Have you ever come across a time capsule?

I recently found what amounted to one when I was going through a box at my parents’ house, which was also my childhood home. They’re selling it after 34 years, which brings about a range of emotions in them and me as well. It’s for the best at this point in time, but it doesn’t make it fun.  Wow, I wish they could keep it forever, but as we know, nothing lasts forever, including us.  Sometimes we need to embrace new beginnings.

If there’s a good side benefit of this, it’s uncovering things that were sitting around for years that you forgot about, but are nice to see again. I found so many of those things, it’s really surprising. Almost all things that really me or someone in my family could personally value, but those are often the best kind, right?

Well, I might share a few of these in future posts, as there were many. But one type of item I found was a group of ticket stubs to baseball games in the late 1980’s.  Yes, I’m not super young.  I was a teen back then who just got my license, and would occasionally drive from the suburbs into Chicago to see major league ball games with friends.  I even have some opening day memories, when we missed school to see a game once (Mom and Dad if you’re reading this – Surprise!).

Anyway, finding those ticket stubs in mint condition, while I never knew were still there, brought a smile to my face. I don’t know why they weren’t thrown away originally, it was probably an accident that they were kept way back when. But once I saw them, I recalled how a few times we took off on a few school nights to go into the city. I can still remember, back before cell phones, we would tell each other at school that we would meet up at someone’s house at 6:00pm, after we all ate dinner, and then drive into the city to catch a 7:30 game. If we hustled, we got there early to catch batting practice and maybe a ball.

It brought back memories of how carefree we were back then, and even how the worries that we had were really miniscule in the big picture. And also, conversely, how little we worried about what we should have.  The area around grand old Comiskey Park (1910-1990) was commonly perceived as high-crime and dangerous at night during that era, but we threw caution to the wind and just drove up from the vastly different suburbs without caring. What a great time of life!

It also brought a smile to my face when I saw the cost of the ticket. You know I would do that, right? Well, the one of the tickets I saw was for $2. Can you imagine going to a game today for $2?

I’m sure it was for some kind of discounted day, like a half price night or something like that. But still, if you take $2 and apply an inflation rate of 3.5% to it and let it compound for 24 years, it still comes out to just $4.57 in today’s purchasing power.  How easy is it to get admission to a major league game today for $4.57? Go check on the prices of tickets anywhere these days, and you might be surprised by how expensive it can be.

I think you tell I thought it was a fun find J

My Questions For You

Have you ever come across something from your youth that was fun to find? It doesn’t have to be money related, just something that was cool or surprising to find, and reminds you of good times.

Do you recall times in the past where you went out with friends and had lots of fun for little money?

Turning the faucet off can lower your water bill!

Raise your hand if you like paying utility bills!

If we were in a room and I asked the question to the group, nobody would be raising his or her hand.  Paying utility bills is just a necessary maintenance activity that we deal with as a part of life.

Of course, beyond the routine of paying the bills, there’s the reality that they can eat up a decent part of our budget.  Thus, it’s a good idea to try to save on utility costs. One example of such an expense would be water bills.  We can’t live without water, it’s a necessity, but we have to pay for it. Thankfully we don’t have to be pay for air!

Anyway, with respect to water bills, there are ways that we can reduce our monthly payment.  This came to mind when listening to my father share with me how high his water bills have been in recent months.  Here are 10 ways to lower your water bill and reduce expenses:

