Frank the Financially Savvy Atheist - The F.S.A.

HT: Pharyngula

A young lady was able to get a Girls Gone Wild event cancelled in her area. Kudos to her. I use to think that GGW was just harmless stupid fun that young people are fond of doing. That is until I read the infamous latimes story about Joe Francis the purveyor of this enterprise. That chilling story coupled with the fact that I was expecting a baby girl really soured my opinion of the entire enterprise.

Indeed, it's as Carol McCord (a former? student that got it cancelled) says:

"It's not that we are against women having the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies," McCord said. "If a woman chooses to go into the bus or about making pornography that's different to me than her being coerced when drunk and someone getting rich off of it. As an advocate for women, I want to make sure they have the right information about these people and their tactics."

Exactly. It's not that these women are prudes and think sex is fill-in-bad-thing-here, but they object to the sleazy tactics of getting women drunk, filming them on camera, having them sign consent forms and then leaving them with a tank top or a hat (not to mention making millions of their drunken exploits). Add in the allegations of rape and exploiting minors and you just want to barf.

Good job Carol McCord. Thanks for the work. Hopefully more clubs will cancel these events going forward.
Tags:

Over the weekend I was able to spend some time with a friend of mine from college. He is currently studying for his Masters of Divinity (or is it theology??) at a school in Boston. He was helping me move our recently purchased piano (so we could save some money) and we had a chance to talk while driving the Uhaul on our one hour journey. We caught up on old times, talked about some mutual friends, and then we got to the deep stuff.

I was expecting it since he was most likely aware that I was no longer a christian. Overall, we had a pleasant and thought-provoking talk. He said some things that made me think, and I did the same. It was funny, he'd stop me in my tracks with a question/response, and then I'd stop him in his tracks with a question/response. Fun all around.

One thing I asked him about was the "fairness" (for lack of a better term) of god's justice (in this case the christian god). How is it fair that for a finite lifetime on earth, we are to be punished for an infinite amount of time in the afterlife? While he did his best to answer the question, one thing he said stuck out.

He wanted to challenge my notion of hell. In his words, he said that while the Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God version of hell is common, the "theologically sound" view of hell is that it's a "separation from god". Hell is loneliness, selfishness, etc. To which I retorted that if you ask any joe-schmoe on the street they'll tell you that hell is fire and brimstone. He pretty much replied that they're wrong.

While thinking about this point some more, it raised some more questions from me (that I've yet to ask him):

• So the joe schmoe on the street is wrong about heaven and hell, are they going to be disappointed after they die?
• When did this "theologically sound" view of hell come about? As far as I know, historically, people have always thought of hell as fire and brimstone. Does that mean that all those people in the past who thought of hell as fire and brimstone are also wrong? Was their view at that time theologically unsound?
• Who decides what's theologically sound in the first place?

It's peculiar to me how such things come about. I'm sure that every week there are a countless number of people out there being told for a fact that they will end up in the fire-and-brimstone hell if they do not accept Jesus. And if all these people are wrong, then where is the claryfying statements and proclamations being made.
Hey, sorry guys, it's not fire and brimstone, it's a separation. Yea, memo came through today
It reminds me of those articles I read in 2005 about the Catholic Church doing away with the concept of limbo. For those who don't know (like I did not at the time) limbo is where unbaptized babies go when they die.
So what does that mean then? Are the unbaptized babies now in hell? Purgatory? Were they always in purgatory and was limbo "theologically unsound"? One of the best posts I read on the matter The Anonymous Liberal entitled: Why I'm Agnostic. He ends his first paragraph with this salient line:

If you religious folks have ever wondered why so many of us are agnostic, this is why. We're convinced that the great religions of the world are just making things up as they go along

.

I will report back once I've had some time to discuss it with my friend. I hope his answer will be thought-provoking.
Tags: atheism

Article In Question

At first blush it looks like they may be targeting annuities and other life-insurance-as-investment products. I find it hard to believe that the current congress would tax distributions from a term-life policy. That seems egregious.

What are others thoughts on the matter?
Tags: personal finance life insurance

My dear readers have come through again with many insightful comments wrt my MBA post.

