugal lifestyle and build up your savings. Use other people’s money. “Use your house as collateral/20% down and we’ll use the bank for the other 80%” Then cut the people in on the deal. If you’re bad at managing your money then managing a property is a bad idea. Start with a small deal. Get started and look at a lot of deals. Allot the time.
Dolf laruse.
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!
Know what collateral means. Know what equity means. 8 years for phd. 8 weeks to learn half of what you need to know for real estate investing. Other half comes with experience.
5 golden rules of real estate investing.
Never fall in love with the property.
Only buy from a motivated seller.
Never be the first to name a figure.
If they’ve listed the property/asking price then they’ve named a figure.
Always buy with zero or little down, put in as little money as possible.
The steal of the decade comes around once a week.
What do you do to get started in real estate? Live a frugal lifestyle and build up your savings. Use other people’s money. “Use your house as collateral/20% down and we’ll use the bank for the other 80%” Then cut the people in on the deal. If you’re bad at managing your money then managing a property is a bad idea. Start with a small deal. Get started and look at a lot of deals. Allot the time.
Dolf laruse.
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
How to raise capital.
Here are some notes that I took from another CD that I listened to about investing and raising capital.
Until you know how to run a business, don’t raise capital for it. If you can tell a good story and can present adequate financial statements you’ll be able to raise capital. If you’re going to tell a good story you’ve also got to perform/show past performance.
DON’T ARGUE with your potential investors. You’re getting dumber when you do it, aren’t seeing other things, and might not have caught some of the due diligence that you needed to do.
If you’re afraid of something you’ll bring it into your life.
A trader NEEDS to be NEUTRAL to winning and losing within the framework of a sound methodology.
Money managing/position sizing - make sure you’re not putting so much on any one given trade that if you’re wrong that you can’t play anymore.
Traders lose two or three months of the year, but generally win the rest of the time. 50% is the minimum this guy has his trainees winning.
Low risk idea is something like the marble game. Winners are much bigger than losers. Positive expectancy is having the probability of winning being higher than the probability of losing.
Low risk in real estate is always buying something that puts money in my pocket.
If you’re so afraid of losing you’ll lose. Those that are most afraid will lose the most. Examples of that would be money market funds or a certificate of deposit or a bond mutual fund. Those things could go to zero or near zero or you’re losing your purchasing power by having them in it with inflation always being around.
The ability to be a good trader is 99% psychological.
Have a coach or mentor. Someone you admire, who is successful at what they do. Someone you can watch on a very intimate detail.
Make sure that you know when to get into a position and when to get out.
Always have low risk ideas, i.e. cut your losses early.
Practice with seeing both sides of the market.
Trade your way to financial freedom is this guy’s book. Iitm.com
Until you know how to run a business, don’t raise capital for it. If you can tell a good story and can present adequate financial statements you’ll be able to raise capital. If you’re going to tell a good story you’ve also got to perform/show past performance.
DON’T ARGUE with your potential investors. You’re getting dumber when you do it, aren’t seeing other things, and might not have caught some of the due diligence that you needed to do.
If you’re afraid of something you’ll bring it into your life.
A trader NEEDS to be NEUTRAL to winning and losing within the framework of a sound methodology.
Money managing/position sizing - make sure you’re not putting so much on any one given trade that if you’re wrong that you can’t play anymore.
Traders lose two or three months of the year, but generally win the rest of the time. 50% is the minimum this guy has his trainees winning.
Low risk idea is something like the marble game. Winners are much bigger than losers. Positive expectancy is having the probability of winning being higher than the probability of losing.
Low risk in real estate is always buying something that puts money in my pocket.
If you’re so afraid of losing you’ll lose. Those that are most afraid will lose the most. Examples of that would be money market funds or a certificate of deposit or a bond mutual fund. Those things could go to zero or near zero or you’re losing your purchasing power by having them in it with inflation always being around.
The ability to be a good trader is 99% psychological.
Have a coach or mentor. Someone you admire, who is successful at what they do. Someone you can watch on a very intimate detail.
Make sure that you know when to get into a position and when to get out.
Always have low risk ideas, i.e. cut your losses early.
Practice with seeing both sides of the market.
