Live A Better Life

This post has nothing to do with making money, but life isn't all about making money. It's about being happy. And most of us make money with the end of achieving that goal. So this post is about being happier.

Make Life Simple Again


When we were young life was easier, right? I know sometimes it seems that way. But the truth is life still is easy. It always will be. The only difference is we’re older, and the older we get, the more we complicate things for ourselves.

You see, when we were young we saw the world through simple, hopeful eyes. We knew what we wanted and we had no biases or concealed agendas. We liked people who smiled. We avoided people who frowned. We ate when we were hungry, drank when we were thirsty, and slept when we were tired.

As we grew older our minds became gradually disillusioned by negative external influences. At some point we began to hesitate and question our instincts. When a new obstacle or growing pain arose, we stumbled and a fell down. This happened several times. Eventually we decided we didn’t want to fall again, but rather than solving the problem that caused us to fall, we avoided it all together.

As a result, we ate comfort food and drank alcohol to numb our wounds and fill our voids. We worked late nights on purpose to avoid unresolved conflicts at home. We started holding grudges, playing mind games, and subtly deceiving others and ourselves to get ahead. And when it didn’t work out, we lived above our means, bought things we didn’t need, and ate and drank some more just to make ourselves feel better again.

Over the course of time, we made our lives more and more difficult, and we started losing touch with who we really are and what we really need.

So let’s get back to the basics, shall we? Let’s make things simple again. It’s easy. Here are 60 ways to do just that:

Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing. - Oscar Wilde

1. Don’t try to read other people’s minds. Don’t make other people try to read yours. Communicate.
2. Be polite, but don’t try to be friends with everyone around you. Instead, spend time nurturing your relationships with the people who matter most to you.
3. Your health is your life, keep up with it. Get an annual physical check-up.
4. Live below your means. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need. Always sleep on big purchases. Create a budget and savings plan and stick to both of them.
5. Get enough sleep every night. An exhausted mind is rarely productive.
6. Get up 30 minutes earlier so you don’t have to rush around like a mad man. That 30 minutes will help you avoid speeding tickets, tardiness, and other unnecessary headaches.
7. Get off your high horse, talk it out, shake hands or hug, and move on.
8. Don’t waste your time on jealously. The only person you’re competing against is yourself.
9. Surround yourself with people who fill your gaps. Let them do the stuff they’re better at so you can do the stuff you’re better at.
10. Organize your living space and working space.
11. Get rid of stuff you don’t use.
12. Ask someone if you aren’t sure.
13. Spend a little time now learning a time-saving trick or shortcut that you can use over and over again in the future.
14. Don’t try to please everyone. Just do what you know is right.
15. Don’t drink alcohol or consume recreational drugs when you’re mad or sad. Take a jog instead.
16. Be sure to pay your bills on time.
17. Fill up your gas tank on the way home, not in the morning when you’re in a hurry.
18. Use technology to automate tasks.
19. Handle important two-minute tasks immediately.
20. Relocate closer to your place of employment.
21. Don’t steal.
22. Always be honest with yourself and others.
23. Say “I love you” to your loved ones as often as possible.
24. Single-task. Do one thing at a time and give it all you got.
25. Finish one project before you start another.
26. Be yourself.
27. When traveling, pack light. Don’t bring it unless you absolutely must.
28. Clean up after yourself. Don’t put it off until later.
29. Learn to cook, and cook.
30. Make a weekly (healthy) menu, and shop for only the items you need.
31. Consider buying and cooking food in bulk. If you make a large portion of something on Sunday, you can eat leftovers several times during the week without spending more time cooking.
32. Stay out of other people’s drama. And don’t needlessly create your own.
33. Buy things with cash.
34. Maintain your car, home, and other personal belongings you rely on.
35. Smile often, even to complete strangers.
36. If you hate doing it, stop it.
37. Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to your grandfather and the same level of patience you would have with your baby brother.
38. Apologize when you should.
39. Write things down.
40. Be curious. Don’t be scared to learn something new.
41. Explore new ideas and opportunities often.
42. Don’t be shy. Network with people. Meet new people.
43. Don’t worry too much about what other people think about you.
44. Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven, and likeminded.
45. Don’t text and drive. Don’t drink and drive.
46. Drink water when you’re thirsty.
47. Don’t eat when you’re bored. Eat when you’re hungry.
48. Exercise every day. Simply take a long, relaxing walk.
49. Let go of things you can’t change. Concentrate on things you can.
50. Find hard work you actually enjoy doing.
51. Realize that the harder you work, the luckier you will become.
52. Follow your heart. Don’t waste your life fulfilling someone else’s dreams and desires.
53. Set priorities for yourself and act accordingly.
54. Take it slow and add up all your small victories.
55. However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. Accept this simple fact.
56. Excel at what you do. Otherwise you’ll just frustrate yourself.
57. Mature, but don’t grow up too fast.
58. Realize that you’re never quite as right as you think you are.
59. Build something or do something that makes you proud.
60. Make mistakes, learn from them, laugh about them, and move along.

