Lazy Man’s Identity Revealed… |
7 Comments |
… to a friend… I’m apologize for the teasing title, but it just fit right.
I had mentioned in the past that I have an obsession with the fantasy baseball leagues and in particular a game called Baseball Mogul. I compete in these statistical challenges with people who I’ve never met in person. It seems a little odd to me, but these people exist in my life through a series of zeros and ones on my computer monitor. I had a chat with a friend from the league and things got a little off the baseball topic (as they sometimes do).
I had been meaning to tell that I have this online presence that takes up a lot of my time for quite awhile. We got on the topic of the costs of living in Silicon Valley vs. the country. He’s a fellow software engineer and asked about the salaries out here - though he was very cautious about it as it still a social question mark to talk of such things. I’m pretty straight forward with my salary to some people, so I had no problem giving it. From his perspective, it was a fortune. I think the reaction was “jeezamo!” or something close to that. He was quick to do the rent/income ratio calculation in our respective areas - beating me to the punch. I think we might have been slightly better than him, but it was close. Considering that he’s just out of college and we didn’t factor taxes in (my tax bracket is higher), it probably wasn’t that valid.
It was at that point where I decided to reveal that I write about this stuff every day. Of course he checked the site out and then came a couple of questions. The age-old question of rent vs. buy brought up. I still believe there’s no solid answer to that one, so I couldn’t help out there. He then asked me about Prosper.com. The conversation gravitated towards Kiva.org a charitable company that his wife had mentioned in the past. I think that’s a tremendous place for extra money as long as you consider it part of your charitable budget.
I don’t remember if I got a chance to give him some non-financial advice (I’m not licensed to give financial advice), but here’s what I would tell him today…
Think about your retirement now and take advantage of your 401k and Roth IRA. Money does compound tremendously over time and since you are 24 it really is quite significant. Also, you may want to read these four sites fairly regularly… Get Rich Slowly, The Simple Dollar, Free Money Finance, and PFBlogs.org’s Popular Page.
What else should I have mentioned to him? What would you say? Let me know in the comments.
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June 26th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I love fantasy baseball… unfortunately, it takes up too much of my time. (not unfortunate for me… for my wife! ;))
I think you did good with your recommendations. The best thing to do is recommend a few of the best, and as he becomes familiar with blogs, blogrolls, and the agendas of particular bloggers, he will find what he is looking for.
Giving too much at once can be overwhelming.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Kiva is great
I’m all about charitable organization donations, and theirs is one of the best, by far.
Also, did you happen to see the story NuWire Investor did on Prosper? I’d link it, but I don’t know if your site supports html in comments, so I’ll just copy/paste the link here: [Editor: sure we can link it] NuWire Prosper Article
Another question for you- do you think it’s possible to save *too* much money for retirement? Let me know what you think.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Sorry- I meant to include a link back to my blog in the earlier comment
June 27th, 2007 at 3:20 am
Hey, thanks for the recommendation!
Now, when is the real un-masking happening?
June 27th, 2007 at 7:29 am
FMF, follow the Canadian media over the next couple of days. Oh wait, you said “real” - nevermind.
June 27th, 2007 at 8:46 am
I would only add that he may consider moving to a cheaper place to live upon retirement
June 28th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
The rent/income ratio doesn’t include the higher cost of living. I spend $15 a day commuting to work in the New York area. I have to pay $50 a month for WATER.
All that having been said, I love New York and won’t leave it… but I think people in smaller cities have no comprehension what a massive cash drain a big city can be (much the same as big people city have no comprehension that people in small towns actually have fulfilling lives without hour-and-a-half commutes).