Governmentgirl1943lp

Idea Log 16112011

WANT >> Too Big to Fail: Olympia & York: The Story Behind the Headlines!!!! but I've tracked the second best The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York ~ going to pick up my book later today ^__^

 

Idea Log 28102011

Is your retirement wrecked? Knowledge is key to retirement plans

WHY LOOKING YOUNG IS BAD FOR YOUR NEST EGG.

Looking young for your age can be a bad thing, if it makes you postpone saving money for retirement.

"We are looking younger than in previous years, absolutely, but that does sometimes fool us into thinking we have many years for retirement planning," says Tina Di Vito, a financial planner, head of the BMO Retirement Institute and author of a new book, 52 Ways to Wreck your Retirement ... and How to Rescue It.

"Procrastination can creep up on us."

One-third of your life will be spent in retirement.

If you require specialized health care, do you want to spend your last years in a chronic care hospital or a five-star residence with in-house doctors and nurses?

The financial choices you make today will decide that for you.

Not saving enough is one of the main reasons people close to retirement decide to work a few extra years, says Di Vito.

Greg Pollock, certified financial planner and president and CEO of Advocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, agrees. Clients in their 30s tell him they want to retire at 55, he says. Without a plan, they hit their 50s and realize they have to work until they're 67.

"We're all very optimistic," says Pollock.

But the truth is a health problem in your 80s can wipe out your life savings in one year.

If you do one thing, Pollock and Di Vito agree, do this: Start saving more, today, no matter how old you are. Make it automatic and it will become automatic. Other steps:

Make a plan. Pollock and Di Vito agree that the single most important step towards a successful retirement is planning for it.

Think about what you really want to do. Golf? Hit the beach? For 25 years? Really?

"Chances are, you will do a lot of the same things after retiring as you did before - we're somewhat hard-wired after a certain age and it's hard to change us," says Di Vito.

She suggests easing into retirement, if you can. Go down to four days a week first. Reduce your work days even more until you are fully retired.

Know your net worth. This is a summary of all your assets, minus your liabilities. Until you do this, you don't even know where you stand. You may feel rich because your home is worth $500,000, but if you stack your mortgage and consumer debts next to it, what are you really worth?

Pay attention to your everyday finances. Check your bank statements for errors and fraud, check your automatic bill payments to make sure you're not paying for services you no longer use, read your paycheque, even if it's electronic, to make sure pay increases are properly reflected.

Know your investments. The number of investment options has exploded in the past 20 years. You don't need to know everything. Learn the basics about GICs, bonds, equity investments, mutual funds and tax-free savings accounts. Learn how to keep tabs on your portfolio, even if you have a financial advisor.  

Diversify. Really. Buying two different mutual funds is not necessarily diversifying if they are both investing in the same things. Which brings us back to know your investments.

Retirement is not a short period of time. Retiring doesn't mean you should stop investing. Di Vito recommends keeping a minimum of five years' worth of withdrawals invested in low-risk, easily accessible investments, but keep a long-term view for the balance of your retirement savings.

Pay off your mortgage. The faster you can pay off your house, the more time you have to save for retirement, says Di Vito. Increasing monthly mortgage payments a little bit every year is better than trying to save up and make extra lump-sum payments. It's too tempting to spend the money on marble kitchen countertops.

Monetize your hobby. Turning a hobby into a job could provide extra income in retirement. But if you decide to start a new business, do your research first. You won't have much time or opportunity to rebuild your finances if you fail.

Downsizing. Some people wait too long to downsize, says Di Vito. They continue to live in a large house they no longer need and cannot maintain. They can become fearful of moving.

Another mistake is not downsizing enough. If you sell your home for $525,000 and buy a smaller one for $450,000, you won't be much better off financially once all the taxes and fees are paid. 

If you do one thing, Pollock and Di Vito agree, do this: Start saving more, today, no matter how old you are. Make it automatic and it will become automatic. Other steps:

Make a plan. Pollock and Di Vito agree that the single most important step towards a successful retirement is planning for it.

Think about what you really want to do. Golf? Hit the beach? For 25 years? Really?

"Chances are, you will do a lot of the same things after retiring as you did before - we're somewhat hard-wired after a certain age and it's hard to change us," says Di Vito.

She suggests easing into retirement, if you can. Go down to four days a week first. Reduce your work days even more until you are fully retired.

Know your net worth. This is a summary of all your assets, minus your liabilities. Until you do this, you don't even know where you stand. You may feel rich because your home is worth $500,000, but if you stack your mortgage and consumer debts next to it, what are you really worth?

Pay attention to your everyday finances. Check your bank statements for errors and fraud, check your automatic bill payments to make sure you're not paying for services you no longer use, read your paycheque, even if it's electronic, to make sure pay increases are properly reflected.

