Adventures in Money Making

Make your money work hard so you don't have to!
Follow a 31 yr old Real Estate Investor seeking freedom from the shackles of the 9-5 job as he meanders through real estate investing, stock & commodity trading and looking for businesses.

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Sunday, April 30, 2006
How to become a millionaire
I came across this article online somewhere. Decent advice.

The Top 10 Steps To Becoming A Millionaire
By Dr Philip E. Humbert


  1. Decide to be financially successful.

  2. This is different than wishing, hoping, wanting or even desiring to be rich. Make a commitment that this is going to happen! Financial independence is not an accident or matter of luck, and it usually requires some inconvenience. Have you decided to achieve this goal?

  3. Understand how money works.

  4. Most of never studied finance or investing in school. Most of were never even taught to balance a checkbook! To master anything, you have to understand it. Read. Study what successful people do. Take classes.

  5. Master your relationship with money.

  6. Some of us spend for excitement, to show off, to prove we can. Some of us are addicted to spending, and some of us are just careless about it. Whatever your relationship with money, understand it and develop a relationship of respect, appreciation and gratitude. Use your money, rather than allowing it to run your life.

  7. Set specific goals.

  8. They should be challenging, but not unbelievable, just out of reach but not out of sight. Challenge yourself to be out of debt by a specific date. Make a commitment to saving an exact amount each month.

  9. Develop a budget.

  10. A budget is a set of dreams and aspirations. It's how you really, really want to use money to benefit your family and run your life. Budget to buy the things you really want, and to eliminate the "impulses", the toys that waste too much of our income. A budget is a map to your destination. Have one and use it!

  11. Reduce spending.

  12. Yes, this comes after making a budget, because when you begin getting control of your money (rather than the other way around) you have powerful new reasons to reduce expenses. Most self-made millionaires live far below their means! You should to.

  13. Begin investing.

  14. Most of us spend or speculate. Both are roads to disaster! Invest in things you understand. Invest cautiously, wisely, and regularly. The objective is not to "make a killing", but to get rich over time. Know and obey the distinction between gambling, and putting your money to work for you.

  15. Increase assets.

  16. Most people try to increase their income, and that's a mistake. Making more money means paying more taxes. It takes time and hard work. And, when wealth arrives in the form of cash, it's easier to spend. Millionaires buy stocks and buildings, they invest in assets that will make them rich – and that are hard to spend on a whim!

  17. Reduce taxes.

  18. Most Americans pay more in taxes than for food, clothing and shelter combined! It is your largest expense! The poor and middle class don't realize how much they pay because it's deducted from their pay check. The wealthy know there are legal and appropriate ways to shelter income, to invest in socially-responsible ways, and that the tax code encourages this. Learn the tax laws and use them for your benefit! (Yes, it's the most boring reading you'll ever do, and worth it!)

  19. Use your wealth wisely.

  20. Someone once said, "The reason most of us aren't rich is that we'd spend it all on ourselves." Give. Share. Help others. When you use money to make a difference, to have a positive impact, you get the chance to do more. Being greedy and selfish will not draw money to you. Investing in your community, will!

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 10:58 AM links to this post 4 comments
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Opening a new brokerage account
I recently found out that if you open a new account with TD-Ameritrade[formerly TD Waterhouse, Ameritrade and Datek], with $2000 you get 15 free trades. You can do this even if you have an existing account[according to their customer support]. If you deposit $25,000 they'll give you 25 free trades plus $50. Also if an existing member referred you, they get $50 too!

If anyone wants a referral, let me know and I'll send you an email!

I also found out that the Indian Funds I mentioned in a previous post trade like Stocks [like the QQQs]. This is actually cheaper than buying mutual funds with TDAmeritrade! Plus there are no front or back-end loads to worry about.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 1:18 AM links to this post 1 comments
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Swanson's 33 Rules of Management
Thanks to Accidental Verbosity for this link on "CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character".

"Watch out for people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with," Swanson writes. "Be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles."


Here are Swanson's 33 Unwritten Rules of Management.[Well I guess they written now!]

