Money, Gifts and People Being Dumb

Of course, everyone would rather be smart than stupid. But not everyone can be so fortunate.

Stupidity affects your income, for sure. Someone lacking in brain cells is more likely to be an average or poor performer at work, which ultimately means less money in the paycheck compared to his or her smarter coworkers. This is compounded as years go by and the spread gets wider and wider.

But the financial damages do not stop there. Not only does stupidity hurt the revenue side of the equation, it also affects the expense side. Case in point – a friend of mine was purchasing a home and locked in his interest rate at 6.00%. By the time closing rolled around, interest rates dipped to 5.75%. His mortgage broker told him that if he wanted to get the lower market rate, he would have to pay some $400. My friend declined. Dumb.

The 5.75% interest rate made an approximately $50 per month difference in his 30 year fixed mortgage payment. He would have broke even on his $400 in eight months (excluding time value of money). His stupidity has been costing him $50 per month ever since that fateful day, when he failed to think through his actions. Five years later, he is in that same house, with the same mortgage, with the same 6.00% interest rate. Instead of buying a car this Christmas, it might be a better idea to get them an Amazon e gift card instead. Or anything that doesn't require financing!

Another example is an old friend, who would never be confused with a rocket scientist. She didn't work with a Chicago financial planner and had amassed some $20K in debt for her matriculation. And never consolidated those loans! Now, for those who have never had the pleasure in borrowing money for school, student loans are awarded per semester, so by the time you graduate, you have multiple loans, each with a different interest rate depending on what the market rate was when you borrowed. The government allows you to consolidate your student loans once at ridiculously low statutory rates. For instance, my rate is 1.88%. But not everyone can be so fortunate.

Related articles

• Refinancing Your Home
• Mortgage Applications Rise to Three-Year High
• Low Interest Environment

Finding an Apartment Online

Arlington - My Apartment in Rosslyn (1965) (Photo credit: roger4336)

With today's technology, finding the ideal apartment is going to take more than flipping through the Yellow Pages and making a few phone calls. Online ratings, unbiased reviews and community forums from complete strangers can be a great way to find the apartment of your dreams. Here are a few of the best ways you can start you apartment search:

Apartment Matchmaking Services
Simply entering in your necessary apartment information into a few query boxes can cut down a 1000 potential apartments to 10. Not only does it make it so much easier for you to find exactly what you want or need, apartments are realizing the need to be a part of these services, and are making sure they are an option for you.

Online Boards
Finding the right ones can be a bit tricky, and reviews of apartments are usually biased. However Craigslist, as bad of a wrap it gets at times, can be your best bet for finding sheer volumes of apartment listings. Quite often apartments will have specials on rooms they need to have filled, and will post those enticing listings on craigslist for a brief period of time. Definitely a great place to look if you're a bit strapped for cash.

Brokerage Websites
Great for finding reviews and listings from those in the business. However these reviews can often be biased, and it's best to not use this as your only option for finding online information. Because these are updated quite frequently, and because they usually weed out the sketchy places, it's not a bad place to visit.

If you're living around the Ohio area, it can also be tough to find corporate furnished housing in Ohio. Using the sites listed above, you can help expand your options to find the place that suits your needs perfectly.

Wow, how long has it been?

Bottom glass shelf (Photo credit: Yvesanemone)

Oh dear, I can't believe I haven't posted for a month. How time flies when you're having fun building your business. Yes indeed, I've been quite busy. But now...I'm back...and more excited than ever.

When I first joined BookWise about 6 months ago I knew I had stumbled on something very, very special. How special I found out this past week at the 1st Annual BookWise Convention. I will tell you all about it over the next couple of days.

When Richard Paul Evans and Robert G. Allen told us a little while back that BookWise will totally change the way books are being sold and published they were not kidding. I was totally amazed when I found out this past week how exactly this is going to happen. Get ready for a revolution...and hold on to your socks because what you'll find out will surely knock them off.

Stay tuned...

Books For The Holidays?

English: A Picture of a eBook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, we're a little far away from the holiday season, but summer is a great time to start reading. Here are a few announcements from awhile ago to get you in the reading mood. So grab your favorite author's most recent book, and enjoy the nice weather and a nice story. 

BookWise Associates cheered at the First Annual BookWise Convention last week as 11 Major Announcements were made.

Here they are:

Announcement 1 - Over 1 Million Products
Starting December 2007, Associates will be able to offer well over one and half million books, DVDs, CDs, and games will be added in 2008! BookWise announced their partnership with Baker and Taylor, the world's largest distributor of Entertainment. This gives Associates the advantage of a huge selection, broader categories, better service and faster delivery. PLUS, they are the largest supplier of textbooks, supplying more the 80% of college campuses.

Announcement 2 - Your Own Bookstore
Starting in December Associates (like myself)will have their very own BOOKSTORE which will offer:

==> A selection of 1.5 million titles of books, DVD's, CD's and games.
==> Fast, competitive shipping
==> Competitive prices - without an annual fee.
==> A better world - 1% goes to charity
==> Personal Touch

Bookstore customers receive Compact Classics
Fully downloadble eBook for their use
Fully downloadable AudioBook

BookWise shares 50% of profits with Associates. 40% to you, the bookstore owner and 10% to your enroller.

Announcement 3 - BookWise Classics
More Bundle of Benefits - BookWise Classics, which is a 2 page summary of the entire book
A fully downloadable eBook for your use
A fully downloadable AudioBook

Announcement 4 - Wisdom Link
WisdomLink includes over 4,000 eBooks 100,000 source documents, which are fully searchable. What college student wouldn't love to tap into that?

Announcement 5 - HeartWin and YouWin
The addition of HeartWin and YouWin to the Bundle of Benefits. HeartWin offers expert mentors with specific advice on how to improve all the relationships in your life. YouWin offers expert mentors to teach you how to build inner wealth with specific advice on getting your act together. These are FREE to Associates.

Announcement 6 - Successful People Seminar
Successful People Seminars - 2 Day Live Seminars by the world's experts on HeartWin, WealthWin and YouWin. This seminar is valued at $995 and is FREE to Associates, it is included in your Bundle of Benefits.

Announcement7 - Global Leadership Bonus
Starting January 1, 2008, $1.00 of every BookWise membership fee will be directed to a quarterly leadership bonus pool.

Announcement8 - QuickWise Training
General training for new Associates and walks through the fundamentals of BookWise.

Announcement9 - BookWise Pro
BookWise Pro is a beautiful lead generating website and an additional tool to build and market your business.


Announcement10 - BookWise Publishing
BookWise encourages you to write your own book. The monthly AuthorWise call that teaches the basics of book writing, marketing and publishing is already included in the BookWise Package of Benefits. WriteWise is a fast track! Become a successful author faster and smarter. A few of the perks of WriteWise are:

==> Your book will be finished in 2008
==> Rick and Bob will write your forword and endorse your book.
==> BookWise guarantees to publish your book, it will be edited, designed and you'll receive 50 copies of your book.
==> You'll learn how to market your book and we'll personally introduce you to the publishing world. Tuition is $3995.

Announcement11 - Canada
BookWise is going to Canada! 2nd Quarter of 2008. More information to come.