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So, I’m the first to admit I’m a print-phobe. I constantly admire the use of pattern in other people’s homes, but never feel brave enough to add it to my own. Even after reading Rebecca’s new book, I still feel nervous! But I recently came upon a genius solution for all us pattern wussies – removable tiles.

But this isn’t the removable wallpaper of yesteryear. Yes, removable wallpaper used to have a nasty stigma, but the stuff coming out these days is actually pretty fantastic. No vinyl allowed.

In this case, the Australian wallpaper and fabric design company Quercus & Co have created a gorgeous series of removable wall tiles that let you inject some color and texture virtually anywhere you’d like. And then simply peel it back off when you don’t like it!

Inspired by the palaces of Spain and North Africa, Quercus’s La Casa Wallpaper Tiles are hand-painted decorative designs digitally printed onto self-adhesive fabric. So it’s not going to look plastic-y or weirdly shiny. Instead, they just look gorgeous.

Unlike removable wallpaper, which often comes in roles, these individual tiles offer a lot of versatility. I absolutely love the idea of putting them on the risers of a staircase. How chic does that look?! Or maybe giving a piece of Ikea furniture a facelift. They could also be wonderful as an accent wall, or be used to punch up a powder room without the commitment and expense of traditional wallpaper.

The tiles themselves are really really good looking. The tones are soft and lovely, with a bit of a watercolor effect to them. If you’re looking to add a little Moroccan flair to your home, this seems like the perfect way to give it a try. Your only limitation is how creative you’re willing to get.

 

For our entire archive of theft worthy design ideas CLICK HERE.

images via quercus & co

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Source: apartment34.com

Apache is functioning normally

In 1978, Don Lancaster — a computer and electronics geek — published a book called The Incredible Secret Money Machine. Though the title smacks of get-rich-quick schemes, The Incredible Secret Money Machine is really about starting and running a small business.

To Lancaster, a “money machine” is any venture that generates “nickels”. Nickels are small streams of revenue from individual customers. If your goal is simply to earn a comfortable income for yourself by doing something you love, then this book can help you explore the idea of business ownership. It’s not going to help you launch the next Google or Microsoft, though. Lancaster is all about nickels, not about dollars.

Getting Started

Lancaster says that in order to build a money machine, you must adhere to four basic beliefs. (Note that I’ve left his very-1970s language as-is.)

  1. You have to be heavily into a technical or craft trip on a total lifestyle basis. “Your own trip has to be the absolute center of everything you do, everything you work with, and everything you believe in. Doing it has to be much more important to you than making money, more important than worrying about what people think, and more important than behaving, competing, or complying the way that other people think you should.”
  2. You must want to stay in control. “For your money machine to work, you have to want to spend much of your time, energy, and effort improving both yourself and the general goodness of the technical or craft trip you are into.”
  3. Your income goals should be just enough to keep going. “Getting filthy rich should be nowhere in your plans. So long as you can continue doing what you like in the direction you want to go, that’s all that should matter. The great irony of your incredible secret money machine is that the less you strive for income, the more of it will come your way, and, more importantly, the more you will be able to do with what you already have.”
  4. Be gentle. “Your money machine should be forever small and decentralized. It should never compete head-on with others. It should complement and advance what others are doing. Your money machine’s products should genuinely help people at a fair or more-than-fair price, never being a rip-off either to suppliers or to customers.”

This isn’t the sort of advice I expect to get from a book about entrepreneurship. I expect to read grand promises, and glowing talk of profits to come. I expect money to be the object. Money isn’t the object with Lancaster. It’s one of the goals, to be sure, but it’s more important to create a “lifestyle business”, one that you enjoy and want to pursue.