Know your investments. The number of investment options has exploded in the past 20 years. You don't need to know everything. Learn the basics about GICs, bonds, equity investments, mutual funds and tax-free savings accounts. Learn how to keep tabs on your portfolio, even if you have a financial advisor.

Diversify. Really. Buying two different mutual funds is not necessarily diversifying if they are both investing in the same things. Which brings us back to know your investments.

Retirement is not a short period of time. Retiring doesn't mean you should stop investing. Di Vito recommends keeping a minimum of five years' worth of withdrawals invested in low-risk, easily accessible investments, but keep a long-term view for the balance of your retirement savings.

 Pay off your mortgage. The faster you can pay off your house, the more time you have to save for retirement, says Di Vito. Increasing monthly mortgage payments a little bit every year is better than trying to save up and make extra lump-sum payments. It's too tempting to spend the money on marble kitchen countertops.

Monetize your hobby. Turning a hobby into a job could provide extra income in retirement. But if you decide to start a new business, do your research first. You won't have much time or opportunity to rebuild your finances if you fail.

Downsizing. Some people wait too long to downsize, says Di Vito. They continue to live in a large house they no longer need and cannot maintain. They can become fearful of moving.

Another mistake is not downsizing enough. If you sell your home for $525,000 and buy a smaller one for $450,000, you won't be much better off financially once all the taxes and fees are paid.

Don't spend too much on your children. If you buy your child a house they will share with a spouse, you should consider registering a mortgage on that house. This will protect your loan from creditors and the division of the assets you invested if they divorce.

 Source: Toronto Star, Business - Pg. B1, Oct 21, 2011

Idea Log 19102011

BLACK MONDAY (19-Oct-1987)

In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed, shedding a huge value in a very short time. The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74 (22.61%).

Causes of 1987 Market Crash: Potential causes for the decline include program trading, overvaluation, illiquidity, and market psychology.

Quotes from the 1987 Stock Market Crash to get a feel for the mood in 1987.

"The market crash of 1987 caught most economists, scholars, and investment professionals by surprise. Nowhere in the classical, equilibrium-based view of the market so long considered inviolate was there anything that would predict or even describe the events of 1987. The failure of the existing theory left open the potential for competing theories."
-Robert Hagstrom in Investing, the Last Liberal Art

"The fundamental business of the country, that is production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis."
-Herbert Hoover, after the October 1929 crash

"The borrowing has to stop. The market slide was a shot right between the eyes that had better wake us all up to simple fact that we can't keep romping forever on borrowed money."
-Lee Iacocca, Chrysler Corp Chairman, October 20, 1987

"There is so much psychological togetherness that seems to have worked both on the up side and on the down side. Its a little like a theater where someone yells 'Fire!'"
-Andy Grove, Intel CEO, October 20, 1987

"As a practical matter, people are looking for whippings boys. Program trading looks mysterious. People don't understand it, so it acquires and image of black magic."
-Joseph Grundfest, SEC commissioner, October 22, 1987

"It makes everyone feel vulnerable, as thinking people. When you see a market get terrribly whacked out, it makes you think how faulty and useless most people's thinking is. It identifies clearly how small we all are, how powerless. It's very distressing."
-Edward Gordon, head of a real-estate company, October 24, 1987

 

Idea Log 27092011

By walking 5 extra minutes plus 2 minutes at the turnstile (always!! why?) I can get to work 30 minutes early!

Thank you 41Express to York University!! If not I can always take the other 41s which come every 5 mins ^__^ I feel very blessed.

The 41 Keele bus route operates between Keele Station on the Bloor-Danforth Subway, the York University campus, and the area of Steeles Avenue West and Petrolia Road, generally in a north-south direction. Accessible service is provided on the route. Bike racks are available on this route.
Three services are operated. The 41 (Keele Stn-York University and Steeles) is the main branch, and operates during the evening from Monday to Friday, and at all times on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The 41B (Keele Stn-Steeles & Petrolia via York University) extended branch operates during the peak periods and midday, from Monday to Friday only. The 41E (Keele Stn- York University Express) express branch operates during the peak periods from Monday to Friday only.

Northbound 41 TO YORK UNIVERSITY AND STEELES
These buses operate from Keele Station via north on Keele Street, east on St. Clair Avenue West, north on Old Weston Road, northwest on Rogers Road, north on Keele Street, north on Trethewey Drive, northeast on Yore Road, north on Keele Street, west on York Boulevard, counter-clockwise through the York University Commons Area, north and west on Ian Macdonald Boulevard, and north on Founders Road to Steeles Avenue West.

