Live Real, Now

The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.

Search Results for: subscribe-by-email/5-steps-to-save/travel-expenses-why-i-splurge/ignore-your-budget/budget-lesson-part-5/things-you-should-buy-online-to-save-money/experiences-v-stuff/contact-me

Meditation

Life

Life is crazy.

 “Really, Jason, that’s news?”
I spend so much time going in so many different directions.
Cleaning out our inherited hoarding house, managing the remodel, work, side hustles, kids, friends, family, relationships, maintaining our house, maintaining a relationship with my wife, garage sales, school starting, junior high football season, insurance policies, probate, rush hour, insomnia.
Some days, I feel insanely scattered.  I can’t focus.  I have a hard time making decisions.  I waste time.
Those days, I need to clear my head.
That’s where meditation comes in.
I don’t do the money hum. (Om mone padme, Om)
Instead, I have three activities that demand a total focus.  They drive out any scattered thoughts or unimportant concerns.
They have to because, quite frankly, they can be dangerous if I don’t concentrate.
1. I shave.  I use a double-edged safety razor, so bleeding for the throat is a real concern.   For 10 minutes, nothing else in the world matters.   It has only recently struck me how valuable this is.  That value makes me want to start shaving every day, with a straight razor.  More focus, more often.
2.  I ride.  For the past couple of years, it’s been hard to find time get my motorcycle out.   Small children seem to want attention every day.   It got to the point where I was ready to sell my bike.   This spring, it was seriously misbehaving.  Finally, at the end of the summer, a friend got it running better than it ever has.   I took it out for a couple of hours and came back feeling more clearheaded than I have in a long time.  I won’t be selling my bike until I have its replacement.
3.  I shoot.  Shooting involves a series of simple actions that require concentration to do well. Load the gun, line up the sights, which eye is dominant, breathe, don’t breathe, squeeze the trigger, hole in the paper.   Again, it’s not an activity that’s conducive to worrying about the bills or work.  It’s a way to shut out the world for a few minutes.
For me, a few moments or a few hours of shutting down everything except one thing is the way to stay sane and focused.
How do you deal with it when the world comes crashing in from every direction?
Enhanced by Zemanta

Mortgage Race, Part 2

Finance

As I mentioned last month, Crystal and I are in a race to pay off our mortgages.  The loser(henceforth known as “Crystal”) has to visit the winner.   Now, since–judging by the temperature–Crystal lives in Hell, I think it would be good for her to visit in the winter.  There something about the idea of going ice fishing, staring at a hole in the ice while sitting on a 5 gallon bucket, cursing the day I was born.

Today, she threw down the gauntlet again.   She has apparently decided that, since her prerequisites are met, she’s going to win.  Sure, she’s closed on her house and built her savings back up to $20000, but it doesn’t matter.  I’ve sent a small army of arson-ninjas to keep her from getting ahead.    They are so small, they can only carry tiny matches and single drops of gasoline, so the damage they can do is tiny, but it will add up.   Just a word of advice:  if you hire an army of arson-ninjas, go for the upsell and get ninjas that are at least 2 feet tall.   Anything less is just inefficient.

When I announced the race last month, my mortgage balance was $26,266.40.  Today, it is $25,382.53.   In three days, there will be another $880 applied to the principal.

In February, our renters will move in and we’ll conservatively have another $650 to pay.  When that starts, our balance should be around $23,000.   Adding a portion of the rent payment should mean we pay off the house in May 2014.  However, when I bring in our side hustle money, that will bring us back to September 2013.

Crystal’s projected payoff is July 2013, so I’ll have to hustle.

 

Net Worth Update

Misc

I looked back at the spreadsheet I use to track my net worth, and realized that I have been filling it out quarterly, though I can’t say that has been on purpose.   Apparently, I get an itch to see my score about four times per year.

This quarter is the first time in a long time that my net worth has dropped.  We got our property tax statements last week and found out that our houses have dropped a combined $21,700.  Since we’re not planning to sell, that doesn’t matter much.

What’s interesting to me is that, even though our property values dropped $21,700, our total net worth only fell $10,567.  We’ve been hustling trying to get the Tahoe paid off.  It’s going a little bit slower than I had hoped, but it’s progressing nicely.

I do feel good that, even if I would have been focusing on my mortgage, I still would have lost the mortgage race.  That means my misplaced priorities of acquiring more debt to snatch a fantastic deal didn’t cost me the race.  Now, I’ll be forced to take a vacation in Texas, coincidentally in the same town as my wife’s long lost brother.   I think we can make that work.

I rounded off the credit card and vehicle totals because one is used every day and paid off every month and the other has a steady stream of money getting thrown at it, so the numbers change often.

All in all, I don’t have any room to complain.  I am looking forward to paying off the truck and focusing on the mortgage.  We could swing quadruple payments, which would pay off the house shortly after the new year starts.

Net Worth 4/13

Enhanced by Zemanta

7 Benefits of Investing Internationally

Business

Foreign CurrencyWhen it comes to financial investments, it’s always better to go with an informed decision than one that relies merely on chance – besides, gambling only works when luck’s on your side. Fortunately, international investments are a financially secure and reliable form of investing as long as you know your limitations. So, in keeping with the idea of sound financial decisions, here are seven benefits of investing internationally:

Diversification of Your Funds

A diversified financial portfolio gives investors options in terms of economic fluctuations and, by investing internationally, your finances will have alternative sources of stability. In other words, if your money is spread out among various countries, then an economic crash in one country won’t affect other investments.