Tips for Building a Money Machine

But how do you do build your own money machine? What’s the best way to start the stream of nickels? And how do you keep them coming? Though The Incredible Secret Money Machine is only 160 pages long, it’s packed with strategies and tactics for building a successful business, including:

  • Have as many different sources of income as possible. By this Lancaster doesn’t mean you should work multiple jobs — he means that you should have as many customers as possible. It’s better to have 1,000 people each giving you a nickel a month than it is to have one person giving you $50 a month. If that one person decides to spend $50/month elsewhere, you’re in trouble. But if even 100 people stop paying their nickel, you’ll still earn $45/month.
  • Have complementary sources of income. Another way to keep your cash flow strong is to operate two money machines. Many entrepreneurs I’ve known have done this. I have a friend who is a published novelist; in his spare time, he also takes on free-lance writing projects. My aunt baked wedding cakes, did catering, and was a professional photographer. My wellness coach doesn’t just counsel clients about physical fitness, but she also does stage entertainment.
  • Deal directly with the customer. If you write a book and publish it traditionally, for example, there’s an entire industry designed to suck the profit out of the process before you get your nickels. Instead, content yourself with fewer sales at a higher margin by dealing directly with the customer.
  • Work toward deferred income. “What you do for your money machine should generate nickels both today and tomorrow,” Lancaster writes.

    You should work toward automatically generating yourself a long stream of future nickels that needs little or no more attention from you. This is admittedly very tricky to do, but if you can pull this off, your money machine will fly by itself, freeing you in the future to do bigger and better things.

    An obvious way to generate residual income is to assure you have satisfied customers. Satisfied customers come back for more, and they tell their friends about your services.

  • Know the difference between cold cash, imaginary money, and megabucks. Megabucks are the big jackpots you get from writing a bestseller, from winning the lottery, from inventing the next Rubik’s Cube. Megabucks can make your rich, but the odds are basically zilch that you’ll ever find them. Imaginary money is the kind you dream about: “If I’m able to sell my Thneed to Wal-Mart, I’ll be set!” Imaginary money doesn’t exist. It’s potential money contingent on a lot of things. Lancaster encourages readers to focus on cash: “Cold cash is what you get when you supply a quality product to a known bunch of customers at a bargain price. It is the only type of income your money machine should seek.”
  • Separate frugality from stupidity. Know when you can cut corners to reduce costs, and know when it’s important to pay for quality. (And always be sure that you deliver quality to your customers.)
  • Avoid psychic energy sinks. Anything that distracts you from your purpose is a psychic energy sink. Lancaster decries television as a prominent energy sink. But he warns that debt, divorce, and anything else that produces “bad vibes” should be avoided. Stay positive. Stay focused.

These are just a few of the strategies and tactics Lancaster shares in The Incredible Secret Money Machine. You won’t find the specific details necessary to start a business here. The book doesn’t give step-by-step instructions for how to form a partnership, or how to publicize your product, etc. Instead, it’s filled with broad ideas and suggestions. Some of them are out-dated. All of them are enhanced by (or suffer from) Lancaster’s brash style.

A Real-Life Money Machine

As I was reading The Incredible Secret Money Machine, it reminded me of another book I’d read recently. In John T. Reed’s How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Own How-To Book, the author describes his “money machine” at length (though he never calls it that).

  • Reed has self-published over 70 how-to books. He actively sells more than 30 of them from his web site. This gives him 30+ different sources of income.
  • He writes about four different subjects — real-estate investing, coaching youth sports, success, and self-publishing. This gives him four complementary audiences.
  • Reed deals directly with customers instead of with book distributors. This gives him many sources of nickels instead of just one or two sources of dollars.
  • His books give him deferred income. They keep producing income year after year.

Reed’s book business seems to embody the “money machine” philosophy. I’m glad to have read his Self-Publishing book at roughly the same time that I read Lancaster’s Money Machine — the latter provides the Big Picture, while the former looks at nuts and bolts.

Conclusion

Some of the advice in The Incredible Secret Money Machine (believe in biorhythms!) now seems quaint, 30 years after the book was published. (Lancaster produced a revision in 1991, but I haven’t read it.) The author’s “hip” language and many of his examples are outdated. But smart readers can extrapolate, and still learn a lot. You have to be able to read Lancaster’s advice on letterhead, for example, and think of it as advice for web sites.

Although Lancaster believes that you must be into your money machine on a total lifestyle basis, I’m not sure that’s true. I think you can have a part-time money machine. A full-time money machine will be more profitable, of course, but a part-time money machine is a great way to start. (Get Rich Slowly has been a part-time money machine for me, for example.)

