You've reached the internet home of Chris Sells, who has a long history as a contributing member of the Windows developer community. He enjoys long walks on the beach and various computer technologies.
Sunday, Dec 16, 2007, 2:22 PM in Money
XBOX 360 For Pennies a Day!
In 2006, I purchased an XBOX 360 bundle from CostCo for about $550, including the console, a game and two wireless controllers.
In April of 2007, my 360 caught the "red ring of death" ("Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"), at which point I brought it back to CostCo and exchanged it for the bundle they had available at the time, which was $475. They refunded me the difference!
Net return: $75 in one year on an initial investment of $550.
Earlier this month, my new 360 also caught the plague and I returned it again to CostCo, where the holiday bundle now costs $400.
Net return: $75 in 7 months on an initial investment of $475 in 58% of the time from the last return of this amount.
If this continues, at this rate I'll have made my original investment back in another 9 months, at which point I'll have had the use of an XBOX 360 for 28 months for the opportunity cost of the original $550, which is approximately $50 at 7% over two years after taxes, $1.80/month or 6 cents/day.
What a deal! : )
P.S. The moral of the story: buy your electronics at CostCo.
Saturday, Sep 1, 2007, 9:22 AM in Money
20 Timeless Money Rules
Save yourself the Suzy whoever and read this instead:
- Be humble
- Take calculated risks
- Have an emergency fund
- Mix it up
- It's the portfolio, stupid
- Average is the new best
- Practice patience
- Don't time the market
- Be a cheapskate
- Don't follow the crowd
- Buy low
- Invest abroad
- Keep perspective
- Just do it
- Borrow responsibly
- Talk to your spouse
- Exit gracefully
- Pay only your share
- Give wisely
- Keep money in its place
Following this advice will put you in the top 20% of investors in the world.
Monday, Oct 30, 2006, 4:53 PM in Money
Mark Twain on Investing
OCTOBER: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The other are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.
-Mark Twain
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005, 8:03 PM in Money
20 is the new 30
I find the idea of kids coming home from college to live with their parents again with they start a career, save for a house and build a relationship to be interesting. I like my kids, so wouldn't mind this (although they're not teenagers yet, so who knows if I'll still like 'em? : ).
Thursday, Dec 16, 2004, 12:20 AM in Money
Products and Money
This one's a double-header:
Eric Sink talks about how to find a product to build (if you're a micro-ISV).
Joel talks about how much to charge for your product.
Both are excellent but both convince me yet again that such things are more luck than skill (which sucks for those of us that consider themselves skillful).
Thursday, Dec 2, 2004, 8:20 AM in Money
Annual Free Credit Report Available As Of 12/1/04
Since our credit scores have become such a big part of our lives, it has become federal law that everyone be able to get a free credit report annually. As of December 1st, 2004, the western states are eligible and the web site lists when other groups of states will have access. For a blow-by-blow, check out the write-up on the Personal Finance Blog.
Saturday, May 1, 2004, 11:13 AM in Money
Talking To Kids About Money
Here.
I found a new site focusing on a topic near and dear to my heart -- educating kids about money -- so I thought I'd log it for future reference (although you're free to read my thoughts about it, too : ).
Saturday, May 1, 2004, 12:00 AM in Money
Talking To Kids About Money
I'm a huge fan of talking to kids about money (actually, I'll talk an adult's ears off about money, too, if given half a chance -- I once lectured Matt Pietrek and his girlfriend on the topic for an hour over pancakes [sorry, guys...]). When I was growing up, the training I got in school about money management has how to write a check, i.e. how to be a good little consumer. I also learned the basics of compound interest, but not as related to anything real, e.g. buying a house or saving for retirement. Most of what I didn't learn in school, I also didn't learn from my parents because one of them (who managed to buy high and sell low during the recent market correction) isn't any good at money management and the other was very private about such things (although has been opening up on this topic recently).
Me, I go the other way. While they know not to talk about it outside of our immediate family, my kids know how much my wife and I make, how much we spend month to month, how we're saving for their college education, how we're saving for retirement, the investment property I've purchased with my money-savvy brother-in-law (whose parents also refused to talk money with him), etc. The Sells brothers have their own allowance that goes up annually on their hire date aka their birthday. I act as their bank, keeping track of their income and expenses in an Excel spreadsheet as they deposit and withdraw money, limiting them to a single week's "advance" on their allowance (giving them the choice of spending what they've got now vs. saving for what they want in the future). In the future, I plan on letting them maintain their own balance sheet (subject to random audit), like my Mom let me maintain mine on a paper check register (I guess I did learn a little something from my parents -- come to think of it, the way I award allowance is just like my Mom, too -- way to go, Mom! : ).
Anyway, as open as I am about our money and as much as I bring it up with them in an attempt to stamp the consumer culture out of my children before it takes hold, there are still more things to be done, as I learned this morning on "the mint," a web site dedicated to what kids should know about money and how teachers and parents can help. Check it out.
