GET/GIVE TONY ROBBINS NEW BOOK “MONEY: MASTER THE GAME”

There are lots of reasons to read a book about money and there are lots of books about money. Tony Robbins has a new one, Money: Master The Game.

Unfortunately, not many people read books. Even fewer read nonfiction. Only a small sliver read books about money. Be an exception and join them.

Not Perfect

There are various criticisms of the book, such as

• an outsider: but being outside the traditional financial community gives Tony a different perspective
• contradicting advice: but that’s common in life. He interviews 50 money experts with varying views.
• over-simplified: but isn’t that better than over-complicating and confusing? Complexity can be added once the A-B-Cs (or 1-2-3s) are known.
• conflicts of interest: Tony recommends companies in which he might have financial interests (see dealing with biased financial advice). That doesn’t mean the choices are bad but they but warrant more investigation.
• too long: yes … I got the audiobook which runs over 21 hours and sped up the playback by 30%
• US-centric: yes but the general ideas apply everywhere

Tony responded to some criticism in this interview for The Wall Street Journal.

At the other extreme, you’ll find gushing praise.

Tony’s Advantage

Do celebrities give better financial advice? Maybe not but Tony reaches the unreachable — people who get missed by conventional financial education. Even when Tony says things you’ve heard before, you might be more likely to believe them now. For instance, I’ve covered things like

• $1,000,000 after taxes on investment growth (2007)
• Your life expectancy exceeds 1 billion seconds (2009)
• Why is financial planning ignored? (2009)
• The Globe and Mail on Canada’s insurance loophole (2011)
• How to protect your money from Goliath (2013)

We often know the keys about money (e.g., spend less than you earn, disaster-proof your life, save for the future). That doesn’t mean we do. Tony helps people change. He might get you to change too. He has a knack for making financial education engaging. He explains his terms and uses many examples.

Differently

Instead of writing a book, Tony could have created videos and an app. That’s what I thought before getting the book. I don’t see videos, but he has a free app (if you’re willing to give your contact information).

Instead of using a conventional publisher, Tony could have self-published. He could have made the book cheaper. He could have narrated the full audiobook, rather than portions.

Overall, what he did is fine.

Free Meals

Tony is paying for 50 million free meals. Besides donating all his book royalties, he’s made an additional personal financial contribution. That’s rare. Chances are good that you’ll end up on his mailing list, though. That gives him the opportunity to sell you his other stuff with the money you’re saving.

Caution

Tony tackles tough topics such as the conflicts of interest rampant in the financial sector. He gives solutions too. Think before you leap.

The stories from successes like Richard Branson are interesting but may not provide much practical guidance (e.g., how Honest Ed turned $212 into $100 million). Look for patterns rather than a guaranteed formula to financial independence.

I wasn’t expecting much from Tony’s book but because he’s popular, I knew that I had an obligation to read it. Overall, I’m impressed and highly recommend Money: Master The Game. There’s lots of practical advice.

Money books get stale. Tony’s book is new, which means now is the best time to read it.

Links

• official website: MoneyMasterTheGame.com
• Tony Robbins doesn’t quite master the game of money (MarketWatch, Nov 2014)
• Tony Robbins responds to critics (WSJ Video, Nov 2014)
• Do celebrities give better financial advice?
• Do financial doctors make as many mistakes as medical doctors?
• Dealing with biases financial advice
• If you have/had/want money, read Pound Foolish
• Why billionaires by life insurance
• $1,000,000 after taxes on investment growth (2007)
• Your life expectancy exceeds 1 billion seconds (2009)
• How Honest Ed turned $212 into $100 million
• The Wealthy Barber returns with more wisdom
• The wealthy reveal how their financial advisors fail them
• Why do you care what your insurance advisor gets paid?
• Disaster-proof your life: the first rule for financial freedom from Preet Banerjee
• The A-B-Cs of 1-2-3
• How to protect your money from Goliath

PS Another must-read (or re-read) is Warren Buffett’s biography, The Snowball

CAREER ADVICE FOR GRADE 8 STUDENTS

I’ve got a newfound respect for educators after guiding 30 lively Grade 8 students through the Junior Achievement Economics for Success program with Dana Mitchell for Advocis during Financial Literacy Month. Thanks to teacher Maureen Deeney and Principal Julie Aube at Christ The King Catholic School for the opportunity.

Here is career advice for students to consider.

Look For What’s Missing

Spotting what’s missing is more valuable than seeing what’s there. What’s missing leads to opportunities. Searching hones your detective skills and helps you stay curious. You get better at spotting distractions and identifying the real clues. You’re not looking for Waldo. You’re looking for where Waldo isn’t --- and wondering why.

Observe the challenges other people face and look for solutions.

Do they have trouble with deadlines? Learn to meet them. Do they start studying too late? Start earlier. Do they forget assignments? Find a system that works for you. You’re then building skills which are scarce and hence valuable.

Develop The Habit Of Saving

Saving means putting something aside now to have more later. Money is an example but not the only one. What about

• saving time: you can do some things more efficiently (which may mean investing time in developing a process) and stop doing some things which don’t need to be done (note: leaving your room untidy may not be an acceptable idea).
• saving health: we have only one body for life. Exercising, eating well and sleeping enough build resilience and help preserve what may be your most valuable asset.
• saving attention: with all the demands and distractions around us, we’re tempted to multitask and prioritize. Both are exhausting. Cutting out stimuli simplifies life. Maybe you’re too knowledgeable about happenings in sports and music. Entertainment is important but maybe less would do? (extreme example: years ago, I stopped watching TV, listening to the radio and reading the newspaper.)