Trade your way to financial freedom is this guy’s book. Iitm.com
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
An option for selling your house: Rent to Own
I found an article a while ago and took some notes on it and wanted to do a post on it since it is something that not everybody has heard of.
How do you avoid the headaches of being a landlord and continuously having to maintain and manage the property? The best way is by selling a home on a rent-to-own buyer. This lets you leave the maintenance issues behind.
When you sell your property on a rent-to-own basis, you don’t get a buyer and you don’t get a renter. You get a tenant-buyer. A tenant-buyer gives you all of the best parts of a buyer, such as a large chunk of money up front, called an “option payment,” an owner mentality to treat the property well, and a hands-off feeling for you, the investor. And you get these benefits without giving up all of the appreciation. Also, because not all tenant-buyers end up buying, you might very well get the chance to sell the property a second or even third time to new tenant-buyers for even more money!
The reasons I like this option in this economic environment is that we face falling home prices and inflationary pressures, which lead to rising rents. One reason why doing the rent to own is favorable, or sometimes called a lease option, is that it locks in the buyer to stay in the place for a longer period of time, typically a year to a few years with the option to buy the house at a set price at the end of the term. What is nice about this chunk of money up front is that not only does it give you immediate cash, but with falling prices for the next few years it almost guarantees that your buyer won’t exercise his option to purchase the place and most likely have them move on once the lease portion of their agreement is up as they don't want to purchase an asset whose value is falling in value each year. This is fine since we could do a rent to own situation again and actually try and sell it in a few years since prices may or may not have actually bottomed out and just repeat the process.
When putting up signs advertising the house you ccan put the rent amount on the sign, but don't put the price. You can tell them the price once they've walked through the house. The following are some examples you can use to advertise your house.
Rent to Own
3 bed, 2 bath House
For Details Please Take a Flyer
Call 888-333-1212 ext. 6
Rent to Own!
[space to write in info on house
e.g., 3 Bed, 2 Ba, 1,900 sf, etc.]
Call 888-333-1212 ext. 6
24-Hour Recorded Message
Rent to Own!
3 bed, 2 bath House
Call 888-333-1212 ext. 6
24-Hr. Msg.
Have a detailed voicemail message on the house and try and get groupings of people together to go through the house. This causes a greater sense of urgency and creates competition.
To recap here are six reasons for why Rent to Own works.
1) Rent Credits: Each month a big chunk of your rent could get credited toward the possible purchase
of your home, allowing you to build equity in your home faster than with a traditional mortgage—
no more wasting all of your rent money.
2) Improving Your Property: Because you may own this property soon, any improvements you do
that increase the value of the property may help you build more equity for yourself.
3) No banks to deal with—no more bank hassles!
4) Own Your Own Home: You enjoy the benefits of owning your home before you technically ever
buy it!
5) Flexibility: You have total flexibility: You have the option to buy your home, not the obligation!
6) Your Credit: You are creating a strong credit reference while you are renting to own!
How do you avoid the headaches of being a landlord and continuously having to maintain and manage the property? The best way is by selling a home on a rent-to-own buyer. This lets you leave the maintenance issues behind.
When you sell your property on a rent-to-own basis, you don’t get a buyer and you don’t get a renter. You get a tenant-buyer. A tenant-buyer gives you all of the best parts of a buyer, such as a large chunk of money up front, called an “option payment,” an owner mentality to treat the property well, and a hands-off feeling for you, the investor. And you get these benefits without giving up all of the appreciation. Also, because not all tenant-buyers end up buying, you might very well get the chance to sell the property a second or even third time to new tenant-buyers for even more money!
The reasons I like this option in this economic environment is that we face falling home prices and inflationary pressures, which lead to rising rents. One reason why doing the rent to own is favorable, or sometimes called a lease option, is that it locks in the buyer to stay in the place for a longer period of time, typically a year to a few years with the option to buy the house at a set price at the end of the term. What is nice about this chunk of money up front is that not only does it give you immediate cash, but with falling prices for the next few years it almost guarantees that your buyer won’t exercise his option to purchase the place and most likely have them move on once the lease portion of their agreement is up as they don't want to purchase an asset whose value is falling in value each year. This is fine since we could do a rent to own situation again and actually try and sell it in a few years since prices may or may not have actually bottomed out and just repeat the process.