I've been considering the international MBA from Thunderbird School of International Management in Phoenix, which has an online version. The tuition is fairly reasonable (and is broken up into semi-manageable chunks) considering that they've ranked #1 for international MBAs in U.S. News and World Report for 11 years running--it's about half what you'd pay for a Kellogg MBA (usually ranked in the top 3 business schools).

Jim Lippard [My comment: I didn't really consider getting an online MBA, I've always assumed that I would go back to school to get one, this provides some food for thought]

You might want to consider an Executive MBA. These programs usually have classes in the evening two days of the week and can be completed in about 18 to 22 months.

Getting an MBA is all about being competitive. If you have one and the next person interviewing doesn't have it then you've got an advantage.

Anon 1

Talk about dilutive - what's more watered down than an MBA? Unless you go to a high-powered school (Wharton, Kellog) I don't think there's a whole lot of value.

Anon 2
Two more points to consider, getting an Executive MBA to stay competitive, and not bothering unless it's from a "high-powered school". Excellent points that brood pondering.

At this point, I think an Executive MBA with an online component might be a nice fit. It would be similar to what I'm doing for my CFA right now, and I could still work. Thank you so much kind readers, you have given me insights into my mild dilemma.

Tags: personal finance mba

In November I wrote a note to myself that I needed to get certain things done. Specifically:

1. Need to purchase property insurance for our personal property. Already have property insurance on the house itself. Utilize company group rate to get a more competitive rate. Should get discount from same company as auto insurance. Don't have that much stuff, so should cost about $400.

2. Need a will and a living will for both me and my wife. Lawyer too expensive and not that much in assest, so planning on using legalzoom. Expected cost, about $200.

I was confident that we'd be able to get them done by the end of the year. Here we are it's almost the end of January, and we still don't have a will or property insurance for our belongings (we have insurance for the exterior of our home). Since I've posted it on on the blog and I haven't done it yet, I feel the need to get it done now. So this weekend, we will get both of these things done. Here's the plan:
1. We need a list of our personal belongings and video-tape evidence. We will come up with a comprehensive list, and video-tape it over the weekend. I've already gotten a quote from some insurance agencies and the cost is running slightly over $300/year with a $1,000 deductible. Once we have a better sense of how much junk we have, I expect that cost to go down as we would be over-insured at that price. Also, need to buy a fire extinguisher for the kitchen.

2. Our estate is fairly simple right now, so instead of using legalzoom, we've opted for Quicken's Will Maker. We did begin using the program, but it generated more questions from us that we need to discuss. (What happens if we're all dead, who gets all of our estate?). Nonetheless, on Saturday night we will tackle these questions head-on and create the will itself.

We have until this weekend to accomplish these two important tasks. Getting our financial house in order is of absolute necessity especially with three young children. No more excuses, it's time to get it done.

Tags: personal finance will

Trent over at the Simple Dollar has really stepped into it now. He's talking trash about Kiyosaki. Actually, it's very well written and fairly even-handed. I mean, it's a lot more even-handed than the infamous John T. Reed page. Kiyosaki's cult peanut gallery supporters are out in force, so stop by and be entertained. There's nothing new there but for supporters or detractors, but it's entertaining nonetheless.
Tags: personal finance kiyosaki

There's a new millionaire in the making and guess what, it's Single Ma! Just kidding. It is a single mother, but I don't think it's the fabulous Single Ma. But that's happened to me before when I read these MITM now. I wonder to myself, you know, this sounds kind of like so-and-so from this-and-that blog. Kind of funny.

In either case, this particular MITM is Sherelle Derico a single mother who knows the meaning of sacrifice and is on her way to a more prosperous future for her daughter and herself. Her one indulgence: new 2007 LS460 Lexus. Hey, we all have our vices right. Go read all about it.
Tags: personal finance

I've been hearing a fair bit about Dave Ramsey from others in the pf blogosphere. Some of it good, some of it bad. Here's what others have to say about him:

If you’re really lost and looking for someone to lead you to a better financial path, Dave Ramsey might be the best choice out there. However, if you’re already on the path to success, Dave can often seem trite and repetitive.

