Just learned that my employer is about to start a matching program on my company's 401k. First thing I did: suspend my contributions to the program.
Why continue to invest in the 401k when I can hold off for a few months and then get free money on my contribution?
Don't worry, I still have every intention of maxing out my contributions to my 401k, just as I do every year.
401k matching is awesome.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Inflection Points
There are certain times in human history when the world seems to change all at once. What once seemed to progress at a slow evolutionary pace suddenly shifts into warp speed and humanity never looks back. With the advent of agriculture the number of humans on the planet, stable for millennia started to grow dramatically. With the invention of the printing press the number of books began to grow exponentially. With the invention of the Internet the volume of data exploded. Human social and technological progress is filled with such discontinuities.
These inflection points are often unexpected and the changes they produce appear disconnected from everything that went before. If you were an auto industry watcher before the Model T, would you expect to see such dramatic growth in demand for cars? There were many smart phones before the iPhone, but no one expected to see the category explode with the introduction of one key device. I, for one, completely wrote off the idea of tablet computers before the iPad came along. It just didn't seem to be a brilliant idea.
It takes just one key innovation, and often one charismatic leader to get things moving in a whole new direction. Someone needs to get the recipe right, but they only need to get it right once.
This is why I am not stressing out about global warming ("not stressing out", not to be confused with "do not care about"). Looking at the current trends and current technologies one would tend to project continuous temperature rise and global catastrophe. However, a far more likely scenario in my mind is a technological solution to the problem. Artificial trees harvesting carbon from the atmosphere? Cold fusion removing dependence on fossil fuels? A price on carbon giving folks a financial reason to de-carbonise? Who knows. I just know that there are a lot of people looking for solutions, and one of them is bound to find one. We're a pretty creative species.
All that aside, however, what brings me to write this post is a press conference I just finished watching on the web. This conference was held by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX (also CEO of Tesla and Co-Founder of Paypal). This is a guy who is single handedly revolutionizing the world we live in. In the press conference in question, Musk announced a new rocket design, capable lifting twice the load to earth orbit of any other rocket currently on the market, and doing so at one third of the cost. Meaning, the cost of sending a pound of payload to earth orbit just got reduced by a factor of six. My friends, we are all going to space. This is the inflection point we were waiting for since Sputnik launched.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
These inflection points are often unexpected and the changes they produce appear disconnected from everything that went before. If you were an auto industry watcher before the Model T, would you expect to see such dramatic growth in demand for cars? There were many smart phones before the iPhone, but no one expected to see the category explode with the introduction of one key device. I, for one, completely wrote off the idea of tablet computers before the iPad came along. It just didn't seem to be a brilliant idea.
It takes just one key innovation, and often one charismatic leader to get things moving in a whole new direction. Someone needs to get the recipe right, but they only need to get it right once.
This is why I am not stressing out about global warming ("not stressing out", not to be confused with "do not care about"). Looking at the current trends and current technologies one would tend to project continuous temperature rise and global catastrophe. However, a far more likely scenario in my mind is a technological solution to the problem. Artificial trees harvesting carbon from the atmosphere? Cold fusion removing dependence on fossil fuels? A price on carbon giving folks a financial reason to de-carbonise? Who knows. I just know that there are a lot of people looking for solutions, and one of them is bound to find one. We're a pretty creative species.
All that aside, however, what brings me to write this post is a press conference I just finished watching on the web. This conference was held by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX (also CEO of Tesla and Co-Founder of Paypal). This is a guy who is single handedly revolutionizing the world we live in. In the press conference in question, Musk announced a new rocket design, capable lifting twice the load to earth orbit of any other rocket currently on the market, and doing so at one third of the cost. Meaning, the cost of sending a pound of payload to earth orbit just got reduced by a factor of six. My friends, we are all going to space. This is the inflection point we were waiting for since Sputnik launched.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Hyper-partisanship & American Democracy
I'm not going to comment on the mid-term elections. There are more knowledgeable and eloquent commentators than me, but I do want to comment about something that is seriously wrong with our democracy: hyper-partisanship. I'll give two examples to illustrate this issue, both from the recent mid-terms.
