Here is LifeVantage's letter threatening to take down ProtandimScams.com.

Compared to the previous attempts this certainly steps up the game. Like most letters coming from lawyers, it sounds almost as if I'm in big trouble. However, when you start to analyze the letter, I think I'm fine here too.

One of the points that letter makes is that I registered the domain despite having "knowledge of [its] domain name infringing upon or conflicting with the legal rights of a third party or a third party’s trademark or trade name." It turns out that it is perfectly legal to have a domain name with a registered trademark in the name. In fact, I anticipated this might be an issue for LifeVantage, so I included several examples in ProtandimScams.com About page. These make it very clear that I'm not interfering with LifeVantage's registered trademark, I'm only using the name to refer to the product as part of news criticism, which is well protected by free speech. Thus in registering the domain, I didn't conflict with any legal rights of a third party or their trademark or trade name.

The company claims that the statements on the website represent "false and misleading material statements." They cite two articles:

• LifeVantage President Encourages Distributors to Break FDA and FTC Laws
• Chemins (Protandim Manufacturer) Used Illegal Manufacturing Practices

LifeVantage says that these articles represent, "knowingly false statements of fact." However, the statements are true! In the first case, there is video evidence of it. In the second case, the FDA's website found the president of Chemins guilty and he served time in prison for it. These are clearly not false or misleading statements.

LifeVantage could learn a thing or two about making false and misleading statements. Here's an example of the company's top scientist Joe McCord saying that Protandim is about cancer prevention:

• Page 1
• Page 2

The important part is the second column on the second page. This is a clear violation of the FDA laws regarding the marketing of dietary supplements as drugs. Later on in the magazine (page 11) there is a disclaimer that says, "This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." Those exact words contradict what McCord is claiming in the article. I don't know how anyone could avoid being mislead by the contradictory statements.

(Side note: the day I posted this LifeVantage spokesman Donny Osmond broke the FTC’s Celebrity Endorsement Guidelines on Dr Phil.)

LifeVantage's lawyers make a point about the advertisement of competing products. The advertisements on the domain are executed by a third party, Google, Inc. through their well-known Google AdSense program. As the owner of the domain, I do not have control over the advertisements supplied by Google, Inc. I do not post advertisements of competing products myself and I have no knowledge of such advertisements. When I visit the website, I gets ads for Storm cloud computing hosting solutions (because I went to their website once to review their services.)

Lastly, just to be a little nit-picky, the attached screenshots that were mentioned in the PDF were not forwarded to Domains By Proxy as stated.

LifeVantage finishes with the following:

"LifeVantage respectfully requests that, as a result of Registrant’s conduct in violation of the Proxy Agreement, and pursuant to the terms of the Proxy Agreement, the domain name Registrant’s identity be disclosed, the domain name be terminated, and all services relating to the domain name and website at be terminated."

In other words, they want to whitewash all the information that is intended to help consumers make an informed buying decision. I don't intend to let that happen.

I read just about every article that has been written about the Patriots in the last week. Of the 6 articles, I narrowed the best down to these 6... 3 on Tom Brady, one on Bill Belichick, and one on Bob and Myra Kraft. If that last one doesn't bring the emotions, the last one on Marcus Cannon beating cancer earlier this year to contribute should:

• Tom Brady - As Advertised - Why he has the perfect life.
• Tom Brady - What You Don't Know - Here's what I didn't even know about him. And again, I read just about everything about him.
• Tom Brady - The Computer - He's not just good due to his physical abilities, it is the mental game.
• Bill Belichick - Inside his Head - Many love to hate Belichick, because his media interviews are curt and a league requirement. However, it's just his way of rebelling against the NFL
• Bob and Myra Kraft - The inspiration that makes the Patriots tick this season. Powerful stuff about how the Patriots saved the football season despite the heavy heart of his wife's death just days before. It's one of those things where football is just a game, but it can become more than a game.
• Marcus Cannon Beats Cancer - Tough break for Marcus being the #2 inspiration. Any year other than the Myra Kraft it would be a top story.

It's prediction time. I mentioned before that I've read everything, and if you asked me on Saturday, I'd say that the Patriots had about a 60 chance of winning and that Vegas probably has it right with them as 3 point favorites. However, I just read that an unnamed Patriots official said that their practices were 10 times better than Super Bowl 42. When the Patriots get a good practice in (and make note of it) they have historically demolished their opponent. It was the day of the playoff game against the Bronco's when Ochocinco let it out that Tom Brady was possessed that week - unlike anything he's seen in his 10-year-ish career. The Patriots won easily and Brady set records. I'm getting the same vibe from this report. I think the Patriots win this by 2 touchdowns now.

It's a bold call from a homer, but that's how I feel.

(Usually I'd include personal finance links in this area, but for this special occasion we'll stick with the above links.)

For those who aren't aware, target date mutual funds are typically designed to start out with more aggressive investments (stocks) and gradually get more conservative towards, well, the target date. The philosophy is that want to take the risks and reach for those high rewards at the beginning of your career, but as you get close to retirement, you want to preserve the nest egg. One of the biggest advantages is that you can "set it and forget it" (please don't sue me Ron Popeil) - you can't have to manage the portfolio, it manages itself.

The Good Financial Cents article, which I'll get to in a minute, reminded me of my own story regarding target date mutual funds. A representative from USAA called my wife to make sure her investment objectives were being met. He suggested one of USAA's target date mutual funds. I asked him why go with USAA when Vanguard and Fidelity's have lower expense ratios. He didn't have good answer for that other than USAA was charging a substantial fee (if memory serves) to get into those mutual funds. Long story short, we went some Vanguard ETFs based around index funds that had low commissions. This do-it-yourself wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it was the best use of money.

When I saw Jeff Rose's article about hating target date mutual funds, I expected to read about how the funds have two sets of fees. There are the fees that the individual funds have, and the fees for managing/re-balancing the portfolio of mutual funds. He did get to that, but he uncovered something else. Some of the mutual funds included in these target date funds are, in his words, "just plum horrible." (Side Note: Kudos to him for the use of plum as an adjective.)

Rose gives some examples of target date funds in some of his clients' 401k plans and shows with back-testing that he could have made the client more than 3.5% with other choices in the 401k plan. Using the magic of compound interest Rose shows that in 20 years, that difference could be $295,000. Yep, that's number is not a typo. We should all hate target date mutual funds right?

Maybe not so fast...

Here are a couple of thoughts that I had that may change your mind:

• In 401k plans, there are limited investing options. Perhaps the target date mutual fund option in these clients had bad stocks, but I think it is a stretch to say that they are ALL bad. Outside of a 401k plan you may find a good target date mutual fund.
• The 3.5% increase in returns in the examples are based on back testing a portfolio over the last ten years. Hindsight is 20/20. It's easy to say that you should been in Legg Mason Value Trust when Bill Miller was beating the S&P 500 year after year... until it got decimated in 2008 (even in comparison to the market). Haven't we read that past performance is not indicative of future results?

In the end, I realized that Rose's views are different than mine. He's into actively managing funds. I used to be that way, but I've settled into the low-expense index ratio camp. I haven't been able to find that active advisor who is going to guarantee me that they'll beat a broad index by 3.5% year after year, so stick with what I can control and that's the fees.