Trent

Advocating debt reduction, sensible spending and elimination of unnecessary expense is all fine and dandy, but to be pushing your various products at the same time is a bit troubling.

Cap

My Total Money Make Over had “YOUR PLAN” and $5 million (and change) under it and “DAVE’S PLAN” at $10 million (and change) under it.

Rich

What do Muslims, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Aetheists [sic], Mormons, Agnostics, Buddhists, Scientologists and a million other people all have in common?

None of them are welcome in Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finance Counselor Seminar.

Money Dummy (WELCOME BACK BY THE WAY!!!!)

My thoughts:
From reading various people on the matter it seems like Ramsey is just like any other guru out there. Whether it's Suze or Kiyosaki, there are people who love 'em in a saved-my-life my own-personal-jesus-christ kind of way, and then there are those who point out the hypocrisy of hawking among other things a designer envelope system for $20.
That's not to say his advice can't be good for some. And even for the rest of us he might have some sound advice, but you probably have to wade through a lot of stuff to get to it. Plus, as Trent mentioned (and is something I've heard others say about Kiyosaki), he has good oratory skills and can inspire people to believe. That helps to get someone motivated, but I'll take my motivation from other pf blogs.
Tags: personal finance dave ramsey

My mom knows I'm an atheist now. Not sure when she found out, but my sister told her. My sister visited her for Christmas and as usual my mom sent some things up with her when she came back (my sister lives about an hour away from us). So we drove down over the weekened to pick the things up. The things were fairly typical. Some soccer balls for the boys, assorted free samples of perfumes and colognes (my mom has this things about free samples of fragrances), and then there was a book for me. When I first saw the title I was surprised. The title of the book is Coming Back to God by Patrick Morley. It seems relatively short and sweet. Inside my mom had written a note to the effect of: "I hope and pray that you will someday find God again". So I asked my sister if our mom knew I was an atheist. She said yes, she had told her a while back because my mom kept sending religious material to me.

From my standpoint I purposely avoided telling my mom I'm an atheist. She already knew our family didn't go to church anymore, but I figured she probably thought it was laziness more than anything else. Now that she knows, I'm feeling some mixed emotions. On the one hand I'm glad that she seems to have taken it well, i.e. no wailing and gnashing of teeth. On the other hand. I wish I had the courage to tell her myself.

I know she subscribes to the literalist view of the bible, so I can imagine that she's mostly likely praying in earnest for me not to burn in hell. She's also been getting more involved in church and talks to me about how she feels bad for not tithing 10% of her income.

I've skimmed through some of the chapters of the book and it's the usual apologetics. In other words, woefully lacking and unconvincing. Maybe I'll talk to her about it some more and hopefully she will have a better understanding of why I'm an atheist. She might blame this on herself (i.e. she's a bad mother) but I will assure her that it's not her fault. Perhaps I'll even say it must be god's will :P
Tags: atheism

We atheist all like to use examples of older religions to make analogies to the current flavor, but there are actually people that still want to worship Zeus. It's a very funny article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_on_re_eu/greece_ancient_gods
Tags: zeus

Haven't had much to say on atheism and being an atheist, but I have been reading. Here's what others have been saying with regards to atheism and religion in the blogosphere:

Ebon Muse with: God Creates Evil citing Isaiah 45:7

Ed Brayton with Plaintiff Intimidation in Church/State Cases and also a take-down of David A. Paszkiewicz editorial NJ History Teacher Displays Historical Ignorance. You remember Paszkiewicz right? He was the NJ teacher who was blatantly preaching to students telling them (among other things) that you belong in hell if you don't accept Jesus.

Jewish Atheist with Why Religious Morality Sucks
Tags: atheism

Recent couple, Matt and Lori Marchbanks.

Like others in the pf blogosphere, I enjoy perusing CNN's Millionaires in the Making series. It's the same reason I enjoy reading pf blogs, that voyeuristic look at other people's finances. Can't get enough of it! I remember thinking that someday, our family would be featured on CNN's series. But then again, maybe I don't want to be featured.

