How to Lose Friends and Scare Away People

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Many people have read the popular book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.  This book came out way back in the 1930’s but is still read by many today.  This book can teach you how to effectively network and connect with people to form meaningful relationships, in both your personal and business interactions.

It’s one of those books that teach you new things every time you read it.

But this post is not about all that syrupy good stuff.  This post is about the exact opposite. I will share a guide that will make sure you stay unhappy and stuck in your dead end job for a very long time, or even lose your job altogether.

It outlines the steps you need to take to ensure that you can effectively alienate both your family and friends while being scorned by co-workers at the same time.  It’s a rare skill to be able to lose friends AND scare away people, but I’ll show you how it’s done.  (This is all sarcasm by the way. Well most of it)

1.  Be late.  For everything.  It is said that time stops for no one.  It’s time to prove them wrong.  There are many places and people that expect you to be on time.  Your boss and your clients.  Mom and dad.  Your spouse.  Even your kids may expect you to be on time so they’re not stranded in front of school in 20 degree weather.

What gives them the right?  Take your time wherever you go and in whatever you do.  Deadlines and panicked phone calls from your children can wait.  You have more important things to do.  Time is a limited resource, so keep as much of it for yourself as you can.  (Reality: Pick your kids up if needed.  Don’t make your wife wait.  Ever.)

2.  Networking is for dweebs.  Who has time to network when there are so many shows to watch on Netflix?  You love your current job, but not that much, so talking to others in your field and keeping current on your skills should be the last thing on your mind.

Besides, who wants to be one of those guys that’s always shaking hands with people and smiling?  Not this guy.  (Reality:  Yes, you should make sincere and strong relationships with those people in your industry who make more than you or know more than you.)

3.  ALWAYS pass the buck.  Don’t be the “go to” guy in your workplace.  People will be asking you to do all kinds of stuff that you frankly don’t feel like doing.

If a client asks you to do an urgent project, first try to convince them that it’s not really that urgent, and if that doesn’t work, ask them to give the project to what’s his name down the hall.  (Reality: Try to be indispensable to your clients and supervisors.  They’ll greatly appreciate it because they’ll have to do less work.)

4.  Read a lot less.  There is this perception out there that successful people read a lot.  While this may be true, it certainly doesn’t sound like fun.  Reading hundreds of pages of material relevant to your field will take the excitement out of everything else in life.

If you know so much about your area of expertise, where are you going to get the rush of possibly making a bad decision?  Leave the reading to the librarians.  (Reality: Keep current on your field by reading relevant blogs or journals.  You’ll at least know when your field will become obsolete.)

5.  React to EVERYTHING.  All those people you work with and those clients you serve are out to get you.  Whether it’s your bobbleheads, awesome desk chair or even your red Swingline stapler, the world wants to see you pay and take your things.

This is why it is very important to react to every little thing.  And react HARD.  Throw objects, swear loudly, storm out of the room and, ideally, all three at the same time.  Every little sideways glance and convoluted comment that could be about you needs to be addressed.  These people will not stop until you’re out on the street.  (Reality:  People don’t have time to worry about you so don’t go crazy about everything.  They’re too busy worrying about themselves.)

These are my top 5 ways of being an anti-Dale Carnegie.  I’m sure there are many, many other ways I could think of to lead you down the path of the social pariah, but all this typing is hurting my fingers.  If you would like to share your own ways of losing friends and scaring away people, please feel free to share in the comments.






Read this post again.  You’ll thank me later.

This is going to be a quick public service announcement post.



The stock market WILL go down.




Indisputable truth #2:

For long term investors, market drops SHOULD NOT change behavior.




No, the end is not near after all.


Start Tracking Your Net Worth to Reach Financial Freedom

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3 Steps From a Negative Net Worth to a Millionaire

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links.

If you finish any kind of professional or graduate school, you’re most likely going to be worth less than you did before you started.  (Worth less, but not worthless!)

Unless you have very wealthy and generous parents who can afford to cover your tuition payments of $50-60K per year, you will probably have a negative net worth coming out of school.  Mainly because you will have student loan debt and not much else.

