Archive

Archive for the ‘Great Books’ Category

Is your Financial Situation Controlled by the Economy?

March 13th, 2010

Last night I was watching the news (a terrible habit I need to get rid of!) and there was another story about how bad the economy is and how hard it is to find a job. I always have the same reaction when people say they are looking for a job. It makes me wonder, “Who wants a job?”

Having a job for decades and retiring on a pension was a system that ended in the 1980’s. Since then, the economy has changed so rapidly that working in the same job for 20 years is nearly impossible. Besides that, the financial mismanagement of companies and the government has made pensions and social security unreliable.

So what’s the solution?

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Read the First Two Chapters of The Wealth Singularity for Free

February 26th, 2010

As a limited time promotion, we are giving away the first two chapters of The Wealth Singularity for free. What is the Wealth Singularity?

We believe that technology accelerating at an ever increasing pace. But that is not all that is changing. New technology is used throughout the world to make money, for both individuals and corporations.

How will Artificial Intelligence revolutionize the investing game? How are blogs, Twitter and Facebook revolutionizing the Internet? How can you achieve financial freedom without wasting a lifetime in a cubicle?

These are important questions that are answered in this eBook.

Why get left behind as other people and businesses are using new technology to cash in?

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Accelerating Technology, Automated Trading, Business Strategy, Dreams Come True, Great Books, Internet, Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, Success , , , , , , ,

Wealth Hackers: How Flow and Info Master Money

February 25th, 2010

pic from frumbert @ Flickr Creative Commons

Just remember, when you control the mail, you control… information.
–Newman

And, dear Newman, when you control information, you control money.

Money used to be hard, solid objects. Arrowheads. Tools. Gold. Coins. They were all used at one time as money.

But these objects still represented an idea. That idea could be protection. It could be progress and ease. It could represent power and the ability to control scarce resources.

Eventually, though, money and wealth became more conceptualized. Look at where we’re at now. For good–and some would argue for ill–money is now just information.

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Investing in Gold and Silver

February 20th, 2010

Today I finished Rich Dad’s Advisors’ Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver, witten by Michael Maloney. I think it is a really great book. It’s not one of those crackpot hype books like so many others on the subject. It is a very interesting and thoughtful historical analysis of why the price of gold and silver could explode. In fact, it explains why gold could reach $100,000 per ounce and silver could exceed $1,000 per ounce.

It sounds crazy, but the author’s argument is very simple and backed up by historical example. He says that every time a government creates its own currency, the currency eventually collapses. And, often times it leads to the end of the government.

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Great Books, Investing, Money, US Economy , , , , , , , , ,

Finding Your Personal Financial Bright Spot

February 11th, 2010

switchheathDo you have a problem with your personal financial picture?

Most people engage in problem-solving in a series of steps. They isolate the problem. Brainstorm several solutions. And then they try each solution until they arrive at one that seems to work.

But, often, the problems are so big and the solutions so varies, that they quit and go back to the status quo.

Chip and Dan Heath, authors of “Made to Stick,” say there’s a better way in their new book, “Switch” According to the authors, who talk about the process in Fast Company, it’s a matter of finding a bright spot.

Bright spots are areas of success.  You want to copy success, not solve problems, they say.

“A problem may look hopelessly complex. But there’s a game plan that can yield movement on even the toughest issues. And it starts with locating a bright spot — a ray of hope.”

Here’s how you can apply it to your finances.

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Is the Dollar Toast?

February 5th, 2010

The new record breaking budget deficit of $1.8 trillion could have massive repercussions for the economies of this country and for the entire world. The future deficits are expected to rise. This deficit might be the straw that breaks the dollar’s back.

Image courtesy of The Heritage Foundation

Image courtesy of The Heritage Foundation

There have been many factors that have been putting pressure on the dollar, going back nearly 100 years when the government started running a deficit. It’s been a free ride for the last century because the dollar was the default currency for the world. America was the most powerful economic superpower, and the only country that was a military threat was the USSR. It was like having an infinite line of credit; we could print as much money as we wanted.

What has changed?

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Great Books, Money, US Economy , , , , , , ,

Does Your Lizard Brain Control Your Money

February 2nd, 2010
iPic courtesy DavidDennis @ Flickr

Pic courtesy DavidDennis @ Flickr

There’s a killer on the road. His brain is squirming like a toad.
–Jim Morrison

Remember Jim Morrison? He was the Lizard King.

Seth Godin says that being king of your lizard brain is a good thing. For Seth, the lizard brain is that deep, dark shadow of the evolutionary past. It’s the part of the brain that squirms with the fear, fight,  flight, and fornicate responses.

Even though the lizard brain hasn’t been called on to lead us out of sticky situations involving bears and mastodons in thousands of years, our lizard brain still pumps out signals of imminent doom and demise in the form of resistance.

Resistance, according to Godin, leads to compromise and failure. (Steven Pressfield talks about it here, too.) Resistance and compromise have implications in personal finance.

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Conspiracy of the Rich

January 30th, 2010

I recently read Robert Kiyosaki’s latest book, Conspiracy of the Rich. I highly recommend it to everyone because it explains so much of what is happening around us. It also helps us question so many of the things that we tended to  just accept.

conspiracy-of-the-rich

One of the things he points out is that the government is diluting our money through inflation. And I think it’s true. After doing some research, I discovered that the CPI is not only inaccurate, but is designed to understate inflation. The government pays money to people and other governments based on the CPI. It pays money to people through programs such as social security. It pays other governments to repay the money that it has borrowed.

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Great Books, Investing, Money, US Economy , , , , , , , ,

Dan Pink’s Motivation and DRiVE

January 16th, 2010

This week I went to hear Dan Pink (of Johnny Bunko fame) share his ideas about motivation. It was actually the first time I ever heard a writer give a talk. It was pretty interesting. I guess Dan enjoys it because loves connecting with his readers. He even answers my emails!

Dan at TED

Dan Pink at TED

In his talk, he shared with us his big idea about motivation, the subject of his new book Drive. He says that motivation can be broken down into 3 levels:

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Business Strategy, Great Books, Success , , , , , , , ,

The Most Important Money Move You Can Make

January 14th, 2010
Ray_from_LA @ Flickr

Ray_from_LA @ Flickr

If you study the lives of successful people, there’s one money move that can make and break fortunes.

When it’s done effectively, it’s the greatest source of wealth and true success.

When it’s not done correctly, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll never experience wealth. But it won’t last long.

So, what is the single greatest money move you can make? Many personal financial experts agree,the most important money move you can make is finding the right spouse.
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