How to make $4 billion in 10 months

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Warren Buffett’s stake in Goldman Sachs pays off…in a BIG way

Remember when Warren Buffett told everyone in a NY Times OP-Ed that the key to investing is to “Be greedy (BUY) when others are fearful and to be fearful (SELL) when others are greedy?”  Well, I hope you listened.

Buffett famously took a stake in Goldman last September, at just the time when everyone felt as though the economic sky was falling.  Now that the market is in the process of recovering, and Goldman’s stock has shot up, his investment is now worth about $9.1 billion….about $4.1 billion more than what he paid for it in September.

Not bad for 10 months of work.

Read the entire story here

Cassel Makes the Most of His Opportunity

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Matt Cassel

When opportunity knocks, will you be prepared to make the most of it?

Well, Matt Cassel, a career backup in college and in the pros, parlayed a great 2008 season, during which he made his first start since high school,  into a lucrative franchise tag. Now, he’s locked himself into a deal to be the long-term quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Cassel and the Chiefs worked out a six-year deal that will pay him in excess of $10 million a season, according to a source. The contract will keep Cassel with the Chiefs until 2014.

The deal is for $63 million, with $28 million guaranteed, according to a source. He’s going to make $40.5 million in the first three years of his contract.

Read the full story here.

Who’s the Boss?

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may coverWho’s The Boss?
Don’t Like Your Job? Create Your Own.

When you turn on the TV and you hear that 5 million people have lost their jobs since the beginning of this recession, I’m sure those of us that still have one are thankful to say the least. But, is it truly a blessing to be trapped in a job that you hate, working for a bunch of people that you can’t stand? Not really. And you wonder why it’s so hard to get up in the morning? It’s great to be thankful that you can put food on the table, but is that all that you want out of the deal?

Who’s the Boss?

No, I’m not referring to the 80’s sitcom where Tony Danza used to chase around Judith Light like he didn’t have any sense. Although, who knew that Alyssa Milano, Tony’s daughter on the show, would turn out so smoking hot that she has grown men watching “Charmed” just to get a glimpse of her? I sure didn’t see that coming…but I digress.

I’m talking about taking a look at who is really the boss of you. Do you have a career rather than just a job? [If you are not sure…you definitely have a job.] How much control do you have over the direction of your career? Over how much money you make? If you don’t like the answers to these questions, it might be time to strike out on your own.

I know, I know, this isn’t what you’ve been taught…until now. If you are anything like me, your parents told you that the formula for success was Study Hard + Good Grades = Good College and Good Grades + Good College = Good Job. This equation is true. But you know by now that I don’t want you to have a GOOD JOB, I want you to have a GREAT LIFE. In order to do that, I think it’s time you started thinking about starting your own business. Why work yourself to death making someone else rich?

Where is Your Leverage?

It is very difficult for most people to get wealthy because their only source of income is their hourly wage or salary. But there is only one you and there are only 24 hours in the day. Sure, if you have a unique skill (doctors, attorneys, athletes) that someone is willing to pay top dollar for, you can use that model. If not, you need to find some sort of leverage to help you build real wealth.

Starting a business helps you get that leverage. There is a limit to what you can sell on your own, but your income is unlimited once you hire a bunch of people that can sell for you. The fact is either you get rich on the backs on someone else, or someone else gets rich off of yours. Period. Which one of those is your favorite position?

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The Early Bird Gets The Cheese

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april coverThe Early Bird Gets the Cheese
Start Early. Make Money.

Wait a minute…is that what I think it is? Is it? Yes, it is…it’s….the SUN! Holy mackerel, I can’t believe it. I was beginning to think that the economy was so bad that we couldn’t afford sunlight anymore. Whew, that is a relief. I just recently realized how different my attitude is when it’s warm outside and the sun is shining. I just have better days in general under those conditions. Perhaps I need to move to a warmer climate. Hmm, something to think about.