1. Use a low flow shower head.  This by itself can reduce water usage and ultimately water costs, possibly over $100 annually for a family.
2. Consolidate laundry.  By this, I mean avoiding doing many separate loads of laundry. Rather, where possible, try to consolidate to do fewer loads.
3. Take a shorter shower.  Yes, you can get just as clean if you cut a minute or two off your shower time. Be mindful of time!
4. Water your lawn less often.  Of course, if you don’t have a lawn this won’t apply. But if you do, water it a little less often.  If your grass isn’t 100% green and the best looking showpiece in the neighborhood, who cares?
5. Run the dishwasher when full.  Now, by this I don’t mean overflowing so that everything doesn’t get fully clean. Rather, I mean make sure to run it when more than just half full.  The less you run the dishes, the more you save on water.
6. Install aerators.  Putting these on faucets can reduce water flow and save a little bit of money.
7. Repair leaky faucets.  This is one of those nagging things on a to-do list that we get around to when we can , but over time this can result in money dripping out of your account!
8. Properly insulate pipes.  If you can get your hot water faster, that means water wasted while waiting.
9. Wash your car less often.  If you take your car to a car wash, this applies too. After all, the more you wash your car there, the more you spend! If you rinse off your car in your driveway, you’re using water there too – lots of it, potentially.  Just rinse it off a little bit less, and save a little bit of money.
10. Teach kids to turn off faucets.  This has probably spanned generations, as kids sometimes just keep the water running more than they should, and at any random occasion. For example, turning on the water to brush teeth, then walking away before coming back a few minutes later. We were all kids once, so we know that logic isn’t always there. Teaching them good habits will save them some money in the future and you in the present.

The best thing about saving money on water is that these methods don’t really inconvenience us, as they’re a part of day to day life anyway. It’s just a matter of making a few adjustments.

Also, aside from money, let’s not lose sight of the other more important benefit of water conservation: helping the Earth.

My Questions for You:

Do you use any of these approaches to save money on water?

Can you think of any more to add to the list? I’m sure there are many more approaches that people take which can be included.

What do you think matters more in terms of achieving success: talent or effort? One can say that both matter, and that’s probably true in most cases. However, there are some cases when one matters more than the other. Sometimes, having natural ability matters more.  Other times, persistence leads to success.

Based on what I have seen over the years, persistency and wealth have some correlation. The more persistent you are, the better your likelihood of success will be.  If we are driven and relentlessly pursue a goal, it can really pay dividends. Literally, in some cases:) If we go through the motions and try hard but don’t really push ourselves, we may end up just settling for a consolation prize, to speak. Or, in some cases, failure.

Now, I know that some folks might be quick to point out that just because someone is driven to succeed, it doesn’t mean that they can do anything they put their mind to. I totally agree with that broad statement. There are things that, no matter how badly we want them and are willing to outwork anyone in the world to get, we simply aren’t good enough.

For example: I’m 6’0” tall and of average athleticism. No matter how hard I might have tried when younger, I had zero chance of playing professional basketball. Or, for that matter, college basketball.  It never would have happened even if I worked harder than anybody alive.

That being said, there are other areas in life that don’t require exceptional skills.  Additionally, there are other goals and accomplishments that we can achieve that don’t require any natural talents than what we already have.  Many of these can be achieved through persistence rather than talent.

Examples of situations where persistency can lead to improved net worth:

• Studying hard to get good grades and receive admission to a good college (since education impacts wealth).
• Working to uncover scholarships and aid to attend college.
• Working hard to get into a great graduate school or land a job in your desired field after college
• Getting that promotion at work
• Networking to find a better job
• Pushing an entrepreneurial venture forward

You get the idea. It’s not like all of these things require innate quantifiable and measurable ability in order to succeed.

It seems to me that at many stations in life, there are plenty of people that have the requisite talent to succeed. Some may be a little smarter than others, but if you’re smart enough, you’re in the game. Then, it comes down to other factors, one of which is how much you want to succeed and how much you will do to make that happen.

Think about it all the people you have known who have achieved high levels of success in school, in their careers, or as entrepreneurs. Have they all been naturally brilliant?

I doubt it. Sure, some might have been .  But I’d be willing to be that many were not necessarily more talented than others, but just had incredible persistency.

Sustained, relentless effort – coupled with a sense of knowing where you have a chance to win – seems to be achievable for most of us, right?