Northbound 41B TO STEELES & PETROLIA VIA YORK UNIVERSITY
These buses operate from Keele Station via north on Keele Street, east on St. Clair Avenue West, north on Old Weston Road, northwest on Rogers Road, north on Keele Street, north on Trethewey Drive, northeast on Yore Road, north on Keele Street, west on York Boulevard, counter-clockwise through the York University Commons Area, north and west on Ian Macdonald Boulevard, north on Founders Road, east on Steeles Avenue West, and south on Petrolia Road to Canarctic Drive.

Northbound 41E TO YORK UNIVERSITY EXPRESS
These buses operate from Keele Station via north on Keele Street, north on Weston Road, east on Rogers Road, north on Keele Street, west on Murray Ross Parkway, north on York University Busway, west on York Boulevard, and counter-clockwise through the York University Commons Area. Northbound 41E buses operate EXPRESS from Keele Station to York University, stopping only at Keele Station, Keele Street & St Clair Avenue, Weston Road & Rogers Road, Keele Street & Rogers Road, Donald Avenue, Eglinton Avenue, Ingram Drive, Lawrence Avenue, Falstaff Avenue, Wilson Avenue, Sheppard Avenue, Finch Avenue (farside), Murray Ross Parkway & York University Busway, and York University Commons Area.

All 41 and 41B buses on the route serve local bus stops along the route. The 41E EXPRESS buses stop only at limited stops along the route.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/41/RouteDescription.jsp?tabName=route

Idea Log 24092011

ABOUT THE SHOW

There is an amazing race going on right now around the world to find the fuel of the future. More than three decades after the oil shocks shook America, the United States and the rest of the industrialized world is still addicted to oil. But now, for the first time in a generation, plans to break the black gold stranglehold are closer than ever to becoming a reality.

CNBC will broadcast a one-hour special, "Beyond the Barrel: The Race to Fuel the Future," anchored by CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla. The one-hour program will showcase the bottled promises ready to be unleashed from the Middle East, South America, Asia and here at home. This CNBC original production will introduce viewers to more than a dozen potential game changing innovations to power our planet. “Beyond the Barrel: The Race to Fuel the Future” will also take a critical look at why we are still years away from putting these ideas into practice.

CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, will cover this story from across the globe:

• CNBC’s Jane Wells will look at parts of the American west where new solar towns are popping up all over the map.
• CNBC’s Brian Shactman travels to Bolivia to report on the Country’s untapped reserves that can be used for new battery technology and change the way we use energy forever.
• NBC’s Adrienne Mong reports from China, a country accused of being a serial polluter. But at the same time, China's green-tech industry is catching up with the world's traditional leaders very quickly as they mass-produce the equipment and materials needed to create new forms of energy.

Additionally, Quintanilla will profile a small start-up in northern California that's working to turn toxic emissions literally into building blocks for tomorrow. Plus, Quintanilla will go one-on-one with the OPEC ministers who say there's no way the world will replace oil anytime soon and he'll talk to the naysayers who believe we'll be addicted to oil forever.

Idea Log 15092011

The Rational Optimist>Chapter 1> A better today>> Saving Time (pg. 22- 24) 

TIME: that is the key. Forget dollars, cowrie shells or gold. The true measure of something's worth is the hours it takes to acquire it. If you have to acquire it yourself, it usually takes longer than if you get it ready-made by other people. And if you can get it made efficiently by others, then you can afford more of it.

...

This is what prosperity is: the increase in the amount of goods or services you can earn with the same amount of work.

...

Even the most notorious of capitalists, the robber barons of the late nineteenth century, usually got rich by making things cheaper. Cornelius Vanderbilt is the man for whom the New York Times first used the word 'robber baron'. He is the very epitome of the phrase. Yet observe what Harper's Weekly had to say about his railways in 1859:

The results in every case of the establishment of opposition lines by Vanderbilt has been the permanent reduction of fares. Wherever he 'laid on' on opposition line, the fares were instantly reduced, and however the contest terminated, whether he bought out his opponents, as he often did, or they bought him out, the fares were never again raised to the old standard. This great boon - cheap travel - this community owes mainly to Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Rail freight charges fell by 90 per cent between 1870 and 1900. Likewise, Andrew Carnegie, while enormously enriching himself, cut the price of steel rail by 75 per cent in the same period; John D. Rockerfeller cut the price of old by 80 per cent. During those thirty years, the per capita GDP of Americans rose by 66 per cent. They were enricher-barons, too.

Henry Ford got rich by making cars cheap. His first Model T sold for $825, unpresedentedly cheap at the time, and four years later he had cut the price to $575.

Falling consumer prices is what enriches people... If Cornelius Vanderbilt or Henry Ford not only moves you faster to where you want to go, but requires you to work fewer hours to earn the ticket price, then he has enriched you by granting you a dollop of free time. If you choose to spend that spare time consuming somebody else's production then you can enrich him in turn; if you choose to spend it producing for his consumption then you have also further enriched yourself.