It goes without saying that with diversification also comes a learned understanding of various global economies and markets, but with the help of a financial adviser or with a little research, you’ll have the ability to make informed global investments, which is always better than the “eggs in one basket” approach.

Investing Abroad Means More Options

Just like there’s diversification with investing internationally, there are also many options when it comes to the way you want to invest your finances. And, with international investing growing in popularity, the investment options available in today’s market are quickly becoming commonplace.

Three of the most popular forms of international investments are mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and American depository receipts (ADRs). And, although mutual funds are a common form of investment, ETFs and ADRs trade much like stocks and therefore take a little more financial knowledge to navigate.

International Protection and Confidentiality

If you’re the type of investor that’s worried about financial scares associated with foreclosures and lawsuits, investing internationally has an added advantage of asset protection. With investing abroad, many foreign financial institutions are able to protect your investments from seizure and other threats.

Likewise, investing internationally also comes with confidentiality concerning your finances. International financial institutions are not legally required to divulge your monetary details to anyone.  Confidentiality isn’t to say that international investments are exempt from legalities, but they’re entitled to more freedoms.

Investment Growth on an International Level

In terms of household incomes, import/export strengths, younger working populations, and the lean toward free-market economic policies, investing internationally has the potential for more growth than investing in the United States alone, which translates to an increase in return potential in overseas investments.

In fact, according to the International Monetary Fund, the United States is expected to fall below the rest of the world for the next two years when it comes to economic growth. Because of this, companies like Fisher Investments Institutional Group are strategizing toward international investments in strong economic climates across the world.

Currency Diversification Strengthens Portfolios

Much like international investing gives your portfolio safety in numbers as opposed to having all assets invested in one country’s economy, so do currency differences from country to country. In relation to the US dollar, many countries across the world have stronger currencies, which helps boost returns over time.

The flip side of this coin is the idea that fluctuations in currency strengths can just as easily work against your portfolio as they can strengthen it. It’s wise to keep an eye on international currency rates and how they compare to the US dollar, but never invest solely based on rates as a country’s currency can drop in strength overnight.

A Reduction in Taxes

Otherwise known as tax havens, many countries across the world offer attractive tax incentives to foreign investors. These incentives are meant to strengthen other country’s investing environments as well as attract outside wealth.

These tax incentives are particularly attractive to US investors due to the increasingly high taxes in the country. As a result, the United States government is creating more defined restrictions and laws when it comes to international investment tax incentive regulations.

Investment Potential in the United States is Dwindling

Because the United States has both the world’s largest economy and stock market, financial opportunities are almost maxed out due to over-investing. On the other hand, emerging markets in other countries are growing in size and strength, which is quickly resulting in stronger economies and more investment opportunities.

By ignoring the potential of other world markets, you’re also ignoring global economies and stock markets that offer unforeseen investment potential when compared to the United States, which is something every investor should keep in mind.

So, from portfolio diversification to investment growth, investing internationally is a great way to expand your financial horizons.

This is a guest post.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Net Worth Update – January 2014

Misc

This may be the most boring type of post I write, but it’s important to me to track my net worth so I can see my progress.  We are sliding smoothly from debt payoff mode to wealth building mode.

Our highlights right now are nothing to speak of.  We did let our credit card grow a little bit over the last couple of months, but paid it off completely at the end of December.  It grew mostly as a matter of not paying attention while we were doing our holiday shopping and dealing with some car repairs.

That’s it.  We haven’t remodeled our bathrooms yet, but we have the money sitting in a savings account, waiting for the contractor.  We haven’t bought a pony yet, but we did decide that a hobby farm wouldn’t be the right move for us.  We’ll be boarding the pony instead of moving, at least for the foreseeable future.

Our net worth is up $13,000 since September.  Our savings are up and our retirement accounts are down because there are two inherited IRAs that we need to slowly cash out and convert to regular IRAs.

Net Worth Jan 2014

Enhanced by Zemanta

Net Worth Update – September 2014

Misc

It’s time for my irregular-but-usually-quarterly net worth update.  It’s boring, but I like to keep track of how we’re doing.  Frankly, I was a bit worried when I started this because we’ve been overspending this summer and Linda was off work for the season.

But, all in all, we didn’t do too bad.

Some highlights:

  • Both of our properties lost around $3000 in value.  I’m not worried, because we are keeping them both for the long haul.  The rental is basically on auto-pilot, so that’s free money every month.
  • We sold a boat that appraised for much less I had estimated in the last few updates.  I had it listed for $5000, but it was worth $2000.
  • I do have a credit card balance at the moment, but that goes away as soon as my expense check clears the bank, which will be in a day or two.
  • We’re in the home stretch with the mortgage.  There is $11,407 left to go, and we’ve paid down $9105 in the last year.  By this time next year, I want that gone, gone, gone.

Net Worth

I can’t say I’m upset with our progress.  We’ve paid down $6000 in debt in 2014, including 3 months with 1 income.  We aren’t maxing our retirement accounts, yet, but I’d like to be completely debt free before I do that.  It’s bad math, but having all of my debt gone will give me such a warm fuzzy feeling, I can’t not do it.

My immediate goal is to hit a $600,000 net worth by my next update in January.  I’m only about $7000 off.

Time to hit the casino.  Err, I mean, time to up my 401k contribution from 5% to 7%.