Be Generous

We can each help others for free. We can give of ourselves, our time, our attention, our caring. You’re then making the world better in your own unique way. You’re also changing yourself. You’re thinking in terms of abundance (giving) rather than scarcity (hoarding).

You’re helping change the world since some of the people you help will follow your leadership and help others too.

Develop Portable Skills

You’re unlikely to stay in the same role forever. You’ll likely advance in your career and might even change careers. The cause might be opportunity or necessity. Either way, you’re better prepared if you keep developing your skills.

A portable skill stays with you and helps regardless of what you do.

For instance, communication is essential. Are you improving your ability to read, write and speak? Are you mastering new media? For instance, you write differently for school assignments, blogs and tweets.  Other portable skills include managing your time, getting along with others and finding problems to solve. How can you lose by getting better?

Build Your Network

Success requires willing support from the people you know and — more important — the people they know.

You already have a network. How well do you plant seeds, nurture and prune? Consistent generosity gets noticed and can be free (e.g. the gift of information). Most people feel obligated to give back. Reciprocity is the #1 universal principle of influence.

If you’re in Grade 8 now, you’ve lived your entire life with the Internet. Connecting, sharing and staying in touch is easier than ever via social networks. In-person contact still matters, though.

Market Yourself

You can’t expect the world  notice your brilliance without your help. You need to stand out (or at least be good). You need to be remembered. You need to be findable. The Internet makes this easier for those who bother.

Persist

The path to the future includes drudgery. Persist. To quote Zig Ziglar:

When you do the things you ought to do,
When you ought to do them,
The day will come,
When you can do the things want to do,
When you want to do them.

Best wishes for a wonderful future.

Links

• What is STEM education? (well worth exploring)
• The best/worst jobs list and you
• Mailbag: more career advice
• Warren Buffett’s tough career choice
• Escape from the cage of mediocrity
• Ctrl Alt Delete: Mitch Joel’s 8 steps to getting a job today
• image courtesy of Cliff

PS Please leave the world better than you found it.

DEALING WITH BIASED FINANCIAL ADVICE

You won’t find the type of warnings on alcohol or tobacco applied to

• sugary drinks: cause of about 180,000 deaths a year globally
• credit cards: 30% of customers don’t payoff their entire balance each month and 93% of the credit cards in Canada (257 of 275) charge 11.25% to 30% interest according to a handy government comparison tool.

The onus is on us to learn, evaluate and decide. Attempts at consumer protection (e.g., banning sugary drinks in school vending machines or capping credit card interest rates at prime+5%) get challenged. How dare we lose our freedom to harm ourselves!

Which Side?

Sellers claim to be on our side, but are they really? We’re encouraged to

• drink responsibly (but still drink)
• follow the rules of the road (but buy vehicles which break them in  commercials)
• eat a healthy breakfast (but include Nutella)

Since shareholders have different interests than buyers — and rightly so — don’t count on voluntary transitions to better guarantees, more transparency and lower prices. Look at MasterCard/Visa credit card transaction fees in Canada, which are among the world’s highest. They’ve increased 25% in the last two years. Now MasterCard/Visa will make voluntary reductions of about 10%, leading to a typical charge of 1.5%. This is considered a victory, but for whom?

Money Madness

The financial sector promotes financial literacy … but profits from our ignorance, inertia and limited choices. That’s not as effective as improving the products. We could be prevented from paying heavily on unpaid credit card balances if interest rates were lower. We could avoid the pitfalls of mortgage life insurance if poor products were not sold.

Until we live in perfect world, beware.

An Example

We were looking for a video tripod strong enough to support a camera, 15mm rod system, teleprompter and an iPad. The advisor at a well-known specialty store recommended tripods costing $750 or more! When I asked for a cheaper option. I was shown a $350 tripod with weak legs and a poor head. Then another $750 tripod.

Because I did my research, I knew that getting photography legs and a video head separately would be better and cheaper. The advisor — an expert — could have suggested this  but maybe she got sales commissions or thought conventionally.

A Strategy

Protect yourself with education. You can often learn the basics online from objective sources. That helps you ask the right questions and spot the wrong answers. You might find better solutions than those presented to you.

Links

• How the financial industry profits from bafflegab (Rob Carrick)
• Should banks have a hand in promoting financial literacy? (Boomer & Echo)
• A challenge for financial literacy month
• Three reasons financial literacy eludes us
• The A-B-Cs of 1-2-3: the key to financial literacy / numeracy
• Do your advisors help with your financial literacy?
• image courtesy of geralt

PS Mind the fine print!

A CHALLENGE FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY MONTH (#FLM2014)

November is Financial Literacy Month in Canada. Getting attention during the busy period between Halloween, Black Friday, Boxing Day and New Years Day isn’t easy. According to Google Trends, interest in financial literacy has been growing. That’s great news. Kudos to everyone helping create awareness.
There’s more to do.

The Challenge: Current Creators

If you already create ongoing financial education, Thanks! Why not try something new:

• change your format: you likely prefer text, audio, video or photos. Try a different one.
• go live: e.g., hold a Hangout On Air, speak at an event or have a Twitter chat
• adjust your frequency: create more content or cut back to make time for something new
• alter the length: you could make your content longer or shorter
• experiment with a different platform: are you using the LinkedIn Publishing Platform or Pinterest?

You might reach a new audience and feel more enthused to create more content. 

The Challenge: The Silent Million

According to Statistics Canada, 1,122,300 people worked in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing in 2013. That’s 6.3% of the workforce (1 out of 16 people). How many of them publish their own original content to help the public understand money better? Now’s an ideal time.

