The key to that lies in one simple word: research. Although the Internet can be misleading at times, there are still factual analyses that you can base on for you to make a decision whether or not you can trust a company. JG Wentworth is a company originally built in 1991 as a merchant bank, however, their second year in business opened up a new opportunity for them to embark on a new field of financial services industry. They started buying deferred payments from people who needed money right at that moment so they had no other option to get money from but to sell their structured settlements.

Practically speaking, it is much better to sell your structured settlement than to take a loan from the bank. Aside from the fact that the bank will require a lot of documents and papers and other credentials for you to qualify for a loan, structured settlements are a much better choice because the money you will be getting is truly yours and you are indebted to no one. It is just as simple as getting your monthly cash stream all at once than to receive it at an installment basis.

JG Wentworth, without any biasness and only basing from the reality of their services, provide these services in an honest way. They make sure that you are nor financially rigged or aggravated in the process because they present you with a contract that will entail everything about the deal. So definitely, you will not sign it if you are not in total peace with it. This contract will assure that a client is totally contented with the transactions that took place legally.

There’s nothing better than being free to do whatever you want.  However, unless you’re born with a multi-million dollar trust fund, you’ll unfortunately have to work for your freedom.

You can follow my savings guide to increase your chances of a wonderful retirement by 50-65.  But, what if you want to retire earlier?  Say at the age of 40 or 45?  You’re in luck, because I have a very simple, yet effective plan for you.  This is something I’ve been following for the past 13 years to allow myself the option to retire as early as 35-45.  I think you’ll like the option as well!

What’s important is recognizing your inner frugality, your Herculean discipline, the government’s generosity, and your mortality.

EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WHO’VE RETIRED EARLY

Realize that it’s an absolute fallacy you must work until 60-65 to be able to retire.  It’s up to you whether you want to have the freedom to do whatever you want.  You just have to make some sacrifices.

I will assume that you enter the work force at age 22 after college.  All you have to do is work for 18 consecutive years and save 55% of your after tax profits without fail.  At age 40, mathematically you have now saved enough to last you 20 more years until age 60.  At age 59.5, you are then allowed to withdraw any money from your tax-deferred retirement savings penalty free.

The money you saved in this time period can be spent in full, if so desired, every year until you hit age 60.  By the time you are 62-65, you are then eligible for Social Security benefits to compliment your other tax deferred retirement savings.

EXAMPLE 1: AVERAGE JANE

Jane is a University of Colorado grad who majors in English.  She gets a job in Denver as a telecom services provider sales rep.  It’s not the best job in the world given her interests, but it pays the bills while she stays with her parents for the first 3 years to save money.  At the age of 25, she moves out and co-habits with her boyfriend, saving money in the process.

From ages 41-60, Jane can spend roughly $29,163 a year until age 60 and never have to do anything at all! That’s right.  With her $530,250 saved up, she doesn’t need interest or investment returns to spend $29,163 a year.  So long as she doesn’t increase her lifestyle she’s grown accustomed to for the past 18 years, she’s fine. Jane can also earn a risk-free 2% return on her $583,275, which yields roughly $11,500 to go on top of her $29,163 to equal roughly $39,000 in after tax income a year.

If we exclude the interest income, $29,163 a year is not exactly a lot to spend, but during her working years from age 22 to 40, she was only spending about $32,000 a month after taxes anyway.  In order to make her money go farther, Jane could move to a cheaper country, live with a working spouse, work part-time, or attempt to invest their money.  If she’s been used to living off $32,000 working, suddenly, there are 8-10 hours more a day to make $2,837 a YEAR to close the difference and then some!

EXAMPLE 2: FLOYD, THE GO-GETTER

Floyd graduates from Virginia Tech and becomes a software Engineer at a small software company in San Francisco.  Floyd isn’t the most brilliant of software engineers, which is why he couldn’t get into Google, and therefore doesn’t make as much as his fellow Googlers.  That said, he’s making a healthy six figure income by age 30.

With a $902,605 nut Floyd has accumulated over the past 18 years, Floyd can spend a healthy $45,200 a year for 20 years without having to do a thing.  At a risk free 2% return, Floyd can earn $18,000 a year to boost his annual spending to $63,200 if we want to get a little more realistic.

Couldn’t you live off $63,200 in AFTER-TAX income in practically every city in the world?  Imagine if you found a spouse who worked, or actually made and saved the same amount of money you did?  You could both live of $126,400 a year quite comfortably.   But, the theme of this post is to retire early and only depend on yourself, so this is what Floyd will do.

EXAMPLE 3:  FELICITY, THE TALENTED

Felicity graduates in the Top 3% of her class at UC Berkeley and gets a job at the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s leading strategy consultant firms. She has a fantastic career and gets promoted every 3-5 years on average until she becomes a senior executive at age 38. She has a couple little ones, and decides to retire at 40.

With a retirement savings of $1.36 million, Felicity can spend $68,000 after-tax a year as she stays at home and spends time with her 6 and 7 year old sons.  Felicity didn’t have the best of luck with love, and divorced her $300,000 a year husband soon after the kids were born.  They share custody of their sons, and also share the cost of raising them.

At a 2% risk free return, Felicity can generate $27,000 a year in interest income, boosting her annual spending to roughly $88,000 after tax.  Felicity was living off of around $88,000 a year in disposable income at the age of 35, so it’s not that big of a stretch for her.

STUDY THIS SIMPLE CHART CAREFULLY

If you save only 10% of your after tax income a year, you have to work roughly 5 years to be able to accumulate 1 year of retirement savings!  The key here is after tax income and what you live on.

If you save 50% of your after tax income a year, you only have to work 1 year to accumulate 1 year of retirement savings.  If you keep saving at this rate for 15 years, you will logically accumulate 15 years of retirement savings.

Use a simple $100,000 after tax disposable income figure, and a $50,000 yearly living expense target for retirement to work the math yourself.  Save half of $100,000 = $50,000 = 1 year of retirement.  Save only 10% of $100,000 = $10,000.  You need to save $10,000 for 5 years to accumulate your $50,000 annual living expense!

WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN?

Children are obviously a big determinant in whether you’ll have the ability to retire early or not.  But, are children really that expensive if you see plenty of couples who earn $50,000 or less have multiple children?  The government provides a $1,000/year tax credit per child for middle class families as well.

The conventional wisdom is that if you decide to have children, you should immediately slap roughly 22 years of work to your life.  You want to be able to provide for their living expenses and tuition through college, just in case your child isn’t that gifted to get a scholarship, or work to support themselves.

The good thing is that conventional wisdom is often times wrong.  If two parents decide to save 55% of their after-tax income every year after college for 18 years, the “Average Janes” of the world will have $78,000 a year to retire on and provide for a family.  The “Floyds” of the world will have roughly $120,000 a year to spend, and the “Felicities” of the world will have about $170,000 a year to spend.  Can you make these numbers work to provide for your family?  I think so, but it will obviously be much harder if you were a single parent.

What’s even “easier” than both parents saving 55% of their after-tax income is that one parent works, while only one parent saves as aggressively.  This way, the early retiree parent can simply be added on the working parent’s healthcare and all other benefits.  Hey wait a minute, I think this is what happens already for stay at home moms or dads!  Again, the difference is the aggressive savings plan, so study the chart above once again!

WHAT ABOUT INFLATION?

Inflation is a beautiful thing that scares people who do not understand basic economics.  To put it simply, inflation rises when the economy starts to heat up, and falls or stays flat when the economy cools.  People often ask, “What happens when inflation hits 8%?  We need to invest and save more!  We’ll be screwed!”  We won’t be screwed.  If inflation ramps from 2% currently to 8% in the future, it means the economy is ROCKING AND ROLLING!  There is too much money sloshing around the system, and demand is too great, causing prices to rise.

What happens when “prices” rise?  Your income and real assets rise.  Nominal interest rates also start to rise, meaning the real interest rate return on your investments, CD’s, and savings also begins to rise.  Nominal interest rates are generally higher than inflation, otherwise you’d have negative real interest rates.  In other words, in a 8% inflationary environment, you might receive a 9% nominal interest rate on your yearly savings account, leaving you with a 1% real rate of interest.

Everything is aligned folks!  Don’t let the inflation pollyanas scare you.  Look at the 35 year chart of the 10-year US yield.  It’s done nothing but go straight down.  If people want to go more into detail and understand economics, let me know.  But before we have an economics debate, please make sure you’ve at least read the basics.

WHAT IF YOU HAVE A DESIRE TO DO SOMETHING AFTER YOU RETIRE?

Believe it or not, some people actually want to continue to be active during their early retirement.  Maybe they become park rangers, tour guides, freelance writers, or consultants.  If your monthly individual operating expense is $50,000 a year, and you find a job you enjoy that lets you work part-time and make $20,000 a year, then you’ve suddenly bought yourself many more years in living expense coverage.  Or put it differently, all you need to do is be an “Average Jane” in the example above.

There are thousands of things in this world that you can do to make money.  By making just $20,000 a year in a hobby she enjoys, “Average Jane” increases her disposable income in retirement by 50% to $59,000 from just $39,000 previously.

LESSONS LEARNED AND A 4th EXAMPLE

College, is first and foremost, of great importance.  Without college degrees, it’s unlikely any of these three would land their jobs.  The second lesson is that by living below your means, and sacrificing, you can essentially live for the rest of your life after 40 without having to work another day in your life.  Finally, there will be people who say it can’t be done, but it can be done, because all three examples are real.  Furthermore, I am a 4th example!

For 13 years I’ve saved 50-75% of my after tax income, leaving me with roughly 16 years worth of current living expenses (13 years x 1.2 in the chart above) based on my cash savings.  If I decide to sell my house and live in a more cozy 2 bedroom condo/house, the living expense coverage rises to about 25 years.  And If I sell my rental properties, the living expense coverage shoots to over 30 years.

What’s important is NOT the amount saved, but the annual living expenses coverage saved, since each person’s desirable living expenses are different.  Maybe some people in the Mid West are happy with $3,000 after tax a month to live on, while others in NYC need $10,000 in after tax income to comfortably survive.  Shoot, some of you might even want to move to Thailand, Malaysia, or The Philippines, where $2,000 a month in after tax income will let you live like Kings and Queens!  Who knows the right dollar amount.  It all depends on the individual.

WHY I SAVED SO AGGRESSIVELY FOR SO LONG

If had never been whipped so hard, I would never have saved so much.  Thank you sir, may I have another!  I had a very rough first two years out of college.  I worked for a firm that made me get in at 5:30am every morning and have me stay until 7:30pm on average every evening.  Some evenings, we went to 10:30pm, which was brutal.  Furthermore, I constantly had to work at least 5 hours a weekend, leading to a total time spent of roughly 75+ hours a week.  I gained 20 lbs, was constantly under pressure, and was generally pretty stressed.  Despite the pain, the one thing I knew was that if I could just get through these first two years, I would be set.

Given the difficult experience right out of school, I swore to myself that I would save like a maniac to have the optionality of retiring early if I wanted to.  To be able to have the freedom to answer to no one is priceless.  Hence, saving 50-75% of my after tax income is such a bargain for priceless!

I should still probably work 4 or 5 years to save another 5-7 years worth of living expenses, just to be safe.  However, ever since I published “The Curse Of Making Too Much Money And Not Following Your Dreams” over two years ago, I’ve been dreaming of doing something else.  The dreams have led to my site, and I simply did not anticipate how much fun I’d have working online and writing!  To top it all off, there’s actually an income component as well.

As a result of this unforeseen online opportunity, perhaps I will reach early retirement even earlier and stop being shackled by golden corporate handcuffs anymore.  Retiring from a job you’ve done for the past 13 years is scary since it’s been such a part of me.  However, I don’t know if there’s ever the right time to leave even after another five years of work.  The signs sure are a calling…….

Readers, what are your thoughts about following my 55%+ after tax savings plan to allow you to retire early?  What are the holes in my early retirement savings plan?  Please let me know your excuses, I’d love to hear them!

