"SHOW ME THE MONEY" VIEWS on HOW to make MONEY GR

[Scott Campbell]

whats a good field to go into in terms of money for a long period of time? My understand is that engineers get laid off around 50 due to A. overqualifying themselves, B. younger, smarter prospects for significantly cheaper available

Sales. Good sales people are grossly overpaid. The problem with sales is that 95% of the sales jobs out there are truly awful, so you have to target the 5% that are decent. Technical sales people (engineers) can do extremely well.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the long term. Business models evolve, so you'll have to also. And it's somewhat futile to try and predict now what the hot market segment will be in 20 or 30 years. Darwin is your friend. Adapt, or you'll become stale and underemployed. That diploma should not mark the end of you investing in your skill set. Ideally you'll find work that continuously enhances your skill set. It's your skill set that will determine your value in the employment marketplace, not your job. Jobs come and go.

Make the effort to become a great communicator, as that skill translates across all jobs and all industries. It is of little value to be brilliant if you can't communicate it to anyone else. I'm amazed at the lack of business writing skills in today’s workplace. It's absolutely horrific. Though you rarely see that poor writing coming out of the executive suite, and that is no coincidence. Speaking skills are equally important, and if you are an engineer that cleans up well and can be trotted out in front of customers, you'll be even more valuable.

IMO

[Scott Campbell]

About every month, my credit card company automatically raises my limit although I'd never use it. Previously, I asked them to lower the max b/c I read that before a loan it looks better to use more credit. What is the appropriate response? Should I continue letting the company float me a higher credit limit or not?

Bumpy Bump

B is probably way better equipped to handle this one, but I'll take a stab at it.

If it's not so high as to screw up your ratios, you should be fine. I take it your concern is about your credit rating as it relates to getting a home loan. In that case the best thing you could do would be to pull your own credit report and review it for errors. Make sure any errors are corrected. At that point you could take it to a loan officer and have him look for any ratios that are out of whack. You could probably get pre-approved for a loan, and the loan officer could probably let you know if any of your credit lines were hurting your ability to secure a larger mortgage.

[MJZiggy]

whats a good field to go into in terms of money for a long period of time? My understand is that engineers get laid off around 50 due to A. overqualifying themselves, B. younger, smarter prospects for significantly cheaper available

Sales. Good sales people are grossly overpaid. The problem with sales is that 95% of the sales jobs out there are truly awful, so you have to target the 5% that are decent. Technical sales people (engineers) can do extremely well.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the long term. Business models evolve, so you'll have to also. And it's somewhat futile to try and predict now what the hot market segment will be in 20 or 30 years. Darwin is your friend. Adapt, or you'll become stale and underemployed. That diploma should not mark the end of you investing in your skill set. Ideally you'll find work that continuously enhances your skill set. It's your skill set that will determine your value in the employment marketplace, not your job. Jobs come and go.

Make the effort to become a great communicator, as that skill translates across all jobs and all industries. It is of little value to be brilliant if you can't communicate it to anyone else. I'm amazed at the lack of business writing skills in today’s workplace. It's absolutely horrific. Though you rarely see that poor writing coming out of the executive suite, and that is no coincidence. Speaking skills are equally important, and if you are an engineer that cleans up well and can be trotted out in front of customers, you'll be even more valuable.

IMO

Nice advice. I'd like to add to it that you should also be concerned with doing something you love to do every day because whatever career path you choose you'll be doing it every day. You may think to yourself that career changes are possible and they are, but too many people get worn down doing a job they hate and it's decades before they ever get ithe guts to step off that ledge of security and quit to do something they like better. I've known people who were miserable, grumpy people for a long time and then one day quit their jobs and got into something new and were different people after that. There's an old bit of advice (true or not, I don't know) that says, "do what you love and the money will come."

[Bretsky]

About every month, my credit card company automatically raises my limit although I'd never use it. Previously, I asked them to lower the max b/c I read that before a loan it looks better to use more credit. What is the appropriate response? Should I continue letting the company float me a higher credit limit or not?

Bumpy Bump

B is probably way better equipped to handle this one, but I'll take a stab at it.

If it's not so high as to screw up your ratios, you should be fine. I take it your concern is about your credit rating as it relates to getting a home loan. In that case the best thing you could do would be to pull your own credit report and review it for errors. Make sure any errors are corrected. At that point you could take it to a loan officer and have him look for any ratios that are out of whack. You could probably get pre-approved for a loan, and the loan officer could probably let you know if any of your credit lines were hurting your ability to secure a larger mortgage.

Fosco,

A good question and one that there is no exact yes or no answer for. Your credit score is evaluated by a number of factors.

