The Amateur Financier

If you’re a regular reader, and frequently follow the links that I provide, you might be aware that I’m a fan of Cracked.com.  Although a comedy site (and a pretty funny one to boot; I’ve laughed out loud to some of their articles on more than one occasion), they also generally have good, sometimes thought provoking articles.  I’ve even been inspired to write some of my articles here based on the articles they offer; my ‘Your Mind and Your Money‘ series was inspired by the Cracked article on ‘6 Logical Fallacies That Cost You Money Every Day‘, for example.

Unfortunately, one of the disadvantages of Crack’s articles is that they are good at pointing out problems, but not so good at coming up with solutions.  This is to be expected, I suppose; pointing out human foolishness is much more fun than coming up with a ten step plan to fix the problem.  For example, they provide a list of 6 Subtle Ways The Media Disguises Bulls*** As Facts, but fail to give the reader thoughts on how readers can protect themselves from said bulls***.  (Although, simply knowing some of the underhanded tactics will hopefully help readers to spot them and resist them.)

Enter the Amateur Financier.  I’m not only going to pass on the ways that the media can bend facts to fit their preconceptions and possible agenda, but provide you ways to defend yourself.  With no more ado, let’s get that Bulls*** Detector fired up:

#6: Weasel Words

What It Is: Weasel words are words used to give the author (or reporter, or speaker) a way to express their opinions without having to take ownership of said opinion.  Attributing opinions to ’some’ or ‘many people’ or ‘the American public’ allows you to express your opinion (or set up a straw man against whom you can make a noble stand) without having to find a person or group that actually holds that position.

How to Defend Yourself: Whenever you hear or read someone attributing an opinion to a vaguely defined (if at all) group, ask yourself whether they’ve given any proof.  Given the huge number of surveys, polls, and opinion gathers out there, if there is a sizable group that believes the Earth is in the shape of a dodecahedron, for example, there should be some proof to cite to that effect.  If not, feel free to substitute ‘I’ (that is, the author, reporter, or commentator) or ‘the people I oppose’ for any weasel words you encounter.

#5: Implying Without Saying

What It Is: By mentioning two (or more) ideas together in a story, the media can take advantage of the natural human tendency to assume that the two things are linked. Saying ‘Hundreds become wealthy after reading The Amateur Financier’ implies that reading this blog caused the increase in wealth, whereas the truth is that reading the blog probably had a minimal effect on the gain in wealth.  (Not that you should stop reading, of course…)

How to Defend Yourself: The main problem is the same one I’ve discussed before, assuming (falsely) that correlation is the same as causation.  Remind yourself of the difference, and you’ll be less likely to read stories about teenagers going on rampages after playing video games and assume that the video games caused the rampage.  (Or that, say, in reports about politicians doing illegal/immoral activities, that being a politician caused the person to be less ethical.)

#4: Burying Inconvenient Facts

What It Is: Reality doesn’t always go the way we want, but by twisting what we show, we can make it appear differently.  So, I can say ‘Survey Shows The Amateur Financier Most Popular Personal Finance Blog’ without mentioning that the survey is of me, my mother and my fiancee.  If you don’t take the time to read far enough to catch that detail, the headline sounds pretty impressive.

How to Defend Yourself: Reading the entire article to ensure that there aren’t any qualifiers or other modifying statements that contradict the headline (or at least, make it less solid than it initially appeared) is one option, although given the deluge of information facing most of us, it’s not likely to be possible all the time.  A healthy level of skepticism about news in general (and news with provocative headlines in particular) will serve you well, especially when the headline attributes the claims to another source (study, survey, a particular group, etc); that’s another way, similar to our ‘weasel words’, for a journalist or other commentator to express their views without having to claim ownership of the opinion.

#3: Biased Photos

What It Is: They say a picture’s worth a thousand words; too bad so many of them are lies.  By picking and choosing among the available photos (and videos or audio clips) and selectively editing out useful details, a publication can choose to make a particular person look powerful, knowledgeable, and capable, or look foolish and incompetent.

How to Defend Yourself: After the initial burst of disgust, happiness, or patriotism (whatever emotion the media outlet was trying to spark), take a moment to stop and think about why the media chose that particular picture (or other piece of media).  They’re usually trying to support some thesis about the person or events in question, and not every picture represents a public figure’s true personality.  Think about all the pictures of you where you were looking less than your best, and cut public figures a little slack for not always being ready for the cameras.