How many years of living expenses will you need before you feel you can comfortably quit your job and work on an entrepreneurial endeavor or side income stream full-time? 

Note: One person told me it’s one thing to spend the interest income from one’s savings, which is already hard.  It’s a completely different thing spending your actual savings on expenses.  He said it was excruciatingly painful to do, because the savings has been left accumulating, and untouched forever.

Photo: Sunset at Islas Mueres, Cancun.  SD.

Thanks,

Sam

If you enjoyed this article, please sign up for my RSS Feed or E-mail Feed to keep in touch!

My friend and I have both developed a healthy amount of passive income over the years.  We are talking true passive income where we don’t have to do anything to make money.  It gets us excited thinking about passive income because we have the optionality of quitting our jobs, moving to some tropical paradise, and not die alone if we don’t want to!

My definition of passive income comes directly from CD interest income.  With an average yield of 4% (7-yr CD’s), my passive income isn’t sexy by any means.  But, it’s a great feeling knowing the principle will still be there and then some years from now.  Collecting dividends is not my idea of generating passive income, because you have to actively manage the portfolio as you could blow yourself up in a downturn.

We got to talking about the article, “Don’t Quit, Get Laid Off Instead“, and we began to wonder what if we successfully did engineer our own layoffs?  Would we be able to collect the ~$1,800 a month in unemployment income while generating five figures a year in passive income?

After speaking to people in human resources, a couple unemployed folks, and doing some searching online, I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter if we make $100,000 a year in passive (unearned) income, we still get to collect unemployment insurance.

Example: Let’s say you work for 20 years and diligently save a majority of your after tax income every year.  You somehow amass $2.5 million and decide to go really conservative and buy ten, $250,000, 7-year CD’s with a 4% interest rate.  The reason why you buy 10, $250,000 CD’s because of the $250,000 FDIC guarantee limit ($500,000 for couples per account).  Fair enough.

You love your job, but due to restructuring, you are let go.  The $100,000 a year you earn in passive income has no bearing on your ability to collect unemployment benefits since the $100,000 a year is a result of your past work.  You are no longer working to make that money, as that money is now working for you.  Your company could technically refute the unemployment benefit claim upon realizing you earn six figures in interest income, however, you don’t have to reveal your personal finances to your employer.  And if they do, you have recourse.

The more interesting question is, “Should you collect $1,800/month in unemployment benefits if you have enough passive/unearned income to live on?”  My answer is, absolutely yes.  Just look at your W2 and see all the federal and state income taxes you pay.  Mine makes me absolutely sick.  Your employer is happily paying you less than you could so they can pay for unemployment insurance.

There really isn’t a moral question to taking unemployment insurance.  You and your company have paid for it after all those years you’ve worked, and if you’ve found yourself out of a job for reasons no more than performance related, then you deserve to collect some money back for once!

Readers, anybody collect unemployment insurance before while having passive income?   Is there a limit to how much passive income you can generate before unemployment benefits get denied?  Why would anybody bother working part-time, if there is such a rule that any income earned precludes one from receiving unemployment benefits?  Shouldn’t we allow people to collect unemployment benefits and work part-time on whatever they want?

Note: Each state is different, so check your state’s own unemployment policy.  It is incredibly difficult to find concrete advice on whether one can collect UI while making passive income.  

HIGHLIGHT POSTS FROM AROUND THE WEB

* How I Quit My Job And What I Plan To Do Next on Invest It Wisely.

* Bank Switch Kit And Checklist on Consumerism Commentary.

* Go It Alone on Retire By Forty.

* iPad2 And Vacation Giveaway on The Extra Money Blog.

* Thinking About Money When Sitting On The Toilet by Rambling Fever.

* Ladies, Men Are Always Innocent And Sweet on Young and Thrifty.

* I Didn’t Buy A New Laptop, Neither Should You on LAMF.

* 5 Things Wealthy People Never Say on So Over Debt.

* The Financial Price Of Staying At Home on Wealth Informatics.

* Crazy Job Interview Stories on Squirrelers.

* I Quit My Job And How You Can Too on Beating Broke.

* The Case For Lowering US Corporate Tax Rates on Money Mamba.

ARTICLES I’VE WRITTEN AROUND THE WEB

* Quit Your Job And Die Alone on Untemplater.

* What Makes You Happy? on Yakezie.

* Learning From Our Past For A Better Tomorrow on Yakezie.

Any more great reads out there?  Let me know and I’ll put em up!

Photo: Jitsu Relaxing At The Four Seasons, HK.  SD.

Regards,

Sam

The last five cars I’ve owned have all been purchased by cashier’s checks.  I loathe going into debt on an asset that is guaranteed to depreciate.  In fact, I dislike buying anything that is guaranteed to depreciate!

I stopped by the BMW dealer on the way home from golf one day and checked out their new 650i coupe series.  If someone could figure out a way to bottle that wonderful new car smell, they’d make millions off fanatics like me!

Given this particular 650i coupe was priced at $104,000, I decided to check out the more moderately priced 2012 X3, 2.8 litre engine SUV for $48,000.  Same new car smell for half the price.  Score!

CREDIT CARD LIMITS FOR CARS

Out of curiosity, I asked the saleswoman whether I can put the car on my credit card which has a $50,000 limit.  She said, “Nope!”  The most I can charge on the card is $3,000.  What the heck is the point of carrying a credit card if I can’t charge a BMW on it?  Gee whiz!

In actuality, the $3,000 limit is a good thing since I’d be tempted to buy a new car every single year!  I asked her why the $3,000 limit?  And she responded, “Fees, those darn fees.”  Credit cards charge 1-2% fees on average for every single purchase.  2% on $50,000 is $1,000 out the door.  Hey, kinda like PayPal fees, but not as bad!

I then told the saleswoman, “What if I just buy the car for 1% more than asking price, then can I use a credit card?”  She thought about it for a moment and still declined.  Of course I would prefer not to pay more than I have to for anything.  I just thought this would be an interesting solution.

