You Invest In Real Estate for Profits Not To Lose Money

Everyone who studies Real Estate and rental property (passive income) knows that you rent property to make money, not to lose it.

You don’t rent property for ‘tax breaks’ either  – that gets you nowhere!  Unless you are profitable on your rental, then it can be a ‘bonus’.

My Story

So here is my story on how I screwed up on my (first ever) rental property and why it happened this way.

First of all, I lived in this property for 11 years.

The mortgage still has a fair amount to go and that is part of the reason that I’m not profitable on this property.

This is a condominium so I also pay a monthly maintenance fee.  This fee has more than doubled since the time I moved in.

This is the danger with condominiums, the monthly maintenance  and ‘other’ fees and assessments tend to increase over time.

I also pay a management company because I moved far enough away that I cannot manage this property myself.  Nor would I want to even if I was nearby, truth be told.

The Management company takes an 8% fee for themselves monthly plus 100% of the first months rent.

At the end of the day, all of  this ads up and points to the reality that I do not make any money on this property at all!

In fact, I estimate that I lose about $200 per month on it.

Yes, I knew this ahead of time.  But I was losing more than that on a monthly basis by leaving it empty.

The point of renting it was to stop the loses from mounting.

I did not consider selling an option because the market is ‘so bad’ at the moment.

I was told that it would be a lot easier to rent than to sell.

I was afraid that it would sit empty for many months before selling and that I would lose even more money for a longer period of time.   In addition, leaving it empty would have mandated a return of at least twice-per-year (see below for explanation).

The advice I got appears to be accurate,  we got a renter almost immediately.

Selling it, I figured, would take about 6 months or more in this market.

So now you know my story on my first rental property.

Additional Costs That Hit Me

To get the place ready to rent out, I spent an additional 3,000 dollars.

This three thousand was for new carpet and new vinyl in the bathroom and kitchen, painting of one room and some other work that needed to be done.    (looks good btw – too bad I don’t get to live there now)

2 Weeks after the renter moved in the refrigerator which was about 11 years old went out. Compressor was kaput.

The replacement and installation plus the initial service call was about $740 more dollars.

So, I’m closer to about $4000 invested in just the last two months.

In the end. I’ve spent a lot and all that I managed to do was decrease my monthly expenses.   But with the refrigerator going, that obviously increased my monthly expenses.

This is a losing situation all the way around.

Had I sold the property ‘as is”,  even if it took several months, I might have done better.   I would not have had the 4K investment.  But against that would be the monthly losses of letting it sit empty until it sold.

Additional Info On This Losing Investment

I had to move away.  I have left this place empty for 3 to 6 month stretches of time over the last 2 years anyway.

Insurance required that I be there physically at least once every 6 months.

Because I was traveling a long distance, the cost of air travel has also been very high.

I thought that renting would help in 2 ways.

1. I would not have the requirement to come back every six months

2. I would earn a little on the property while I am away.

However, no matter how you cut it, I am still losing money.

The Questions Are:

1. Should I cut my losses and try to sell it before the lease comes due again, effectively  taking advantage of that time.   Or, should I hold on to it and continue to allow it to lose money for me?

2  I am now living outside the area where my condo is  and  have now lost my right to vote in the local area.  Since I don’t live at that address anymore, the state / township wants a physical address for me in exchange for the right to vote.

They will not accept the UPS box in the area where all of my mail is being forwarded too.  What can I do to be able to vote?   I don’t care about the local elections too much, but I do care about State Senator / Reps and of course, the presidential election.

Your Thoughts

This is where I am at now (at the time of this writing) and would like to hear your thoughts, comments, ideas or questions on this matter – comment below.

About The Author

Commenting With Disqus For Traffic

Everyone knows that bloggers love to comment, primarily through the CommentLuv system- which as become quite popular amongst the various blogging communities.

But did you know that you can also use Disqus to comment on high traffic sites, which includes blogs, news, and a number of other types of sites?

Currently, it’s true.

All you need is a free Disqus profile where you can proudly insert a single link and even a description to any site you would like to. As far as I know, they also allow affiliate links! How cool is that?

[Please see the notes below about spamming before proceeding). Do not ruin it for everyone else. Or we will find you and... (LOL. just kidding / joking).]