Finding the Book

This book can be expensive and hard to find — it’s an underground classic. My county library system doesn’t have it. I bought my copy for $15 from Powell’s. Amazon currently has seven copies under $10. In theory, you can order the revised edition from the author’s web site. I’m going to give it a shot, but I’m wary — the site looks as if it hasn’t been updated in ten years. (You can take a sneak peek at the second edition in this PDF from Lancaster’s site.)

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further

Who needs hotels anymore? One of the internet’s greatest travel perks is that it’s  much easier for those looking for a place to stay to connect with someone who has a room to spare.

Rental sites like Airbnb.com let anyone put their spare couch, bed or house up for rent. The upsides for hosts: Greet people from all over the world, and pocket some cash for their efforts. The benefits for guests: Stay at unique places for a fraction of the price of a hotel room.

But staying at someone’s home isn’t quite the same as a hotel. There’s etiquette for both host and guest to follow so that both parties get the most out of the experience.

For Hosts:

Charge less first, then raise your rates, but be realistic. Figuring out how to price your place can be tricky. Charge too much and you won’t get any bookings; charge too little and you won’t be making as much as you could. Keep in mind that Airbnb earns its cut by doing a 6 to 12 percent markup on the listing price, so if you list a room for $100, Airbnb lists it for $106 to $112 and takes that extra money. But because it can be tough to get bookings on a site like Airbnb without a solid base of reviews, you may want to undercharge at first.

Jane Hodges, a business journalist whose new book about renting versus buying a house will be published this spring, listed the basement of her West Seattle home in April. Initially, she charged $55 per night and immediately got a ton of interest. Now her rate is $61, with a two-night minimum. She probably could charge more but the basement is not completely finished, particularly in the walk between the bedroom and bathroom, and she’s upfront with guests about that.

Chris Williams, a retired teacher in the former gold mining town of Nevada City, California,  decided to list the granny flat and a few spare rooms in her home on AirBnB to create extra income. She, too, started low on the pricing, but as her guests left rave reviews on the website, her rooms started showing up higher on the search listing, and she eventually had a full calendar of bookings. Still she keeps her rates lower than she could — $35 to $45 per room, with a two-night minimum – because the kitchen, living room and outdoor patio are all common areas, and she doesn’t serve meals. “I realize that the rooms aren’t as private as hotel rooms, so I don’t feel I can charge as much.”

Use the professional photographer. Airbnb offers to send one to new listings so that quality photos of your room appear on the site. Both Hodges and Williams had photographers who routinely shoot for realtors’ property listings come to their homes. Take advantage of that. Because the photographers know what they’re doing, they generally will do a better job emphasizing the assets of your home better than you can. Also, Airbnb-commissioned shots feature a “Airbnb.com Verified Photo” watermark on the site, which makes potential guests believe that your killer apartment actually exists.

Consider a two-night minimum. Of course, if you’re starting out as a new listing, it’s wise to go short to build up your list of reviews. Once you earn those, it’s better financially to go for longer-term guests. “I’ve turned down requests for people who need a place to stay for a night, will arrive at 11 p.m. and leave for the airport at 6 a.m. Ditto for people who want the place on the same day. It takes time for me to get the place ready — wash up, dust, vaccum, shop for breakfast” says Williams. It’s not worthwhile to do that day-in, day-out, especially if you’ve got a life, and daily maintenance will eat into those rental fees.

Ask guests to contact you first. At the top of your listing, ask that people send you a note inquiring about availability before trying to book.  This serves as a test for whether they actually read your listing before attempting to book, or were simply dashing off requests to everybody in a five-mile radius. It also allows you to communicate with potential tenants, so you can decide whether or not you feel comfortable taking them as guests. But respond to every message, even if it’s only to say that your place isn’t available. Airbnb tracks and publishes what percentage of messages you reply to as your “Response Rate,” so having a high number makes you look like a more receptive host, and it puts you higher up in the search rankings.