My observations of such people are that they take common approaches, such as these 10 aspects of persistency that can lead to success and wealth:

1. Setting ambitious goals.  It’s important to have a clearly defined goal or sense of what we want to ultimately accomplish.
2. Visualizing  success .  Envisioning success in one’s mind, orienting thinking to that place and thereby aligning behaviors to that end.
3. Planning.  Once the goal is in mind, plans are made to reach those goals. Planning – while building in room for flexibility – provides a roadmap and goalposts to shoot for.
4. Being able to ignore naysayers. There are often people who tell us that something can’t be done, whether they really believe it or just secretly prefer that we don’t succeed in order to make themselves feel better.  Being persistent involves knowing when to ignore such obstacles.
5. Being resilient.  When roadblocks emerge – which they will in one way or another – it’s important to be able to be tough, get through them, and move forward.
6. Working hard.  This one is obvious, but persistence involves the willingness to put in the time and energy it takes to reach your goals.  One saying that I have heard a few times is that if you’re not working hard, somebody else is.
7. Efficiency.  While we all need balance, it’s important sometimes to cut nonessential activities in pursuit of a goal. This could be cutting out that hour of TV at night in order to study, or it could be packing a frugal lunch each day instead of eating out in order to pay down debt.
8. Discipline.  If you want something bad enough, you will discipline yourself to avoid slacking in order to reach the goal.
9. Passion.  I think that a big part of actually being able to charge toward achieving something is truly having that burning desire to get it done.   Personally, times where I have really excelled have been when I genuinely, deep down wanted to win and reach a goal that mattered.
10. Casting aside fear.  This could mean fear of success, or fear of failure. Both could derail people. In the times where I really wanted something and did it, I had no fear of success or failure.

It’s taken me some time over the years to be able to realize all of this, so I’ve had a mixture of successes and being completely average.  And, times I’ve failed.  For the latter, I’d like to think that when factoring out luck and chance – which does play a role in things – that being truly persistent could have made the difference.  For times where I succeeded, I know it did.  Lessons learned!

My Questions for You:

Do you think that persistency is a key component to success?

Do you agree with the assertion that in a many everyday situations, that truly relentless hard work can overcome better talent?

In situations over the course of your life where you have truly achieved a high level of success, did being persistent play a role in it? Perhaps contrast that with times where you were average or fell short.

Don't carry those loans late in life

Those of us who are interested in personal finance are aware of notion that student loans can be that proverbial monkey that people want to get off their back.  A loan taken when young can take years to pay off, and keep a person in debt for a while.

We’ve talked about the value of college in debates on college vs. entrepreneurship, as well in a discussion on how education can increase wealth.  One of the other factors in the equation, which we touched on in those posts, is the reality that student loans can be a real burden. Thus it’s important to choose schools and programs wisely, and consider ROI.

A recent article in the Washington Post actually brought this last point to light in a way that certainly caught my attention.  According to the article, there are many people in their 50’s and even 60’s who are paying down student loans.  That’s right: student loans can be a burden for senior citizens!

A chart in the online article indicated that of the student loans that are past due as of the 3^rd quarter of 2011, 12.1% were for people in their 50’s, and 4.8% were for people in their 60’s!

That’s really something else. Those debts just don’t go away. Now, to be sure, some of those people might have taken on loans later in life upon returning to school. That doesn’t make it any less unpleasant to have debt later in life though.  But more eye opening is the notion that some people are still dealing with their initial round of loan obligations as they near retirement eligibility!

While I think that it can be said that a lot of debt is bad, student loans can be a more tolerable version of debt since it is being used to invest in one’s future and potential earning power. That’s different from buying an overpriced house or car. However, this goes to show that not all student loans are smart, and good loans can become bad if the repayments aren’t managed properly over the years.

To avoid such a situation, it seems like a good idea to strongly consider ROI when picking out a school and program.  Unless a school is a world renowned name brand, such as an Ivy or Ivy equivalent, it seems like a really good state school might be a better investment than an expensive private school without the name brand.  Does that make sense? Also, majoring in underwater basket weaving or some similar non-marketable endeavor is sure to wreak havoc with that ROI as well.