Football Thoughts

• Super Bowl Tickets - I think you won't see me at a Super Bowl in my lifetime. More than a few people asked me if I'd be going to the Super Bowl to watch my hometown team, the Patriots. Even though I embody the term "superfan", the thought never crossed my mind. The Super Bowl seems to have a ton of festivities and I think I'd just want to avoid all that and concentrate on the game. If I won free tickets, I'd surely go, but I doubt I'd pay more than a couple of hundred dollars for the whole experience.
• Gronkowski's Ankle - I think I'm not sure where Gronkowski's ankle injury ranks in the last 10 years of Boston postseason sports history. Is it up there with the Brady's in 2001 when he was knocked out of the championship game and some questioned whether he'd play in the Super Bowl or if the Patriots would go with Drew Bledsoe? Is up there with Schilling's blood sock performance in 2004 (the sock is in the Hall of Fame)? It has to be somewhere in between right? I've heard just about every angle of this Super Bowl coverage, and no one has put it in that perspective.
• Indianapolis Colts 1 - I think this might be the quote of the week. Someone told me that Indianapolis Colts' coach Jim Caldwell said, "if you are prepared there's no reason to sweat" before the Super Bowl on February 7th, 2010. For those who might not follow sports, Jim Caldwell got fired a couple of weeks ago, after his team had the worst record in football, which was attributed to the failure to prepare for an injury to the team's star player Peyton Manning.
• Indianapolis Colts 2 - I think everyone agrees that the 2nd best quarterback I can remember (sorry Montana, I didn't follow you as much) has played his last game in Indianapolis. Some say that Manning might never play again. If true, it will be a big loss for the NFL. The show will go on, but I think the biggest rivalry over the last 10 years, the Patriots-Colts will not be the same.
• Super Bowl Thoughts - I think that for all the coverage the Super Bowl is getting there are a lot of topics left uncovered. For example, there has been a lot of talk about how bad the Patriots defense was this year. A lot of that is deserved due to Patriots giving up a lot of yards. However, no one seems to mention that the Giants gave up a lot more points than the Patriots did. They also don't mention that the Giants were 27th of 32 teams in giving up yards (while the Patriots were 31 of 32 teams). Despite how "bad" these defenses are made out to be by analysts they each shut out each other's "great" offense in the first half of the first meeting.

Top Personal Finance Posts:

• Digerati Life asks is investing in rental property a good move?
• My Dollar Plan wonders how much do you pay for health insurance?
• Money Smart Life writes can’t pay taxes, it’ll cost you.
• Free Money Finance on Giving 101: a crash course on Biblical giving.
• Darwin’s Finance goes over FACEBOOK IPO: They missed the boat. I’ll pass.
• Nerd Wallet shares the easiest way to raise your credit score.
• Humble Savers blogs on how to help your children to save.
• Canadian Finance Blog with personal finance basics: spend less than you make.
• Scott on MONEY asks can you withdraw money from your IRA early without penalties?

It seemed like we easily saved hundreds of dollars a year. Did we really though?

Before I get my answer on that, let's look at the restaurant's perspective. The reason why any establishment offers coupons is no big secret, they want to bring in more customers, even at a lower price. Restaurant margins when they get a customer in the door are particularly good, so even the buy one, get one free deals are profitable for them. That's especially true if they can convince you through their good food and service to come back and pay full price. My eight-year old mind relished in the fact that we were somehow beating the system, getting a deal.

My 35-year old mind, definitely has a different perspective.

It is very easy to look at these coupons as saving money. Both Entertainment Book and Groupon offer discounts that seem rather large - 50% or better. The cost comes in when the deals lure you into buying more than you normally would. Even getting 50% of every restaurant meal adds up with drinks and/or taxes and tip included. It can easily cost $25 for a dinner for two (even if you are trying to save money at restaurants). It might not be as fancy, but cooking at home is just a fraction of the cost. We have to factor that into the big picture of whether we really "save money" with these coupons.

I think my parents had it right. They used the coupon book every 2 or 3 weeks on meals out that we generally would have gone out for anyway. Rather than have one particular "regular" restaurant, we went to new ones. In some ways that bit of mystery of trying a new place added to the adventure. As a child, I wasn't included into any budget discussions, but it now occurs to me that whether my parents had a formal budget or not, the use of the Entertainment Book was worked into it.

When I look at whether these deals actually save money, I have to measure it in terms of sticking with-in a budget. If you are using the deals to lower your restaurant expenses or stretch that budgeted dollar further then you are saving money. If the deals become an excuse for lifestyle inflation, you may be better off without the temptation.

What do you think? Let me know if the comments below.

It's not that Bank of America has done anything in particular to lose me as a customer. I know many were upset by their announcement to charging fees on debit card purchases (though Bank of America changed its mind on the fees). I wouldn't have been affected by it since I rarely use my card as a debit card. It comes down to the fact that USAA is a better fit for me and my family.

What sets USAA Apart

The first thing that comes to mind is customer service. I know everyone has their favorite companies when it comes to customer service, but in almost every case it seems anecdotal. I could show you ten bloggers and each of them would have a favorite web hosting service - and a lot what they'd talk about would be the customer service. With USAA, it close to unanimous that their customer service is the best. What I like the most is that when I call I get the person's direct extension in case I need to call back or follow up.

The other thing that sets USAA apart is that they actually give you money back at the end of the year if they have any left over. I know that sounds odd. I don't have the full explanation unless it is this Wikipedia entry, but my wife has multiple times gotten a check back at the end of the year. (Since she is the sponsor of the account, more on this later, I don't have the full details of what they sent for the both of us. When it's money in my favor, I tend not to ask too many questions.)

It's taken me a little while to embrace USAA. When I first looked into it, I was curious about the brokerage accounts. I compared them to Zecco who had been offering free trades at the time. I didn't see their rates as being competitive. However, Zecco has since started to charge for most (if not all) trades now. The gap has closed to where the customer service and the ability to have my savings, checking, insurance, brokerage, and IRAs in one place far outweighs a couple of dollars a year I pay in putting my Roth IRA money to work in an ETF.

Recently, I was able to consolidate the 401ks from three old jobs into one Rollover IRA. I can't tell you how much simpler it is to be able to log into one web site and see it all.

Why I may keep Bank of America

While USAA is great for any number of reasons, I still see a need for my Bank of America account. It's not that I have any allegiance to Bank of America, but that I feel the need to have a bank in the real world - one with branches and people who I can talk to face-to-face. There are a couple times where this has come handy - usually when I need to have a certified check of some sort.

In some ways my banking has become a little microcosm of my business. It is 90% done through the Internet, but 10% done in the real world. I don't see that changing any time soon. USAA gives me a bank that has the online tools that match my business.

So Bank of America, this isn't really good bye like I said in the title. We can still be friends. I am just looking for more out of my banking relationship.

(Though it might seem that USAA sponsored this post. They have not. I just really like them and I think you will too. That is if you meet the eligibility requirements which typically require some military connection.)

I thought it would be worth giving my personal finance spin on their advice.

• Frank Partnoy (Finance professor, University of San Diego school of law)

  Frank's Take: Partnoy focuses on picking stocks of a few companies and being optimistic, "Pick out about a dozen companies that sell products you know and understand, and research them. You'll still be taking risks, but at least you'll understand those risks. Buy the stocks and then forget about them." and "Over the long run, our economy grows... People become better off, and technology improves our lives. If you come out of the blogs and news feeds and look at the arc of history, it's a story of human beings getting better over time. So stay optimistic."

  Lazy Man's Response: While the advice to buy and hold equities is a fairly proven mainstream strategy, Partnoy loses points for lack of diversity in number of equities and types and of equities. Just because you know a company, it doesn't mean that you truly understand the risks. So many things can happen at the management level of a company to that the average Joe probably wouldn't know about. Blackberry maker RIM comes immediately to mind. Worldcom comes to mind as well. This advice leaves people with no bonds and/or potentially little or zero foreign exposure.