Fill out a detailed profile. That means a real photo of you (smiling, of course), and a bit of information about who you are. A filled-out profile reminds potential guests that you’re a real person. Also, make sure you list your neighborhood. Airbnb listings allow you to tag your place by neighborhood. It allow users who are searching for particular neighborhoods (say, the neighborhood of Williamsburg in the vast borough of Brooklyn) to find you.

Screen potential guests. If somebody who contacted you via Airbnb has no reviews or an incomplete account, ask them to send a bit of info about themselves. You want to know as much about a potential tenant as possible because you are letting them into your home, after all.

Also, you want to make sure it’s a good host/guest fit. Some hosts like to hang out with their guests and show them around town, other prefer that guests be as self-sufficient as possible. Williams is the former. She asks guests what brings them to town, so she knows what advice to give them to make their trip more fun. “I’ve found that just about everybody is happy to share that info. If they refuse or ignore the request, I consider that a warning sign, and I move onto the next person.”

Offer the basics. Good linens and towels (including washcloths) are a must. Hodges recommends good bedside lighting and a table or stand to put a book and a glass of water down on at bedtime. She also includes a coffeemaker and a cold breakfast of granola bars and fruit (cheap and easy to purchase). Williams puts hairdryers in every room, and takes mini bottles of shampoo and conditioners from her hotel trips to put in her guest bathrooms. “I can’t tell you how many guests told me that I just saved them luggage space. Anything you can do to lighten their luggage load is a plus, and makes them feel like they are staying in more of a hotel-like environment.”

For Renters:

Do not try to book without communicating first. Airbnb is not Expedia or Travelocity. Just because a date appears to be available on the calendar does not mean you can stay there that night. Message the host, introduce yourself , tell them what brings you to town, then ask politely if your requested dates are available.

Read the entire listing before messaging. Don’t waste the host’s time by asking questions with readily available answers like “are you near the airport?” or “do you have a kitchen?” You look like a undesirable guest and you’re far more likely to have your request rejected. “I don’t want to be their mom,” says Hodges. “If they book decently in advance and do research on the area, I am happy to fill out the cracks.”

It’s not a hotel. That means you should have some basic courtesy when it comes to cleaning up after yourself and making noise. Remember that your hosts have lives, too. One of Hodges’ biggest annoyances is guests who don’t say what time they’ll arrive. “Some people are not specific when they’re coming, so I’m stuck in the house waiting for them. Now when they book, I ask them to give me a two-hour window so I know what time to be here when they arrive.”

Williams’ pet peeve is guests who bring “extra guests” home at night. “You’re a few steps up from being a stranger in my home. I don’t want total strangers as well.”

Fill out your profile. The same rules apply to guests as hosts. “If your profile makes you look friendly and decent, I’ll usually allow you to book,” says Williams. That means a real (non-threatening) photo of you, and some information about who you are and where you’re coming from. More than anything else you do, this will raise the percentage of your reservation requests being accepted.

Vanessa Richardson is a freelance writer in San Francisco who writes about small business and personal finance.

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Source: mint.intuit.com

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It may not be a match for Tony Stark’s futuristic mansion on a cliff (that went crumbling down at the hands of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3), but Tony Stark’s cabin from Avengers: Endgame is now an iconic movie setting that will stick with Marvel fans forever.

The lakeside cabin where Tony Stark retreats after the devastating events of Infinity War, looking to give daughter Morgan a normal upbringing instead of exposing her to the chaos of superhero life, serves as a backdrop to crucial scenes in the movie — culminating with what is now arguably one the most dramatic moments in the entire Marvel universe: Tony Stark’s funeral.

So I found Tony Starks Cabin on Airbnb if anyone needs a vacation to cope after Endgame. from r/marvelstudios

Listed on Airbnb by a secretive host who simply goes by “Ed,” the famous cabin was spotted by some eagle-eyed Reddit users, who quickly took to the website to compare screenshots from the movie to the photos in the listing.

Not only that, but movie goers have quickly spotted that the cabin used in the Avengers movie had an even more recent big-screen appearance.

Image: Tony Stark’s cabin in Avengers: Endgame. Credit: Airbnb

Once the property was up on reddit, it didn’t take long for people to figure out that Avengers: Endgame was not the only summer blockbuster filmed at this location.

