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La máquina de copiar jamones

Enrique Dans — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 06:06:26 PST

DRM: o lo matas, o te mata a ti

Enrique Dans — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:31:28 PDT

En estos días se ha hablado bastante de Libranda y de sus características, en la mayor parte de los casos en términos muy poco elogiosos. Hay hasta especulaciones sobre si lo que Libranda pretendía, en realidad, era no vender libros.

Algunas de las críticas se centran, debido a un error de posicionamiento de la propia Libranda, en atacar la escasa idoneidad de la plataforma de cara al cliente final, lo que supone un error conceptual: por mucho que su confuso marketing, posicionamiento y diseño lleven a pensar, Libranda no es ni pretende ser una plataforma de venta de libros al cliente final. La idea es mucho más alambicada: se trata de una plataforma para uso de las librerías, un catálogo para que aquellas empresas que decidan vender libros en la red puedan ver el catálogo de las principales editoriales en lengua española y catalana, e incorporar las obras a sus tiendas. Puesto así, lo que cabe plantearse es la razón por la que una iniciativa así tiene una página abierta al público: no solo no le hace ninguna falta (debería ser una plataforma cerrada para que accedan con la adecuada clave los responsables de compras de las librerías), sino que además, confunde. Lleva a un hipotético lector a buscar el libro que quiere, le plantea un absurdo botón de compra, pero le lleva a una tienda donde tiene que volver a realizar la búsqueda para conseguir comprar.

La razón para semejante jugada alambicada no es otra que evitar el conflicto de canal. El planteamiento intenta reproducir el esquema tradicional del mundo offline – las editoriales distribuimos libros a las tiendas, y éstas venden libros al cliente final – de una manera que permite visualizar inmediatamente lo absurdo que resulta plantear intermediarios en un canal como Internet, que no está diseñado para aceptarlos. Y que además, tiene un problema importante: dado que la mayoría de las librerías españolas no tienen oferta en la web ni interés por desarrollarla, el conflicto de canal no se evita, y lo que Libranda acaba obteniendo es algo que sospecho no pretendía: arrastrar a los clientes hacia otros canales, fomentar las descargas en el mundo del libro. Tras la experiencia de intentar obtener un libro a través del canal oficial, la sensación es un amargo “no vuelvo por aquí”.

La oferta de Libranda, además de resultar confusa y posibilitar que el cliente visualice esa intermediación innecesaria, plantea una apuesta por el DRM de Adobe. Según parece, estudiaron bastante el tema antes de tomar esa decisión: pues bien, las conclusiones de dichos estudios fueron inadecuadas, y la decisión es simplemente errónea. Y no se trata de un error banal o sin importancia: se trata de un error grave, de esos que te pueden matar, que tienen la potencialidad de comprometer gravemente el futuro de tu negocio.

El DRM de Adobe tiene dos graves problemas: es caro, y es malo. Es caro para el editor, y es enormemente malo, malísimo, para el cliente. La experiencia de comprar un libro se convierte en desastrosa, ademas de plantear problemas de incompatibilidad para una gran cantidad de dispositivos. Viendo lo agradable que resulta comprar libros en plataformas como Kindle o Apple, uno se plantea qué combinación de hierbas ha debido fumar quien tomó la decisión de adoptar Adobe DRM: es, simplemente, una mala decisión: si pretendías con ello protegerte, además, deberías saber que como ocurre con todo sistema DRM más tarde o más temprano, ya está roto. Si combinas todo esto, además, con un posicionamiento en precio poco atractivo, obtienes un cóctel que convierte tu oferta en una invitación abierta a que el cliente obtenga el libro en otro sitio. El resumen es claro: en un momento en que los lectores de eBook empiezan a popularizarse, la apuesta de las grandes editoriales españolas es convencer a los posibles clientes de que harán mejor en obtener sus libros a través del P2P, porque hacerlo a través de su canal oficial resulta no solo caro, sino además farragoso. Mala cosa. Mensaje equivocado.