While I give out a fair bit of information about our finances on this blog, there is a bit of anonymity at least. Not so with CNN. Let's take a look at the Marchbanks for instance, from the article we know the following:

• Matt (28) works on real estate and small business lending


• Lori (27) is an accountant


• Combined salary is $145,000 with annual bonuses of $40,000


• Both attended Texas A&M


• Assets are $100,000 in 401(k)s, $50,000 in Roth IRAs, $100,000 in cash and savings, and $40,000 in home equity.


• The drive an '05 Acura TL and an '03 Infiniti G35


• They live in Dallas, TX in a 2,000 sq ft home

That more information that I'd like people to know without some veil of anonymity. Plus, CNN undoubtedly gets more traffic than my little blog.

I'm not even that worried about some stranger using the information to their advantage, I'm more concerned about other family members. If a family member read that article who wasn't as well off, they might view this as time to ask for a loan. If the Marchbanks then refused, then they'd feel slightly because "They [the Marchbanks] have soooo much money, and they can't even spare a couple thousand for family".

So sorry CNN, it looks like the FSA family is just going to be blogging about their rise to financial freedom.
Tags: personal finance

A belated welcome to all. This is the 52nd edition of the Skeptic's Circle. As I've done for other carnivals, I will highlight some posts of note with quotes and my own comments, and then provide a link to the rest. Please keep in mind, these are posts that I liked. I'm not trying to slight anyone, but it's the most creative thing I could come up with. I encourage readers to take a look at all the posts in the circle, not just the first few. ALso, apologies for the lateness, but life interrupts at inconvenient times. On with the show:

First up is that old salt Skeptico:

On October 6, 2002, eleven year old Shawn Hornbeck disappeared while riding his bike to a friend's house in Richwood, Missouri. His anguished parents went on Montel’s TV show on February 24, 2003, to try to learn from “psychic” Sylvia Browne what might have happened to their son...

[This is what I love about the circle, step-by-step deconstruction with plenty of links/references to back it up.]

Next up with a financial twist to it, is Amy Lin:

Want an easy way to save 3+ months’ salary? Don’t buy a diamond engagement ring. If your fiancée, friends and family scream hellfire, calmly explain:

[There is mention of cultured diamonds in the post, something that my wife and I have considered buying in the future].

Can't forget the purveyor of this get togther, here's Orac:

Do you know why having direct skin contact with the ground is very, very, healthy for your body? I bet you want to know.

[Sometimes I swear Orac is going to put together one of these where he makes something up and we're all going to fall for it. Everytime he posts one of these I keep thinking that he's making it up...but he's not]

I can't believe people are still forwarding this stuff along, but Runolfr has a Snopes-like take-down:

According to Snopes, variations of this particular gag have been bouncing from mailbox to mailbox since 1997. This is the “Bill Gates wants to go broke” incarnation. We’ll go through it bit-by-bit to look at all the tell-tale signs of an email hoax.

[Noting internal inconsistencies might be a better way to debunk these things, rather than just forwarding people to Snopes. I should try that next time.]

Now for some Poo (surprisingly not from this guy), but from wenchypoo (insert laughter here):

We have been obsessed with bowel habits since before we were a country. Our health was determined by looking into chamber pots as if reading tea leaves: length, width, consistency, and timing all made up a general assessment of what was going on inside

[It's actually looking at fiber and asks what's all the hububaloo about poo...ok I'll stop]

And lastly from a newer blog, we have some blobjects:

I love when a creative word is coined that so neatly (and humorously) describes a cultural meme that needs describing.

Several months ago, I came across a favorite new word, my neologism of the year.

Blobsquatch

[I like the writing style and will be keeping an eye on this new blog]

And now for the best of the rest
Sunday School Science Lesson
How it Feels (About Animal Psychics)
Psychic Nikki predicts the Golden Globe results
Cracking the Code of the Universe
Forbidden Archaeology? Some So-Called Out of Place Artifacts
Top Shelf Woo [Mike, you are a massage therapist!! Sweet, cause my shoulder is stiff as I write this...]
Doggerel #53: "We Need More Time to Research!"
Creationist finances
Such a happy little new planet
Dr Nick with Maniputaling VAERS
Bible, scientifically accurate??
Crackpot in Canada
Short and Sweet (now with Superman reference)
Another Short and Sweet
Tricks of the mind, a book review

See you next time at Occam's Edge, thanks for stopping by, hope you stay a while :).
Tags: skeptic circle

I forgot who, but someone had a post the other day about how buying stuff is expensive. It's not just the item in general, but it's the upkeep of said item that really dings the pocketbook.

