Posted by: mrhubbard | March 31, 2008

“Is it better to pay extra on my mortgage or invest the money?”

I read an article about this question that really got me thinking. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it’s not really a math question.

By the numbers it’s statistically equal. By this I mean that depending on the interest rate, inflation rate and amount you paid or invested each month, the amount of money ahead or behind you are at the end of 30 years is insignificant. I’m sure some of the quantitative readers out there will send me some great calculations as to why one way is far better than the other and I look forward to reading their theories. But I believe this is really a questions about risk.

The Big R

Understanding risk is just as important as understand addition and subtraction when it comes to person finance. Risk seems simple but most people don’t really account for it. Risk is the danger that something will happen that will change your plan. How often does it happen to someone? It happens every day to someone, and it happens to everyone some day. Most of my time working as a financial planner isn’t spent talking about investing, it’s spent talking about protecting against risk. There are lots of tools to help with risk: Helmets, door locks, seat belts, elbow pads, and medical insurance. When it comes to financial planning, I like home owners insurance, medical insurance, and life insurance. In that order. But the single more effective protection against risk is cold hard cash.

I don’t know if money is power, but I know money is protection.  That’s why most FAs believe in a 3 to 6 month rainy day fund. It’s there to protect you against a blind side, it’s there to act as a shock absorber, it’s there to be you personal crash helmet.

Now let’s get back to the mortgage. If you have a 30 year mortgage, for $300,000, and you pay 6% interest. You are paying about $1800 a month. by paying $2000 a month you would pay it off in 23 years. That’s good. But if something happens in that 23 years, and it probably will, you have not protected yourself against risk.  if you loose a job, wreck a car, need braces, or a trip to Hawaii, you would have to put the trip on credit, which would destroy any gains from paying off the house.

By investing that money in the market @11.5% you would have $84,000 after 30 years. You would have had the cash to pay off your loan at year 21. You would also have a savings account to protect you against the inevitable dangers of life.

If you have extra money, put it in savings.  If you have enough in savings to pay off the mortgage, then it becomes a good option: lower monthly expenses means greater life flexibility. Until that point, never miss a payment, and watch your savings grow.  Sure, if you have extra money, it might be good to do both, but I’m going to save that for another post.

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Posted in Loan, finance | Tags: ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | March 26, 2008

Be a millionare in 3 easy steps

“I’m never going to be a millionaire.  And No one at this table will ever be a millionaire…”

“My boy will never be rich!  He doesn’t have a jump shot!”

There’s a myth around that  it’s impossible to become a millionaire.  No only is it possible, it’s easy.  Making one million dollars takes only one thing: Time.  Say it with me now:  Compounding interest is my friend!  This is why financial advisors like myself tell people to save early and save often.  And here’s why.
If you were starting from zero and didn’t touch it till 65.  And you got an average rate of 10% (traditionally the stock market averages 11.5% a year) :

  • 25,  save $178 a month.
  • 35, save $581 a month.
  • 45, save $2,098 a month.
  • 55, Save $12,409 a month.

What if you want more than $1,000,000?  Well let’s play with the math.

  • 25,  save $178 a month for 10 years = $36,000 (yes I’m rounding)
  • then at 35 you save $581 a month for 10 years = $217,000
  • then at 45 you save $2,098 a month for 10 years = $1,000,000
  • then at 55 you save $12,409 a month for 10 years = $5,300,000

So not only did I give you a million $ plan, I gave you a $5 million dollar plan.

Fact is I get tired of people thinking they can’t achieve great goals in their life.  All it really takes is time, and a little discipline.

What’s that you say?  Your older than 25.  That’s ok, your also probably not starting from zero either.

3 Comments

Posted in Savings, finance | Tags: ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | March 25, 2008

Weeks blogger vacation

Sorry for the delay in posts.  I’m finding that when I set time to write, sometimes it’s not quite appropriate for this blog.  Don’t get your hopes up: it’s only fiction.  Regardless, I’m working on my work life balance. . .

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Posted in finance

Posted by: mrhubbard | March 7, 2008

The return of the Public Service Announcement…

 ”I’m just a bill. Yes I’m only a bill. And I’m sitting here on Capital hill…”

I have a real fond place in my heart for School House Rock. Those songs that fit between Saturday morning cartoons in the late 70s. I can still sing them almost completely, 30 years later, and much to the chagrin of D-. I also remember half the tidbits tacked on to the end of G.I. Joe cartoons.