“Our policy, no matter what your credit limit is, is still $3,000 maximum.  The reason is we don’t want people charging their downpayment, which then defeats the purpose of a downpayment.  We don’t want a situation where a buyer purchases a car on credit, totals the car, and can’t pay either the payment or the costs necessary to fix the car!   A buyer needs to have skin in the game, that’s our bank’s policy.”  explained the saleswoman.

Wait, so she’s saying I can’t borrow money to pay for a down payment to borrow more money?  What the hell kind of dealership / country is this anyway?  I thought we can do what the government and millions of Americans do everyday and take from one, spend it on ourselves, and never have to pay it back!

LIMITS EVERYWHERE

The $3,000 credit card limit policy is ubiquitous.  I called Mercedes, Audi, and Range Rover, and they all said the most someone can charge to purchase a car is $3,000.  The rest must be financed by their own bank or paid in cash.

I was really looking forward to charging $50,000 for the X3 and getting enough rebate points for a round-trip ticket to Europe.  Alas, I will settle for good old Moose, keep the $50,000 and have the optionality of buying 100 round-trip tickets to Hawaii instead.

Readers, what’s the most you’ve ever spent on a credit card?  Have you ever bought a car on a credit card before?

Photo: 2012 BMW X3.  A replacement for Moose?

Regards,

Sam

How would you feel if you made 25% less than your peers who do the same work at your same level?  I’d be pissed and demand equal pay for equal work.  Depending on which study you read, women earn only around 80 cents to the dollar compared to men.

In order to solve the gender income inequality situation, we must first understand why there is income inequality between males and females.  Here are some propositions as to why:

1) Men are more aggressive at asking for raises and promotions.
2) More people in leadership roles are men and therefore have a propensity to take care of other men in an old boys network.
3) Men are more interested in more lucrative fields such as finance, private equity, management consulting, engineering of all types.
4) Society places an incredible strain on men to be able to make enough and take care of a family.
5) Men can’t have babies.

From the chart above, you can see a steep increase in female wages as a percentage of men’s wages in the 1980′ as women entered the workplace in force.  In 1985 for example, a female college graduate  makes roughly $62,000, while her male counterpart makes $100,000.  By 2005, the female colleague makes roughly $74,000, a healthy 19.3% increase, but still, a 24% income discount to her male counterpart.

More recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that women earned 82.8% of the median weekly wage of men in the second quarter of 2010, the highest ever recorded.  However, a 17.2% gap is still huge and not good enough.

There might be a sinister evil empire out there that conspires against women to earn equal pay for equal work.  I believe every single one of the five points above have something to do with pay inequality.  However, if we strip away everything, and compare apples to apples, there is one constant that cannot be avoided: childbirth.

SOMEONE HAS TO GIVE BIRTH

One of my good friends who graduated from Harvard business school in 2006 just gave birth.  Before having her first child, she swore to me that she’d be a career woman and work for life.  After taking three months off for maternity leave, she came  back only to give her boss her 30-day notice!

My friend lives in a paid off 4,500 square foot mansion, and no longer wants to work because her husband is rich, and she has a beautiful baby girl at home she can’t stand staying away from.  I’d quit too if I were her!  Her boss was none too happy, and is definitely going to think twice about hiring a female for this role again.

Someone has to give birth, and it so happens the role is placed on females.  If you are a manager of a start-up, and have two equally qualified 28 year old candidates, one a male, and another a female, you will consider the likelihood of each candidate’s ability to work the longest through the entire year, for many years.

The start-up environment is cutthroat, and you cannot afford any employee to take off longer than 2 weeks at a time.  What to do?  The answer is to either hire the male candidate, or hire the female candidate and bake in an income that incorporates the likelihood chance of her getting pregnant and going on maternity leave for 3 months.

Pay discrimination is wrong, but many times, it’s just business.  Unfortunately, it is the woman who suffers.  I find this a disturbing reality because I would never want my sister, daughter, wife or mother to not earn what their male counterparts earn for equal work.  Hence, I’ve come up with a logical solution.

THE SOLUTION TO NARROWING THE GENDER INCOME INEQUALITY GAP

Equality sets people free.  Why we can’t have a flat tax above a certain poverty level, I don’t know.  Why can’t gay couples have the same rights as heterosexual married people, I don’t know.  Why can’t everyone get a $1,000 Child Tax Credit instead of just those making under a certain amount, I don’t know!  As a great Occupy Wall Street slogan said, “Shit is fucked up and bullshit.”

The solution to gender income equality is instituting into law that all companies must allow for the same amount of parental leave for women AND men.  If a woman gets 3 months maternity leave, then the father should also get 3 months paternity leave.  We need to start eradicating the term maternity leave, and start using the words Parental Leave so that both the father, mother, partner can be treated equally.

Some of you might think it’s not fair that the father who doesn’t have to go through 9 months of pregnancy and childbirth gets to take the same amount of time off.  What’s not fair about it?  A good husband will be there for the mother throughout the entire 9 months, waiting on her hand and foot, attending classes, and caring for her every need.  A good father will worry just as much, if not more so because he might feel helpless since he’s not carrying the child.  A good father would love to spend as much time with his new born as well.

Nobody gets pregnant just so they can get time off.  People normally get pregnant if they want a child, and need time to recover and spend as much time carrying for the child together in their most vulnerable state.

EVERYTHING IS ALIGNED

As a hiring manager, once you realize that there’s now an equal chance both the man and woman will be on Parental Leave for an extended period of time, you have less a propensity to discriminate on pay   You can of course secretly still discriminate based on whatever other metrics you find justifiable, but at least one of the main points is now the same.

Readers, why do you think gender income inequality exists?  Do you think of men had the same amount of parental leave as women, income inequality would narrow?  What are some of your solutions?

Have you ever been discriminated in pay based on your sex?  How did you prove it?  Is discrimination OK so long as you aren’t being discriminated against?

Regards,

Sam

If you believe in income equality for males and females, please sign up for my RSS Feed or E-mail Feed to keep in touch.

Moreover, this site is not limited to animations, glossaries and videos because it has also in-depth explanations on the said processes that are explained by the company’s expert crews who have the first hand experiences on the said processes. Thus, Tap Management Inc‘s site provides information not only to those who are curious about the industry but it gives further information to those who are interested in entering the business. It also provides updates on oil and gas demands worldwide.

