Mark Fisher is a self-made millionaire who shares a timeless story in his book The Instant Millionaire. This is not your typical book filled with tips on budgeting, saving hacks, and investing principles.

The tale covers a brief period of a young man’s life when he’s had enough of his dead-end job and decides to pay a visit to an old man known as the Instant Millionaire. The millionaire has an agenda from the start and uses a combination of ploys and conversations to teach his visitor the lessons he learned that made him a millionaire.

The lessons that I liked in The Instant Millionaire were:

• Goals are self-fulfilling prophecies, not objectives. Setting concrete goals to reach a seven figure net worth is the first key step to becoming a millionaire. Without a destination, we don’t know what path we should take and eventually end up going nowhere. Repetitive acknowledgement of the future has the magic of making it a reality.
• Words can be powerful. Not only do we have to set goals, we must write them down and say to ourselves that we achieve what we set out to accomplish. How much we believe in those words is crucial in how likely those words are to come true. So, the people who talk themselves in the mirror may not be crazy – but utilizing the power of words.
• Love thy work. The old millionaire in the story tells the young man that many millionaires continue working despite having amassed enough wealth to live for a long time. This is because they genuinely enjoy what they do and want to continue doing it regardless of how much money they have.

Great Start, Slow Ending
Throughout the first half of the book, the story progresses quite intriguingly with a slight vibe of mystery. At first, the encounter between the millionaire and the young man are thought-provoking and challenges our logical reasoning. By the latter half of the book, the teachings of the millionaire become spiritual in nature and they confer in elements of deeper meaning.

The transition from deliberate mind tricks to prolonged blabber disappointed me as I was hoping for more of the deceptive lessons to becoming a millionaire. But, Fisher finishes the story with a very surreal ending that left me spellbound.

Nevertheless, I loved how Fisher used a narrative story to his points across, which was a refreshing approach compared to the other books out there that are basically guides in personal finance. He probably had to do so since a motivational how-to guide to wealth would be quite dull and boring otherwise.

Overview
The Instant Millionaire is a quick two-hour read that motivates readers to chase what they want while enjoying the whole process. The title of the book may be deceiving since we’d expect the same old content voiced in all the other book titles with “millionaire” in it. Instead, it belongs in the self-development and motivational category with a tale that propels us into a mindset of a millionaire.

The book isn’t literally saying that one can become a millionaire with the blink of an eye but we can become a millionaire mentally. The Instant Millionaire delivers a philosophical approach that makes it a book that can be reread to stay focused on the goal of becoming a millionaire – which is probably a goal for most people.

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Price-to-earnings ratio. Market capitalization. Operating cash flow. 20-day moving average.

Say what?

Back in college, these were the very terms of an overwhelming presence despite my growing interest in investing. When I hear that college students are buying luxury cars and eating out because they were making a fortune daytrading stocks, my intuition told me I can do it too. What a typical get-rich-quick pitfall that turned out to be.

Failure is a Lesson
I opened my first investment account with $500 (a significant amount of money for a college kid) through Scottrade with the push of a friend. And with that money, I bought shares of a small, growing company that seemed to have great potential on the day of their quarterly earnings report. There it is – the first stock I ever owned.

Immediately after the stock purchase, I was addicted and refreshing the stock quote like mad. On my way to class, I found that the company’s earnings did not meet analyst expectations and took roughly a 5% dive during after-hours. The next day, the stock fell approximately 10% from the price I paid.

And the dreamer in me was hopeful that it would eventually rocket to the moon and I refused to sell my shares to minimize my loss. Within months, the company went bankrupt.

That’s right. The first company I ever invested in went bankrupt. How’s that for welcoming me into the world of investing?

Luckily, I ditched my shares when the stock nearly lost 50% of its value. As with every negative experience in life, I didn’t want to go through it again. There was precious money on the line that I couldn’t afford to lose. My first investment instilled the fear of investing in general. As a result, I went on a 2 year hiatus.

Down But Not Out
While I didn’t have real money in the stock market, I continue to learn more about investing. Every morning, I’d wake up in my dorm room and turn on CNBC or Bloomberg. Not only was it beneficial to become regularly exposed to stock market news for the purpose of learning, it also serves the purpose of developing a filter to the “noise” of the media.