The same cabin was used in Godzilla: Kind of the Monsters, as Kyle Chandler’s home, where he retreats after the life-altering events that take place in 2014’s Godzilla (starting to see a pattern here).

Tony Stark’s lakeside cabin (IRL)

Set on private property in the middle of the beautiful Bouckaert Farms, Tony Stark’s cabin is located in Chattahoochee Hills — a small, private community of less than 2,500 people in Fulton County, Georgia.

And that fits the narrative pretty well, as Tony’s new home in Avengers: Endgame is a secluded cabin where he retreats with Pepper Potts following the emotional aftermath of Infinity War, a quiet and peaceful place where the two can raise their daughter, Morgan.

Yet not remote enough so that people can’t reach him with ease (you know, in case the world needs saving again).

The property comes with three bedrooms, four beds, three baths, and it can accommodate up to six people.

It’s about a 20-min drive away from Atlanta International airport — which probably made it a lot easier to get the entire cast of Endgame together for Stark’s funeral. Or, if you’re Mark Ruffalo or Tom Holland, ‘the wedding scene’.

How to book a stay at the Avengers cabin

Well, this is a short “how to”: you can simply book the cabin on Airbnb here. Thought it’s worth mentioning that now, since the cat is out of the bag, availabilities may be a little scarce, so make sure to move fast.

As demand increases, so do the rates. At this time, the rate for a one-night stay is $1,066, but may go up considerably.

The cabin definitely plays up its Endgame connection and doesn’t just settle for being a pretty damn nice cabin.

“You have full use of the cabin and the back porch for hanging out,” the listing says, “taking photos and sending text/emails to friends regarding your stay in the Marvel Avengers Endgame cabin. Stand where hero’s/stars stood for the wreath floating in the lake just a few feet away from you.”

Before booking a stay here, you might feel the need to double-check whether this truly is the same cabin used in Avengers: Endgame. And if the listing description is not credible enough, reddit comes to the rescue once again.

Minutes after the link to the property was posted, redditors flocked to the listing and scoured the photos to identify similarities between the Airbnb cabin and scenes of Stark’s house in the movie. It didn’t take them long to find them:

Now, if you do end up booking the Avengers: Endgame cabin for a stay and you do some recon of your own, matching movie scenes with your surroundings, make sure to drop us a line at [email protected]. We’d love to see them!

More homes from movies

Placing the Avengers Tower on the NYC Skyline: The Real Building that Stands in its Place
The Ever-Changing Vision Residence: Magical Interiors Through the Decades
Does the X-Mansion — Charles Xavier’s Ancestral Home — from X-Men Exist in Real Life?Is it Real? Skyfall, James Bond’s Childhood Home in the Scottish Highlands

Source: fancypantshomes.com

Apache is functioning normally

I’ve been thinking lately about the value of a college education. I earned a B.A. in Psychology from Willamette University in 1991 (with a minor in English Lit, and almost another minor in Speech Com). What have I done with this degree? Almost nothing. Yet I do not regret the money and years I spent working to earn it.

The Financial Value of a College Degree

Does earning a college degree make a difference to your future? Absolutely. The facts are striking. On average, those who have a college degree earn almost twice as much as those who do not. According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

Adults with advanced degrees earn four times more than those with less than a high school diploma. Workers 18 and older with a master’s, professional or doctoral degree earned an average of $82,320 in 2006, while those with less than a high school diploma earned $20,873.

Workers with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $56,788 in 2006; those with a high school diploma earned $31,071. This flurry of numbers makes more sense when viewed in a table:

Education Avg. Income Increase
Drop-out $20,873 —
High school $31,071 48.9%
College $56,788 82.8%
Advanced $82,320 45.0%

Completing college is huge. Over a life-time, a college degree is generally worth almost a million dollars. That’s money that can be used for saving, for fun, for whatever. The financial benefits of a college education are significant, and they’re very real.

