November 2011
1 post
August 2011
1 post
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Love, Compassion, Business?
So I picked up Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders today and am about 50 pages in. I’m having an experience similar to when I started reading Keith Ferrazzi’s recent Who’s Got Your Back. For me, the effort to “humanize” business, along the lines of Sanders and Ferrazzi, seems like common sense. More than that, it seems like a realignment of real life and a...
February 2011
1 post
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Blended families require financial planning (USA... →
One thing I want to add to this regarding blended families — make sure to check ALL beneficiary designations, not just in a will. People forget about life insurance, IRAs, company 401(k)s, even AD&D through your work. Hopefully this is taken care of in the divorce process, but it’s easy to overlook some things.
January 2011
2 posts
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Kiplinger's 529 Plan Comparison →
Relevant to yesterday’s article. Use Kiplinger’s interactive map to research 529 plans around the country. Also, see their top five recommended plans.
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College Funding: Prepaid vs. 529s (Florida)
The front page of Sunday’s Gainesville Sun included an article entitled, “Prepaid college plans: Yes or no?”
I get asked by clients all the time how to deal with saving for college, so I thought I’d make some comments on the article and offer a few bits of hopefully helpful knowledge.
It’s no secret that college tuition rises year after year — often at a rate...
October 2010
7 posts
1 tag
“I always loved you
You always had a lot of style
I’d hate to see you on...”
– (Belle & Sebastian)
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10 Tips: Prepare for Open Enrollment →
Especially good for UF folks!
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Help Driver's Ed for Love Win a Pepsi Grant →
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Happy Birthday, Sereen!
Today is Sereen Gualtieri’s birthday, so I’d like to introduce everyone to her.
Sereen is a kindred spirit. I only met her a few weeks ago, but we’ve had about a hundred mutual friends for several years. She’s an artist and photographer, and she’s photographed several of my friends’ weddings.
The real reason we are kindred spirits, though, is that we are...
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Good Old-Fashioned Selflessness
So I know I haven’t been faithfully blogging as I originally planned. I’ve been busy building my business in the shaking-hands, making-phone-calls manner. But since I started reading The Referral Engine, I was reminded that I need to combine both electronic and face-to-face communication.
In my business-building marathon, I’ve been doing a lot of old-fashioned networking. You...
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US Lost 95,000 Jobs in September →
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“Never in the history of America has there been so great an opportunity for...”
– Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, 1937.
August 2010
1 post
1 tag
Human Trafficking In The U.S.: One Woman's Story :... →
July 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Nonsmoking Lung Cancer Patients in Blame’s... →
35% of women with lung cancer never smoked or lived with smokers.
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A solution to debt, or more trouble? -... →
Beware debt-settlement companies!
June 2010
5 posts
2 tags
Liz Pulliam Weston: A Car Payment is Not a Fact of... →
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MSN Careers - Today's 20 Fastest-Growing... →
Fascinating snapshot of the current job landscape.
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Safeguard Our Seniors →
From the Florida Department of Financial Services. They are protecting the elderly from those unscrupulous characters who give my industry a bad name. You can watch an intro video and a longer video.
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Mike McGahan: Olympia High grad dies in... →
I dedicate this day on my blog to a local hero. Here is the link to the Orlando Sentinel’s article.
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Kiplinger's: The 7 Top Funds for Ethical Investing →
In a recent reader poll conducted by Kiplinger’s, 87% responded with “Somewhat” or “Never” to the question, “Do ethical, moral, or social factors influence your investing?” What about you?
May 2010
2 posts
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Feds Bust Largest Child Porn Ring Ever | End Human... →
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Selfish Giving: Cause marketing for nonprofits →
Found this through John Haydon. Really like what Joe has to say!
April 2010
6 posts
4 tags
Bizarro Investing (Or, How to Calculate Debt)
Bizarro is that reverse Superman villain. He is the exact opposite of everything Superman represents.
Let’s review the principles from the last post:
1. Money is never stagnant (it’s always moving, growing, or shrinking).
2. Money earns money on money (the power of compound interest).
3. More time = more money (exponentially so!).
Using credit cards is Bizarro Investing. Rather than...