When one reads credit reports no matter how good the credit scores are, the report lists four reasons why each person doesn't have "better" credit. I've seen the adverse message of "too much revolving credit". That being said, when I see that message it's normally on a person with very good credit.....which is why the CC's keep floating him more money to use.

My view is as long as the credit isn't extremely excessive it won't hurt you much. My credit is in the high 700's and I have around 30G avaliable to me via credit cards (which I pay off monthly so I don't use that) and about 30G of unused credit via a Home Equity Loan.

Much more important, and the factor that significantly hurts individuals credit in relation to credit limits, is too many revolving accounts with balances. Those guys that have two big payment car loans, a boat loan, a Trailer Loan, and an extra 5 Credit Cards with high balances...........etc. Also, if you have recently run up balances as of late on the above, that hurts scores even more and it's easy to see when a person is going underwater far before it happens.

So regarding the offers, use common sense. I wouldn't let the revolving balance limits get excessive if you will never use them, but excessive may be different from me versus the guys in here making the big buckswanas.

In all probability, you are receiving these offers because you already have a good credit standing. That being said, as you approach the area when you are considering a home loan, contact an expert and have him pull and review your credit report for you. A quality bank/loan officer should be able to help you with that....and of course if you reside in the midwest I'm always happy to help out as well. Any pre-approval I do for clients is free, and even if I don't do a formal pre-approval I'm able to pull credit and review it with clients with a signed authorization form and a few bits of information I gather.

I'd love to do some home loans for people in here; maybe sometime down the road as my idea has been shot down a few times.


Cheers,
B

[pacfan]

I have nothing to add, but admiration.

amazing posts, guys

[Bretsky]

so, what does one do if they have student loans? Things appear to have taken a turn for the worst and it looks like I may leave school 20,000 in debt. What is an action plan on those when trying to invest your salary into IRA/401k etc.

I'm a good student so I think i'll be alright when the time comes to get a job, and my field from my school averages around 50k after graduation

Partial,

It's very normal for students to come out of college with well over 20G in student loans. Heck, I've seen six digits and still was able to finance a first home for them. Most of these loans are at a low interest rate and normally if they are several separate loans they can be consolidated into one at a low rate. I wouldn't get worked over paying these off before getting involved in your ROTH/401K. Just secure a low balance and low payment (this so you are more approvable for home loans).

[Bretsky]

Do a lot of people my age get into a lot of CC debt? That has never really been an issue for me. I have two credit cards, one from my bank and another for emergencies with a higher limit that I have never used. Is this damaging my credit rating having two? I have always paid the one on time, and the other I have never used.

Yes, many are very irresponsible. It is probably not damaging your credit having too. In fact, I'll give another take on this.

Regarding the two credit cards, for your credit rating I'd actually like you to be using both of those credit cards each month. Take that card you never use and charge gas or a small purchase once a month and pay it if full.

Remember every time you make a payment on time you get a positive remark to the credit burea and your score. If you don't have an auto loan, then IMO it's more important to use two CC's going forward to you have two positive trades (payments/marks) reported each month.

B

[MadtownPacker]

I have been making everyday purchase on a CC for things like groceries, gas, auto insurance, even DirectTV o a 0% CC. It has made my FICO blow up. I dont think using it hurts at all just not overloading. Doing this looks like Im spending hundreds a month on a CC but then paying it the same month.

Hows loaner view this Bretsky?

[Bretsky]

I have been making everyday purchase on a CC for things like groceries, gas, auto insurance, even DirectTV o a 0% CC. It has made my FICO blow up. I dont think using it hurts at all just not overloading. Doing this looks like Im spending hundreds a month on a CC but then paying it the same month.

Hows loaner view this Bretsky?

Mad,

When you said it's made your FICO blow up what do you mean ? It's elevated your score or brought it down ? My family uses 3 CC's each month and pays them every month in full.

[MadtownPacker]

Mad,

When you said it's made your FICO blow up what do you mean ? It's elevated your score or brought it down ? My family uses 3 CC's each month and pays them every month in full.

Elevated, cmon man, yo aint that old!

[Bretsky]

Mad,

When you said it's made your FICO blow up what do you mean ? It's elevated your score or brought it down ? My family uses 3 CC's each month and pays them every month in full.

Elevated, cmon man, yo aint that old!

Makes sense; I've heard random musings from many that for your FICO you have to carry a balance and it hurts you if you charge monthly and pay it off monthly. I've always felt that was crap. It's all about getting as many positive marks on your credit from on time payments and avoiding the negative marks for late payments. Before ya know it you'll prolly be getting pre-approved for 1MIL home in California Mad.

B

[The Leaper]

The best way to build wealth for retirement?

DO NOT HAVE KIDS BEFORE THE AGE OF 30!

