How nice it would be if we were all born wealthy? It would be great if we could inherit a great amount of wealth from our parents, or grandparents. The reality is most people that are wealthy, become wealthy through their hard work.
Statistic has shown that 69% of wealthy Americans gained their wealth through hard work, investing, or ownership of a small business; 6% gained their money through inheritance; 25% become wealthy through both hard work and inheritance. That should make us feel good. It is possible for everyone to become wealthy if the right action is taken.
Most wealthy Americans believe their willingness to take on higher risk at the right time has made them successful. Of course, success comes along with tremendous efforts that they put into. In general, higher risk results in higher return. People who become wealthy through hard work are generally happier. People who inherited wealth from others tend to have more difficulties related to the money situation, such as how to allocate money between family members, and so on. People who are hard workers also have more control over their financial situation. They understand the market, recession, and the opportunities. They feel less stressed and more secure.
Working hard, taking risks, and accumulating what you have, can eventually make you financially secured. It might take some time and some luck, but it will happen if you keep making the right decisions.
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/104858/Earnings-Growth
http://www.unusualwaystomakemoney.com/
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Job hunting in an economy recession
Most of you will be facing graduation in May or December. However, the economy is going into a recession and the job market is shrinking. How does someone find a job during this uncertain period of time?
First of all, alter your own situation as needed. Last March, the unemployment rate was 5.1% and there were fewer jobs on the market. If you work in real estate or construction, you might need to look somewhere else. It might not be a good idea for you at this moment.
Secondly, consider fields such as education, health care and technology. These three fields typically don’t have a correlation with the market recession. Experts say jobs in those fields haven’t been affected at all.
Third, get your resume up to date. Put everything you have done that is work related on your resume. Even volunteer jobs, after school activities, and community work can put an extra check on your resume. Always have at least 3 experts review your resume. Keep your spirit high. It can be frustrating at the beginning if you don’t get enough feedback. However, don’t stop looking. Participating at job fairs, research on websites and newspapers can be a good alternative resource.
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-job_hunting_in_an_unsteady_economy-321
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/jobs-Healthcare
First of all, alter your own situation as needed. Last March, the unemployment rate was 5.1% and there were fewer jobs on the market. If you work in real estate or construction, you might need to look somewhere else. It might not be a good idea for you at this moment.
Secondly, consider fields such as education, health care and technology. These three fields typically don’t have a correlation with the market recession. Experts say jobs in those fields haven’t been affected at all.
Third, get your resume up to date. Put everything you have done that is work related on your resume. Even volunteer jobs, after school activities, and community work can put an extra check on your resume. Always have at least 3 experts review your resume. Keep your spirit high. It can be frustrating at the beginning if you don’t get enough feedback. However, don’t stop looking. Participating at job fairs, research on websites and newspapers can be a good alternative resource.
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-job_hunting_in_an_unsteady_economy-321
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/jobs-Healthcare
Comments on Matthew’s “Income Gap”
Matthew’s journal stated that there is a significant gap between male and female professionals. For the same position, women usually make less then men. With a relatively lower income, women tend to put less contribution to their 401K plan. Matthew also pointed out that large amounts of people who live in poverty are elderly women.
It is sad to see many elderly women live in poverty. How can we improve the situation? Government regulation should help elderly women get out of the poverty situation. For the other potential retirees, they need to realize that women tend to live longer and have more expenses than men, and they need to maximize their retirement savings decades before they retire. Women should also start investing more, just like men do. Women are generally more conservative and risk adverse, which means most women wound not invest their money on potential assets. That needs to change. Women can become wealthy if they do the right thing like men do.
It is sad to see many elderly women live in poverty. How can we improve the situation? Government regulation should help elderly women get out of the poverty situation. For the other potential retirees, they need to realize that women tend to live longer and have more expenses than men, and they need to maximize their retirement savings decades before they retire. Women should also start investing more, just like men do. Women are generally more conservative and risk adverse, which means most women wound not invest their money on potential assets. That needs to change. Women can become wealthy if they do the right thing like men do.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
San Francisco Protest
On April 9th, 7,000 Anti-China protestors protested as the Olympic torch was being passed by. I was shocked to see the protest on the news. As a matter of fact, I was a little bit angry about this protest.