I have compiled a small list of high traffic sites that use the Disqus commenting system:

A List Of High Traffic Sites Using The Disqus Commenting System

http://www.theepochtimes.com  – This one has a good Alexa ranking but they may not always approve a comment.  You should make nice, polite posts there if you want them to be approved.  It is not a free-for-all commenting site, like some of those in the rest of the list.

 http://time.com  

http://edition.cnn.com  – update – edition.cnn no longer displays your link with your post.   Do not waste time commenting on any site that won’t display your link.  Always check a site to make sure your link displays.

http://www.wnd.com  

http://cnsnews.com

http://www.rawstory.com

http://www.timothysykes.com/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/

(if you know of others, please add to this list via the comment section below

Do NOT Comment Spam

Before you go off with that list and spew inappropriate comments all over the place, I want you to think long term for a moment.   These sites can throw away this great comment system and start using something else tomorrow.

That something else may not be as cool as Disqus – meaning that they let you put a link on their site.   If that were to happen and you lost the ability to leave a link it would be a bummer for the entire community.

In addition, you would lose any link value that was residual after the system was removed.   I hope that is powerful enough incentive for you to think twice about what you are about to do.

Do not wreck it for everyone else, just because you can’t wait to get some spammy links out there.

Here Are Some Suggested Guidelines To Follow

1.  Use a real picture of yourself in your profile.  - People will feel more comfortable knowing that you are a real person with a real face and that you are NOT hiding behind the cloak of anonymity.

2. Write long and meaningful comments that are related to the article you are commenting on.   – No one likes to see someone blatantly promoting something unrelated to the article.  So, don’t do that!  Take a few minutes and write a nice comment that will add to the discussion and show that you are a giver and not (just) a taker.

Give to the communities that you are trying to be a part of.   If you abuse the system, your comments will probably be removed anyway and that would be a huge waste of your time and effort.

If no one can see your links, they are not worth much, are they?

Another benefit to posting long and meaningful comments is that they will stand out more.    If your 10 line comment is situate between a bunch of one or three liners – who’s comment do you think readers’ eyes will be more drawn to you?    – And look there!  There is a handy link right to your website right by your name and picture!

3. Forget about Key Words  – Seriously,  keywords do not belong on these high traffic sites.   Use your name  -  or if you are too scared – use a made up name – just make it ‘real’ name.

If you use keywords for your name,  you are probably only going to hasten the moment when your comment has been flagged too often and the scrutiny of a moderator is going to come into play.   When they see your profile has no picture or something related to your business and not you, plus your spammy comment and link, what do you think they will do?

Bottom Line – Post nice, long, thoughtful comments with your real name and without keywords!

4. Participate in The Conversation – The Disqus system will let you know when someone has replied to your comment.   Commenting again in reply, which you can actually do via email without revisiting the site (another cool feature of Disqus), is a snap.

Should I Use Disqus On My Own Site?

That is totally up to you and it is not required that you implement Disqus on your own site in order to comment throughout the Disqus system.

You can sign up for your own free Disqus account here.

I have seen blogs that are using Disqus for their comment system.  However, commentluv is a well established system that seems to be favored by most bloggers including some of the most successful ones.

On the other hand, many bloggers, including some very successful ones are now using Disqus.

Whether you use Disqus on your own sites or not is completely optional and one hundred percent your own choice.

Benefits of Exposure With Disqus

You have probably already noticed that Disqus is being used in some very interesting and high traffic places as well as thousands of lower traffic sites.

The fact that CNN is using it (at the time of this writing) shows that it works well and that many people are willing to use the Disqus commenting system.

With many sites and users, the chances of someone finding you and your link are that much higher.

- Your comments are saved and linked to your profile.

Therefore, if people liked a comment they saw and they click on your profile link, (which is often tied to your picture or avatar), they will be able to see other comments you made on other websites.

In addition, your profile itself has your link on the (high traffic) Disqus site itself.

Therefore, there are two ways to find the link to your site.

1. They can find it on your comment itself

2. They can find it on your profile link.

If you do happen to use Disqus on your own site, people will see the comments you have made there too (in reply to other commentors.

All of this simply increases the ability of others to find the link to your site(s)

This could result in greater traffic to your blog.

Imagine the possibilities…   Comments are now open below.

About The Author

I’m writing this moments before the market opens on Tuesday April 24th 2012.

Disclosure:  I have a vested interest in this stock.  Investing is risky and you should not invest your money based on anything you read here.  Consult a competent professional before investing any money in any type of investment.

Ok, so you can read what I had to say about AAPL yesterday – which I bought a few days ago on Friday.