If a mere 2.7% published a single article during Financial Literacy Month, we’d have 30,000 new articles --- 1,000 a day. And 100,000 articles only requires 8.9% to volunteer for a worthy cause which their employers likely support.

Others know about money too. For instance, accountants, entrepreneurs, executives, lawyers, professors, retirees and teachers. Include them and 1,000 pieces of fresh content a day looks even more feasible.

If each creator promotes to their connections, imagine how many new people could be reached and helped. 

Case Study

I’ve been looking for ways to engage people who aren’t especially interested in learning more about money.

For last year’s Financial Literacy Month, I organized Money 50/50: Insider Advice For Today’s Topsy-Turvy Times at the University of Toronto (like TEDx plus Q&A).  November got postponed to February and the Ted Rogers School of Management (see recap). Since TEDx Talks become videos, I decided to skip a live event and interview these insiders who might have been speakers:

1. How much money do you need before getting financial advice? (Joe Barbieri)
2. Financial independence at 31 (Sean Cooper)
3. The Capital Gains Exemption isn’t a gimme (Mark Goodfield)
4. Insights from an advisor to the insurance industry (Ross Morton)
5. Reaching the unreachable (Jonathan Chevreau)
6. Investing outside the markets (Vikram Rajgopalan)
7. Five essentials to being a better investor (David Toyne)
8. Planning for aging (Gary Hepworth)
9. Demystifying SR&ED (Julie Bond)
10. Retirement planning for small business owners and professionals (Clark Steffy)

This month, I’m

• guiding Grade 8 students through the Economics For Success via Junior Achievement
• sharing Business Strategies For Taxing Times at the Toronto Regional Board of Trade
• launching a series of short educational videos called QanA (Question an Actuary)

Thanks to past, current and future creators of money-related content. Thanks also to everyone who invests in learning.

Links

• Three reasons financial literacy eludes us
• The A-B-Cs of 1-2-3: the key to financial literacy / numeracy
• Do your advisors help with your financial literacy?
• How to screen your sources for financial literacy education (#FLM2013)
• Forget your financial literacy: check your pizza literacy
• Why don’t financial educators have a larger audience?
• Jim Flaherty on the economy and financial literacy (2009)

PS Money matters every month

FIVE ESSENTIALS TO BETTER INVESTING (AND INSURING)

How can you lose by learning to invest better?

Steadyhand Investment Funds sells no-load low-fee mutual funds directly to investors.
They've prepared an easy-to-read report called Five Essential Elements To Being A Better Investor (PDF). The focus is on sound, timeless basics rather than trendy quick-fix tips.

You'll find interpretations at

• My Own Advisor by Mark Seed
• Retire Happy by Jim Yih
• CPA Magazine (co-written by Steadyhand’s Tom Bradley)
• The Globe and Mail (by Tom Bradley again)

Watch

You can also watch my chat with David Toyne, their Toronto-based Director of Business Development on Tea At Taxevity (interview #20).

An Extension

The steps to becoming a better investor also apply to becoming better insurance buyer. The following list shows the Steadyhand recommendation in bold and my interpretation for health or life insurance in italics.

1. Be realistic: risk happens even if you’re optimistic and we have a knack for worrying about the wrong risks
2. Have a long-term plan: prepare for your financial risks during your working years (disability), retirement years (longevity), throughout (morbidity, mortality) and at death (taxes!)
3. Commit to a routine: if your insurance gets cancelled because you missed premium payments (e.g., cheques bounced during a long vacation), you lose your protection.
4. Prepare for extremes: that’s precisely what insurance does by transferring unpredictable financial risks from you
5. Act as the CEO of your portfolio: be proactive to make sure you get the service for which you're paying. Without regular checkups, you risk having the wrong amounts of insurance and perhaps the wrong types of insurance.

The Steadyhand report is well-worth reading. You might even want to invest with them.

Links

• Steadyhand website
• David Toyne: LinkedIn and @jdavidtoyne
• The two drawbacks of investing in life insurance
• The pros and cons of financial leveraging
• Losing ground: saving for retirement
• The CBC’s hidden camera investigation of investment advisors
• How an actuary invests

PS Invest in yourself too. Keep developing marketable skills.

FINDING VALUE IN UNEXPECTED PLACES WITH JOE BARBIERI (@joetheinvestor)

Saving money is like making money but better: you’re keeping more of what’s already yours. Could value be lurking in places you aren’t looking?

Joe Barbieri, a true fee-only financial planner gives tips in the new series, Tea At Taxevity. The short conversation encompasses:

• simplifying your finances
• why people don’t already consolidate their accounts
• the place for joint accounts
• the risk of too few accounts
• the time/money conundrum
• finding the best choices
• tax strategies
• the right place to put investments
• the ROI on learning
• the risk of oversimplifying

The Interview

Here’s the quote from Albert Einstein:

“Everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler.”

Links

• Tea At Taxevity: YouTube playlist, details
• Joe Barbieri: JoeTheInvestor.ca, @JoeTheInvestor
• Exploring the inner worlds of investments and insurance
• 12 timeless tips for wise shopping
• Three steps to keeping financially solvent
• Do celebrities give better financial advice?

PS This was our first interview with three cameras. That’s why my filing cabinet and shredder sometimes show …

REFLECTIONS ON THE GLOBAL CHANGE INITIATIVE (@CSLCsummit)

The first-ever Global Change Initiative (@CSLCsummit) took place from Friday evening until Sunday evening at Toronto City Hall (May 30-Jun 1, 2014). The location makes a big difference. We were in the Council Chambers. The acoustics are terrific — even for music. The tireless organizer is Dev Ramsumair  I spoke about Right is Might: Social Justice and Corporate Profits. I’ll let you know when the recording gets released.

