Money Reasons

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Archive for May, 2011

Hilton Head Island Again?

May 20th, 2011

Hilton Head House

This year my entire family decided to take a trip down to Hilton Head Island again. Hopefully, we’ll most likely stay at the same Hilton Head house as we have in previous years.

We like the familiar Hilton Head house because we are comfortable and like where it’s located. We usually stay at the Palmetto Dunes area, the houses we’ve stayed at has always been one in this particular area.

Personally, I like the Palmetto Dunes area because the beach in that area isn’t very crowded and easy to access. I’ve biked to the public beach access areas, and while they are nice too, I prefer the less crowded Palmetto Dune beaches.

We always get bikes for everybody in our group. We even get a Tag-along bike so my daughter could ride too.

Most likely, we’ll also go to Sea Pines resort. It cost $5.00 per car to get in, but this is where the Salty Dog restaurant and other small shops and restaurants are located. I especially like the Harbour Town Lighthouse because unlike other lighthouses, this ones has old pictures with small comments below them explaining the history of the lighthouse as you climb the stairs to get to the top.

Harbour Town Lighthouse

This area also has one of the coolest trees that I’ve ever seen in a certain park in the area. The tree is growing horizontally instead of vertically, very cool and strange at the same time. The kids love that tree!

I think we like the house so much because it’s almost seems like it’s our vacation home. Of course we are just renting it, but you could almost imagine that you owned it after a week of living in it. Very cool feeling!

I really look forward to eating seafood while I’m down there, especially the fried oysters! We don’t really have fried oysters up where I live, so I try to get my fill while I’m down there!

Initially I wanted to go to Hawaii, but the rest of my family didn’t want to do that, so it’s Hilton Head again! Still it will be a blast!

Cheers,

MR

12 comments »

Posted in Vacation

Tags: hilton head Hilton Head House Hilton Head House on the beach Hilton Head Island Hilton Head vacation

The Three Little Financial Pigs: Pig #3 Update

May 19th, 2011

I like to think of the third little pig as myself, but I don’t really know if I”m really qualified to make that claim. In my last post I stated that I’m really more of a Pig #2 1/2 or even a Pig #2 3/4 than the full pig 3 type.

Pig #3

If you are new to this storyline, the basis of all three little financial pigs are two of my childhood friends and myself. I blog about each of their stories in the original articles listed below:

So now onto my update, have I made progress? Yes, my net worth has increased by much more than $10,000 since last year. Part of that increase was in my investments such as my 401k and my regular brokerage account. Most of the increase has come from the saving of my paycheck into these investment accounts. It’s a long rhythmic journey this point forward. I like to think of it as a long almost straight road with a slight incline.

The Steps that I’m currently taking on my journey are:

Earn money from being employed
Save more than 20% of the earned money
Invest that 20% amount into investments
Repeat until wealthy.

It’s not glorious, but it’s a solid path and plan.

Unfortunately the steps above will never get me to the superrich level though, but I should be able to make it to a lower level of a millionaire next door type.

I think the most important aspect to remember is to start doing it, and the sooner the better. I’ve been guilty in the past of having slow starts with tasks, but over time I’ve learned (and I’m still learning) that your attempt doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. It’s much more important to start the task than to worry about getting it perfect or even right.

Hopefully this year my net worth will grow at a quicker rate.

Cheers,

MR

18 comments »

Posted in Entertainment

Tags: pig 3 steps to wealth three litte financial pigs three little pigs wealthy pig 3

When Is Gas Considered A Luxury?

May 18th, 2011

So at what point is gas considered a luxury good, and if not now, then when should we think of it as one?

Where I live, gas is at $4.00 a gallon, and I started wondering what would the monthly cost be if the price continues to climb. So below is some quick numbers that I put together in a spreadsheet to compare projected cost of gas prices in the near future.

I chose the $4 (current), $6 (some project this rate for this or next year), and $9 level just for a good contrast.