 Visit the official website : http://www.rationaloptimist.com/

Idea Log 05072011

How to Think Like a CEO

By David Weliver of www.MoneyUnder30.com 

If you have ever aspired to run your own business (or an existing corporation), you may already be interested in applying the traits, philosophies, and leadership styles of successful CEOs to your career.

But even if you have no interest in becoming a business leader (or ever working in business, for that matter), learning to think about your own life, finances, and career the way a CEO thinks about running a business can be rewarding…and help you reach your own goals faster.

Successful CEOs Are Focused on the Bottom Line. The CEO’s job, in a nutshell, is to lead a business in generating a profit for shareholders quarter after quarter. The CEO is a leader, but the goal is always profit. In your personal life, your “profit” is the amount of money you save. Just as a business that never generates a profit will fail, if you always spend more than you earn you’ll first go into debt and eventually go bankrupt. To avoid that, and to maximize your savings for your own goals, you’ll need to do what good CEOs do. Put simply:

• Find ways to increase revenue (your income)
• Find ways to cut costs (your monthly expenses)

Successful CEOs Are Leaders. Even if you don’t manage others at work, you can be a leader by setting an example for everybody you know. Your actions are all it takes: Work harder, spend smarter, give back, be a good listener.

Successful CEOs Are Competitive. Whether you’re naturally competitive or not, it pays to take a competitive outlook in life, especially in your career. I’m not recommending you become ruthless and begin undermining your coworkers to get ahead, but you should pay attention to what other people are doing in your line of work to be successful, and adapt.

Successful CEOs Are Always Improving. Obviously, good is never good enough to successful CEOs. They are always striving to make their organizations better. And more often than not, ask a CEO what he or she does with free time during the workweek and you two of the top answers will be “exercise” and “read”. Top execs don’t just want to improve their businesses, they want to improve themselves. Likewise, the more time and energy you spend on improving yourself, the farther you’ll go.

Successful CEOs Are Positive. Not only are optimistic people happier, they are often more successful, too. Nobody wants to hire, much less be around, a “Debbie Downer”. The sooner you learn to look on the bright side, the more opportunities you’ll have.

Successful CEOs Are Persistent. Of course, no matter how positive you are, there are always going to be tough times. Although the first step is to learn how not to let tough times get you down, the second step is to train yourself to work through them. Don’t let set backs stop you from working towards you goals.

Successful CEOs Take Risks. With big risks come big rewards, both in business and in life. It can be scary to take a new job, start your own business, go back to school, or move to a new city. Most people I know never regret doing any of the above, but I would be that there are a lot of people out there who regret not doing some of those things.

What do you think? Are there any top traits that you see successful CEOs using that you have incorporated into your own life? go to: http://www.moneyunder30.com/think-like-ceo

Idea Log 21052011

  

How to Wreck Your Credit Score

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703280904576247081349939332.html

Don't underestimate the harm that even one missed mortgage payment can do to your credit score—especially if you had good credit to begin with.

The severe consequences underscore that you shouldn't shrug off even an accidentally missed payment. Instead, you should pay it and call the lender right away, begging for forgiveness before it mars your credit record.

In an unusually specific commentary to lenders, Fair Isaac, the creator of the FICO score, recently spelled out the severe consequences to the credit scores of borrowers who are 30 days late on their mortgages—as well as the long-term impact of failing to repay the whole mortgage.

It isn't a pretty picture.

Being 30 days late on a house payment—even if it is an accident—can knock 100 points off a pristine 780 credit score, moving you from qualifying for the very best interest rates to the edge of subprime territory.

The actual numerical drop is less severe if your starting credit score is 720 or 680, but the impact is greater, since your new score is likely to sink to a level where new credit is hard to get and very expensive.

The FICO score ranges from a low of 300 to 850, with scores of about 750 or higher generally qualifying for the best loan terms.

The details provide a warning for anyone whose home is way underwater and is tempted to simply walk away, or considering a "short sale." That is when the sale price is less than the amount you owe and the borrower doesn't make up the difference. More than 350,000 homes have been sold this way since 2008, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

FICO officials usually dodge questions about the specific impact of actions on scores. But

Joanne Gaskin, director of FICO mortgage markets, compiled the data partly to counter incorrect information, such as recommendations that people stop paying their mortgages so they can negotiate with a lender, she says.

FICO says a foreclosure or short sale where the size of the unpaid balance is reported are equally devastating to a good or excellent credit score, reducing it by as much as 150 points, to the high 500s or low 600s. A rarer "deed in lieu of foreclosure"—in which the borrower voluntarily transfers ownership of the home to the lender—may have less impact on an excellent score.

