One Month In The Blogosphere !
February 16, 2011 5 Comments
Maneki Nekos
February 15, 2011 16 Comments
MANEKI NEKO literally means “beckoning cat” in Japanese.It is one of the most common lucky charms in Japan and is believed to attract wealth.
Since they are believed to attract business and promote prosperity,they are frequently found in shop windows beckoning to passersby.
Interestingly,a raised left paw attracts money, while a raised right paw protects it and the higher the paw is raised, the greater the attraction or protection.
Maneki Neko are often depicted holding a coin; usually a gold coin called a koban , used during the Edo period in Japan.The coin obviously ties into the cat’s part in bringing good fortune and wealth.
I think I’ll bring back a Maneki Neko piggy-bank from Japan.After all I love cats and could always use a little extra help making money!
The Would-be Millionaire’s Pledge
February 15, 2011 14 Comments
By starting early, and socking away small sums in conservative investments on a regular basis, a person can get pretty far ahead in life.The important thing is to start as early as possible to give compounding a chance to work it’s magic.(For more on how compound interest works,refer to this post:https://wealthymatters.com/2011/01/24/compound-interest/. And for an estimate of just how small an amount you need to put aside on a regular basis to become a millionaire,check out the calculator here:https://wealthymatters.com/2011/01/26/want-to-be-a-millionaire-calculator/)
So if you’d be a millionaire later in life why not take the following pledge and get started?
- I will pay myself first always.No excuses.
- I will take advantage of all low-cost government,employer,and other private group benefit schemes .
- I will stick to the budget and goals I set for myself.
- I will spend less than I make each year. I will not get into unproductive debt.
- I will make my credit-cards and other sources of free money earn for me.
- I will read more books on personal finance and implement the wealth-building strategies I learn.
- I will shop around , consider alternatives and negotiate before making purchases.Iwill time purchases to get more for my money.I will not saddle myself with unnecessary crap even if it’s dirt cheap.
The above pledge is modelled on the basis of the original here : http://postgradagenda.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/how-to-become-a-millionaire-sort-of/ .I really wish I had this level of awareness so early in my life.It would have brought more focus to my earlier efforts.
Learn Wealth Building From The Millionaire Next Door
February 14, 2011 35 Comments
Do you want to be a millionaire? Then perhaps you should start by studying the habits of millionaires….. And this book is just the right place to start.
If you check lists of the best financial books of all time, you’re bound to find several that include The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy. Written in 1996 by professors William Danko and Thomas Stanley, its main premise is that people who look rich may not be wealthy; they overspend — often on symbols of wealth — but actually have modest portfolios and, sometimes, big debts. On the other hand, many actual millionaires tend to live in middle-income neighbourhoods, drive economical cars, wear inexpensive watches, and buy suits off the rack.
Following are some of the gems of wisdom found in the book that the authors Danko and Stanley have gleaned from their thousands of surveys of millionaires.
#1: Income Does Not Equal Wealth
Yes, higher-income households tend to have more wealth than lower- and middle-income households. But the size of a paycheck explains only approximately 30% of the variation of wealth among households. What really matters is how much of the income is invested. On average, millionaires invest nearly 20% of their income.
Danko and Stanley even offer a “simple rule of thumb” formula for determining whether you have a net worth that is commensurate with your income:
Multiply your age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by 10. This, less any inherited wealth, is what your net worth should be.
Those in the top quartile of wealth accumulation are prodigious accumulators of wealth (PAWs), according to Danko and Stanley. Those in the bottom quartile are under accumulators of wealth (UAWs).This formula also helps in sorting out the millionaires/millionaires-to-be(PAWs) and the millionaire-lookalikes(UAWs).Here is a calculator to do this calculation easily:https://wealthymatters.com/2011/01/17/am-i-wealthy-calculator/
#2: Work That Budget Read more of this post
Testing Gold the Archimedes Way
February 13, 2011 18 Comments
I’m sure most people have heard the Archimedes story.He was the Greek guy who got out of his bath tub and ran,naked, down the street,shouting Eureka!Eureka ! I’ve Found It !
Just to refresh memories,here is the story:
Archimedes was a Greek scientist who lived in ancient Syracuse . The King of Syracuse wanted a gold crown made. So he gave some gold to a goldsmith to have one made. After few days, the goldsmith brought the finished crown to the King. The King had the crown weighed. He found weight of the crown to be equal to the weight of the gold he had given the goldsmith . However the color of the crown made the King suspicious. He believed that the goldsmith had pocketed some of the gold he had been given for his own personal use. The King wanted to find out the truth. So he asked his court scientist Archimedes to find out how pure the gold in the crown was.Obviously Archimedes could not melt down the new crown to determine its purity.So to find a solution Archimedes thought about the problem day and night. One day,while he was preoccupied thinking about this problem, he proceeded to take a bath. He was so preoccupied that he failed to notice that the water in his bathtub was already full to the brim.So as he got into into the bathtub ,a large quantity of water flowed over the rim . Archimedes noticed this and had a brainwave . He was so excited to have at last found the solution to the King’s problem that he jumped out of the bathtub,and ran naked down the street, shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” Eureka in Greek means ‘I have found it.’ Read more of this post
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