I had lunch with Sabino yesterday. He’s my accountant — but he’s also my friend (and a loyal Money Boss reader). We haven’t seen each other since before Kim and I left for our RV trip in March of 2015, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

I told him about our fifteen-month journey across the United States and about my plans for this website. He told me about his business and his kids. He’s worked hard all his life to give his family a solid future, and now — at age 46 — all of his dreams seem to be coming true.

I’ve shared Sabino’s story several times in the past. But for those who are unfamiliar, here’s a synopsis.

Sabino’s family moved to the United States when he was ten years old. They were poor and didn’t speak English. But from an early age, Sabino wanted to be part of the American Dream. He learned English, worked hard, and put himself through college.

After Sabino got married, he and his wife Kim set financial goals. Their chief aim was for Kim to stay home and raise a family. So while our friends were buying new homes and new cars, Sabino and Kim rented a mobile home in the country for $200 a month and paid $950 cash for a 1982 Honda Accord. They both worked full-time jobs, but they lived off Sabino’s income alone and used Kim’s salary to repay $35,000 in student loans.

“We made sacrifices,” Sabino says. “We made these choices because of the goals we had. We knew what we were working for, and we were happy to do it.” (Back then, I didn’t understand their choices and sacrifices; twenty years later, it all makes sense.)

Today, Sabino is a successful business owner while Kim stays home to raise their three children, just as they planned. Because of their diligence, they now own a nice home in the country (they’ll pay off the mortgage next spring) and new cars that are fully paid for. By staying focused on their purpose, they’ve been able to build the life they always dreamed about.

Over our Mexican food, we talked about the qualities that lead to success. As I often do, I complained about the current narrative that the mass media is trying to sell Millennials: their lives are tough because the economy sucks and the deck is stacked against them. “I just don’t believe it’s true,” I said. “The economy doesn’t suck. And now might be the best time in history to be alive. Besides, even if this story were true, so what? If you’re dealt a crappy hand, it’s up to you to make the best of it.”

Sabino nodded in agreement. “I don’t like that sort of thinking either,” he said. “But it’s nothing new. Our culture always has a story they want to tell you about yourself. When I came to this country, for instance, everyone — my friends, my teachers, my family, everyone — had expectations for me and what my life would be like.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“When I was young, my parents worked in the fields. That’s how they made money to support us. One day my father pulled me aside. He told me that my future too was to work in the fields — unless I chose to change my destiny. That talk made an impression on me. Nobody expected a poor Mexican kid to graduate from high school, but that’s what I did. Nobody expected a poor Mexican kid to graduate from college, but that’s what I did. Nobody expected a poor Mexican kid to own an accounting firm, but that’s what I did. I decided to live a different story than the one that others had written for me.”

Sabino is one of the inspirations for my Money Boss philosophy, and the reason is obvious. He’s lived it! (And he continues to live it.)

For more on Sabino’s story, check out this interview he did for the Oregon Multicultural Archives at Oregon State University.

[Read more…]

I just returned to Portland after a week in New York City, a week during which I spent five days packed with personal-finance meetings and events. (I’ll have plenty to say about those meetings and events in upcoming articles.)

While I was away, Kim was responsible for managing our tiny little household — one puppy and two kittens — all by herself. This proved challenging since she was also working twelve-hour days as a fill-in dental hygienist.

“I’ll tell you what,” she said when I got home. “This week taught me just how important quality of life is.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, because the animals were home alone all day, they needed a lot of attention every evening. Like three hours of attention. Especially the dog. On the days I worked across town, that meant I was getting home at 6:00 or 6:30 and having to entertain the animals until bedtime. It didn’t leave me time for anything else.”

“That sucks,” I said.

“It was frustrating,” Kim said. “But one day I worked at the dental office just up the street. I walked to work. I had so much more free time. I had more free time in the morning, and I had more free time in the evening. The dog was still wild when I got home, but I got home at 4:30, which meant I had time to take her for a long walk before dinner. And I still had that done before the time I’d been getting home from the offices across town.”

“Sounds like you should try to get a job at the office up the street,” I said.

