Month: December 2014
Frequent Flyer Miles – Miles are Good, Benefits are Great!
December 29, 2014
I have started traveling quite a lot with work, going to conferences to speak about my research, and to meet others to build new scientific collaborations. I recently decided to join a frequent fliers program, to earn the miles for a free flight and to share in the benefits of becoming a member. I thought I would share my experiences with everyone, because so far it has been really great. Continue Reading
Is Gigwalk Any Good?
December 22, 2014
I recently heard about an interesting app called Gigwalk, which may provide a nice easy way to get some supplementary income. It is a free to download app that will recognize your location by the GPS in your phone, and provide you with a list of ‘gigs’ in your neighborhood that you have the choice of completing. Continue Reading
BookScouter
December 20, 2014
I may move shortly for a new job, and so I am looking at selling items that I don’t use very much rather than having to move them to a new place. I certainly have lots of used books, which were acquired pre-frugal times and before I started focusing on library loans instead. Lots of used books can certainly be a pain to move, and in searching for a place to sell them online I found BookScouter.
The Basics – Active Versus Passive Investing
December 15, 2014
Investing in the stock market can be broadly divided into two major categories, either Active or Passive investing. These approaches are polar opposite in approaches, and so have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Continue Reading
The Basics – Real Estate Investing
December 10, 2014
What is Real Estate Investing? Traditionally many people have regarded real estate investing as investing in your own home, and making profit through selling the house after it has increased substantially (capital appreciation). This is certainly a tax advantaged approach, as the first $250,000 profit if you are single or the first $500,000 if you are married, is not taxed as capital gains, giving you huge savings. However, this is also a risky proposition, as house prices can go down as well as up, and so requires good market timing (or maybe luck). Continue Reading
The Basics – What are Bonds?
December 5, 2014
What are bonds? Bonds are essentially loans to a company or government, so that they can use this money to expand into new markets in the case of companies, or pay for public programs in terms of governments. Large organizations will often need to borrow significant sums of money, more than is usual to borrow from banks. Thus, bonds are used to raise money publicly, which allows for large numbers of investors to lend the money to the organization that issues the bond. Continue Reading
The Basics – What are Stocks?
December 1, 2014
What are Stocks? Stocks, which are also called shares or equity, are a share of the ownership of a company, representing claim on the company’s assets and its earnings. Thus, in holding the stock of a company you have a claim to everything that the company owns, typically a very small claim as an individual investor, entitling you to a share of earnings and potential voting rights belonging to the stock. However, this does not mean you have a say in how to run this publicly traded company day to day. Continue Reading