#2: The Active Voice

What It Is: By selectively using either the active or passive voice in their headlines, the media can choose to blame the actors or give them a free pass.  For example, ‘Police shoot and kill man who was robbing bank’ (the active voice) puts the blame for the man’s death clearly on the police, while ‘Man shot and killed while robbing bank’ (the passive voice) leaves the question of who shot the man open for speculation (the bank guards, his partner, an armed civilian, etc.), implying that being shot and killed was a natural consequence of bank robbing.

How to Defend Yourself: This is another case where reading beyond the headline is your best friend in getting to the truth.  While the actor might be obscured in the attention-grabbing headline, it shouldn’t be long into the article before the actor that caused the results in the headline (in this case, shooting and death) is revealed.  (Although, keep point #4 in mind; the truth might be buried.)

#1: Guessing the Motives Instead of Reporting the Facts

What It Is: Trying to determine the rationale behind someone else’s actions forms quite a lot of modern reporting.  Rather than stating that ‘Obama supports a public health bill’, it becomes ‘Obama wants health bill to further big government agenda’; instead of ‘Republicans state costs as reason for opposition to bill’ it becomes ‘Republicans desperate to defend status quo and their corporate backers’.  In both cases, the latter example speculates on the motives behind the actions, rather than reporting what happened straight as in the former examples.

How to Defend Yourself: Unless there’s been news reports that I’ve missed, there’s currently no mind readers who exist outside of the occasional comic book character.  Thus, the only way to really know what someone is thinking is to have him or her tell you; if they (or their spokespeople, for the rich and powerful) don’t tell you directly, you simply can’t know.  (Even if they do tell you directly, I hope that you maintain enough skepticism to not take them solely at their word; reporters and journalists aren’t the only ones who try to tweak the truth.)  A healthy amount of doubt about the motives ascribed to any particular action, no matter who is doing the ascribing, will serve you well when reading the news.

There you have it, six ways the media can twist reporting to back a particular view point, and some advice on how to avoid falling into that trap.  Now go, go and feel free to expose yourself to some media with your new found knowledge of how it might be manipulating you.  Just don’t read too much at once; over exposure to that stuff isn’t good for you.

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Alright, a little background before we get started on this entry.  Because I am in between jobs, and because I’ve been trying to improve my blog, I spend quite a bit of time online at home.  Thanks to my Yakezie membership, I’ve downloaded the Alexa Taskbar, which, among other features, displays some of the most popular trending stories and topics near the top of my web browser.  This arrangement mean that I have the opportunity to see some of the most popular topics of conversation as they develop.

Today, there was an especially unusual topic: Noah’s Ark was found!  At this point, I had to go and check the calendar, to make sure that April Fool’s Day wasn’t moved to the 27th while I was attending a ceramics convention with my fiancee.  (Just in case you were worried: no, it wasn’t.)  No, the truth is possibly even odder: an expedition in Turkey claims to have found the actual remains of Noah’s Ark.

The Arc they found is decidedly less cartoony

If true, the results could be quite profound for history and science. Meteorologists have long maintained that there simply isn’t enough water in the world to flood the entire world up to the top of Mount Ararat, and proof that a boated sailed up to that height would certainly raise some interesting questions.  History would have to be altered to note the new reality of the Arc as truth rather than myth.  The changes would be quite profound.

(That said, I think the impact on religion is less than what some might claim.  The story of Noah’s Ark is part of the Talmud, the Bible, and, if memory serves properly, also mentioned in the Koran; finding the Arc doesn’t ‘prove’ any of these religions correct.  Plus, there are other traditions that maintain a belief that there was a great flood; even proving that there was a Noah who built an Ark, gathered animals, and sailed in it to survive the flood doesn’t preclude other survivors elsewhere.)

The Lessons to Learn

1) Expect the Unexpected: It seems no matter how odd your expectation become, life manages to be even weirder.  Of the many things I may have expected to happen today, finding Noah’s Ark would not have made the list.  I doubt that finding Noah’s Ark would be on the list, well, ever, really.