BTW, I've recently come to the conclusion that a parent paying for their child's college education is a sucker's game, as it drains much needed funds out of the parent's own investments when it should be enjoying the magic of compound interest. Instead, grandparents should pay for college, letting each generation have another 20-30 years of compound interest before skimming off the top for college. The problem with this, of course, is that it requires one generation to pay for both their kids and their grandkids to shift into this new thinking (assuming, of course, that the parents can pay for their kid's college at all, which isn't a given with our current consumer-oriented society). I plan on being that bridge in my family, i.e. I plan to pay for my kids' and my grandkids' college education. I also plan to have myself cryogenically frozen, putting half of my money into a trust for myself when I'm rejuvenated, leaving the other half for my wife. Neither of these has anything to do with this subject, but I thought I'd stick them on the end here anyway. : )
Sunday, Nov 16, 2003, 10:19 AM in Money
Looking for the Money Cat
Here. Someone sent me a fabulous follow up email to "The Average Return Myth," but in the heat of the PDC, I didn't get a chance to read it and now that the PDC is over, I can't find it again! All I remember is that the person's email address started with "cat" (I think). Can you please send it again, Mr. Cat? Thanks!
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2003, 4:42 PM in Money
Watching the 'digital hand'
Here. Gurley sums up nicely the tendency of the IT industry to eat other industries and itself, leading to nice things for consumers, but not industries.
Saturday, Sep 6, 2003, 10:58 AM in Money
Bloomberg University: Required Reading
Here. The recent economic conditions caused me to become very interested in not just making money (I've always been a capitalist : ), but also in keeping a careful eye on it. In the past, I've let most of the "keeping an eye on it" be done by a financial advisor (I've had one since I was 22). These days, I have a stack of financial books that I'm reading [1] and it's been a fabulous educational experience. Given the supreme importance of money in our society, I think everyone should know the basics of money management. I'm very disappointed that I made it all the way through high school, let alone college, with no more instruction then how to fill in a check (something we want folks to do less of, not more!). Towards that end, I really love Bloomberg University’s no-frills financial tutorials, including one on the basics of a 401(k) and another on the basics of investing. They provide just the tip of the iceberg and I could recommend a lot of other reading, but this is a good place to start for folks that want to actually keep the money they make. [1] http://www.sellsbrothers.com/money
Sunday, Jun 29, 2003, 12:00 AM in Money
Chris's Notes on Stock Options for Dummies
Chris's Notes on Stock Options For Dummies, Alan R. Simon, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2001. I recommend this book for folks that need to know the details of their company's stock options, although the details aren't interesting enough or important enough to warrant a book of this size, especially given how worthless most company's stock options are these days.
I bought this book when I was too stupid to recognize it as a book about a company's stock options instead of about publicly traded options. In general, the strategy that I've developed if I ever get the opportunity to exercise company stock options is as follows:
- Exercise stock options as soon as possible, paying taxes as appropriate
- Hold stocks for at least one year to reduce taxes on gains from normal income tax rates, e.g. ~30%, to the long-term capital gain tax rate, 15%, using 0 as the basis and subtracting the taxes already paid in step 1
Doesn't seem like enough for an entire book...
Sunday, Jun 29, 2003, 12:00 AM in Money
Chris's Notes on The Instant Millionaire
Chris's Notes on The Instant Millionaire: A Tale of Wisdom and Wealth, Mark Fisher, New World Library, 1991. I recommend this book for folks that are willing to believe that the act of willing something to happen hard enough will make it happen.
On the one hand, I've solved many an engineering problem by simply letting my subconscious know that it needed solving. On the other hand, I've never been able to successfully wish for something to happen. The question is whether you view this book as channeling your subconscious energies into finding ways of making your dreams of financial independence come true or whether you view it as a fairy tale.
Sunday, Jun 29, 2003, 12:00 AM in Money
Chris's Notes on All the Math You Need to Get Rich
Chris's Notes on All the Math You Need to Get Rich: Thinking with Numbers for Financial Success, Robert L. Hershey, Open Court Pub Co, 2001. I recommend this book for the basics it covers, the slim size, the exercises and the approachable text.
I graduated from high school with all kinds of wonderful math grades (I finished all of my high school math a year early and had to attend a calculus course at a nearby college in my senior year), but managed to get out without a firm grasp of some simple ideas. Specifically, I never learned why it is that when I make a fixed house payment, the actual amount that goes to the interest and to the principle varies each month. The reason this is (as I'm sure all of my readers already know) is because the interest is only paid against the outstanding principle that remains on the total loan each month. It's just like compound interest in reverse (an idea that I always did understand).
I haven't been reading this book cover to cover (I already know how fractions, scientific notation and fractions work), but this one fact alone makes this book worth the price. Plus, it makes a wonderful reference (this is where I got F=P(1+R)^N used in The "Average Return" Myth). The world needs more short, focused, well-written books.
Sunday, Jun 29, 2003, 12:00 AM in Money
Chris's Notes on The Motley Fool Investment Guide
Chris's Notes on The Motley Fool Investment Guide: How The Fool Beats Wall Streets Wise Men And How You Can Too, David Gardner, Tom Gardner, Fireside, 1997. I don't recommend this book for anything but an example of the hubris that was rampant during the Internet bubble and a few chapters that hold the reader's hand making the markets seem approachable.
In general, I recommend Peter Lynch's Learn to Earn for the hand holding instead.
3 older posts No newer posts