As a Chinese immigrant, I love Chinese people and I love Americans. I am proud of being Chinese. I deeply adore my culture and my people. The Chinese government has been struggling with issues in Tibet since the 1940s. Tibet, a part of China that is mainly isolated from the rest of the mainland, is fighting for its independency. It all comes down to the freedom of religion. The fact is, most Chinese people don’t have a religion. The Chinese government has allowed Tibet the freedom to worship its religion and most Chinese people think it is the right thing to do. Give Tibet its freedom of religion. We did. Apparently, it is not enough. Monks from Tibet are using the media attention to get the world to intervene in their issues. It created so much terrible publicity for China’s Olympic event. Freedom of religion doesn’t equal to claiming its independency.
Another aspect of the San Francisco protest that bothers me is that the people who are Anti-China, are mostly Chinese. A lot of those Chinese people were born and raised here in the United States. They have never been to China before. They learned about the Chinese government from their parents or grandparents, who left China decades ago. Things have changed so much. China is not like it was 50 years ago. I would tell those Anti-China Chinese people to go visit China and see it for their own eyes.
Now, the President has decided not to go to the Beijing Olympic Ceremony’s opening. What a bad move. The entire world is watching. China and America need to stay friends.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080410/ts_alt_afp/chinaunresttibetrightsoly2008bono_080410000129
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2003/03/20/protesters.DTL
As a Chinese immigrant, I love Chinese people and I love Americans. I am proud of being Chinese. I deeply adore my culture and my people. The Chinese government has been struggling with issues in Tibet since the 1940s. Tibet, a part of China that is mainly isolated from the rest of the mainland, is fighting for its independency. It all comes down to the freedom of religion. The fact is, most Chinese people don’t have a religion. The Chinese government has allowed Tibet the freedom to worship its religion and most Chinese people think it is the right thing to do. Give Tibet its freedom of religion. We did. Apparently, it is not enough. Monks from Tibet are using the media attention to get the world to intervene in their issues. It created so much terrible publicity for China’s Olympic event. Freedom of religion doesn’t equal to claiming its independency.
Another aspect of the San Francisco protest that bothers me is that the people who are Anti-China, are mostly Chinese. A lot of those Chinese people were born and raised here in the United States. They have never been to China before. They learned about the Chinese government from their parents or grandparents, who left China decades ago. Things have changed so much. China is not like it was 50 years ago. I would tell those Anti-China Chinese people to go visit China and see it for their own eyes.
Now, the President has decided not to go to the Beijing Olympic Ceremony’s opening. What a bad move. The entire world is watching. China and America need to stay friends.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080410/ts_alt_afp/chinaunresttibetrightsoly2008bono_080410000129
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2003/03/20/protesters.DTL
Take actions to get off oil dependency
Oil prices have hit another record high today. Today, gas it is about $3.40/gallon. It is out of control. We need to start improving our dependency issues immediately. I wonder what the government is waiting for.
EX mobile, Shell and BP have spent millions of dollars in lobbying. They are not interested in investing new technology to get liquid fuel. With the large amount of oil reserves available, oil companies are happier than ever. I did some research on it, and I found out that oil scarcity is not the problem. The problem is we can not produce oil fast enough. The oil plants are already at 100% capacity. Oil plants can charge whatever price they want because they know people in the States will pay for it.
Why not use coal to get oil? Nazis Germany invented in this technology in the 1920s to get liquid fuel from coal. The process is very simple: put coal through gasification to get carbon and hydrogen. With carbon and hydrogen, we can make any liquid fuel we want. Why not start doing it. The United States has the largest oil reserves in the world. We have enough oil reserves to last the nation 250 years. Montana was able to produce liquid fuel from it back in 2005. The oil made from coal will have a cheaper price.