I took an introductory business course and a course in financial accounting. Understanding the basics of a business offers better decision-making when it comes to investments. Although financial statements may seem confusing to many investors, it actually reveals plenty of of clues regarding the performance and health of a company.

Because I didn’t want to lose the little money that I had, I played around with investment simulations. It was fun to mess around with short sales, options, and whatnot but like many other people, I tend to not take my stock picks seriously. What I did take away from managing a virtual stock portfolio is to, once again, immerse myself within the realm of investing.

I’m Back
The monumental step that led to my comeback to real-money investing was the acknowledgement of a man named Warren Buffett. I researched and researched how this man became one of the wealthiest people and why he held the title as the greatest investor. As the stock market started to tank, his principles and advices mitigated my fear of investing.

During the recession, with stocks at bargain prices, I knew I was buying low and looking to sell high. With everyone pulling money away from their investment accounts and hiding in cash, they were being fearful and it was my time to be greedy. My entire mindset has changed. I made regular contributions to my Roth IRA and invested in mutual funds and ETFs. Whenever the stock market took a huge dive, I would put so more money in it.

Although I began investing again, I was cautious in my ability to select a winning stock. But, after living with my diversified investments for a while, I feel more confident with individual stocks. Sure, no one knows what the future will hold but at the very least, I should be comfortable with my stock picks on a long-term basis.

One major change in my investing outlook is that I’ve ditched the short-term opportunities and look for stocks that I’ll carry with me long into the future.As of now, my Roth IRA portfolio is up and I won’t hesitate to buy in as the market takes the occasional dip. Yes, I think I’m addicted to investing (again) as I’m checking up on my phone regularly – ready to pull the trigger on a buy order.

You Shouldn’t Be Scared Neither
While I went from a coward to a minor addict, those who’ve had the same fear need not live with it forever. Conquering the fear of investing is the same with any other fear we encounter in life. Understand it. Get used to it. Be careful around it.

Here are some of tips from my personal experience:

• Read investing books. My top recommendation would be to read The Intelligent Investor but it may have technical jargon that could make it difficult to understand. Pick up any general guides to investing that you find on the shelves of your local public library. Once you understand the basics, move up to the harder stuff.
• Learn to read financial statements. Like I said, financial statements contain plenty of information on a company. An accounting course would be great but the more realistic way is to, once again, utilize your library and supplement with information on the Internet.
• Manage a virtual stock portfolio. If you can take it seriously, unlike me, you can really put your investing ideas to good practice.
• Turn on CNBC or Bloomberg. The constant stock market news really put me in the middle of investing. I may not understand everything they talk about but they do keep me up-to-date. Occasionally, I learn something new.
• Start small. My reemergence in the investing world began with $1,000. Slow and steady. It is now valued at nearly $5,000.
• Diversify. And of that $5,000, $4,000 is in mutual funds and ETFs across different indexes. I sleep easy knowing that no single company could lead me to lose all my money.
• Dollar-cost average. I cannot time the market and you most likely can’t neither. So, buying on the way down allows us to purchase cheaper stocks without the risk of losing ton on a single, large purchase.

Having friends who are interested in investing goes a long way to when it comes to your own investments. My friends chat about our thoughts and analyze the chatter in the markets and the economy. I’d suggest refraining from taking and offering stock picks as those situations don’t usually turn out well.

(Photo credit: azrainman)

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Deceptive businesses exist all around the world and we hear stories of fraud and scamming. The extremity of such deceitful practices is unknown until it hits close to home.

Among the common fraud schemes such as Nigerian money transfers and pyramid scams, there is the popular magazine scam – the one my friend became a victim of.

What Happened the Friend
Johnny, a close friend, was a subscriber to ESPN Magazine when he got a call from a representative of “World Wide Readers Service”. The caller went straight into offering a number of other magazines in addition to Johnny’s current subscription of ESPN Magazine for a discount price of $50 per month. Assuming it was a legit offer (since they knew of his current subscription with ESPN), Johnny gave out his billing information.