Somewhere along the lines, the Public Service Announcement went bad, and became a source of groans and parities. “The crying Indian”, “Brain on Drugs”, “Just tell her parents you were high” they became stale, and down right laughable. Maybe I just got more cynical. But lately there are a few out there on TV that I love.

As a financial Planner of course I love the latest from feedthepig.org.

We don’t save enough. As individuals, as families, as a nation. And we are really going to feel a bit of pain now because we just took a darker turn: Debt in our homes now surpasses equity in our homes, for the first time in 63 years. So take a look at yourself and your budget. Which pig are you feeding?

Have a good weekend.

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Posted in Friday Playtime, Savings | Tags: ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | March 3, 2008

Stupid Tax

Dave Ramsey is the brilliant man who coined the phrase Stupid Tax. I like it for two reasons: It’s an easy way to admit when you have made a mistake, and it’s gentler for learning to forgive yourself

What’s that you say, you don’t pay stupid tax? There are 2 types; of people in this world people who pay stupid tax, and people who lie.

Stupid tax is every time you make a poor money decision. Ie. Get a terrible shoe shine in Chicago and pay $20: Stupid Tax. Buy 3 new clutches for a new to you vehicle, because you believed a car dealer: Stupid Tax. Pay a man $300 to “rent” the place you are buying from him, because of a snow storm in Colorado delayed a wire 24 hours: Stupid Tax. The list goes on an on.

The fact is there are times in our life when we are not as smart as we want to be. We always want to make the right decision. Somewhere in our heart we are trying to be the people that our parents taught us to be. Inevitably we fail. We make a bad decision, a bad investment, buy into the hype, or fall for some scheme. You name it, it happens. And shortly there after we know it.

Ok. Hit pause.

What do you do next? You have 2 choices: Rationalize that you made a good decision that just didn’t work out. It works great for the outside world, but it really hurts to lie to yourself. Or you can accept that you made a bad decision.

Most people rationalize, and some of the stories you hear as a financial advisor are heart breaking. Listen to Dave Ramsey’s show for a day and you will see what I mean. People will even make the same mistake again, just to show themselves that it wasn’t a mistake the first time. What do I say to that? Well, “Guilty as charged.” I’ve done it too. I didn’t make up the three examples above. I lived them. I even rationalized for a while. Those are three times that I personally paid Stupid Tax. Sadly, they aren’t the biggest times, or the only times, or the last times.

Hit play. What do you choose?

This is where Stupid Tax has value. Once you admit to yourself, “I paid Stupid Tax,” you own it. This is now an opportunity to learn from your mistakes, and by learning avoid paying Stupid Tax a second time. “Good judgment only comes from experience, and experience only comes from bad judgment.” unknown Don’t miss this opportunity to gain experience. Think of it this way: You just enrolled in, and paid full tuition for, a college level course in “How not to be Stupid 101″. Don’t be stupid a second time and skip class.

We all pay Stupid Tax. The hardest thing to do is to forgive ourselves. I still get angry when I think of the above experiences. I avoid paying it whenever I can. When I have to pay I try to do three things:

  1. I admit it.
  2. I forgive myself.
  3. I learn from it.

Step 2 is the hardest for me.

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Posted in Value, investing, stupid tax | Tags: , ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | February 27, 2008

The coolest new thing is an old thing

I’m a big believer in self improvement.   Looking for new ideas, new perspectives, new motivations keeps your mind fresh and moving forward.   Someone famous said “Companies must innovate to survive,” people are the same way.  I try to invest 20% of my time in improving me, my career, my marriage.  I try to innovate those things I don’t want to die.  I read articles, blog posts, and listen to  the occasional self help book.

I don’t have a lot of faith in the self help industry.  Self help books often times have one or two great ideas, and 300 pages of filler so I’m usually a little weary about buying without research.   Also I find they usually make boring reads.  Therefore, I prefer them on CD so I can listen to them when I have available audio time.

I had heard some good info on The 4-Hour Work Week.  But I wasn’t sure if it was worth $19 on Amazon.   I remembered that the Denver Public Library had books on CD, and I also remembered they had a web page.  I hoped I could reserve it and check it out the next time I was over there.  That works for me.

I hit the web with my trusty, and dusty, library card.  Sure enough they had the book:  6 copies, 4 available. 1 on CD, checked out.  Audio ebook. . .