My two examples: Alvin Greene, Democratic nominee for Senate in South Carolina soundly lost to his Republican rival. Christine O'Donnell, Republican nominee for the Senate from Delaware was defeated by her Democratic rival. What's wrong with this picture? Simply this: these two geniuses won 28% and 40% of the votes, respectively.
Why would any American in his sound mind would vote for such obviously unqualified individuals if not for hyper-partisanship? Shouldn't the representatives we send to Washington be superior individuals? Shouldn't they be creative thinkers? Excellent deal makers? Visionaries? Great executors? Instead, a sizable minority of voters base their voting decisions on a single criterion: does the nominee have a D or an R next to their name.
Until this changes the solutions to our fundamental problems will elude us, and we will continue to send to Washington unworthy individuals who are not equal to the massive challenges that we face.
In case you have not heard about these fantastic former nominees and don't know what I'm talking about read for yourself about Greene (felony charges, "stellar" military career performance, slightly worse communicator than an average turnip) and O'Donnell (financial problems, lying on taxes, holding some fantastically bizarre opinions).
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
My two examples: Alvin Greene, Democratic nominee for Senate in South Carolina soundly lost to his Republican rival. Christine O'Donnell, Republican nominee for the Senate from Delaware was defeated by her Democratic rival. What's wrong with this picture? Simply this: these two geniuses won 28% and 40% of the votes, respectively.
Why would any American in his sound mind would vote for such obviously unqualified individuals if not for hyper-partisanship? Shouldn't the representatives we send to Washington be superior individuals? Shouldn't they be creative thinkers? Excellent deal makers? Visionaries? Great executors? Instead, a sizable minority of voters base their voting decisions on a single criterion: does the nominee have a D or an R next to their name.
Until this changes the solutions to our fundamental problems will elude us, and we will continue to send to Washington unworthy individuals who are not equal to the massive challenges that we face.
In case you have not heard about these fantastic former nominees and don't know what I'm talking about read for yourself about Greene (felony charges, "stellar" military career performance, slightly worse communicator than an average turnip) and O'Donnell (financial problems, lying on taxes, holding some fantastically bizarre opinions).
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Free Renter's Insurance? Yup.
Renter's insurance is one of those things that are affordable and important. So why is it that we don't have renter's insurance? I have one word for you: "procrastination". I have no excuse whatsoever. Last weekend I finally got around to fixing this problem - OK, it was more or less a happy accident, but the end result is great. We now have renter's insurance with token coverage for our belongings, and respectable coverage against liability. How did it happen?
Recently I got a new Hyundai. Yes, one of those that's being recalled and yes, I know. I still love that car. I added it to our insurance coverage the day I got it, but it occurred to me that I forgot to remove the old car, because at the time it was still parked outside waiting to be picked up by Public Radio (where all donated good cars go). I finally remembered and called AAA to make the policy change. While the agent was revising my premiums she was reciting the various discounts I was entitled to receive: good driver, multiple cars etc. Then she told me that if I had renter's insurance with AAA my car insurance premiums would be discounted another 20%. Procrastinating is one thing, but when you actually have the agent on the phone, not following up on an obvious opening would be negligence.
So I followed up. I answered some basic questions and 5 minutes later I was the proud owner of a renter's insurance policy. The total cost? $173 a year for the coverage I selected. Now here's the punchline: the discount we got on the car insurance premium because we now also have renter's insurance with AAA is $300.
Long story short, AAA is paying us $127 a year for the privilege of insuring our home. How incredible is that? Of course, I could have done this years ago and I would have saved about a thousand dollars by now, but that's the price of procrastinating.
