I’ve been working on a real estate investing book called “The Windmill Method” and it’s now been released. It’s an approach for finding a good deal in most markets by putting in aggressively low offers on multiple properties. I’ve written previous posts that discussed ideas that this book expands on. The biggest issue with this […]
Business
The Importance Of “Slack Time” In A Job
There’s a “polite fiction” with employment that every employee is working as hard as they’re capable of. Perhaps the other side of this is that employers are paying employees as much as possible. A steady stream of Quora questions ask some variation of an employer considering firing their most productive employee who gets work done […]
Make ‘No’ Your Magic Word
When two-year-olds first learn to say no, it’s a trying time for their parents. The epiphany that these all-powerful gods, known as mom and dad, who have controlled every aspect of their existence up to that point can be refused is intoxicating. Some studies have measured that toddlers argue with their parents 20-25 times an […]
Negotiating After Getting A Job Offer
I’ve published my second non-fiction book. It’s about making the most of a job offer from a company, increasing the compensation as much as possible. It’s currently available for pre-order and will be released on Friday, September 9th. I decided to write this book after continually seeing posts on /r/negotiation from people who had interviewed […]
How to Pay International Contractors
Introduction Hiring offshore workers has been a prominent feature of globalization for years. An ever-increasing number of companies have decided to tap into the vast pool of talent available beyond the U.S. borders. Hiring this way is different, and it’s natural to feel nervous about it the first time. “How do I find workers?”, “how […]
A Practical View on the 4% Rule
In the February 1998 issue of the Journal of the American Association of Individual Investors an article called “Retirement Spending: Choosing a Sustainable Withdrawal Rate,” by Philip L. Cooley, Carl M. Hubbard, and Daniel T. Walz (all professors at Trinity University in Texas), appeared. It has been nicknamed, the Trinity Study, and the central finding was using an annual 4% withdrawal rate, […]
Qualities of a Good Job & Life
I tend to like “life advice”. Whether it’s an article describing someone’s insight, a good graduation address or a book with general strategies for common issues I’m usually intrigued. At the same time, I have contempt for quite a bit of “self help” and have written damning reviews of books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. A few books […]
Whom to Trust?
SINCE THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED, MONEYSENSE HAS DISCONTINUED THE PROGRAM DISCUSSED HERE. When I used to blog on Money Smarts as Mr. Cheap, I wrote some posts dealing with the topic of trust. It’s an area I remain interested in. As the world gets bigger and we’re more often doing business with people we don’t know, it becomes […]
My Experiences with Republic Wireless
This review of a cell provider is non-affiliate and unsolicited, I receive no compensation of any kind (including samples or discounted service) for this post. THIS IS A REPOST OF A 7 YEAR OLD REVIEW FROM ME. IT’S PRESENTED FOR HISTORICAL INTEREST AND A VERY GENERAL VIEW OF THE COMPANY. NONE OF THE INFORMATION ABOUT […]
HYIP – Avoid at All Cost!
Years ago I came across High Yield Investment Programs and was shocked at their existence. They somehow continue to exist and after I had a twitter account promoting them start to follow me the other day, I thought they would make an excellent scam warning post. There are certain things people who have been investing for a while will […]