I also get excited because the warmer it gets, the closer I get to playing golf. I started playing golf a few years ago because I thought that it was a skill that I needed to have as a businessman. It only took me a couple of times out on a few beautiful courses and I immediately fell in love with the game. Love, though, does not reduce your handicap so I continue to practice so that my swing never, EVER gets as bad as Charles Barkley’s. If you haven’t seen his swing, check out the Haney Project on the Golf Channel for a few good laughs.

If you start to play the game you will hear a lot of golfers say “Boy, I really wish I had started playing golf earlier.” I agree. The funny thing about that statement is that it is very similar to what I hear people say about their money. “I wish I had gotten started with investing earlier.” “I wish I had saved more money when I was younger.” Funny how life imitates golf, huh?

Talent vs. Training

Of course we can’t talk golf without talking Tiger Woods; especially since he laid the Chris Brown…oops I mean the smack down, on an entire field of golfers essentially on one leg at the US Open last year. How does he do it? Watching some of the shots that he makes, it seems as if he has superhuman powers. But he’s from California, not Krypton so there has to be another answer. There is…lots and lots of practice. [Read more...]

Are You Afraid of Heights?

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march-coverJulia Beverly talks about taking risks to get to the top

jenesismagazine.com

 

Boy, February was a doozy.  There was so much fear all around.  Fear that your bank was going to be shut down and the stock market was going to zero.  February actually had a Friday the 13th, and Hollywood conveniently released a new Jason Movie.  I even watched the last Saw movie on the way back to Pittsburgh from a business meeting (did you know the Escalade is like a house on wheels?).  All of that got me to thinking about how afraid people are to take risks in life.  I don’t mean taking a risk like buying a house with an adjustable rate mortgage and praying that you’ll be able the make the payment when the rate adjusts higher.  No, that’s just, well…stupid.  I mean taking the type of calculated risks that can get you closer to living the type of life that you want to live.

 

A lot of us get paralyzed by what we don’t know.  I remember not wanting to play paintball for the first time the day before my friend’s wedding because I wasn’t sure how it was going to feel taking one of those pellets to my shoulder blade.  But once I took the first hit and got through it, suddenly I turned into Dick Cheney and I had a helluva time.  No, the point is not that it’s fun to shoot your friends (although it is, especially if they owe you money).  The point is that by not taking risks, you are actually taking a risk…that you might miss out on something big.

 

Picture this; you are a young white woman primarily skilled as a photographer.  You have no experience in publishing.  You wouldn’t describe yourself as a natural salesperson.  You don’t live in New York.  Does that sound like a resume built for starting a Hip Hop Magazine?  Nope.  But that didn’t stop Julia Beverly from starting Ozone Magazine.  I caught up with Julia in Hotlanta and I gathered a few nuggets that you could use to help you take that risk on your next (or first) venture.

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You’re Hired!

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decemberFive Things You Must Learn From the World’s Biggest Job Interview

So here we are, one month removed from one of the biggest events of our lifetimes and I must admit that I am still in awe of what happened. He won. He really won. It’s almost like I keep waiting for Ashton Kutcher to run out from behind a Chevy Aerostar to tell me that I’ve just been Punk’d. That could still happen before January 20, but for now let’s just focus on the accomplishment.

Running for president is the biggest job interview in the world. What’s crazy, though, is that the election season of the past two years played out like the public official version of “The Apprentice.” Think about it, we started off with two teams, and each team had its own name, color and mascot. The teams were then given instructions to compete in these challenges called “primaries” and based on their performance in those events, someone would be sent home.

Week after week, contestants were called into the boardroom and were sent packing until we were left with one person from each team to compete in the final challenge. To spice things up, the final challengers were allowed to bring back someone from earlier in the show to help them in the final task. Shockingly, one contestant temporarily forgot which show he was on and brought back a contestant from America’s Next Top Model instead.

Oh and remember when Donald Trump asked the first black winner, Randall Pinkett, seconds after he hired him, if he would also hire Rebecca? Does that remind you of the pressure being put on the Barack Obama to “hire” a certain female competitor as his running mate??? Talk about life imitating, uh, reality shows. Does NBC know something we don’t know? The similarities are kinda creepy

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