Wait a second?  What was that last one?  What’s an ebook?  So I clicked the link and down the rabbit hole I went.

5 minutes later I have the book on my mp3 player, and my computer. The voice of the narrator began to speak in clear unabridged English, and I was left with one conclusion:

This is frickin’ cool.

I just checked out a book from the library at 11pm without having to put on shoes or start the car.   You can download free books, to listen or to read via a PDF.   Sadly I’m late to this game.  My friend Tim has been maxing out his library use for years.  Books, Music, Movies.  He gets them all.  His family has a regular trip there.

I had some conclusions about the library that were a hold over from high school: The books I wanted were always checked out.  They didn’t have new titles.  And they were being put out of business by Amazon.com and Barns & Nobel.  Boy was I wrong.

This is going to sound a little funny:  We should all be more like the Denver Public Library.  Instead of fading away as another relic of pre-digital world, they innovated.  The didn’t complain about the changing world, they changed and stayed competitive.

How can you innovate yourself?

4 hour work weekOh, and on a side note.  I really enjoyed The 4-Hour Work Week.  I’m not one for book reviews, but it does a better job at hitting on a work life balance then any book I have read in a long time.  Plus it really focuses on not just telling you how good life it, but giving you steps to get there.  As I listened, I found myself scrounging for paper to write quotes on.  Some of the  thoughts are incredibly valuable.  Anyone who has ever felt over worked should read this book.  It’s going to be one that I will buy.

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Posted in 101, Innovate | Tags: ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | February 26, 2008

I’ve stopped being nice to real estate agents. . .

… for one reason: I’m tired of being lied to. I understand the need to sell. But to look me straight in the face and tell me that prices are leveled off and going up, when not 15 minutes before you told me this property had the price reduced $25,000. And I know from online research this is the second time the price dropped.

I’ve stopped being nice because real estate agents want me to be stupid, and they talk down to me. Let’s break it down into what I have been told in the last month.

1. Real estate agent: “I help you find the right house”. It used to be that they had all the keys, and they had all the number so you had to work through them. With the internet, I can get all of that myself. In fact it’s in my own best interest to do my own leg work because…

2. Real estate agent: “I represent your interests at the negotiation”. As agents they are paid a percent of what the cost of the house is. But I want to buy a house for less, and it’s in their best interest to get me to buy a house for more, plus getting me into a house fast is better than getting me into the right house. This is what’s called a conflict of interest. Lawyers excuse themselves if they exist. Fiduciaries must declare them or they risk disciplinary actions. Real estate agents ignore them.

3 . Real estate agent: “Lots can go wrong so you need my help to understand the complicated process”. I went to college, I’ve bought and sold several places, I’ve done my own taxes, why would I ever accept someone talk to me like I’m stupid? It takes 3 weeks and a credit card to get a real estate license. It’s not a PhD, they didn’t have to pass the Bar. In fact the person who cuts your hair had more schooling in their craft than than your real estate agent.

4. Real estate agent: “There’s no cash out of pocket for buyers”. Which is what we call in English: A lie. Don’t believe me? Answer me this: If the seller is giving up a house, in exchange for money; the buyer is receiving a house in exchange for what? Money. Either the buyer is paying for everything, or they are taking on the debt to pay for everything, and items bought on credit aren’t free.

I’m not saying that all real estate agents are bad, or crooked. But the ratio of bad agents to good agents in staggering. In my personal unscientific survey it’s 6 to 1. The 6 ranged from inept to crooked, and the 1 was spectacular, so an average is skewed. Why?

  1. It doesn’t feel like we are paying them. Because of the banks and title companies we don’t ever have to write checks directly.
  2. A low point of entry: As I said, 3 weeks and a credit card will get you a license.
  3. High margins. $9000 a house is a great average. Move one a month and that’s $108k a year.
  4. We as consumers haven’t demanded better. We live in a market economy. If we live with the status quo, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

What I expect of my real estate agent

Selling Agent - I know this is a shocker, but I want someone who is going to sell my property. Not just put it into MLS, not just put a flyer box up in the yard. “Set it and forget it” belongs to Ronco late night infomercials.

Besides being honest, I want someone who has the following:

  • A system for correctly pricing a property.
  • A plan for finding interested parties.
  • Knowledge about and contacts for staging a property. (if it’s good I might even pay extra)
  • The ability to identify feedback and keep me updated.
  • A plan for active marketing.
  • I also want them to have a team. One person shops can’t service you as well as great agent with a strong team.