  As for being optimistic, it's good advice, but I don't see it as financially applicable. It essentially claims that we'll have a better quality of life over time, which is true. Optimism doesn't put more moeny in your wallet and it isn't much of a "financial move."

  Final Grade: C+

• Robert Wiedemer (Economist that predicted "the housing crash, the stock crash, the credit crunch, and the recession")

Robert's Take: Invest in gold and stable currencies like the Swiss franc, the Canadian dollar, and the Japanese yen via ETFs. He realizes this is high-risk: "The days of comfortable investing are over. You're trying to make money in a crisis." Also, he suggests, "If your focus is on protecting what you have, then you might want to keep most of your money in cash and eventually move into Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)." Since "luxury goods will suffer", he suggests "aiming your career at businesses that produce basic necessities, like medical care, food, repair and maintenance, education, and utilities."

Lazy Man's Response: Regular readers know I have long been against gold for a variety of reasons. It's the currency of the past, not of the future and it has little practical value (in comparison to its cost). It also is really expensive after the run up over the last few years. I really don't see currency trading as a practical solution for most people. Not only is it risky, but the average person doesn't understand it. I'll give him some points for ways to protect your money, but moving to cash isn't exactly rocket science and putting most of your money there isn't going to help it grow. The final advice about business with basic necessities is a very good one. I love it.

Final Grade: B- (Almost entirely on the strength of the last piece of advice.)

• Janet Briaud (moved clients money out of stocks to avoid both the dot-com crash and the financial crisis)

  Janet's Take: "Wait until prices are so low that your friends say they'd never consider buying stocks again, and then buy heavily." Also "If you're just starting out in your career... focus on earning more, saving heavily—as much as 20 percent of what you earn—and paying off debt. Are you carrying a credit-card balance at 16 percent? Paying it down is like getting a 16 percent risk-free return on your money." Finally, if you have an emergency fund and credit card, use the emergency fund to pay off the credit card debt and fall back on the cards if you need to.

  Lazy Man's Response: Not since Janet Jackson's Love Will Never Do video has a Janet delivered the goods like this. (Is that too much information?) I almost agree with everything 100%. I'm a little on the fence about on the stock buying advice, but I had the same thoughts in 2002 and 2008 when the market was really low. I considered selling every worldly possession to generate more cash to put in the market. If I had bought in at those points gains of 30-50% were pretty easy to come buy. Yep, it's marketing timing, but it's not that bad since you are essentially waiting for a sale on stocks. The rest of the advice is spot on and brilliantly condensed into just a few sentences.

  Final Grade: A

• Nassim Nicholas Taleb (predicted the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987 and authored The Black Swan)

  Nassim's Take: Put 80% of your money in safe investments like CDs and TIPS and 20% of your money into high-risk, high-reward investments. The low-risk side protects most of your money from Black Swans (similar to Perfect Storms). The high-risk side exposes you to those that might pay off. Finally he suggests staying out of debt, "The more debt you have, the more precise you have to be about your future income."

  Lazy Man's Response: I don't like this advice. The high-risk portion will likely balance out as some investments will do well and others will fail. The 80% will just stay ahead of inflation as Taleb points out. This plan isn't likely to help you grow your money much, which isn't very exciting.

  Final Grade: B- (The final advice to avoid debt, despite being simplistic saves this from being a worse grade)

• Raghuram Rajan (Economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; predicted the current financial crisis)

  Raghuram's Take: There's a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots. Invest in your education. "Finding the best jobs might require moving around. Home prices may seem appealing these days, but beware: The economics of home ownership can lock you in place for years."

  Lazy Man's Response: This is sound advice. The only fault I can find with it is that there he doesn't provide any information on where to invest your money.

  Final Grade: B+

• Simon Johnson (His book, 13 Bankers, describes exactly how a cabal of big banks gambled with our money, wrecked the economy, and then accepted huge taxpayer bailouts, all the while paying out gigantic bonuses and fighting financial reform. )

  Simon's Take: Get your money out of the big banks and support smaller banks and credit unions.

  Lazy Man's Response: I like this a lot. I'm doing more and more of my banking with USAA instead of Bank of America. For me, it's the perfect combination between a credit union and a big bank.

  Final Grade: B+ (This is fine advice, but it's going to have a limited impact to your finances)

I was very surprised by the lack of useful information provided by these experts. I'm reminded by the people who are giving the advice, Wall Street economist types. As Abraham Maslow said, "It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."

Top Personal Finance Posts:

• Digerati Life on being frugal around the clock by saving all week long.
• My Dollar Plan says payoff your mortgage with a credit card.
• My Journey to Millions writes you have absolutely no patriotic duty to pay high taxes.
• Million Dollar Journey gives a primer on American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
• Generation X Finance gives job hunting tips for the new college graduate.
• Use these tips to save on your bank account fees blogs DINKS Finance.
• All Financial Matters asks how important is a budget?
• Dough Roller tells how to invest with little money.
• Scott on MONEY offers 5 reasons to reinvest your profits in your business.
• Consumerism Commentary says frugal employers will lose their talent.

1. Traffic to my Websites - Goal: Increase by 100%. Actual result: Increase by 21% - That's a colossal failure, right? It could have been much worse. Google Panda hit many of my blogging colleagues and they lost traffic. I didn't get the website I was hoping to off the ground, which was a direct consequence of #3 below.
2. Revenue from my Websites - Goal: Increase by 50%. Actual result: Increase by 92% - It's amazing what the right kind of advertising deal can do. By the end of the year, I was making in a month what I made when I was an underpaid software engineer that lead to the creation of this website five years ago.
3. Continue to Fight Against MonaVie and other MLM Scams - This is a pretty big win. I had mentioned Protandim specifically back then. At the time, I just had this article which contained about a 8-10 things that I didn't seem right about the product and company. Today I have Protandim Scams, which has around 40 articles. This has lead to updated Protandim article at Lazy Man and Money including videos of illegal activity from the top people involved at LifeVantage. The amount of information is night and day. It's gotten so much focus that the inventor has been forced to pick up blogging after a 2.5 year hiatus to defend himself (with hilarious consequences in my opinion).

   In my goals, I also mentioned iJango, which was pretty much a straight-forward pyramid scheme. It's no longer in business. Consumers who paid a one-time fee $150, plus $20 a month to have their own web store were left holding the bag.

   I wrote about a new MLM, One24, which appears to be a straight-forward pyramid scheme. They threatened to sue me for defamation, but found that they had no grounds. So instead they had to create a podcast addressing my post, where they missed all the major points, especially the most important one of them hitting the FTCs guidelines of being a pyramid scheme. In fact, they tacitly confirmed it in the podcast.

   It was a good year in busting MLM punks. However, they are like the Hydra, and they keep coming back. Scamming people out of their money is too profitable I guess. As my friend Vogel says, "we'll just keep chopping off heads."

4. Write an eBook - It didn't happen. I had put some significant effort into it, but when I tried to outsource a couple of items (formatting and such) it didn't work out. It would have cost me a good amount of money and if I wanted to update it, it seems like I'd have to pay the formatting costs all over again. I either picked the wrong person to outsource it too, or need to do it myself.
5. Get Healthy - Goal: Lose 15 pounds and weigh 165 pounds. Actual result: Lost 5 pounds and weigh 175 - I had gotten below the 170, but the holidays and playoff football games has put a few more back. I'm still pretty happy with the result.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the year's results. Like everything there were some ups and some downs. I would like to have hit more traffic and made that eBook, but those are overshadowed by the larger goals of surpassing my revenue goals and helping consumers steer clear of MLM scams. If I were to do the same in 2012, you'd see a very, very happy Lazy Man.