Day	Miles/Day	Gas Price: $4
Monday	60	$4	$12
Tuesday	45	$4	$9
Wednesday	60	$4	$12
Thursday	45	$4	$9
Friday	45	$4	$9
Saturday	30	$4	$6
Sunday	15	$4	$3
			$60
		Monthly:	$267.00



Day	Miles/Day	Gas Price: $6
Monday	60	$6	$18
Tuesday	45	$6	$14
Wednesday	60	$6	$18
Thursday	45	$6	$14
Friday	45	$6	$14
Saturday	30	$6	$9
Sunday	15	$6	$5
			$90
		4 weeks	$387.00




Day	Miles/Day	Gas Price: $9
Monday	60	$9	$27
Tuesday	45	$9	$20
Wednesday	60	$9	$27
Thursday	45	$9	$20
Friday	45	$9	$20
Saturday	30	$9	$14
Sunday	15	$9	$7
			$135
		4 weeks	$540.00

$540 a month for gas would mean that gas is a luxury for me. At that point, I’d definitely be carpooling! There is a great chance that I would be biking or walking more often to close destinations too (like visits to the library).

Actually, there is a good chance that I would try to carpool with more than just my buddy. I think I would try to get 4 total people to carpool with, if possible. By having 4 people in the mix, that would drastically reduce my gasoline cost (if not for weekends it would be by a factor of 4).

If I lived in a larger city, I would consider taking public transportation too, but since I don’t… public transportation isn’t really an option for me. I would definitely try to push the telecommuting option though!

So forget the Grey Poupon, pass me a can of gasoline please!

Bests,

MR

18 comments »

Posted in Costs

Tags: gas Gas is a Luxury Gas Prices Gasoline prices High gas prices

Discoveries By Accident

May 17th, 2011

I woke up today to discover that the front tire on my car was flat.

I took my tire off and started my grand search for the elusive nail or metal shard that punctured my tire and let the air leak out slowly. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find the hole. I recruited my son (whose eyes are much sharper than mine) to help with the task and after using the old soap trick, we still couldn’t find it.

What is the old soap trick?

This is where you have the tire inflated and slowly pour soapy water over small sections of the tire while rolling it very, very slowly. When the hole is detected, it cause more bubbles where the hole exists. This technique has worked many times for elusive holes in the past.

Since I couldn’t find the hole, after I re-inflated the tire, I decided to put it back on. After a short period of time, it started to look flat again. At this point, I was clueless… I didn’t have a cap on the tire, so I thought that perhaps that was the problem (knowing all to well that it wasn’t), so I took the cap off of the spare tire (really a donut) and started to put it on the stem of the tire. That’s when it happened, as I was screwing on the cap, I heard that old familiar sound of air escaping. It turns out that the tire stem had a defect in it that let air slowly stream out.

It seems that life if full of such accidental discoveries, some much more elusive and much more important than my little example.

So can Discoveries by Accident have a real impact on your life? Since my discovery of the use of audiobooks while traveling, trips are much more enjoyable for me.

Do you have any discoveries that you would like to share?

Bests,

MR

5 comments »

Posted in Ideas

Tags: discoveries by accident personal discoveries

Missing But Not Worrying Financially About My Family

May 16th, 2011

Yesterday, I got back from a business trip for my employer.

While most of the time I was gone, my mind was on business events during the day, and mingling socially with peers during the evening, I did have time to realize how much I missed my family. As I would go home after the nights of drinking at dinner and bars, I would think how much I miss my family, and especially my kids. Each night before I would go out, I would call home to tell my kids goodnight. During those calls, my son and daughter would tell me how much they miss me and wish I was home. My 7-year-old girl, doesn’t remember when I use to travel when she was a baby, so it was very hard on her. She kept telling me that she want to come home early, and that she really missed me. My son who is a bit older understood that I couldn’t come home early, but after I did get home, he told me he had problems sleeping the first few nights after I left and that he was glad I was home again.

While I worried about what was going on at home, and I missed my family very much, one thing that I didn’t worry about was their financial well-being if something bad happened to me during the flight or whatever. The financially comforting fact is that they would have well over 1 million dollars if I were to die, and they would most likely receive Social Security benefits on top of that.

You might be thinking Social Security benefits? and why? Well, it turns out that if you kids are under a certain age, Social Security will pay out a monthly amount until the kids are 18. Since I have 2 kids and a wife, the payment from Social Security would be at least $3,500 a month. This amount is almost as much as we currently spend monthly!

After you factor in the life insurance survivor benefits that they would receive, it would put my family at a very comfortable level. And then there is my 401k that would be tapped too. After factoring in the 401k, I feel comfortable enough about the finances that I don’t have to worry about my family… they will have enough money to do as they please.

Knowing that you are missed is great, but knowing your family would be provided for if somehow you were to die is priceless.

I’m glad to be home,

MR

22 comments »

Posted in Insurance

Tags: business travel and family Financially secure family life insurance missing my family not worrying during traveling Social Security bonus Social Security death benefits