Getting out of undergrad without student loan debt is doable.  You can get some scholarships, go to an in state school and work a full time job along with your studies.  But graduate schools have much fewer scholarships, higher tuition and a large workload that will prevent most people from working full time.

A typical optometry school graduate will have about $150,000 in debt and minimal savings.  That’s a net worth of -$150,000 right out of school.   You are worth less than you were when you were a baby.

But all is not lost.  With a few critical moves, especially early on in your career, you can reach a net worth of a million dollars in a reasonable amount of time.  Why a million dollars?  I don’t know it just sounds awesome to say you have a million dollars.

Now that you have that shiny new degree, you have the ability to make consistent money and dig yourself out of that hole.  With tuition rates soaring and some industries paying less now than in the past, it can seem like a daunting task to become a millionaire.

But it can be done in a few easy steps.  Just like a Tastee recipe video.

Step 1:  DON’T go on a spending spree out of the gate!

This step is the most critical but also the easiest to forget.  Going from a monthly income of almost nothing to thousands of dollars almost instantaneously can be exhilarating.  You want to do so many things like go out to fancy dinners, get that car you’ve had your eye on for a year and finally get away from living with roommates.

Reigning in your spending after you graduate is absolutely key.  If you get a new car and house and go on a fancy vacation right out of school, you are setting yourself up for financial failure.  You will be getting used to a lifestyle in which you have to spend a certain amount instead of investing and paying off your student loans.

It’s also important to consider that right out of school, you are used to living pretty lean.  So it shouldn’t be a huge adjustment to not live like a baller.  I’m not saying don’t spend any of your newfound money.  Just don’t spend ALL of it.

You can give yourself a luxurious 20% pay raise from your student life and put the rest towards your student loans or investments.  If you do this for just a few years out of school, you will have built the financial muscles that will allow you to become a millionaire very quickly.

For doctors that finished school a few decades ago, this step probably wasn’t all that critical.  Student loan debt was manageable and you could afford to indulge in a few things out of school.  Getting a new luxury car right out of school was not a huge deal.

But times are different.  And unless you change you will become a paycheck to paycheck doctor.

Step 2:  Get your student loans in order.  And start getting rid of them.

I’ve written a lot about student loans and will continue to write about them as long as they continue to be a big problem for new graduates.  It can seem very overwhelming to see a 6 figure debt right out of school.  But the only way to get rid of it is to get your ducks in a row, find a strategy to attack them and just keep at it.

The first thing you want to do is refinance all of your private high rate student loans.  You probably have a decent credit score coming out of school (find out why here), so you should be able to get a better rate.

Click here to get refinance quotes with Credible.  If you end up getting approved by them, you will receive a $200 bonus.

Then you need to figure out if you need to refinance your federal loans as well.  Unless you’re aiming for public service loan forgiveness, you should probably refinance and get a lower interest rate.

After all this work refinancing your loans and getting great interest rates, you have actually done nothing to your debt.  Now comes the hard part: making the payments.  Decide when you want to be debt free.  I think 10 years is a reasonable amount of time since you also need to invest your money and let compounding interest do its thing.  But the bottom line is that making large and consistent payments is the only sure way to pay off student loans.  Refinancing and consolidating may sound nice, but debt payoff is the name of the game.

Some people hate debt and will want to be debt free in 5 years.  More power to you.  The key is to be aggressive and make consistently high payments.  This will also mean you probably will have to postpone that around the world vacation or the new house until you’re debt free.  So be it.  The longer debt has a hold on you the more it will squeeze out of your finances.  Getting rid of it sooner is almost always better.

Step 3:  Invest early and often.

One benefit of making a high income from a professional position such as a doctor or lawyer is that you can use your money to enjoy a very comfortable life.  But once you stop working, the money stops coming in.  And trouble will soon follow.  That’s why investing is important.  It allows you to make money work for you when you can’t, or have no desire, to work anymore

The other benefit of making a high professional income?  Being able to invest more than the average person.  This is important since most professionals don’t start working until a few years after the general population.  We’re already behind the curve when it comes to starting to invest so it’s extremely important to invest early in your career in order to let compound interest do its thing.

