Tag Archives: paper

Warren Buffet: How a Sixteen Year Old Turned $5,000 into almost $1B

March 29, 2019business, Uncategorized$5000, America, Billionaire, childhood, Debt, entrepreneurship, Fun, How to win friends and influence people, inspiration, investing, long-term thinking, paper, rich, school, side income, technology, time horizon, Warren Buffet, workInvestmentPathfinder

Almost everyone has at some point heard of the famous figure Warren Buffet. However did you know that Warren’s success didn’t just start as an investor. Mr. Buffet actually began making strides towards his massive fortune in his high school years.

In high school he was making more than a lot of his teachers by running a pinball machine business and delivering papers. At the age of sixteen he had amassed five grand. $5,000 at his age would be the equivalent of around $60,000 today! He was just sixteen.

While most of us can’t redo our high school years, childhood or even college experience, we can chose to adapt many of the principles that Warren did in his younger years and implement them long term.

There are three things that we can use from Warren’s life to make changes today:

Win Friends and Influence People

Warren implemented (not just read) this book. Simply reading it and taking daily action to change behavior and habits can go a long way in making your life a more successful one.

2. Understand the time value of money

Warren, even in his teen years, didn’t squander his cash on toys, games or nice clothes. He understood that a dollar today could be worth $30, $100 or (in his case) $1000 in the future.

3. Be entrepreneurial

This doesn’t mean you need to start a company or quit your day job. Just like Warren, you can figure out creative ways to make side money. If Warren Buffet at the ages of 13, 14 and 15 could figure out how to make side money, then you, as an adult can figure out how to do the same.

Conclusion:

Warren Buffet is extraordinarily rich. I can’t tell you that you’ll be as rich as him. I can’t even guarantee that you’ll have $1M. But I can guarantee that you’ll grow as a person and become richer then you are now if you implement these three steps.

Try them, you may find that they actually work.

Inflation: What it is and How to Use It

October 14, 2018real estate, Uncategorizedbooks, Fun, inspiration, long-term thinking, organized, paper, planning, questions, Real estate ETF, research, Retirement, stocks, technology, workInvestmentPathfinder

Inflation has essentially been around since currency was created. But what is it? The Marriam Webster dictionary defines inflation as:

“a continuing rise in the general price level usually attributed to an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services”. That’s nice to know but how does this effect us in our daily lives?

Well the “rise in the general price level” can mean things like groceries, fast-food, restaurants, as well as other things like insurance, utilities and housing (both for buyers and renters).

With this cost increase usually happening year over year, what are some things we can do to minimize this?

Well the first big thing is planning. If you are considering retirement in a decade, realize that the cost to live then will be higher than the cost to live now. Do a rough calculation on the average rate of inflation (roughly 3.5%). Over ten years the cost of everything will most likely rise 41%!

After understanding the impact of inflation and incorporating it into your estimated retirement costs, it’s time to talk about investing. The best types of investments for inflationary periods are stocks and real estate. The reason for this is because stocks’ value (in the long-term)is based on the earnings of the company and earnings generally go up with inflation. So off the bat you have a built in inflation protector.

The second ideal investment, real estate, is a little more complicated to invest in. A common “investment” people choose to make is in their home. While it is certainly the case that homes usually go up in value, the decision isn’t a clearcut one. (Check out my blog on the rent vs buy debate)

Another way to invest in real estate is to buy rentals. This is more hands on and therefore takes more time and energy. If you are comfortable with this then by all means go forth and invest! However a lot of people find the intensive commitment inherent in this type of real estate investing too much to handle.

If this is the case with you you can consider another options, REIT’s. Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REIT’s as they are called, involve the investment of large groups who buy large quantities of real estate. The earnings and appreciation from this real estate is owned through a large quantity of shareholders who buy part of the ownership, like a stock.

While this is certainly an option, I find REIT’s to be remarkably unimpressive long-term compared to stocks or direct real estate investments.

Whichever path you choose to take, be wary of the inflation hurdles and the best ways to overcome them.

Money: Where it Comes From

October 11, 2018Currency, inflation$10, ancient greeks, buy, Debt, gold, inspiration, job, long-term thinking, Lydia, mint, money, paper, President Nixon, sell, Services, shells, silver, System, technology, trade, United States, wheatInvestmentPathfinder

Most people like money. They either collect it, or simply view it as a means to buy their next meal. The fact remains: money is useful. But why do we used money and where did it come from?

It is commonly thought that money arose as a result of the need to barter. This isn’t necessarily the case. There isn’t any society that we know of run completely on barter, even in ancient times. However people did barter a little, and the rest they either gifted or gave away as a form of debt.

At some point the use of debt was coupled with the use of commodity currency. Depending on the people group or the time period in which it was traded, money could be shells, wheat, precious metals, and eventually physical coins. It was after this first occurrence of coins around 600 B.C. by the Lydians that coins started to become more commonly used.

As time progressed, and more and more groups of people used coins, a representative form of money emerged. This was basically paper or some other useless thing, that was available to trade for something of value, like gold. These “certificates” became more and more widespread.

Other societies have since gone back and forth between representative money and actual commodity currencies. The U.S. started out with gold and silver coins as its money. At some point it started a gold certificate or what’s known as “the gold standard”. These could be traded in for a physical amount of gold. Then, with the actions of President Nixon, the gold standard was abolished and we have since been using what’s called fiat currency.

Fiat Currency is just paper, or electronic money, that can’t be turned in for any amount of gold or silver. The only way it has value is because the government says it does. The very nature of fiat currency, as with most currencies, is one of inflation. Since we have gone off the gold standard, prices have “gradually” gone up. What used to cost $1 now costs $10.