1: Learn to say, "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be used often.
2: It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
3: If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
4: Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what's there; few can see what isn't there.
5: Presentation rule: When something appears on a slide presentation, assume the world knows about it and deal with it accordingly.
6: Work for a boss to whom you can tell it like it is. Remember, you can't pick your family, but you can pick your boss.
7: Constantly review developments to make sure that the actual benefits are what they were supposed to be. Avoid Newton's Law.
8: However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best effort.
9: Persistence or tenacity is the disposition to persevere in spite of difficulties, discouragement or indifference. Don't be known as a good starter but a poor finisher!
10: In doing your project, don't wait for others; go after them and make sure it gets done.
11: Confirm the instructions you give others, and their commitments, in writing. Don't assume it will get done.
12: Don't be timid: Speak up, express yourself and promote your ideas.
13: Practice shows that those who speak the most knowingly and confidently often end up with the assignment to get the job done.
14: Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports.
15: Be extremely careful in the accuracy of your statements.
16: Don't overlook the fact that you are working for a boss. Keep him or her informed. Whatever the boss wants, within the bounds of integrity, takes top priority.
17: Promises, schedules and estimates are important instruments in a well-run business. You must make promises — don't lean on the often-used phrase: "I can't estimate it because it depends on many uncertain factors."
18: Never direct a complaint to the top; a serious offense is to "cc" a person's boss on a copy of a complaint before the person has a chance to respond to the complaint.
19: When interacting with people outside the company, remember that you are always representing the company. Be especially careful of your commitments.
20: Cultivate the habit of boiling matters down to the simplest terms: the proverbial "elevator speech" is the best way.
21: Don't get excited in engineering emergencies: Keep your feet on the ground.
22: Cultivate the habit of making quick, clean-cut decisions.
23: When making decisions, the "pros" are much easier to deal with than the "cons." Your boss wants to see both.
24: Don't ever lose your sense of humor.
25: Have fun at what you do. It will be reflected in you work. No one likes a grump except another grump!
26: Treat the name of your company as if it were your own.
27: Beg for the bad news.
28: You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100% of what you feel.
29: You can't polish a sneaker.
30: When facing issues or problems that are becoming drawn-out, "short them to the ground."
31: When faced with decisions, try to look at them as if you were one level up in the organization. Your perspective will change quickly.
32: A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person. (This rule never fails).
33: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, an amateur built an ark that survived a flood while a large group of professionals built the Titanic!
Postscript: The qualities of leadership boil down to confidence, dedication, integrity and love.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 6:22 AM links to this post 2 comments
How To Invest in the Indian Stock Market
The Indian Stock Market has giving spectacular returns in the past 12 months.[Its doubled in the past 24 months.]

Unfortunately, people who live in America or Canadia aren't allowed to invest directly in Indian Stocks. However there are a few Mutual Funds that are allowed to invest and through them we can join in the fun.

Morgan Stanley's India Investment Fund has doubled in the past year and pays a dividend of 7.30%.

The India Fund similarly doubled in the past year but had a dividend of 9.90%.

Since we're looking at foreign markets we might as well go the extra mile and look at Morgan Stanley's Eastern Europe Fund, which almost doubled but gave a dividend of 20%!!!!! Now thats a return I can live with.

Both of the India Funds have expense ratios of approx 1.5% and have Morning Star Ratings of 5 stars. Eastern Europe Fund has a higher expense ratio of 2.1% and a 4 star rating by Morning Star.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 5:26 AM links to this post 5 comments
Friday, April 21, 2006
Where Does Paris Hilton Invest Her Money?
As part of my research for understanding how to make Search-Engine-Optimized websites and generate some side income, I subscribe to a service that provides me with the most searched for keywords. As usual "Paris Hilton" is near the top along with other porn/movie stars and "Money", "Investing" and "Saving for Retirement" are nowhere on the list.

It got me wondering where does Paris invest her money? A google search didn't reveal anything on this topic, but I found out that if you're interested in opening a franchise for a Club Paris, all you need to do is send out an email!