The website according to their news release is a centralized location of intelligence for Tap Management Inc operations. It divulges how the company achieved its status being the leading company in the said business. This is also a venue to tell the public about the preparations it is doing for its expansions. The said expansions as further mentioned in their press release are a challenge for the company being one of the leaders in the industry.  The company in order to maintain its status has to maintain its supply. The only way then to maintain or exceed the supply of oil and gas is through continuous exploration for potential wells in and outside the country.

It cannot be denied that despite the oppositions in the usage of fossil energy, it is still the one that turns the world. For this, the company cannot be cowed by this conflict. Its continuing success cannot be stopped anymore with its developing assets in Rocky Mountain region, and other Mid-Continent regions of North America. Apart from its expansions, Tap Management Inc as of the moment has a total of 80 oil and natural gas-producing wells in several parts of the country namely, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas. This proves that this company is already stable from its foundation on November of 2005.

When I was younger, I got my heart broken by an older woman.  It took about two months to muster up the courage to ask her out and when I did, all she responded was, “Sorry, I don’t date sophomores.”

No matter what I said, or what nice things I did for Karen, she was out of my league since I was younger.  Karen was a 17 year old junior, and I was an incredibly good looking and intelligent 16 year old.  I’m not making this up.  This is exactly what my mom told me every time I brought her home cupcakes.

The rejection was devastating until a bright light named Stephanie joined my high school as a freshman.  Stephanie was Karen’s younger sister and she was hot!  In fact, Stephanie was even more beautiful than her older sister, and I just had to pursue.

For one semester, Stephanie and I had a frolicking good time.  We hung out after school together almost every single day.  She’d come watch my tennis matches and I’d take her to McDonald’s afterward for some hot apple pie and McLovin.  Let’s just say that older sister Karen wasn’t very happy with either of us.  ’Til this day, I don’t know why!  Ladies, please explain!

BOYS TO MEN

Women think men are immature.  Perhaps it starts off in the 1st grade when we’re running around yelling with blue slurpee stains on our Sesame Street t-shirts.  Or perhaps the perception starts in the 7th grade where we start snapping one too many bras.  Maybe women think men are immature because even at 45, with our receding hair and ever expanding girth, we act like college dudes chasing tail even though we no longer have game.

Yes, men are immature, but only because women let us be immature.  Being a goofball is the path of least resistance.  Since we were wee lads, girls have always discriminated against younger boys in school.  “He’s a freshmen?  Gaawd, eww!  So immature!”  Oh gosh, how lame.

As a result of our consistent rejections by “older” women, we don’t like dating older women.  We’ve been conditioned to be afraid, therefore we stay away.

Yet a funny thing happens as men get older.  We get to date more and more women since there are more and more younger women to choose from!  Meanwhile, as women get older, given they believe younger men are irrationaly “eww”, their choice gets smaller and smaller.

Is the dwindling selection of men as women get older simply karma for rejecting us boys in school?  Or is the supply shrinkage a decision by women to stubbornly continue to refuse dating younger men?

To answer these question, I surveyed roughly 25 men and 25 women ages 21-45 to get their viewpoints.  Let’s go through some of the results.

THE GOLDEN CROSS OF LOVE

The Golden Cross Of Love happens for men at age 35.  With 10+ years of savings and a career he is proud of, 35 year old men are feeling confident.  Fitness levels are generally good given illnesses, sports injuries, and work haven’t had enough time to plague a body yet.  The only thing missing from this single man’s life by definition, is a life partner.

By the time you’re in your 30′s, you’re able to buy a comfortable car and a property to call your own provided you’ve been saving and working since college.  It doesn’t mean you have to buy these things, but just knowing the fact that you can provides a 35 year old man a wealth of confidence.

Any single man in their 30′s also has enough rejections from women to fill a notebook that could turn into a screen play.  After a while, men become inured to a woman’s dismissal, which ironically makes them more attractive because of an added level of confidence, that leads to better dialogue and approachability.

Of the 25 single men I surveyed ages 30-40, they all agree that around 35 is the best time for a man to be single.  One of the key reasons is because they find women ages 35 and younger to be the most ideal.  Above 35 is less ideal and not bad so don’t be offended please if you are 36+.  The 25 men simply admitted that they prefer women in this age range.

What about the Golden Cross Of Love for women?  Interestingly enough, the 25 single women surveyed ranging from 26-42 admitted that 35 is the age where it becomes less ideal for single women.  In fact, a number of females responded that after 35, their dating lives fell of a cliff, partly because guys wanted to date younger women, which is consistent with women’s desires to date older men.

The Golden Cross of Love for women is scattered.  Many said between ages 25-28 is the most ideal age for dating.  However, some also said being 30-33 was also very satisfying since they felt secure with themselves.  Nobody said over age 35 is ideal, although those above 35 have found loving older men as well.

The women in their mid-30′s said they mostly dated men in their 40′s, which begs the question: What happened to the men ages 35-39?  Nothing happened to them, as it goes back to the Golden Cross Of Love at 35, where men have been condition to date younger women.  The 35-39 year old man is dating the under 35 year old woman.

Other Points from the Survey

* Whether a woman is 24-29, it doesn’t matter.  A 29 year old is just as attractive to a man as a 24 year old.  The 24 year old has no competitive advantage over the 29 year old in other words.

* There is a perception difference between a 29 year old and a 30 year old woman, even if it’s just a one year difference.  At age 30, women and men are viewed much older than the one year difference.  Men do have a slight preference for the 30 year old than the 35 year old, all else being equal due to the optionality of having kids.

* There is a lower limit ideal age for men.  The formula men like to use is half his age + 7 i.e. a 36 old prefers to date women 25 years old or older.

* Some women don’t care about age, just like some men don’t mind dating older women.  Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but they are a ~20% minority.  Women respond by saying that “So long as there is chemistry, age doesn’t matter.“  Men, not so much.  Men focus more on the age given there are enough women ages 21-35.