My intention is to sell some time today, on Tuesday.

I am doing this for the Earnings play.

Yesterday the stock market as a whole dropped on worries about the Euro and speculation about the break up of the currency.   Which probably won’t happen for a long time, if ever.

But news and fear drives the stock market.

However, true to my thoughts.  Appl barely moved below its price on Friday.

My theory is that many players will be lining up to play AAPL today.

The price of the stock should move up drastically today.  And I will sell sometime today.

However, I could be wrong, it has certainly happened before.

This is my guess about what is going to happen today.

However, I could change my plan, to be inline with changes as necessary.

Ok, we will see how it goes today.  Comment below as you wish.

Again, do not invest based on anything you read on this blog.  I’m an amateur at best and investing is always a risk.

AFTER HOURS UPDATE

I just checked,  AAPL is up $30 in After Hours Trading.

Well, I said above that I reserved the right to change my mind as the day went on and that is what I did.

I held on to the AAPL Stock into earnings and DID NOT sell today.

WHY??

The stock was behaving in a way that I did not expect.  It was down for the day.   And on top of that volume was pretty much even with the 10 day average.

This meant that the ‘smart money’  was staying put and that got me to wondering.   ( Not that I’m saying there is insider information floating around with those institutional investors or anything like that… )

Just saying the ‘smart money’ must have suspected something.   Therefore, I made the decision to stay in.

After reading all the naysayers on twitter, I have to admit that I got a bit nervous.

However, when earnings were announced it was clear that the naysayers were mistaken.

So, I held on to AAPL this time and if there is another meteoric rise like last time (after the last earnings report), then I will be glad that I did!

You can comment below…

About The Author

You might also enjoy:

It was an obvious mistake to sell my AAPL Stock.

Why I Sold My AAPL Stock Yesterday

AAPL Stock Now at 585 Per Share

Disclosure on Stock Ownership

Before I tell you what I have done, I need to give you the standard disclosure necessary anytime you talk about your personal stock investments!  

So, my disclosure:  By the time you read this:  I am invested, will be invested or have been invested in this stock.  I have a personal interest in seeing it do well.

You should not invest based on anything you read here or on this site!

You should seek professional investment advice before investing in anything of any kind.   Investing is risky (sort of like gambling, but not exactly) – Don’t waste your money…

I Know Little About Investing – So Watch Out!

By the way, I am an amateur investor, I don’t even use options which is what I have been told I should be doing.  But I don’t know much about them, so you can ‘educate’ us in the comment section below this post.  Looking forward to hearing from you!

Ok, so Friday  – That would be Friday April 20th, 2012,  within the last 30 minutes of trading for the day,  I purchased some AAPl (Apple) stock.

Why did I wait until the last 30 minutes?  Because the stock was being pressed down all day long by more experienced and more organized traders (just my opinion, not necessarily fact!) and I wanted to get the best price.  So I waited.

I don’t have the numbers in front of me and I’m too lazy to look them up right now.  But, I got in around $572 . per share.

My Previous AAPL ‘Disaster’ 

My previous trade with AAPL:   Well, ok, it was still a profitable trade, but I missed out on well over a hundred dollars per share (YES! You read that right).  You can read about this minor tragedy here:

http://www.allthingspondered.com/4541/apple-stock-now-at-585-per-share/

Talk about painful.  OUCH!  

So Why Now?

After such a painful experience, you would think I would just stay away from the stock, right?   Well, that is how I reacted for a long time.   I didn’t want to believe it would keep going up and up – but it did!

And I was hoping for some type of correction.  But, that did not happen.    After AAPL topped $600 per share, I knew that it wasn’t going down anytime soon.

That brings us up to today:

Low and behold it is now time for the next earnings report.

This is the Play that I like the most.  I like to play into earnings.   AAPL is ‘expected’ to have a $9 + something per share earnings report after the market close on Tuesday.  Rumor is that the real number will be about 20% higher.

However, you can’t trust rumors can you?    So,  it is a risk.  Anything can happen.

But I’ve decided to play it anyhow.

My Dilemma

Historically, over time, you can see that most stocks will decline after an earnings report.   However, this is where I went wrong on my last AAPL purchase.   AFTER the last earnings report is when AAPL started to skyrocket.

So, what do I do THIS time?  Do I hold through earnings or do I get out before the earnings report comes out?   What would YOU do?