If you've been to WikiPedia or Google's home page today you might have noticed that they are different than what you are used to see. They are trying to warn you of current legislation that may change the way that Americans have access to information on the Internet. This legislation is commonly in the form of two proposed bills, SOPA and PIPA.

Before I get into SOPA and PIPA, let me be the first to say that I'm not a politics person. You might be able to convince me that Claire Danes shows up in a white dress with a black netty thing around it and people pretend it is noteworthy in some way. In short, I tune it out.

I tried to tune out this SOPA and PIPA for awhile too. However, it simply doesn't seem to go away. So I decided to read a little more into it. On the outset it seems to have noble attentions - eliminate access to offshore websites that enable people to pirate movies, music, and other digital content. If that's all it allowed, you wouldn't see Wikipedia or Google take the actions that they are taking. The problem is that it is written in such a way that in the words of Harvard Law professor, Lawrence Tribe, "an entire Web site containing tens of thousands of pages could be targeted if only a single page were accused of infringement."

And that is what is concerning to me. Note that the wording is that just the accusal of single page could take down an entire website. It doesn't even seem to need to be proven in court.

So what does this have to do with Lazy Man and Money? While most of my posts are relatively controversy-free, I'm increasing becoming aware of the financial damage that multi-level marketing scams are causing consumers. Most of them know that they are scams and refuse to take an honorable role and address their critics. Instead MonaVie, one of the MLMs I have written about, has threatened to sue me. When I pointed out that they have no legal grounds, MonaVie decided to game Google to 'Combat Negativity' and 'Manage what People See on the Internet'. It worked for awhile, but Google caught up to them and my article is with all the information is well represented there as of this writing.

My fear is that SOPA and PIPA could be used by one of these entities to shut down my entire business because a couple of companies with high-priced lawyers find something (or perhaps even plant something) that they can convince a judge is infringing. As Wikipedia says in their protest today, "Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves."

I know it may sound a little far-fetched. Perhaps I'm reaching. If so, it might be because just yesterday an MLM company, Jusuru, asked me to take down my post about them. In any event, I want to be pro-active and make sure that no legitimate websites (especially mine!) become the collateral damage of this potential legislation.

P.S. For those having difficulty with coping with Wikipedia's outage today, Google's cached search results are your friend.

1. I think that if Martin Luther King, Jr were alive he would endorse his day being expanded to something like "Anti-prejudice Day." That's not say that racial inequality is deserving of a day of reflection... However, if not for the movie a couple of years ago or living in San Francisco I wouldn't have known of Harvey Milk and I think he and his cause is worth remembering as well. (I'm disappointed in myself for not posting this in time for most of you to read this on MLK day.)

2. I think hosting a party is the best motivator I know for cleaning up our house. I have to give most of the credit to my wife on this one because I typically think that people won't care.

3. I think I'm more than I little confused at Safeway's coupon policy. We were the victim of a cash register error involving coupons at Safeway today. We had about $15 in coupons for dog food and treats and our receipt only said we saved $6. Due to the line of waiting customers we had to go customer service and find out what was up. We went through with a calculator and got all the money owed to us. There they said that their registers were changed yesterday so that if there's one "buy one get one free" coupon that the rest of the coupons on the entire order wouldn't apply - even if they were for different products. I started to argue because that clearly makes zero sense and the representative just offered to print out the coupon policy and then sent us on our way. I wish I wasn't in a hurry because I would have liked to have found out why the register didn't reject the coupon and at least give it back to us.

I glanced through the coupon policy and couldn't find anything about the "buy one get one free" thing that the representative was talking about.

4. I think I took great pleasure in seeing LifeVantage Protandim's Inventor Paul Myhill bring his blog back from a 2.5 year hiatus due to my article about Protandim being a scam. Sure he didn't my article by name because he didn't want other Protandim distributors to see the information I have made available, but it clear in way he attempted to cover all the questions that I bought up. He didn't necessarily do a good job and he's got a lot more to cover before Protandim is viewed as legit (not the least being FDA approval), but it is at least a start.

5. I think that I foolish brought down my site on Saturday morning for a couple of hours. For a little while I thought I might have lost a weeks of work, but I was able to get things up and going. Ironically, what brought down my site was my work to prepare more extensive backups of the data.

Five from the NFL (just a warning to those who aren't football fans)

6. I think that was the best I've seen the Patriots play this year. As one player commented, they are peaking at the right time, which is what you want if you are a Bostonian like I am.

7. I think for all the talk about offensive teams being the best in the NFL this year, it's interesting that the Saints and Packers no longer playing. Also that San Francisco - New Orleans game was one of the best games I have ever seen.

8. I think that the Saints and Packers games reminded us why it's worth putting "any given Sunday..." at the forefront of any NFL playoff discussion. The media can go little wild with statistics and the small sample size of NFL playoffs games give them a lot more license to bring up things that aren't statistically relevant. One thing that I think I saw was that Green Bay was 13-0 before 2002 in home playoff games and 2-4 since then. The turnover of the roster in the NFL means that few of those players before 2006 are still with the team. Let's not mention that no one from the 1960's teams that built up much of that 13-0 record are still with the teams.

9. I think I'm feeling a little proud about what I wrote about Gronkowski and Tebow previously: "While the football world is going crazy about Tebow, they are missing out on Rob Gronkowski - who is actually performing at a much, much higher level than Tebow."

10. I think that as a Patriots fan living in San Francisco, I'm in a bit of quandary in the NFC Championship game. If the Patriots win (and that's how I have to think), who should I root for in the NFC Championship game. It seems like a no-brainer for me to root for my local team and against New York (rooting against NY in sports is built into our Bostonian DNA). However, that puts me in an uncomfortable position for the next year of having half my wardrobe either appearing to taunt the local team or leading me to face ridicule of the local fans.

On the other hand, if the Giants make it to the Super Bowl with the Patriots... that's going to be a long two weeks of replays.

Top Personal Finance Posts:

• Digerati presents 12 month calendar and task list for a secure retirement.
• My Dollar Plan asks how much money do you have to make to file taxes?
• Million Dollar Journey goes over attributes of a successful entrepreneur.
• Frugal Dad is redefining action hero: Bill Gates is better than Batman (infographic).
• Free From Broke explains how to use gift cards wisely to maximize their value.
• Get Rich Slowly reveals what really makes your retirement accounts grow.
• Saving Advice talks about money lessons learned from birthday parties.
• Consumerism Commentary shares the worst celebrity tax problems.
• Mainstreet posts 10 things you might not know about your money.

Today I'd like to tell you about a scam that I find interesting. I find it so interesting because seemingly intelligent people fall for it. It's not like the Nigerian Prince scam that we can all joke and laugh about, because it is so ridiculous that no one knows anyone who actually falls for it.

This scam about a fruit juice. Here are a few things about it:

The Juice

There's a product of blended fruit juices - exotic fruit juices. It comes in a 750ml wine bottle that looks more suited for expensive. That bottle retails for around $50 and the suggested serving size is 2 oz., twice a day. The theory is that it packs a bunch of antioxidants.

The Company

The company has a scientific board of doctors to give the product an air of legitimacy. The company also puts a large focus on its charity contributions in an effort to market the company.

