- Guide to finding cheap airfare: http://su.pr/2pyOIq #
- As part of my effort to improve every part of my life, I have decided to get back in shape. Twelve years ago, I wor… http://su.pr/6HO81g #
- While jogging with my wife a few days ago, we had a conversation that we haven’t had in years. We discussed ou… http://su.pr/2n9hjj #
- In April, my wife and I decided that debt was done. We have hopefully closed that chapter in our lives. I borrowed… http://su.pr/19j98f #
- Arrrgh! Double-posts irritate me. Especially separated by 6 hours. #
- My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income. ~Errol Flynn #
- RT: @ScottATaylor: 11 Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft | Business Pundit http://j.mp/5F7UNq #
- They who are of the opinion that Money will do everything, may very well be suspected to do everything for Money. ~George Savile #
- It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach. ~Franklin Delano Roosevelt #
- The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. ~Author Unknown #
- The only reason [many] American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for [a dollar down]~Mad Mag. #
- I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money. ~Pablo Picasso #
- Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life. ~Michael Leboeuf #
- We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs. ~Gloria Steinem #
- There are people who have money and people who are rich. ~Coco Chanel #
- It's good to have [things that money can buy], but…[make] sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. ~George Lorimer #
- The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. ~Oscar Wilde #
- Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail. ~Henry Wheeler Shaw #
- I wish I'd said it first, and I don't even know who did: The only problems that money can solve are money problems. ~Mignon McLaughlin #
- Mnemonic tricks. #
- The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers http://su.pr/4GAc52 #
- Champagne primer: http://su.pr/1elMS9 #
- Bank of Mom and Dad starts in 15 minutes. The only thing worth watching on SoapNet. http://su.pr/29OX7y #
- @prosperousfool That's normal this time of year, all around the country. Tis the season for violence. Sad. in reply to prosperousfool #
- In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he's a wonder. ~Author Unknown #
- Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. ~Norman Vincent Peale #
- RT @MattJabs: RT @fcn: What do the FTC disclosure rules mean for bloggers? And what constitutes an endorsement? – http://bit.ly/70DLkE #
- Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. ~Oscar Wilde #
- Today's quotes courtesy of the Quote Garden http://su.pr/7LK8aW #
- RT: @ChristianPF: 5 Ways to Show Love to Your Kids Without Spending a Dollar http://bit.ly/6sNaPF #
- FTC tips for buying, giving, and using gift cards. http://su.pr/1Yqu0S #
- .gov insulation primer. Insulation is one of the easiest ways to save money in a house. http://su.pr/9ow4yX #
- @krystalatwork It's primarily just chat and collaborative writing. I'm waiting for someone more innovative than I to make some stellar. in reply to krystalatwork #
- What a worthless tweet that was. How to tie the perfect tie: http://su.pr/1GcTcB #
- @WellHeeledBlog is giving away 5 copies of Get Financially Naked here http://bit.ly/5kRu44 #
- RT: @BSimple: RT @arohan The 3 Most Neglected Aspects of Preparing for Retirement http://su.pr/2qj4dK #
- RT: @bargainr: Unemployment FELL… 10.2% -> 10% http://bit.ly/5iGUdf #
- RT: @moolanomy: How to Break Bad Money Habits http://bit.ly/7sNYvo (via @InvestorGuide) #
- @ChristianPF is giving away a Lifetime Membership to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University! RT to enter to win… http://su.pr/2lEXIT #
- @The_Weakonomist At $1173, it's only lost 2 weeks. I'd call it popped when it drops back under $1k. in reply to The_Weakonomist #
- @mymoneyshrugged It's worse than it looks. Less than 10% of Obama's Cabinet has ever been in the private sector. http://su.pr/93hspJ in reply to mymoneyshrugged #
- RT: @ScottATaylor: 43 Things Actually Said in Job Interviews http://ff.im/-crKxp #
- @ScottATaylor I'm following you and not being followed back. 🙁 in reply to ScottATaylor #
New Debt
For the first time in 2 years(almost to the day), I am acquiring new debt that I can’t afford to pay off immediately. On a credit card.
Last Thursday, my son entered vision therapy. He has what is commonly known as a “lazy eye”, but is more properly called a “wandering eye”. His eyes don’t always lock on to whatever he is looking at. Instead, one of his eyes will (occasionally, but not always) drift to the side and shut off. His brain doesn’t interpret the signals from that eye.