And please do not underestimate the effect of compounding interest.  The earlier you invest, the quicker your money will grow and the quicker you can retire.  Or make an around the world trip  Or whatever it is you want.  Investing gives you that choice.

Investing comes in many forms.  It can be buying mutual funds within an employer sponsored retirement account.  Or a Traditional or Roth IRA you open on your own and pick some stocks.  Or it can be in the form of rental properties that you buy and hold.  There are many options, so just pick the ones that interest you and pour your heart, soul and money into them.  Allow that money to grow so you’ll be able to handle anything life throws your way.  Or simply retire at age 50 if you feel like it.


So that’s really all it takes.  Live like a slightly richer student, start attacking your student loans and begin your investing career as early as possible.  It just comes down to these three steps.  Now there are nuances and details within these steps you will need to figure out on your own.

Things such as how much should you allocate to student loan payments and how much to investing?  How much house can you really afford?  When is a good time to have kids?  What is your risk tolerance when it comes to investing?

There is no one size fits all answer to these important questions.  But as long as you get the big things right, you can figure out the details along the way.

And then check your bank accounts to find you’re a millionaire!


Don’t Fall for the Minimum Payment Scam

Don’t get trapped!

I’ve written a lot about credit cards and their many advantages.  Things like earning rewards, extended warranties, travel benefits and fraud protection just to name a few.  I wrote a post very recently about how credit cards are so much better than debit cards.

But credit cards can also be death to your finances.  If you don’t pay on time and in full, you will be subject to late fees and interest.  A LOT of interest.  Credit card interest rates are easily in the double digits.  And some cards can be in the 20% range.  There is no reason anyone should be paying this much interest.

And consumers know this.  Most adults know that not paying your credit card in full will lead to interest being charged to your balance.  Knowledge isn’t the problem.

The problem is that the credit card companies have made it palatable for consumers to carry a balance and be charged interest along the way.  The way they do this is by offering the “minimum payment.”

And it’s a complete scam that is designed to take money from consumers and turn it directly into profits for the credit card companies.

‘Til Debt Do Us Part

Here is a screenshot from one of my recent credit card bills:

Every credit card statement includes a message like this.  They are literally telling us that making the minimum is bad for our finances and showing us how bad it is.  In this case, the minimum payment was $25.  That’s such a reasonable amount why wouldn’t I take the credit card company up on this offer?

Because the interest rate on this card happens to be 15%, and it would take me 2 years to get out of debt.  And most people have multiple credit cards asking for a minimum payment.  And all of this assumes that you will never spend another cent on your card (which is why it’s called revolving debt by the way.  Debt is being paid off while new debt is being created).

So even with this warning from the credit card company itself, why do so many people just default to just paying the minimums on their cards?  Because it’s just easier.

We live in a monthly payment type of society.  And it just seems a lot cleaner to add your credit card minimum payment to your pile of monthly obligations.  Put it on auto pay along with the car loan, student loan and mortgage.  Just set it and forget it right?  But in this case, forgetting about all of that interest building up in the background will destroy your finances.

Credit Card Debt is an Emergency

There is no such thing as a free meal.  If you get a “free” meal, you will most likely be on the receiving end of a sales pitch.  Just eat, smile, nod and be on your way.

Paying off credit card debt is the closest thing to a financial free meal you can get.  Getting into credit card debt and paying 20% in interest month after month is not ideal.  A situation like that, which many families find themselves in unfortunately, will keep you in financial prison forever.

But once you realize this and commit yourself to getting rid of that debt, no other financial decision matters.  As high as credit card interest rates are, there is no investment out there that would justify you not getting rid of that debt as fast as possible.

If you’re paying 20% interest on a credit card, getting rid of that debt will be the equivalent of getting a 20% return on your money!  While avoiding the debt is a much better first step, paying it off ASAP is the next best thing.

