Fund overview

At first glance, this fund certainly sounds interesting.  Here is a snippet from the web site:

Invests at least 80% of net assets in government and corporate bonds that are denominated in emerging markets currencies. The fund may invest in unrated or below investment grade bonds.

…

This fund offers investors the potential for high current income and capital appreciation by investing in bonds that are denominated in emerging markets currencies, and in derivative instruments that provide investment exposure to such securities. Emerging market bonds include fixed rate and floating rate bonds that are issued by governments, government agencies, and supranational organizations of, and corporate issuers located in or conducting the predominant part of the business activities in, the emerging market countries of Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

The key here is that this fund is playing on the “short US dollar” trade.  That is, if you believe the US Dollar will continue to go down in value, this fund should benefit.  The trick however is that all fiat currencies go down in value, just at different rates.  So the question is, will other currencies go down in value slower, relative to the dollar.  Additionally, this fund will benefit from interest paid on the foreign currency bonds it holds.

Why I am considering it

I am considering this fund for several reasons.

1. I like the idea of diversifying some money out of US Dollars.
2. The fund should earn a relatively high rate of interest, especially when compared to local US rates.
3. The fund offers exposure to a bunch of countries, many of whom you don’t get in your typical international bond fund.

Why I am hesitant and risks to consider

The risks unfortunately are many and I am pretty hesitant to want to put too much money to work in this fund:

1. The fund is brand new (started 5/31/2011) and its performance and management team have not been proven.
2. The short US dollar trade is pretty crowded and if problems in Greece, Spain and other countries get worse this fund fund could lose value.
3. If foreign central banks devalue their currencies faster than the Federal Reserve does ours, this fund could lose significant value.
4. If global interest rates rise (and I think they will) this fund could lose significant value.
5. This fund invests in countries that could face civil and political unrest.  This could lead to large defaults.

Be sure to read the funds prospectus before investing.

Important Note: This fund is not FDIC Insured and is not Bank Issued, Guaranteed or Underwritten.  This fund may lose value.  Investing in securities products involves risk, including possible loss of principal.  As interest rates rise, existing bond prices fall.

Disclosure: I do not currently own this fund, but I am considering a small investment in the future.  Invest at your own risk.

You may be thinking that day you are dividing up the different kinds of money you have saved into categories is a great day indeed – and one far away from now.  But the truth is that everyone, regardless of their current financial situation, can benefit from looking at their savings, and starting to save.

Types of Saving

Retirement Accounts

There is near-universal agreement that you should start saving for retirement as soon as possible, and this advice is usually accompanied by some sort of chart showing how the $20/month you put away now will turn into a bazillion dollars sometime in the future.  Those charts are right, of course, and you should start saving for retirement as soon as possible, and taking advantage of the various tax benefits of doing so.  Consult a tax adviser for more details, or check out Saving for Retirement at our favorite online legal resource, Nolo.com.

We do have some concerns with the idea of saving for “retirement”.  For one, the whole idea of saving for retirement is really created by the tax code. It came about at a time when people thought they would stay with the same employer for most of their lives.  Really, when you talk about saving for “retirement” you’re talking about saving for “old age.”  Nowadays many people have multiple careers and employers are just as eager to hire contractors as they are hiring employees.

If you focus on building your net worth instead of saving for retirement, then the idea of retirement starts to get a little odd.  It begins to sound like you are going to do something you hate until you hit some magic savings goal (and age) at which point you get to stop doing that hated thing, and start doing things that you love.  But with sufficient net worth, and a focus on using your money as a tool for your happiness, you can come up with ways to have an income doing something that you love, because maximizing your income at any given second to afford a life that doesn’t make you happy… well, you aren’t doing that any more.

So, by all means, keep putting money away for your 60′s and beyond.  We’re not saying you won’t be happy that you did.  But, don’t make that the only thing you are saving for.