When putting up signs advertising the house you ccan put the rent amount on the sign, but don't put the price. You can tell them the price once they've walked through the house. The following are some examples you can use to advertise your house.
Rent to Own
3 bed, 2 bath House
For Details Please Take a Flyer
Call 888-333-1212 ext. 6
Rent to Own!
[space to write in info on house
e.g., 3 Bed, 2 Ba, 1,900 sf, etc.]
Call 888-333-1212 ext. 6
24-Hour Recorded Message
Rent to Own!
3 bed, 2 bath House
Call 888-333-1212 ext. 6
24-Hr. Msg.
Have a detailed voicemail message on the house and try and get groupings of people together to go through the house. This causes a greater sense of urgency and creates competition.
To recap here are six reasons for why Rent to Own works.
1) Rent Credits: Each month a big chunk of your rent could get credited toward the possible purchase
of your home, allowing you to build equity in your home faster than with a traditional mortgage—
no more wasting all of your rent money.
2) Improving Your Property: Because you may own this property soon, any improvements you do
that increase the value of the property may help you build more equity for yourself.
3) No banks to deal with—no more bank hassles!
4) Own Your Own Home: You enjoy the benefits of owning your home before you technically ever
buy it!
5) Flexibility: You have total flexibility: You have the option to buy your home, not the obligation!
6) Your Credit: You are creating a strong credit reference while you are renting to own!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Capitalism back in the day and OWS today
1950’s America paid the highest wages (Henry Ford’s workers) in the world and yet we produced them the cheapest stuff. How is that possible? We had more capital, lower taxes, and fewer regulations, i.e. capitalism was in full swing.
People complain today that corporations are the one's causing all the imbalances for our global economy and that they're the ones manipulating our government through lobbyists, but WE are the ones who are dependent on our handouts via social security payments, food stamps, umemployment benefits, and, and, and. How did we get to that point? We allowed those that are swayed by big corporations to be voted in. Plain and simple.
People complain today that corporations are the one's causing all the imbalances for our global economy and that they're the ones manipulating our government through lobbyists, but WE are the ones who are dependent on our handouts via social security payments, food stamps, umemployment benefits, and, and, and. How did we get to that point? We allowed those that are swayed by big corporations to be voted in. Plain and simple.
Friday, November 4, 2011
My personal finance story
My Personal Finance Story
How did it all begin? I grew up in a home with conservative parents and six kids total in the house. They taught us the value of hard work, getting an education, and saving money. They’ve lived their advice and are currently “debt free” and my dad runs his own business and has done so for several years. We had to save up often for things that we wanted, all the way from video games on Saturday s to TI89 calculators and shoes and yearbooks.
I never really worked during school and mostly just stuck to side jobs during the summers. I remember sometimes we’d get an allowance for doing chores around the house. I also remember getting bribed sometimes by my oldest brother Kyle with ice cream or money to change my youngest sister’s diaper. Both may be embarrassed about this, but that is their problem not mine. Another memory I have is getting paid a penny a page for each book I would have read. I think that is a good thing to do with the kiddos. I can honestly say that I think my interest in reading wouldn’t be nearly as high if I hadn’t had that little program in my life.
Our dad somehow stumbled across the book Rich Dad Poor Dad and he even bought the game and taught it to all us kids and some of us kids are now pretty well versed in its workings and what it could mean. That and my parent’s examples of getting out of debt and using coupons for EVERYTHING were the basic foundation of money and all its activities or uses. I was embarrassed about the coupons but now know they have value as it has lead to my parents having means wherewith to get through job loss and down economies.
I did start working during school once I was in college to avoid graduating with a ton of debt and to have at least a little bit of spending money. I was fortunate enough to have a mom who knew how to figure out FAFSA and get me some fairly decent Pell Grants from the government to go back to school. Pell Grants are great short term, but again this is something the government doesn’t have to do, but that it does do in order to increase its tax revenue in the future. If they didn’t subsidize schooling this way then there would be fewer students in school and schools wouldn’t be allowed to charge what they do and they would then need to decrease the amount they charge for tuition, which would then do away with the extra spending of the government through Pell Grants, which leads to inflation, which leads to higher prices and and and…
I graduated from BYU Idaho with a bachelor of science in business with an emphasis in finance, but honestly I didn’t really understand personal finance and investing like I would’ve liked. I certainly learned about business finance and many of the different modeling techniques that one can and should use in business, but that was in the business world. I was taught how to be a good employee and less so a potentially good business owner/leader.