Scary, isn’t it?  Unpredictable!  Unless you happen to be one of the trading insiders (that I believe do exist)  who work in tandem to push a stock up or down.

But, I am NOT part of that hypothetical group.  Therefore, I have NO idea what is going to happen!

Anyway,  I have to decide soon, because AAPl will report earnings on Tuesday, April 24th 2012 -AFTER the market closes  – or at least that is what I think I read.

What Would You Do?

If you have any thoughts, now is the time so share them.  Comments are open below

About The Author

You might also enjoy:

It was an obvious mistake to sell my AAPL Stock.

Why I Sold My AAPL Stock Yesterday

AAPL Stock Now at 585 Per Share

What Is Ecommerce?

For the purpose of this discussion, Ecommerce is the online retail sale of products that you buy wholesale.    Nothing fancy-schmancy, a simple but powerful concept!

This is a time tested and ancient way of doing business.  It has been this way, probably for thousands of years.

You go to the store and buy a product at retail price that the store bought at wholesale.   You might even do this every day of your life.

This is called commerce.   The online version of this time honored business model is Ecommerce.

As funny as it sounds, Ecommerce is nothing new, it is just a modern twist on what has always worked.

You can sell your digital products side-by-side with your physical products if you wish.

I’ve sold both physical and digital products.  I do believe that the physical product side is, generally speaking,  going to be more lucrative than the digital product side.

Of course, there are exceptions, that is why I said ‘in general’.   LOL.

But more often than not, I think a real business, built on real, physical products is an easier rode to ride.

Go ahead and call me crazy (or ignorant) if you wish!

Why Consider Ecommerce?

Many people are looking to monetize their websites and perhaps even build a full time income or to increase the revenue of an existing business!

As I’ve mentioned before it is not easy to build a business.

I also mentioned how it might be necessary to generate additional income streams when you are facing a lot of debt and (just) being frugal still isn’t enough based on current income.

Just do not be blinded to the fact that whatever type of business you end up building, it is likely going to take a good bit of work!

With Ecommerce, you can build a list of buyers who have already purchased a product from you.  If you are into ‘list building’, that is exactly the kind of list that you want.

You can also get affiliates to promote your Ecommerce store products for you!    You can even have a data feed for the affiliates whereby they display your products on their sites.

BTW: If you are really into affiliate marketing.   We have an affiliate program at:  Toothy Grins Store  – just scroll to the bottom of Toothy Grins Store and there you can sign up for our affiliate program.    It pays a little better than some of the ‘big name’ retailers out there do.

You can take (more) advantage of PPC (Pay per click) marketing.  Because you are directly selling a product, it MIGHT be easier to create a successful campaign than with other types of products.   The search engine PPC programs seem to favorably regard Ecommerce stores over some other types of sites.

It’s clear that you are selling a product, so there is less chance for misconception on the part of your readers / site users.  This may be another reason that SEs (Search Engines) like Ecommerce sites.

When people arrive on an Ecommerce site, they can see right away that there are products for sale there, they have no need to fear a hidden agenda.  Indeed, many times they are looking to buy the exact product you have on your site.

How Does Ecommerce Fit In With Blogging? 

That is fairly easy to explain.  You could use your blog to drive traffic to your Ecommerce store.

You Could:

Blog about your products and display images of them.

You can post positive feedback and testimonials from YOUR customers.

You can blog product related stores about the products you sell.  These can be your own stories or those of happy customers.

Ever wonder if you were getting credited for all of your affiliate sales?   Well, with an Ecommerce site, you KNOW if a sale has been made.

That is some of the power of Ecommerce over other forms of monetization that exist on the Internet today.

Some examples of Ecommerce stores, aside from Toothy Grins Store, are Amazon, Barnes & Nobles,  Best Buy,  Dell,  Apple, WalMart,  and many, many others.

You might have better luck selling physical products over digital products.

Ecommerce seems to work for a lot of people.

It may not be right for everyone, but maybe it is right for you?

Comments / Questions are OPEN on this post. 

About The Author

What Do They Really Have To Offer?

That seems to be the catch phrase of a lot of companies that want to give you financial advice, doesn’t it?  (Become debt free NOW).

Let us focus on this for just a moment.  The question becomes:  What kind of fancy advice or service can they really give you?

Debt is a widespread problem.   And it requires just a little bit of thought – not too much – just a little.

Basically it comes down to this – You have to spend less than you earn.  Use your monthly surplus to 1. pay down any debts. 2. Save money.