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Change.org Readers Shut Down Thai Sex Tourism Site →
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The Biggest Opportunity for Young People in Money
Welcome to the new Humble Beginnings series of posts and/or videos about finance.
I was originally going to title this post “The Biggest Mistake Young People Make with Money,” but I thought that sounded too negative. Oh, and please note: “young people” includes myself, and can really include anyone with 20+ years before retirement.
So, let’s start this post off...
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Kiplinger's Recipes for Quick & Easy Financial... →
Tips to fix your finances in less than 15 minutes each - from the latest issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
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Kiplinger: Lock In Your Retirement Income →
I’ve been seeing a lot of articles on annuities lately. Here’s one from Kiplinger.
March 2010
2 posts
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Planning Your Estate - Up To The Minute - CBS News →
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Young can benefit from a Roth IRA -... →
February 2010
6 posts
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Consumers’ confidence plummets in February -... →
Toyota causing any problems for people?
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Two Legit Credit Links
I just discovered these two sites through Money magazine that are relevant to my last video:
Credit.com
CreditKarma.com
These two sites are legit and give you a good idea of where you stand in the area of debt and credit. They’re both free and easy, and can show you where you stand in the areas of payment history, debt usage, credit age, account mix, and inquiries.
Good information to...
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WatchThe first video in an ongoing series answering financial questions. This video covers how to establish credit and how to get out of debt - and whether getting into debt in the first place is a good idea.
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Tobin Wagstaff from Studio Percussion talks to AM...
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Stew (Pt. 1)
I often get asked about how I could have a degree in Religion but be a financial professional. Throw in some PHP/CSS/HTML, and I get a lot of puzzled looks.
The back story is that I started doing web design and development when I was 12. A cousin introduced me to HTML and I fell in love with web design. I went to college thinking I would do computer science, but then ran into a couple of...
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Good grief!
Another two weeks have gone by!?
I am working a ton - more to follow. Look for a new video series coming soon.
Love,
Sam
January 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Activist, historian Howard Zinn dies at 87
|... →
Very sad. What an influential man.
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Oh goodness.
I am so sorry it has been so long. Let’s just say my plans got a little derailed for a month or so.
But I’m back in business - literally. In addition to all my endeavors in the non-profit tech world, I’ve also started my career with New York Life doing insurance and financial services. I’m very excited about being able to help people and small businesses meet some of...
December 2009
7 posts
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Rescued Child Prostitution Victims Have Nowhere to... →
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trendwatching.com's December 2009 Trend Briefing... →
Incredibly fascinating report.
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Social Media Use: A Sniper Rifle, Not a Shotgun
I’ve seen several posts lately about developing a strategy for social media use, and I wanted to throw in my two cents.
It’s important to use social media tools with purpose, not just for the sake of using them. These tools are sniper rifles, not shotguns. You don’t want to join every social network under the sun just for the sake of having a place in them. Use the tools...
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Idea: ServiceTweets
I’ve noticed that, while there have been multiple Twitter-based fundraisers, I’ve not seen many Twitter-based volunteer opportunities. I’d be interested to see how quickly an organization could generate volunteers based on a tweet. For example: “need 6 volunteers to roof a house today at 5 - 34th & 16th.” What do you think? Would something like the technology...
November 2009
21 posts
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WatchTweetsgiving - check it out!
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Larry's Beans - Sustainability School →
Pretty great resource from Larry’s Beans re: alternative energy, fair trade, and other sustainability efforts.
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Larry's Beans: Coffee Artists on a Mission...
In October, my wife and I took a trip to Black Mountain, North Carolina. While we there, we discovered the Dripolator, a local coffee shop that sells Larry’s Beans. I bought a pound, took it home, and fell in love. Soon after, I gave Larry’s Beans a call and talked to Kyley, one of their marketing folks. I told her about my passion for fair trade and my blog, and asked her if there was a way...
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WatchA postscript to the previous video. Once barriers to entry go down and availability goes up, there has to be an “x factor” to contribute to who rises to the top. In this game, it’s quality.