The company touts the patents it has. Many of its customers don't realize that patents are granted for ridiculous things - things that don't necessary work.

The Business

The business model is a multi-level marketing one. It is very complex and includes uses a bunch of confusing terminology. Some of this terminology involves distinguishing amongst sales of Personal and Downline creating a point system of PV (Personal Volume) and GV (Group Volume. There are at least 9 "ways to earn money!" marketing designed to nab the suckers who think that more ways to earn money is better.

If a distributor wishes to participate in most of these ways to make money, they are required to purchase a case of 4 bottles each month at a cost of around $140 to them. In this way, the company ensures that everyone involved in the pyramid has subscribed to paying them $140 a month or $1700 a year with the renewal fee to be a distributor each year.

The compensation plan allows for a luxury car bonus. While that sounds great, if a distributor doesn't maintain the sames level (replacing people who quit after they realize that they aren't making money), the distributor is on the hook for the car lease themselves - a financial burden that many find out the hard way.

There is an annual get together for all distributors that they have to pay for out their own pocket (traveling costs and hotel are extra). This is big win for the company because they get more income from its distributors who effectively pay for their own brainwashing.

The compensation plan ensures that around 99% of people will never make money in the business. That's why the constant motivational meetings are necessary.

Did you Guess who the Company is?

If you are familiar with Lazy Man and Money and you probably think I'm writing another article about MonaVie. After all I've written enough about MonaVie over at MonaVie Scam to prove that MonaVie is a grossly overpriced product, with little nutritional value, wrapped in a poor business opportunity that appears to be an illegal pyramid scheme, which is itself wrapped in illegal medical claims, supported by nonsensical "scientific" studies, and tied to a fraudulent charity.

However, this is really an article about Jusuru. Don't be upset, you didn't really have a way of knowing which juice scam I was referring to. In fact, I almost didn't write about Jusuru, but a friend convinced me that it was probably worth it to put a stop to the scam before it got along too far. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?

I could have gone into a lot more detail about the individual aspects of Jusuru, but in many cases you can just read that MonaVie Scam website and substitute "MonaVie" for "Jusuru" just like you could have with most of this article.

Meet the New Juice Scam. Same as the Old Juice Scam. Heed the The Who's words and you Won't Get Fooled Again.

Where does the $5 come from? It seems that all the uneasiness and politics in the Middle East, particularly Iran, could lead to a slowed production of oil. That could raise prices. GasBuddy is even suggesting that oil prices could pass their high of $147 in 2008. While it seems that GasBuddy is the catalyst, CBS New York, CBS Baltimore, and ABC seem to be jumping on board with the possibility. Of course gas prices vary throughout the country, so if some places see $5 gas, others may avoid it.

So what can you about this? You can try to occupy your local gas station, but don't expect that to get gas prices lowered.

I see two things that you can do. The first is to look into these tips on saving money on gas. That's a no-brainer.

The second tactic is less obvious. If GasBuddy is right and the price of oil goes from around $100 today to the $150 record highs, you can make a lot of money by investing wisely. I have some money put aside in PowerShares DB Oil Fund (DBO). At that peak of oil price of $147 in July of 2008, the stock reached nearly $55 a share. It currently trades at around $30. If we see a similar trend, perhaps that stock jumps to between $50 and $60 a share. If so, you could nearly double your money.

As long as you invest enough, doubling your money would certainly ease the anxiety at the gas pump, right?

Who is up for a game of guess the peak gas price average (as reported by GasBuddy) this year? I'm going to go with $4.16. Leave your guess in the comments.

My first thought was that if it was something that helped with your credit, it might be a good idea like a secured credit card. It could, in theory, be used as a bridge to help someone build credit, improve their credit score, and get a bank that doesn't charge such outrageous fees to access your own money. However, that's not what is happening with Orman's card. As John Ulzheimer points out at around the 2:50 mark in this interview it doesn't help with your credit score.

... and it shouldn't. It is a debit card, not a credit card. Your credit is supposed to be measured by how you used credit, money that you don't have. If I buy milk with money I already have through a pre-paid debit card, it doesn't, and shouldn't, tell the credit bureaus anything useful about my ability to responsibly handle credit.

This hasn't stopped Suze Orman from heavily implying that it will help people with credit scores. In perhaps the biggest blogging sacrifice I've made for you, the reader, I subjected myself to watching The View this morning. (Okay much of it, I skipped due to the magic of DVR.) Throughout the show, I was thinking, "They couldn't have gotten Judge Judy to join in to complete the torture?" Though I will admit that Joy Behar's commentary was actually entertaining.

During The View, Suze Orman heavily implied that it would help with credit scores, but didn't actually say it. She had a two minute rant about how important FICO scores are in this economy and then introduced her card. Here are some quotes from her:

You use this instead of cash. It's a debit card... The main reason that I want you to use this is that sometime people don't use cash, they don't carry cash anymore, and there's no record of what they are doing. Overall, the big movement of this card, and the people-first movement, is I want debit cards to create FICO scores. Currently they do not.

If you pay on your debit... if you pay in cash you get penalized because you don't get any credit for that.

I'm trying to change America. Join me in my people-first movement.

Now if just watched The View and didn't have any background about this card, you would think that it helped build credit. However, if you watched the John Ulzheimer video above it doesn't currently work that way. Your transaction history can be reported to a credit bureau if you choose, but they don't use it their credit analysis. They just say, "Thanks for the free data about your life... Om, nom, nom, nom..."

This is the kind of marketing that is misleading to consumers. To talk about improving credit for 5-10 minutes and then present a card and talk about the issue as if the card is the solution to building credit. Orman is hoping that it will be the solution one day. Perhaps she expects TransUnion to use that transaction data and start applying it to their credit algorithm. However, she should be open and honest in her marketing that it doesn't help your credit as it is designed today.

This is exactly the kind of thing that the FTC is looking for with their endorsement guidelines. It's the same kind of thing that MonaVie and LifeVantage are getting away with on a daily basis.

If that wasn't bad enough for Orman, she's gone full bat-excrement crazy on Twitter attacking personal finance bloggers who call her out on it. She called PT Money "ignorant" and an "idiot". The blog, 20AndEngaged has a good recap of the Twitter fight. GingerLatte from Girls Just Wanna Have Funds suggested that people use the Twitter hashtag #DenySuzeCard.

In the end, I'm not that disappointed with the card itself. As John Ulzheimer said in the video above, it is the best option in a bad category ("the cream of the crap"). It is Orman's misleading marketing of the card and her refusal to enter into any kind of meaningful dialog with critics that I have a problem with. Due to that misleading marketing, I think this article has warranted the use of the word "Scam" in the title.

The Lazy Couponer

Last month I was in the bookstore and I happened across a book called The Lazy Couponer by Jamie Chase. As you can imagine it caught my eye. A few days before that I saw the TLC program Extreme Couponing, where people routinely get hundreds of dollars of groceries for under $2. The Extreme Couponing lifestyle seems to all consuming, almost like a mental disorder like hoarding that probably should be treated. Chase's approach is novel in that you can get the results, free stuff, without all the hours and hours of planning.