For the following four months, Johnny saw a charge on his monthly credit card statement for $49.99 without receiving a single magazine in the mail. Upon realizing that he had just became a victim of a telemarketing magazine scam, Johnny canceled his credit card to prevent the company from charging him again.

Seeing that they weren’t getting their monthly dose of scammed money from Johnny, they gave him a call to obtain new credit card information – along with the threat to report him to a collection agency if he failed to do so. The next obvious step was to request a cancellation to stop these ludicrous charges. Their response: Sure. Just pay the cancellation fee of $1,100.

Apparently, they claimed that Johnny had a 3-day cancellation period in order to avoid the cancellation fee. But really, who can get five different magazines to an address within three days of ordering? And, I should mention that all their contact numbers are supposedly out-of-service.

What they used to hold him accountable is a voice recording of the initial phone call in which he entered a verbal contract with them. Any affirmative response could be added into an audio editing that actually makes him sound like he agreed to their terms.

The cancellation fee is quite a steep amount but it is holding Johnny’s good credit as hostage. The company had strategically put an amount which was large enough that someone would rather pay it than hire a lawyer.

What Did Johnny Do?
Well, Johnny decided to pay the cancellation fee of $1,100. He used a voice recorder for all calls between him and the scammers. He also requested a written letter of cancellation. The entire ordeal was a reason for constant worries and many sleepless nights – he just wanted to get it over with.

Was there a better approach that Johnny could have used in handling his situation?

Surely, he probably could have pursued legal advice and action. It would have been a taxing endeavor (both mentally and financially) even without yielding to the scammers’ demand.

But, he’d rather have this problem out of his life as soon as possible. Despite being out $1,300, Johnny learned a valuable lesson and is glad that it is all over now. There is very little he can do now other than sharing his story in an effort to prevent others from becoming a victim.

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim
Avoiding these magazine scams is easily done by becoming a savvy shopper. Most people would think “this is too good to be true”. Aggressive sales tactics play a big part in the success of these bogus companies.

• Confirm the affiliation of the caller. Note the details of a telephone offer from the company. Call the official company number and inquire on the offer details.
• Never provide any personal or financial information to anyone over the phone (except trusted sources). Once you provide personal and financial information, it implies that you agreed to something. This will jeopardize your privacy and credit – and it looks bad for you if you decide to take legal action.
• Perform a quick Google search with the “name of the company” and the word “scam”. Google will provide you the best and fastest way of determining the legitimacy of a company. Any signs of shady business practices means you should hang up right now.
• Do not say anything indicating your agreement to a verbal contract. Make a note to not say “yes” or “I agree” to a telemarketer. Altering a voice recording is quite simple.
• Request paperwork and info/terms. Having everything in a written document is a way to obtain proof of agreed terms and details. If you want to cancel anything, request a letter of cancellation. You’ll have proof ready when they decide to dispute your cancellation.

Johnny hopes that sharing this story and experience would help others avoid becoming victims of similar companies in the future. And, I hope that everyone who stumbles upon this article through a search for “World Wide Readers Service” will realize that they are a scam before falling prey to them.

(Photo credit: jepoirrer)

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In the minds of most young college students, the word “credit” usually accompanies the word “card”. Debt, credit reports, and credit scores certainly do not have priority over getting A’s and surviving college life. But, credit will be a significant part of everyone’s life after college so it is crucial for a college student to pay attention to their credit.

Since I believe that I have great credit for a 22-year-old college graduate, how I got it may be a good example for those entering and those already in college. Last year, my FICO score was 728, which isn’t bad, and a recent checkup on my credit report showed that my credit was squeaky clean. So, with a recent credit limit increase on my one and only credit card, my score should be the even higher.

Here is a quick overview of my credit relationships since college:

• Freshmen Year. Despite the bombardment of credit card marketers, I didn’t fall victim to their aggressive tactics and free T-shirts. Based on my FAFSA, I qualified for a $2,625 subsidized Stafford loan and took it – opening my first line of credit.
• Sophomore Year. Nothing much changed here. Again, my FAFSA qualified me for a $3,500 subsidized Stafford loan and took it.
• Junior Year. This year, I started Realm of Prosperity and learned a little more about credit so I did not take any loans. I was able to afford tuition because I received a $3,000 federal grant for good grades. But, I did get my first credit card. It was a student card with a $3,000 credit limit and received a $1,000 credit limit increase every 6 months.
• Senior Year. Because I changed majors, I was ineligible for a $4,000 grant so I took out a $2,852 subsidized Stafford loan. By graduation, I had $9,297 in debt and a credit card with a limit of $7,000.