The Emergency Fund

In our minds the Emergency Fund is the single best kind of savings you can start working on right away, because it will make a difference in your life very quickly.  There are many different ideas about how large your emergency fund should be, but they tend to fall within 3-6 months of income or expenses.  Since we are looking at our financial life from a perspective of net worth and not just income, we’re going to recommend you start with 3 months of expenses and then work your way up to 1 year of expenses.

You might be saying: One year?!  That’s a lot of money!  And we answer:  Precisely!  It is a lot of money, and having a year of your life in the bank is tremendously liberating.  But even before you have 3 months of expenses in the bank, you’ll see benefits:

• Most importantly, you won’t have to use your credit card every time the unexpected happens.  This one change will make a profound difference in your financial life.  It will lift your spirits and confidence.  And, there won’t be an interest charge associated with the unexpected.
• You can self-finance variables in your budget.  By self-finance, we mean you won’t have to use your credit card.  This time, it’s for things that are expected but harder to plan for, like the life insurance bill coming due this quarter and knocking you off your monthly routine.
• You can afford to carry less insurance.  When you have an emergency fund, the idea of paying a lot of money for a $250 deductible isn’t as appealing.  Again, this is a result of net-worth thinking rather than income thinking.  If you don’t have an emergency fund, then you’ll decide the higher monthly insurance bill is a good buy because you can’t afford a $1,000 deductible if your car gets hit.  But if you have that money in the bank, then saving money on your insurance gets easier.
• You can start to seize opportunities.  Much like long term debt, you should limit this to opportunities that help you build wealth.  For example, you have the opportunity to interview for a new job that pays 120% of your current salary, but your future employer requires a certification that you don’t have.  You can afford to take 2 weeks of unpaid leave (assuming you can work it out with your current job) to go get the certification.

Once you have one year of expenses in the bank, your life will be very different.  You will start to value and see things differently.  You will be on very secure footing indeed.

Principal Reduction

Every debt you carry has a principal on which you pay interest.  The principal is the money you owe, so in a sense, paying it off is a form of savings.  Once you have debt there is no use beating yourself up about it anymore.  You should, however, focus on getting that principle paid off as soon as possible.  If you have the income, and can cut your spending enough, you should save for retirement, an emergency fund, and pay down the principal on your debt.  Experts generally agree that you should pay down principal first on your credit cards and second on your car loans.  There is disagreement about whether or not you should pay off your home early, but we certainly wouldn’t advocate it unless you have a solid emergency fund and you are on a good plan for retirement.

As far as paying down your credit cards – how much is enough?  The answer here, as with many of your budget decisions, will come from your values and goals.  Having said that, you should also use a credit card repayment calculator (CNN Money has a good one here) to get a clear understanding of how much interest you are paying on the debt.  Some financial advisers recommend you pay down your highest interest rate card first, and then move on to the next highest rate, etc., until they are all paid off.  Others say that you should pay off the one with the lowest balance to give yourself a confidence boost and eliminate a creditor.

We personally recommend that, if possible, you consolidate all of your credit card debt onto a single new card that has as low an interest rate as you can get.  If you can’t get a new card, then consolidate them as much as possible on the lowest card you have.  Cut up the high rate cards.  Check out the Helpful Links at the end of the article for more on paying off your credit cards.  You might also consider refinancing your credit card debt with a lender like Prosper.com or LendingClub.com.  We are affiliates of each and recommend them both.

Short Term Savings Goals

Short term savings goals are a great way to handle projects (leisure or otherwise) that aren’t part of your monthly budget.  Let’s take two common examples: Gifts (especially around the holidays) and Vacations.

The credit card method of handling gifts or vacations is to have a rough idea of what you are willing to spend, and then to go out and probably spend more.  Afterwards, you finish the vacation (or wrap up December) and cringe when you see the amount of debt you racked up.

Having a savings goal means having a budget.  In this model, in January (or whenever you next review your budget), you decide how much you are going to spend on vacation or gifts.  Then, work it into your monthly budget.  Let’s say a family of four decides they are going to spend a total of $700 on Christmas. $500 will come from the household budget and will be used to buy presents for friends and family.  The spouses decide that they will have a $100 limit on gifts for each other, which will come out of their own personal spending accounts.