Among my friends and acquaintences that are roughly my age, it is glaringly obvious that couples who have children before the age of 25 find it far more difficult to get ahead than those who wait to have children. Most of the friends I have who do not have children yet bring in a combined six digit income and are reasonably well off. Most of the friends I have who started a family early usually are behind the eight ball just keeping up with regular expenses...let alone saving up for retirement.

The amount of money that a couple can make in 3-5 years after marriage without the constraints of children can pay down a lot of debt and build up a solid savings that will earn interest over 20+ years.

The $10 investment in birth control each month is probably the best investment any couple can make until they secure their financial position. Otherwise, it will be an uphill battle no matter what.

[Bretsky]

The best way to build wealth for retirement?

DO NOT HAVE KIDS BEFORE THE AGE OF 30!

Among my friends and acquaintences that are roughly my age, it is glaringly obvious that couples who have children before the age of 25 find it far more difficult to get ahead than those who wait to have children. Most of the friends I have who do not have children yet bring in a combined six digit income and are reasonably well off. Most of the friends I have who started a family early usually are behind the eight ball just keeping up with regular expenses...let alone saving up for retirement.

The amount of money that a couple can make in 3-5 years after marriage without the constraints of children can pay down a lot of debt and build up a solid savings that will earn interest over 20+ years.

The $10 investment in birth control each month is probably the best investment any couple can make until they secure their financial position. Otherwise, it will be an uphill battle no matter what.

I'd concur that it's a great fiscal idea if you can. I had the general rule to be married about 5 years be4 kids. Call me an anal planner, but I wanted to save some bucks and make sure we weren't a statistic before having kids.

Problem many fall into, especially with 2 income spouses and no kids, is they free spend w/o a conscience. We did a lot of that, but I still threw a bunch of money into tech stocks, and then watched them go threw the roof and then back down to the floor.

[Bretsky]

Speaking of stocks, any hot tips or innovative technology out there people have heard of ? Right after I graduated college the NET came out; I remember thinking that I doubt if I'll ever get into that. Wife and I actually thought about throwing a few grand at Yahoo and AOL at the start, but didn't.

It's my goal, in my lifetime, to catch the best innovative technology that is exploding, like the NET, in the early stages and invest some money. Something life changing. California Residents probaby have the best info on this.

I've been watching XM radio and thought that might be in, but I'm not convinced. Here was an interesting article on the Cell Phone/Digital Camera growth; if I invest there I might make some change, but not the type I'm looking for.

By Jon Markman
Picture this: A world without film cameras.

It's a little hard to believe, but it's entirely likely that children under the age of 2 will grow up without ever seeing a film-based single-lens reflex camera, the kind that make delicious whirring noises and don't have instant-delete buttons. Everywhere you look, they are being phased out and shut down as people have switched en masse to digital cameras and camera phones.

Just last week, the industry's largest manufacturer, Canon (CAJ, news, msgs), announced that it would halt development of new film cameras and devote all its resources to digital cameras. A couple of months ago, supersized peers Konica, Minolta and Nikon said much the same. As a result, faster than you can say "cheese!", the sexy, solid, mechanical film camera of our youth is going the way of the typewriter, the rotary phone and the phonograph. And in its wake, a new market of vast proportions is shaping up.

Investors have to pay attention when changes of such long-term magnitude occur. It's not like you haven't noticed that digital cameras are so cheap it's no big deal to buy a $50 model for a child's birthday. But you may not realize it's still early enough in the product cycle to make a lot of money as an investor.

Posing with Mao
It's sort of like buying into the PC industry in the early 1990s, when Dell Computer (DELL, news, msgs) was still a pup, and Intel (INTC, news, msgs) and Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs) were large but not gigantic. If you think about it, PCs were already well established as a product in 1992, but Dell shares were going for $1 split adjusted, Intel went for $2 and Microsoft for $2.50. All are up nearly 10 times or more since then, as the industry has gone from being peripheral to central in the home and workplace. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)

It may not seem as if there's anything so essential about a digital camera, but they have become ubiquitous. When I traveled in China recently, they were at least as widely brandished as cell phones, and perhaps more so. Regardless whether a native tourist was a wealthy party member or a rube from the sticks, he had a camera at the ready to snap photos of anything that moved -- or not. It actually makes sense, as they may not have had anyone to call while standing in line in Tiananmen Square for two hours to see the petrified body of Chairman Mao, but they sure as heck wanted to record the moment for the folks back home.

Digital cameras, like cell phones, have become so commoditized a product that the big money is not being made in the shares of manufacturers like Canon and Eastman Kodak (EK, news, msgs), but rather in the shares of companies that reliably supply patent-protected semiconductors and software. This is getting to be a volume business -- just like mobile phones, but with fewer competitors. There are just two top U.S. providers -- OmniVision (OVTI, news, msgs) and Micron Technology (MU, news, msgs) -- and both are a lot more attractive today than they were a month ago, before the broad market sell-off.