I’ve never been to an event like this. I’m picky about exchanging business cards and this was the first time I ran out.

Extreme Variety

You can see speakers on different topics at TEDx events and elsewhere. The Global Change Initiative did too, plus extras like

• the Livegreen Toronto awards gala
• a fashion show featuring real women from the Toronto chapter of networking group 85 Broads
• performances by the cast of RENT, rockers The Loft (can’t find their website) and reggae group The Steady Rebels
• a panel discussion in which speakers were asked questions by the Avenue Q puppets

A Standout Presentation

One presentation which wasn’t recorded won’t leave my head. Kelly Drennan of Fashion Takes Action talked about sustainability. Did you know that

• unsold clothing often ends up in landfill rather than getting donated
• you’ll spot the new ‘in’ colours by looking at the dyed waterways near the factories
• 2/3 of the environmental harm from fashion occurs once we have bought the clothing

Sometimes you don’t recognize the calibre of the people you already know. I was delighted by the interactive presentation by Carol Roberts of Stellar By Choice (@CarolLeads) who helped close the conference. She’s been a peer mentor for years but I never saw her speak before.

Extended Length

Many events last one day and leave you numb. There’s something magical about meeting new acquaintances for 2-3 days in a row. You get time to build a relationship and follow up on conversations. Podcamp Toronto runs two days but all eight TEDx events I’ve attended end in a day (unless you go to the after-party).

The Global Change Initiative took place over a weekend. That reduced time away from work and made the conference feel more relaxing.

Live streaming

I’m not a big fan of live video streaming. Unless you’re attending in person, you won’t get the same experience but you’re still committing time. I’d rather watch the videos afterwards when I can pause, fast forward and skip selections.

The Global Change Initiative was recorded using the many cameras built into the Council Chambers. The recordings are to be released during the year with promotion by reddit. That’s different, easier to consume and builds interest in next year’s event.

You Are Not Alone

In the 4-Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferriss reminds us that there are many causes and there’s no value in a my-cause-is-better-than-your-cause argument. Luckily, different causes attract different people. I talked to supporters of initiatives like patient advocacy (@Piroska_Bata), educating children in Vietnam (HelpKidsToSchool.org) and seals of approval for health care products (@CleanCareSeal). As you likely know, my cause is financial education through Money 50/50, this blog and Taxevity.

I was surprised at the similarity in the challenges and techniques advocates can use. In hindsight, this is now “obvious”. Whatever you do, you’re bound to find help in unexpected places.

Overall, The Global Change Initiative created a wonderful feeling that continues to linger.

Links

• official website: globalchange.ca
• The Global Change Initiative = Stimulate + Innovate + Activate
• Create lasting change with three steps from The Global Change Initiative
• Reflections on TEDxToronto 2013

PS A highlight for some was sitting in Rob Ford’s chair.

PPS Here's my slide deck

Right Is Might: Social Justice and Corporate Profits from Promod Sharma

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR

At Insider Advice for Today’s Topsy-Turvy Times (which went well, thanks for asking), participants asked how to change the way they behave. That’s an essential but overlooked aspect of mastering our money — and our lives.

We often know what to do (e.g., payoff credit card debt, stay employable, get insurance). We may even know how (or can ask Google). That doesn’t mean we will do anything.

There’s a big gap between knowing and doing. Three steps make the difference: wanting, starting small and getting help.

Want IT

Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.
— Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor

Without a compelling goal, will you invest the effort needed after your initial enthusiasm wanes? You must want — really want — the outcome. That’s the second of the seven habits of highly effective people: begin with the end in mind. A strong why defeats an inconvenient how.

What do you want enough to take action now? Put other items on your bucket list or balk-it list for the future.

Example: I want to improve my general health now to prevent problems later on. I’m not a morning person but selected a 16 week yoga class which meets on Saturday from 7 AM to 9 AM. Today was week six and I’m keeping up.

Start Small

If we take on too much, we’re likely to fail. If we take small actions, they soon become automatic and faster. We can then add more.

Do you remember the transition from a trike to a bike? We already knew how to pedal, brake, turn and ring the bell. Now we learned to balance, first with training wheels and soon without. We had scrapes along the way but our desire to ride a bike helped overcome them. Help from our family and friends did too.

Example: In each yoga class, we repeat what we’ve already learned and are taught new items (theory, demonstration, practice). This understand-watch-do process and gradual pace makes progress easier.

Benjamin Franklin and the 13 Virtues

Benjamin Franklin wanted to cultivate 13 virtues, such as Frugality, Humility and Cleanliness. That’s a lot to remember and manage. It’s easy to deplete our willpower and falter. Ben had a solution. He worked on only one virtue per week, which works out to four times in a year. Doesn’t that look more manageable?

Suppose this is the week for Silence (“Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation”). That’s not an excuse to abstain from Cleanliness (“Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation”). Instead, you maintain the other virtues at their current levels, which improve with each cycle.

Get Help

It’s very easy to break a habit and much tougher to restore it. Think of exercising. Do you remember Newton’s first law of motion? Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Changing from motion to rest is easy. Changing from rest to motion is tough. Restarting may be toughest of all because we know we failed (even if we have reasons).

We often need a little push or guidance to keep us in motion.

People are good motivators but people are busy. If you can’t find anyone, consider using apps. You likely have your smartphone near you. Your device can remind you, instruct you and track your progress.