Other Benefits of a College Degree

Obtaining a college degree isn’t just about making more money. According to Katharine Hansen at Quintessential Careers, a college education is associated with other benefits, such as:

  • Longer life-spans
  • Greater economic stability and security
  • More prestigious employment and greater job satisfaction
  • Less dependency on government assistance
  • Greater participation in leisure and artistic activities
  • Greater community service and leadership
  • More self-confidence

A college education also gives you a broad base of knowledge on which to build. It teaches you to solve more of life’s problems. It gives you future reference points for discussing art, entertainment, politics, and history.

College offers other learning opportunities, too. Much of what I gained in college came from learning outside the classroom, from participating in clubs and other campus organizations. Many degree programs allow students to “test-drive” careers through internships and practicums.

The Label on Your Degree Does NOT Matter

I asked Michael Hampton, director of career development at Western Oregon University, what advice he would offer a student who is deciding whether or not to attend college. He replied:

Unless you are going to be an engineer, architect, teacher, lawyer, the label on your degree does not matter. The degree is a check-mark (as opposed to the focus) in most job requirements. Many job ads will state: “Business, Communications or other degree required.” Most folks have the “other”.

I have a BA in Speech, Telecommunications & Film. As a television news photographer, youth director, communications director, substitute school teacher, sports marketing manager, career programs coordinator, no one ever said to me: “You know what? We would like to hire you, but we’re not sure what that label is on your degree.”

Honestly, at the University of Oregon, I was looking for an “easy” degree because I was not a book-smart student. I was able to take mostly film & television classes to earn my BA, so I signed up. The experiences I took advantage of (internships, volunteering, and part-time jobs) in college set me up to be marketable to employers. Again, the jobs I went after required degrees, but the label on the degree was not a barrier.

Here are some more prominent examples:

  • What was Alan Greenspan‘s major? Econ, but he studied music first
  • What was Michael Jordan‘s major? Math, then Geography (dropped out to play professional basketball, later returned to earn his degree)
  • What was Lisa Kudrow‘s major? Biology
  • What was Cindy Crawford‘s major? Chemical Engineering (dropped out for modeling career)
  • What was Ted Turner‘s major? Classics (expelled for hanky-panky)
  • What was former HP CEO Carly Fiorina‘s major? Philosophy
  • What was George W. Bush‘s major? History
  • What was Jay Leno‘s major? Philosophy

If a student is struggling to get good grades, I encourage them to look at the course catalog and choose a major based on the likability of most of the classes they would have to take, their positive experiences with the professors in the major, and the number of credits they have already taken that are compatible. They should set themselves up to be successful. Getting through the pre-reqs is a major barrier for some. Combine some “fun” classes with the challenging required courses to try and make the experience more enjoyable.

Against the Grain

But what if, instead of paying for your child’s education, you provided this lump sum to them in a one-year certificate of deposit, earning the current highest return available (2.24% as of the writing of this article, according to Bankrate.com)? Now the child’s salary would be greatly reduced; the lifetime earning potential would only be $4.2 million assuming the same circumstances as before.

However, assuming that in both scenarios the child in question was able to save 5% of their annual income (assumed to be a lump-sum deposit at the beginning of the year to keep calculations simple), the child with the high school education will have accumulated $646,532 in the one-year CDs by the time they’ve reached retirement age. The child with the college degree would only accumulate $438.132, a difference of $208,400.

Perhaps it could be argued that the child with the college degree could live with the same expense basis as the one with the high school education, thereby freeing up more money for saving and investing. However, I would encourage a recognition of Parkinson’s Second Law, which tells us that “expenses rise to meet income”.

Rich or poor, thrifty or not, the current savings rate as of the end of May for Americans was only 6.9%. For much of the recent past it’s been lower than that, even to the point of occasionally becoming negative. For as many responsible people who are reading these words, there are many more who would be swept along by circumstances and society, spending exactly what they make (or more), year after year.

Public vs. Private

What if one were to assume a lower university bill? Perhaps a private school isn’t in the cards for these two kids (and their parents), but a public four-year institution could be.

The current median cost of four years at a public university for the 2009-2010 school year is only $29,021. At that rate, assuming the same parameters as before (rate of salary increase and inflation, etc.), the college grad does come out ahead, but only by $26,090 at age 65. Certainly, that’s a much smaller margin than I would have assumed, and I would guess it surprises many of you, as well.

