Three Reasons To Read Your Money Or Your Life

Updated version

Who doesn’t like a blast from their past? Recently, Vicki Robin, co-author of Your Money or Life has been in the press discussing the updated version of the 1992 classic Your Money Or Your Life.

For me, this book sparked my imagination and inspired me after reading just a few pages when I came across it in the library in 1997.  Retrospectively, I realized how I missed this book when it first came out because we were pretty busy raising very young children while keeping a job that required overnight travel.

Bottom Line #1. I’ll cut right to the chase. Read the recent article on what all of this FIRE hubbub is all about.

http://time.com/money/5241566/vicki-robin-financial-independence-retire-early/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

Continue reading “Three Reasons To Read Your Money Or Your Life”

Why You Should Share Your Financial Information

Going paperless offers convenience and flexibility when it comes to managing bills and financial statements.  I remember the days of getting my monthly 10+ page bank statement in the mail and using it to balance my checkbook. At one time, before computers and scanners, the bank would actually send your canceled checks back to you to where you stored them and referenced them for your income tax preparation. I had a file cabinet for managing all of these paper statements that came through “snail mail” which used to include credit card bills, utility, mortgage, property tax etc.  There used to be quite the paper trail. Today, going online eliminates the paper and more importantly allows one the option to monitor things in real-time.  Here’s the downside: Continue reading “Why You Should Share Your Financial Information”

The Best Advice Ever Given In a 5 minute YouTube: Wear Sunscreen

In a previous post, I touched on the topic of going back in time and giving advice to my 16-year-old self right after the 1977 lifeguard crew photo was taken. That message would be simple.  “If I could offer you only one tip for your future, sunscreen would be it. Wear sunscreen.”  Today, my future-self of that 16-year-old lifeguard, is wearing the skin of many years of “burning to get tan”.  It’s a casual regret that requires semi-annual monitoring and with increasing frequency for removal of suspect patches. 
If the genie fantasy of the magic lamp ever fell into my possession, my only selfish wish would be to go back in time to redirect my youthful self to put a shirt on or wear sunscreen during my time in the sun. Yes, ok, I’d also slip in some additional selfish advice:  buy Microsoft, Apple and Amazon stocks and don’t sell until we recover from a global pandemic. 

Baz Luhrmann popularized a rap-like song in 1999 with words credited to an essay written as a hypothetical commencement speech by columnist Mary Schmich.  The five-minute message, for me, became the best advice that spans an entire lifetime.  I can only imagine how my response to life’s responsibilities would have been more enjoyable if I would have heard and headed this advice at a much younger age.   Spend 5 minutes watching the video.  You may have to play it back a few times because your mind will drift on a personal reflection and may miss the next nugget that comes pretty fast.   The line of “Get to know your parents….” echoes and rings true. If you can, do something about that today.  If not, find a photo and keep it out.

Without further commentary, please take the time now to click the link.  I can assure you that your thoughts and focus will be much different if you just catch one phrase and hold on to it for a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

For added convenience, I found the lyrics online and are posted below.

Continue reading “The Best Advice Ever Given In a 5 minute YouTube: Wear Sunscreen”

Why Would You Pay More?

Every six months or so I prepare to negotiate what I am paying for my satellite TV and internet/phone service. When the previous “promotion” ends, the monthly rate will change, usually after 6 months.  When that happens I would call up and politely complain that my price increased and ask, politely, to return me to the promotional rate. The professional agents would ask a few questions and reply that the specific promotion has ended and I am now going back to the regular rate schedule which is about 22% more. I would thank them for their time and asked to be transferred to the customer loyalty department which they will do, sometimes reluctantly. Continue reading “Why Would You Pay More?”