Recovering your original score takes about seven years. That also is how long the information stays on your credit report, where insurers and potential employers can see it. Returning to a mediocre 680 score may take only three years.

Here are some other lessons from the data:

• Your past behavior counts, but your current behavior matters more.

Credit scores are intended to measure the risk that you won't repay a current or future debt. So your careful payments over many years translate into a higher starting score.

But your score takes the biggest hit of all when you are 30 days late on a payment, falling 70 to 100 points in the FICO example. It drops less when you are 90 days late and if you default. The reason? The first missed payment "captures a good deal of the risk of the consumer," Ms. Gaskin says.

• The best way to rebuild a damaged credit score, ironically, is to use credit.

Avoiding borrowing altogether means "you've frozen your credit history in a negative state," says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for credit bureau Experian. You will be better off using a credit card judiciously and paying it off promptly, adding good-behavior points to your record.

• A rotten score hurts more than you think.

A person with a 620 score would pay almost 12% interest on a four-year $25,000 car loan, compared with less than 5% for someone with a 780 score—a difference of almost $4,000 over the life of the loan. On a 30-year fixed-rate $250,000 mortgage, a person with a 620 score might qualify for a 6% rate, but probably wouldn't be able to get mortgage insurance, which is required if your down payment less than 20%. A person with excellent credit might land a rate less than 5% and pay about $3,000 a year less.

— [email protected]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703280904576247081349939332.html

 

Idea Log 19052011

Risk of MARKET FLUCTUATIONs? ... but thanks to the power of dollar cost averaging, even downside fluctuations can work to your advantage."

...  

"Tom, say you decide to save $100 a month and invest it in fund XYZ. The month you start your program, XYZ is trading at ten dollars a share, so obviously you buy ten shares. The second month XYZ has dropped by fifty percent, all the way to five dollars... not good. Your $100 now buys you twenty shares. In month three, the fund has rebounded somewhat and now trades at seven dollars and fifty cents, still well under your original purchase price. You buy thirteen and a third shares. So what's happened?"

"I've lost money following your advice. That's what happened," answered Tom.

"No, you haven't," I interrupted confidently. "You've broken even. You're down two-fifty a share on your purchase at ten, you're up two-fifty a share on your purchase at five, and you're even on your final purchase."

Roy corrected us, "You're both wrong."

"I hate math," I growled. "But how can I be wrong? It's just a question of average price. Even I can figure out the average of three numbers."

"How many shares does Tom own?" asked Roy. He then quickly answered his own question: "Forty-three and a third. And how much are the shares currently worth? Seven dollars and fifty cents each. What's forty-three and a third times seven-fifty? Three hundred and twenty-five. How much had Tom invested? Three hundred. He's up twenty five dollars, an excellent return over such a short period of time."

"How the -"

"Becauses you're putting in fixed amount each month, you obtain more shares at the lower prices. You bought twenty shares at five, but only ten at ten. Basically, it means that your average cost per share will be lower than the average price per share. In the long run, or even in the short run, the bodes well for the investor.

"So one month when the stock market is struggling and your mutual fund is suffering accordingly, don't look at the situation and say, 'Darn, my holding is down.' Look at it and say, 'Eventually the market will go up and take the value of my holding with it, so in the meantime I'm going to pick up shares at a good price.' Dollar Cost Averaging is great stuff!

Currently reading..... Pg, 48, The Wealthy Barber (David Chilton)

Idea Log 18042011

To My Native Land

- Henry Louis Vivian Derozio

My country! In thy days of glory past A beauteous halo circled round thy brow and worshipped as a deity thou wast— Where is thy glory, where the reverence now? Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last, And grovelling in the lowly dust art thou, Thy minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee Save the sad story of thy misery! Well—let me dive into the depths of time And bring from out the ages, that have rolled A few small fragments of these wrecks sublime Which human eye may never more behold And let the guerdon of my labour be, My fallen country! One kind wish for thee!

This is a follow-up from an earlier post-  http://governmentgirl1943lp.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/idea-log-13042011.html -

where the poet, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, was mentioned. I realized I had heard his name before and so I searched and realized that he wrote 'To My Native Land". I remember memorizing this poem in grade 7-8. I still remember! This was probably one of the only poems I've loved! It always made me so sad.

Here is a re-introduction of the poet from the same piece;

A few feet away from Stuart’s tomb, lies a stalwart of the early history of Bengal - Henry Vivian Louis Derozio. He was the youthful, Anglo-Indian poet, rational thinker and inspiration, behind the extraordinary, Young Bengal Movement, of the early 19th century. He was influenced by the ideas thrown up by the French Revolution and as a 21 year old teacher, sought to transmit these, to his pupils at Hindu College, (subsequently renamed Presidency College). His unconventional teaching methods, resulted in his being accused of promoting Atheism, to his radical students and led to his dismissal from the College. He died soon after, still a very young man, at the age of 22, but he left a rich heritage of poetry, that inspired future generations and left a permanent impact, on the social outlook, of the Bengali- Hindu community.