We had two sessions of tests to diagnose the specific problems: $350.
We will have 28 weekly sessions of therapy @ $140 per session: $3920
There is an equipment fee: $85
That’s a total of $4355 over the next 7 months.
Insurance covers some of it, but the therapist is out-of-network, so it’s “pay first, get reimbursed later from the insurance company”. If we pay up front, we get 1 session free, bringing the price to $4215, minus insurance.
I have a health savings account that I have been trying to max out to cover this, to make my payments all pre-tax. I haven’t been able to get enough in there, yet. In fact, since I don’t have my kids on my insurance, my maximum HSA contribution is $3050.
Since finding out that vision therapy was going to be necessary, I have managed to save $1000 in cash, and about $1500 in my HSA. That’s $2500 of a $4215 bill, leaving $1715 that I still need to be able to cover.
Here is my plan:
We’re charging the entire $4215 at 11.9% interest on a card with a 2% travel rewards program. This will give me $84.30 worth of travel rewards good for reimbursing any travel expenses.
I will immediately pay off $1000 from cash savings.
I will also immediately file for an insurance reimbursement, which will cover 80% – $500, or $2972 minus a bit. Our insurance got a waiver on the pseudo-wonderful healthcare fraud act on the grounds that the plan sucks so bad that it would cost too much to comply with the law. No joke. I’m expecting about a $2500 reimbursement, and I have no idea how long that takes.
In 6 weeks, when I have maxed out my HSA contributions for the year, I will file for an HSA reimbursement for about $2500, leaving about $500 to cover some medical costs for the rest of the year. Vision therapy doesn’t count against my deductible, since my kids are on my wife’s insurance plan.
Starting in June, my debt snowball will no longer be going to max out my HSA and will instead go straight to this card, to finish paying it off as quickly as possible. That’s $750 per month.
Any money from any side work will also go towards this bill, but I don’t budget for that, because it isn’t reliable money.
The projected results:
$3215 on the credit card for 6 weeks @ 11.9% = $50 in interest payments.
After the HSA reimbursement, there will be $715 left to pay, which will be paid off in June for another $10 in interest.
When we get the insurance reimbursement, we’ll replenish the medical bill account, to start getting ready for the kid’s braces next year. We’ll drop $1500 into that account and use the remaining $1000 as a debt snowball payment.
We’ll end up paying $60 in interest to save $140 in therapy costs, so it’s good math, but I hate the idea of racking up another credit card bill. I could drop the interest costs a bit by raiding my emergency fund, but that still wouldn’t cover it all, and it would leave me with very little left for an actual emergency. I could raid the emergency fund for half of its value($700), and reduce the initial interest paid to $25 and the total interest paid to about $40, then use the $1000 leftover from the insurance reimbursement to replace my emergency fund.
Is Your Budget Doing More Harm Than Good?
Do you stress over your money?
Is your spouse under the impression that you are constantly fighting over money?
Are you constantly fighting over money?
Have you completely eliminated your quality of life?
Do you spend hours each week analyzing where your money has gone?
A total budget can have a negative effect on the other parts of your life. If your spouse isn’t 100% on board, maybe he/she needs some “blow money” that doesn’t need to be tracked. If you aren’t spending enough time with your children because you are tracking expenses and adjusting your budget every day, you need to automate something, or at least loosen your standards. Maybe tracking every penny isn’t the right method of budgeting for you.
Don’t let the perfect budget destroy the rest of your life. If money is still a fight, you’re going to need to compromise on something, now, or you’ll end up compromising with the help of a divorce attorney.
Don’t forget, you are living now, not in the future. Plan for the future, but live in the present. There is a balance there, somewhere. Find it, or you and your loved ones won’t be happy.
Update: This post has been included in the Money Hacks Carnival.
What Is Your Binary Options Strategy?
When you are just entering the world of binary options trading or investing, you may be on the receiving end of a lot of advice. It is not uncommon to hear people tell you to implement different gambling strategies because binary options are based on chance more than anything else. You will also hear a lot of advice from those who say there are many good ways to develop an effective strategy using indicators and market signals. Some will insist that with proper analysis of market data, a solid strategy can be developed too.