The beauty of our current system is that instead of bartering or becoming indebted every time we want something, we are able to trade currency for things of value. In giving someone a dollar, we are giving them something that is widely able to be “traded” for something else of value.

While our system of money in the U.S. certainly isn’t perfect, it has done a great job in facilitating the transfer of assets, resources and services from one side of the economy to the other.

Renting Vs Buying – 4 Factors to Look At

October 2, 2018real estatebooks, buying, cost of living, data, discipline, Fun, inspiration, interest rate, location, long-term thinking, paper, Personal Finance, renting, technology, time horizon, workInvestmentPathfinder

Most people will spend the largest percentage of their income on housing. Deciding what kind of housing, and how much can be the most crucial financial decision you’ll make. Choosing between renting or buying can literally be the difference between retiring in the next decade or not.

I am going to cover the largest factors that determine which option is better. In a later post I will outline what my math and research has shown, and which options work best for which situations.

Time-frame

For the vast majority of cases, the rent vs buy scenario comes down to timing. If, for example, you plan on moving in the next few years, renting is almost always better because of the closing costs associated with buying. However as we begin to look at longer time horizons, renting generally becomes more and more expensive, relatively speaking.

Location

In certain locations, like San Fransisco for example, it makes proportionally more sense to rent than it does to buy over shorter periods of time. This is due to the fact that there lies what I call a “Cali Premium” for people who buy real estate in any of the large metropolitan areas along the California coast. Because of this higher pricing, the cost to rent is comparatively lower than most areas of the country.

Discipline

The numbers only make sense if the person doing the renting is investing the difference (assuming there is a difference between renting and owning) consistently. If someone simply rents over buying, the numbers skew back in favor of the homebuyer, who has automatically enrolled in a “forced savings plan.”

The Numbers

The last major factor to look at is the actual numbers and data. These are questions like, what is the interest rate on the loan, what is my rate of return on my investments, how fast does my property increase in value, and how fast does the rent rise year-over-year? These four questions are some of the most impactful when it comes to analyzing the numbers, but there are a host of others to ask as well.

Hopefully these insights are beneficial when making these important decisions. I looking forward to seeing how the actual numbers pan out in real life in the years to come.

Reading: Things That Will Change Your Life

September 18, 2018business, Success1%, body, books, education, emotion, family, fiction, freedom, friends, Fun, Harry Potter, health, inspiration, investing, long-term thinking, mind, money, paper, perseverance, politics, Reading, school, technology, vision, workInvestmentPathfinder

As simple as it sounds, reading will change your life.

As I have lived on campus I have seen many different views when it comes to reading. Most students prefer to avoid it altogether if possible. A few people enjoying reading fiction, and then there are the true readers.

As part of this “club” of true readers I have seen firsthand how the books we read can change our life. And I don’t mean just any books, I mean nonfiction. Why nonfiction? There are two reasons nonfiction is more beneficial in our life over fiction:

1. Fact-based learning

When it comes to reading in general you are uncovering stories, facts and emotions. With nonfiction specifically, the base of your reading is centered around actual facts, not something made up.

2. Nonfiction books are often more relatable to real life

Whether it’s a nonfictional story, or a self-help book, reading nonfiction has a much greater footing in reality, and therefore more relevancy in our lives, than simply another story out of someone’s head. And often, depending on if it’s a self-improvement book, you’ll receive applicable steps for your life as well.

7 Things That People Never Spend Enough Money On

September 11, 2018Uncategorizedbooks, cars, food, freedom, friends, Fun, health, investing, others, paper, Personal Finance, priorities, school, seminars, shopping, values, vision, workInvestmentPathfinder

1. Paper

That’s a strange thing to lead the list with. However paper represents a mentality in the U.S., and especially in other countries, that puts people in a scarcity mentality. I’ve been personally at fault of doing this. Often I’ll try to save paper by writing on the other side or cramming everything on to one page.

This is particularly true when I am in school. I’ll take notes by putting everything close together. Any learning and memorization expert will tell you that leaving space on the paper gives your brain room to process and compartmentalize concepts and facts in your brain.

You need to be comfortable using up more paper, even if that means spending a minuscule amount more.

2. Seminars

Honestly this type of personal improvement hasn’t been something I’ve looked into in the past. However in recent months and years I’ve begun to see how others have used these as networking, learning, and inspirational events.

3. Health

I hope most people value health over money. The natural outcome of this value priority is that you should be spending the money you need to to keep your health at its prime. Don’t forget about health.

4. Others

Pouring money into others, whether through time and experiences, or generous gifts of items and money, is both a heart-warmer, and a perspective-changer. As soon as you begin to look outside yourself to help others, life becomes a ton more meaningful.

5. Car Maintenance

Changing the oil, replacing break pads, and doing general maintenance on your vehicles is a responsible thing for adults to do. It feels like you’re throwing money away, but in the long-term it can save you money in emergencies, breaks, and issues.

6. High Quality Items

Often it is wise to skip the name-brand items and go with cheaper things. This is especially true with things that don’t matter as much like cereal brands or food in general. However if you find an item is cheaper than another, this doesn’t mean instantly that it’s a deal. It’s possible that down the road you’ll spend money on replacing that cheaper item.

7. Books

Call me old fashioned, but I find books are particularly useful in learning. I have personally read hundreds (yes hundreds) of nonfiction books in my free time. While spending $1,000 on books (both e-books and physical books) can seem like a big waste of money when the library is just down the street, I see books as an investment.

When you see nonfiction books as resources and insightful gems of knowledge, it becomes natural to look at the cost-benefit of each book as a more than worthwhile investment.

I personally find physical books to be easier on my eyes and simply to read than e-books.

Conclusion:

Seeing every purchase as an investment can be a fun game to get your mind racing on ways to save and spend money wisely.