Rinse – Wash – and Repeat until you achieve any financial goal you happen to be after.

Not Enough To Reach Your Goals?

The other laughable thing about much of the financial advice you can pay for is that whatever scheme or plan they come up with, execution still depends on your financial abilities.

What if you have a goal that is beyond your ability to reach with your current source of income no matter how frugal you become?

If that is the case, you will want to develop new revenue streams.

Here are some ideas:

1. Start a business. It is not an easy thing to do and it IS hard work. BUT, there is potential there – if you can get it going.

Momentum is the key. You have to develop momentum. That is forward motion in simple terms. Getting a big rock to roll takes a LOT of effort. But once it gets rolling it can really go – feeding on its own motion.

Getting started is the hard part. Don’t fool yourself though. If the money coming in does not exceed the money going out, then you have a liability and not a business.

Do not quit your day job until / if your business reaches the point where you make many times the income that your day job provides. Only then MIGHT it be safe…

2. Passive income such as Real Estate, publishing books or music and no doubt a variety of other similar concepts can work to provide additional revenue.

By the way, publishing can feed upon itself and generate momentum. A good example would be writing a book that develops an audience. This would be a group that is hungry for your next book. Once you have a large enough audience, you just keep on writing and additional revenue comes in. Without the audience – not so much!

3. A second job? – No one likes the idea of taking on a second job. But if it can get you over the hump to where you get your debts paid off and can actually start saving, it might be a good solution. In college I would work several part time jobs just to keep things going. But, this is not for everyone.

Overall Lesson: Bring in more than you spend.

Additional problem to overcome: Money loses its value over time.

Disclaimer. I’m not giving financial advice here, find a professional for that.  I’m just sharing my thoughts!

Comments are open on this post

About The Author

The Value of Money Is Always Decreasing

The value of a dollar is not what is was 10 years ago.    Ten years before that (twenty years ago) the value of a dollar was even higher.   50 years before that it was a LOT higher.

I was contemplating postal stamps.  I think they are around  45 cents now, I can remember when they were under 20 cents  and in the early 1900s they were probably around a penny.

You cannot buy the same things today for the same money that you did 50 years ago or even 10 years ago or even five years ago.   This is the objective proof that the value of money is ever decreasing.

I’m sure you have plenty of your own examples.
Why Doe The Value Of Money Constantly Decrease?

It has to because the entire monetary system is based on – well it is simply based on faith.    The days when you could take your dollar into a bank and get an equivalent amount of gold or silver are long gone and they will never come back.

One of the reasons for this is that there is not enough gold and silver in the entire world to cover the currency that is out there.

As more money is printed the value of each dollar decreases.  Central banks print money all of the time and they especially do so when the governments they support need them to do that.

At the same time the central banks make more and more off taxpayers through the interest they charge when they help the governments out.

Lower Level Banks And Lending

To complicate this matter further.  Banks are given the legal right to create money that does not exist.   When someone deposits $100 into a bank account.  The banks are allowed to loan out 9 or 10 times that amount – depending on the current law.   Even though the money does not technically exist!

And they charge people interest in exchange for?   Nothing essentially?

So you see, they are also responsible for increasing the amount of money that is out there in the world.   This further decreases the value of that particular currency – wherever it should exist.

Banks Lending Money That Doesn’t Actually Exist Seems Strange, Doesn’t It?  

Clearly, stealing money from someone is against the law.    But isn’t creating money a sort of theft in and of itself?

The legal right to create money out of nothing – think about what that means.  Then you get to charge interest ( a fee) for that money.  Kind of makes you want to open a bank, doesn’t it?

This is why the value of our money constantly decreases.   This also has the effect of making it harder to retire because the money you have will be worth less in 10 years.

What are your thoughts?  

About The Author

Thrive is a movie about transformation on two counts.  The first is a barely metioned personal transformation in this film / documentary, but is very remarkable none-the less.

The first transformation is the personal story of Foster Gamble – once heir apparent to the Gamble portion of Proctor & Gamble.  He was being groomed to take over and be THE power player in the company.  But Foster had other ideas.

He was able to escape the temptation of having greater power.  He was able to let go of that – something that many people might fail to do if they had the same opportunity!

Instead, Foster decided to answer a burning question.  He knew that if he could find the answer to this question that it would make a REAL difference.  This difference would be one that would affect billions of people around the world.