A few good books that I’ve felt have helped me develop are the eMyth, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and The Richest Man in Babylon. I used the last books advice for my first year after graduating from college. I put 20% of what I made towards my debt and 10% to myself only to be used for investing, which I didn’t exactly follow. I was completely “debt free” in November of 2010 and had less than 2 bucks to my name as I used my 10% set aside for investing to pay off my debts as I didn’t want that hanging over my head anymore and I was out of my 6 month grace period and was then incurring interest expenses and so paying off my debt was technically earning me 5-6% on my money since I wasn’t paying that in interest anymore.
From there I started saving up for a home, but couldn’t really find anything that interested me and so I ended up putting the money into a self-directed Roth IRA account as that would then allow me to eventually invest in real estate and business with all the earnings tax free, which is a big draw for me since I want to have passive income in retirement, but don’t want to pay taxes on those earnings. Luckily I was able to find a great girl and marry her and she and I pieced together what funds we had and bought rings, a honeymoon, and other wedding necessities. We sold and bought a cheaper car to get into a house that we found to avoid paying rent and to lower our insurance premium each month.
We’ve got rid of one of our cell phones and we don’t have cable, a home phone, or Internet as monthly bills. We watch DVD’s from red box and the library. We borrow Internet from the library as well. We’re working on building up our food storage supply and emergency savings in case either of us loses our jobs.
I’ve also been reading a lot of books and blogs on the economy and things aren’t looking good down the road. Recently people are finding a rallying market with Europe dealing with the Greece debt problems, but it isn’t enough pain to bring us back to equilibrium. To benefit off of this financially I’m finding more and more than investing in commodities in all their versions and in foreign equities. Or you could short domestic equities. Its funny to see so much ramped up about China as they are heavily invested in the dollar, which is still got time to implode and they have a massive real estate bubble that dwarves anything we saw in the US a few years back.
This is basically where I’m at now. Working, hoping to get back to school soon, and getting my preparations in place like the prophets and apostles of my church guide me to.
I still need to sit down and write out an action plan with my wife on our goals as we’re still a bit off with what are goals are and when we’re going to accomplish them. Once we have that in place I think we’ll be well on our way to getting them.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Silver Bubble?
Where does silver go from here? Read the following article I found on 10/28/11.
According to CPM Group’s 2011 Silver Yearbook, investment demand was the main driver behind silver price increases in the past year. Total demand from investors in capital markets reached 142 million ounces, the third-highest level since the start of data recordings. Meanwhile, industry demand has also increased significantly, contributing to rising output from silver producers. Nevertheless, there was a large gap between new supply from mines and demand in 2010, which amounted to a total of 319 million ounces worldwide.
Although silver producers have increased their output by 33% since 1999, the rising supply has not helped to meet the growing demand in silver markets. While 667 million ounces of silver were produced in the past year, global demand reached 986 million ounces – a stunning gap of 319 million ounces. Record-high demand from the investment community has proven the main driver for the continuing silver price rally in 2010, with the white metal soaring to a peak of $50 per ounce in the beginning of May this year. Investors are buying silver in order to hedge against continuing currency depreciation. Furthermore, investors' capital flight to the silver sector – comparable to the situation in the gold sector – seems to also to be driven by increasing fears of inflation.
While silver demand from the photography sector has steadily declined in recent years, this downturn in demand was more than offset by other industry sectors. Since 1999, silver consumption among end users in the electronics industry increased by 120%. This development is based on the ongoing miniaturisation of electronic components, to which silver significantly contributed due to its high versatility. Since the year 2000, in which the solar industry started its globally triumphal march, the use of silver has increased by 640% due to the production of solar panels as well as solar cells. Silver has also developed to one of the most respected antibacterial agent in the medical sector as it became an important part of research and new medical applications. While this sector represented nothing more than a small niche back in 2002, the sector's demand increased six-fold by 2010.