If that sounds like a pie-in-the-sky dream it is not. Jamie Chase proves it every day and even teaches a class on it. I'm reading her book now and I just know I'm going to implement a lot of the techniques. (Look for a full book review later this month.) With that in mind, I reached out to Chase to see if she could put together a blog post. Here are her top ten couponing tips in her own words:

1. Discover yourself - Using coupons to save is an excellent resource, but the biggest savings begin with understanding how you are as a consumer. Think about items and brands you can't do without and others that can be swapped out for alternatives, that way you'll know which coupons are best for you.
2. Know your stores - The best way to maximize on coupons is to know the store at which you shop. Find out how your store sets up sales, whether they double coupons, if they offer free-item deals, or if they offer store coupons and accept those from competitors. Generally, people worry too much about whether their store doubles coupons, but some of the best savings happen when a store accepts both store and retail coupons together - often great deals happen at non-grocery stores like Rite Aid (coupons), CVS (coupons), and Target (coupons).
3. Loyalty cards - Smart shoppers use those loyalty cards, so you should too. Register your cards online with their retailer so they'll send personal coupons to you via email, or load them directly to your card. Loyalty cards are linked to your point-of-sale purchases so the more frequently you purchase an item, the more commonly you'll get a coupon for it. Also find out if the store has a coupon machine in-store, where you can scan your loyalty card to earn even more personalized coupons.
4. Stockpiling can lead to chaos - Simply skip a sale that requires purchase of multiples as another sale is just around the corner. If you feel compelled by the deal, consider donating the extra items to a soup kitchen or shelter instead of bringing them home.
5. They're just coupons - Remember that although coupons are valuable, you needn't use every one you have. Don't waste time bothering with ones for products you'd never use or chasing deals halfway across town. Use what you can when it is convenient and be smart about every purchase - that's where the biggest savings is realized!
6. Papers vs. Online - Go with what works best for you. If you're computer savvy, then use what's available online. Remember not to give personal information to questionable sites or sign-up with a coupon company that charges for its membership. At first, stick to the main coupon websites like Coupons.com, Smart Source, and Red Plum. From there, it may be worthwhile to sign up at General Mills coupon site or Proctor and Gamble's coupon site. Also, be sure to print in black & white and save on ink, as there is no rule requiring color-printed coupons. If you are a tactile person, then buy the cheapest Sunday paper inclusive of coupon inserts. Only buy extras when they include special inserts that cover products you can't live without - such as a P&G or GM insert week.
7. Capitalize on Catalinas (Cats) - [Editor's note: Catalina's are those coupons that are printed out with your receipt at the checkout.] See if your grocery stores offer Cats, which will give you the biggest return and pay for items like produce or proteins. Catalinas are also offered elsewhere, like Walgreens, so be sure to look for deals where reaching a threshold purchase gives you money back. It is also good to know that true Cats count pre-coupon totals, so go ahead and use those coupons on qualifying items!
8. Online Shoppers - Open a second tab in your browser when you shop online and enter the website address in the search bar at Retail Me Not to generate coupon codes for that retailer. Also, consider starting your online shopping through sites like Shop Runner for free 2-day shipping or Box Tops for Education to earn money for local schools.
9. Coupon Databases - every couponer must use a coupon database to be successful and save time. There's no need to cut coupons until minutes before you leave for the store, and a coupon database is the resource to best help you. My favorite is from Deal-Seeking Mom (DSM) who lists both printable and newspaper coupons: their value, where to find them, and their expirations. DSM is West Coast, so if you live on the East Coast coupon values may differ slightly.
10. Check with The Lazy Couponer - If you have questions, want to brag, or even debate a point, simply contact me. I am completely available to chat coupons or answer questions you may have. As I am not a coupon-blogger, I can point you to the resources and websites that best meet your needs without bias. Find me at Lazy Couponer or Follow her on Facebook.

I haven't hit the halfway point in the book yet, but I can tell that there are a lot of great tips that didn't make the top ten cut. I recommend picking up The Lazy Couponer today.

Top Personal Finance Posts:

• Digerati Life gives customer tips for returning or exchanging a purchase.
• My Dollar Plan asks what is the best day to buy airline tickets? Cars? Groceries?
• Money Smart Life on how to squash your nagging money worries.
• Generation X Finance goes over different ways to save money – from savings accounts to savings bonds.
• Cash Money Life asks how much does a new mortgage affect your credit score?
• Studenomics wants to know what’s your purpose after college?
• The Simple Dollar says calculate how much you really make.
• Five Cent Nickel shares five fiscal New Years resolutions for families.
• Money Crush asks do you factor in lifestyle into your finances?
• Canadian Personal Finance posts have you ever seen a frugal celebrity?

Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender

Today I'd like to tell you about another kitchen product that I like, the Cuisinart SmartStick Immersion Hand Blender. I can guess what you are thinking, "A blender? I already have a blender. What do I need this thing for." I have a blender as well. Perhaps it's my Lazy nature, but I don't like to use it.

Traditional blenders are relatively big (at least compared to this immersion blender) and take up precious counter space. Because of this, I try to tuck it out of the way. That, of course, makes getting it out to be a be a slight annoyance (I'm nitpicking here, you may need to imagine you are really lazy). After using it the clean-up process can be a bit of work. My traditional blender has nooks and crannies and getting down by the blade is difficult. (Side tip: blending dish soap and hot water often does most of the cleaning.) You may suggest putting the blender jar in the dishwasher, but I've had them break in there. I admit it's odd since the glass is quite thick and it should be dishwasher safe. I don't chance it anymore.

Let's compare that to the Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender. The hand blender is small. If you look at the picture below the cord and the top half fit nicely inside it's accompanying cup. I can hide it away in a cabinet and it is "an easy grab" (for lack of a better way of explaining it). In addition, it is easier to clean up. With a push of a button the bottom half of the blender (the stick and the blades) comes off and can be easily rinsed in the sink.

How does it work? It works as good as my regular blender. The 200-watt motor really has some power to it and it can crush ice easily for smoothies. Personally, I've only made a few smoothies (frozen berries from the grocery aisle are great for them), but I use them for whey protein shakes. Particularly, I use it for my substitute of ViSalus shakes and can make a nearly equivalent product for 1/3rd the price. The best part is the price of the hand blender. At under $30, it is well within my budget, especially since it motivates me to eat healthier. Like the lettuce keeper, I find that a great value in that.

Like everything in this series, I want to prove that I've actually purchased the item. It's my way of saying, "I've put my money where my mouth typing hands are.

Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender

Today, I'd like to share some thoughts on the business of MLM and pair that with well-known personality Robert Kiyosaki, co-author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. As you can tell from the title, this is going to be a little harsh on Kiyosaki, but keep in mind that Rich Dad, Poor Dad was major motivation for me to begin this blog.

Why Robert Kiyosaki and MLM?

In my MLM articles like the aforementioned MonaVie one and my LifeVantage Protandim one, many MLM supporters say that Robert Kiyosaki is a big supporter of MLM and that justifies getting involved in MLM as a distributor as being a sound business choice.

It does not.

Most people don't know much about Kiyosaki. They hear him say that he has millions of dollars from various complex business ventures and it makes him sound credible. They'll read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and become greatly motivated to find their financial freedom.

It isn't that simple. There are a few things that people should know, starting with:

Robert Kiyosaki's History with MLM

One of things that many people don't realize about Robert Kiyosaki is that he got his big break due to MLM. This letter relates the story in detail. Short version is that a top person at the MLM company Amway, Bill Galvin, found Kiyosaki's book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, at a car wash before it was published. In fact, Kiyosaki had trouble getting published. It was Bill Gavin of Amway who was able to pull the strings and use the MLM culture to get the book its best seller rating. Kiyosaki also sold tapes at $6 to tens of thousands of distributors. It is fair to say that Kiyosaki's owes the MLM industry a great deal by embracing his products.