In the same way, unexpected things happen during our daily lives; being prepared for multiple eventualities is an important part of life.  (See how I tied this back into personal finance?)  It’s impossible to prepare for absolutely everything (like the rediscovery of a five thousand year old boat), but the more prepared you are, the more circumstances you can handle, the better off you will be.

2) Trust, But Verify: A great policy from Ronald Reagan, one that you should especially keep in mind when confronted by things that seem to stretch the bounds of your imagination.  While one can hope that things of such importance are handles truthfully, that’s not always the case.  Even though news of this discovery has only been up for a day, already there are skeptics doubting the Ark.

While you shouldn’t automatically assume that everyone is lying, you need to have healthy skepticism, particularly when discussing issues of this nature, where there is much to be gained from false claims.  There have been plenty of claims involving the discovery of the Ark, dating back to at least the 1930’s.  While it’s quite possible that this time it’s different, we still need to retain our skepticism.

3) People are Basically Good: As with any discovery that threatens to greatly change our perception of reality, the universe, and life itself, there’s quite a bit of disagreement.  As is too often the case with discussions on the internet, foul language is tossed around, intelligence is insulted, and generally, things get very unfriendly, very quickly.

Here’s the truth: the people who believe that this is the true Noah’s Ark are, by and large, good, hard working, and intelligent people, led by faith or their own feelings to their beliefs.  Here’s another truth: the people who doubt that this discovery is Noah’s Ark are also mainly good, hard working, and intelligent people who have good reasons for their doubts.  Neither group is evil or stupid; there’s simply a disagreement on the truth of the matter.

On that note, I suppose I should share my view on this Ark discovery.  I am currently leaning toward skepticism, although I’d be willing to be proven wrong.  (Unless, of course, the discovery and confirmation of the Ark triggers the end of the world; I’m perfectly happy for the world not to end for another half century or so, at least.)  I’m interested to see how this whole thing will play out; it is surprisingly engaging.

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I feel I am becoming a crabby old man at the tender age of twenty-six.  More and more, as I look at the world around me, I see things that annoy, aggravate, or just plain bother me.  I don’t think I’m hopeless yet; I haven’t taken to yelling out the window at neighborhood kids to keep off my grass, or started to rant about the noise these kids listen to nowadays (although, I do refuse to listen to much of popular music).  I’m hopeful that I’ll avoid becoming too grumpy in the future, although as it stands, I’ll be ready for a remake of Snow White in the near future (assuming they don’t have a problem with a 6′1″ Grumpy).

Still, I like to think that many, if not most of my pet peeves are understandable, even if not completely justified.  So, with no further ado, here are a few of the things that bother me about life (and keeping with the theme of this blog, I’ll try to include a few financial ones for flavor):

Being Passed on the Right: One thing that I simply hate is when I am passed on the right side of my car.  Usually, it happens when I’m in the passing lane, trying to pass someone and get far enough ahead to safely pull back over to the right, when someone in too much of a hurry to drive safely passes the car I just passed, zips over to the right lane (maybe signaling, frequently not) and rushes by me.  I don’t know why exactly this annoys me more than other examples of unsafe driving (and goodness knows, you can find enough to fill a text book if you spend any amount of time on the road), but it does.  Seriously, unless you’re an ambulance or a fire truck, it’s all but certain that you can wait long enough for the car in the left lane to pull over.

The Financial Media’s Obsession with Fluctuating Stock Prices: Do me a favor.  Go to your television, turn on CNBC, and take a look at their screen.  Or, if you don’t want to do that, look at this example screenshot below:

CNBC, in all its glory

Besides the sheer overwhelming nature of all the information being displayed (a pet peeve for another day), notice the crawl down on the bottom of the screen.  You have not one, but two crawls showing the current prices of various stocks, updated throughout the day.  And if that’s not enough, you can go to CNBC’s website and find even more stock prices, updated in real time.

All this focus on the minute by minute stock fluctuations only encourages a day trader mentality in investors who lack the time, patience, or excess money to try to profit from the daily ebb and surge of stock prices.  I realize that financial media outlets need to fill time, and that such information grabs attention (and thus ratings and sponsor dollars) for the broadcaster.  It would just be nice to see some alternatives, a channel (or even the occasional program or two) that encourages long term investing, dollar cost averaging, and a diverse, passively managed portfolio.