Sticking To The Basics

1. Always paying my balance in full was my goal with a credit card. The sole purpose of my credit card was to receive cashback while paying for my living expenses. Do not listen to anyone who says carrying a balance is good for your credit. Develop good repayment habits early.
2. Take out loans only in the amount that you need. I was naïve during freshmen year when I received a school refund and thought it was free money but it was actually the extra money from the loan after covering tuition. Afterwards, I took the time to calculate how much I’d need to borrow instead of just accepting the total amount offered.
3. Stick with federal loans as much as possible. The terms on private school loans are subpar compared to the advantages of federal loans. Here is some great advice for college students to help reduce their financial burden.

A Changing Future in Credit
With the upcoming credit legislations, those under the age of 21 will have need a co-signer or proof of income before they are issued credit cards. When I signed up for a student credit card, all they needed was proof that I was a college student.

This doesn’t mean students can’t build credit. A secured credit card, which is a basically a credit card backed by readily available funds, is a great option to start building credit. All that is needed are some student loans and a small revolving line of credit with no violations of any kind.

Responsible use of a credit card in college is a sure-fire way to come out of college with a good credit history.

Any other recent graduates or even current students care to share your credit scores along with what lines of credit you used to achieve that score? Everyone has a different financial scenario in college and the more insight we get, the more future students will benefit. Even those with bad credit can help warn against the mistakes a student might make in college to ruin their credit.

(Photo credit: inkynobaka)

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Don’t argue it. Every college student wants, needs and uses money. Some have part-time jobs. Some don’t.

For those that don’t, a few have created their own business and became their own boss. Entrepreneurial spirit is rampant in the young adult generation and some ideas have the potential to become success stories.

I have also become somewhat of a businessman myself but not to the great extent of a few that I have witnessed in my years in college.

Review tutor

 This one is obvious. But, I’ve seen one student create a big business from teaching other students. He was smart not to do simple 1-on-1 sessions at the library. He taught his own classes which were reviews for chemistry courses (a very popular and nerve-racking curriculum). Simple word-of-mouth and flyers was all the marketing he needed.

These sessions didn’t cost the mere $20 per hour. He was charging close to $100 per class. I attended one of these classes and he was good. This business wouldn’t thrive if he wasn’t fully competent in this field. He even made his own materials and explained everything so that it was easy to understand. His fame throughout campus led my school to take action to try to break up this gig.

Mobile Barber Shop

Guys like to have their hair cut every 1-2 weeks. For those who live in dorms, don’t have any form of transportation, and want to save a little money, they turn to the person that comes to them and cuts their hair for $5 a pop in their bathroom. With a basic haircut set that costs no more than $50, the college barber has set up a popular business.

He makes business cards and offers free haircuts when students refer a number of their friends. He was so busy that he used his Blackberry to keep up with the appointments!

Many Others Out There

Granted, not any college student can go off and start their own little business because it takes motivation and dedication to do so. Plus, the aforementioned individuals need to be really good at what they do. The tutor has to be smart and have great communication skills that can get a concept across. The barber has to be somewhat artistic with some knowledge of hairstyles.

There are probably many other businesses that college students have set up. Any other college students or graduates seen anything similar?

Photo credit: ilovepaisley

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I should be ashamed of myself for having paid my credit card bill 5 minutes after 5:00PM on the due date. There are people who have never been late on a payment and it is sad how a personal finance blogger such as myself could make such a stupid mistake. Knowing the possible repercussions of this event, I paid the bill pondering what I can do to mitigate the penalties that Citibank might put on my account. I found that (after some nervous Googling) the typical penalties include:

• A Late Fee
  The late fee can vary depending on the balance and, as expected, it increases with my balance. Unfortunately, my balance was just entered the specified range where I was slapped with a $39 late fee.
• Increase in APR
  As stated in the terms and conditions of the card, the bank can increase the APR on the card if there is a late or missed payment.
• Drop in Credit Score
  Protecting my credit score is essential for future events and missed or late payments could be reported and cause a drop in my credit score if payment isn’t made within 30 days after the due date.