The prestigious Silver Institute recently announced that industrial silver demand will increase globally by approximately 36% to 666 million ounces in the next five years. The price should find a good support in the wake of this development as industrial end users are expected to likely take the chance of buying price dips on futures and options markets in correction phases. This way, they can stock up on inventories at lower price levels. In addition, silver investments only amounted to a negligible share of 0.007% of worldwide assets held by investors at the end of 2010 – despite its stunning price performance in the course of the last year.
Comparing these data with the year 1980, in which the silver price marked its record high of slightly more than $50 per ounce, the white metal is still providing investors with an enormous upward potential. Silver holdings accounted for 0.34% of worldwide assets held by investors in the record year 1980. This is theoretically providing silver with a further upward potential of 48 times from its current price level in order to reach the same figures recorded in 1980. Investors have to consider as well that today's global money supply is significantly higher than it was 30 years ago. Part of this liquidity will find its way into silver markets and prove to be the main driver for the future price development of silver.
Original source: http://www.goldmoney.com/gold-research/roman-baudzus/silver-price-rising-on-increased-investment-demand.html?print
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Occupy Wall Street
OWS is targeting the wrong group of people. They should find the cause for the disparity in pay, increased student loan debt, and bank bailouts instead of blaming the rich/private industry for things the system allows them to do. I do think that they are close to initiating real change if they can just adjust their focus to the more accurate causes for the disparity in pay. The tough thing is that there are so many things that are at fault for their current predicaments, many of which aren’t easy to deal with quickly and some of which are being manipulated.
I was talking to a coworker of mine about how they’re missing the point. I mentioned in another blog that the key to getting rich is not only formal education, but also financial education. Armed with financial education people begin to gain what Robert Kiyosaki calls an unfair advantage. One of the biggest points he makes is about how rich people, those who invest in the B and I quadrants, use taxes to their advantage. I’ll write another blog post with some simple examples that deal with my industry and how someone could greatly benefit in their financial situation by incorporating and greatly reducing their taxes doing the same exact activities. Taxes lead me to Warren Buffet.
Recently Mr. Buffet wrote an op ed piece in the New York Times stating that billionaires have benefited long enough and that it is now their turn to share some of the tax burden of the country in the way of increased taxes. In the article he cites how, on a percentage basis, he actually pays less in taxes than his secretary. There would be some people would be enraged by a billionaire paying less in taxes than a secretary, but the rich know why he does. See, invest income is taxed at a lower rate of 15% whereas traditional earned income is taxed based on the bracket that you are in. Warren gets paid investment income whereas his secretary does not. Why is that?
The reason why is because the government actually wants to collect more in taxes. Huh? It sounds counterintuitive, but give it a second. The government taxes investment income less so as to encourage individuals to save and build investments, and the governments hope is that some of those investments are in the form of businesses, which in turn employ people who earn a paycheck and pay their bills AND THE BILLS. Whose bills you ask? Here’s the kicker, the government’s bills. As previously discussed (Buffet and his secretary) it is the worker who pays more in taxes (generates more tax revenue for Uncle Sam) than the business owner. So all these people that are upset at corporate America for all their hoarding of money and limited pay raises to their employees are actually upset at the wrong people.
What is beautiful is that these people can enact changes through the power of their voting. They can elect officials that will change the tax structure so as to reflect what it is the country/individual wants whether that is in the best interest of the country/individual is up to personal opinion.
I was talking to my coworkers about the NBA lockout as they’re Jazz fans and I just love basketball anytime. I asked them, after one of them had mentioned that the players are rejecting the owner’s offers because the players want a 50/50 split, which should get more, the owners or the employees? Without hesitation they said the owners. One of my coworkers went on to say that those that put up with the risk and stand to lose it all deserve to get more. She even went on to say that she isn’t willing to risk her family’s well being by starting a business of her own. In my head I was thinking, “How could you NOT risk your families well being to get ahead?”
I don’t see why OWS doesn’t see this. Now of course some of them are complaining about huge bonuses of top employees, but again you can’t blame them especially if they’re the actual owners of the company. Instead the blame needs to be on the system.
