Search: foundation

Frugality Plays Role in Bringing Tech to New York City

This article was written by Flexo in Frugality. 6 comments.

Michael Bloomberg, the king-slash-mayor of New York City (will he increase term limits again to stay in his position?), has announced that Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology will be transforming 11 acres on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island into a graduate school for technology. Classes will begin as early as next year and the first phase of construction on 300,000 square feet will be completed by 2017 and construction on 2 million square feet will be completed twenty years later.

Developing the land into a world-class graduate school will displace a hospital and some other facilities, but will generate $23 billion in economic activity and 20,000 construction, 8,000 continual operational jobs, and 30,000 jobs as a result of graduates’ activities according to Bloomberg.

A $150 million venture capital fund will provide resources to new start-ups affiliates with Cornell that promise to stay within New York City for at least three years.

With a world-class high-tech graduate program, New York City will become a tech start-up incubator, on par with Stanford University, who lost the bid for building a campus in New York City, and Silicon Valley.

Cornell’s bid for the land and the opportunity to transform New York City was assisted by a $350 million gift, anonymously given but later revealed to come from Charles F. “Chuck” Feeney. Feeney is a former Cornell student who co-founded Duty Free Shoppers Group and turned his wealth into a foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies. With the foundation incorporated in Bermuda, its activities are not generally public knowledge, but its grants are on par with the Ford Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Chuck Feeney has accumulated significant wealth over his lifetime, but you wouldn’t know it from watching him. When in New York, he walks and rides the subway, though he’s not the only New York billionaire to mingle with the people. He rents rather than owns a house, having parted with seven houses in a divorce settlement, but renting in New York is not necessarily an indicator of frugality by itself. He doesn’t own a car and flies coach. Feeney reportedly wears a $15 watch. Not wanting money to consumer his life, even his ownership in the business he founded was transferred to a charitable organization. Perhaps having given away most of his fortune away, Feeney has no choice but to be frugal, but his approach to money seems to be similar to Steve Jobs, the quiet billionaire next door.

Assisted by the gift from the Atlantic Philanthropies, a pledge from Bloomberg for $100 million in infrastructure improvements to the Roosevelt Island land on which the university will build the campus. Cornell will also partner with the State University of New York and the City University of New York in some capacity.

This could be an exciting time for New York City. Residents of Roosevelt Island won’t be displaced by the new construction, but patients and employees of the hospital that currently exists on the property will be. Having a University’s high-tech graduate program will change the character of the island, which was formerly known as “Welfare Island” and was a depository for prisoners.

Photo: shinya
New York Times, New York Times, Atlantic Philanthropies, Cornell University

{ 6 comments }

Meeting With a Financial Planner From Vanguard Flagship Services

This article was written by Flexo in Financial Advice and Advisers. 20 comments.

On Tuesday, I had a phone consultation with a Certified Financial Planner from Vanguard. It was an initial meeting, wherein we talked about each other, focusing on my goals. I tried to take into account many of my own suggestions for working with a financial adviser, but in preparing for the meeting, I realized — well, I’ve known this, but nothing brings an issue more to the front of the mind than being required to think about it — that I’m not sure about the next steps I’d like to take with my life.

I’ve been running Consumerism Commentary since 2003. While I started it as a hobby and an opportunity to learn how to manage my own finances, it has grown into a business of its own, allowing me to leave my unsatisfying day job and work for myself. I don’t see myself doing this forever. When looking at the long-term possibilities, there is a significant opportunity to grow this business, but I also need to ask myself if that’s the right direction for me in the long term. I’m not particularly interested in writing a book, like many other personal finance bloggers have done. I love writing and building communities, and that’s been the core of what I’ve been doing since the early 1990s; I was just lucky to apply these interests to personal finance at the right time — a time I needed it from a personal perspective and a time at which the world would suddenly show a growing interest in independent financial voices.

It’s important to know and understand life goals before talking with a financial planner in order to devise a plan that matches those goals. When I left the non-profit arts management world in 2001, my dream was to re-enter when I was in a better financial situation. And while I thought it was an impossibility at the time, I liked the thought of starting a foundation if I ever found myself in the position to do so, never thinking I would have that opportunity. Today, I’m not convinced that is the right path for me. For now, I plan on continuing what I’ve been doing, but working harder to identify where I’d like to see myself in twenty years.