Example: Yoga students sign an agreement to attend classes and practice. We get group instruction and personalized tips. Attendance is marked each time. There’s support and monitoring. In between classes, I use the general purpose Trello app to keep track of the instructions.

Links

• Where there’s willpower, there’s a way
• Reach your goals with the Pick Four peer support system
• Quotes from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
• The battle between temptation and personal responsibility
• How to change your behavior for good (Psychology Today, Jun 2013)
• 29 ways to successfully ingrain a behavior (Zen Habits)
• 5 steps to changing your behavior (Discovery Health)
• 5 sweet ways to cut back on sugar
• From bucket list to balk-it list
• image courtesy of D Sharon Pruitt

PS Small victories build our confidence for bigger challenges.

NETFLIX FOR LEARNING: UNLIMITED ACCESS TO eMAGAZINES, eBOOKS, AUDIOBOOKS

One of the best ways to keep earning is to keep learning. Maybe the solution is the Netflix “all-you-can-eat-for-low-monthly-fee” approach.

Netflix For Watching

We've had Netflix since the launch in Canada (no cable or satellite TV). We get great value for our $8 a month. Thanks to fast unlimited internet, we don't have to worry about bandwidth considerations. 

Netflix works because of the large selection and low price. Thanks to Canadian innovations MoreFlicks and Unblock US, we can access Netflix titles from other countries. How can you not get your money’s worth?
This same model may not work for other services.

Netflix for Learning

We can learn by reading and listening. Here are ways.

Magazines: Next Issue

Next Issue (US, Canada) gives you unlimited access to all issues of 100+ magazines for $15 a month. This might sound like a great deal but is it? You can certainly browse many titles. Would you?

There is already so much content available online for free. You already get a personalized magazine-like feel with services like Google Currents, Flipboard, Vu and Zite. When you’re looking for something, it’s much easier to do a web search than to go to the magazine’s website. I’m more interested in the article than the publication. I like looking at different sources, including blogs.

How much do you spend on magazines today? For us it's about $50 a year. With Next Issue, the price jumps to $180 a year. We'd be spending much more than we currently do. Why? It’s not as if we have hours of extra time for the extra reading. Does Next Issue look appealing to you? I’d rather spend the money upgrading my mobile data plan.

Books: Oyster and Scribd

If you read books, you can easily spend hundreds of dollars a year. And get stuck with titles that simply aren't very good. No refund.  A flat fee subscription has appeal. You get to browse without penalty. Since the publishers get paid based on how much of a book you read, they bear the risk for lousy content.

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has 350,000 titles as part of Amazon Prime for $79/year. There are two new options with 100,000 titles: Oyster ($10/month) and Scribd ($9/month). These choices are US-only at the moment.

Not all publishers are participating, which limits the selection. As with Netflix, you won't get the newest releases until later. That's fine with me because I've already got too much to read.

Audiobooks: none

I’m a big fan of listening to books but there’s no all-you-can listen service now that audiobooks.com switched to the unsatisfying Audible model of a title per month. Their price of $25/month looks too high. You can skim books but not audiobooks. A lower price makes sense.

Why should audiobooks cost more than magazines? Why should magazines cost more than ebooks? Why should they all cost more than Netflix?

I'd love to see a service which offers both ebooks and audiobooks for a reasonable price. I like listening while commuting and having the ebook for making notes. Given the pace of innovation (or copying Netflix) that may happen soon.

Links

• The right way to view Netflix in Canada

Podcast 240

direct link | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS For a free “Netflix for learning”, visit your public library in person or online.

MONEY 50/50: THE PERFECT LIVE EVENT TO MASTER YOUR MONEY

(an idea arising from the Canadian Personal Finance Conference organized by Preet Banerjee and Krystal Yee)

Picture this. It’s a cold, dark and stormy night. Do you go to a personal finance event or stay home? Now picture a bright, warm sunny day. Do you go to a personal finance event or go out?

Personal finance is important but not much of a draw, regardless of the weather. We often know what to do … but don’t.

November is Financial Literacy Month. Money 50/50 is a proposal for a perfect live interactive event that can be replicated across the country.

The Attraction

What would get you to leave your cozy home?

How about “celebrity” speakers who aren’t selling financial services. Some personal finance bloggers and journalists are ideal. They are transparent and credible. They publish continually, answer questions and genuinely care. You might want to meet them.

There’s also an advantage for the organizer: these speakers already have audiences, which helps fill seats with less effort.

The Topics

While you may attend because of the speakers, the content also matters. There isn’t much new to say about personal finance but we all need reminding.

Would you like useful tips you can understand and apply? The agenda could several items from the following:

• how to select an advisor (if you need one)
• budgeting traps/tips/secrets
• investing traps/tips/secrets
• insurance traps/tips/secrets
• Wills and fine print
• how your brain works … against you
• overlooked money advice

What else would you like to know?

The Format

Each speaker gets 30 minutes split 50/50:

• 15 minutes to speak (like a TED Talk)
• 15 minutes for your questions (unlike a TED Talk)

The discussion is the most valuable part. Unless there’s real interaction, the speakers could save their time and yours by posting videos on YouTube.

The short segments allow more speakers. If you’re not interested in one, that’s fine because they’ll be off stage soon. You may find you benefit most from who you didn’t want to see. You get time to network and ask questions before, during and after the program.

The Schedule

Money 50/50 could take place after work (say downtown at 5:30 PM) or after dinner (say at 7:00 PM).

Each speaker deserves a prime spot since they’re volunteering their time to speak for free. Since we remember who’s first and last, this structure eliminates the middle: Speaker 1, Speaker 2, Break, Speaker 3, Speaker 4.