Seem like a lot to ask? 3% of $300k (average price of a house in Denver) is $9,000. I can post a property on MLS for $40. I can build a virtual tour for $89. There are more and more tools that I can do myself for cheaper. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to pay a premium for convenience. Paying $500 would be a premium. $9000 is extortion.

Buying Agent - Buying agents are a dying breed. With the internet they no longer have exclusive access to properties. Plus I can call and get a direct showing from listing agents.

I will only use a Buying agent if:

  • I am new to real estate. It’s not a good idea to do it on your own first. You don’t want to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in Stupid Tax.
  • New to a strange town. Find someone who is an expert in the area you want to live. And I mean an expert. If they need a map: fire them!

Seeing how I have bought and sold several places, here’s what I expect from a Buying agent.

  • I want them to bring me properties that I can’t see, or haven’t found. Right now I’m getting 4 emails from agents and it’s the same stuff that I get from MLS. If an agent brought me a property that I wanted to buy that I didn’t find myself, then I would pay them 3%. Otherwise…
  • I want to pay them a flat fee. I don’t trust them to negotiate for me, and if I find the property on my own, they they are only filling out paperwork for me. For that I will pay, but not by percent.

Right now I’m feeling a little worked up.  While this has been very cathartic, I don’t want to leave on a negative note.  We have money and are willing to pay for excellent service.  Here is the kind of service I have paid for, and will pay for again, God willing.   We had a great agent in Houston.

We had a 3 day trip to Houston to find a place and make an offer.   After we fired our first agent because she told us that there weren’t any lofts downtown, (a lie) and that we didn’t really want one anyway. Sandra Gunn, had some work to do to win us over.   She knew the histories of each building, and about each developers and the growth of downtown. She listened to what we wanted, and when she had a particular interesting in selling a property to us she told us about it up front. I never thought disclosure was such a novelty.

our balconyWhen it was time to sell, we called Sandra again.  Sandra and team got us onto a loft tour with 7 days notice. She sent over a professional photographer for photos, and had the listing up in a week.  She then brought us an offer in 10 days. We were under contract in 14 days, and closed 1 month later.

For this service Sandra team made 6% of the sales prices, and it was worth every penny.  Without her and her team, our place might still be on the market.  Instead of doing the least they could do, they did the most they could do.  And our unit moved fast. In December, during a down market.   that’s how you make money as a real estate agent.

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Posted in Value, real estate, services | Tags: , ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | February 22, 2008

The Hobo Rules of Acquisition

We live in a tiny house. D- and I are looking for a house to buy and are currently renting 723 SqFt.  Living in such a small place has made looking at large houses unique, especially since most new places are over 3000 SqFt. Plus basement. We brought it up with our financial advisor (yes I too have a financial advisor, he has one thing with our money that I don’t: Objectivity.), and he told us that he had a 7000 SqFt castle. When asked what he has in it he replied, “You’ll fill it up.”

Which makes sense, there’s a law of physics that describes how gas expands to fill the available volume. It seems to me that people work the same way. If we were to buy one of these 4000SqFt homes it’s only a matter of time before we expanded to fill the rooms with furniture. But that’s expensive. Or I could just fill it with cheap furniture. Then it’s not expensive, it’s ugly. Hmmm, something needs to give.

I have stared working out a new theory: The Hobo rules of Acquisition.

This is just a theory. I’m still working out the bugs and if you see any holes please point them out!

  • Premise #1 We expand to fill the available space. A homeless person will maximize how much a shopping cart can carry.
  • Premise #2 Resources are finite. Don’t believe me, look at your checking account.
  • Premise #3 Human take comfort in things.  If unchecked, we will begin a collection of some kind.  When I was in high school 3 people I knew moved out and rented their own apartment. Yes it was a mess and it only lasted 6 months. But they each suddenly start to collect things: skate board wheels, comic books, and those little tables from inside delivery pizza boxes. The sense of an every growing group of things gave them comfort. No matter how worthless those things were.

Rule #1 - Value of Scarcity

homeless person will fight someone for taking their plastic bags, or holey shoe. They don’t have much, but they will keep it at all costs.The converse is also true: I had a friend who had a step daughter who broke all her toys. Working with a psychologist, they determined that she didn’t understand value. To help her, they took all her toys away. She could then earn her toys back one at a time by doing chores and extra work around the house. When she only had one or two toys that she earned, she was far less willing to break them.