Talk of Investing as ‘Too Risky’: This one is particularly annoying.  Yes, by investing, you do put part of your money at risk, for the hope of an uncertain return (unless you are putting your money in an investment with virtually no chance of declining in value, like a savings account or a Treasury note; but these are really saving, in my book).  And yes, there is the chance that you could lose some, or even all of your money by doing so.  But these risks can be alleviated by diversification and smart asset allocation; the risks of not investing, such as finding your nest egg is too small to support your retirement, or that your money’s spending power has been eaten away by inflation, cannot.  If you hope to retire and don’t have a pension (and either don’t trust Social Security or expect it to pay out far less by the time you retire), there’s really no alternative to investing for future, other than working until you drop, literally.

So there you have it, several of my pet peeves.  It’s just a start; I could probably make this into an entire week if you really got me going.  But, now I’m curious: what are some of your pet peeves out there in watcher land?  Feel free to leave a note and let me know!

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I’ve been thinking lately about everything I have going well for me in my life.  Good friends, loving family, a sweet girlfriend, and now, a good job.  So, since I’m currently spending the last weekend before I start my new job visiting my girlfriend (who would rather I spend my time obsessing over her than over my blog), I thought I would list a few things in this world that make me content.  Not merely happy or joyful, but satisfied with my life and the way it’s worked out so far.  Some of the things that satisfy me in this way:

My Family – An endless source of support, encouragement, and love, my family is always there for me.  They are sweet and wonderful, and if it weren’t for all the support my mother has given me over the years, I would have turned out much differently (and probably much, much, MUCH worse).  My family is just fantastic.

My Fiancee – She’s sweet, she’s cute, she’s adorable, and she shares my sense of humor (crazy though it is).  Why else would she let me call her a hamster as a term of endearment?  (I’d share the story, but I think she’d more than a little upset if I share anything else).  In short, I love her, I adore her, and I want to be with her all the time.  My biggest qualm with getting a new job is that it pulled me away from her; but hopefully, when she finishes school, things will be different.

Work – I am happy that I’ve found a new job.  I like to keep busy, to make myself a useful part of society, and now with my new job, I’ll have that opportunity again.  The fact that I am going to working in the vaccine field is all the better, as I’ll be able to help society as I earn a living.  Talk about a good deal!

My friends – I’m blessed in life to have a great deal of people that I call friends in this world.  There’s a good chance, if you’re reading this, that you fall within the realm of people that I consider as friends; some of the most interesting and funny people that I know I’ve met online (see the entry on my fiancee, for a stunning example).  As they say (or should, if I’m not remembering an actual quotation), ‘friends are the sprinkles on the sundae of life’, and boy, are they tasty!

Everything else – Alright, a little bit of a cop out; I could break things down even more, I suppose.  I have the joy of living in a country where I can express my views freely, where I can say and do (almost) everything I want.  I am reasonably healthy, have a long life ahead of me, and enough money available that I don’t have to worry about struggling for food or shelter in order to survive.  For all the complaining I sometimes do, there’s really nothing wrong with the life of Roger

When all is said and done, I lead a very full life.  Thanks everyone for reading, and have a great weekend if I don’t get to tell you personally!

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Alright, just a quick little post: I received a call earlier today, indicating that I got the job I interviewed for on Thursday.  It’s a temp to perm position at Sanofi Pasteur, a gigantic pharmaceutical company that focuses on vaccines (in fact, if you got a flu shot, there was a 50% chance that it was produced at Sanofi, in the very division I am going to be employed).  I have been trying to get a job with them pretty much since I graduated, so I am immensely thrilled by this opportunity.

The only downside is that where I am working is quite a distance away from my fiancee (like a four to five hour drive away).  This obviously rules out any commuting from her home, which I’ve recently moved into, although my mother’s house is close enough that I can commute, at least until I make other living or commuting arrangements.  I’m a little sad that I can’t be with my sweet Sondra and accept this job, but I have do what needs to be done, I suppose.

Anyway, I just wanted to make a quick note to all my readers about this good news.  I hope everyone has a good weekend, and stay well!

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Yesterday, I went out to start living with my beautiful and very talented fiancee, Sondra (as you might recall me mentioning a few weeks ago).  It was one of the most harrowing experiences I have had while traveling.  As a result, I cannot help but wonder, is the universe attempting to send me a signal?

