I am thankful for… November 27, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in Health, Money, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity, Self Directed IRA/401k.Tags: american, bailout, clean, consumer, consumerism, corporate, corruption, crisis, economic, economy, energy, entertainment, entrepreneuer, escapism, government, holiday, independence, inflation, materialism, media, phychology, productivity, prosperity, revolution, scandal, self employed, self employment, thanksgiving, thrive, transportation, united states, wealth
add a comment
…our current circumstances. Rather than ignore the current economic problems, I choose to acknowledge this elephant in the living room during our Thanksgiving holiday.
We are bombarded with headlines like “What will fix our economic problems?” It is absolutely silly. The recession is the solution to the problem of the asinine acts of American government, corporations, and consumers. There is no galactic lottery that our country can win. We have to play by the rules of the game that we started. No person or government can perpetually spend more money than they earn. Such behavior can only be temporary and always leads to self inflicted unpleasantness.
I truly am thankful for our recession because it should help cleanse our government and society of self destructive behavior. We are now forced to (more…)
How the little guy can profit from $4 gas June 11, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in Self Directed IRA/401k.Tags: profit, energy, savings, spending, gas, prices, saving, solar, panel, power, gallon, technology, sprawl, suburban sprawl, commute
2 comments
It’s everywhere: GAS PRICES! ENERGY CRISIS!
However, this blog post is different. Turn on the tube to CNN and hear about how “We’re trying very hard to find a viable source of alternative energy to reduce our dependency on oil.” Personally, you can simply buy an electric car (right now). Those savings can be significant, but they can only go so far for your finances. Besides saving money, consider making money off of $4 per gallon gas. Assuming you don’t own Exxon or BP, here are some ideas:
The Contraction of Real Estate Demand - Sprawl Reversal
In this instance I don’t mean “contraction” in terms entire real estate markets losing value, I mean “contraction” in the sense of density. Before recent gas prices started changing the world, suburban sprawl was rampant in the U.S. The easy to obtain mortgage financing provided by the growth of the housing bubble only multiplied sprawl. In cities across America, middle class people found themselves moving to the outer suburban areas where they could have a 4,000 square foot house with a 3 car garage. They were all sipping lemonade on their huge front porches, admiring their white picket fences, and trading stories about flippers and spec homes just before getting sucker punched by gas prices and their rising Adjustable Rate Mortgage payment.
As the “look I’m rich, I swear!” house of cards finally fell, many middle class Americans are finding themselves in one of two categories: (more…)
Green from Green April 6, 2008
Posted by Jeff Nabers in Health, Money, Self Directed IRA/401k.Tags: self directed, ira, 401k, profit, green investing, green mutual fund, green stock, energy, solar panel, investing
4 comments
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
- 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.
- 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…)
Feedburner Subscribe