The more things you have the less you will value all of it. People buy lot of cheap stuff to have more stuff, then they don’t really like or want any of it. And it’s not treated well, merely accumulated. Warning signs: Do we have piles, of things we don’t use? Or have we bought/rented places for putting stuff we might need? Worse yet, have we bought something we needed, knowing full well that the exact same thing somewhere but can’t find it?

Rule #2 - The few items, the nicer items we have

One member of my family who is single has 3 cars that work some of the time. All of them are beat up, all of them are old.  She will tell you 2 things: She needs each one, and she can’t afford a new car. Wouldn’t it be better to have 1 working car, than 3 junk cars?

Want a nice TV? Get 1 $1500 tv, not 3 $500 tvs. Want a nice couch, get 1 couch that will last forever. It seems like such an easy thing, but have seen so many houses filled up with cheap stuff, then when there is something they want, they can’t afford it.  I fell victim to this too:  My weakness was computers. I wanted lots. 1 for TV and music, 1 for video games, 1 as a server, etc. D- broke me of this. I sell off used equipment and upgrade 1 machine to do everything. Sure I paid more for that machine, but it takes up less space, and it’s more valuable to me.

Rule #3 - Having is not valuable; Using is valuable

I think about hoarders: Houses filled with paper, boxes, broken machines, snow tires in bedrooms, etc. They have lots of stuff, but we think they are crazy. Why is that different that walls of CDs, DVDs, wine, comic books? Now if you read / watch / listen value is created. But really, how many DVD’s do you watch a day? How often do you take the comic books from the plastic and read? Collecting, hoarding, it’s the same thing. Collectors just have money, or are more focused. Or they are addicted to buying.

I like to buy stuff too. I like the shopping process. I like test drives, fittings, samples, and talking with sales people. I have done my time in the retail sector, and I’ve done a fair share of selling. D– and I even joke about the endorphins that are released when we swipe the credit card. Bought a sweater, what a rush!

But that’s where the danger lies: when we buy for the act of buying.

We no longer care about what we buy, just so long as we buy something. The mind is a great rationalizer. Buying things makes us feel better. It’s a drug like caffeine or nicotine. We live in a consumer economy. Selling is how businesses survive, it’s what drives our economy. It’s why advertising is everywhere. Frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with that, with the possible exception of drug ads. Then again, if you think a pill can help you with “male enhancement” you have other issues to deal with.

This is skepticism is valuable.  You stop believing the lies.  You free yourself from the illusion, of what companies tell you is value and follow your own values.

Resolution:

I don’t want anyone to be homeless, but I want you to think like you have a shopping cart.  Take very seriously what you put in it, and how much you can carry  Do a home inventory, see what you have, and compare that to what you use. If you haven’t used it in a year, it’s gone. Free the space, and don’t fill it up again. Clutter is a natural depressant.

Here are the final ideas that I’m working on:

  • Buy fewer items, but spend more on them.
  • Buy items you use, not items you keep.
  • Never keep anything because you might need it.
  • Defend open space. Uncluttered space in your house will make you feel better.
  • Avoid all collections.

Have a good weekend!

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Posted in Priorities, budget | Tags: ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | February 19, 2008

Finance 101

I got this question the other day, “What would you recommend for a beginner in personal finance, with a fear of personal finance?” In the conversation, I gave a brief answer about debt, savings and budgeting, and then we moved to more interesting topics. However, the question really stuck with me. What do you tell someone who is a beginner? First off they probably aren’t a beginner. They have been paying rent, buying food, and working for years, so they know something about personal finance. Yet they still feel like they are a beginner. Why is that?

First you free the mind, then you free the body. It’s much harder to work in the other direction.

Free the Mind: Leave the Cave

I avoid the doctor because I’m afraid of what they might find. People fear their finances for the same reason: What we don’t know can’t hurt us, right? WRONG! Before we do anything, we must decide to no longer live with illusions, accept reality, and let go of the fear of possibility. We leave the Cave, we unplug from the Matrix, we separate the light from the darkness, and decided to follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole. It’s the moment we choose to face our fears, and deal with our real finances. And it’s usually not as bad as your think.