This Calculator Will Tell When You Can Quit Your Job

If you’ve been surfing around my blog, you’ve come across the expense tracking sheet and the FIRE Calculator.  (Financial Independence Retire Early).   I’ve recently come across another fabulous calculator that will run models to provide you a line of sight to when you are going to hit a financial goal.    Here’s how easy and painless it is.  All you have to do is enter the following inputs:  (You’ll need a Google Account, to access the workbook).  Continue reading “This Calculator Will Tell When You Can Quit Your Job”

How Your Shoe Selection Can Change Your Career

Mrs. fromthebachrow.com encourages me to tell stories in my blog to plug my message in a more entertaining way. She’s also a good editor for me.
I came across the FB page of the person that I worked with at one time. She was one of my peers when I was carrying the sales bag. Laure was a West Coast sales rep and by far the most colorful, expressive and flamboyant person I ever had to sit through within training and meetings. She also dressed professionally and to the nines, so to say, and had some wild designer eyeglasses as well.  She was fun and entertaining to be around especially when we had some product issues that affected “Her Customers”. The way she would carry on sometimes with her thick French accent would bring a smile to anyone.  Continue reading “How Your Shoe Selection Can Change Your Career”

The Leadership Roster

Unveiling Leadership Wisdom: 40 Years, 20 Mentors, Countless Lessons

Over the years, I made notes on what I learned from people I reported to or provided some much-needed guidance. There were plenty of leaders, managers, and “supervisors” over the forty years some worth remembering, some not, but they all had made some contributions, good, bad, or indifferent. I came up with a summary list of people who had left enough of an impact which helped create an ever-evolving leadership style and capacity for growth. In chronological order, is a brief description of what I learned from fifteen highly effective leaders, three nice yet, ineffective supervisors, and two truly horrible, douchebag bosses. I no longer wonder how a couple of dimwit nincompoops got their jobs, but I keep them on the list for amusement purposes only.

A big heartfelt thank you to all of the highly effective leaders that I worked with. You all made a tremendous difference that has lasted a career cycle and a lifetime. Even more,  as I passed some of your leadership practices and lessons to my direct reports over the years.

There’s a story behind each that might someday make it in a possible book in the future. Some readers might recognize the distinct names and unique and endearing characters and I request for the sake of discretion please consider that your comments are in the public domain.

It’s been an interesting exercise and highly recommend that you give it a try to discover a few of the origins of your your habits and patterns. Visit your list on occasion or when someone triggers a forgotten memory and write it down.

Lessons From the Masters In My Working Career

Continue reading “The Leadership Roster”

What I Retired From

I have been purposefully planning for “retirement” for twenty years after I read the book ” Your Money Or Your Life”, which I have referenced many times throughout this two-year-old blog. That book started me down the road of understanding personal finance as it pertains to my little world of managing my spending and savings rates. For me, it was all about squirreling away financial resources to have enough FU Money and eventually being able to walk away from horrible bosses at will.

There are many definitions of Retirement, and for me, it has changed several times throughout my career. To this day, I still don’t have a simple definition of what my “traditional” retirement will look like.
I do know the difference between the choices of retiring at a certain age and retiring when savings and investments can stand on their own to cover a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.
Continue reading “What I Retired From”

Here’s Why I Don’t Need a Financial Advisor

I had a couple of millennials on my team during my Manager/Leader years, and they are a completely different than my generation in the best possible way. The speed and efficiency with which the millennials can process complex technical information that boggles my mind. They are blank slates and their brains are like sponges that absorb all kinds of information and stimuli. We all have to be conscious to filter a few things that we say and do just a little bit, as most of us have twenty-plus years of experience and these folks have just three. They do take things at face value and yet don’t have the experience to read between the lines or learn how to filter some of the chatter that goes on. I’m happy to report, that this has not changed from the time some of us were twenty-somethings ourselves. I’ll leave working and training millennials alone for the moment as I’m still trying to develop best practices without sounding like a parent. There are exceptions though, and one of those topics that are covered in the theme of this blog. Continue reading “Here’s Why I Don’t Need a Financial Advisor”

Don’t Quit

Goal setting is a continuous process and now that you have some goals or dusted off some forgotten ones, it’s time to start creating enough runway to get these goals off the ground.  I’m talking about execution by taking the small steps and a few easy wins to get the momentum up.   Come around the end of February, goals start to lose their shine because we get busy doing other things.  As John Lennon once said:

“Life is What Happens To You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans.”  