Of course, people set goals all the time, only for life’s circumstances to move in a different direction. All the best planning in the world can’t take into account changing interests and desires. Regardless of my contemplation over goals, I met with Vanguard’s financial planner. I came away with a good strategy that I can use for my investments while mapping out my future. He also helped me understand why, given the option and a desire to have tax-efficient bonds in your portfolio, it’s better in the long term to have bonds in accounts like 401(k)s and any stock funds in taxable accounts, the opposite of what I thought would be a good tax strategy. This is an idea I’ll share in a future article. Update! Read more about the investing strategy I discussed with the Vanguard financial planner.

The financial planner I spoke with is not paid by commission. He understood I subscribe to the index fund philosophy, and recommended only index mutual funds — and only four specific funds for the right diversification and asset allocation that will allow me to likely perform better than a savings account, invest for the long-term, and give myself a cushion to think about the next steps in my life.

Here are some interesting articles I came across this week, including one of my own published elsewhere. Read the full article →

{ 20 comments }

Record-Setting Cyber Monday

This article was written by Flexo in Consumer. 26 comments.

Consumers in the United States spent more money online in one day, this past Monday, than they spent in any other one day in history. Online browsing and shopping resulted in $1.25 billion in sales on Cyber Monday, up 22 percent from the previous one-day record, last year’s Cyber Monday. The $1.25 billion in sales on Cyber Monday reflects the fact that more people shopped online than last year, up 11 percent, and the average shopper spent more money than last Cyber Monday, an increase of 9 percent.

When Cyber Monday was invented in 2005 by shop.org, the National Retail Foundation’s e-commerce division, it was based on the theory that more people had broadband internet access in their workplaces and would wait until sitting at their desks in their offices before shopping online after the holiday weekend.

Cyberman - Cyber Monday At the time, Cyber Monday was not an event and there was no indication that the Monday following Thanksgiving was anything special in terms of online shopping activity. Retailers, however, bought into the idea and started creating marketing campaigns that encouraged people to shop on Monday.

Consumers simply followed the deals and succumbed to the hype surrounding yet another day dedicated to shopping, created by the organization that represents retailers, who obviously stand to benefit from more consumer shopping. More consumers neglected their work in the office this year to spend time browsing and shopping online than any Cyber Monday in the past, with more than half of all shoppers spending money from work.

Cyber Monday was not even the biggest day for online shopping until last year. This new holiday is an interesting story about how you can make anything you want real with enough marketing.

I’m just starting to organize my holiday shopping list. I’ve purchased a few items already but didn’t make any extra effort to shop on Monday. How much did you spend on this year’s Cyber Monday?

Photo: comedy_nose
ComScore

{ 26 comments }

Construction Revolutionized My Finances

This article was written by Flexo in Personal Finance. 21 comments.

This is a guest article by Jon the Saver, a personal finance blogger at Free Money Wisdom. His mission is to spread financial wisdom and help people get their financial lives under control. In his down time he loves a mean game of Scrabble and spending quality time with his fiancee.

I’m probably the only personal financial blogger who works in the construction industry. It may sound like a strange combination, but it actually makes sense. There are so many financial aspects to construction, it blows my mind.

To give you some background, I currently work for a Fortune 500 general contractor in the heavy civil industry. We work on large scale projects like highways, bridges, and power plants. I graduated college with a degree in Construction Management and love what I do. How many people do you know can say that? Well, I can and I’m proud of it! I love the ability to go out on a project site and then be able to come back indoors. I would hate cubicle life and feel like I’m wired for construction.

Construction Bulldozer To say that the construction industry has revolutionized my personal finances is pretty bold. As bold as it may be, it’s true. I have always had big picture personal finance principles as my foundation, but construction has really taught me a lot about personal finance, some of it from studying long hours in college and some of it from getting my work boots dirty in the field.

Let’s dig our boots in and explore this revolution.

1. Execution without planning will result in failure

You can try to execute, but if you don’t have proper planning, it’s doomed to fail. In construction this happens when someone doesn’t do his job and forgets to plan accordingly. This could be as simple as a missing checklist or as serious as not ordering enough concrete. Another big one is planning for safety. You never want injuries on your job site. If you don’t engineer out the risks of an operation, how can you be confident in your execution?

Effect on finances: This is everything from proper retirement planning to education on personal finances. I mean, why do you read this blog? Probably because you want to plan for your future. Planning is everything. If you have a good plan, you’re destined for success.