That’s why I consider credit card debt an absolute emergency!  All discretionary spending such as new cars, vacations and fancy dinners out should be put on hold until the debt is gone.  It’s much easier said than done but it’s the only way you’re going to get out of financial hell.

The worst part is that credit card companies don’t want you to feel this.  They want you to feel comfortable shelling out 20% more money than you should each month.  The goal is for credit card debt to become the “new normal”.

But you know better than that.  Take care of credit card debt first and then focus on your other goals.  That’s the closest thing to a financial free lunch you will get.

Enrich Yourself, not Visa

Banks make a TON of money off of credit cards.  That’s why we will keep getting bombarded with credit card offers for as long as we live.

It’s actually pretty absurd.  Banks are simply offering a 30 day loan and charging an exorbitant amount of interest for it.  At least with an auto loan you can enjoy your car and get some use out of it.  But with credit card debt there is no collateral that you can really make use of.  Those fancy dinners out are just a memory at that point.

So don’t fall for the minimum payment scam.  There is no use for it except to keep consumers in debt for their entire life.  It’s all very sinister if you really think about it.  People become depressed and even commit suicide because of debt.  But as long as banks continue to profit off of credit cards, they couldn’t care less.

Free yourself and pay off your debt in full!


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Credit Cards vs Debit Cards: Not Even Close

Poor debit. He never stood a chance.

We don’t use cash much in this country.  Most online and in person transactions are done by credit or debit card.  Even with things like Apple and Samsung Pay, a card is still the thing making the transaction.

But is credit or debit the better option?  Do people even know why they use a credit card or debit card?  This post will answer both of these burning questions.

So in honor of the great (and overrated?) Floyd Mayweather retiring this year, here is the round by round breakdown of the matchup between credit cards vs debit cards:

Round 1: Credit Score

Unless you live off the grid, having a great credit score will give you lots of advantages.  You’ll be able to be approved for the best reward credit cards.  You will most likely get approved for and be offered the best rate on loans, including car loans and mortgages.  And achieving a high credit score isn’t too complicated.

People with high credit scores are just more trustworthy in the eyes of lenders.  And responsible credit card use will help you get a high credit score much easier than a debit card would.

The companies that track your credit history don’t care how much you use your debit card.  They want to know how many credit cards you have and if you pay them back on time.  And the more responsible you are with your credit, the more credit banks will be willing to lend you, which increases your credit score even more!

But you can’t get all of those credit boosting benefits if you use your debit card.  Start small by using one credit card and paying it off in full every month.

Winner: Credit cards.  Debit was just being toyed with in the first round.

Round 2: Rewards

Now the fun begins.  I think there should be some incentive in choosing to use a card for payment instead of cash.  And credit cards provide that incentive in the form of credit card rewards.

It’s no secret that I enjoy chasing credit card sign up bonuses.  They are an easy way to get some cash back or travel points for spending money on the things will buy anyway.  Even if you don’t chase sign up bonuses, many reward cards will give you 1-2% cash back on every single purchase.  Why would you not take advantage of that?

Not every credit card comes with rewards.  But it’s easy to find many that do.  Debit cards?  Hardly any give you rewards.  And the debit cards that do have rewards offer very minimal incentives.

Whether it’s chasing sign up bonuses or just getting some incentives for every purchase you make, credit cards are superior over debit in every way.

Winner:  Credit cards by a landslide.  I don’t think debit even landed a single punch.

Round 3: Fees and Interest

Here’s where things can get a little dicey for credit card users (but only if your’e not careful!).  When you swipe a debit card, that money comes straight from your checking account.  So there’s no need to worry about paying off a balance on time or accruing interest.  Unless you love overdrafting your account, you will never spend money that you don’t have or incur any fees with a debit card.

Credit cards are not so nice to people.  If you are late with a payment you will get hit with a fee.  If you don’t pay your balance off in full, you will be charged ungodly amounts of interest.  And if you do things like this consistently, you will make the bank very rich while making yourself very poor.