Piano lessons fall under that same category. The lessons themselves are not too expensive, but buying a piano, transporting a piano, tuning a piano, and various other upkeep for the piano really adds up. I had no idea pianos themselves were that expensive.

All told, we will probably spend close to $2,000 getting a piano for our youngest son. This really eats away at the money we wanted to put away in a ROTH and also money to start an emergency fund. To alleviate the damage, we plan on doing a few things:

• Cut back on expenses and try to get under budget each month


• Come up with more money-making schemes to get gift cards and the like so we can use those gift cards for miscellaneous purchases (toiletries, dishwashing soap, diapers, etc).


• Possibly utilize the citi credit card referral program to get more gift cards


• Try not to outsource too many things that we could do ourselves, i.e. moving the piano. We could save $100 by moving it ourselves, as long as we can find some people to help us.

Through these things and the right mindset, we should be able to get back up to that $2,000. It won't be easy, and it's not like money is super-tight, but we want to be able to hit all of our goals for the year.
Tags: personal finance piano lessons

A coworker related an anecdote to me the other day. I was talking to him about how high college costs are going to be in the future and he mentioned a conversation he had with someone higher up in the company (i.e. the type of person that makes the BIG bucks).

They were talking about the same thing (high college costs) and the higherup said something to the effect of (in a matter-of-fact voice):
"I figure that the rate of return on my investments are going to more or less match how fast college costs are growing. So I just set aside the total cost for college now, and my kids should be more or less ok"

Of course! It's so simple, but brilliant! Set aside the money now, and watch it grow to cover the cost! Why didn't I think of that...oh yea, because it's a lot of f*cking money.

Just thought I'd share.

Tags: personal finance

One thing that I've been mulling recently, as I've been studying for the next level of the CFA, is whether or not I should get an MBA.

For me I don't think it makes a lot of sense. I had a business background in college, and if I get my CFA plus a few more years of experience, I should be all set!

It's not that simple though. There are some who speculate that having a CFA is fast approaching having a CPA. Simply put, the comparitive effects of the CFA is being diluted as more and more people obtain one. There could be a foreseeable future where one needs a CFA AND an MBA. Now that won't be a problem if I can get my current/future employer to pay for it. However, I don't know how likely that will be. CFA are relatively inexpensive, but MBAs are in the high 10s of thousands.

From my perspective, here's why I don't want to get an MBA:

• Undergrad with a family was tough, extremely tough. Part of me now has a Pavlovian-like...repulsion whenever I even think about going back to school. It's not rational, but it's something that I would need to address should I go the MBA route.


• It's expensive. Barring have an employer pay for it, I would most likely have to stop working full-time. I could do internships over the summer, but that's 3 month's of a salary that would be used to pay for school and not much else. The interim would require loans. It's nice having an income, and I'd rather not take on more debt.


• It should be unnecessary. Like I mentioned before: undergrad business background (although I switched late in the game...still finished in 4 years though), working towards a CFA, becoming more experienced in my chosen profession/career path, why should I need an MBA to continue doing my job? An MBA certainly broadens your horizons, but I'm not interested in marketing or consulting. I'm fine where I am. For all intents and purposes, having a CFA and X number of years of experience should be as good as if not better than having an MBA.

Another piece of the puzzle will depend on the type of company I ultimately end up in. Some companies put more weight on the MBA than the CFA. Others are pretty neutral. It just depends on a variety of factors. As such, I have yet to come to a conclusion about whether or not I should get an MBA. Hopefully within a year or two, I'll reach a more definite conclusion.
Tags: cfa mba

crsandus asked:

I'll edit my question a bit. Do you have a recommendation on a specific book or lines of books that is good for learning VBA on Excel and other office programs? I've tried a couple with little satisfaction.