Free the Mind: Decided to live

Personal responsibility is a hard thing to accept. It means letting go of excuses, and accepting that you and only you, are in control of your happiness. I got good advice when I was working at a burger place in high school, “I don’t tell me why you didn’t get it right, just get it right.” So from here on out accept that you are in control. There will be chance, there will be discrimination, there will be accidents. But the irony in the line “I could have been a contender” is that he really never could have been. He had to many good excuses.

Now we can talk about practical items.

Free the body: solid ground
Now take control of what you know, and seek help on what we don’t know. Learn the facts: Total up your bills. Total up your income. Make a plan. It’s important that we free our mind first otherwise we will cling to the illusions. “That credit card doesn’t count…”; “I keep my hobby expenses separate…”; “I’m a wine collector…”; “It’s not my fault that…”; “Those expenses were out of my control…” Don’t worry, I have said them all and survived, so will you.

Follow the rules

Rule #1: Spend less than you make. Every month. Period.

Rule #2: Revolving credit card debt is poison. In my opinion: Credit card debt and credit score separates the rich and the poor. But that’s another post.

Rule #3 Try to keep your monthly expenses low. “After my bills are paid, whatever is left is mine, right?” I lived that philosophy a long time, and it got me deeper in debt. Why is that? Well, “whatever is left” is an ever shifting number, and it’s never as large as you think. This is where the Slush Fund can help. Give yourself $500, $1000, or whatever fits into your budget, to spend on anything you want. GUILT FREE. It’s your happiness fund. Use a round number because it’s easier to remember, and spend this money on things that make you happy. Not gas for the car, not groceries. Candy, movies, drinks, hobbies, etc. This is your money you invest in yourself. Before you buy anything in your Slush Fund, ask yourself if it will make you happy. Will it make you more happy than something else. You might be surprised at the answer.

Rule #4 Save 20% of your net pay. 20% a little steep? Start with what you can and work up. 401k is your best option. Always start with what your employee matches, and work up from there. If you are self employed, start a 401k, Roth IRA, or see a financial advisor about one of the other options that out there.

Rule #5 Have an emergency plan. Common practice is to have an emergency fund, but with modern investment options money doesn’t have to be sitting in a savings account earning 1.5%. Yes, 6 months of expenses in an account is the safest way to go, but sometimes that’s not practical, nor the most comfortable. You need to have a plan. Know yourself and what makes you comfortable. What order will you draw funds in, from which accounts, how long can you survive if you get hit with a dreaded “double wammy” (loss of job, and major expenses). Plan for it, and it will make things better.

Congratulations!

“Where you are in the journey is irrelevant, as long as you are walking.” You are now in control of your financial life. Take a deep breath. Look around. Is the dread gone? You are now on the right track. There are no more secrets, no dark corners. Knowing this part of your life is in order is powerful juju. It will give you the ability to really pursue that which makes you happy, and sleep better at night.

If you like things neater, here’s the short list:

  1. Know the facts
  2. Live within your means
  3. Avoid revolving debt
  4. Save for the future

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Posted in 101, budget, finance | Tags: ,

Posted by: mrhubbard | February 15, 2008

Three ways to avoid annoying people (on the internet):

1. Never apply for a loan on Lendingtree.com.

I tried this once for a refinance, and my phone started ringing, my email went crazy with desperate mortgage brokers. Not a bad thing, except for the fact that they really don’t bid on your business, they all offer the same thing. Even when I rejected the offers they kept calling. I eventually had to call Lendingtree.com and threaten them to remove my request before it finally came down. The phone calls tapered off about a week later. Email took another month.

2. Don’t publish your resume on Careerbuilder.com, or monster.com.

Sure it sounds great: Jobs come to you.  But there will be no good jobs, and lots and lots of bad jobs. Every recruiter will email you, every Amway rep. will call. The jobbers who troll the posted resumes are the worst of the worst. Think about it: Good companies want people who want to work for them, not people who are passively sitting waiting for the world to come to them. So if you want a new job, use the sites to find leads, then pursue them.

3 . Never sign up for a FREE <insert trendy product here> website.

Free iphone, free Xbox, free laptop, free sex, etc. This is the gateway to then end of your email address. Once you click ok: In comes the junk. I did this once looking for a free Xbox 360. The next hour I got 400 emails for every conceivable drug, physical enhancement, and dirty site on the internet. And they didn’t stop. That was the end of my old email address. That lead to the discovery of GuerrillaMail. Free temporary email addresses. Great for signing up for any “less than reputable” site you would like to explore, or “to-good-to-be-true” offers you would like to test.

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