So the biggest things to keep in mind for credit card users is to always pay on time and in full.  Any rewards from credit cards will quickly be negated by fees and interest.  And many cards charge an annual fee, even if you don’t use the card!

So if you know you are the type of person that will not pay in full, then stick with debit.  While you will have a boring life, you will avoid getting into credit card debt, which has ruined many people’s lives.  Just don’t overdraft your account.  Those fees are pretty egregious.

Winner:  Debit by a hair.  I think credit was feeling bad so they let them get a round.

Round 4: Liability and Disputes

I have a feeling this is the knock out round.  Like I said before, there should be some incentive to using a card instead of cash.  And while credit cards can offer nice rewards, another great incentive is liability protection and disputing transactions.

If someone steals your card or gets the number somehow, most likely they will try to run up some purchases as quickly as they can.  This happened to me a couple of times.  I’ll see an unusual purchase or get a text about one, and then contact the card company.  What they usually do is just send you a new card with a new account number and give you an immediate credit for those fraudulent purchases.  Pretty easy.

Debit cards are not so easy.  Since you can bypass the PIN feature for debit cards at most stores, it’s easy enough for someone to steal your card and use it anywhere.  The problem is, the money they spend is siphoned directly from your checking account! Which means you run the risk of losing all of your liquid funds in an instant.

And while you will most likely get your money back, the process is longer with debit cards and you will be left to deal with a depleted bank account for a few weeks.  There is just so much more liability protection with credit cards it’s not even funny.

Another nice feature with credit cards is the ability to dispute transactions.  If you bought something by accident or are not happy with your purchase, you can dispute it and your card issuer will usually just give you a credit for it while hashing things out with the company.  They are fighting for you right after they get your money back.  With debit cards, it’s much tougher to dispute a purchase and even if you do, it takes longer as well.

Winner:  Credit cards.  Debits corner had to throw in the towel to save him.

Winner by KO:  Credit Cards!

Having financial awareness, especially of why you use credit cards instead of debit, is the key to financial success.  There are just so many inherent advantages to credit that it’s almost a no-brainer in an optimal financial plan.

So take some time to find the right credit card for your needs, make sure to pay the balance on time and in full, and enjoy the benefits for years to come.


How to Stack Bank Account Bonuses

The result of chasing bank account bonuses.







1.  Find the best offers



2.  Get Organized



Make things easy on yourself and keep records of everything.

3.  Early Account Closure Fees




4.  Electronic Direct Deposit




5.  Rewards are taxable







How Many Credit Cards Should You Have?


Credit cards are one financial topic that everyone has an opinion about.  Even people who don’t have much interest in finance will have some sort of take on credit cards.

Some people swear by them.  Other people swear AT them.  Some people use them for every transaction.  While others have never used one in their lives.

Credit cards are an ever present force in our society.  You can’t go on an airplane nowadays without being asked to sign up for the latest and greatest credit card.  Commercials, magazine ads and internet ads with credit card offers inundate us regularly.

And let’s not forget good old snail mail.  Everyone’s mailbox will eventually receive an offer for the latest sign up or balance transfer offer.  It’s inevitable.

I’ve written before about the utility of credit cards.  They are a tool, and just like any tool they can help you or hurt you depending on your use.

Almost all of us have credit cards.  The question is, how many should we have?  Can you have too many?  Or even too few?  Let’s take a look at the factors that will decide how many cards you should have.

1.  Life Experience

Right now, I have 36 credit cards open.  To most people, that may seem like a lot.  But believe it or not, to others that does not seem like that much.  You’ll find out later why that number is just right for me.

I got my first credit card at age 19.  It was a gas station credit card that gave a whopping 2% cash back at BP gas stations.  I didn’t know much about personal finance (or life) at 19, so I thought that card was all I needed.

I would not have been able to handle more than one card at that time, let alone 30+.  I just didn’t know enough about how life worked to be able to handle more.  So life experience is definitely a key ingredient for being able to handle many credit cards.

