Yakezie.com

Is $180,000 In Severance Enough To Quit Your Job?

by Financial Samurai

in Personal Finance on Aug 17th, 2012

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In a recent Yahoo Finance article, they spotlight a 37 year old man who was making roughly $100,000 base who now works at Starbucks. His primary reason for taking his barista job is for medical benefits. The whopper of the story, which very few commenters pointed out was this line,

“But with a college diploma, 22 months of severance to rely on and 15 years worth of experience under his belt, he figured he had nothing to worry about. Right? Wrong.“

First of all, the readers are not thinking when they don’t comment that 22 months of severance equals $180,000! Or put it another way, this fella can live the SAME standard of living for the next 22 months if he doesn’t lower expenses one bit. I don’t know about you, but 22 months of severance is better than a hot fudge sundae on a blistering day!

Second of all, Yahoo Finance tries to paint this 37 year old guy as a person in dire straights because he now works at Starbucks. This is one of the main reasons why I dislike mass media. Schadenfreude, schadenfreude, schadenfreude! If you give me $180,000 in severance, I’ll be happy to kick it at Starbucks! Wouldn’t you?

Sensationalism makes a story out of nothing, never talking about the positives, and tries to focus on juxapositions that aren’t the crucial focal point. The focal point of the story is the $180,000 severance he got and his reason for working at Starbucks for healthcare benefits, and not because he needs the $10 dollars an hour.

Finally, you know there is way more to the story than a 37 year old guy needing to work at Starbucks for money. The article says he’s blown through his $180,000 already and implies he’s so desperate for cash he needs to work as a barista. You and I know there is nobody on earth who works for 15 consecutive years, makes six figures, and doesn’t save anything!

DON’T QUIT YOUR JOB WITHOUT A PLAN Read More

Does Website Design Really Matter For Growth?

When Good Enough Is Good Enough

by Financial Samurai

in Lifestyle on Aug 15th, 2012

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About a year ago, I had a dialogue with a fellow blogger about career advice. Somehow, it morphed into blogging, probably because there are parallels to developing one’s blog and one’s career. I am the old fart who already went through the ringer and he is the young gun wondering what lies ahead.

We differed in our beliefs that grades matter (I believe they do, he believes not so much), so it was no surprise that we also differed in our beliefs in the importance of website design (I believe less so). Website design matters to a point, and I can certainly appreciate a well designed site. However, how much can you really design on one page until your head starts spinning?

If it was up to me as a reader, I’d prefer to visit a website with as little clutter as possible. If it was up to me as a blogger, I’d prefer to have a website that has the most salient information as possible that doesn’t drive readers away. There is a balance somewhere out there.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WENT TO A BLOG DUE TO DESIGN? Read More

Blogging

Risk Versus Reward: Stock Investing Is Not Dead

Where Are You Investing Your Money Today?

2262[?]

in Personal Finance on Aug 13th, 2012

“When the weather changes, nobody believes the laws of physics have changed. Similarly, I don’t believe that when the stock market goes into terrible gyrations its rules have changed.” Benoit Mandelbrot

This brilliant mathematician speaks to the reality that the price of common stocks goes up and down. If you want the possibility of a high return, you need to take some risk.

Across the web there’s been talk about the death of equity investing.

Why? My guess is because investors have short term memories and believe since stock market returns’ under performed their historical averages during the first decade of the new millennium, they will continue to under perform.

Ironically, and the end of the 1990’s there was a similar belief, only in reverse. The media was filled with discussions about how we had moved into a new world of investing and the old rules didn’t apply. In 1999 after a decade of historical out performance of the equity markets, investors believed that the “new normal” would be stock returns in the double digit range.

Well, that didn’t quite pan out.

What happened in the first decade of this millennium is a reversion to the mean. After large out performance of stock investments, the equity markets under performed which moved long term returns closer to their historical averages.

Does that mean the future equity returns will now be lower than historical averages?

I guarantee that no one knows what the future holds!