What I Did
After some more research, I stumbled upon the excerpts of Ramit Sethi’s book about what to do if you miss a credit card payment. Of course, a call to the bank was a given but that excerpt proved worthy in the manner that I approached the phone call. I never liked negotiations and following the scripts made it easier for me to ask.

When I checked my online account, I discovered that my APR had not changed. Great, so I didn’t have to worry about arguing over it. Secondly, I paid the bill just a few minutes late so there wouldn’t be a ding on my credit score. Now comes the dreaded phone call. A similar experience was shared on The Happy Rock where a loyal customer of 10 years only received part of the charges removed. With only a 1 year history with Citibank, I doubted that I can get anything out of the call but it never hurt to try.

The Call
After about 5 minutes of phone options, I finally got to a customer service rep and explained my case. I asked with a little more persistence than normal and the CSR was only able to remove $10 from the late fee. Well… it was better than nothing. It turned out better than I thought since my short credit history probably doesn’t deserve it.

Mistakes are going to happen and we will all make them and eventually learn from them. Late and missed credit card payments are always a bad thing but reducing the negative effects of this mistake is the least one can do.

Photo credit: Andres Rueda

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After Christmas, bargain shopping is a given. Normally, my family does not fall into the hype, but this year we fell right into the hole. It isn’t to say that we can’t afford the occasional toys and clothes (since we all carry little debt). It is just enough to raise a concern.

• Dad: He has been stalking the price of a particular headphone since Thanksgiving, which was $199.99 at the time. It dropped to $169.99 and I found a $20 off coupon so I ordered it in a hurry.
• Mom: She was supposed to go on a 10 day vacation to an old friend’s place in Oregon but the snow ruined the plans. Now she spends her days shopping for food and clothes EVERYDAY. She claims, “I’m trying to help the U.S. economy”. Hah!
• My sister: Clothes, clothes, and more clothes. Enough said.
• Me: At home I have no workout equipment or gym memberships. So, I bought some dumbbells and a bench off of eBay for about $190.

Of course, each of us was shopping for deals when we spent all this money (though it is nothing compared to many other American families). Aside from my mom, the rest of us used two essential smart shopping practices for large ticket items:

Wait 2 days before actually buying.
This is the perfect method deters the urge to spend impulsively. It allows time for reconsideration of whether or not we really needed something. We get to do more research about wheat we want to buy and we have time to look for better options or better prices. In my dad’s case, he waited five or so weeks.

Look for coupons or discount codes.
Firstly, much thanks to RetailMeNot.com and FatWallet.com. A quick minute on RetailMeNot.com resulted in a nice $20 off coupon at Musician’s Friend for my father’s headphones. And then, for both my father’s and my own items, I purchased through the links at FatWallet.com to give me 6% cash back on the headphones and 3% cash back on my workout equipment.

Everything was delivered on the same day and the UPS delivery guy said as they gave me the packages: “Whoohoo… Merry Christmas all over again”.

Photo credit: lrargerich

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After Thanksgiving, I went to Atlantic City (if anyone has been following me on Twitter, you would have known) because a friend just turned 21 and we were anxious to gamble (legally, for the first time). Gambling is not an accepted activity when it comes to smarter personal finance, but it certainly was a great experience.

Trip Costs and Expenses
We took the coach bus from Chinatown to Atlantic City. The round-trip ticket cost $18 but we were given a $30 redeemable coupon when we arrived. (This practice is used to lure people into the casinos, where they will hopefully lose more money.) So, we already had a profit of $12.

Firstly, much thanks to my friend’s mom. She was a frequent player of the casinos in Atlantic City and if any of you have visited a large casino, they often have rewards for those who rack up playtime at the tables. She was able to get us a room and covered our eating expenses at Bally’s with her reward points.

Gambling
Before the trip, my friend and I were strategizing for casino games and found that Blackjack would be our preferred game to win some money. What hit me really hard was to find that minimum bets were $10 and up. I’m the conservative type and I wasn’t here to play with thousands of dollars. I was expecting more like $1 minimum bets.

