53 posts tagged “income”

A governor, or speed limiter, is a device used to measure and regulate the speed of a machine, such as an engine. I have taken that concept and applied it to finance. You put in place a governor that limits the speed at which you could potentially lose money.

Here is how I apply it:

• I try not to buy disposable products. Why throw money in the garbage?
• I place stop loss orders for every stock/ETF I own at 4.5% below its cost basis. My upside is not capped but my downside is.
• I play video poker with a $2 bankroll. If I lose it, I'm done. But I have the potential of winning much more with 4 deuces or a natural royal flush
• I use alternative income streams rather than bet everything on a single business venture. Collecting  aluminum cans, getting paid to read email, getting paid to watch Internet ads, getting paid to search, and getting paid to post tweets has no explicit downside risk

For those unfamiliar with this program, you search the Internet and get "swagbucks". Those swagbucks are redeemable for Amazon gift cards, Pay Pal cash, and lots of other prizes.

Like everything else, your success will depend on learning the best strategies. So here is what I've learned:

1. Start searching on Swagbucks at the beginning of the day. Search until you win one Swagbuck.
2. I don't search again on Swagbucks for another 12 hours. (less searches the better).
3. Between your searches, check the toolbar, the swidget, and EADFL for swagcodes. These are extra swagbucks.
4. Refer lots of friends to Swagbucks, this helps you get to your desired level quickly.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 44 percent of new establishments were still in existence 4 years after their birth. Dun and Bradstreet surveys show that 60 percent of businesses fail in their first five years.

So how do you guarantee success? Start a business with built in downside controls. This is what practical entrepreneurship is all about. Diversify your revenue streams, spend the most time on marketing, get paid in cash where you can, and set realistic goals!

Corporate downsizing is here to stay. When large corporations total up the health care costs, retirement plan, vacation pay, life insurance, and disability insurance, a $35,000 college graduate really costs $50,000.

Outsourcing takes care of the downsizing problem. Consider the trends: IT outsourcing topped $100 billion in 2005, 80 percent of companies expect to increase their investment in outsourcing., companies love India because English is a second language

Résumés are confetti paper: Every graduate uses the same MS Word and WordPerfect templates, so all resumes look the same. When a company asks for a scannable (keyword) resume, candidates become even more indistinguishable!

Job skills change every few years. The average undergraduate student takes 5 years to get a B.S. degree. In that period of time, the entire world has changed. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the careers showing the most promise through 2012 are service related, health care related and homeland security related. Of those, only highly skilled health care jobs – doctors, nurses, and specialists – are paying a livable wage.

Human Resource departments are there to keep you out, not grant you an interview. They are not the hiring decision makers, you future boss is. Did you know that most jobs are never advertised? The jobs are filled before there is any need for an advertisement.

What I'm about to say may not seem very practical because most people drive to a casino or go there on a bus. In other words, you are stuck there for some length of time. However I walk over to mine, collect aluminum cans along the way, and always get a free beverage at the casino.

1. Choose either Game King® 6.2 Multi-Game or Game King® 6.0 Multi-Game. (It must be the stand up model with larger buttons, not the one with the smaller buttons)
2. I always feel the seat, if it is warm, I move to another machine. I also check the cash out to see if it just paid off big. You want a machine no one has played in a while
3. I play deuces wild and have not tested this on other games
4. It really doesn't matter if you use your casino rewards card or not
5. I put in $2 and play the nickel level with 2 bets (10 cents)
6. What you will begin to notice is that your first 5 to 15 hands are pretty good, tempting you to continue your play
7. When I get enough good hands to put me 20 cents to a $1 over my initial $2 investment, I cash out and leave. This is somewhat subjective, but you'll get an intuitive feel for it after a while

The takeaway is this, it is better to win a little bit every time. Bat for the average and stop trying to hit home runs! You see this strategy in everything I do here at Cheapo Groovo. A little here, a little there, adds up to big.

IMHO, US Treasuries are the next financial bubble to burst.

1. The Fed has been buying Treasuries bonds in an effort to lower borrowing costs and end the worst U.S. economic downturn in 70 years. Its holdings of Treasuries edged up to $759.80 billion from $757.77 billion last week. However, the Federal Reserve's program of buying Treasuries will end in October.
2. Even the Chinese, one of the largest buyers of Treasury securities, are buying fewer treasuries. They are buying gold with their US Dollars.
3. Yet investors are making huge bets on bonds. In the last six months they have allocated double the amount of new money to bond mutual funds as they did over the entire four years from 2003 through 2006! All academic studies agree that poor market timing decisions are the rule rather than the exception among mutual fund investors.
4. Besides that, the federal government actually needs high inflation down the road. Why? So they can pay off this low interest debt with cheapened dollars. Debtors gain during inflationary times.
5. It's not just me questioning the current price of treasuries.
   

Looking at the next 18 months, I see higher yields on the 10-year and the 30-year. Bond prices fall when interest rates rise. With fewer buyers and a falling US dollar, higher rates are inevitable. Get into TMV or TBT while they are on sale! My earlier posts on bonds should help you.

• What to save over $130,000 over your lifetime?
• Want to leave the 9 to 5 grind entirely?
• Want to have constant income streams?
• Want to stop paying the payroll tax?
• Tired of losing money in the stock market?
• Do you want to live like the other sheeple or be free?

If you answered yes to all 6, you should work some or all of the programs in my sidebar. My previous post documents realistic earnings. You have nothing to lose except your wage slavery and betting the farm on one career!