Foster gave up the easy path that was handed to him in the hope that maybe he might possibly be of service to the billions of other people on this planet.  He did not know if he would find the answers he was looking for and he knew the path was going to be hard.   He knew that those who wanted to hand him power would be very disappointed.  But, he was willing to make the sacrifice anyway.

That is REAL transformation on a personal level.  He succeeded in giving up power and comfort for the pursuit of serving others!   His story is a good one that serves as a shiny example for others.

The second transformation is the potential for massive positive change for billions of people around the world.  The entire world could be a vastly different place, if only people could hear this message and then take action.  The things that Foster figured out over the last 30 years could be of such benefit to YOU,  personally.

Risking alienation and possible persecution by the group that he once was a part of, Foster reveals things that can most certainly make a difference in people’s lives – a difference in YOUR life.   The question is:  Are you willing to listen?  Are you ready and willing to HEAR about those things.  Are you ready or able to experience your own transformation?

Hang on to your seat and check out the THRIVE movie for yourself which is available at THRIVEMovement.com!

Fractional Reserve Lending

One of the best explanations of fractional reserve lending and how it takes advantage of you and your children and your parents before you is in the THRIVE movie.

I think Foster did a very thorough and honest job of putting the very confusing pieces together.

While it is only a part of the overall theme of the movie, his simple and very impactful explanation of the fractional reserve lending system and how it slowly deprives people of their wealth and their personal power is perhaps the best and most elegant that I have ever seen.

The simple explanations are usually the best. If people understood how this system worked and how it deprives them of their wealth, power and assets over time, there might be a stronger call for banking  and financial system reforms.

Banks Make Money

Let’s put it this way. The banks have the power to make money out of nothing. You do not. They have the power, not always literally but figuratively, to create money out of thin air.

You only have the power to make money through your work, investment or effort of some king.  But you are not allowed to just print money.  That would be considered illegal for a persona like you or me.

Central banks such as the federal reserve, on the other hand, have the power to directly create money, literally!  This is at your expense and detriment, but it is not easy to explain to people. That is why I like this movie, it explains it in just a few simple sentences.

Regardless of whether it is a ‘normal’ bank or a ‘central’ bank,  you lose out in the end.

Why is this important to understand? Because it slowly deprives you of wealth. And it quickly makes the masters of this system unlimited wealth, with little to no work involved.  Their gain is based on YOUR effort.

Ultimately, “they“  have amassed and continue to amass huge fortunes based on your labor, your work, your efforts and your sweat – and that of the billions of other people on this planet.  You did the work, and they continue to reap the benefits.

Still don’t see it? Let Foster show you with his simple but powerful explanation in the movie, THRIVE.

What If Enough People Understand The Problem?

The secondary problem is that even if people understand, are they willing to do anything about it? I think the answer to that question is buried in the need for quality and quantity information. The understanding needs to be deep enough and that masses of people will understand and begin to question The System.

Without that mass awakening, there is little chance for a change.  It is in the US that this probably needs to start to be addressed first.

Some argue that the political process is completely controlled by banking. And that may be true. However, politicians need something even more desperately than the bankers’ money. They need votes.

I know that many argue that the voting system in the US is completely rigged and controlled.  I am not so sure to what degree that is true, but it is certainly something worth examining more closely.  But, I digress.

If there is any hope at all to fix this problem, it is in the people of the US. But who knows how long the people will retain the ability to make a difference? Freedoms are being eroded and citizens of the US are slowly losing more and more personal power.

But on the other hand, people are not completely unaware. Therefore change is still possible.

Energy – Control Or Liberation? 

The Thrive movie goes into the equally important topic of energy control.   If it were possible to have cost free energy,  which  Foster believes to be true, it would be the first step to leveling the playing field and empowering the people of the Earth.

Foster and his wife Kimberly suggest that the elimination of poverty may very well be plausible with the availability of free energy. Once everyone has unlimited access to free power, they believe it will really make a big difference in the daily life of all people – across the planet.   And I suspect they are correct in this assumption.

The movie THRIVE is worth seeing. You should watch it as soon as you possibly can.

Are YOU Ready For Personal Transformation On Such a Huge Magnitude?

I hope you will take this hint and start to unravel the mystery for yourself.  See the movie THRIVE now and let your eyes be opened to a greater extent than ever before in your life.   Let the doors of perception, swing wide open.  Watch THRIVE now.

About The Author

This is truly incredible.  Just about the middle of January, I sold my AAPL stock for $424 per share.