Now, the family budget needs to be adjusted to make room for $42 of savings per month, which will yield $500 by the end of the year.  Each spouse also needs to squirrel away a minimum of $8.33 per month from their personal accounts.  (This is the kind of savings that the envelope method is great for).  Now, the spouses get together and split up the $500 pot between the kids, grandparents, other family members and friends.  They revisit the budget on a regular basis to see (1) that they have actually saved enough, (2) that their spending is in line with their plan and (3) to reallocate their budget based on new information (they got Suzie’s present cheaper than they expected so they can afford Grandma’s more expensive gift).

Vacation spending works the same way.  The family vacation budget is set, the savings happens BEFORE the vacation, and away you go.

Once you are saving regularly, and have budget that keeps you from spending more than you earn, you are well on your way to building wealth.  We’ll talk more about that next time…

• Be free
• Be high-quality
• Not have spyware, spam or other nonsense
• Say what they do and do what they say
• Be easy to use

Here are the Below Your Means Top 4 Free PC tools:

Anti-Virus:  Microsoft Security Essentials

Skill Level: Novice

If you are running a licensed Microsoft Windows PC, then Microsoft Security Essentials provides simple and solid virus protection.  Virus protection subscriptions are a cash cow for companies these days.  This is why you see so many virus products offered and also why companies will give away their software. They are willing to give it away this year, with the hope you will buy a subscription next year.  From Microsoft:

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home or small business PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and is automatically updated to protect your PC with the latest technology. Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

You can get a link to download it from Microsoft here.

Tip: You only need one virus scanner, if you are going to use Microsoft Security Essentials, uninstall any other virus scanners you have.

Anti-Spyware: Microsoft Windows Defender

Skill Level: Novice

Just like Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft Windows Defender is free if you have a genuine copy of Microsoft Windows.  This tool detects and removes a continuously updated list of known spyware applications.  From Microsoft:

Windows Defender is software that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software by detecting and removing known spyware from your computer. Windows Defender features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it’s detected, minimizes interruptions, and helps you stay productive.

You can download it from Microsoft here.

System Cleaner: Piriform CCleaner

Skill Level: Novice to Intermediate

Piriform makes some of the cleanest and most straightforward PC utilities around.  Their products are well written and free.  Piriform CCleaner (originally this stood for “Crap Cleaner”) is one of the best PC tools out there, hands down.  This tool scans your machine and lets you remove unused files, temporary files, old cookies and browser history, log files and much, much more.  Note: this tool is free, however you can purchase Priority Support for $24.95.

CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download.

You can download it from Piriform here.

Tip: When you install Piriform tools, you may be asked if you want to install a toolbar for your web browser.  I typically recommend against this as these tool bars tend to slow browsing down.  Removing excessive tool bars is usually the single easiest thing I do to fix my family’s computers.

Disk Defragment: Piriform Defraggler

Skill level: Intermediate

Piriform Defraggler is a high performance disk optimization tool.  It is better the than the defragment tool built into Microsoft Windows because it supports more advanced features such as a full visual drive map and the ability to moving frequently used files to the front of the disk drive for faster access.  Note: this tool is free, however you can purchase Priority Support for $24.95.

Use Defraggler to defrag your entire hard drive, or individual files – unique in the industry. This compact and portable Windows application supports NTFS and FAT32 file systems.

You can download it from Piriform here.

Tip: If you have a Solid State Drive (SSD) then you should not use defragmentation tools.  These tools may decrease the life of your drive.

There are plenty of other great free PC tools out there, but please be careful with ones you choose.  Many tools that claim to be free are riddled with ad or spy ware.

The rule of diminishing returns is a harsh mistress with luxury goods. Do you really think $100,000 audio speakers sound 20 times better than a pair of $5,000 speakers? (They don’t). Is a $250,000 sports car five times faster than a $50,000? (It is not). These days, you can buy quite a lovely home for $1,000,000 (and much less in the country’s interior). Those $10,000,000 manses are not 10 times roomier. Anyone who has owned a $10,000 Rolex will tell you that a $39 Casio keeps better time.