While on the google search page, I saw an adsense ad for a book on amazon called "Why Paris Hilton is a Fool" and it led me to an e-book sold my Nimble Books. The owner/author sells ebooks as his main source of income and is generating about 15k/yr. Not enough to live off of, but nothing to sneeze at either!!! He also recommended this site Make Easy Money with Google and Adsense which is a pretty good site for making easy money with google and adsense.[yeah, that was pretty redudant.]

So where does Paris Hilton invest her money? She doesn't need to know. Between the millions she's raking in from her TV show, her 20% royalty from Club Paris and her new Carls Jr ads, not to mention the billion she'll inherit in the the Hilton Hotels chain, she can afford to hire someone else to worry about that for her!

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 6:34 AM links to this post 5 comments
Stocks in India
I've been out of the country for the past few weeks which is why I haven't been posting as much as I usually do. I'll be back in about another week.

Haven't been following much of anything lately except prices of Oil, Gold and Silver, all of which seem to be making new highs. When will it end?

Even the Indian Stock market has been making new highs and defying all expectations, thanks to foreign investors pouring money in. A recent IPO in Reliance Petroleum was oversubscribed by about 60 times!!!!!
S&P just upgraded India's stocks. Its still not investment grade but its probably time to get in. I'll have to take my friend Kevin's advice and start investing in it.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 12:24 AM links to this post 0 comments
Monday, April 17, 2006
Advice From a Business Owner
Met a really interesting guy yesterday. He owns several coffee shops, a restaurant and 3 clubs in Dubai.

One of my friends is actively looking to start a coffee shop so I asked him if he had any advice for someone starting in the business.

He said copy a popular coffee shop's theme. Just take a few snaps and show it to your designer.
He doesn't believe in buying franchises because of the upfront fees and ongoing royalties. He believes that with the proper marketing you can drive tons of traffic to any business.

He likes to buy distressed businesses that are already setup so there's no capital expenditure. They're not doing well so he can get them cheaply. He then launches a huge marketing campaign to hype it up. This includes press releases, getting famous people[through his large network of friends] to show up, having special theme nights and other stuff.

He also suggests that you always try and get the seller to finance any portion you can't get from the bank. Never invest your own money. Instead use that for the next investment!

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 2:09 AM links to this post 6 comments
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Asian Investors Flee US Debt And Other Gloomy Forecasts
The Telegraph reports that Japanese investors are bailing on US treasuries to invest in the Japanese stock market. This has resulted the increase in the 10 yr Tbill to over 5%.

Michael Taylor, senior economist at Lombard Street Research thinks this year's sudden rise in 10-year yields risks tipping the US economy into a downturn. He says,"This could be the catalyst for a sharp correction in property prices and wean consumers off their credit binge".

JP Morgan Chase is forecasting a 13% fall in America's S&P 500 stock index, and 12% fall in the FTSE 100. "Our big concern is the combination of rising bond yields, sustained high energy prices and weakness in US housing," said Abhijit Chakrabortti, the global equity chief.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 2:21 AM links to this post 1 comments
Friday, April 14, 2006
What is GFMS and Why Do They Think Gold Will Hit $850?
GFMS is the world's foremost precious metals consultancy, specialising in research into the global gold, silver, platinum and palladium markets. They claim to be independant, informed and trustworthy.

CEO Philip Klapwijk recently commented, “levels safely over $600 are now in our sights and further hefty gains over the next year or two are quite possible - in the right circumstances, the 1980 high of $850 could even be taken out”.

You can read the reasons why he thinks that in the recently released 38th annual Gold Survey for 2006.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 3:42 AM links to this post 1 comments
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Gold Hits $600 an ounce
Gold finally hit $600 an ounce! Last week I was lamenting how I should've bought more, but atleast I bought something. Although its not enough to make me rich, every little bit helps!