Derozio's intense zeal for teaching and his interactions with students created a sensation at Hindu College. His students came to be known as Derozians.

The motto of the Derozians was:

He who will not reason is a bigot, he who cannot reason is a fool, and he who does not reason is a slave.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Vivian_Derozio

Idea Log 14032011

 "Love the life that you have, want the life that you have, and be happy with every day from now until eternity."

Read more at Suite101: Suze Orman's new book, "The Money Class," a PBS Special http://www.suite101.com/content/suze-ormans-new-book-the-money-class-a-pbs-special-a357092#ixzz1Gbbd0vJN

 Watching right now.... "Suze Orman's The Money Class"on channel KCTS59 In Suze Orman's Money Class financial powerhouse Suze Orman delivers her expert take on what actions everyone needs to consider in light of the new economic reality in order to secure a hopeful and sustainable financial future. After the upheavals of the economic downturn that began in 2008, Orman believes it’s critical to rethink many of the traditional strategies we’ve been using to achieve our financial goals.

In this special, Orman offers hard-hitting advice in her trademark no-nonsense style on how to navigate today's unsettling economic waters. The core of her message is an inspirational re-imagining of the American Dream – based on integrity and standing in your truth.

Throughout this financial master class, Orman equips viewers with timely, powerful, and often surprising advice for getting a grip on the most important financial fundamentals: understanding the opportunities and pitfalls of the real estate market, raising financially aware children, borrowing for college and paying off student loans, building a career, saving and investing, planning for retirement, and more.

As Orman puts it, "I am calling on you to re-educate yourself, to discover—perhaps for the very first time—what truly constitutes your new American Dream. You will learn what it means to stand tall in your truth today, so that you can realize your vision for tomorrow." 

Taped before a live audience in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota, this special presents fresh insight in Orman's time-honored style: plenty of frank and down-to-earth advice combined with compassionate and humorous Q and A. Orman's much-anticipated new program will offer viewers nationwide the insight and encouragement they need to succeed on this new financial frontier.

 The premiere broadcast of Suze Orman's Money Class will be accompanied by the publication of Orman's new book: The Money Class: Learn to Create Your New American Dream (Spiegel & Grau).

PBS special programming invites viewers to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; hear diverse viewpoints; and take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. Viewer contributions are an important source of funding, making PBS programs possible. PBS and public television stations offer all Americans from every walk of life the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content.

Acclaimed personal finance expert Suze Orman was twice named one of the "Time 100," Time Magazine's list of the world's most influential people, and named by Forbes as one of the 100 most powerful women. She is a two-time National Emmy winner for her PBS specials, writer of eight consecutive New York Times bestsellers, and seven time Gracie Award winner. She is also a contributing editor to O, the Oprah Magazine.

Idea Log 01032011

CHRISTINE TAN
Anchor, CNBC Asia Pacific


Christine Tan is the Singapore-based anchor for CNBC's longest-running feature program  "Managing Asia". She also anchors "Worldwide Exchange", CNBC's groundbreaking program coming live every weekday from Asia, Europe and the U.S.  interviewing prominent CEOs and leaders of top companies doing business in Asia.

Tan has more than 16 years experience in journalism, more than half of which was with CNBC. During her career, she has covered the business and financial market impact from major news events like the Asian Economic Crisis, the Dot Com Bubble Crash, 9-11 attacks in the US and SARS Outbreak.

She received the Best News Program award at the 2004 Asian Television Awards on behalf of The Asian Wall Street Journal. The same program also won a finalist award at the 2004 New York Festivals for Coverage of a Breaking News Story.

Christine Tan also received Silver World Medal for Best Anchor at the 2009 New York Festivals Television Programming and Promotion Awards. She also won for Best Current Affairs Presenter award at the 2008 Asian Television Awards.  She was a finalist for Best News Anchor in 2001 and 2002 at the New York Festivals Awards and also a Best Current Affairs Presenter finalist at the 1997 and 2006 Asian Television Awards. 

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and English and a Masters of Arts with Honors in Sociology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Idea Log 11022011

People think, "if only this could happen" or "if only that would occur", they would be happy. The "this" or the "that" are almost irrelevant; it's the "if only" that needs a close eye kept on it. Whether you are hoping for a lottery win or a bus to turn up on time, whether you want someone to say good morning to you or tell you that he or she loves you, the fact is you want something and you are making your happiness dependent upon the fulfillment of that condition. Don't hold yourself to ransom. <www.cainer.com>

 

Idea Log 01022011

"Being comfortable is highly overrated. Being comfortable may make you warm, fuzzy, and fuzzy, and secure, but it doesn't allow you to grow. To grow as a person you have to expand your comfort zone. The only time you can actually grow is when you are outside your comfort zone."