We like this one a lot – and it’s a common problem.  As your income increases, there is no requirement to increase your spending!

Ritholz continues (emphasis ours):

When discussing the benefits of wealth, I have heard again and again about amazing experiences, family get-togethers, vacations, shows, sporting events, weddings and other events as these people’s most important life experiences. While these things cost money, nearly every family can afford reasonable versions of them.

This leads to our addition to the list:

8.  Don’t think you have to have money already to start living richly

As with anything that requires discipline (losing weight & getting in shape, for example), too many people make the mistake of thinking “this would be so much easier if I already had X”, where X is being at a certain weight, or fitness level, or having a certain income.  It is just as easy to blow through a $100K/year salary as it is to blow through a $50K/year salary.  Now, if you are reading this and trying to make ends meet on a $50K/year salary, this statement may make you angry.  But trust me (and the experience of many people who have seen their expenses grow as their income grows) – it is just a matter of making a decision to live within your means.  Of course, if you are dealing with large medical bills or a house that you can’t afford after a job loss, you have an immeidate problem that requires more complex solutions than we are offering here.  But for a large portion of the population, the issue is more choosing to start living within your means, finding ways to increase your means, and growing your net worth than it is one of mere survival.  We’re not saying money doesn’t help, but it isn’t a requirement.  The authors of this blog certainly started before they had the incomes that they enjoy now.

Another point Ritholz makes that we love (emphasis added):

I am struck by how many very wealthy people I know — especially tech entrepreneurs – have expressed being grateful for their good luck. Again and again, I have heard the phrase: “Being smart is good, but being lucky is better.” Rather than leave you with the impression that success is simply a roll of the dice, I am compelled to remind you what the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger was reputed to have said: “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” I don’t know whether it’s better to be smart or lucky, but I would suggest that making the most of the opportunities takes more than just dumb luck.

Opportunities will come your way all the time.  Living within your means is one way to ensure that you have the freedom to take advantage of those opportunites.  The second – don’t be too proud.  The most successful people we know will do everything from negotiate a seven-figure deal to dig a ditch, if that is what it takes to sieze the opportunity in front of them.

Over to the Washington Post for more…

7 Life Lessons from the Very Wealthy | The Washington Post

The biggest problem with amassing debt is that you are giving up flexibility in your future for flexibility today.  You are agreeing that in the future you will be willing and able to have a certain amount of money.  But none of us can predict the future.  We don’t know what misfortune will befall us, what opportunities will come our way, and what our personal goals will be.  You can read more about our thoughts on debt in our first Back to Basics article.

To get out of debt, and to understand how to use debt in the future, you need to stop thinking about your debt in Income terms and start thinking about it in Net Worth terms.  Meaning, stop thinking about how much debt you can afford to carry (payments), and start thinking about your total net worth, what direction it is heading in and the impact of debt on your net worth.  When you carry debt, you are simply spending money on the privilege of borrowing — you’re paying interest, potentially fees and the money isn’t helping you.  People borrow money all the time without considering the interest payments because the monthly payment seems affordable.  But if I gave you $100 tomorrow, and told you that you had to light a $5 bill on fire every Friday until you paid me back my $100, you’d stop and think about it.

The Debt Payment

Many people when budgeting plan for an $x credit card payment; for argument’s sake let’s use $100/month on a $5,000 debt.  While this approach is practical when you’re dividing up your monthly income, it doesn’t tell you whether or not you’re paying off your debt quickly enough.

Every debt has two key components – the principal (the amount you borrowed — on a credit card this is often the ‘balance’) and the interest (the fee you are paying to the lender to borrow the money).  When you make a debt payment, you typically pay the interest first, and the principal second.  Your payment needs to be high enough to take a good chunk out of the principal of the debt, or else you’ll simply be paying interest month after month.  The Federal Reserve Credit Card Repayment Calculator is a handy resource for approximating the time and money credit card debt will cost you.

