Jeff Nabers’ Self Directed IRA & Solo 401(k) Blog

I do a lot of things differently in an effort to enjoy my life. Sometimes I forget just how abnormal some of them are. This past week I co-instructed the IRA Association of America professional member enrollment course in Denver, CO. During a lunch conversation, one of our new members asked me what my secret is to accomplishing so much so rapidly. I half jokingly explained that I don’t watch TV. I guess this type of statement is more unbelievable than I had thought because a couple of hours later he still couldn’t believe it: “You really don’t watch any TV at all?”

“I don’t own a TV,” I explained. “I occasionally watch DVDs on my projector.”

I don’t watch TV for two reasons:

Mental & Physical Health - I believe that everything that goes into my body or mind becomes part of me. Turning on the TV means that I can choose to watch what’s available from a menu, but only if I also watch other things which I have no control over - commercials. Our thoughts create our reality. Having others’ thoughts shoved into my brain means letting other people create my reality.

Time - I want to enjoy my life. Every second is a decision. When I pit TV against snowboarding, snow skiing, wakeboarding, water skiing, bicycling, car racing, motorcycling, playing musical instruments, and traveling to new places… TV always loses. To afford some of these activities (more…)

In case you haven’t heard about the latest buzzword, it’s “green”. Green living, green cars, green houses, green lifestyle, and now - green investing. The mutual fund market has been quick to provide a push button conscience cleaner - SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) index funds.

Let’s take a step back and look at the situation for a moment. We are running out of the resources that make our life possible on this earth. We’ve put poison into our air, our waters, and our bodies. Why? Convenience.

Convenience got us into this mess, and I have a hunch that convenience isn’t going to get us out. Green investing can be VERY profitable. This is because better technology yields better results, and better results means savings. Savings means profit.

2 reasons why the real profits aren’t in a green mutual fund or stock

1. Large companies might not want to make progress. If you have a monopoly on an inefficient product, it’s sometimes more profitable to fail at progress. Don’t believe me? Watch the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? and decide for yourself.
2. Small companies have to be innovative to grow and profit. A startup company who has to face its VC investors needs to make progress fast. There’s a little more incentive here than there is for an Exxon or most any publicly traded company or fund. Look at some of the most recent incredible successes: Microsoft, Dell, Google, Paypal, Myspace, Ebay, Facebook, etc. With each of these companies, the real innovation came early because it had to, and it’s often followed by stagnation once funded with billions of dollars (where’s Microsoft’s continuing innovation?)

If you are thinking that I recommend you search the garages of America for the next Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Larry Page, or Pierre Omidyar, then think again. Get creative, think outside of the box.

Here’s one I’ll throw at you to get the creative juices flowing (and feel free to play devil’s advocate):

Find a company that (more…)