In addition to the above, Kiyosaki joined Amway under Bill Gavin, but it appears he was a failure at it. You'll never hear him talk about his Amway rank or the money he's made from it. If Kiyosaki believes that being an MLM distributor is a good business opportunity why isn't he active in the business?

Finally, if you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you'll see that there is no mention of MLM at all. This makes sense it was written before MLM played a major role in Kiyosaki's life. In fact, you'll find that the philosophy of the book is to avoid liabilities, which would include most MLMs due to their required autoship policy. It is clear that Rich Dad's advice would be to avoid MLMs for this very reason.

It seems to be that Kiyosaki and MLM have a symbiotic relationship. The MLM industry provides Kiyosaki with a steady set of customers for his products; Kiyosaki provides the MLM companies his support that it is a good business venture.

Robert Kiyosaki and the Cash Flow Quadrant

Many distributors don't know that above history. Instead they have just watched a video from Kiyosaki talking about his Cash Flow Quadrant. Here's one version of the video:

The video is big on marketing and it tells people what they want to hear: "Here's a way out of the rat race." That's powerful motivation. A lot of people are apt to believe Kiyosaki. Who wouldn't want a solution their money problems? The promise of passive income is appealing to just about everyone. However, let's examine the Cash Flow Quadrant in more detail. You might want to jump to 2:45 in the video where he draws it out and follow along:

Kiyosaki describes the Cash Flow Quandrant as having four areas: E, S, B, and I. These are the four types of ways people earn income. E is for employees. S is for small business owners or specialists (doctors for example). B is for big businesses. I is for investors.

Kiyosaki seems to claim that being an MLM distributor is a "B" in the quadrant. It is not. It is on the line between the "E" and "S"... with the major disadvantages of both. Let me dig a little deeper and explain why.

Why being an MLM distributor is an "E" in the Cash Flow Quadrant

Though it doesn’t seem it, an MLM distributor is really an employee of the MLM company. In most MLMs, the company can fire the distributor by terminating their business at any time, for any reason... just like any employee. If you look at "S", "B", and "I", none of those people can be fired by anyone. Also, if the MLM company goes out of business, the MLM distributor has lost his job through no fault of his own. Employees have that same risk, but the other quadrants do not.

With MLM, distributors get all the disadvantages of being able to be fired at the drop of the hat without the benefits of a steady income and or benefits such as health care and disability. In addition, the distributors are required to pay for their own training by buying various tools and going to conferences.

Why being an MLM distributor is an "S" in the Cash Flow Quadrant

MLM has some of the characteristics of being a small business. Distributors work their own hours doing as much or as little as they want.

However, the MLM company strictly dictates how MLM distributors run their businesses. The MLM company restricts the avenues of selling the product as most won’t permit sales on Ebay. The MLM company control the products that you have at your disposal to sell as most prohibit you from selling a product from another MLM company - even if the products don't compete in any way. The MLM may even prevent you from having your own website to promote your business - instead forcing you to use a cookie-cutter website. This prevents the distributor from differentiating their business from their competitors - other distributors of the same product.

In some ways, the distributor is able to determine his income, but this is greatly limited to the mathematics of the compensation plan that in almost every case dictates that 99% of people will lose money.

One of the reasons why people choose a small business is because they want to call the shots and be in control of their destiny. The MLM distributor doesn't get to call the shots and the MLM company controls their destiny.

Why being an MLM distributor is NOT an "B" or "I" in the Cash Flow Quadrant

The video explains that B’s are big businesses like Microsoft and companies with 500+ employees. Clearly that’s not an MLM distributor. No MLM distributor has had an IPO. MLM distributors don't generally have employees. Maybe a few of the ones at the top of the pyramid have a couple of employees, but that is the exception and mathematically this is limited to something like .0001% of MLM distributors since they have to have thousands of people below them to make the money to necessary to pay an employee.

The MLM company itself could be considered a B. Some have gone public. If you were the CEO of MonaVie, instead of a distributor, you’d be in that B quadrant. They are "looking for the good system and good network" in the words of Kiyosaki. For them, this system is to get a bunch of distributors, to work as employees ("E"s), but use the small business ("S"s) categorization to avoid paying them like employees. Instead they pay a very small number at the top well and use that as a carrot stick to lead the ass to motivate the distributor.

There's really is no "I" in this of MLM discussion because it is about investing in businesses that make money and that's not done in MLM. You can pay money to get started in an MLM business, but it is paying an application fee to start from scratch with no customers and no sales. That is not an investment in businesses.

Kiyosaki tries to make the point that "the [networking marketing] company will work with you to get the business skills that make you rich." This line is bunch of half-truths. The network marketing company will charge you money for the tools and training to sell its products. During this time you are also paying them by spending hundreds of dollars on overpriced products. The "business skills" that you learn are quite vague, but whatever you learn only applies to working in other MLM businesses. You can't cash those "business skills" in for a job as a VP at Microsoft the way you could an MBA.

Kiyosaki mentions the low start up costs to MLM (under $500), but he neglects to mention that over 99% of people lose money. Of the one percent that doesn't lose, some 90 percent of those barely make a few hundred a month. It doesn't sound enticing to explain that for a stadium full of 50,000 people, each paying $500 to get into MLM, only about 50 will make a small supplementary income.

Where do you think the MLM companies make their money? It's from the distributor. That theoretical stadium of 50,000 distributors each paying $500 in amounts to $25 million for the network marketing company, of which they'll at best pay half of it back to the distributors (but in many cases pay less). No wonder they are trying to pitch distributors on "the opportunity."

Kiyosaki goes on to say that if you were trying to build "a Microsoft it would take hundreds of millions of dollars" and then explains that a network marketing company will help you transition to the "B" and "I" side of the quadrant. Since we know that no network marketing distributors are in the "B" and "I" side of the quadrant, this is a very misleading and erroneous statement for Kiyosaki to make.

As we learned before, this is Kiyosaki working his own “S” business - it gets MLM companies to market him as an expert and MLM distributors to buy his books and in return he makes a strong, but critically flawed case for MLM.

Kiyosaki Gives Vague and Bad Business Advice

ABC’s 20/20 put his advice to the test by giving three people $1000 and giving them the goal of making a return on it in 20 days. Kiyosaki coached them personally. It was a resounding failure with all contestants saying, Kiyosaki never gave concrete advice. "All [Kiyosaki] does is, I guess, is open your mind to the possibility. He doesn’t tell you how to do it."

This continues in Kiyosaki's and Trump's book, We Want to Teach You To Be Rich. Read the reviews from Kiplinger's Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. It's not surprising that these two well-known business authorities trash the book citing vague advice and calling it an infomercial for the duo's other products.

When it comes to his businesses it seems that Kiyosaki is scamming people himself. This investigative report shows that Kiyosaki has free seminars designed to get people pay more for expensive training (classes that cost up to $45,000). Part of that training included asking people to raise their credit card limits, which Kiyosaki admitted was poor advice.

Finally, when it comes to Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Kiyosaki admits that the book is a work of fiction. He admits that it is short on practical advice and that it more about motivating someone to take control of their financial future. I admit that it has value in that sense, but let's not confuse a motivational speaker for the purveyor of fine business advice.

Conclusion and Further Reading

Bottom Line on Kiyosaki regarding MLM: Becoming an MLM distributor is not great business advice from a great businessman, it is extremely biased advice that doesn't make sense from someone with known business failures and a history of fraud.

Further Reading (as if this wasn't enough, right?)