Also think about the credentials of the rich. I’m going to bet that most of the rich much formal and informal education. I read an article the other day that said college graduates only face about 4.5% unemployment right now. I’ve got a good hunch that those that have huge bonuses and salaries and are the cause for all the angst of these people have higher education and informal financial education.
Again though you could blame the government for that disparity. You could also blame the banks for giving loans that are such a burden on the population. What they don’t understand or realize is that these banks are giving out loans because the government is guaranteeing payment to lenders whether or not the student repays the loan. If the government stopped this practice then banks wouldn’t lend out student loans for people to go into massive amounts of debt with and schools would be forced to reduce the amount of tuition they charge since their rates (prices) would no longer be affordable to the average American. Then we could go back to the good old days where someone could work part time during the summer between semesters and graduate with a degree debt free and thus make up the disparity of pay.
With running deficits and bailouts the government is printing about 1 billion dollars a day. From 2008-2011 the money supply went up 300% due to all the QE and TARP by our government. With increased supply of money that doesn’t compensate for GDP growth or population growth you’re going to run into inflation in all areas. Tuition costs are exceeding reported inflation at a pace of about 6-7% a year. This places education out of reach for much of the lower class and middle class populace, which then means they get paid less due to less education and the jobs that pay well. Cut deficit spending (vote out the bums you think are causing the problem), which then reduces inflationary costs for all, go back to school, save up for investments, and become the 1%.
Nuff said for this post.
I was talking to a coworker of mine about how they’re missing the point. I mentioned in another blog that the key to getting rich is not only formal education, but also financial education. Armed with financial education people begin to gain what Robert Kiyosaki calls an unfair advantage. One of the biggest points he makes is about how rich people, those who invest in the B and I quadrants, use taxes to their advantage. I’ll write another blog post with some simple examples that deal with my industry and how someone could greatly benefit in their financial situation by incorporating and greatly reducing their taxes doing the same exact activities. Taxes lead me to Warren Buffet.
Recently Mr. Buffet wrote an op ed piece in the New York Times stating that billionaires have benefited long enough and that it is now their turn to share some of the tax burden of the country in the way of increased taxes. In the article he cites how, on a percentage basis, he actually pays less in taxes than his secretary. There would be some people would be enraged by a billionaire paying less in taxes than a secretary, but the rich know why he does. See, invest income is taxed at a lower rate of 15% whereas traditional earned income is taxed based on the bracket that you are in. Warren gets paid investment income whereas his secretary does not. Why is that?
The reason why is because the government actually wants to collect more in taxes. Huh? It sounds counterintuitive, but give it a second. The government taxes investment income less so as to encourage individuals to save and build investments, and the governments hope is that some of those investments are in the form of businesses, which in turn employ people who earn a paycheck and pay their bills AND THE BILLS. Whose bills you ask? Here’s the kicker, the government’s bills. As previously discussed (Buffet and his secretary) it is the worker who pays more in taxes (generates more tax revenue for Uncle Sam) than the business owner. So all these people that are upset at corporate America for all their hoarding of money and limited pay raises to their employees are actually upset at the wrong people.
What is beautiful is that these people can enact changes through the power of their voting. They can elect officials that will change the tax structure so as to reflect what it is the country/individual wants whether that is in the best interest of the country/individual is up to personal opinion.
I was talking to my coworkers about the NBA lockout as they’re Jazz fans and I just love basketball anytime. I asked them, after one of them had mentioned that the players are rejecting the owner’s offers because the players want a 50/50 split, which should get more, the owners or the employees? Without hesitation they said the owners. One of my coworkers went on to say that those that put up with the risk and stand to lose it all deserve to get more. She even went on to say that she isn’t willing to risk her family’s well being by starting a business of her own. In my head I was thinking, “How could you NOT risk your families well being to get ahead?”
I don’t see why OWS doesn’t see this. Now of course some of them are complaining about huge bonuses of top employees, but again you can’t blame them especially if they’re the actual owners of the company. Instead the blame needs to be on the system.
Also think about the credentials of the rich. I’m going to bet that most of the rich much formal and informal education. I read an article the other day that said college graduates only face about 4.5% unemployment right now. I’ve got a good hunch that those that have huge bonuses and salaries and are the cause for all the angst of these people have higher education and informal financial education.