You might think that I am exaggerating the circumstances of my trip, so as to make for a better blog post.  In the spirit of full disclosure, and so you realize that, if anything, I’m understating the case, here is everything that happened:

• I forgot some paperwork that I will need for a job interview this Wednesday at (my previous) house, and had to turn around after traveling for nearly half an hour down the road, delaying me by at least an hour.  So far, not too bad, you might think; although this act did cause me be in the wrong place at the wrong time for everything that followed…
• I was nearly hit by a passenger bus while trying exit the turnpike, to the great annoyance of the bus driver, if how much he laid on the horn is any indication.  A bit harrowing, but it happens if you drive enough, I suppose.
• I has to drive through numerous construction sites, slowing down my progress greatly.  In Pennsylvania during the spring and summer, this isn’t a rare event; the freezing, melting and refreezing of water during the winter is murder on our roads (which are some of the worst in the country, according to many surveys).  I’m used to these conditions, but what happened at the second such construction site is what makes my tale really distressing…
• There was apparently a very bad crash, bad enough to send up smoke visible miles away.  It was not until I got within a mile of the site before I could discern this accurately.  I do not know if anyone was hurt (I hope not), but at the very least, it delayed traffic for over an hour, during which I ran the air conditioner off and on to fight the ninety plus degree heat (in Fahrenheit, of course).  As a result…
• When I tried to start my car when the road was finally cleared, I discovered that the battery was dead.  I could not get the car to turn over or start in any way, in spite of the fact that it was functional just a short time ago.  So there I was, stranded (in the passing lane, no less), being passed by the traffic that had built up over the previous hour (a large number of semi trailers, which had to pass me on right and then cross over to the left lane to avoid the construction area).  I tried to contact AAA, eventually getting through to an operator, but before they could send anyone out, one of the policemen who had been helping with the fire came over and gave me a jump.

All in all, one of the worst experiences I have ever had driving.  To answer my own initial question, no, I do not believe that the universe or some higher power is attempting to tell me not to live with my girlfriend.  It was simply a very unlucky day for me to go out driving, and nothing other worldly was at work.  If there’s something that something supernatural is attempting to tell me, it needs to be a lot clearer than this to make me leave my dear, dear girl.

Now, if I happen to be struck by lightning sometime in the next week, I might just reconsider my position…

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As of today, I’ve been at my temporary job now for one and a half weeks.  The good news is, I do have a job, it pays pretty well, and I can handle the work load without too much trouble.  The bad news is, the job takes up a substantial portion of my time when I used to do much of my writing (late at night is when I write best).  Add in the housework and other things I need to do in real life, and I’m having a tough time getting my blog entries out.

As a result, I’m going to be cutting back on my posting schedule, and I will not be posting anything on the weekends from this point on.  Hopefully, this will allow me time to build up an archive of posts for the future, as well as do some more promotion and maintenance work for my blog (which I’ve been neglecting up to this point).  Plus, it seems as if there is little interest in my net worth statements or commentary on charities, so it should not be a huge loss.

Thank you all for reading my blog, and I hope that it continues to be a source of entertainment and education.  Come again tomorrow, when I’ll be back to my normal money-related posts and other whackiness.

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Yesterday, I noted that my trip with my fiancée went quite well, until the return trip.  It was quite simply one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had while traveling.  Here, step-by-step, is everything that happened:

1) Our flight from Ontario, California to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport got delayed for an hour and a half because of bad thunderstorms in Dallas.  Annoyance Level – Low; weather will be weather, and I wouldn’t want to fly if there’s a chance we wouldn’t be able to land.

2) My fiancée left her cell phone on the airport shuttle.  Annoyance Level – Low; she is sometimes a bit forgetful, and with our flight delay, I had more than enough time to go back to car rental station to get her phone.  Plus, we got a good laugh out of it.

3) When we landed in Dallas, we discovered that our connecting flight had already left.  Annoyance Level – Moderate; it was a storm in Dallas that delayed our departure from sunny, clear-skied California, but apparently did not delay our connecting flight.

4) Our new connecting flight didn’t leave until six a.m. the next morning, meaning that we needed to stay overnight in hot, muggy Dallas.  Annoyance Level – Low; at least American Airlines was trying to accommodate us.