Looking at the $100/month payment on a $5,000 debt using an APR (interest rate) of 16%:

• If you saved up the money ahead of time in $100/month installments, it would take you 4 years and 2 months to come up with the $5,000.
• If you make the $5,000 purchase and pay $100/month, it will take you 27 years to pay back the debt, and you’ll spend an additional $8,659 in interest.

Why so much interest?  Because your $100/month payment is barely making a dent in the principal of the loan, so the interest keeps piling up and piling up.

If you make larger payments you’ll cut into the principal faster.  Take a look at these two scenarios of paying off the same $5,000 debt at a 16% APR:

• By paying an extra $42/month, for a total payment of $142, you can cut the time down from 27 years to 4 years and cut the interest from $8,659 to $1,802.  That’s 23 years less, and it reduces the interest by $6,857.
• By paying an extra $100/month, for a total payment of $200, you can cut the time down from 27 years to about 3 years and the interest will drop to $1,123.

When Debt Helps and When it Hurts

About Credit Cards

Short term debt — debt you carry less than 12 months — is mostly useful to manage cash flow.  For example, you may be paid your salary every 2 weeks but most of your bills come on a monthly schedule.  So, you use your first paycheck to pay off all your monthly bills (and savings goals), and your second paycheck pays off your credit card balance – in full.  Note that if you have saved even 2 weeks of your pay, there really isn’t a need to use your credit card like this.

Another good example of a short term cash flow crunch comes from different types of insurance and fees that are due quarterly or annually.  These bills may push a given month’s expenses over that month’s income.  A credit card will help, but again only if you’ve budgeted for the expense and your income pays off the credit card in a few months, including the interest.  Otherwise, you’re accumulating debt.

Sometimes emergencies exceed the savings we have in our emergency fund, and in that case, carrying some debt while you adjust your budget and quickly pay it off can be a lifesaver.

Outside of these examples, in most cases credit cards are really just a convenience that means you don’t have to carry around cash, and you only have to make one payment out of your bank account per month to cover your purchases.

Long Term Loans on Short Term Assets

Another place people often exceed their means is getting long term loans for a short term asset.  A short-term asset is anything that is not going to retain it’s value for long.

For example, car loans have recently gotten longer and longer, and it is possible to get a car loan that is 5, 6 or even 7 years long.  While this might make the monthly payments low enough to be within reach from an income perspective, it usually adds up to a lot of additional interest on the car.  Worse, the car will lose its value faster than you can pay down the loan.  That means that in two years you will owe, for example, $20,000 on a car that is only worth $15,000.  What do you think happens to you if the unexpected occurs?  Say, you car gets totaled in an accident, and you’re given $15,000 by your insurance company.  You will still owe the bank $5,000.  What happens when the car starts to need serious repairs in years 5, 6 and 7?  Or, say in 3 years you just don’t like the car any more.  It isn’t suited for your life.  If you try to sell the car, you’ll owe more on it than you can make.  You’re stuck.

Credit cards can be even more insidious though, especially when you use them to live beyond your means.  Let’s use a much more common example.  You routinely spend $200 more a month than you make, and you eat out a lot.  In fact, your entire $200 budget overage comes from eating out.  Over the course of just one year you will accumulate $2,200+ in credit card debt even if you’re making the monthly payment.  And it will only take 7 months for credit card interest to consume your entire dining out budget.  The chart below illustrates the example, but of course at month 7 it loses accuracy, since you can no longer afford to eat out OR make your monthly minimum payment.  At this point things start to spiral out of control.

Using Debt Successfully

Before you begin you need figure out if you can trust yourself with debt. In the wrong hands, debt can be like alcohol to an alcoholic. Some people simply cannot control themselves, if you reflect upon it, and you fit into this camp you need to take a strategy of never using debt. Live a cash-only life; people do it all the time. However if you can trust yourself with debt and manage it, it can be a very effective tool to building wealth and happiness.