But its does bring up a good point. Rather than spend 1% of your net invested assets in a 100 different things, its better to focus your investments into 3 or 4 main categories. That way your focus isn't diffused among too many different things and when one of the investments does well, its reflected immediately in your portfolio.
I had such a strong feeling about gold, I should definitely have bought more. I had thought about playing the credit-card 0% balance transfer game and buying gold, but I thought the strategy was inherently too risky in principle to implement [even though I was very confident I wouldn't lose money].

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 6:47 AM links to this post 0 comments
Friday, April 07, 2006
Gold Update


Ever since I suggested buying gold and silver they've both appreciated over 15%. They're both in the initial stages of a bull market and will continue to climb over the next few years. They are great hedges against inflation and also the devaluing dollar.

I guess I should have bought more!

Buy gold online - quickly, safely and at low prices

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 8:44 PM links to this post 5 comments
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Saving money on MS Office Software
Was helping a not-so-technical friend build a new computer system recently. It used to be that the hardware was 90% of the cost of the system with software being 10%. Those days have long gone and now the equation is inverted.

I already had a copy of Windows 2000 lying around so we just used that instead of shelling out money for Windows XP. Couldn't find my MS Office CD so instead of shelling at around $300 on Amazon.com for it, I instead went to OpenOffice.org and downloaded a FREE version of OpenOffice.

Its a free office suite that is MS Office compatible and works for all the uses I have. Maybe if you have some funky macros in Excel, they may not all work, but for the average user it should be good enough.

Also downloaded a free copy of TextPad from textpad.com to use instead of the lousy Notepad!

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 8:59 PM links to this post 2 comments
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
St George Lots Update
I had booked 2 view lots in St George, Utah.[actually they were in Hurricane, but its close by St George] last year for $70k. Apparently they're worth around $130k right now. However the developer still hasn't gotten them ready to build on despite messing around for nearly a year.

I'm really pissed and apart from the loss of opportunity, I've tied up 10k in that project. I asked the builder to refund my money. About the same time I heard the builder was refunding everyone's money anyway. Being the nice guy that I am, I got quite a few of my friends in on the deal. Somehow everyone got their money back earlier than I did. Anyway, I finally got my check in the mail this week.

I was considering sending a threatening letter from my lawyer, but I thought against it. For one, I don't have the time to waste on bad investments. Secondly [and more importantly], the St George market has become saturated. The standing inventory has gone up about 400% in 12 months. So if the builder did get me my lot and the builder built on it, it would be ready in October which is a bad time of year to be selling a house!

Anyway its the same builder I metioned in this post and I'm just happy I no longer need to work with them anymore.

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 11:31 PM links to this post 3 comments
Monday, April 03, 2006
Digital SLR Camera's Become Cheaper
Spent the weekend at a friend's place in Los Angeles. We usually talk about 4 topics.Investing, Gadgets, Cars and Human Stupidity. This time was no different.

I'd long been eyeing his Nikon D70 DSLR but at over $1500, there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money. For my trip to Europe last, size won over functionality and I purchased the Canon SD300.

However, taking great photographs is a very enjoyable hobby and the ownership of an SLR or DSLR is a must. He mentioned that Nikon had just come out with the new D50. The approximate $800 price-tag includes 2 lens 18mm-55mm and 55mm-200mm. You can read a great indepth review of the difference between the D50 and the D70 here. The D50 seems like a great buy. Of course, the D70 has now dropped in value too, but the D50 kit is still about $400 cheaper than a comparable D70. Thats nearly 50% cheaper! Now all that remains is too convince the wife!

He also recommended the following books:

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 9:36 PM links to this post 1 comments
Tenants Get The Bishop To Pay Rent!
I got an envelope from the Jesus Christ Church Of The Latter Day Saints in the mail today. In it was a check for 1 month's rent for a property in Utah. Apparently, the tenants were so scared I was going to evict them, that they somehow convinced the Bishop of the local ward to make the payment for them! I knew these Mormons were a tight-knit bunch of religious zealots but this really took me by surprize.

I've been trying to evict these tenants for quite a while now. Everytime they manage to make a payment, even if it is late. This time I guess God's representative foiled my plans!!!

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posted by Adventures In Money Making @ 8:44 PM links to this post 3 comments
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