CZ=WZ

(i.e. Comfort zone = Wealth zone and as your comfort zone expands so does your wealth zone and  Wealth Zone = Opportunity Zone)

"Nobody ever died of discomfort, yet living in the name of comfort has killed more ideas, more opportunities, more actions, and more growth than everything else combined. Comfort kills! If your goal in life is to be comfortable, I guarantee two things. First, you will never be rich. Second, you will never be happy. Happiness doesn't come from living a lukewarm life, always wondering what could have been. Happiness comes as a result of being in our natural state of growth and living up to our fullest potential.

(Eker, 171-172 ~ Secrets of the Millionaire Mind)

Idea Log 21012011

 

"Buffett tells me how, on a Saturday in January 1951, he banged on the door of an insurance company called GEICO. He did so because he had been attending Columbia Business School and studying under Ben Graham, and he'd just read Graham's book, The Intelligent Investor. (Graham was the father of "value investing," or the art of buying companies for less than they're worth; Buffett has become its patron saint.) Graham was the chairman of GEICO, and Buffett thought he'd try to figure out how the business worked. A janitor let him in, and he spent hours talking to Lorimer Davidson, a GEICO executive. In that conversation Buffett learned about the concept of "float," or the ability to earn interest on other people's money-in the form of, say insurance premiums (which don't need to be paid out until the customer makes a claim). Years later, when the opportunity arose, Buffett bought GEICO (now famous for its ads featuring a caveman or a gecko). "The luck of 60 years ago banging on a door and having someone open it!" Buffett says. "I think of how that changed my life."

Magazine: Warren Buffett Speaks Candidly to Vanity Fair About Who Might Succeed Him at Berkshire Hathaway by Vanity Fair January 5, 2011, 12:01 AM

 

Idea Log 18012011

Best Money Moves in your...

Teens: Now is the time to establish good habits that will last a lifetime. Have fun, but start now to put away that 10%.

20s: Pay off your student loans and begin to invest. Your risk tolerance is likely as high now as it will ever be, so think long term. Begin to establish good credit by getting a small loan or low-limit credit card and pay it off faithfully.

30s: Step up your retirement contributions. Pay off your non-mortgage debt. Protect what you're building with adequate insurance. And keep learning- just because you're finished with college doesn't mean there aren't courses and designations that up your future income significantly.

40s: Start estate planning. Nobody likes to think about it but when you hit your 40s, you are likely to be accumulating assets such as homes and cars, and you need to consider what will become of them. If you've got dependents, get some life insurance. Think about elder care for your parents. Reassess your risk- as retirement draws closer, you'll want to reconsider investment decisions you made in the preceding decades.

50s: Max out your registrered retirement savings contributions. Pay off your mortgage. Don't make decisions that will jeopardize your own future to help out your grown-up children.

60s: With life expectancies better than ever, remember that your retirement could last decades, so plan for it. Continue to make significant contributions to your retirement plan. Begin to cut living costs- scale down or consider moving to a cheaper community. Finalize your estate plan.

Idea Log 10012011

Bringing your dream into focus

(Time Management for the Creative Person- Silber, Pg. 253-254)

Setting goals is actually a voyage of self-discovery, and as such, many people shy away from it. I'll make it easy for you. Just answer the following questions. Don't think too much, don't spend a lot of time, take it in any order.

CAREER/BUSINESS

Tom Clancy was an obscure defense analyst for years. Not a bad career, but not his passion, his dream. His true calling was to be a writer. After he followed his dream, he became one of the most successful novelists in the world. In interview Clancy has said he is happier and, certainly, wealthier. To wake up knowing you are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing, something you truly enjoy, is the number one key to success and happiness.

1. As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
2. If you could change careers with anyone, who would it be? Why?
3. If money were no object, what career would you choose?
4. If you knew you could not fail, what type of business would you start?
5. How would you describe success?

Idea Log 04012011

What we mean when we say "SUCCESS"Excerpt from Chapter 10- 'Life is what we make it' by Peter Buffett

(It's a long chapter but here is my favourite parts after edits - pg. 190-198)

"The preceding stories suggest, I think, a basic paradox about definitions of success: The truest and most durable measures of success are the ones we choose and define for ourselves, but those choices and definitons don't happen in a vacuum. Even our most personal choices and values are shaped, in part, by influences outside our skin.

