Living in the City

Once you have made that one big decision to try go the investing path, these are some of the things to always keep in mind: 1. Investigate. Investigate. Investigate. This could never be over emphasized. Investing and using impulse, hunch, or rumor is never a good combination. Research and do the due diligence. 2. Always focus on the risks, especially the downside. Counting what you could lose is better than counting what could be earned. 3. Continue investigating even after the investment has been made. Big companies experience up and down movements just like any small ones. 4. Watch for the economic indicators. Movements are part of the daily investing grind. 5. Set realistic investment goals like 30-40% higher than cost is acceptable. Stock investments particularly, move, zoom, move up, take dips and assume new highs. 6. Diversify. Diversify. Diversify. In other words, do not put all your eggs in one basket. 7. Make it a point to use research as we ll as common sense in making inve...

Now that I am aging, I understand that having some savings in the bank is not and is never enough. Way, way back I should set aside money in several safe places where it should be earning well above my one, single savings account. If you have the chance now to do what I had failed to do, these are the things you should probably be thinking now according to some money related readings I came across: 1. Think about becoming an investor . This is really a difficult decision to make but you can make time to study, consult, confer with professionals, ask around from those who's been there. They say that it is really common sense and a commitment to deliberately know facts and fallacies about handling money. 2. Becoming an investor means that you have enough funds stashed away equivalent to 6-9 months worth of living expenses in savings. This will provide a temporary protection against a financial setback, an illness, or losing a a job and would serve as the liquid or cash resources ...

The secret of making money is commonly associated with a passionate belief in an innovative idea. It is rooted in hard work, determination and perseverance which requires the ability to mobilize resources to set a new concept in motion. Making money requires a fresh outlook, a new way of doing. Its mandate is to maximize meager resources at hand in order to effectively start a new beginning. A new business venture, yes, but at the same time looking far ahead. This is how the entrepreneurs do it. They are the new breed of business men who start with risks and uncertainty. Comfortable in their respective enclaves, they leave the security of their financial environment for the road less traveled. With guts, they create and recreate products, expand markets or offer new services in places where there was an obvious lack or have been otherwise served before. Individuals who take this road are the nouveau riche . They are the new breed of entrepreneurs who are creative, who dare dre...

It is now perfectly clear, that the global economy is in a down spin. Financial pundits claim however, that during fortune reversals, an opportunity is always to be found. And so therefore, it pays to have a good sense of the world's and each country's economic strengths and weaknesses. To be informed is to be prepared. Trends usually use indicators. Indicators that are commonly found and reported over the old and the new media. Take note of: 1. Housing Trends - consumer attitudes, interest rates 2. Sales of Department Stores - seasonal or geographic points to other indicators 3. Retail Sales - Monthly, Bi-annual and Annual 4. New Car Sales - consumer buying trends 5. Index of leading economic indicators (engines of economic growth) 6. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - total value of goods sold (countrywide, worldwide, region wide) When GDP declines in two succeeding quarters, a recession is indicated. 7. Consumer Price Index (CPI) also known as cost of living index which measures...

Amidst all the chaos the world is experiencing right now, I wonder, if it is safe to think that mothers are failing in the job of raising children? Is motherhood in trouble? I read somewhere "that the maternal wish and the activity of mothering are instinctive or biologically predestined is baloney. Try asking most sociologists, psychologists, psycho-analysts, biologists -- many of whom are mothers -- about motherhood being instinctive; it's like asking department store presidents if their Santa Clauses are real". Is Alvin Toffler right in sayin g: ... advances in Science and technology or in reproductive biology alone could within a short time, smash all orthodox ideas about the family and its responsibilities. When babies can be grown in a laboratory jar what happens to the self-image of the female in societies which, since the very beginning of man, have taught her that her primary mission is the propagation of and nurture of the race? Isn't it true th...

As a continuing topic to my corporate animal post I did earlier, here are my thoughts on office politics. While still working for the hustler boss, plus knowing what kind of an office environment I was in, and, wanting to get ahead, I dealt with office politics the best way I could. I worked hard. Managed to stay a team player, cooperative and mindful of my co-workers, every step of the way. But at the same time, I knew that to advance my career I needed a plan. Something honest and intelligent to help me get to where I wanted to be. In an open manner, of course. I read up and found out that there were legitimate strategies and tact to improve my position. And these were the implements I used to gain my momentum: Remember, I was still working for the boss and his wife. 1. Every time I finished an assignment, I would write my boss and the wife a memo, with a summary of what has been achieved. The memo talked about what has been accomplished and how it affected the company's botto...

Someone asked me to post something about my corporate work experience. Although, I have fully disappeared from that scene 5 years ago, I think much of what I will write here remain relevant to today's working environment. So here goes. The first time you landed a job, did you expect to find total cooperation and smooth sailing in the work place? I did. But I was forced to think again. I was naive. After leaving my first job in the government sector, I expected the corporate setting to be much, much better. I was in for a surprise. First, I did not expect to find my first ever, corporate boss to be devoid of all decency, a fellow who loved talking incessantly about his accomplishments, his exploits, and how he won over so many sales contracts because yes, he was good. He was a true blue hustler who extracted the same hustling attitude from the people who worked for him - that included me. To him, do anything to get the sale. Sadly, I had to face the fact that I had to stay o...