Again though you could blame the government for that disparity. You could also blame the banks for giving loans that are such a burden on the population. What they don’t understand or realize is that these banks are giving out loans because the government is guaranteeing payment to lenders whether or not the student repays the loan. If the government stopped this practice then banks wouldn’t lend out student loans for people to go into massive amounts of debt with and schools would be forced to reduce the amount of tuition they charge since their rates (prices) would no longer be affordable to the average American. Then we could go back to the good old days where someone could work part time during the summer between semesters and graduate with a degree debt free and thus make up the disparity of pay.
With running deficits and bailouts the government is printing about 1 billion dollars a day. From 2008-2011 the money supply went up 300% due to all the QE and TARP by our government. With increased supply of money that doesn’t compensate for GDP growth or population growth you’re going to run into inflation in all areas. Tuition costs are exceeding reported inflation at a pace of about 6-7% a year. This places education out of reach for much of the lower class and middle class populace, which then means they get paid less due to less education and the jobs that pay well. Cut deficit spending (vote out the bums you think are causing the problem), which then reduces inflationary costs for all, go back to school, save up for investments, and become the 1%.
Nuff said for this post.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Debt Free?
I was reading a book recently that said, “Debt free? Are you kidding me? Have you seen our national deficit?” That woke me up a little bit. Being debt free is a concept few people around the world understand. When you take into account national debts even fewer understand that being out of debt personally doesn’t mean you aren’t in debt publicly as an individual. Just look at our national debt clock.
In conjunction with debt free shenanigans, Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad best selling author, said being debt free, i.e. go to school, get a degree, work hard at a job, save your money, live conservatively, is boring, dream crushing, and wrong. Instead people should focus on how they can make their dreams come true. Again this touches on the Why and not the how, but if people could figure out Why they should have investments, in all their forms, that generate passive income for them and then they wouldn’t need to live within their means.
That brings me to good debt and bad debt.
What is bad debt? Bad debt is a liability. What is a liability? It is something that adds to your expenses and takes money out of your pocket. It can range from a car, which is also a depreciating ‘asset’, or the more common credit card. Credit cards are especially bad due to their rising and adjustable interest rates, which are already impossibly high.
What is good debt? It is an asset. What is an asset? It is something that adds to your income and adds money to your pocket each month. It can range from dividend paying stocks and bonds to rental properties to businesses that pay you in the form of dividends. Robert Kiyosaki and his wife are independently wealthy. They’ve got over, no joke, 3,000 rental units. Yet they do not know their net worth. Why not? Who cares is why. They are tens of millions of dollars in debt…good debt. Their debt services its own payments AND generates positive monthly cash flow and so who cares what the total net worth is for that couple or any couple for that matter. Answer: nobody should care.
Hopefully people wake up and realize good and bad debt when they see it and take advantage of the good and shun the bad when they can.
In conjunction with debt free shenanigans, Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad best selling author, said being debt free, i.e. go to school, get a degree, work hard at a job, save your money, live conservatively, is boring, dream crushing, and wrong. Instead people should focus on how they can make their dreams come true. Again this touches on the Why and not the how, but if people could figure out Why they should have investments, in all their forms, that generate passive income for them and then they wouldn’t need to live within their means.
That brings me to good debt and bad debt.
What is bad debt? Bad debt is a liability. What is a liability? It is something that adds to your expenses and takes money out of your pocket. It can range from a car, which is also a depreciating ‘asset’, or the more common credit card. Credit cards are especially bad due to their rising and adjustable interest rates, which are already impossibly high.
What is good debt? It is an asset. What is an asset? It is something that adds to your income and adds money to your pocket each month. It can range from dividend paying stocks and bonds to rental properties to businesses that pay you in the form of dividends. Robert Kiyosaki and his wife are independently wealthy. They’ve got over, no joke, 3,000 rental units. Yet they do not know their net worth. Why not? Who cares is why. They are tens of millions of dollars in debt…good debt. Their debt services its own payments AND generates positive monthly cash flow and so who cares what the total net worth is for that couple or any couple for that matter. Answer: nobody should care.
Hopefully people wake up and realize good and bad debt when they see it and take advantage of the good and shun the bad when they can.
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