So I had to pick up some printer paper and toilet tissue at Rite Aid this afternoon. When I was at the check out counter I noticed that someone has taped a dollar bill to the back of the package of toilet tissue I bought. On the bottom of the buck someone had written “wisdom = knowledge plus applied understanding”.
Here’s the pic. Its a bit random, but I can’t say I’m not at least a bit impressed by the novelty of the thing and I’m glad of having the dollar.
Best,
James
[REMOVED]
Here’s an interesting interview with Donald Trump on CNN. Trump is going off and heavily criticizing the present for the conduct of the war in Iraq. Wolf Blitzer is asking Trump lots of leading and inflammatory questions. I don’t agree with Trump’s assessment of the administration, but he’s remarkably plain spoken in his views. In contrast to a lot of the careful double speak uttered by politicians, its a refreshing change.
Here is an interesting video from the Craigslist money forums. Its a 40 minute clip on the history of money and workings of the federal reserve system. The film is highly critical of the federal reserve, so I would take its conclusions with a BIG grain of salt. That said, it does have a concise summary of the history of money and how the Fed controls the Americas supply of currency. Its worth watching for those reasons alone.
The ides of March left the DINKS essententally flat in our ongoing efforts to build wealth. In February we were worth 318 thousand, in March we’re down to 311. Many other personal finance bloggers have made substantial month to month progress. Why have we not become more wealthy?
First, my income is barely covering expenses. This means that I haven’t been socking away hundreds into my retirement accounts like before graduate school. Unfortunately, this has been reflected in our networth growth or lack thereof. This is an ongoing challenge.
Second, we refinanced both our primary residence and our investment property. This means that we’ve put nearly $10,000 into getting out of our adjustable rate mortgages. So, we are slightly more cash poor this month.
Third, our stock market holdings are flat. Some of our stocks, such as Southern Peru Copper Corp (PCU) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) have done well. Some of our other stocks, like the Canetic Energy Trust (CNE) have declined by nearly 30%. The long and the short of these price movements is that our stock market holdings haven’t increased much in the past few weeks.
A quick graph of our networth fluctuations over the past six months is below:
Best,
James
Frequent readers of our blog will know that we’ve been working through Adriane Berg‘s Your Wealth Building Years. Berg is a long time writer on personal finance with a special focus on how financial needs change over the lifespan. She has some interesting thoughts on couples which are worth sharing:
1) Balance is Important: In Berg’s observations two income couples are becoming the norm. Very often in these types of relationships, one person makes more than the other. Because of this, the person who is perceived as breadwinner will usually prevail when a disagreement arises. This can cause resentment.
2) Compromise: Berg feels the way around this is compromise. Where couples are imbalanced financially, a good way out of the problem is the following: first know your own reasons for your money making decisions and second, listening to your partner’s reasons. Finally, the decision about what to do should be based on what’s more sensible and how to minimize the losses, both financial and personal to the relationship. Ultimately, Berg says you’ll have to prioritize, negotiate and reach a compromise to get around the fundamental imbalance.
Food for thought, we hope you won’t have to do this very often.
Best,
James & Miel
Check out Adriane Berg at Powells.com
The IRS spends God knows how much of your tax money on these toll-free information hot lines staffed by IRS employees, whose idea of a dynamite tax tip is that you should print neatly. If you ask them a real tax question, such as how you can cheat, they’re useless. So, for guidance, you want to look to big business. Big business never pays a nickel in taxes, according to Ralph Nader, who represents a big consumer organization that never pays a nickel in taxes…
Dave Barry (1947 – ), “Sweating Out Taxes”
We dinks have a good friend who is considering working with a real estate agent to market her condominium in DC. This has got me thinking a bit about points for selecting real estate agents.
Here are some things you might consider:
A) Price: If you are a seller, the agent will try to negotiate for a 6 percent commission on the sale of your property. While 6 percent may not seem like much, it can translate into big bucks. For example, if your property is worth $300,000 then you’ll need for fork over $18,000 in commission. Eighteen grand is a lot of money, so its generally in your interest to minimize the amount of commission you pay.
There are two ways to do this:
1) Negotiate. You can easily get a commission of 5.5%. Getting a commission of 5.0% is also reasonable. In some places, agents are a dime a dozen, and they won’t make any money if they can’t get your listing, so don’t feel timid about asking for price reductions.
2) Go with a discount agent: The high prices demanded by traditional realtors have given rise to discounters. As near as I can tell, the only difference between traditional agents and discounters is price. The level of service is the same. Two discount companies you might consider are Help-U-Sell and Assist-2-Sell.
B) Experience: A key second point you might want to mull over is experience. Factors like the number of properties the agent currently has, whether they are full or half time, how long they’ve been selling real estate, or their knowledge of a specific local neighborhoods can impact their ability to sell your property at the best price.
C) Likability: I was considering working with an agent a couple of years ago, but the guy had super bad breath. He could have corroded steel with is breath, it was just that bad. Not only that, he seemed a bit overly-slick, that is, he was just too smooth and too polished, like a used car salesman. The main point here is that you should choose an agent that you feel comfortable working with, but also someone that others will like as well.
Hope this helps!
Best,
James
A good friend of the DINKS is sadly leaving DC. She has decided to put her place on the market!
We were discussing who might be interested in her place and confirmed that we thought it was most suitable for DINKs. Though many of our readers are not from the DC area, we thought it might be helpful to some to check out this great find. If you are interested just leave a comment or sent us an email and we’ll get you in touch for a showing. Enjoy!
Newly constructed building in desirable Logan/Dupont Circle offers luxurious living in an upscale condominium building completed in 2004. Spacious and sun drenched Unit 806 has all the features urbanites are looking for!
Apartment Features
Building Amenities
Logan Neighborhood
Whole Foods is around the corner, Studio Theatre one block, and Caribou Coffee steps down the street. Dupont Circle, 17th Street, Adams Morgan and U Street Corridor are all within 15 minutes walk, as are your choice of all metro lines!
$429,000*
*private sale asking price, agents welcome, however, price will be adjusted accordingly
All information is reliable but not guaranteed
So, we don’t normally borrow stories from the mainstream media, but this one was just too juicy to pass up. Apparently the mexican police raided a mansion in Mexico city and found $206 million in drug money in the house. It was all in CASH. Who says crime doesn’t pay.
Last night before leaving the university, I swung by the library and got some books on personal finance. While I was perusing through them on the subway ride home, I was struck by Adriane G. Berg’s Your Wealth Building Years. The author, Berg, is originally an attorney from New York, who it appears had a knack for writing and public speaking. So, she’s currently making a living as an consultant and speaker, her webpage is here.
Your Wealth Building Years is mostly for those who are 21 to 35, so its perfect for many new couples or people who are beginning to think about investing. While much of the content can be found elsewhere, Berg’s writing style gives the reader the feeling of being advised by a knowledgeable advocate who has your best interest in mind. In addition, Berg provides a expanded discussion of estate planning and ways to manage the psychology of building wealth. Both of these topics are typically lacking in most introductory books.
A major drawback of the book is that its old. The book was published in 1986 and hasn’t keep up with legal and accounting changes since the mid 1980s. For example, the book lacks a discussion of Roth IRA’s, and the tax rates she discusses have changed a great deal.
All in all, I’m giving the book two thumbs up. Its two decades old, but its a joy to read and is useful, so its probably worth some time tracking down a copy. You can pick one up for dirt cheap on amazon.com.
Best,
James
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