Monthly Archives: October 2010

If you’re well-heeled, you shouldn’t care!

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If you’re not ‘twittering’, you’re missing out …

I always thought that Twitter was about “just got back from the dentist and he said “no cavities” … whoohoo!” or just about advertising your latest post. Well, it is both of those things … but, not anywhere near as much as it used to be. At least when it comes to ‘following’ (a Twitter term) personal finance writers.

Now, it seems to be more about genuine subject-matter-related info in small bites, as well as saying “hey, I saw this cool article on …”.

Now, that’s useful – even to me – and it will be very useful to you.

If you like, you can start by following me at http://twitter.com/7million7years … I promise that it will never (OK, hardly ever) be mundane 😉

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Which brings me to a recent tweet from WellHeeledBlog, whom I’ve just started following:

According to Meriam Webster’s online dictionary, ‘well-heeled’ means: having plenty of money.

My question is: if you are well-heeled why do you even care that Vanguard Group lowered the minimum entry level for Admiral Shares? Of course, WellHeeledBlog may not care, but thinks that some of their readers may and is, therefore, providing a useful reader service.

My point – because I like and follow WellHeeledBlog and will continue to do so – is that I don’t care and neither should my readers … long-term. Many of you may care – today (perhaps, because you are only starting on your path to wealth) – but, long-term you should not care, simply because these sorts of money tips will not make you rich.

My blogging – and, twittering – niche is to take my readers to $7 million in 7 years (or some other Large Number / Soon Date).

On the other hand, I started $30k in debt and so will many of my readers. So, this type of money-saving info is useful in the beginning of your financial journey … but, not for long – and, not for the important parts of your financial journey.

Fortunately, that’s where I step in …

You see, this sort of ‘beginner’ financial info is available everywhere, and I don’t see the point of simply rehashing stuff that you can find elsewhere.

If you do need this kind of entry-level personal financial advice, go elsewhere, find the info you need, save money, and get yourself (partially) out of debt, then come back here to find the reality of how to get rich.

That’s my niche, and I hope you are finding it as enjoyable/useful to read as I am in writing it? 🙂

She’s an heiress …

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Madam X (provocative name) over at My Open Wallet says that she is an heiress:

Remember Great Aunt Minnie? She died peacefully a few weeks ago. I had a chance to see her one last time in May, and spoke to her on the phone a few days before her death … it was even more weird to find a thick envelope in my mail the other night, which turned out to be from Minnie’s lawyer, because I’ll inherit a share of her estate. So now I just have to see what happens once the estate is settled and divided up. I have no idea how much money it will be. I certainly don’t expect much, given I’ll only get one twelfth of her estate.

Receiving money ‘suddenly’, be it from a sad occasion such as this, or from some fortuitous circumstance such as winning a substantial prize in the lottery, can be difficult, because you probably have no plan.

And, because you have no plan, the money can go as quickly as it comes (remember poor-then-rich-then-poor Lou Eisenberg?).

I call this Found Money, and here’s how to deal with it:

If you’re lucky enough to receive such a windfall, you should spend enough to fully celebrate your good fortune (even more so if it was a result of hard work – e.g. selling your business – rather than luck).

Here’s a table that will help you decide how much to save and how much to spend, depending on how much Found Money you happen to come across:


The idea is that money is for SPENDING and ONLY FOR SPENDING … but, you need to PLAN to spend some now and PLAN to spend some later (a.k.a. saving). That’s exactly what this table is designed to do.

So, if you find $10 in the street, buy yourself a fun magazine, then stick the rest in a jar.

If you happen to inherit $100,000 go ahead and upgrade your car (and/or take a vacation) – totally guilt free – then plan to invest the other $90k very wisely 😉

Millionaires aren’t rich!

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I was snooping around Watson Inc’s blog … you know, just stopping by for a friendly chat (whilst really checking out the competition) and, thought that I should just add my 2,000,000,000 cents worth to his surprising ‘facts’ about millionaires [my quotation marks]:

– I didn’t inherit my money – I might, but one of the reasons that I’m self-made ‘rich’ is because I always expected (still expect) this little family nest-egg to be squandered well before it hits me.

– I don’t feel rich – I did for about one nano-second after receiving my second big payout, but the current financial crisis hit pretty soon thereafter, and reality set in.

– I don’t have a high-paying job – in fact, the only time I was paid more than $60,000 a year was about 8 years BEFORE I started my $7 million 7 year journey, and again AFTER, when I formed my US joint venture and realized somebody else was actually picking up 49% of my ‘tab’.

– I drive fancy cars – D’uh yeah! What’s the point of being rich if you don’t get the vroom and the bling?!

– I don’t hang around the golf course all day – I struggle to find time to: play golf; spend more than 1/2 to 1 mid-week day with my wife; a 1/2 day playing poker (yes, it’s true that I’m a degenerate); and, so on. I’m too busy with my blogs and projects … and, travel!

– I am not an elitist – if I was, would I be ‘talking’ to you? 😛

…. most importantly, I am definitely NOT a millionaire.

Millionaires can’t afford to do/be any of the things that Shawn suggests … I think he’s actually referring to us multi-millionaires 😉

By the way, I encourage you to pop over and read the comments on this particular post; Shawn and I had a very interesting discussion about the practical nature of wealth … check it out here.