Betting on camera phones
OmniVision slid almost 30% in a week and a half in the middle of May, and has since recovered a bit. Which is pretty amusing, in a twisted way, since over that time its business prospects actually improved. OmniVision's main product is an image-sensing device called the CameraChip. The formal name for the baseline technology is "complementary metal oxide semiconductor," or CMOS. But all you really need to know is that it's a piece of metal and glass that puts a lot of high-performance camera functionality in a tiny package. OmniVision sells these to a long list of customers, who put them in everything from low-cost plastic cell phones, video games and surveillance systems to chic titanium-body cameras. Sign up to receive Jon Markman’s weekly SuperModels newsletter.
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Omnivision will report earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter on June 15, and I think it will come in slightly above consensus, at 39 cents a share on $126 million in revenue. Shares should get a lift when the company updates its earnings guidance for the second half of the year and explains how the surprising strength of sales growth has led to much more robust cash flow than skeptics believed possible. It's already sitting on $5.72 a share in cash. Subtract out that cash and the stock trades at the low, low price-to-earnings multiple of 15 times 2007 estimates. That's about 25% lower than comparable high-tech manufacturers, most of whom are not facing OmniVision's great prospects. There are new competitive threats from the likes of Samsung and Toshiba (TOSBF, news, msgs) Toshiba overseas, and Micron here, but that's still too steep a discount.

OmniVision is making great strides in the automotive and security arenas with low-cost image sensors as well, but its bread and butter in new sales come from all the advertising you've seen by carriers like Verizon Communications (VZ, news, msgs) to encourage consumers to upgrade call-only phones into ones that take pictures or show videos. There's also been a successful push to encourage folks with low-resolution camera phones to upgrade to 1-megapixel models with enhanced quality, such as the Motorola RAZR and Samsung Blade. And next on the horizon will be a holiday promotion to hype people into wanting 2-megapixel camera phones that easily take the place of a conventional digital camera -- a product for which OmniVision is the leading low-cost provider.

More than a memory play
The biggest impediment to OmniVision's growth is Micron, which is the industry's 800-pound gorilla with about 35% of the market. Long known primarily as the leading maker of random access memory, or RAM, for personal computers, Micron a few years ago branched out into more profitable products such as image sensors. By the middle of next year, Micron will have four new fabrication plants making both image sensors and flash memory. As the mix tilts toward image sensors, Micron's gross margins will get a huge boost, as RAM chips bring margins into the mid-teens while image sensors garner upwards of 40%. Although an increase in product would appear on the surface to threaten the profitability of the industry, it is only expected to meet demand from all the cameras, mobile handsets, cars, video consoles and security devices that are creepily keeping an eye on us. Micron does not just make cheap sensors. It recently rolled out the world's smallest 8-megapixel image sensor, a very high-quality device that is expected to revolutionize the business due to its low cost.

Micron will also benefit from the rollout of the new Windows Vista operating system by Microsoft later this year and next, as the sophisticated software is expected to lead consumers to buy a lot more memory: 1 to 2 gigabytes of RAM is expected to become a standard, up from 512 megabytes, or about a fourfold increase. If you believe, as I do, that Micron can earn as much as $1.40 in 2007 from all these efforts, it is going for a forward price-earnings multiple of just 12, which is laughable for a company growing in excess of 20%. Multiply that number by a more reasonable P/E, such as 20, and you get a potential price of $26, or about 60% higher than the current quote.

Excuse me if I say it would be a snap to profit from these two companies. You don't need to pick one. Take them both, and shoot for the sky

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SuperModels/DigitalCameraPlays.aspx

[Partial]

Well Bretsky, judging from my knowledge of consumer electronics and what is about to pick up, if you're looking for a solid stock that will make some money and always be solid, now would be a good time to buy some Intel. They've been down in the dumps for awhile now and their roadmap for the future is looking a whole lot better than AMD (the competition) and it certainly seems like they're back in full-force.

Canon would be a good company as well because they have a huge investment in SED technology, which uses nanotubes to create an extreme thin video display that is very high contrast and brightness with all the benefits of a classic cathode ray tube in an extremely thin (much thinner than anything out now) package. It is also to be manufactured very cheap because of how they make the carbon nanotubes. They expect this to be HUGE by 2010 and be the way we all watch tv. Canon and Toshiba funded this multi-billion dollar poject if I recall.

Microsoft has a new operating system coming out at the start of 2007. That, paired with office should sell quite a bit.

Apple is a company with a rising reputation with tremendous growth.

My dad was talking about a bunch of biotechnology companies emerging in the next few years. He's big on the investing and that might be something to look into.

That's all i've got. Doubt it's helpful, but its a nice reminder of new, cool products coming out!!