I could never have predicted that just two months later it would be at $585.

Here were my previous posts on this stock:

It was an obvious mistake to sell my AAPL Stock.

Why I Sold My AAPL Stock Yesterday

Obviously, it can be said that I had no idea what I was talking about.

When the stock was $100 over where I bought it, I thought it couldn’t possibly go any higher.  Now it is nearly $160 per share higher.   I cannot begin to tell you how painful that is!

And it appears to be poised to go even higher.  This is truly incredible!

And I can see why.  Today I was at an AAPL store.  They were incredibly busy.  There were enough people there that the local police station had an officer standing just outside the door to the store.

I am shocked.

I started talking to one of the guys working there about the stock rise.  He said they call can’t believe it either.

He said that he has heard that it may go to $1000 per share.

If I am not mistaken. AAPL has now surpassed Exon as the company with the biggest War chest on the planet.

While I am extremely sad to see that I lost out on the $160 per share gains, I am contemplating a jump back in.

But do NOT listen to me.  You can see from the above articles that I am not good at predictions!

Also, you should obtain professional investing advice before taking any action.  That was said for your protection as well as mine.

Ok, so where do YOU think AAPL is headed and WHY? (comments open below)

About The Author

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of spam email messages with the headline “Coffee Shop Millionaires”.

This is disgusting to me because it implies that becoming a millionaire is easy and simple.   I guess all you have to do is buy whatever program they are selling.

The sad thing is that this is the same old tired scam that has been working for centuries.    The promise of easy wealth is a deception that people have fallen prey to over and over again.

It is as if there is a loophole in the human psyche.  Every scam artist must learn this is in elementary ‘rip off’ school 101.

Pick Pocket Thieves

On a side note, did you know that in South America there is a school called “The School Of The Seven Bells.”  OK, it is surely not an official school but there apparently exists a criminal training of this name.

This school teaches its students how to be expert pick pockets.   To graduate they must pick 7 pockets with bells attached to them.  They must not ring any of the bells.

I know this sounds like a tall tale, but it was told to me by someone who worked in security for the casinos of Atlantic City.

False or not it is an interesting story.

But I digress.

Scam artists have always existed and will always exist.  It is sad that there is some loophole in the human mindset that allows this type of scam to happen.

Man And Daughter Fall Victim to the Nigerian Bank Scam

You have probably received dozens of messages that are a variation of the Nigerian Bank Scam.   The originator of the email claims to have access in some semi-official sounding way to millions of dollars but needs  your help to ‘liberate’ that money.

You are offered a nice percentage of whatever the alleged amount is.

I recently read in the NEWS that a Korean man and his daughter recently fell for the Nigerian Bank Scam.  They went to South Africa to collect the millions that they were allegedly to be the recipients of.

Instead, they were held for ransom by the scam artists.

My Own Scam Experience

Sometimes, people build a relationship over time in order to pull a scam.   I was personally scammed out of $600 dollars in this way.   You can read the whole story.

It angered me to be victimized in this way.  But you know, it was a great experience.   I am not so trusting anymore.  Yet,  I still automatically give people the benefit of the doubt.  It is just that when there is something financial at stake, I tend to steer clear.

Perhaps we all have been victimized by such an experience.

Business and Investment Scams

Everyone has heard of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.   This went on for so long in plain site and no one figured out what was going on.

Yet, investment scams have been going on for a long time, many of the stories never make the news.

There was a local town where a man was apparently selling legit investments for a decade or two and then he decided to steal the people’s money. It was another 10 or twenty years before he was caught and that was probably because he decided to skip town and ‘disappear’.

On a very sad note.  He was only sentenced to very light jail time and only spent a few months in jail before being released.  Most of the money was never recovered from what I understand.

Summary

Scams are happening all of the time. We really have to be wary and pay attention to who and what we are doing business with. It is not always easy to spot a scam.

If you think you have been a victim of a scam, report it to your State’s attorney general’s office. If you don’t happen to live in America, report the crimes to someone in the government.   Since this kind of thing happens everywhere, every country has some type of mechanism to deal with these problems.

When enough people complain, very often a government is in a situation where it MUST take action.

Human nature isn’t likely to change. There are good and bad people in the world. I hope you are one of the good ones. More importantly, I hope you never fall to temptation and become one of the bad ones.

Next time you see an email with the headline “Coffee Ship Millionaires” – send it to the junk folder – where it belongs!

About The Author

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