Are they all correct? Interestingly enough, the answer is yes. The reason for this is simple, and as one expert writes, “there is no such thing as a perfect strategy for every trader. There is only a best strategy for each individual trader.” Thus, your strategy has to be shaped around a few things:
- Your willingness and ability to follow your chosen strategy.
- Your personality. For instance, are you restless if you are taking the safe route or a higher risk strategy?
- Your budget and goals,
Identifying the answers to these questions is the first step to formulating a strategy. You should also understand that the winning percentage of most strategies will be somewhat constant, but the total number of successful trades varies on an individual basis and is based entirely on the strategies used.
For instance, some investors want a high percentage of winning trades and are more comfortable with risk averse trading. Others are ready to take more risk and are entirely comfortable winning fewer trades if the returns on winning trades are dramatically higher. This enables them to implement higher risk trades. The interesting thing about strategies and the kinds of trades they generate is that they are all built from the same data.
The Data of Strategy
For example, almost all strategies will look at issues like market trends, trading trends, highs and lows, reversals, and various kinds of indicators. The reason that high and low trends pay off in strategy development is simple: binary options trading applies to whether or not an asset rises above a strike price or doesn’t. It is the proverbial “yes or no” part of the proposition and analysis for either outcome pays off.
As an example, a lot of risk-averse investors will look for breakouts. They use these for trend line investing, which can be as brief as sixty seconds to a day, but can be used to coordinate investing in the direction of a short trend. Although this seems complex, it really is not. The key is that analysis cannot be broad and across all available markets. Instead, focused analysis on a specific area will allow even a novice investor to analyze for a breakout and then invest in binary options accordingly.
Just being able to detect a reversal or a downward trend over the course of a day can yield a very rewarding investment. The key is to understand your strategy based on your budget, personality, and your ability to stick with the strategy, even if it does not yield immediate success. When you do this, and use the right tools for analysis, you can create an effective strategy that brings you closer to your goals.
This is a guest post.
Daytrading Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
For the past 6 weeks, I’ve been playing with Bitcoin and Litecoin.
I can hear you from across the internet. You’re asking, “What the hell is Bitcoin?”
I’m glad you asked. It’s a cryptocurrency.
And now you know as much as you did before.
Cryptocurrencies are anonymous internet-based money. You spend it just like money, though granted, there are fewer places that accept cryptocurrency.
The big name in cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. In second place, trying to play silver to Bitcoin’s gold, is Litecoin.
So what do I mean by “playing with” Bitcoin and Litecoin?
I’ve been daytrading, which is generally a horrible idea…when you’re doing it with stocks. Daytrading is gambling. It’s the art of doing short-term flips on a stock. You buy it today to sell tomorrow, hoping it goes up. With stocks, I play a long game. I buy and hold. I buy a stock that I believe has long-term value, and I hold it for months or years.
That’s not the game I play with BTC and LTC. I play a short game, rarely longer than a week. When the coins are at a low price, I buy, then I immediately sell when they price is higher. When it’s high, I short the coin, essentially selling coins I don’t own to trade back when the dollar-price is lower. When I’m paying attention, I make money as the coins go up and I make money when the coins go down.
Why is this a good strategy for cryptocoins?
Because they are extremely volatile. As I’m writing this, Litecoin has had a 10% swing today, from $4.03 at midnight, to a current price of $4.16, with a peak of $4.36. On Thursday, it was floating around $4.60 all day. In the last 30 days, it’s been as high as $8.65 and as low as $3.18. Go back to May and the low is $1.29.
Traditional wisdom says that volatile investments are bad. In traditional investments, that’s true. But when a stock is this volatile, nearly every bet is a good one, as long as you’re patient. If I buy LTC at $4.20 and it drops to $3.90, that’s bad. I lost money. But, if I wait a couple of days, it’s almost definitely going to climb back up. Except for large-scale sell-offs, it’s usually going to bounce 10% in a given day. You can buy in the dips and sell at the peaks all day long, turning 5-10% profits with each time. If you’re brave or stupid, you can short at the peaks and make 5-10% on every downturn, too.
For example, today started at $4.03. Buy. Today’s peak was at 7:15AM at $4.36. When the graphs start swinging down, sell short. Two hours later, it bottomed out at $4.20 for a 4% return. Then, buy while it’s low. Ninety minutes later, it was at $4.31, another 3% return. Short it again, then close the position at 7PM for $4.13.
