Business & Economics: August 2007 Archives
Here's a great business opportunity for some enterprising individuals: get paid to collect information for Google Maps! I bet the first-movers in a particular area stand to make a good chunk of money.
How much will I be paid? How will I be paid?You can earn up to $10 for each approved, verified referral you submit. This includes $2 when a business referral is approved by Google; and $8 when an approved business verifies that the information you submitted is accurate. Referrals are approved by Google based on the completeness and quality of data supplied by representatives. Businesses verify their information either by sending us a response postcard or verifying their information online.
As long as your earnings total at least $25 a month, you'll receive a monthly check.
(HT: Nick.)
Jim Cramer has written an admittedly self-indulgent and utterly fascinating exposé of his methods and his madness that has provoked me to add Mad Money to my tivo asap.
My brother Nick sent me this New York Times profile of Silicon Valley millionaires that shows exactly why enough money is never enough.
“You’re nobody here at $10 million,†Mr. Kremen said earnestly over a glass of pinot noir at an upscale wine bar here. ...Taxes have devoured about 40 percent of his stash, Mr. Barbagallo said, knocking that figure down to $2.2 million. Over the years, he has tried to live off his salary, but not always successfully. To limit their monthly expenses, he and his wife Catherine bought a ranch house far from Silicon Valley, in the town of Moraga, for $750,000 — by Valley standards a modest sum.
But they spent $350,000 on extensive remodeling — causing them, not for the first time, to dip deeply into their nest egg.
Today, he has roughly $1.2 million left in savings and another several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of home equity, Mr. Barbagallo said, with one child in college and a second on her way.
So he works as hard as ever, logging more than 70 hours a week at a San Francisco start-up.
“Poor Tony, he’ll never be able to retire,†Catherine Barbagallo said.
There are plenty of poorer people who seem to be much happier, no? At least the article mentions one guy wise enough to know when to quit.
That is what Mark Gage, 51, an engineer, and his wife, Meredith, did when they left the Bay Area in 2005 with $3 million or so in assets. They bought a house in Bend, Ore. — “a bigger, much nicer home with dramatic views†— and now Mr. Gage works only when the perfect consulting job presents itself.
The problem seems to be lifestyle inflation -- that is, a cost of living that rises faster than your income.
Silicon Valley offers an unusual twist on keeping up with the Joneses. The venture capitalist two doors down might own a Cessna Citation X private jet. The father of your 8-year-old’s best friend, who has not worked for two years, drives a bright yellow Ferrari. Temptations loom everywhere.“You see how much money you have in the bank,†Mr. Koblas, the computer programmer, said, “and your eyes get really big.†He described it as “upsizing your life to your cash flow.†...
“You look around,†Mr. Barbagallo said, “and the pressures to spend more are everywhere.†Children want the latest fashions their peers are wearing and the most popular high-ticket toys. Furniture does not seem up to snuff once you move into a multimillion-dollar home. Spouses talk, and now that resort in Mexico the family enjoyed so much last winter is not good enough when looking ahead to next year. Summer camp, a full-time housekeeper, vintage wines, country clubs: the cost of living bloats.
To Mr. Milletti, it all looks like a marathon with no finish line.
“Here, the top 1 percent chases the top one-tenth of 1 percent, and the top one-tenth of 1 percent chases the top one-one-hundredth of 1 percent,†he said.
That's no way to live, and I won't do it. That's why I moved to Missouri! (Not that I'm a millionaire, heh.)
Is there a financial instrument with the following two properties:
1. The value of the instrument goes down if a major market index changes very little day-to-day.
2. The value of the instrument goes up if a major market index changes a lot day-to-day. Ideally, the value should increase by the same amount whether the market goes up or down.