The big thing I see is that getting a good foundation of financial knowledge when growing up, from a parent or guardian, can be invaluable to people.  Signing up for significant debt shouldn’t be considered a rite of passage for everyone, when the idea for many of us is to work toward financial freedom.

Can you imagine not being able to buy a grandchild a toy, because you had to pay off your own student loan?

My Questions for You

Does this surprise you at all, that there are people out there in their 50’s and especially 60’s that are still paying off their own student loans?

What do you think a solution can be for these types of situations to be avoided?

Did you have any student loans at any time, and how long did it take to pay off? Or, if you still have them, when do you envision getting them paid off?

Commuting to work by car can be a breeze for some folks, and a long drawn out process for others.  Nobody I know likes to spend a lot of time commuting, as it’s time you could be spending doing other things.  It’s not easy or safe to multitask while driving anyway! Additionally, it the financial costs of commuting can add up too.

When looking at it from a financial perspective, it’s great to have a short commute to work. If you take public transportation, the time factor might still be there but there are other ways you’ll be saving.  Let’s take a look at my commute lately, and see how this might come into play.

First off, this latest assignment I’m working on has me commuting to Downtown Chicago, from the suburbs.  Being the 3^rd largest city and metropolitan area in the country, and the primary business hub between the coasts, it can get hectic getting to downtown during rush hour. Thus, I take the train.

To get to the train, I have to drive about 15 minutes. The train ride is about 45 minutes. Then, I walk another 15 minutes when I get downtown.  So, by a combination of car, train, and walking – it takes 75 minutes to get to work.

The other alternative is driving straight there.  A few people have mentioned to me, sounds a lot better – especially after I talk about how I have to do some walking! Well, I get what they’re saying, as it might sound like a tough grind to many people, especially those in smaller cities. Admittedly, it is a grind! But, this is the deal, and we have to find the best solution for our present circumstances, right?

Along those lines, I’ll go with the public transportation route. Here are 5 reasons to choose public transportation instead of driving:

1. Multitasking.  When driving, you have to focus on the road. No texting, no tweeting, or anything of the like. Just drive and pay attention to the traffic around you, for your safety and that of others. When on the train for those 45 minutes, I can multitask. If I have work to do, this is a good time to get a few things done. Or, I can catch up on some reading, email, or other activities.  It’s a better return on investment when it comes to time.
2. Reliability.  Public transportation generally follows fairly reliable schedules and timings, at least with commuter trains around here.  While there’s no flexibility up front if you’re in a hurry (they don’t wait for you!),  you have some predictability around when you’ll reach your destination. With driving, you don’t have that.  Time is money
3. Saving on Gas.  We talked about this recently here, how there are ways to save money on gas for your car.  One way is to drive less! In my case, it would probably cost $10 round trip to get to work, based on today’s prices.  When stopping to fill gas at the station so frequently, your credit cards get a good workout with all the money that’s being spent. Conversely, taking the train comes out to $7.50 per day, plus some gas to get to the station (which I didn’t consider before). Overall, I still think it’s probably cheaper to take the train.
4. Insurance Costs.  If you have a long commute to work or do a lot of daily driving, you could be paying more for insurance. You might be able to save on car insurance by taking public transportation and driving significantly less.  If you consider your driving “commute” to be taking your car to public transportation, this could mean a ton less driving.
5. Wear and Tear.  When driving, those miles can add up. Cars don’t run forever, and at a certain mileage level they need to have things worked on. For example, periodic oil changes. Additionally, at some point, the car has an estimated useful life – just like many other machines. By driving, we’re accelerating spending on maintenance as well as the end of our car’s useful life. This means spending more money. While daily spending might be incremental, it can add up over the long haul! Plus, there is wear and tear on us mentally and physically when driving, even if not perceptible. After all, we are really making life or death decisions all the time when driving!

My Questions for You

If public transportation is an option for you, do you take it? Why or why not?

If it isn’t an option, would you prefer that it was?

Can you think of any other reasons as to why public transportation is a good choice?