AdamC also chimed in:

I've got a similar question to the one above.

I'm trying to find a book to help my daughter (16) learn excel outside of the classroom on her own with me helping/tutoring as needed. Can you recommend anything like that? Thanks.

Before I attempt to answer your questions let me just say that I didn't learn much VBA coding from a book. Like countless hacks before me I learned VBA from various internships/jobs. This proved to be effective because it would present me with a problem: "How do I do X with VBA?". Then, I would record a macro and take a look at the code behind it and try to emulate what was going on myself. This led to some screwy code initially, but as I learned more and refined my skill, I was able to make some decent code. That being said, I do believe books would be a useful reference while trying to learn. Google is also invaluable once you learn how to search with the proper terminology.

Also, AdamC, kudos to you for trying to teach your daughter excel! Is there any particular thing you want to teach her? Macros? Using formulas? It would be easier to make a recommendation if I had some sense of what you wanted to teach her. For you I would take a look at the general Excel for Dummies. From there you could branch out. Another tip would be to just make up something for her to do. Grab some data from Yahoo Finance and ask her to do something with it. Make a chart, or a report. Calculate rates of return for a particular rule-based system of investing. This would be a good way to tie in some financial knowledge as well.

For crsandus, here are two books that should be useful for learning Excel VBA. The first is Excel VBA for Dummies and the second book is Power Excel.

I didn't realize they were written by the same author. The second book (Power Excel) I got from work and use it as a reference. It's more advanced, so start with the Excel VBA for Dummies book.

As I mentioned before, the best method that worked for me was just trying to do stuff in Excel. I would start with something just really simple:
Sub HelloWorld
Msgbox "Hello World"
Debug.Print "Hello World"
End Sub

And go from there. Books are helpful, but learning on your own and just having problems to solve with VBA teach a lot more. Plus you can always come to me with questions :). I hope that helps for now. Try looking at the books in your local bookstore to see if they'd be useful for you.

Wyrd, don't worry. PivotTables are coming up next. I haven't forgotten you.
Tags: microsoft excel excel

Do you have an excel question? Are you unsure of how to use functions like pmt, ppmt, irr, npv and others? Need help with a macro? Don't know what a vba maro is and need to learn? Microsoft help isn't that helpful?

Well then have no fear, the FSA is here! I'm here to answer any and all questions to the best of my abilities. I don't have all the answers, but I can help you find the answer. Leave a comment on this post and I will try to answer either with a post or a comment depending on the complexity of the question. Act now, because I really want this to be successful! Cheers.

--------------------

Update (Some previously answered excel questions):
How to use the pmt function in excel
How to create an amortization table in excel.
Conditional formatting on another cell in excel.
Freezing the panes and splitting panels in excel.
Some recommended excel books.

Tags: microsoft excel excel need excel help have excel question

As I was reading my Smart Money magazine, I noticed a comment from a reader decrying Warren Buffett as a world-class hypocrite. The reader found it hypocritical of Buffett for being in favor of the estate tax, but then utilizing his Gates Foundation donation as a way to avoid paying taxes on his vast fortune. While the reader is correct in that Buffett's donation will shield his wealth from taxes, is he/she correct in that he is a hypocrite?

No, he is not. Buffett has long been opposed to any kind of entitlement due to having the right birth parents. He is famous for the fact that his kids are not going to get the vast majority of his wealth. In fact, the reason Buffett is in favor of the estate tax is that it forces wealthy individuals to, get this, donate to charity instead of just hording it for future generations. His donation is completely in line with his personal philosophy.
Tags: personal finance warren buffett

This will be a series where I highlight posts from 2006 that I enjoyed

Given X, how are you still an atheist?.

In July, I responded to an anonymous comment which basically asserted that since I was a father who watched his children being born, I couldn't still be an atheist.

I mentioned the irony of that assertion because it was precisely the birth of my first son that was the catalyst for my deconversion. I particularly liked what I said here: "I do not deny that I am an emotional creature. I was moved by their births and I love both of them dearly. I can be touched by sentimental movies and the stirring violins in Barber's Adagio for Strings. Being moved by these does not require belief in god, it merely requires me to be human."