The Followup

Change takes time. Financial bloggers and journalists are here to help. You can read their classic content anytime and get their latest thinking by subscribing to their blogs. You can follow them on Twitter. You can ask questions on Facebook and Google Plus (if they’re there).

The Support

You’re aren’t alone in your quest for financial literacy. There’s support from nonprofit or government groups such as:

• the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: from the federal government
• the Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights (FAIR Canada): puts investors first
• the Investor Education Fund: website Get Smarter About Money
• ABC Life Literacy Canada: partially funded by the federal government

These might be willing to endorse Money 50/50 or at least promote via social media.

The Sponsors

If there are suitable paying sponsors, Money 50/50 can have freebies like refreshments, pens, paper and prizes. It’s important that the sponsors have no influence over the selection of speakers or topics.

The Venue

The first step is finding a venue and locking in the date well in advance. For Money 50/50, that means finding a free place. If the room is free, the  event can be free (or cheaper).

When the venue has a price tag, there’s the added stress of filling seats. Charging admission may deter you from attending (though paying often increases the likelihood you’ll show up).

The ideal room has tables, a whiteboard, a screen and a projector. A lecture hall with theatre-style elevated seating could be ideal. Depending on the size, microphones might be useful.

The Next Steps

How would you make Money 50/50 better? What would cause you to attend and bring a friend? Please leave your comments below.

I’m willing to organize a Money 50/50 event in Toronto if I can find a free venue. Any suggestions?

Links

• money5050.com (new)
• How to find a free venue for your event
• Three reasons why financial literacy eludes us
• The ABCs of 1-2-3: The key to financial literacy / numeracy
• If you have/had/want money, read Pound Foolish by Helaine Olen
• Join a genuine innovation in free education at Krypton Community College
• How your brain works … against you
• The four steps in wealth management
• Test your life insurance literacy
• Test your pizza literacy
• image courtesy of Chris Young

Podcast 239

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS Financial literacy events can take place all year long and I’m willing to help.

#KRYPTONTUESDAY: JOIN A GENUINE INNOVATION IN FREE LIFELONG EDUCATION

“People now continue working well into their 60s and 70s, so you need to stay relevant in the job market by nurturing your existing skills while also learning new ones.” — US News & World Report (Sep 2013)

Whether employees or entrepreneurs, we face a huge financial risk: remaining relevant. We need to keep learning to keep earning — especially if delaying retirement. One of the big challenges is making education engaging, useful and accessible. Imagine the complications in less affluent countries.

I’m an active learner with little interest is getting formal course credits or additional designations. I’ve tried:

• self-study (e.g., reading and videos): easy and free (or low cost) but allows no interaction
• workshops: one-time events, typically 1/2 to 3 days in length; limited lasting benefits; varying quality; can be pricey and may require travel
• in-person courses: varying quality; assignments and exams; unknown quality of fellow students; can be costly, out-dated and include irrelevant segments
• online courses: a MOOC (Wikipedia) is free but impersonal and without supportive peer pressure (e.g., most recently, I took Dan Ariely’s excellent A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior … and failed because I skipped the essay and final exam)

What’s your preference? I most rely on self-study.

The Ideal

Real learning and change comes from talking to supportive classmates over a period of time with gaps between classes to absorb and think. This structure looks ideal:

• meet in-person: allows the magic of live discussions and positive peer pressure
• once a week for 90 minutes: manageable and schedulable (especially if after work)
• four weeks: not too short, not too long
• formal syllabus: well-thought out but designed for interaction
• limited homework: perhaps 1-2 hours (but you’ll also be thinking between classes)
• no tests: the measure is how well you apply what you learn in your life
• all welcome: no prerequisites to create false scarcity
• choice: lots of campuses, different times of day
• flexible: no rigid format (though working from solid syllabus)
• free: might have small costs for printing and paying for the space (buying coffee or renting a room)

Holy Narwhal, Superman!

Krypton Community College offers all the above.

This new initiative from Seth Godin’s Krypton team launches on October 1st (#KryptonTuesday). The first course is Go: How to Overcome Fear, Pick Yourself and Start a Project that Matters. It’s based on Seth’s work. All the course material is already online in PDF format.


Summer 2013: The Krypton team from Seth Godin on Vimeo.

There are campuses around the world. Here are the locations on Meetup (though not all classes are shown here).

The Catch

Here’s the complication: each class is organized independently by whoever volunteers. That’s like a TEDx event without scrutiny from TED. Call that scary or empowering.

I’m organizing the first class in Toronto (details). That means I set the standards for this campus. The biggest issue was finding a proper location because  coffee shops don’t offer privacy, quiet or whiteboards. We’re renting a real classroom at the University of Toronto (details). The cost is under $10/week each based on 10 students. The location is easily accessible by subway (East/West or North/South lines) and there’s lots of “cheap” parking.

Step Up

If there isn’t a campus near you, become an organizer and invite people you know. You aren’t the teacher. You don’t need to be an expert on the subject. You mainly need to organize and guide the class. There’s only one rule: don’t meet online.

Tip: If you’re not comfortable organizing, consider joining a Toastmasters club. Besides learning to speak, you learn to lead. For example, you’ll organize and chairs meetings.

Dive In

Have you experienced anything like a Krypton course before?  You can’t lose by improving your skills. Explore the vast oceans of opportunity.

Ready to dive in?