Go Ahead and Pinch that Penny!

What does the cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants have to do with personal finance?

Probably not much, unless you have kids who occasionally watch the show.  Anyway, a comment related to this show, made by my school-age daughter, got me thinking a little bit about how I might come across to on occasion when it comes to money. In other words, my financial image.

She and I were in the car on the way home recently, at which point I was reminded that I had previously mentioned that we would go get ice cream. Okay, I said, let’s go. So we went to a local place that has a drive up window for ice cream. Low Fat Vanilla, here we come!

After we ordered through the speaker, I pulled up to the window. At that point, while paying, I opened the car door a bit and looked to the ground. It was almost instinctive, and some of you might remember by experiment a year ago on picking up coins at the drive-thru. Clearly, I had found that you can usually find coins sitting right there, that people have dropped and nobody bothered to pick up.

Well, as I said, it was just natural for me to take a few seconds to open the door and look for change under the window. I didn’t even think about it much, and don’t know if I was more than minimally consciously aware I was doing it. At that point, my daughter asked me the following question:

“Daddy, why did you open the door?”

At that point, I stopped and practically froze. It hit me in an instant that I had been looking for loose change without even thinking about it.   I was kind of embarrassed, and just stammered something about how “Daddy does that sometimes”.

Then she paused as if to collect her thoughts, and said “Daddy, sometimes – not all the time – but sometimes, you can be like Mr. Krabs!”

Ha! Mr. Krabs is a character from Sponge Bob Square Pants, which I’ve picked up by my daughter watching this show.  This crab is supposed to be the owner of a fast food restaurant, while being obsessed with money and pinching pennies.  That is, to the point of being cartoonish – which makes sense, since the show is a cartoon.

It occurred to me that how I might be presenting myself, and how I might be perceived when it comes to money, have the potential to escape me.

In other words, sometimes we aren’t aware of how our money habits appear to others.  We of course want to be authentic to ourselves and who we are, but we want to consider what’s socially appropriate and how our actions impact others. There are some things we might want to consider.

For example:

• The way we model our behavior to kids
• The consideration we show to family and friends
• The impression we make on coworkers

We certainly want to behave in a way that positively influences others, and puts ourselves in a positive light.  Again, we also want to balance that with the need to be genuine and who we truly are.

My Questions for You

Do you ever think of how you appear to others in terms of the way you handle money?

What kind of impression do you think your money habits make on others – if any?

Have you ever drawn conclusions about anyone based on how you have seen them handle money?

Save money on gas

With gas prices getting out of hand lately, the cost of driving can’t be overlooked.  Whether commuting to work, going shopping, or taking a leisurely Sunday drive, it’s not going to be cheap to drive with gas prices this high! Thus, it might be time to revisit some ways to save money on gas.

Here are 15 ways to save money on gas:

1. Find the lowest prices.  This one is so simple yet people often look to other methods first. However, why not just pay less for gas as a first step? Use an app, or just keep an eye out for low priced gas.
2. Forget brand loyalty.  Who cares where you buy gas from, in terms of the branding of the station? A few months back, I saw two gas stations, on opposite corners from one another, with a difference of $0.24 per gallon. Yet, there were cars at the more expensive station. Why? Could it have been brand loyalty? I would rather go with the lower cost gas.
3. Carpool.  If you know someone who works or goes to school with you, and lives pretty much on the way to your mutual destination, why not consider carpooling? Taking turns driving – say alternate weeks – can result in commuting costs cut in half. Of course, you have to enjoy or at least tolerate that person’s company. Think dollar signs, and that can become easier in some cases J
4. Don’t speed. I have a friend who simply never drove the speed limit when younger. He was also really frugal. I’ll bet he never factored in the decrease in efficiency when speeding. Going past highway speed limits, mileage efficiency might be reduced quite quickly.  Best to avoid speeding, which is also smart since it’s safe and we aren’t supposed to be doing it anyway!
5. Use public transportation.  Yes, this might not be possible for you. However, for some people it is a possibility, and one that should be considered.  With my current work assignment, I’m probably looking at $10 in gas round trip, based on the approximately $4.30 per gallon local prices. By taking the train, my per-day cost comes out to about $7.50. An added bonus is less wear and tear on the car, and a less stressful commute!
6. Bike or walk.  Again, not possible for many. However, if you have a short distance to work, school, the gym, or wherever it is you want to go – why not work in some exercise? It’s good for your health, and saves gas. Even doing this occasionally can have incremental money and health benefits that could add up.
7. Get a tune-up.  If your car gets a regular tune-up and is running well, it can be more efficient in its use of gas.
8. Avoid unnecessary starting/stopping and braking.  By this, we’re talking about taking clear paths to places rather than dealing with stop and go traffic. Also, while you drive open roads, if you are constantly tapping on the brake out of habit, you may be able to let up on the accelerator instead.  This could help save money ultimately.
9. Clear out your car trunk.  If your car trunk is weighed down by unnecessary items, it can lower efficiency. To save a little money in the long run, get out of the habit of thinking of your car as a secondary storage unit.
10. Check your tires.  Tires that are low on air can impact the mileage you get.
11. Use lower octane fuel.  Going with premium fuel, when it isn’t truly necessary, can really add up over time.  Go with the lower octane variety.
12. Use coupons.  Yes, I have actually seen coupons for gas! One offered a $0.05 per gallon discount if you redeemed the coupon. Not bad!
13. Check your air filter.  Keep a clean car air filter, if totally in need of replacement it could impact your mileage.
14. Plan your trips.  If you take the time in advance to spend a few minutes planning your driving for a day, if you’re running errands as an example, you might be saving more than time. Consolidating stops and choosing locations to visit, resulting in a shorter and more efficient trip, can lead to gas savings.
15. Pinch pennies.  Here’s a way to really be a Squirreler by using the take a penny, leave a penny dish.  This one’s just for fun, I don’t really recommend it J

My Questions for You

• Have you given extra thought to saving money on gas lately?
• Do you use any of these strategies?
• Do you have any more to add?

Money and psychology are often interrelated. One area in which the two come together is in the case of cognitive dissonance. It’s a phenomenon that’s applicable in many areas of life, but it can occur in the world of money and personal finance as well.

First off, why am I bringing up the topic? I’ve been thinking a bit lately about the notion of being persistent and how it can be an important aspect of trying to increase net worth, and the role it plays. One aspect of this is being persistent with trying to remove barriers to success, including those are more psychological in nature.

Anyway, this brought to me the concept of cognitive dissonance. This essentially refers to situations where a person might have two thoughts, ideas, or concepts that are in sharp contrast to one another. This contrast can result in frustration, anxiety, irritation, or other psychological conflict. The person is then motivated to try to lessen this dissonance through modifying beliefs or creating new ones.

Here’s an example, outside of personal finance: a person who likes to eat fast food on a daily basis. The person enjoys trips to fast food establishments, but also realizes that such food is not the most nutritious. With those conflicting thoughts, the person might rationalize how he’s healthy anyway so it won’t affect him, or that there is too much hype regarding supposed negative consequences to fast food. Or, in one case I actually heard someone say years ago, “When I get old, there will probably be a pill to cure anything anyway”.

How can this apply to personal finance? Here are 4 ways that cognitive dissonance can impact our money decisions:

Cognitive Dissonance and Shopping

• A person buys a new car, without reviewing any published ratings, and has issues with it
• A friend buys a new car, talks about how well it rated, and has no issues with the car
• The first person rationalizes that the other person is more knowledgeable about cars anyway, so he probably knew what to buy instinctively

Cognitive Dissonance and Real Estate

• A home buyer falls in love with a home and stretches to take out the maximum loan she will be offered
• She knows that stretching to buy a home can be quite risky for one’s finances
• She then decides that most people have dreams that mean a lot personally, so it’s okay to sometimes just go for what you want – and this was one of those times

Cognitive Dissonance and Investing

• A stock buyer pays $50 per share for an investment in a company
• The stock price drops to $45 per share on bad earnings reports, prospects for the company don’t look very good, and most analysts think the stock has the potential to drop much further
• Despite this news, the investor decides to hold on to the stock with the belief that what goes down usually comes back up – carrying out the disposition effect in the process.