I also wanted to highlight some of the comments I received:

I also still believe in the individual responsibility to do all the things you've done to maintain your own family. There are definitely consequences for actions and responsibilities for them. Being a follower of God does not negate this fact

Jim (theist)

So the successful completion of the child making process is so wonderful that it should force you to believe in god.

Hmmm. How about the unsuccessful completion of same act? Suppose (and thank no one that they had all 10 fingers and toes) that yuor kids had come out with two heads or no arms or a tail? Would that then lead you to believe that there was no god?

My biggest problem with religious people is the automatic high five god gets for the good stuff and the big pass for all the bad stuff.

Corsair the rational pirate

It is the linking of 2 discrete and nonrelated ideas that I find most bothersome about the supposed logic of believers.

Father + children should automatically mean god belief? HUH?

BeepBeepItsMe

Yeah, it is almost like the Christian mind can't grasp the idea that we atheists experience the same sense of awe when confronted with beauty that they do. The difference is that we see no reason to attribute this to any supernatural being. I appreciate sunsets, puppies, etc. as much as anyone, and I am quite satisfied with nautralistic explanations.

Vjack

So that was my first favorite post of 2006.
Tags: atheism

The new year is upon us and it's time for another Net Worth Update. But first, let's talk about some goals for 2007, both financial and otherwise.

Goals

• Pass Level II of the CFA exam.


• Get under 200 lbs. About a 5-6 lb difference depending on whether I've eaten recently.


• Make sure to spend quality time with the wife and kids each and every day


• Double kid's 529 account balance via contributions from family members as well as our contributions. Unfortunately only ONE family member gave them all 529 contributions for Christmas. The rest gave them toys that will most likely be returned or given away. Next year explicit instructions along the lines of "make the checks payable to XYZ" should help with that.


• Double 401(k) account balance via monthly contributions as well as matching.


• Net Worth Target for end of year: $25,000


• Build a "cash reserves" a la Matt @ Crazy Money.
  
• Kick Ass at work in my new role.

I will try to expound on some of those individual goals and come up with a plan for each.

---

Following 2million's example, I wanted to benckmark my net worth to see how I was doing relative to both of my goals. The $2.5 million realistic goal and the $4.5 million un-realistic goal.

Before that, here is our current net worth:
$15,187
This represents a 150% increase from last month. As you can see, my bonus was good last year. I am still expecting a sizable tax refund this year even though I thought I would only be receiving one in the $50 range. This will be used to build our cash reserves.

Now, on to the benchmarking table!

Growth Assumptions	29.99%	33.35%	diff of only: 3.36%
Age	$2.5 Target	$4.5 Target	Actual
23	$6,000	$6,000	$15,187
24	$7,799	$8,001
25	$10,138	$10,670
26	$13,178	$14,229
27	$17,130	$18,974
28	$22,267	$25,303
29	$28,945	$33,742
30	$37,625	$44,996
31	$48,908	$60,003
32	$63,575	$80,016
33	$82,640	$106,703
34	$107,422	$142,292
35	$139,636	$189,751
36	$181,510	$253,038
37	$235,942	$337,434
38	$306,697	$449,978
39	$398,669	$600,059
40	$518,223	$800,196
41	$673,629	$1,067,085
42	$875,638	$1,422,990
43	$1,138,226	$1,897,599
44	$1,479,559	$2,530,505
45	$1,923,252	$3,374,503
46	$2,500,000	$4,500,000

Right now we are far ahead of our target amounts which is to be expected. Early on it will be fairly easy to get $20+ thousand a year growth. What will be difficult going forward is $100+ thousand and then $1 mill+ growth YoY.

Another interesting facet about this table is that it once again displays the power of compounding interest. Starting with the same initial value of $6,000 and then compounding with two interest rates whose difference is only 3.36%, you end up with almost twice as much after 23 years. It's simply amazing to behold.

So Happy New Year everyone, and as usual, I welcome your comments. So leave one! Also, don't forget that I'm always open about question regarding excel. Feel free to leave those as well.
Tags: personal finance