Links

• Krypton Community College
• Find a campus (Meetup)
• Course 1: Seth Godin on Shipping
• Ctrl Alt Delete: Mitch Joel’s 8 steps to getting a job today
• Plotting your career path from age 20 to age 70 (US News, Sep 2013)
• One in five may never fully retire (MoneySense, Sep 18, 2013)
• Two ways to show gratitude

Podcast 238

direct download | Internet Archive Page | iTunes

PS If the University of Toronto is a location you like, you’re welcome to pre-register while space remains.

A TEEN PREDICTS THE FUTURE IN 1978

(Now that we have unlimited Internet and unlimited online storage, I’m scanning old documents and recycling the yellowing paper.)

Part of being an actuary is looking into the future. Here are predictions I made in high school circa 1978 — 35 years ago.

My teacher gave me 18/20 and wrote: “An excellently thoughtful, quite concentrated analysis. One weakness lies in the very brief, jerky paragraphs. Good work.”

If you’re a historian, you might want to read the original created with something called a manual typewriter. Below, I’ve made very minor changes and resisted the temptation to add commentary to highlight places I was right.

Calculations Of The Future

Now is the future to those of the past.

The future, like tomorrow, will never really come. We, in a sense, are living in the future. Fifty years ago rockets capable of flying to the moon were thought to be things that the future would bring. Now they are things of the past.

In the future most things will be much more mechanical than they are now. Machines will be taking the edge out of the hard things in life. Life will seem much easier than it is now.

Appliances will be able to automatically, for example, make coffee and keep it hot. The appliances will even start at the set time.
Advertising billboards may be luminous as to save energy.

Aerocars working on the principle of the hydrofoil will give very smooth rides. One problem though, that is being encountered with experimental aerotrains is that the trains can be moved with only one finger when they are on, even though they weigh several tons.

Buildings may be built underground.

Contact lenses will be in more use than spectacles.

Cars will have built-in computers capable of checking is anything is wrong with the car, diagnosing the problem if there is one, suggesting the best manner to go from Point A to Point B after taking traffic patterns into consideration, and the computers will even be able to drive the car automatically.

The main sources of energy will be solar cells and uranium. New sources of energy may even be brought in from other planets.

Engines will be smaller but more powerful.

Fridges will be able to thaw out food in special compartments.

Furniture may be inflated with air instead of being stuffed.

Guns will be silent, smaller and more effective. Bullets will also be smaller and more effective.

Medicines will be able to combat diseases better than before. Cures may be found for such diseases as Cancer but even as these diseases will be cured, new diseases will occur.

Microphones may be the size of a penny.

Newspapers may be microfilmed. Every house would have a microfilm projector then so that the newspaper could be read. Sections that the reader wants copied would be automatically copied either by photostating, Xeroxing, or by some other method. The name would have to be changed from "newspaper" to something like "micronews", but the name is not really important.

Pens may contain enough ink to make a continuous four or five kilometer line.

Records of television shows will be sold. The buyer will just have to put the record on a special record player that is connected to a television set. The picture image and sounds will come on the television set. The viewer will then be able to watch his favourite shows at his leisure.

Radios will be smaller and more powerful. Now people need earphones for radios but soon radios may be the size of earphones.

Stoves will be able to automatically adjust and keep the food at the desired temperature. For example, you may went your soup kept just below a boil. The stove will be able to do it.

People will be able to travel more easily to the moon, Mars, and other planets when settlements are started on those places.

Typewriters may have digital letters with newspapers possibly included.
Watches will be of the type that have LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes).

All types of transportation will carry more people, use less energy, and go faster.

On the new telephones you will be able to see the person to whom you are talking.

Televisions will be wall sized. They might even be 8m x 6m x 3cm.

Tools will be stronger and lighter.

There will be a three or four-day work week.

People will not have individual single family homes any longer. There will just not be enough room for them. There will not even be enough room for semi-detached homes. If there are any single family homes then their cost will be astronomical. The kind of housing of the future will be apartment buildings. People will be forced to other planets due to the lack of room on Earth.

Locks will be like, to an extent, the locks that are used on most lockers, except the locks of the future will have a panel with digital numbers on it. The person will just have to push the right numbers in the right order to unlock the door. This will be a more fool-proof way to prevent locks from being opened by burglars.

There will be more vegetarians for the simple reason that there will not be enough room to raise the animals. Animals may, however, be raised on other planets and brought back in bulk on gigantic animal rockets. It will make the meat very costly.

Instead of fingerprints for identification there will be photographs of hands instead. These photographs will show very much detail. The photographs will be fed into computers. When someone has to be identified then all the person has to do is put his hand on the computer. The computer will check for ten thousand points of agreement.

Since the future can be tomorrow, next year, a decade from now, or even a century from now, the time the inventions are marketed, if they are marketed, will vary. Some of the things such as the wall-sized televisions, according to Toshiba, may be on the market in only a year or two while others will take years to be practical. Some things will last for years but others may not have any future at all.

As I have stated earlier, the inventions will SEEM to make life a little easier than it is by present day standards. If some things become easier, others will become equally harder. The inventions will make EARTH life easier, but when we go to other planets our technology may be useless and we may have to start from scratch.

If 100 years ago man knew of all the things that we have today, then then he would envy us. In those days television was unheard of. Maybe that is for the better. If man knew of television, then men would lose many working hours watching it. To get back to the point, man would want to be here to enjoy all our luxuries. If he learned that we pay for all of our luxuries by having problems such as insufficient natural resources, strikes, pollution, high rate of inflation, economic uncertainties, layoffs and a host of other problems, then man would stick to his more secure life of one hundred years ago.

We are in a similar condition. To us the life of the future may seem more promising than that of the present. If the future is better than the present only one thing can tell. The FUTURE itself.