* At 60 years old, the activity for men drops off a cliff since 60 is the age women surveyed would be the limit in terms of dating since the oldest woman I surveyed was 42.  However not all is lost. Many say that 60 is the new 40, so perhaps in 10 years, women will decide that it’s OK to date younger men, and all this nonsense will be for not!

MEN LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING OLDER

Thanks to women only wanting to date older men, and to fantastic comments from self-proclaimed attractive women in their 20′s and early 30′s who say they enjoy dating men 10-15 years their senior, men look forward to getting even older than 35!  Can you imagine the Golden Cross of Love being 35, where you get the most selection, yet attractive women pine for men in their mid 40′s as well?  Fantastico!

Instead of harboring resentment for women who rejected you when you were younger, like they rejected me,  you should embrace the rejection and be thankful.  Nobody really looks forward to getting older because that’s just one year closer to death.  But thanks to women, single men everywhere are looking forward to getting old so they can play the entire field!

Happy Valentines week everyone!

Readers, why do you think women are so focused on dating older men?  Is it really an immaturity thing?  Do you think 35 years old is the Golden Age of Love for men?  What do you think it is for women?  Does dating activity really drop off for women after 35 in your experience?

Why do women bash men who date younger women, when women reject younger men?  If you are woman, what is the widest age gap you’ve ever had with a man you’ve dated?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Photo: Donkeys In Love, Santorini.  SD

Regards,

Dr. Sam Love

If you enjoyed this article, please sign up for my RSS Feed or E-mail Feed to keep in touch!

Work reviews are a part of work life. Reviews are a great opportunity to highlight your wins and listen to constructive feedback so you can ultimately do better and earn more money.  Unfortunately, we sometimes don’t like what we hear.  Despite working so hard on a particular project, your boss might not even care. Despite highlighting a strength of yours, your boss highlights an even bigger strength of his to belittle you.

Not getting paid or promoted is a very discouraging fact of work life. Not all of us can be special. Not all of us can keep climbing the mountain of glory. It’s disappointing to be average, as I strongly believe that most of us have an inherent desire to be the best at what we do. A normal bell curve will say that 60-70% of us are in the middle of the pact. Therefore, most of us are probably average, or will encounter mediocrity at some point in our work careers.

The following article looks at the brightside of being average and how to carry on.

THE UPSIDE OF BEING AVERAGE

* There’s less pressure to perform. If you are deemed average by your manager, then you no longer have the stress to always be in the top percentile of performers. The 80/20 rule states that 20% of anything pays for 80% of everything. To achieve 100% perfection would require much more intense effort for less return. As a result, people get frustrated and burn out. As an average employee, you no longer have to be the best, and are therefore maximizing your work efficiency and minimizing the level of stress.

* You have the ability to surprise on the upside. As an average employee, nobody really expects you to make waves and come up with great ideas and profitable solutions. Therefore, if you just occasionally step up and offer something great, everybody will take notice. In fact, whatever great thing you do present, it will seem even more spectular from you, then from a consistently high performer. From the body that no longer reacts to the same exercise routine, to the wife who no longer finds her husband attractive, we get used to things very quickly and need to mix things up.

* Your relationship with your family and friends improve. Since you are average, you can be like everybody else and leave at 5pm, or whenever everybody else leaves. You don’t have to bust your butt working 12 hours a day until 8pm to try and please anybody. The term, “going the extra mile” becomes foreign to you.  You get to go home to your wife and have dinner with her at a reasonable time. You get to go home and play with your kids before they go to bed.  Your friends start seeing you again.

* You no longer get upset when others get paid and promoted before you. Because you’ve taken down your performance a notch and are now less stressed and happier, you no longer have as many setups for disappointment. When you compete against high-performers, not all high performers will be rewarded which creates a tremendous amount of distaste if you are one of the failures. As an average performer, you no longer expect to get paid or promoted anymore, therefore expectations are aligned and you don’t really care.

* You are able to focus on what you really like to do. You can’t love your job all the time. With added time, you’re able to focus on your hobbies that truly make you happy. Some people love playing sports. Others may love to read and write. Meanwhile, many more enjoy traveling. Without the constant stress to perform, you suddenly feel free.  Just focusing on getting paid is very soul-sucking.  By getting underpaid, you no longer have to take your work seriously, and start appreciating everything else that’s good.

* You no longer feel guilty working 40 hours a week. Given you are paid just like everyone else, you no longer feel guilty not working as hard as you can. You stop feeling guilty about taking all your vacation days either. One hour lunches are the norm, and if you have to schedule your doctor or dental appointments during the day, so be it.  Even sick days on a Friday or Monday become legitimate so you can take a nice long weekend.

* Nobody will gun for you.  As an average performer, you will never be the target of hostility, hatred, or jealousy.  You don’t have to fear anybody stealing your thunder and taking your ideas because nobody cares.  You’ll hardly ever be under a magnifying glass.

* You no longer get upset at big government taxing you to death!  This could be one of the best benefits of being average.  You don’t make a lot of money, therefore the government can’t get their inefficient, grubby paws on your soft-earned money.  You no longer will be frustrated with the government’s desire to redistribute wealth to half the population who pays no income taxes.  You might start becoming a beneficiary of big brother instead!  Yeah, baby!

A KEY THING TO REMEMBER

Don’t take being average too far. Make sure that you truly are average, so you aren’t laid off if you don’t want to be laid off.  Companies RIF their bottom 10% performers frequently, but not their middle 50% performers. So long as you take being average seriously, you’ll be fine. It’s all about aligning your expectations with your work habits with your pay. Once you have everything aligned, you’ll be as happy as Captain Meatball looking for a donut!

I hope you’re reading this post at work and leaving early today!  Happy Friday!

Readers, what are your thoughts of settling with being average?  Have you ever had a below expected review that made you mad, but once you recognized the benefits of being average, you started to relax and get happy again?  Does the constant desire to be the best at everything make people sad?  On Yakezie.com, I share a couple stories of what makes me happy, and I am completely average!

Photo: Captain Meatball Looking For A Donut, SD.