Let’s walk through this.
Buy $10 worth of Litecoin at midnight, sell at 7:15AM. You have $10.81.
Turn around and short the same amount until 9AM. You have $11.22.
Buy that same amount to sell at 10:30AM. You have $11.51.
Short it again before closing out at 7PM and going to bed. You have 12.01. That’s almost a 12% return in 12 hours, assuming you guessed all of the major swings right. If you guessed some wrong, you’d just have to wait until the next time it swung your way, and it will. Did I do that well? No. I bought in at $4.008 yesterday and sold today-once-for $4.32. I will not complain at an 8% return over 12 hours.
The only exception to that is during major buying and selling streaks. On July 5th, a major buying run started. By July 8th, the price was run up to $8.65. A huge sell-off happened then, dropping the price to $4.36 on July 9th.
If you bought at $8.65 you’d be hosed.
The lesson there is, don’t buy at the peak. I’ve had a number of trades that could have been huge scores if I would have held onto them longer, but I’m a wimp. I sell as soon as I’ve gotten enough money to make me smile, then I refuse to regret the decision. That also prevents me from holding on to my positions too long. I avoid all of the crashes that way. That giant buy-in happened while I was on vacation, so I wasn’t paying attention. When I’m not paying attention, I leave my money in US dollars, so there’s no risk…and also no reward.
Also, an important caveat: while I am learning the cryptocurrency ropes, I’m playing with a non-critical amount of money. I put $75 into the exchange in June. Not enough to cry over losing, but enough I can play with all of the different investment options. As I said, I’m a wimp, although a 30% return in 7 weeks is pretty sweet.
Next up, I’ll show you how to get started investing/gambling with Bitcoin.
Why Companies Need to Acquire MIS Graduates
This is a guest post.
Most companies recognize that technology will play an increasing role in future success. That realization doesn’t necessarily mean that businesses know what type of professionals to hire. These four benefits should convince companies that they need to acquire MIS graduates.
To Reach More Customers
The Internet has radically changed the way that people shop. Consumers spent about $210.6 billion buying products from online retailers. At $4,778.24 billion, the business-to-business e-commerce volume is even greater. The trend is quite clear: businesses that want to increase sales need to offer their clients online options.
Despite its popularity, e-commerce is still an evolving industry that presents several unanswered questions to businesses that want to take advantage of it. Adding an information systems manager to a technology development team makes it easier to find solutions as businesses encounter new problems.
To Protect Customer Information
In January 2014, hackers stole information about 110 million Target customers. In September of the same year, hackers stole information from Kmart. When companies suffer security breaches, media outlets pick up the stories and spread them across the Internet. This creates terrible public relations scenarios that can make consumers cautious of using credit cards when shopping online or at stores.
A strong computer security team is the only way businesses can stop hackers from stealing customer information. That team needs to include several types of professionals who specialize in specific areas of computer technology. Someone with an Information Systems Management degree can bring those professionals together to create a security program that outwits even the best hackers.
To Become More Efficient
Companies need to cut spending and increase profits to remain competitive. Computer technology that focuses on efficiency accomplishes both of those goals. Without someone trained to build and maintain computer systems, businesses can’t keep up with competitors who understand that spending a little more money today on the right team members can lead to long-term benefits.
Businesses that don’t use computer technology to improve efficiency will likely fail to meet the needs of their customers. Either their services will suffer or their prices will go up. Either way, refusing to adopt new technology puts businesses at a significant disadvantage.
To Improve Communications
Communications plays a key role in helping businesses meet their goals. Today’s latest technology helps companies stay in contact with customers, transfer large amounts of information between offices, and develop database systems so employees and managers can access information instantly.
Improved communication technology doesn’t just happen on its own. It takes a commitment to building reliable computer networks that can transmit information securely. MIS graduates who enjoy traveling can use this as an opportunity to help businesses while exploring the world. While small businesses probably don’t need to hire a staff member dedicated to building computer networks, medium and large companies can benefit from hiring their own information technology staff members.
As technology continues to evolve, companies will need to rely on more IT professionals. What advantages do you think an MIS graduate could offer businesses in your community?