Also, in general we are going to strongly recommend that you steer clear of interest-only financing, balloon financing and other complicated debt instruments unless you fully understand what you are getting yourself into.  These debts, while designed to provide lower payments, are intended for people with a very good grasp on their finances and are able to predict with certainty and comfort that they will be able to refinance in the future, or make the balloon payment.  If you have to ask the opinion of anyone who isn’t (1) gifted when it comes to finance  (2) impeccably trustworthy and (3) completely unconnected to (will not benefit from) the transaction, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

Short Term and Mid Term Debt

First, provided that you budget for it (including the interest), short term debt can be a great way to get over a hurdle that seems insurmountable.  For example, say you have recently graduated from college.  You are working an hourly shift job to pay your bills while looking for work.  But, you don’t have a suit, and while you’ve started saving up for one, you get an opportunity to interview before you’ve saved up enough money to buy the suit you need for the interview.  Assuming you can’t borrow a suit from a similarly-sized friend, you could finance the suit on a credit card.  However, make sure you heed the following guidelines:

• Figure out how much you are willing to spend before you make the decision to borrow the money.  Don’t let easy borrowing convince you to spend more than you should
• Figure out how long it will take you to pay back the loan, and make sure that amount is much shorter than the useful life of the asset.  Paying back the suit in 6 months is OK, 3 is even better.
• Adjust your budget to include the interest payments.  In this example, you are already saving up for a suit so you have a line in your budget for the principal payments.  BUT, this will change to include interest.  Don’t extend the time you are going to pay back if you can avoid it — just cut back on a few areas to include the interest payment.
• Avoid making rationalizations about future earnings.  You may get the job, you may not.  If you get the job you can pay off the suit much faster than you expected, giving you more freedom in the future. If you don’t you aren’t stuck with a credit card payment you can’t afford.

Mid term debt is debt that you carry for 1 to 5 years.  A great example of this would be a car payment.  Car payments are another great way to get into a vehicle that will make a big change in your quality of life.  But again, beware the rationalization.  You don’t need to have a car payment all the time, and NOT having one is very freeing. There are many examples of millionaires driving modest cars, the big secret here is that the many got to be millionaires by focusing on their net worth and not how fancy their car is.  There are lots of tips out there for getting the best deal on a car, but consider these from a Net Worth perspective:

• New cars depreciate much faster than slightly used cars.  Reliable used cars depreciate the slowest.  Buying a car that is a few years old can make sure you get the most value from the money you spent.
• Financing a car for more than three or four years is gambling that you will want the car that long, and that it will run well that long.  Otherwise you are risking that the value of the car will drop below the amount that you owe.
• A car is, at it’s heart, 4 wheels that get you where you are going.  Don’t fall into the trap of buying a car because ‘you deserve it’ or ‘you have to have it.’  Consider what you value.  A Lexus, Acura, or Infiniti luxury brand is certainly nice to ride in, and may be worth the money to you if you have it.  But going into a large loan to buy the car doesn’t make sense, especially when you consider that they are luxury versions of Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans.

Long Term Debt

Long term debt, debt that you carry for 5 year or more, should be reserved for performing or appreciating assets only.  What do we mean by ‘performing or appreciating assets’?  These are assets that either make money in and of themselves (like businesses) or have significant potential to increase in value.  Recent housing bubble aside, historically housing has been a pretty good performing and appreciating asset.  One, you can live in it while you’re paying off the mortgage, which might be better than paying rent.  Two, there is a good chance that when you go to sell the house you will get a significant amount of your money back. But there are lots of reasons why a house might not make sense.  As either the buyer or seller, you pay a lot of money in taxes, fees, commissions, etc. that aren’t included in the value of the house.  If you move frequently, these charges can add up.  And, if you can’t sell the house for more than you owe, you’re stuck.  Also, houses don’t always hold their value, as just about everybody now knows.

The subject of investing in a business or borrowing to finance other investments is beyond the scope of this article, but we will address it further in the coming months.