Regards,

Sam

If you enjoyed this article, please sign up for my RSS Feed or E-mail Feed to keep in touch!

I spoke to my father yesterday and curiously asked him about his thoughts on assisted living facilities.  “Absolutely depressing!“, he said.  I couldn’t agree more that assisted living programs are depressing given it reminds us everyday about our mortality.

Who wouldn’t want to stay put in a home they’ve lived in for years instead?  I know I would.  Home is a special place that makes us feel comfortable and warm.  Ideally, you own your home outright in retirement and no longer have payments.  However, this is a topic for another post.

We can only hope that we remain healthy for the rest of our lives, but we’ll eventually need some help thanks to injuries or illnesses.  Some of us will have the financial strength to comfortably pay for our healthcare in retirement.  Others might have wealthy children to rely on.  But what if you do not want to burden anybody, and don’t have that much money to last?

Buying long-term care could be an ideal solution for your retirement years.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LONG-TERM CARE

Long-term care insurance generally covers home care, assisted living, adult daycare, respite care, hospice care, nursing home and Alzheimer’s facilities. If home care coverage is purchased, long-term care insurance can pay for home care coverage, such as the cost of a live-in caregiver, housekeeper, or therapist for up to 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Clearly, one can imagine this type of care is not cheap, often ranging from $50,000 to $75,000 a year.  You might think long-term care (LTC) is only reserved for people ages 65 and up.  However, that’s wrong as LTC insurance can be purchased and used for everyone of all ages.  In fact, according to Wikipedia, 40% of those receiving LTC are between the ages of 18-65.

According to a survey done by New York Life Insurance Company, the 2009 national average per night at a nursing home costs $220 a day, or some $90,000 a year on average.  Given the average stay at a nursing home, or need for long-term care is about 3 years, one would need over $200,000 to pay for long-term care if one doesn’t have LTC insurance.

Why Would You Want Long-term Care?

* You don’t have the financial capacity to take care of yourself.

* You don’t have any children.

* You have children who don’t want to help, or don’t have the financial ability to help.

* You don’t want to feel like a burden on your children, friends, or relatives.

What Determines Long-Term Care Insurance Premium Rates?

Long-term care insurance rates are determined by six main factors: the person’s age, the daily (or monthly) benefit, how long the benefits pay, the elimination period, inflation protection, and the health rating (preferred, standard, sub-standard).

According to “America’s Health Insurance Plans” The average age of purchasers has dropped from 68 years in 1990 to 61 years in 2005, and the number of purchasers who are under age 65 has increased significantly.

Most companies offer multiple premium payment modes: annual, semi-annual, quarterly, and monthly. Companies may add a percentage for more frequent payment than annual. Options such as spousal survivorship, non-forfeiture, restoration of benefits and return of premium are available with most plans.

According to the website Allaboutlongtermcare.com, the following chart below shows a rough estimate of a $219,000 ($150 a day), 4-year benefit LTC plan.  As we’ve already discussed above, it costs $200,000+ already for only a 3 year plan, therefore the annual premiums here are likely 30% too light.  Please note you can take various different amounts of LTC insurance coverage e.g. 2 year coverage, 5 year coverage, lifetime coverage and benefit amounts of course.

As you can see, the older you are, the more expensive LTC insurance will be.  That’s not a surprise.  Nobody really knows how much long-term care they need, because nobody knows exactly when they will start needing help, and when they will die.  However, statistics show that the median life expectancy is 80, and the majority of us will require 2-5 years of long-term care before we die.

The policy premiums of long-term care insurance are created to account for the majority of people.  Of course, if you are more conservative and believe you will live a long time, then you should consider getting more coverage.  However, life expectancy and quality of life are two separate issues.  You could live until 100 and just need care from ages 98-100.  Or, you might be unfortunate to contract something at 75, but live on in an unideal state for 25 years, requiring $2,125,000 (25 X $80,000) to pay for LTC.

CONCLUSION

If you do not have $200,000-$300,000 in liquid cash saved up, are not very healthy, and have no children to rely on to pay for long-term care, you should consider taking out LTC insurance.  Remember, LTC insurance is not necessarily an age issue, as 40% of those receiving long-term care are between the age of 18-65.  Every single major insurance company provides long-term care so shop around for the most competitive rates.

Long-term care is insurance that pays off after a pre-determined period, which is usually after both short-term and long-term disability runs out after 12-36 months if you are working.  You can tell from the charts that the cost of LTC is getting incredibly expensive, way outstripping the rate of inflation.  As a result, you’ve seen the average LTC policy holder’s age decline to age 61 from 69 according to America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Feeling like a burden is a terrible, terrible thing.  I can’t stand relying on people given my pride and guilt.  However, getting long-term care is a personal decision only you can decide to make.  Hope this information helps!

Readers, have you or your parents ever taken out a long-term care insurance plan?  Have you ever received long-term care before?  If so, how much did the care cost?

Photo: Old Man Resting In Santorini, Sam.

Regards,

Sam

There’s a big difference between getting fired and getting laid off.  Most of what you read in the papers is about people getting laid off due to a “reduction in force”, or RIF as many companies call it nowadays.  Getting fired is almost always due to cause.

You may have sent out a blast e-mail with company secrets by mistake.  Or perhaps you said some sexist joke about women when the female HR manager so happened to walk by.  Whatever the case, you don’t want to get fired, nor should you quit if you don’t have to.

If you are fired or quit, a number of things can happen:

1) You will not be eligible for our government’s gregarious 99 weeks of potential unemployment benefits.  The logic is, you did something wrong that forced your company to fire you, hence it is your own fault you are unemployed, hence no soup for you.

2) You might have a black mark on your record if you’re fired, making you damaged goods for future employers.

3) You may lose supporters who would have written letters of recommendation.  But, since you were fired or quit, they might not want to risk their reputation on you anymore.

4) You might die alone.  Few things in life are worse than dying alone.  You’ll understand how difficult it is to do your own thing, or quit with no back-up in the post.

GET “RIFFED” AND BREATHE EASIER

Now that you realize the downside of getting fired or quitting, you should logically seek an alternative.  If you just can’t stand the company you are working for anymore, figure out a way to get laid off of course!