Links

• Dude, where’s my flying car (and jetpack and robot armies) (Popular Science, Dec 2008)
• 7 amazing images of the future from 1947 (Popular Science, May 2013)
• Why are we flooded with bad weather forecasts?
• How musicians and advisors evolved
• Stop blaming your parents
• Life lessons from a 50 year old
• Inflation and installing summer tires
• Stagnant family incomes
• Calculations of the future (PDF scan of the original article)

Podcast 233

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS What do you (or did you) predict for the future?

CTRL ALT DELETE: MITCH JOEL’S EIGHT STEPS TO GETTING A JOB TODAY

There are few books I recommend to everyone. Ctrl Alt Delete is second to make the list for 2013 (the first is To Sell Is Human, by Dan Pink). This time, Mitch Joel looks at the future of work. He asks a key question: will you be employable in five years?

You may be retired in five years but what about the people you care about in your family and community? The first step to nudging them to prepare is by making them aware.

We’ve looked at ways to stay employable over the years

• Tips to bulletproof your career
• Employable: three lessons from a popcorn farm
• Insuring against the risk of losing your livelihood
• Be the one they want

With Mitch’s help, we’ll look at a fresh way to get a job in today’s new world.

The Eight Steps

These steps are from the chapter The New Way We Work (pages 171-174). Much of the interpretation is mine.

1. Understand the process

"How do I win this job from the second they see my name?"

Focusing on your initial impact gives you an edge since few think about this. Your impact comes from what you’ve done in the past, including what’s visible online (your digital tapestry). You may still go through the traditional steps of résumé to interview to second interview to job offer but you started with a different mindset.

There’s no way for an employer to tell if you’re the right hire in advance. We decide with our hearts and justify with our heads. Employers do too. First impressions matter.

2. Present better

“Learn how to sell yourself better.”

Even with technical jobs (e.g., actuary), you still deal with people. Presentation skills are key in getting a position and advancing. There’s no downside to expressing yourself better.

You can break through your speaking barrier at Toastmasters. You get practice and critiques (Disclaimer: I oversee six clubs as a volunteer).

3. Be ready before you submit a résumé

"If you really want to be working in this industry and you have a passion for it, you have the ability to express it".

You may not be in the right place at the right time, but you can be the right person. Once you are, you can knock on Opportunity’s door. Social media gives you free tools to make your progression visible.  We're judged by the company we keep (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) and our reach (connections, followers).

4. Don't lie

"Tell the truth and let that truth come out on your résumé, online presence and in that first interview (should it be granted)."

How sad that this item needs to be stated. Here’s what happened to 10 people who lied (Business Insider, May 2012).

If you do want to cheat, Wired is filled with tips, including how to puff up your résumé — and get away with it (though you may not get away with it since employers read Wired too).

5. Know the industry

“Express your constant education within the industry in everything from your initial note of contact to the interview.”

You'll find lots of information online for free. Pay particular attention to what isn’t being said. You won’t know what that is until you absorb what’s visible. You might get very valuable insights that set you apart.

6. Read and write

"If you don't have a passion for reading and writing, find one."

You might wonder why this item is here. While there’s no harm in reading and writing, what are the benefits? The best way to find out is by doing. You may be very surprised. Blogging is an excellent way to publish at least some of what you write.

"Warren Buffet spends the majority of his time reading."

According to his biography, The Snowball, Warren even took reading material on his honeymoon. You don’t need to go that far.

7. Be you

"You really need to spend some serious time figuring out who you are and what you represent."

This isn’t easy. When I started working with advisors in 2005, I was told I needed to chit chat about news and sports. I even took golf lessons. I soon realized that I’d rather fail for who I am than succeed by pretending to be someone else. By being me, I got better results.

8. Network

“Network to be helpful to others first.”

You'll find Mitch at numerous events from free (e.g., we first met at BookCampTO 2009) to paid events like TED. You won’t get results if you only surface when you need something. When you’re building trust with networking, you’re making an ongoing commitment to staying visible --- even if you think you’re an introvert.

Reboot

Mitch divides Ctrl Alt Delete into two parts. The first is about rebooting your business, with a focus on larger organizations. We've been looking at the second part, rebooting your life. You'll get the most benefit by reading from the start.

Today, we rarely work for the same corporation from graduation to retirement (even if that was our goal). Our careers are squiggly. When you decide to be proactive within your circle of influence, you’re more resilient and have more opportunities. Times change. We must too.

Ctrl Alt What?

If I ever meet you, I'll Ctrl Alt Delete you,
— Weird Al Yankovic, It's All About The Pentiums

These days, we restart our devices by pressing the power button, unplugging the cord or removing the battery. In earlier days, Windows-based computers often stopped working. Pressing three keys at the same time — Ctrl Alt Delete — sometimes let you stop the bad program or restart your computer.

You don’t need to be a tech nerd to read or benefit from Mitch's book. If you're not convinced, read his blog, Six Pixels of Separation. You'll (likely) see that Mitch says smart things in a way we can understand. Here’s an interview with Jonathan Fields that’s well worth watching.

Now reboot.

Links

• Six Pixels of Separation: blog, book (Mitch Joel)
• Mitch Joel: Time to Ctrl Alt Delete Your Life (Good Life Project)
• The Agenda: Rebooting Business (TVO)
• You need to read Dan Pink’s To Sell Is Human
• Unintended lessons from three entrepreneurs
• Be proactive within your circle of influence
• The “best/worst” jobs list and you
• The talent myth

Podcast 230

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS "It's one thing to dream big. It's another to think and do big." — Mitch