I came to have fun and to win some money, not to watch others do it. Sure, my wallet only had $77 in it and it wasn’t much. But with the hotel room, food, and trip pretty much costing me nothing, losing the money could be seen as paying for the trip. And if I win a little, that’s just gravy!

So… I hit the casino floor and gambled! I got $30 in chips to start (didn’t want to lose everything so early). My plan was to stick with the minimum and never bet more. Here was my progress throughout the night:

1. $30 in 5 minutes
2. $40 in 10 minutes
3. $40 in 10 minutes
4. $20 in 1 hour

I was on a hot streak. Lucky me. I found that once I won some money, I left and took a walk because, if I stayed too long, I will lose all my money. As you can see, I only won $20 after 1 hour compared to $30 in 5 minutes during an earlier session. Pacing myself after wins was a good strategy. In the end, I left with $207 when I started with only $77. The trip definitely exceeded my expectations.

The Winnings
All the money will go straight to my checking account for paying the credit card bill. I won’t just go off and buy myself a new toy or gadget. I know what my priorities are.

All in all, it was a rewarding, fun, and fortuitous experience. Can’t wait for next time…

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All over the personal finance blogging community, people are seeking fun and action that is cheap and inexpensive. Many ideas have been drawn to be plausible but some will eventually cost something. I’ve been trying to leave comments on posts with my take on things to do that do not cost much. Then, I realized that living in New York City, it is very hard for fun to come at a small price.

Until this weekend when I just used up all my cash (I normally only keep about $20 cash), I was able to entertain myself with a few activities that didn’t cost me a single penny.

Played Mahjong with friends: Friday night

Mahjong is a traditional chinese game played by four players with tiles of different Chinese characters and images. In my childhood, my mom was an occassional gambler in mahjong and I learned how to play from her and her friends. This is typical of many other Asian Americans and thus, we’ve carried on to play this game. We do not play with money because gambling in mahjong can get addictive. The full game of 16 rounds that we played took up a good 3 hours.

Stony Brook University homecoming football game: Saturday afternoon

GO SEAWOLVES!! Every school places value in their pride and it is the role of a stadium full of students in the school’s color during the homecoming football game to show how proud we are. College events are always happening on campus and they are all FREE to students. Free tickets coupled with stands filled with very loud college kids rooting for our home team is VERY FUN. Plus, the Stony Brook Seawolves came back in the last minute of the game for a 21-20 win. Super Bowl déjà vu?

Watched “Quarantine” in the movie theater: Sunday night
I just recently found out that the movie theater closest to campus offers free admission after midnight. Normally, I’d go around the afternoon but never thought of going so late at night. Well, I don’t have Monday classes so why not catch a late show. My friends have a thing for zombies so we thought “Quarantine” would be a good choice. My short review: It was not a memorable film. Parts of it resembled the dizzy camera recording of “Cloverfield” . Lucky I paid nothing for it because I certainly felt cheated for the time I spent watching it!

A semester’s tuition: $7000
A weekend in college: $0
The college experience: priceless

Photo credit: bennylin0724 and SBU

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Over the weekend, my friend had his wallet stolen from a communal locker at work. He was on his way to the mall when he stopped by to pick up his wallet and he calls me in a hurry. He needed the bank phone numbers so that he could cancel all his cards.

It seems like a typical “I lost my wallet” routine but he noted to me that he had a copy of his Social Security card in his wallet along with his driver’s permit.

What a perfect recipe for a financial disaster, right?

When he called to cancel the cards, he also asked if any charges were made. It was a good 12-13 hours since he last saw his wallet. I’d expect there to be some charges but fortunately, there were zero charges.

It is odd that the person did not intend on purchasing items with a stolen credit card, but that person still has the option to entirely take over my friend’s identity.

Bankrate suggests these four steps after losing your wallet:

1. Cancel lost credit, ATM and debit cards.
2. Report the theft to credit bureaus.
3. File a police report.
4. Provide details to the FTC.

Hopely, someone just found it and put it in the university’s ‘lost and found’.

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