Quarter Life Crisis

It is always refreshing to see a successful person remain humble in the face of his or her success. As President Theodore Roosevelt liked to say, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Actually, he took it from a West African proverb.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Generally in short supply among the world’s fastest sprinters, humility is a virtue which defines the life of Tyson Gay.

Winner of the 100 and 200 meters at last year’s world championships and a favorite to duplicate that double at the Beijing Olympics in August, Gay is happiest away from the limelight.

Unlike former world 100 record-holder Maurice Greene who was known for his swaggering, macho image, Gay is softly-spoken and has no desire whatsoever to boost his ego.

The 25-year-old Kentucky native repeatedly talks about staying humble and has a very close relationship with his mother Daisy, with whom he speaks on a daily basis.

“I think I have always been humble,” Gay said. “I’m a caring guy and I always want everyone to do well. I always want my friends to run fast, I always want everyone to be financially sound and that’s just how I’ve always been.

Full article here.

” Even millionaires are feeling the economic squeeze, with many saying they don’t even “feel” wealthy…….

Tellingly, about 19 percent of the people surveyed do not consider themselves wealthy, even though they have, on average, $3 million to invest and earn at least $270,000 a year.

Callahan suggested that reflects people in this category struggling to maintain a lifestyle their income can’t support. “It says these folks are spending beyond their means,” he said.”

Poor millionaires. Maybe they need to trade in the Aston Martin for the BMW M6. That should ease the pressure a little bit.

Paying people a compliment appears to activate the same reward center in the brain as paying them cash, Japanese researchers said on Wednesday.They said the study offers scientific support for the long-held assumption that people get a psychological boost from having a good reputation.

“We found that these seemingly different kinds of rewards — a good reputation versus money — are biologically coded by the same neural structure, the striatum,” said Dr. Norihiro Sadato of the Japanese National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki, Japan.

“This provides the biological basis of our everyday experience that personal reputation is felt as rewards,” Sadato said.

Source: Reuters, April 23 2008 

Wealth can deliver three key benefits. The good news: If you are savvy, you can enjoy this trio of benefits even if you don’t have great wads of cash. A fat portfolio just makes it all a little easier.

1. If you have money, you don’t have to worry about it. This isn’t guaranteed. There are lots of rich folks who agonize constantly — and needlessly — about their finances. Still, if you save diligently, you should reach the point where money worries are relatively rare.

This feeling of financial serenity isn’t, however, only for the wealthy. If you live beneath your means and invest prudently, you can achieve a sense of financial control long before you achieve full financial independence.

As I see it, this is yet another reason to follow my favorite investment strategy, which is to build a globally diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds.

If you are diversified, you don’t have to fret about your wealth imploding because of a few disastrous stocks or a single rotten market. And if you buy index funds, you don’t have to worry about badly lagging behind the market averages because you or your fund managers pick the wrong stocks.

2. Money can give you the freedom to pursue your passions. Ideally, you want to spend your days engaged in activities that you find absorbing and satisfying, that you feel you’re good at — and where you feel you’re doing good.

Indeed, the happiest retirees are typically those who have a sense of purpose, whether it’s volunteering for their pet cause, coaching a children’s sports team, helping their church or returning to long-neglected studies. Retirement gives them a chance to pursue their passions without worrying about a paycheck.

But again, you don’t need to be financially independent to have a sense of purpose. If you’re young, you can pick a career that is close to your heart. If you’re in your 40s and you have been saving for 15 or 20 years, maybe you can afford to swap into a new job that is less lucrative but more fulfilling.

3. Money can buy you time with friends and family. You don’t just need a reason to get up in the morning. You also need somebody to come home to at night.

Studies have found that regularly seeing friends and family can provide a huge boost to happiness. Money helps in this regard, allowing you to go out to dinner with neighbors, travel to see old friends, take your family on vacation and go to the theater with your spouse. If you don’t need to work or you only work part time, that will help further, giving you more hours to share with the folks you like best.

But while money makes all this easier, it clearly isn’t a necessity. Disgruntled with your lot in life? My advice: Forget spending more money at the mall — and instead spend more time with friends. Your bank account may still be skimpy, but your life will be far, far richer.

Source: WSJ, written by Jonathan Clements, April 9 2008

QLC’ers want to be healthy. Although they have career and life issues to deal with, they would like to live as long as they can so that once they exit the QLC, they can enjoy the fruits of their labor for a very long time.

The worst places for your health — like leaving your toothbrush on the bathroom sink.

Source: MSN 

Since I’ve become a full time working man, I’ve started to realize that the highlights of my days, weekends and holidays all revolve around food. Not just food like grabbing a burger food, but good food - like the type of food where you have to make reservations and eat what they serve you type thing. It’s not just me either, 8/10 people I know (varying from unemployed to consultant to engineer to banker) all love doing the same thing. I guess it’s the way people our age celebrate our semi-financial independence from our parents and new found money appearing in our bank accounts. Or maybe it’s because we want a taste of the high life and feel like we’re in control if only for a few hours. It’s definitely not a great habit to get into at our age unless you’re already pulling in mad cash, but hey, for a lot of us at this stage in our lives, it could be only time when we can spend so freely. If you’re concerned that you’re spending too much on food but don’t want to stop with the fine dining, this Morton’s coupon should help ease your conscience.