What is the relationship between investing return and risk? Read More

Investments

Post Graduation Depression Disorder

Coming to Grips with Reality?

by 20s Finances

1516[?]

in Personal Finance on Aug 9th, 2012

I am convinced that graduating from college is one of the most important periods in almost everyone’s life. It is often the beginning of “real” adulthood. While college students may be legally adults, in many ways college often acts as a buffer zone for growing up. Depending on your parents’ financial stability and philosophy of parenting, you may not even have to pay for your expenses while in college.

If you were helped my mom and dad, graduation from college is often the cut off point. They may help you a couple months to adjust to life after college, but it is usually this point in American culture that parents force their children to grow up and take care of themselves financially. If you didn’t receive any financial support in college, you either sped up the process of maturity and worked your way through school or you took out loans.

College Is Often a Period of Idealism Read More

Welcome Yakezie Epsilon Challengers!

by Financial Samurai

in Personal Finance on Aug 3rd, 2012

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Dear Yakezie Epsilon Challengers,

Has it been over 6 months already? Yes it has! Congrats for almost making it through the Yakezie Challenge where you’ve each strived to develop great blogs and new friendships in our online community. There’s only one thing left, and that is signing up and making sure we know who you are.

The Yakezie Challenge is open to all who desire to be a part of a collaborative community of bloggers. Once you are a Member, you will be listed on the official Yakezie Blog Network page and gain exclusive access to various Yakezie initiatives. Our mission is to help our readers, help each other, support educational efforts through our Yakezie Writing Contest, and have a fantastic time in the process!

THE COMMUNITY IS PRIORITY Read More

Member Post, Yakezie Challenge

When Did You Realize Your Childhood Dreams Wouldn’t Come True?

Reality Hits Eventually

by Financial Samurai

in Lifestyle on Jul 30th, 2012

During high school, I didn’t want to play #1 singles partly because I feared getting pounded every match. All the #1 singles players were ridiculously talented and all went on to play for the best schools in the country. Instead, I played #2 or #3 singles and amassed a 11-1 record my senior year vs. likely a 3-8 record if I was in the top spot. The winning record was nice, but I felt a little guilty.

We strategically stacked the line-up so that it was better for the team – we had to win 5 matches out of 9 (a total of 6 singles and 3 doubles matches played). The line-ups always changed based on our opponents. It was also a toss-up between myself and a talented younger player. In the end, as Team Captain my Junior and Senior years, I decided it was better for the younger player and the future of the team to get him some experience against the best opponents. I also knew didn’t want to get embarrassed my senior year.

I turned down a couple division III school offers to play tennis and attended a division I school with better academics. I was not good enough to play for my college team, nor did I have the passion to play anymore. If I trained really hard my senior year and the summer before college, maybe I would have snuck on as a benchwarmer. There was no money involved as even a third of the starters had no scholarship help except for maybe free books. I was completely burnt out after high school, so I quit tennis to live every young man’s fantasy of having a great time in college.

THE REALIZATION Read More

Personal Development

Should Yakezie Be More Than A Network?

by FamilyMoneyValues

1026[?]

in Lifestyle on Jul 26th, 2012

Recently, Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo as the CEO so naturally I blogged about that (as a Millionaire story – her networth is estimated at over $300 million). As I wrote her story, it struck me that she positioned herself to be in the path of new ideas and opportunities.

Have you ever been in an environment where ideas pop out like mushrooms in the spring?

Perhaps you remember jam sessions at college, talking about how things should be or kicking around ideas for new products or services.

Perhaps you were lucky enough to work for a company that fostered idea creation and risk taking by dumping creative types in a pit with the power players who could make the ideas happen.

If you have started your own company, whether that be a blog, a web site or a shipping business, have you ever felt you were missing key pieces? Do you wonder what it is you are missing – to take your company to its next level? Do you wish for a wise and experienced coach to help you through the times when you are discouraged; help you find places to get help; challenge you when you become complacent; and maybe put you physically into that idea pit with other struggling entrepreneurs?

Do you ever think, “if only I knew so and so”, or “how can I get connected to other people doing this”?

You probably joined the Yakezie challenge to get some of the above, but do you need more?

Being part of a business incubator may give you more.

What is a business incubator? Read More

Blogging