The Poem below is something I found in a Dominick’s Food Store Newsletter where I was working during my freshman year in college.   As you can see, it’s the original and getting tattered, and torn and has a nice 40+ year patina.  At one time it had the author’s name on the lower right-hand corner, Ziegler.  I’ve kept this with me over the years and now and then, when I get stuck, I pull it out and to read it.   When the internet became popular, I found a few different versions of it.  I like this one the best.

What does this have to do with goals, planning, and execution?  It’s a piece of “history” that will help you get back on track when you come across some bumps in the road or lose your focus.  It has a great line about giving you permission to take a rest and then get back to it.   Print it out or take a photo of it and keep it handy.  It can help provide a different perspective without losing sight of the runway.

Bottom Line: It’s the last two lines of this poem.

What Is Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs: Social Media?

Here’s a new twist on a familiar theory from B-school that is still valid today as it is applied to Social Media.  The social media hierarchy mirrors the original theory beautifully.  In 1943 Abraham Maslow published a paper describing the human theory of motivation.  It describes basic interdependent stages of human growth through the achievement of psychological needs. Continue reading “What Is Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs: Social Media?”

21 Kinds of People I See At The Gym

Hey fitness fans, it’s coming up to the holiday season when New Year’s Resolutions will be cast in hummus dip served at holiday parties. Around this particular time of year, my gym has new people taking tours and signing up as they prep for the New Year and their own “new you”.  January 1st marks the time when people make yet another valiant attempt to turn over a new leaf toward losing some weight and getting some exercise. Continue reading “21 Kinds of People I See At The Gym”

Where Were You on December 8, 1980?

Imagine if he survived

Decades have passed since the violent death of John Lennon.
Many baby boomers remember where they were when they heard about the JFK assassination. For my generation, we have a few traumatic events as well. Elvis, 9/11 John Lennon and perhaps the passing of George Harrison (November 29, 2001).

Just like when I heard about Elvis’ disappearance and 9/11,  my mind took a snapshot of exactly where I was, who I was with, and where I was standing. For me, these were life-changing traumatic events that stuck with me.

For the George Harrison news, the radio alarm just went off on November 30th.  The DJ said: “And then there were two”, that was all that needed to be said for me to know that George had died. Continue reading “Where Were You on December 8, 1980?”

Act Now. Experience Is Standing By

Leo Buscaglia was an author and motivational speaker, who at the time. focused on personal relationships. He was often referred to as Dr. Love. His work and message still endure today. He authored fourteen books and coined a valuable question that his father asked him every day when he was a child: “What have you learned today?”.  It’s an interesting question to ask yourself at the end of each day.
Our Memorial Day Holiday is nearly upon us and I would like to share this very fitting poem. It begins with a brief introduction of how Leo obtained it and the life lesson it provides. The poem is written out below along with a YouTube clip of Leo reading it.  (Which method of delivery did you prefer?)

Like many things that are within our reach, we sometimes wait just too long to decide, to act, or to appreciate the opportunity at hand.   It’s an important National holiday weekend that you probably will spend with family & friends, so practice recognizing the moments and appreciate them.

Carry On.

Continue reading “Act Now. Experience Is Standing By”

This Will Help You Be Prepared For Change Before It Happens

Who doesn’t like a good book that you’ve enjoyed reading and learned a few nuggets of knowledge from the author? Case in point, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard. It’s an easy reading parable about a couple of mice in a maze looking for, what else, Cheese. Being a parable, it is generously peppered with metaphors related to the pursuit of goals. Continue reading “This Will Help You Be Prepared For Change Before It Happens”