“I agree,” Kim said. “Even if they were to pay me less money, it’d be worth it for the increase in quality of life.”

Secondary Effects

Kim’s observation is nothing new, of course. For a long time, I’ve preached the importance of picking homes and jobs that match your lifestyle — and encouraged folks to live as close to work as possible. With few exceptions, a long commute is simply wasted time (and wasted money).

But her comments reminded me of a conversation I had during my week in New York. Somebody — and I can’t remember who because I didn’t take notes during this particular discussion — was describing the importance of what they called “secondary effects” and how people generally forget to factor them into their decisions. [Read more…]

Once again, my finely-honed procrastination abilities have cost me cold, hard cash. I seem to be an expert at putting things off…and paying for it.

My passport expires next April. But because many (most?) countries require that you have six months left on your passport before you enter their country, I need to renew it before traveling to Ecuador in November. I’ve known that I need to renew my passport since February but keep finding reasons not to.

• First it was because we were still in Savannah, and I didn’t want to do the transaction from there. What if it was mailed back to me after we resumed our RV trip back to Portland?
• Then, of course, I couldn’t do the renewal because we were on the road. There was a chance we’d be going to Mexico, so I needed to keep my passport with me.
• I started the paperwork when we got back to Portland. I printed everything out, then signed and dated the renewal application in mid-July. But I didn’t mail it in. I know I have some spare passport photos around here somewhere and I wanted to use them. But I could never find them.
• Finally, life got in the way. I got busy with the dog and the blog. I did a workshop at World Domination Summit. Then there was Fincon.

Bottom line? When I found the paperwork on my desk yesterday, I realized I only had five weeks to get my passport renewed. That meant I had to request expedited service, which costs $170 instead of $110. My chronic procrastination cost me sixty bucks.

Believe it or not, that’s cheap. Lots of times, my procrastination costs me more. Sometimes much more. [Read more…]

Kim and I traveled to San Diego last week for the sixth-annual Fincon, the conference “where money and media meet”. I look forward to this event every year because it’s a terrific way to connect with other financial bloggers, journalists, and entrepreneurs.

Like any conference, Fincon is packed with useful lectures and workshops about topics related to the field. (On Thursday, I participated in a workshop devoted to the past, present, and future of the early retirement movement.) It’s also a great place to forge business partnerships with companies like Fidelity Investments and Ally Bank.

For me, however, the chief value of a conference like Fincon is the opportunity to hang out with my friends and colleagues.

A Meeting of Minds

Networking is a dirty word to a lot of people. It conjures images of slick guys in expensive suits who spam their business card to as many people as possible while pitching their product or service. There are absolutely some folks like that at Fincon, but they’re rare. They’re the exception, not the rule.

Because my peers have dubbed me “the grandfather of personal finance blogging”, and because I’ve been fortunate to build and sell a profitable website already, I view my role at Fincon as a resource. I know next to nothing about modern blogging (although I’m learning!), but I still have lots of experience to draw upon. More than that, my decade in this field has allowed me to build a wide personal network, so I’m able to connect people who ought to know each other.

I suspect most new Fincon attendees spend their time attending the info-packed sessions. Not me. I spend my time in the hallways and lobbies, chatting with whomever happens to pass along. I chat with old friends like Jim Wang and Harlan Landes. I chat with newbies like Gwen Merz and Marcus Garrett. I chat with people who have tiny podcasts and I chat with people who have created massive followings.

When I network, I practice what I preach.

I go into each conversation without motive. This probably goes against every piece of professional networking advice, but I don’t have objectives when meeting people. I let the conversation go where the conversation wants to go. Preferably, we chat about our personal lives: about our dogs, about travel, about Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Because we’re at a business conference, we do often chat about business, but I try not to steer things in any particular direction. I do my best to keep the conversation focused on the other person, not on me.

True story: Last year, at a smaller conference that feeds into Fincon, I co-presented about “the right way to network”. I explicitly said that leading with your pitch is the wrong way to network. After the session, sure enough, a guy came up to pitch me on his product. I wanted to shoot myself.

Awesome People

This year, I enjoyed talking with dozens of people, many of whom I’d never met before. Highlights include chatting with: [Read more…]