Thank goodness for Kiplinger! This posting is a quick video from Kiplinger’s personal finance on “Pump and Dump” stock schemes. The video is a brief but thorough explanation of how the stock scam works. It also provides a good discussion of the legality of the scam and how the scheme manifests itself today.
If you are into stocks but want to avoid getting ripped off, definitely watch the video.
For tips on avoiding pump and dump scams, surf on over to the SEC’s webpage.
Best,
James
Hi All,
Well, we sat down and did our semi-regular update of our net worth. After we totaled up everything that we have and owe, our current net worth is $393,000, just south of 400k. This is a gain of approximately $30,000 since February or a 5% growth in our wealth overall.
A few comments. First, some of our assets are doing better than others. The overall gain is mostly driven by growth in our self managed stock accounts, by Miel’s contributions to her retirement and by paying off our second mortgage. It was partially offset by our taking out an additional – and hopefully last – student loan of $8,500. Savings bonds and precious metals continue to be our portfolio losers.
Second, 393k is just a stones throw away from 400k. While 400k isn’t as much as some people have, it is higher than the national average of people in our age bracket (299k) and its 10% of the way towards our net worth goal of $4 million. But more importantly it feels like we are nearing an important milestone and helps to affirm that all our planning and saving has been worthwhile.
Best,
James
Hello All,
I was just browsing through a summary of Jerrold Mudis’ How to Get out of Debt and I came across a handy checklist of warning signs telling you when you have a problem. Many of these rung true for me back in 2002 when I racked up $11,000 due on credit cards. If you have a friend who has a debt problem, or maybe you are running into trouble, a ‘yes’ answer on some of these could help clarify things.
So, here is the list:
1) You are constantly juggling payments
2) You miss payment-due demands
3) Mail remains unopened because you don’t don’t want to deal
4) You can’t make more than the minimum payments on your debt
5) When buying things on credit, you choose the longest payback terms possible
6) You’re psyched when the card company increases your limit
7) Budgeting isn’t something you do often
8) You have little or no savings or investments
9) When making payments, you used to use cash, but now use store credit cards.
Back in 02′ when I was racking up my debt, I could have said yes to most of those. So, from my standpoint they are pretty valid problem indicators.
The list is from Tom Butler-Bowdin’s 50 Prosperity Classics, an excellent collection of summaries of influential books on building wealth.
Best,
James
One thing about our long distance marriage is that it has changed both of our lifestyles drastically. My wife Miel now lives in a group house in Afghanistan, and I am leading a student lifestyle in College Park, Maryland.
When we were living together in Washington DC, we bought a one bedroom condo. At the time it was appropriate for us as a married couple, but now just one of us is in Washington. While the apartment is wonderful and is located in an exciting neighborhood, we are spending approximately $1,900 a month to maintain it. The condo fee is $200 and the mortgage is $1,700. Nineteen hundred is a lot to pay to house just one person.
Since $1,900 is a big chunk of our budget, we’ve been considering renting the place out and downsizing my accommodations. The main idea would be to use the rental income to buy modest properties in Oregon and in Maryland that will facilitate our long term goals.
Since our long term goal is to move back to Oregon to start a family, real estate would anchor us to the Pacific northwest. We have been looking at empty lots in good neighborhoods in Portland, OR where we could build a house when its time to go back to Oregon. We are also thinking about getting a 2 bedroom condo around the University of Maryland. Preferably someplace I could share with other students to supplement our income. So far, our back of the envelope calculation is that we could carry mortgages on these two additional properties for what the rental income on our apartment in DC would cover.
The only reservation I have at this point is psychological. Our DC condo has always been “our place”. We saved for it, picked it out and furnished it together. It is symbolic of our relationship together in Washington. Leasing the property would be therefore be symbolically letting go of that aspect of our marriage. Naturally, neither of us want to do that, so we are reluctant to rent the condo without an appropriate symbolic substitute.
Best,
James
Folks, Bloomberg is reporting that Saudi Arabia is a golden era. My wife Miel travels through the gulf all the time and she can attest that things are happening over there. Feel free to surf on over to Bloomberg and check it out.
Best,
James
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