Some people argue that coal-derived-liquid fuel will produce more carbon dioxide than other energy. It is true. However, that amount of carbon dioxide is not enough for us to worry about. For now, since we don’t have any other solutions available, we should use coal for a short-run. Perhaps the reason this is not being done is because of the lobbying money the government receives from oil companies. We need to our government to take actions on behalf of its citizens needs.
http://www.energybulletin.net/1253.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml
EX mobile, Shell and BP have spent millions of dollars in lobbying. They are not interested in investing new technology to get liquid fuel. With the large amount of oil reserves available, oil companies are happier than ever. I did some research on it, and I found out that oil scarcity is not the problem. The problem is we can not produce oil fast enough. The oil plants are already at 100% capacity. Oil plants can charge whatever price they want because they know people in the States will pay for it.
Why not use coal to get oil? Nazis Germany invented in this technology in the 1920s to get liquid fuel from coal. The process is very simple: put coal through gasification to get carbon and hydrogen. With carbon and hydrogen, we can make any liquid fuel we want. Why not start doing it. The United States has the largest oil reserves in the world. We have enough oil reserves to last the nation 250 years. Montana was able to produce liquid fuel from it back in 2005. The oil made from coal will have a cheaper price.
Some people argue that coal-derived-liquid fuel will produce more carbon dioxide than other energy. It is true. However, that amount of carbon dioxide is not enough for us to worry about. For now, since we don’t have any other solutions available, we should use coal for a short-run. Perhaps the reason this is not being done is because of the lobbying money the government receives from oil companies. We need to our government to take actions on behalf of its citizens needs.
http://www.energybulletin.net/1253.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml
Comments on Jason’s “Doles Food”
I read Jason’s article today. I am surprised to hear that Dole Foods is in a bad financial situation. Doles Foods is selling its land in Hawaii to pay off its debts.
First of all, I don’t exactly know what was DF’s problem. It could be the management team, market strategy, or other operating issues. What are some opportunities that DF is facing? Just like the Delta Beverage case we did in class, DF is facing the future of being bought out and shut down. If DF decides to announce its bankruptcy, DF will shut down its production lines and no cash flow will be generated at all. However, if DF can be bought out, it might be able to pay off its debts and survive through this. Another issue that I have noticed is that DF owns land in Hawaii, which is outside the United States. Shipping costs is a big part of DF’s debts. In order to lower its cost, DF can sell its land in Hawaii and purchase land nearby in the United States.
First of all, I don’t exactly know what was DF’s problem. It could be the management team, market strategy, or other operating issues. What are some opportunities that DF is facing? Just like the Delta Beverage case we did in class, DF is facing the future of being bought out and shut down. If DF decides to announce its bankruptcy, DF will shut down its production lines and no cash flow will be generated at all. However, if DF can be bought out, it might be able to pay off its debts and survive through this. Another issue that I have noticed is that DF owns land in Hawaii, which is outside the United States. Shipping costs is a big part of DF’s debts. In order to lower its cost, DF can sell its land in Hawaii and purchase land nearby in the United States.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Comments on Matthew’s “Tighten Global Market Regulation”
I agree with what Matthew said. It is time for the entire globe to learn a lesson from our US mortgage market default crisis. Lenders here in US have been recklessly approving and lending money to borrowers who are not capable of paying it back. Just like what we learned last week in class, there are many regulators in the current market, from FED, FIDC to Security Exchange Agents. As a matter of fact, all the regulators seem to perform their obligations well. The issue is that at the bottom of the regulation chart, mortgage brokers are taking advantage of the system and lending money to consumers with bad credit. People on top of the chart might not even know what is going on inside the lending department until mortgage fraud starts to taking over the market.
I think the new way of 3 major regulators should work better. The new 3 major regulators eliminate all the unnecessary departments and people who are not involved. Fewer steps mean more accuracy and more efficiency. More importantly, when there is a problem, the signs are taken early and seriously. It is time to tighten our regulation.
I think the new way of 3 major regulators should work better. The new 3 major regulators eliminate all the unnecessary departments and people who are not involved. Fewer steps mean more accuracy and more efficiency. More importantly, when there is a problem, the signs are taken early and seriously. It is time to tighten our regulation.
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