5) The shuttle to our hotel didn’t show up, even after we waited outside for an hour and a half.  Annoyance Level – High; we waited so long, watching so many other shuttles passing by for other hotels, and yet, the Baymont hotel at which we were staying never sent out a shuttle for us. Every time that we called, or any of the other passengers who were staying there called, we were told that the shuttle was on its way, although it never arrived (at least, not until after we and the other passengers gave up and just slept in the airport).

(Special Bonus Annoyance: I discovered, after looking at a map of the airport the next day, that there was a perfectly suitable Hyatt hotel located within the airport grounds itself.  The Dallas/Fort Worth airport is shaped like a figure eight with three rings, with the Hyatt inside the middle ring.  Instead, they sent us to the Baymont Inn, which was half an hour away.)

6) Eventually, we spent the night staying in the airport lobby, sleeping on some of the chairs near the baggage claim.  Annoyance Level – High; not only did we have to stay in the airport, but since the TSA officers had gone home for the night, we couldn’t even get past security to sleep on, say, the comfy-looking kiddie play area seats.

Finally, we caught our flight, and were able to get back to Pennsylvania.  I had to drive back home on almost no sleep (airport lobbies and planes aren’t the most conducive places to sleep), but then we were able to rest properly.  It was one rather sad way to spend our return trip after we went out to California.

Sorry for all the venting, but I just needed to put this out there.

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Well, as of yesterday, I am back at home, after going out to California to visit my fiancée’s family.  I’m feeling pretty good about the whole experience.  Apparently, all the family members that I visited liked me, which covers her parents, her sisters, and several of her uncles.  So, one of my biggest worries, that her family would not care for me or approve of me marrying her, has been put to rest.

The overall trip was quite enjoyable.  I’ve never been out to California before, and it is a lovely state.  Drier than Hades, but still a nice place to visit.  Except, of course, for the driving; since I’m 26 and my girlfriend is only 23, I had to rent the car and I was the only person who was able to drive on the California freeways.  Our schedule was rather packed, trying to meet with her family over the course of four days before we had to return home, but we managed to get through it without being overly stressed.  We even had time to go to the beach with her two younger sisters on Wednesday.  It was a pretty good trip.  (Until the plane trip home, that is, which is a story all by itself.  I’ll tell it tomorrow, as I’m trying to focus on the positive today.)

Plus, to add to the good news, I have a job!  I got the position for which I interviewed last week, which makes me quite happy.  Besides the obvious personal boost in having actual employment, I will also be boosting my income for the next few weeks (the position will last for at least five to seven weeks) and can put off getting unemployment, extending my eligibility for another few weeks.  There’s at least the possibility that this could turn into a longer-term position.  As an extra added bonus, it’ll be one more position to put onto my resume, which could make me all the more desirable to other potential employer.

All in all, one of the better weeks I’ve had in quite a while.  And don’t worry, in a couple of days I’ll be back to talking about money, investing and personal finance, just like normal.

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Here are some interesting ethical questions to ponder.  How would you react if you were offered a job position, but the only reason the job exists is because of an illness that was leading to mass panic?  If you took the job, would you feel you were somehow profiting from other people’s pain?

I ask because yesterday, I had an interview with a company that needs more temporary workers to package flu medication for the swine flu outbreak.  It’s a decent job, which is right up my alley for the skills I developed at my last position.

But I can’t help but have the thought that my good luck is coming at the cost of a lot of suffering by other people.  It won’t stop me from taking the job; if nothing else, taking this position will help to make more medicine available to those who are sick, which is never a bad thing.  It just makes me wish that there wasn’t a need for this position in the first place.

But now it’s time for another ethical question.  Ths position is slated to last for five to seven weeks, UNLESS the swine flu proceeds to get worse.  In that case, the position could be last for up to several months.  In other words, the worse the swine flu becomes, the longer I get to work.

So here’s the ethical question: do I hope for the swine flu to end quickly, and with it, my temp job, or do I hope for the swine flu to last for a long time and more people to become sick, allowing me to work more?  I think it would be much better for the world in general (and Mexico’s tourist bureau in particular) for this pandemic to end soon, which is what I hope happens, and soon.  But still, there is a small part of me that hopes the flu at least appears to be getting worse for a little while longer, at least long enough to get the company I’m going to working with to extend my contract for a few more months.

So anyway, that’s what has been going on with me; a potential temp job and something of an ethical dilemma.

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