The Online Investing AI Blog

Greece implodes!

California teeters!

States withhold tax refunds!

I’m not sure about you, but I’m starting to call the second decade of the 21st century, the “Exclamation Point Decade.” Bad, scary news is reported 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The breathless fear seems to increase with every headline and news segment.

Why should I be any different. I recently read some statistics at CNN Money that are pretty fear-inspiring. (As always, I have a sunny spin on it…)

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Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, US Economy CNN Money, personal finance, savings, spending, spending habits, statistics, stats

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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Accelerating Technology, Dreams Come True, Great Books, Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy economy, Investing, jobs, Money, pensions, social security, Success, technology, the wealth singularity, tv

shioshvili @ Flickr

This isn’t New Agey hocus-pocus, necessarily.

This is reality.

The things you think about. The things you believe. The things you read and watch. The things that make you confident and the things that make you fearful are the very foundation of wealth generation–on a lot of levels.

The pricing of stocks and other assets reflect beliefs about their value. These beliefs aren’t just the thoughts and opinions of analysts and big-time market movers, they reflect your ideas, too. Now, your personal belief may just represent a fraction of that price, but when merged with the collective sense, you have mass market psychology.

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Pic by woodleywonderworks @ Flickr

Conventional wisdom is usually not conventional and not really wise. It’s often an agreed-upon lie, at worst, or an excuse to keep trying to do the same things over and over again.

It’s a mass-thinking rut, often.

You can find examples of conventional wisdom everywhere–at work, at schools, and at the town hall. But, if you really want to see conventional wisdom at work, check out the world of investments and personal finance.

How can you tell when conventional wisdom is at work? When you hear the same debate or argument over and over again, chances are you’ve stumbled on a conventional truth.

Conventional wisdom doesn’t have to be a thought that is believed by all of  the population. Different groups have different conventional truths. Ironically, these bits of conventional wisdom can be exactly opposite of someone else’s conventional truth.

And the other problem with conventional wisdom is it leads to fatalism. You believe the conclusion of a certain “truth” is writ in stone, simply because it’s the conventional truth of so many people.

An open mind is the cure for conventional wisdom.

Here’s one way to exercise that open mind and break through the walls of conventional wisdom.

What you do is to define some challenges that are part of conventional thought–things you hear in the mainstream media, or talk about with your friends. Then, write down some options that will contradict their conclusions, or change the game entirely. Try to make them positive. Here are some of mine:

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Business Strategy, Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy conventional wisdom, economy, personal finance, rich, truths, wealth, wisdom

Home of Grace Groner, secret millionaire

It’s hard to be a buy and hold investor in this economic condition. We’ve seen major companies get bailed out, or evaporate like a pool of water on a hot summer day.

But think what it was like to be a buy-and-holder in 1935, the depths of the Great Depression. That’s when Grace Groner spent $180 on three shares of her employer’s stock. Over the next seven decades, those shares in Abbot Laboratories split many times and she reinvested the dividends, too.

And guess how much she ended up with when she passed away in January?

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Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy buy-and-hold, invest, Investing, lessons, millionaire, millionaire next door, rich, Success, wealth

PBA World Championship

Last Christmas, Tom Smallwood found himself in a position that millions of Americans are now facing.

After years of loyalty and hard work, he was laid off from the General Motors plant. That was bad enough, but the layoffs timing–right before Christmas–was just salt in the wound. He quickly applied for conventional jobs, but never heard back from the companies.

Tom, his wife, and his young daughter faced an uncertain future.

But Tom had a  secret weapon: bowling.

Tom believed he was a good bowler; he even won a few local tournaments. With his wife’s blessing, he tried out for the Pro Bowler’s tour. And made it!

Then he won a major tournament. Tom pocketed $50,000 during a championship match–making more in a single event than he ever earned in a year working at a conventional job.

So, if you’re laid-off, or worried that you will be laid-off, just remember: you can always bowl. At least in the allegorical sense. Maybe you can’t bowl, but, like Tom, you have talents and knowledge that can generate new careers and new sources of income.

You can even follow Tom’s method:

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Dreams Come True, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy bowling, dreams, financial freedom, hobbies, job, jobless, part-time, unemployment

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 currency, debt, gold, government, Investing, Money, psychology, rich dad, silver, Success

Picture credit: ellievanhoutte @ Flickr

Depending on which researchers you talk to, about half to two-thirds of all Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement.

There’s a variety of reasons for not saving for retirement. You might think you don’t have the spare money. You might think that saving money for retirement can be started “later.” Or, you’re one of those James-Dean-live-fast-die-young type of people who figure they won’t be around long enough to enjoy the delayed fruits of their labors.

Worse, some people might think they can rely on Social Ponzicurity to take care of them in their golden age.

The truth is, a lot of factors can affect your retirement. So, if you’ve calculated your retirement savings, or you’re going to–you might want to consider the following six factors that can influence your retirement:

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Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, US Economy compound interest, future, Money, retire, retirement, returns, savings, time

Pic by Peter Zoon @ Flickr

Americans know how to market.

From the pet rock to Milli Vanilli, Americans can package and promote the most unlikely products. It’s nothing new. Gone with the Wind made the Civil War sexy. The Wizard of Oz let people look over the rainbow in the depths of the Great Depression.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But, a preoccupation on marketing is weakening product development. Companies, for instance, are spending more time and effort promoting products than conceptualizing and creating them.

It’s become a global obsession.

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Flickr (Creative Commons)

You have to wonder sometimes: do you think the guy who tests rides at Disney World wakes up and says, “Crap… It’s Monday… I have to ride the friggin’ roller coaster.”?

Does the staff photographer at Playboy say, “Stupid 8 a.m. photo shoots,” when his alarm clock rings?

Wonder if the buyer for Macy’s gets up on Monday and thinks to herself, “I can’t believe I have to buy all those purses.”

It wouldn’t surprise me.

The bureaucracy and office politics of the workplace can suck the fun out of the most creative, most meaningful work, turning it into… a job. And jobs are full of micromanagers, non-existent managers, backstabbers, risk averters, and the ilk who seek to commoditize inspiration and who turn the thing you were born to do into the thing you are bored to do.

Fortunately, technology and new business models offer us radical options. The world can be your workplace. You can even keep your current job while you experiment with some of the following options, designed to refresh your inspiration and give you an opportunity to transform your job back into your passion.

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Business Strategy, Dreams Come True, Internet, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy boss, consult, freelance, fun, job, mission, nine to five, occupation, Success, work, writing