Taking these examples into account, I’ve been thinking of this concept in terms of building wealth.  My approach to this has been to think positively, though occasionally I slip into the following thinking:

• I would like to have enough wealth someday to have freedom and financial independence
• However, I’m seemingly a long, long, way from getting to that point.
• Therefore, I sometimes think “Well, many people end up working later in life than they want to anyway, so it wouldn’t be so bad or unusual if that ended up happening with me”.

See the issue here?

It’s gotten me to think that being able to side step such thinking can potentially be quite helpful in reaching goals. Being able to utilize critical thinking skills can be a better approach.

What I’m suggesting is to stop and analyze a situation for a moment, and:

1. Identify if we’re facing such conflict
2. Think through, with an object mind, different points of view
3. Come up with a better path for us to take with our actions

For example, in the situation above, instead of just capitulating to the thought of working later in life, why not take a view such as this: “It’s going to take focus, determination, hard work, and perhaps a little luck – but if I put my mind to it, I can do it. After all, others are able to do it!”

Bottom line is that we shouldn’t let psychology stand in the way of success. Rather, let us find ways to use an understanding of psychology to help us reach our aspirational goals!

My Questions for You

Have you experience this phenomenon when it comes to money or in other aspects of life?

Have you seen any others display this tendency?

How do you think we can use critical thinking and psychology to help us make good decisions, assess situations effectively, and move forward to achieving our goals?

Education and Wealth Go Together

Most of us have probably heard some variation of this advice before: “Get a good education so you can get a good job and have a successful career”. It’s been a standard approach for years, where many well-meaning parents and other elders encourage younger people to build their foundation with a solid education.

However, the tried and true advice about getting a good education has been questioned of late. We discussed this in a post on college vs. entrepreneurship, debating the notion that college might not be worth it these days, it’s not for everyone, and that many people could be fine without it in this current environment.

Clearly, based on what I wrote in that post, I don’t agree that college has become less necessary. Rather, I believe that a good, solid formal education has become more important than ever, and included it as one of the top ways to grow and protect your net worth.

Sure, some people are entrepreneurs that strike it rich based on risk taking and innate business sense. And yes, some people do burden themselves by going to unnecessarily expensive schools that offer a poor potential for high ROI. Nevertheless, I think its great advice for a young person by recommending they focus on getting a good formal education.

Here are 5 reasons I came up with to support the notion that a good, formal education is worth investing in:

1. College graduates make more money.  This has been documented over the years. Over a lifetime, this can truly add up to a substantial difference in net worth.
2. A college degree is required for many jobs.  Many white-collar, professional jobs simply require an undergraduate degree as a minimum screening criterion. If a person doesn’t have a degree, they probably won’t get a chance to enter certain fields at all. Often, the requirement is to have a graduate degree as well. If you don’t have a degree, you might not get a chance to play the game – and might hit an early, low plateau even if you do get an entry-level chance.
3. A college degree helps shape your personal brand.  Where you go to school can – for better or worse – play a role in getting into graduate school, getting certain jobs, and connecting with other people. It helps tell a story about you, and gives people a base level of confidence in your ability to show ambition and hustle.
4. A formal education teaches you how to critically think.  Often times, the specific skills we learn in school are never used, but we develop the skills of critical thinking and learning how to keep on learning. I had a former college friends mother ask me, years ago after I graduated, if I was using the specifics I learned in college in my first job. I said no, maybe 5% of the skills carried over, but I’m so glad I had the education. She looked at me puzzled, like I was crazy, and asked me how I could be glad for the education if I don’t use the skills I learned. I told her that I wasn’t applying very many skills I learned directly in college, and learned most things new on the job. However, without my college education – even though there was minimal transfer of skills from my degree and stuff was all new – I never would have been able to be prepared to do this job without my degree and education. She didn’t get it, as she clearly didn’t understand the concept of learning to learn and having intellectual context.
5. You form a network of other professionals.  It doesn’t matter what you do, nor does it matter if you aspire to make a lot of money. The bottom line is that the people you meet in school, as well as other alumni from your school, can help open opportunities to network, learn, bounce ideas off each other, and possibly find work.