Family expectations, of course, constitute one such set of influences. This is inevitable and also fitting. Parents, after all, have seen more of life than kids have. They want the best for their sons and daughters, and they have their own considered ideas about what "the best" consists of. Sometimes the kids happily accept the parents' version of success; sometimes they reject it.

....

There is no one version of "success" that has been agreed upon and esteemed in all places and at all times.

...

Success, basically, is whatever we decide to call success.

...

But for all of that, people are shaped by the times and the societies they live in, and there's no denying the power of social fashion. As with family expectations, an era's dominant version of success is something we can accept or fight against. What we can't do is pretend it isn't there or that it isn't, at some level, a factor in the choices that we make.

...

In more recent decades, of course, our consensual definition of success seems to have become more and more narrowly involved with money, pure and simple. Everything except earning power has become relatively devalued.

...

A friend of mine recently passed along a rather horrifying anecdote that neatly sums up the dominant ethos of that time. "I was at a party," he recalled, "and the host introduced me to a woman friend of his. She asked me what I did - which was generally the first thing people wanted to know about each back then. I told her I was a writer. She looked me up and down - shoes to haircut- and said exactly one word: 'successful?' The question struck me as so rude and crass that, for a moment, I couldn't speak. This person had zero interest in what I actually did. What did I write about? What drove me to write? Was my stuff funny? Tragic? It was all the same to her if I wrote limericks or if I'd just completed a massive treatise that explained the meaning of life. I finally managed to mumble, 'I get by,' and I moved off to the bar.

...

Again, adopting a version of success that is our of fashion at a given time requires courage and imagination- a determination to decide for oneself what really matters. There are professions more likely to make us rich in terms of money; there are professions more likely to make us rich in terms of spirit. If these latter professions are to flourish, we need to invest them with a kind of respect and prestige that can't be counted in dollars. We have to be reminded of how intrinsically valuable they are.

...

One of them is a man named Taylor Mali, a poet and teacher who has taken it as his mission to enlarge upon the dignity of teaching. I recently came across a poem of his, in which he describes a dinner party attended by members of various professions. Inevitably, at some point the conversations turns to what he makes. Mali brilliantly turned the question upside down, as this excerpt will attest. (The entire poem can be found at www.taylormali.com)

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they every thought they could...

I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be...

I make kids wonder,

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them write, write,  write.

And then I make them read.

You want to know what I make?

I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

...

Life is what we make it, and part of succeeding lies in breaking through to a clear understanding of what our own success should look like. No one else can tell us how to measure or describe it. No one else can judge whether we've reached our goals or fallen short.

The world can throw rewards at us, or can withhold them. That's the world's business. But the world can't judge the fundamental value and legitimacy of what we are trying to achieve. That's our business."

<Also another excerpt from the book can be found as an earlier post at:http://governmentgirl1943lp.typepad.com/blog/2010/09/idea-log-16092010.html#tp>

 

Idea Log 03012011

Young Money: Tips on building long-term wealth

There is a generation of young professionals and entrepreneurs who are turning their ideas, passion, innovation and drive into success. They are opening businesses, climbing the corporate ladder (quickly), and finding their way into influential positions in our social fabric.

Dwayne Chin, owner of Asset Wealth Management, is excited about this generation. “We are bringing things to a whole new level,” he says. “You used to see millionaires, now you are seeing billionaires. There are people who have hundreds of millions of dollars, and the ages of these people are younger and younger.”

His tone, however, is not celebratory. While he is encouraged by the success that he is seeing, Chin notes a gap in regards to turning that momentum into building wealth.  He says many young professionals and entrepreneurs do not have a plan for their financial future. “You have to think long term,” Chin says. “If I told you to meet me at a particular address and that is all the information I offered, you would be lost. If I gave you a map with directions, you are going to have no problem getting there.”

As a financial planner, Chin helps clients to assess their financial goals and works with them to develop a clear plan detailing how they are going to get there. “If you are sick, you are going to see a doctor,” he offers as an analogy, “If you want to build wealth, go to a professional.”

 His own roots in the realm of financial literacy go back to his father. As a child, Chin observed his dad’s success and followed in his footsteps. One part of building wealth he says is knowing the traps to avoid. “We want the car before the house,” he says. “Anyone can buy a car, but can you keep up the payments, the insurance and the gas?” Chin has no aversion to owning a vehicle or having nice things, but he asserts that, “you need to get them the right way, you need to have a strong financial foundation.”

One strategy Chin recommends for building that base is to get together with a few like-minded people and set up a syndicate. “If you have $5,000 or $10,000 and you are interested in real estate, there is not much you can do with that,” he explains. “If you get three or four people together and invest in a property then you can split the profits. That is a good way to get started if you don’t have the money right now to do it on your own.”

By: Chris Penrose: http://swaymag.ca/2010/12/tips-on-building-long-term-wealth/