In fact, for the lifetime earnings calculation to balance (that is, for both the high school and college grad to show the same dollar figure in savings at retirement age), the high school graduate would only need a “head start” fund of $38,030! Just think, for less than the price of a new SUV, four years of college-educated earning power can be rendered moot. This result, frankly, surprised the heck out of me.

Other scenarios could be run, as well. What if you’re not able to provide any funds at all for your son or daughter? My folks didn’t pay for any of my college expenses; I expect many of you are/were in that same boat. One could look at the opportunity cost of college loan repayment vs. a clean slate for a high school grad with no debt encumbrance.

For a graduate of an average private university, repaying a college loan bill of $114,626 at 6% interest (remember, student loan interest is capitalized while the student is in school) will take 10 years and $152,710. That’s assuming they’re able to make the monthly loan payments of $1,273 right out of college, and don’t have to go with a longer-term repayment plan. After this is done, the college grad will only amass $37,272 more in savings than the high school grad, simply due to the long repayment period they must overcome.

Be Cool — Stay in School

While a college education statistically provides a better shot at obtaining wealth, it does not guarantee success. There are English majors who end up with convenience store careers. There are high school drop-outs who go on to run multi-million dollar corporations. But obtaining a college education improves your odds.

For some young adults, college can seem like a waste of time. (Or worse, a waste of money.) Other things seem more important. I had friends who dropped out of school to pursue girlfriends across the country. I had friends who were convinced they could make more money by skipping college altogether. Student loans can be so enormous that they make a person lose sight of the fact that they’re an almost guaranteed investment in the future.

I personally had problems finding a career path — I simply had no idea what I wanted to do. When I went entered college, I wanted to be a religion major. Then I wanted to be a writer. Then I wanted to be a grade school teacher. Ultimately I earned a psychology degree, which has had little direct benefit to my life. But the education I obtained, my campus experience, and the contacts I made have been invaluable. A large part of who I am today was forged by my experiences in college. The value of a college isn’t just in the destination, but in the journey.

Resources

In preparing this article, I relied heavily on the following sources:

How many of you attended college? Are you glad you did? If you didn’t get a degree, do you regret it? If you could talk to your 18-year-old self, what would you tell her? If I had a chance, I’d tell the young J.D.: “Set goals. Study more. Find a direction for life!”

Update: As usual, there are some great comments. Many have noted that education does not cause all these wonderful things — it’s simply correlated with them. (It may be that people who obtain an education would live longer even without one.) Also — and this is key — more important than education is doing what you love. Passion and drive can bring success, no matter what level of schooling you have.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

This is a guest post by Hank Coleman who writes about personal finance, investing, and retirement on his blog, Money Q&A. Hank shares his story about how he and his wife decided to become landlords.

I will tell you that I don’t know the first thing about this topic, so I would encourage anyone that is considering it, to read this first before becoming a landlord. I know there are pros and cons into becoming a landlord, so weigh all your options before diving in. Enter Hank…..

Many corporations in America require their employees to move every so often in order to give them with career progression, new opportunities, and challenges as they move up the ranks.

My employer is no different and recently told me of an impending move.

Like many Americans, I’m faced with a daunting choice.

Do I try and sell my home or become a reluctant landlord?

The anxiety of losing large sums of money or equity is one of the greatest fears for most homeowners with an impending move. I wanted to share with you some of my family’s thought process as to how we came to our decision to become landlords for the first time instead of selling.

It wasn’t an easy decision, and everyone’s situation is different. You have to look at it almost like a business and weigh the cost and benefits of your decision before taking the leap.

The Drawback Of Selling Our Home

There are several drawbacks to selling our home. Even though my wife and I live in an area of the country that has not seen the dramatic nosedive in real estate values, we have not seen any appreciation in our home’s value either. We could sell our house for pretty much the exact same price that we purchased it for four years earlier. The real problem with that scenario is that it is dramatically still a buyer’s market when it comes to buying and selling a home.

The buyers call all the shots, and they can make a lot of demands. Most sellers can expect to pay most if not all of the closing costs for both parties. They can also see demands for fixing up the home or even large price reductions. Trying to negotiate with a buyer will not do much good either because there are so many houses still currently on the market. A buyer can literally go down the street in most cases and find a more accommodating seller who needs to close in a hurry.