Oh, and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. They’re free and better than anything money can buy. ;-)

Tax Havens For Retirees

When I retire, I plan to live off my dividends and other passive income. California, which is basically broke, which has pretty high state taxes is not the most optimal place - especially once you don't have a job and have the flexibility to live in cheaper places. Some states like Nevada, have on tax on personal income, while some like New Hampshire only tax interest and dividends (definitely retiree unfriendly). Forbes recently had an article about states Wooing Retirees With Tax Breaks.

Last month, even as they slapped a new tax on hospitals, raised dozens of
user fees and eliminated a low-income tax credit, Georgia legislators passed
income tax relief for one group: well-off retirees. For residents 62 or older,
Georgia already exempts from its 6% tax all Social Security and $70,000 per
couple of income from pensions, retirement accounts, annuities, interest,
dividends, capital gains and rents. But in 2012 the exemption for couples 65 and
older will rise to $130,000, and by 2016 all their retirement income will be
exempt--a break Governor Sonny Perdue championed as a lure for well-heeled
seniors.

If you're looking for a domestic retirement tax haven, Georgia is hardly the only place worth considering. Seven states--Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming--don't tax personal income at all. New Hampshire and Tennessee tax interest and dividends but not other income. The rest of the states have broad income taxes but give old taxpayers breaks, some quite generous. A recent study by Karen Smith Conway of the University of New Hampshire and Jonathan C. Rork of Georgia State calculates that retirees pay, on average, only half the state income tax of working folks with the same income.



So depending on whether you have w-2 income or 1098-int income, you might want to consider different states to live in. Of course, higher rates of real estate taxes and estate taxes will complicate things further.

Buying Silver Coins


Gold hit a new high today, closing around $1,237/ounce after trading at almost $1,250/oz during the intraday session. Silver, which is already up 30% since its lows of $15.13 in February followed to $19.56/ounce.

I've been collecting both gold and silver coins since late 2005, during which time gold was trading for $495/oz and the price of silver was under $10/ounce. I currently own over 50 silver coins. Before you get all excited, the value comes to around $1,000 and it's a big hassle to store them. But, being a big fan of shiny objects I still like to buy coins now and then.

My favorites are the 1 ounce Australian Lunar Series, the Peace silver dollars and the Morgan silver dollars. But this time, I thought I'd try something different. I bought a couple of the Nazi 5 Reichmark silver coins. No, I'm not a big fan of Nazi memorabilia or anything like that. It's just that these coins are 90% silver and each one contains about 0.40 ounces of silver. Considering that silver bullion coins sell for about $22 right now, the silver in those coins is worth about $8.80. I just spent about $10.50 for each coin or about $1.70 more than I would've paid for a silver bullion coin.

Not bad for a piece of history!

Historically, silver has traded for about 1/15th the price of gold which means it would be trading around $75/oz today. Even if we consider that it trades for 1/50th, it should still be at $25/oz. I think we'll see silver at $25/oz within 12 months, which means it has to jump another 20%. Let's see how that works out. It will probably pull back a little before it makes any major moves to the upside. I'll be buying more silver coins if that happens. Although I'm not sure what I'll do with them. I might have to start burying them!

How To Nail An Interview

The best investment you can make is in yourself. Check out this great video by Bob Parsons about nailing an interview. Despite coming from a guy who's built a web development company, it's equally applicable whether you're going to work on Wall Street or an SEO agency.

The Power of Dividend Investing

Here's an interesting snippet about the benefits of dividend investing:

"A recent Associated Press report noted that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs has only earned $1 per year since he returned to the CEO post in 1997.

That seems to beg the question how does someone live on $1 per year? Steve is able to enjoy a very lavish lifestyle, but not because of his large salary. His lifestyle is funded by his dividend income. Yes, Steve Jobs is probably one of the biggest dividend investors that you've never heard of.

Jobs owns approximately 138 million shares of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) stock that he received from the Pixar Animation Studios sale back in 2006.

Disney has paid out dividends of $0.35 per share each of the past three years. Owning 138 million shares results in over $48 million received each year in dividend income." -SeekingAlpha

I believe that dividends are also subject to the 15% cap on income tax, making that a pretty low tax rate for Mr. Jobs.

Bull Market In Bureaucracy

According the interesting guys at Agora Finance, the all industry thats in a bull market is government employment!

Not sure why increased government spending is touted as a good thing. Sure it helps the economy from spiralling into a depression, but shouldn't there be some limit on it? Its not like we have any savings. We're just borrowing from foreigners who are happy to send us back their surplus-export-dollars in order to keep their currencies in check to prevent their exports from decreasing. At some point we might become like Japan, with a debt that's nearly 200% of GDP!