At the end of the call I asked the agent whether there was something else she wanted to give me for free. She laughed.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Recently I got a new Hyundai. Yes, one of those that's being recalled and yes, I know. I still love that car. I added it to our insurance coverage the day I got it, but it occurred to me that I forgot to remove the old car, because at the time it was still parked outside waiting to be picked up by Public Radio (where all donated good cars go). I finally remembered and called AAA to make the policy change. While the agent was revising my premiums she was reciting the various discounts I was entitled to receive: good driver, multiple cars etc. Then she told me that if I had renter's insurance with AAA my car insurance premiums would be discounted another 20%. Procrastinating is one thing, but when you actually have the agent on the phone, not following up on an obvious opening would be negligence.
So I followed up. I answered some basic questions and 5 minutes later I was the proud owner of a renter's insurance policy. The total cost? $173 a year for the coverage I selected. Now here's the punchline: the discount we got on the car insurance premium because we now also have renter's insurance with AAA is $300.
Long story short, AAA is paying us $127 a year for the privilege of insuring our home. How incredible is that? Of course, I could have done this years ago and I would have saved about a thousand dollars by now, but that's the price of procrastinating.
At the end of the call I asked the agent whether there was something else she wanted to give me for free. She laughed.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Ground Zero Islamic Center - My Take
I am atheist and proud of it. I am of the firm opinion that everyone should be free to practice their religion (or lack thereof) as they see fit. This is part of who we are as Americans. It is a sacred principle enshrined in our constitution. For this reason I find the debate over the so-called "ground zero" Islamic center to be a farce and mark of shame for our country.
Islam does not equal terrorism. Would anybody think it a rational argument if Christians were prohibited from building churches next to the Oklahoma City Federal Building just because Timothy McVeigh was Christian? Obviously this would be a nonsensical position. Why is the Islamic center any different? True, the 9/11 terrorists were all Muslim, but it does not follow that all Muslim's are terrorists. In fact, many of the 9/11 victims were themselves Muslim. Why should all Muslims be asked to answer for the crimes of a small and sick minority that shares the same faith?
From my personal perspective, religions (all of them) are misguided. I recognize and respect everyone's right to worship and believe what they choose, and I make no claim to know better than anyone else the ultimate truth or the nature of reality. I am frustrated, perplexed and amazed by people's unwavering and uncompromising certainty about things they have no possible way of knowing. I feel that there is plenty of evidence to show that religion has been a force for evil in the world (case in point the 9/11 attacks themselves), which does not reduce by one bit the virtue and good done by many honest and devout religious folks of all religions.
Let's face it, the protest against the "ground zero" Islamic center is nothing short of religious fundamentalism and bigotry, dressed in the guise of political correctness and a plea for "consideration". For God's sake, let honest people worship as they will. Your religion is no better than theirs and is no more grounded in reality or morality than those of others.
That's my take, anyway.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Islam does not equal terrorism. Would anybody think it a rational argument if Christians were prohibited from building churches next to the Oklahoma City Federal Building just because Timothy McVeigh was Christian? Obviously this would be a nonsensical position. Why is the Islamic center any different? True, the 9/11 terrorists were all Muslim, but it does not follow that all Muslim's are terrorists. In fact, many of the 9/11 victims were themselves Muslim. Why should all Muslims be asked to answer for the crimes of a small and sick minority that shares the same faith?
From my personal perspective, religions (all of them) are misguided. I recognize and respect everyone's right to worship and believe what they choose, and I make no claim to know better than anyone else the ultimate truth or the nature of reality. I am frustrated, perplexed and amazed by people's unwavering and uncompromising certainty about things they have no possible way of knowing. I feel that there is plenty of evidence to show that religion has been a force for evil in the world (case in point the 9/11 attacks themselves), which does not reduce by one bit the virtue and good done by many honest and devout religious folks of all religions.
Let's face it, the protest against the "ground zero" Islamic center is nothing short of religious fundamentalism and bigotry, dressed in the guise of political correctness and a plea for "consideration". For God's sake, let honest people worship as they will. Your religion is no better than theirs and is no more grounded in reality or morality than those of others.
That's my take, anyway.
Enjoyed this post? Please consider subscribing to Money and Such by free RSS Feed or by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)