2. 80/20 rule applies to your finances

I’m a huge believer in the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle. I first heard of this rule from a professor in college. The basic idea is that 80% of your results come from 20% of your work. More and more I’m finding this to be true. There are only a handful of decisions that are really going to affect you on a construction job. Things like a concrete pour are extremely critical, whereas a meeting on the door paint may be pushed to another week.

Effect on finances: Very few of your decisions will really have a big effect on your finances. I would say the top two decisions that fall into the 80/20 rule are living a debt-free life and saving 15 to 25 percent of your income for retirement. Now, there are others, but those two come to mind right now. Take the 80/20 rule and apply it to your financial life. You might even start to feel less stressed.

3. Where are you headed without a schedule?

A construction project is 100 percent schedule-driven. Without an organized schedule, how will you know what will be happening the next week? How will you know when to mobilize big equipment? These issues are solved by keeping an in-depth schedule and maintaining it. Most of our meetings on a job site are schedule-related, and there is good reason for that.

Effect on finances: Your retirement timeline will determine what your savings goals and personal schedule looks like. Knowing this timeline will also tell you what percentages you want to be in various asset classes for stocks and bonds. For example, a 20 year old should be invested in 20 percent bonds and 80 percent stocks. Now, take a 50 year old. This person would want to be invested in 50 percent bonds and 50 percent stocks. Knowing your schedule has a huge impact on your investment decisions.

4. Know your costs

On a construction project, knowing your costs will make or break your bottom line. Everything down to the office supplies need to be accounted for. Not only is this a good practice for keeping good records, but it ensures that you get paid by the owner. Without a record of your costs, your boat is going to sink and sink fast.

Effect on finances: When you relate this concept to your finances, this means keeping track of all expenses and where your money is going. Knowing where your money is going is crucial to saving effectively and ensuring you don’t fall into the trap of debt. If you don’t know where to start for tracking your costs, I recommend Mint.com.

5. Protect your assets

As a general contractor, we own much of our heavy equipment, everything from bulldozers to mobile cranes. Part of the responsibility of owning these pieces of equipment is to protect our assets. We maintain this equipment and always keep the moving parts up to date. A broken bulldozer is useless in the eyes of a general contractor.

Effect on finances: This one is more human related. Part of personal finances is keeping your body and mind healthy so you can enjoy your retirement or enjoy your hard earned money now! I’m always trying to explain this to people. Your body is your greatest asset. Without it, you’re in for some serious repercussions. Eat healthy and exercise on a weekly basis. You want to enjoy your “glory years” right?

Who knew that construction had so many lessons that you could apply to personal finances? I hope you enjoyed this post. Now you know it’s not so crazy to be in construction and love personal finance!

Photo: bucklava

{ 21 comments }

The Entrepreneurial Trend: Personality Traits

by Flexo

I’m an accidental entrepreneur. I never quite fit in with big hierarchical systems, like public education (as a teacher) and corporations. Getting things done, particularly accomplishing various things the way I wanted to accomplish them, has always been a struggle for me in these structures. I knew from the day I started working at a ... Continue reading this article…

21 comments Read the full article →

Is Following Your Passion a Luxury?

by Flexo

The concept of turning your passion into a vocation, making a living doing something you love, easily generates two opposing viewpoints. I wouldn’t say I’ve had a privileged upbringing, but it depends on the perspective. I had the freedom to explore a variety to activities to help nurture my mind, soul and body. As a ... Continue reading this article…

21 comments Read the full article →

Spirituality and Money: Hope in Hard Times

by Ellen Cooper-Davis

This article is written by Consumerism Commentary’s new columnist, Ellen Cooper-Davis. Ellen’s column will look at the role of spirituality within the context of personal finance. For an introduction to this column, see Ellen’s first article, The Pastor and the Purse. Your feedback is welcome. “There’s a phrase we live by in America: ‘In God ... Continue reading this article…

12 comments Read the full article →

Is Private Elementary School Worth the Money?

by Kiley Theiring

This is a guest article by Kiley Theiring. Kiley is a film student and freelance writer. In this article, she questions the value of private elementary school and reflects on her own experiences to offer suggestions to parents. As a parent, you are interested in giving your child all the best opportunities that you can ... Continue reading this article…

23 comments Read the full article →