The Benefits Of Being A Landlord

Now, you may be thinking to yourself that you don’t want to be a landlord. I really don’t want to be one either and have to deal with finding tenants, evicting them when they don’t pay, checking credit reports, fixing broken toilets, showing my house to potential renters, and all of that other garbage. That’s why I hired a property management company to do all of that for me. But, I do want to increase my family’s net worth over the long-term, and owning real estate even if it is just adding one house every few years or so is one way to continue to build wealth.

There are other financial benefits of being a landlord too that many people may not immediately associate with the job. Like any homeowner, landlords enjoy many tax breaks.

In fact, there are more tax breaks for rental real estate owners than regular homeowners. Landlords are eligible to deduct their costs of operating their new rental business from their taxes.

You can deduct the cost of things like your property manager’s fee, maintenance costs, insurance, mortgage interest, home warranties, and a host of other expenses that start eating into your profit.

Renting Our Home At A Loss

Even renting out your home at a loss may be a better option than selling it outright. Of course, most of these calculations depend on your individual situation, your mortgage, how much down payment you used, and a host of other factors. For my wife and I, the comparables for renting a home like ours was $1,300 per month in rent. Currently, our mortgage, PMI, insurance, and property taxes cost $1,350 per month.

Additionally, we chose to use a property management company to help us rent our home, and they charge 10% of the monthly rent ($130 in our case). So, right off the bat, we have a negative cash flow of $180 that we are paying out of pocket every month. But, I’m very happy doing so, and I will tell you why.

Using a closing cost calculator, I can estimate that it will cost me about $14,000 or more in real estate brokerage commissions and fees to sell my $200,000 home. If I am losing $180 per month or $2,160 per year, it would take me about six and a half years to equal that $14,000 upfront cost. It is the difference between dying a thousand cuts or getting my head chopped off in one fell swoop. I’ll wait the market out. Eventually, home values in America will start to rebound…eventually.

Just like home values, rents will not stay low forever either. In fact, rents in American a rising year after year. There is nothing holding me back from raising the rent on my home in a few years and generating positive cash flow later. Almost anything is better in my book than losing $14,000 upfront and watching almost every penny of my equity disappear by selling.

According to the US Labor Department, rents across America have been rising 2.4% year over year, and that data is not even adjusted for inflation. At that rate alone, I could raise the rent on my to $1,500 over the next six years just to keep up with the times.

Eventually, your home could become a mini pension fund during retirement. At our current rate of repayment, my wife and I will have our home paid off thanks to the help of our renters at about the same time that we will be retiring to play golf and live on the beach. Even if I still charged $1,300 per month at that same house 26 years from now, the $1,170 after paying the property manager will be pure profit every month straight into our pockets.

A few more homes providing passive income like that would allow me to completely replace my pre-retirement income. While becoming a landlord is not a dream occupation that everyone aspires to, it is not something to be completely dismissed before you even consider it. There are great opportunities to choose something other than simply selling your home, taking a big financial hit, and moving on.

Pros Cons Becoming a Landlord

Everyone’s situation is different. Some people thrive being their own landlord, finding tenants, and are handy with a hammer. Some people want to get out of a house or an area at all costs and do not mind eating the closing costs in order to do so. Everyone has to make their own choices in the best interest of their family, but I wanted to let everyone know that they should not feel backed into a corner.

There are other options out there rather than simply succumbing to a realization that you have to lose money in order to move to a new home or a new city. All it may take in your situation is a little bit of cost benefit analysis on which course of action is right for you and your family’s well-being.

Hank Coleman is currently an officer in the US Army and also spends his free time as a finance writer who has written extensively for many financial websites and publications in addition to his own blog, Money Q&A. Hank has a Master’s Degree in Finance, a Graduate Certificate in Personal Financial Planning, and is currently studying and constantly putting off taking the Certified Financial Planner exam. His dream is to one day retire from the Army, open his own financial planning firm, and try to be just like his CFP® Idol, Jeff Rose.

Source: goodfinancialcents.com