putting on the tool belt

"If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

When you hire a handyman to do work, you assume he has a toolbox or a tool belt full of different tools to use in order to fix different problems.  In fact, you probably shouldn't hire one unless they have both the tools and the abilities to use them.  So, why does the established society feel like we can only solve every problem from one point of view or with one "tool?"
When the country faces economic decisions why is it always a "my way always works" mentality?  Is cutting taxes always the solution?  Is raising taxes always the solution?  What about increasing or decreasing federal aid, subsidies, assistance, funding, spending........  One set of ideals can't possibly be the right answer all of the time.  Same goes for almost all political decisions.  No one side has the market cornered.  Every party, major and minor, has flaws and view points that are inconsistent.
If you have every been a coach or a teacher, you know that every day and every kid is different.  Some you can yell at and some you have to talk to.  Some respond to extra laps and some could care less.  The faster you realize the best way to communicate with each student, the better educator or coach you are.
One of the great things about my generation is our ability to take the best of several points of view in order to form our own.  Of course, this puts those views under attack from previous generations who believes you have to accept one point of view with all its strengths and weaknesses.  The whole, "I'm a Catholic" or "I'm a Republican" or "I'm a ........" whatever else you feel you need to be.  It isn't a weakness to say that you can see positives in other points of view.  What is so wrong with people being able to take the best of everything?  I wouldn't hire a plumber that only installs one size of pipe, "I'm a 2 and 3/4 man, that's the only size pipe I use" or a painter that only uses one brush "I'm a 3 inch flat bristle man, no rollers or paint sprayers no matter how big a job."  So why should I try and see everything in life through 1 or 2 narrow lenses?  Why not put on a tool belt and fill it with all the great ideas that all sides have to offer.  That makes the most sense to me.

Thanks for the read.

Thinking about money a different way - the latte factor

The latte factor. If you take what you spend on a latte every day ($5) and invest it over the course of a life time, then in 40 years you would be a millionaire (assuming a 10% annual return). Would you rather have a fancy cup of coffee or a million dollars? What little things in life can you do without in order to put more money into long term savings? Sounds simple right???

Here is my problem with that philosophy. It doesn't take into consideration the value of enjoying the coffee and it incorrectly treats having a daily latte or newspaper as if you are simply throwing money out the window. There are tangible benefits to these things, such as happiness or knowledge. What if a young Howard Schultz had saved a few bucks by not buying those Italian cappuccinos. He might be a millionaire by now, but instead he started a small coffee house chain called Starbucks and is a billionaire. Warren Buffet "wastes" $5 a day on 4 different newspapers subscriptions. He's worth 20 billion. Think he misses that extra million? I didn't think so. Who knows, maybe neither of these men would be where they are if it wasn't for their spending habits.

Its not that you should totally discount the theory, but you need to keep in mind that it isn't a waste. It's a trade. It's $5 that is exchanged for something you consume or for a piece of a company. The key is maximizing your decision. Go to the coffee shop, buy a paper, drink the latte slowly, read the business section, and make an informed decision for your investment. That way you can enjoy today and still be taking care of tomorrow.

Thanks for the read.

I've included some fun latte art below. Cheers.

Mack Under Attack

Mack is under attack from fans and local sports media guys.  Some are saying he doesn't have the passion anymore.  Some are saying he should resign.  Many think Mack was unprepared for Muschamp to leave and now is questioning his coaching legacy.  All I can say is "are y'all out of your minds or are you trying to get your 5 mins of fame kicking Texas when they are down?"  Yes, we had a 5-7 season.  Yes, I am every bit as dissatisfied as you are.  But what if I told you back in 1997. "Over the next 13 years if you hire Mack Brown as head coach you will have: 9 seasons with 10 or more wins, you will go to 4 BCS games and win 3, you will have more players in the NFL than any other school, you will become known as defensive back U, you will have 2 of the top 10 players in the history of college football, and lastly you will win a national championship, but you will have 1 season where you go 5-7...... or....... you can take your chances with some one else."  And your choice would be?  Mine would be Mack.  But you may be one of those fans who grumbled when we hired him instead of Bob Davie.  Ask an Irish fan how that worked out.  College football is always a wave.  You peak with a certain group of players and go back into the valley for a year or two.  Texas has just been very lucky to avoid the usual flow of things for a decade.  In the long run this year will be good for us.  Would you rather have beaten Iowa St and now be focusing on the gallery star furniture .com bowl?  Or take your lumps in a year that you weren't a national contender and use it to build the team.  I'm not trying to go overboard with excuses, but I am trying to be honest.  UT will be fine.  We will get some new blood in the coaching staff and in a few years you won't even remember this season.  Never forget.... it could be worse, just ask the Dallas Cowboys.

Hook'em

fantasy football finance

It hit me this week, if you are good at fantasy football, you should be equally good at your investments.

If Peyton Manning has a bad game, that doesn't mean you're going to trade him or drop him on Monday. We know well enough that he is one of the best QB's in the history of the league and he more than likely will make up for it over the course of a season. So why do we get worried when a multi-billion dollar company has a bad quarter? Part of being a long term investor is being able to ride the waves. We all know this, but we can't help it.
Something else to think about. Every league has "that" guy who is always playing some one you have never heard of because he got a hot tip on a fantasy message board. He is annoying and it only works 1 time in 10. But he will rub it in your face when it works. "See I told you Seattle's back up running back was a lock, the starter has gotten injured 4 out of the last 6 Octobers, and they were playing in his mother's home state, too bad for you!!!" I mean seriously? It sounds so dumb, but how many of us buy into some hot stock or mutual fund with the same amount of credibility? When is the last time you heard Warren Buffet is buying a pharmaceutical penny stock that may be on the verge of curing restless leg syndrome? Never.
The guys (and girls, just using guy generically) who finish in the top quarter of their leagues every year are the ones who do a couple of things. They go with proven stars for their first few pics, the players with multiple seasons of great results who will end up scoring 80% of all your points. Then they go for value. This year Mark Clayton of the Rams was a good value depending where you could draft him. Nobody was talking about him, but he was playing with his college quarterback who as a rookie was going to start week 1. Who do you think Bradford was going to throw to as the Rams offensive line collapsed over and over? Or if you picked up LT further down in the draft. A hall of fame running back on a team with a good line and a young QB, could have been big time value. The guys/gals who finish at the upper end of investing do it the same way. A solid base of big time companies with long track records, no Ryan Leafs or Alex Smiths, and a keen eye for value companies that make logical sense.
I guess the irony in all this is that we will spend 10x as much time worrying about who to start on Defense this week than we will be thinking about the new fund options in our 2011 401ks. If only Schwab and Merrill Lynch would let us design our own logos.... Then maybe we would check it out more often.


Thanks for the read.
Wish me luck, just took over first place with 4 games to go. Gedubs all the way this year.

I'm going to stop

I'm going to stop complaining about my iphone. Yes, it is annoying that it crashes from time to time. Yes, I know that another smart phone on a different network would be $20 dollars a month cheaper. And believe me, I almost lost it today when the charger I have been using for 9 months got the "this device is not accepted" message and refused to work. But that is it. No more twitter complaints. No more fussing to people. No more "my wife got me this phone, I loved my old phone." I want this to be my public "thank you" to my wife for the phone. No it isn't perfect... put it does some really amazing things. Think of it this way.... when ever you watch a 70's sci fi flick, they have space ships and ray guns, but they still use really huge clunky computers to look up stuff. Now we have a computer in the palm of our hands that was beyond imagination 30 years ago. It has words with friends and Charlie Brown Christmas pandora, what more do you really need? Thanks, Linz.... sorry it took 11 months.