Financing vs. Savings

One other special case deals with taking advantage of free or very inexpensive financing.  Assume you have $4,000 in a interest bearing account that is earning 2%.  You have decided to buy new living room furniture that will cost you $4,000.  The furniture manufacturer is partnering with a credit card company offering interest-free financing for 6 months, which jumps to 22.9% if you don’t pay off the furniture by then.  The credit card company is counting on the fact that you’ll buy too much furniture because of the financing and wind up not paying it off.  You’ll owe them thousands of dollars in interest by the time you manage to pay off the furniture.  But, because you follow our ‘short term debt’ guidelines above, you don’t overbuy.  Taking advantage of the financing is a good idea – it means you can leave that $4,000 sitting in the account for 6 more months earning interest.  And if you adjust your budget, you may be able to pay off the furniture over that six months without having to touch your $4,000 at all.  But be careful – don’t use this as a way to rationalize buying $4,000 worth of furniture you can’t afford.  If you don’t have the money in 6 months, the high interest rate will turn your furniture purchase into a long term debt with lots of money disappearing into interest payments.

Emergencies

Of course, debt is also valuable to have at your disposal in case of emergencies.  But we’ll discuss that along side savings next time, as it is closely tied to the subject of emergency funds…

Thumbnail Photo: Blocks 1 by Crissy Alright

With so many great posts in the world of Personal Financial Blogs, it is hard to keep up with them all. Here are a few of our favorites from the week:

Personal Finance / Etc.

• Cut your budget (Amanda) – Another good “real world” budget article at The Saved Quarter.
• Personal Finance 101: What is an asset? – If you don’t know, you need to find out.  A major pet peeve of mine is when I hear commercials or worse regular people things like “I am going to invest in a new DVD player”, or “I am going to invest in some new clothes”.  While both clothing and DVDs are indeed “assets” they are anything but “performing assets” and they are certainly not “investments”.  In fact they are “depreciating assets”, which means they go down in value over time.
• To donate or not to donate?  Financial, Ethical and Physical Concerns of Egg Donations – I found this interesting.
• We are not saving enough for retirement – Put this in the “duh” category, but to anyone paying attention this should be obvious.  Unfortunately, our government and central bank is making it damn hard to do so.  With 15% of all Americans on Food Stamps and 50% of Americans not able to come up with $2000 in 30 days, is it any wonder our collective financial futures are in question?

  This week we are running a series on saving and building your net worth, please do check it out.  Also, consider our feature last week on Tracking Your Spending and Budgeting.  Remember, one way to get ahead of the savings curve is to live Below Your Means!

Economics / Investing

• IMF “Ready and Willing” to Throw Away More Money; 10 Point Summary of Sorry State of Affairs; Market Repeatedly Calls Foolish Bluffs by IMF, ECB – Mish provides a good breakdown of the flawed thinking at the IMF.
• “Greece On The Verge Of A Precipice” As A “Lehman-Like” Avalanche Could Be Set In Motion As Soon As Sunday – Zero Hedge provides a short summary of what’s going on in Greece.
• Guest Post: Why The Wheels Are Falling Off China’s Boom – A fascinating read on the coming bust in China.

Other

• Congrats go out to the Bucksome Boomer on their 500th post.

According to the paper, lawyers point out that regulators commonly accuse financial firms of fraud if they intentionally or recklessly misrepresent information.  The WSJ reports that the ratings agencies under investigation could face allegations that they “relied on incomplete or out-of-date information supplied to them on the pools of loans in the mortgage-bond deals or ignored clear signs of problems” in the mortgage industry.  By doing so, they rated the products too high and misled investors as to their quality.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine a fascinating book about the mortgage crisis by Michael Lewis, paints the ratings agencies as naive rubes who fell prey to the sophisticated selling tactics of the Wall Street trading firms.  In it, he points out that ratings agencies are paid to rate securities, and their customers (in this case, banks) want good ratings.  To us, the conflict of interest is obvious.  According to the Wall Street Journal (emphasis added):

To be sure, the credit-rating companies aren’t responsible for the accuracy of the data supplied to them to rate securities. But they could be accused of ignoring obvious flaws in the data, such as it failing to reflect the deterioration of the mortgage market, according to lawyers.