If you are laid off, you get a number of benefits:

1) You are eligible for government unemployment benefits.  Here in San Francisco at least, you can get $800 every two weeks.  Someone just told me they are getting $1,000 every two weeks, but that isn’t confirmed.

2) You may get severance.  Many companies offer 2 weeks per every year worked.

3) If you have deferred compensation in the form of stock or cash, you are eligible to receive these assets during the scheduled time table.  My friend Paul, for example, has some $400,000+ in deferred compensation he loses if he quits!

4) You will get all your unused vacation days paid.  You should get this anyway, but if you quit, not necessarily at all.

5) You will have no black marks on your employment record.  A key if you want to get back into the game at a future time.

So how does one get laid off instead?

Let’s say you’ve been working at your company for 5 years, and you’ve decided selling vacuum cleaners no longer interests you.  You are a bit burnt out, and you wish to take a 3 month break between jobs to recharge.  You can’t just quit because you’ll lose 10 weeks of severance pay and not receive unemployment benefits.  Here are some ways and thoughts to get laid off:

* Talk to your manager about the company’s staffing levels.  “Bloated, lean, just about right?”  Basically tell her that you empathize with how difficult her decision must be to lay people off, and ask how she copes?  As the dialogue ensues, bring up a suggestion that you are willing to sacrifice your position for the good of the firm if she is asked by senior managers to choose people to layoff.  This way, you seem like a good team player.  You should also make clear that with your sacrifice, you wish to receive severance and any deferred compensation you might have.

Being a manager is very difficult during rough times.  If you can help managers make some difficult decisions for them, more often than not, they will accept your proposal.  If you ever wonder why C-level execs hire consultants, now you know.  The consultants are often the scapegoats for letting go of staff, so the blame doesn’t go on the big bosses.  Of course, if you are one of the top performers, they will make it difficult for you to leave, and might ask how they can help make your life better and might even give you a raise.

* Bring up the topic of a sabbatical with your manager.  There’s never really a good time to ask for one.  When things are busy and booming, the last thing the company wants is for an employee to take a nice 3 month long break.  When things are bad, your manager will think you’re being thoughtless, and foolish with your career.  That’s fine, since you want to get laid off anyway!  You can recharge and enjoy your time off, and if you get back and find yourself laid off, then what a fine choice.  We’ll talk about whether one should take a sabbatical or not in a future post.

* Fade to mediocrity.  This is a riskier strategy that must be tactfully managed.  Companies let go of their bottom 5-10% performers every year.  Some call it the “Jack Welch Rule” from GE.  So long as you are one of the average 70-80% of employees, you’ll likely never be let go.  Falling to the bottom 10% in performance requires: not being a team player, but still being nice e.g. “Sorry, can’t stay late, gotta go!”, being out of sight, not feeling you’ve put in your best work, and maybe even arriving 15 minutes late at times.  Be very careful not to do anything wrong.

* Become annoying, but stay nice.  Are you the type of person who likes to whistle at your cubicle to the agitation of your colleagues?  Do you like to bring back from breakfast or lunch the stinkiest meal possible and disgust your neighbors?  Well then, you are on the right path for getting put on the “RIF List.”  I’ve had a couple managers tell me they can’t stand someone because of their loud noises and whistles.  Because they can’t stand that person, the manager finds nitpicking things to justify a RIF.  As the annoying person, you should continue to be nice and smile.  Just be a little oblivious.

Important: It’s really all about planting a seed of doubt in your manager’s mind.  Once your manager thinks you’re a pain in the ass, annoying, or not pulling your weight, you will have a very difficult time convincing him or her otherwise.  People are naturally biased and will find reasons to let you go if you sufficiently bother them.  For example, if your manager is a Republican, you can mention you are going to an Obama fund raiser.  Totally legal, but you will crawl under your manager’s skin to the point where you will get laid off.

Things to do or not to do when you are trying to get laid off:

* Do not write anything in e-mail that could condemn you to getting fired.  Assume all your e-mail are read.  If you are embarrassed to read your e-mail on the front page of the newspaper, the e-mail is not legitimate and should not be written.

* Do not abuse your corporate card or any channel where you can spend the firm’s money.  You should never abuse your corporate card anyway.  All expenditure must be above board.

* Do not harass your colleagues sexually or otherwise.  This is a given.  Now is not the time to go hit on the 21 year old intern at the other end of the floor.  Many companies have a non-interoffice dating policy.

* Do not come in late or leave early more than once a week.  Companies can terminate you for being incessantly late, so don’t slack too much.

* Read your employee handbook.  There are many dangers you must avoid that are contained in the hand book.

CONCLUSION

Getting laid off can be a wonderful thing if you have other things planned.  The better an employee you are, the harder it is for you to engineer your layoff because you are clearly more valuable to the firm than what they are paying you.  Also, if a manager lays you off, by many state laws, they can not replace you with another candidate for a certain time period, because that would violate the reason for a layoff.  If you were a bad employee, you should have been fired instead, but that opens up reputational risk to the firm as well as litigation risk.

If you are thinking about quitting your job, please at least attempt to engineer a layoff instead.  You will get severance, all your deferred compensation, as well as unemployment benefits from the government.  This is real money that shouldn’t be taken lightly, since there’s no guarantee that after the layoff you’ll succeed in whatever new thing you want to do.  Besides, after all these years of paying taxes, don’t you want at least some of that money back?

Sooner or later, our careers end.  If you want your career to end sooner, consider getting laid off instead of quitting or getting fired.  And if you have an incredible opportunity lined up already that will pay you handsomely, go ahead and quit.  Just make sure you know what you’re missing if you do!

Readers, have any of you engineered your own layoff before?  Have you ever tried and failed?  For those of you who had another opportunity in the background, how did you enjoy your layoff period and what did you do?

If you have quit your job, why did you do so instead of trying to get let go instead?

Photo: What you can do with your severance and unemployed benefits!

Regards,

Sam

If you enjoyed this article, please sign up for my RSS Feed or E-mail Feed to keep in touch!