• John T. Reed has done a lot of research on Kiyosaki
• J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly questions Kiyosaki
• Jeremy Vohwinkle of GenX Finance says Robert Kiyosaki is Off his Rocker (Again)

The Most Important Key to Success

• Do What You Love - You aren't going to be successful at something you spend all day dreading. When I was excited about software engineering, I was good - perhaps even above average ;-). When I got stuck on a project that didn't interest me, I was honestly a poor software engineer.

Preparation and Planning

• Make a List of Short, Medium, and Long Term Goals - Each night before I go to sleep, I try to write down 5-10 things that I want to accomplish the next day. I make sure that at least 3-4 are things that I can complete that day and purge from my to-do list. I also make sure to add a couple of small parts of medium or long-term projects. Here's an example. I'm looking to write an eBook. One day my goal was to create an outline of the book - 9-12 chapters and 3-5 things that I wanted to cover in each chapter. The next day one of my goals was to write at least one of those 3-5 things in one chapter. In 1-2 months, I'll have my eBook written.
• Catalog Your Progress - I started this blog to keep me accountable. I can't go out and buy a Ferrari on credit and then write about it here. Instead, I catalog my alternative income progress here. Each day, I think about how I'm going to grow that so that next month I don't have to live up to my moniker.

Learn These Skills

• Sales / Marketing - Even if you don't think you have a product to sell, you do... yourself. I've learned that sales and marketing are not easy skills to learn. You can't shout "look at me!" or people will think you are obnoxious. You have to find people who might be genuinely interested in what you have to offer. I always find it best to be open and honest with what I have to sell. If the product is of value, you price it accordingly, and have the right buyer, it should sell itself. I've found that if you have to "sell" too hard, it's probably going to be a sale you regret making.
• Public Speaking - I might be one of the most shy people on Earth. Talking to someone one-on-one often ties my stomach in knots. Imagine how I must feel about public speaking. I remember it was a required class in high school. I started off horrible, but by the end, I had earned an A. It's really a case where practice means everything. I suggest an organization such as Toastmasters.
• Writing - Even if you are crafting a short e-mail, try to use proper grammar. You'd be surprised how many e-mails I receive where people make 6 mistakes in 6 sentences. Poor writing skills on the first impression impacts my view of the person's intelligence and/or professionalism. Perhaps it shouldn't be that way, but it is. A person who can write great commands my respect and my trust.
• Networking - Get out there and meet new people in your areas of interest. When you know a lot of people, opportunities multiply. To go back to my eBook example above, I found someone who already has a successful eBook. He's in the process of getting it translated into an audio book now. He could definitely be a great resource for me to learn from. He's newer to blogging and doesn't have the number of readers that I have. I can probably give him a few tips and help him out. Now if I knew 100 people like this guy, I'd have a solution to almost every question I'd ever have at my fingertips.
• Read More and Faster - I have always been a very slow reader. I simply don't scan text very well. Perhaps I'm afraid I'll miss a critical word or something silly like that. This is one area that I'm going to work on in the new year. Much of my time is spent reading, you'd think I'd at least be good at it.

Take Action

• Help Someone with Something Everyday - This may sound like some kind of "Pay It Forward" hype. In some ways it is. I estimate that I've given guidance to around 50 or 100 bloggers who are just getting going that were looking for advice. Some of them became successful bloggers and some stopped blogging. The successful ones have returned the favor 100 times over or more. They link to my articles, they comment on my site, and fill me in with opportunities that I would have otherwise missed. This isn't limited to blogging. If you mentor someone, you'll be seen as a natural leader. I've always seen a strong correlation between leadership and success.
• Make Mistakes - When I just got out of college, I took a job with a top ten Internet company. It was a very high profile job as I managed the search engine myself. It was about 20% of this 2 billion dollar company's traffic. The thought that I'd make a mistake scared me to death. I spent each day walking on eggshells until the day that I made a mistake. A strange thing happened. No one got upset with me, and we were able to recover pretty quickly. From that experience, I learned to always have a back-up plan. This allowed me to take some risks, experiment more, and eventually produce ideas that made the company millions. Just as importantly, I realized that I should tolerate other people's mistakes.
• Surround Yourself with Like-Minded Individuals - There are studies that show an individual's income will be somewhere around the average of your closest five friends. That formula works for me and my closest friends - or it did until I decided to build my career from websites. There are also studies that show your weight will reflect those who you hang around with. It makes sense if you think about it. If your circle of friends likes to bounce business ideas off each other while playing a game of pickup basketball, you'll probably put yourself closer to the path of prosperity than if you tell fart jokes while eating Bon-Bons.
• Exercise - Whenever I work out, I am all pumped up with endorphins for hours. It feels like nothing can stop me - as if I could tackle a bear. Instead of tackling a bear, I focus that energy on my list of goals and churn through it like never before.
• Start a Website or Blog - It's easy to talk the talk, but what matters is if you can walk the walk. A website or blog not only makes you accountable for the goals that you set, but can also help you network and gather useful information. For more inspiration read how personal finance blogging helped me.

Be More Productive

• Don't Get Wrapped Up in Television - I love television. However, I try to watch shows that you don't have to follow too closely. This way I can work while it's on. You won't see me watching a lot of Law and Order because it requires too much of my focus. However, having the Red Sox on the background doesn't distract me from accomplishing what I'm trying to.
• Commute with Books on Tape (or Podcasts) - Most of the people I know have a 30-60 minute commute to work each day. You can listen to some morning talk show or a shock-jock DJ or you can learn some of the skills that I mention above. I'm not saying that you should throw away all entertainment, but if you are looking to increase your productivity, utilizing this downtime is a great start.
• Declutter and Organize Your Home and Work Area - I used to waste a lot of time looking for stuff. The problem? I had stuff everywhere. I couldn't find the stuff that I needed from the old stuff that was piled around it. It's amazed me the number of things that I had around the home that I didn't use. Finally I simply said "Stuff It!" and got rid of most of the stuff that I didn't use and put other special stuff in a closet that I'll probably ignore for another years. Just like in What About Bob, "baby steps..." I tell myself.

Think Your Way To Success

• Think Positively - I'm not going to get Stuart Smalley, Motivational Speaker on you, but making the conscious decision to focus on being financially successful is extremely helpful. Bringing finances to front of my mind, instead of the back has made a huge difference in my finances.
• Don't Hate Money - Lose the thinking that money is the root of all evil. Start thinking about it as a key to freedom to do whatever interests you. Think of it as a way to help friends, family, and charities important to you. Think about how you could use money to make the world a better place.
• Appreciate What You Have - Schedule a day to just appreciate yourself. Appreciate the things that you do have. The fact that you are reading this likely means that you are much better off than others in the world.
• Be In A Good Mood - One of my favorite lines from Say Anything is when Lloyd Dobler (played by John Cusack) says to his sister, "Why can't you be in a good mood? How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood and be in a good mood once in a while?"

Personal Finance Links

• Digerati Life talks about health insurance open enrollment: tips for choosing plans.
• My Dollar Plan presents brand names that kicked the bucket during the recession.
• Money Smart Life blogs on claiming investment losses on your taxes.
• Free Money Finance shares the (often understated) cost of inflation during retirement.
• The Smarter Wallet posts a new driver’s guide for getting car insurance.
• Darwin’s Finance asks should teacher salaries be published for all to see?
• Cash Money Life wonders paying off your good debt early—savvy strategy or money mistake?
• One Frugal Girl and $100 worth of bottles my baby refuses to use.
• Len Penzo dot Com presents The Penner Awards: the 10 craziest money blunders of 2011.
• Bill Eater says yes, you can afford to send your children to private school .