Overall, the way I see it, it’s important to convey to younger people that a good, solid, formal education can help put them in a better position to grow their net worth over the course of their lives.

My Questions for You:

Do you agree with the notion that a formal education is truly necessary in this day and age?

Do you think that those who dismiss college for entrepreneurship are being shortsighted and caught up in get rich quick hype, or do you think that things are changing?

How has your level of education impacted your career, income, or other aspects of your financial life?

So many opportunities to monetize!

There is a lot of talk online, particularly among those owning blogs, about monetization. The idea that one can monetize a blog is alluring to many newcomers to the blogging world, and they often get into it for those reasons. Of course, many give up after a few months when they aren’t happy with the 50 cents they’ve made to date . However, for those who stick around and work at it, monetization can happen, as evidenced by the success of many site owners.

This got me thinking that with the focus on making money online, there might be other areas that we can look to generate side income.  These possibilities don’t have to necessarily come from websites. Rather, we can look to our everyday life to create ways to make some extra money!

Now, I’m writing this half-jokingly, coming from the perspective of amusement in the monetization craze, as well as genuine interest as well. With that in mind, here are some present and future ideas that just came to mind regarding monetizing anything:

• Car.  Instead of buying a nice, name brand car, perhaps buy an old, cheap, yet reliable enough car. Then, look at your car as one big advertising vehicle – literally. No free bumper sticker messages, now you can start slapping ads all over the car! Sell a client on the number of eyeballs that will be seeing their ad as you drive each day, week, and month.
• Home.  In some cities I’ve seen older apartment (or condo) buildings, which happen to be situated by a highway, with ads on them. Whether painted or affixed, these ads just might be generating some cash flow each month. Now, I sure as heck wouldn’t want a sign on my home, but if you don’t care – and you own the property – it’s an option!
• Clothes.  Go to a business, and tell them that you’ll be glad to wear a coat with their logo on it. Maybe they will give you one on hand, or you can “rent” ad space by putting their logo on it. For example, maybe a restaurant could give you 10 free meals for affixing their logo to their coat. Or, maybe another business could pay you a certain dollar amount per month for advertising in this way? Hard to enforce and hard to keep from being laughed at doing this. I wouldn’t do it J But hey, it’s a potential monetization vehicle, right? After all, when people see us wearing clothes with a brand logo on it, it’s free advertising for the company, right?
• Email Signature.  If you send a fair amount of personal emails, maybe you could sell some ad space there? Set up a signature for your email, and offer a client the chance to put a company logo or url there. Hey, maybe they’ll get a targeted audience?
• Voicemail. If someone calls, maybe your voicemail message can say “this message was sponsored by Company XYZ, the purveyor of the finest in Product 123”, before getting to your standard greeting.  Yet another way to sell out!
• Tweets. There are people that do this already, getting paid for tweets. I haven’t done this, but think it’s an interesting concept that’s apparently working well for a number of people.  Worth considering, perhaps?
• Texts.  Some people sent out a ton of texts every month. If you do, and can give up a small percentage of available space on each text for a sponsored message, couldn’t that be worth it. Your friends and family would understand

Some of this might be going way too far, at least based on what I would actually do. But if we think about it, advertising space can take on many forms!

My Questions For You

Are you actively trying to monetize online?

Would you ever consider any of these other alternative approaches to monetizing?

Can you think of any other wacky, out of the box ways to monetize and make a little extra money via advertising?