2.  *****Paying off your balance in full******

Notice the asterisks.  This is THE KEY factor that will determine if you can handle many credit cards, or none at all.  Being able to use credit cards is not a right but a privilege.  And the privilege comes from NOT being the type of person that gets into credit card debt.

Credit card debt is expensive.  It’s one of the most expensive type of debts out there short of owing a loan shark.  And most of Americans have it.

I won’t go all Dave Ramsey on you and say no one should have credit cards.  But if you routinely do not pay off your balances in full, you should not have a credit card.  Period.

Credit card interest rates are insane.  Cards on the “low end” will be about 8%, while many cards can easily approach 30%.  No one should be carrying this type of debt.  So if you carry any type of credit card debt, unless it’s a 0% promotional offer, you need to pay that off ASAP.

And don’t make it worse by racking up more credit card debt.

3.  Credit Score

When it comes to having credit cards, your credit score is a key factor.  If you want to be approved for many credit cards, you need to have a high credit score and a credit history clear of any delinquent activity.  A long history of on time payments helps too.

And contrary to popular belief, having lots of credit cards DOES NOT lower your credit score.  While opening up some new credit will temporarily lower your score by a few points, it will not hurt it in any appreciable way.

The most important factors in one’s credit score are on time payments and credit utilization ratio (this is straight from the people at FICO).  Having many credit cards helps BOTH of these categories.

Having lots of on time payments will help your credit score.  And having lots of cards, but not using most of them, will keep your credit utilization percentage very low.

My credit score has skyrocketed ever since I started applying for credit cards.  And that’s because I always try to pay on time and only use the cards when I need them.

4.  Rewards Chasing

This is the only, and most lucrative, reason anyone should have many credit cards.  As you can tell by just checking your mail once in a while, credit cards love offering sign up bonuses.  Those offers that say something like “Spend $2,000 in 3 months and get 10,000 points”.

These offers are real money makers for credit card companies.  While they are giving up a little in terms of points or cash back, they get that back and then some with swipe fees and interest payments.  And many people don’t even redeem their reward points anyway.  The credit card companies have everything to gain.

But if you’re disciplined enough not to overspend and always pay off your balance in full, the consumer stands to gain a little as well.  There are many really bad sign up offers.  But there are some great ones as well.  The key is to find the great ones, do just enough to meet the sign up offer, and then store the credit card away if it’s not useful for you. (Frequent Miler is my go to resource for this).

Using this method, I’ve been able to take my family on many flights and hotels for almost nothing.  I’ve also gotten a good amount of cash back rewards (which are tax free!).  So reward chasing has definitely been worth it.

But it’s only worth it if you maintain your great credit score and never carry a balance.  Interest rates on rewards credit cards are notoriously high.  If you end up carrying a balance on a rewards card, it will quickly negate any sort of rewards you earn.

5.  Organization

The last important thing you need in order to be able to handle many credit cards is being organized.  This is especially important for rewards cards since they can have annual fees that can be avoided if you close them on time.

A simple spreadsheet will do just fine.  I use one that has the date I applied for the card, the sign up bonus requirements, any annual fees and when I closed the card.  Trying to do all of this in your head will eventually lead to a mistake.

And you need a central place for all of your credit cards.  I currently store them in an old checkbook box.  But I think I may need to upgrade to a shoebox.  Or you can just have a drawer with all of your unused cards.  Just keep them all in one place away from your kids.

So how many cards SHOULD you have?

It depends.  I know, I hate that answer just as much as everybody else.  But it’s true.  There are some people that have no business having more than one card.  Or any cards at all.  People who regularly carry balances fall under this category.

And then there are others who can seamlessly handle 50 cards at any time.  It takes a good understanding of your personal financial system and a lot of organization.

Plus, it has to be worth your while.  And chasing the best of the best rewards can definitely be worth it.  So if you don’t feel you can handle many credit cards, no need to despair.  Just do what you’re comfortable with at the moment but make it a point to learn about the credit card industry and how you can use it to help your finances.


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