Posted by Ryan on July 30th, 2008 in Spending and Saving

You live, you work most of your life, and then you die. Morbid thought, I know, but if that’s how it is then why save money?

I know a lot of people, including close family, that have gone their entire life spending and never even stopping to think about saving. No retirement plan, no cushion in the bank, no worries about being able to pay the bills - just spend. The interesting thing is they seem to have very little stress about it.

Their philosophy - we work to earn in order to have, and you never know what tomorrow will bring. Some people save, save, save, and never get to enjoy anything because they’re too worried about saving.

Savers are constantly concerned about how much they are spending, if they’re saving enough, and when they’ll be able to retire to start living. What a sad way to go about your days.

What if your life ended tomorrow? What if you have enormous medical bills in early retirement that wipes out all of your savings? What if your investments crash and you lose it all? Maybe there’s too many “what ifs” to worry about it and we should all just live for today.

What if you just enjoy the money you have now while you’re young? Why not stop thinking in terms of “when I retire” and have a fulfilling lifestyle now?

Sounds tempting, right? Neither way is the sensible way to go about it. There needs to be some sort of middle ground. There needs to be a strategy to have plenty of money to be able to fully retire and support yourself, yet an ability to live for today.

The last thing you want to do is look back at your life and regret not ever having one, so think about what you want to accomplish today. Then think about what it is that you want to accomplish during retirement, how much it will cost, and how to get there. There is a way to balance the two and enjoy a complete life - not just one during retirement.

Millionaire Money Habit: Saving and managing your money is important, but it is also important to not get too caught up in being overly frugal. Be sure to take care of yourself now, as you never know what tomorrow will bring.

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Posted by Ryan on July 28th, 2008 in Investment Strategy

It’s no argument that Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors to ever live, if not the greatest. When Warren speaks, the entire financial and investment world listens. While many successful investors will go on to critique and disagree with his statements, more often than not he is right.

In short, it would be foolish to not take his advice.

One of his most notable philosophies is to do exactly the opposite of what everyone else does. “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” This, he has said during interviews, is the strategy that has made him rich.

It’s during these times, when everyone else was scared, that he invested in the market as a whole or in a particular company that offered opportunity. While others may have thought Buffett was being foolish and taking too big a risk, he saw at as absolutely no risk at all. Companies that were highly valuable were selling at rock bottom prices. During these volatile times, like we are experiencing now, are exactly the circumstances that allowed him to make the most wealth.

So as you look at your 401k statements and compulsively check your Ameritrade balances, remember your ultimate goal. Keep a level head and trust that Buffett knows exactly what he’s talking about.

If I had only listened to him when stocks hit an all time high last summer . . .

Millionaire Money Habit: Remember that it is a good thing that markets are volatile. It provides you with an opportunity to make money, but it also tests your ability to keep a level head. The only time you actually are guaranteed to be a loser with your investments is when you sell at a loss.

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Posted by Ryan on July 26th, 2008 in News and Economy

High gas prices are here to stay, and Americans are finally realizing they need to do something about their car gas mileage pain. But the reality is that in the U.S. we’ve been pretty fortunate to have experienced low gas prices for so long.  The last major gas shortage was in the 70’s which many of us don’t even remember.  Now we’re catching up to what have been standard gas prices in Europe, but our lifestyles and city infrastructures are not built to live the European way.

Unfortunately, the U.S. transportation system pales in comparison to Europe’s and we rely too heavily on our cars and our belief that we would always have reasonable gas prices. While many big cities have a rail system, they are completely unmatched in comparison to Europe’s.

The Chicago Transit Authority, for example, is an unreliable system. Trains and buses are rarely on schedule, stations are constantly closed for maintenance, and what seem to be unnecessary thirty minute stops in the middle of a trip has become the norm. In Chicago you just cannot plan to be anywhere at a specific time, whether traveling by air, car or rail.

At least big cities have these options to choose from in order to fight soaring gas prices, and you could feasibly walk everywhere. Several of my neighbors have never owned a car and have never taken a driver’s test. Everything they need is within the neighborhood, and trains, buses and taxis allow them to get anywhere they need to - given they have the time.

Lately I’ve seen more people walking and riding their bikes (which has lead to more biking accidents with

more inexperienced bikers on the roads). But in rural areas there are no options from driving other than to walk or ride your bike, and that could be a mile of biking or hiking just to get to the grocery store - and carrying everything is not even an option.

Other people are trying to build their own Water4Gas system to double their mileage by turning their cars into HHO burning vehicles.

This must be a bigger problem for small town folks or those living in sprawled-out suburbs.

So what are our options? What things are you doing to fight car gas mileage pain and soaring gas prices?

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