We’d add to that: or failing to conduct enough of their own research to establish independence from the organization submitting the security to be rated.

The continuing lesson for us at BYM: Wall Street deals are naturally stacked in favor of those who are closest to the market and the deals (and therefore know the most).  Much like the recent round of tech IPOs, it’s the traders who are going to make the most money.  Organizations like Moody’s are merely selling their opinion, which may be as uninformed as the man on the street.  In fact, when these agencies are dead wrong, they use the first amendment as defense.  The WSJ reports:

In May, the credit-rating firms notched a legal victory when a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that they can’t be held liable for their ratings of mortgage-backed securities. Their ratings, the judges wrote, were “merely opinions” and protected by the First Amendment, a defense the firms have often used in the past.

And all of this is fine.  It’s just business, and we shouldn’t stop people from running businesses.  Our objection is when these businesses are treated like civic institutions, to be trusted implicitly, and rescued at taxpayer expense.  While Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s didn’t get bailout money, there were definitely part of the problem, and part of the system that we’ve propped up.

As always, let the buyer beware.

Raters Drawing SEC Scrutiny (premium content) | The Wall Street Journal

“It’s not a matter of whether they are fraudulent companies, it’s just a matter of who they are cheating,” 62-year-old Texas-based investor John Bird, who has been very public about his short positions, told a panel at DealFlow Media’s Reverse Merger Conference 2011.

and another:

“The realization I have come to recently is that it’s a giant Ponzi scheme. It’s all going down,” declared Rick Pearson, another investor who holds short positions on some Chinese stocks.

The article continues, pointing out that others at the conference feel like the whole issue is overblown, especially since the Chinese are easy targets:

Some pointed out that highly regarded companies — such as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — were created through reverse mergers.

They also argued that while some U.S.-listed Chinese companies may have had some problems, that is the exception and not the rule, and suggested China is an easy target because of American resentment about its growth as an economic power and its clout as a big owner of U.S. debt.

“I think with China, there’s a total overreaction,” said David Rees, a partner at Vincent & Rees law firm in Salt Lake City, Utah. “It’s an easy target.”

And of course, the motives of those bringing the reports of fraud to the market were called into question:

Most attendees were quick to say that they wanted fraud rooted out, but they became uncomfortable or even angry at the thought that someone could profit even if their allegations ultimately proved false.

“What it comes down to is, is the information truthful and accurate? And, also, do you have an economic motive or an opportunity, assuming it’s false…to profit personally because you’re intentionally putting out this false information?” asked Perrie Weiner, international co-chair of DLA Piper’s Securities Litigation practice.

Whether you are tempted to believe the shorts or the longs, this article reminded us of our general attitude towards the markets: it’s hard to know what is going on with any of these companies unless you are close to the deals.  Let the buyer beware.

Insight: For short sellers of Chinese stocks, it’s time to reap | Reuters

Thumbnail Photo Credit: Carmela Songer

While helping the tradesmen working on my house this week, I learned that they are having trouble hiring.  A lot of trouble.  “The economy is so bad, but nobody wants to work anymore.  They just want to make a quick buck.”  I heard this from more than one company.

Trades are noble pursuits.  Perhaps our economy is boom-and-bust because we have forgotten that the best way to create value is to bring something new into existence with our own hands.  Labor of any kind, but especially physical labor, is beneath no one, regardless of station.  How can you improve your life if you’re not willing to do what it takes to seize the opportunities in front of you?

Yesterday we posted about Pandora’s IPO and how the price action looked very similar to LinkedIn (LNKD).  Unfortunately, things just went from bad to worse.  The stock is down again hard today, with shares plunging almost 25% just today!

I think the “Investing Wisely” lessons learned here are simple:

• The current wave of “Dot Com 2.0″ IPOs are very risky at best
• I would avoid being an early buyer of any future IPO such as Facebook or Groupon
• Don’t try to “catch a falling knife”, based on fundamentals some analysis are calling for Pandora to got o about $5.80 a share!