Los libros no necesitan DRM, y prescindir de él, además, ayuda a las ventas. Un libro físico puede prestarse, puede ser leído por varias personas, y no plantea problema de compatibilidad ni de complejidad alguno: simplemente, le dejas el libro a un amigo, y él lo abre y lo lee. Sin más. Plantear una experiencia más compleja es un error igual que el que otras industrias de contenidos ya cometieron antes. Si decides, que seguramente no deberías, usar DRM, este tendría que ser sutil, casi imperceptible. Precisamente, lo que hay que hacer es plantear una experiencia más sencilla: vas a una página, encuentras el libro que buscas, lo descargas, lo pagas, y lo lees. El posicionamiento en precio debería ser suficientemente barato como para que no compensase pasar el trabajo de buscarlo en otro sitio. Que te incrementen el número de pasos percibidos que tienes que dar para conseguir un libro es malo, que te obliguen a instalarte programas para leerlo también lo es, y que te planteen problemas de incompatibilidad, ni te cuento. Ahora es el momento de crear un mercado para el libro electrónico. Si no se hace, después vendrá, como se suele decir, el llanto y crujir de dientes cuando se pretenda detener aquello que se contribuyó involuntariamente a crear y que, seguramente, ya no puede ser detenido.

Book Review: “The New Data Imperative: Managing Real-Time Risk in Capital Markets” by Dr. Raj Nathan, Irfan Khan, & Sinan Baskan

Joel Font, GRC and IT Audit Professional — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:13:20 PST

: Image by STML via Flickr

It seems that since the arrival of the Great Recession everyone has rushed a book out explaining why it happened and how to prevent it in the future. The feeding frenzy includes folks from all sorts of backgrounds who barely know what Sarbanes-Oxley, a financial statement or a CobiT control is. For many of these “experts,” the reasons for the recession are clearly not financial or regulatory or linked to Globalization, but deeply ingrained in our dysfunctional and narcissistic society and by nasty “capitalism,” which to many is as deadly a tormentor of society as the Black Plague was 700 years ago. The damage caused by the recession is viewed as evidence that there is a need to educate the masses in new righteous ways to make money and legislate new rules over corporate conduct. The new Robin Hoods of course are poised to make lots of money by selling new training programs, conducting seminars in Las Vegas and devising new green and “humane” ways to dismantle capitalism.

Although, writen by Sybase excecutives, The New Data Imperative by Dr. Raj Nathan, Irfan Khan and Sinan Baskan is not one of those new opportunistic books I am so disappointed to see in the book stores today. This book is a breath of fresh air in that it does not overshoot its scope and intent. Although, discussing the recession and using it as a backdrop, the book in its 115 pages manages to convey the what, how, when and why of the information infrastructure behind today’s globalized financial markets, and why changes to these are needed. It does this in language that is understandable to non-technical business people (auditors, compliance, legal and financial management), who for the most part are the ones who need to understand these things, so they can participate in future implementations and improvements to existing systems.

In the next three to five years Risk Management will see an increase in the complexity of analysis, the need for faster data acquisition, faster reporting and the integration of more diverse data sources from in-house and from “the cloud.” Not to mention a likely increase in Regulatory Compliance mandates. For these reasons, the way we approach the infrastructure that supports the Risk Management function(s) needs to be re-conceptualized. “The New Data Imperative” provides a quick snapshot of how to achieve this. The book looks at the state of current Risk Management “silos,” their data feeds, analysis cycles, reporting structures and overall data infrastructure, explaining why these current systems fell short during the recent financial crisis and provides us with a well conceptualized picture of how to transition, often without major and costly changes, into the data environments needed for the new Risk Management processes now being proposed by regulators, the Big Four and some of the leading international financial standards organizations.

In addition to its clarity, in my opinion the book serves another important purpose. That of attempting to educate “legacy” type IT managers who in many organizations today have “stale” skill sets and are often ignorant of industry best practices and trends. As many an experienced IT auditor can confirm, these managers are ill prepared for the future and can not visualize the infrastructure changes needed to implement and maintain the Enterprise Risk Management systems of the post Great Recession era. Because these folks can not visualize the future, they tend to be serious obstacles to improving performance and strategically positioning IT investments for competitive advantage. Although, high in authority because of seniority or organizational politics, these folks have managed to carve out positions where they appear to provide value not by what they do, but by how they stop others from doing. They are in a way the “Gate Keepers” against innovation and process improvements. If by some miracle some of these individuals were to read “The New Data Imperative,” I think great technological achievements would take place in their organizations.

If you are an IT Auditor or a Risk Manager for a financial institution, I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with this book. I believe the book will bring you up to date on the latest real time risk management concepts and will open your eyes to some of the technological challenges we will be facing in the next three to five years as Enterprise Risk Management evolves to a more mature level.

Because the book is small and unassuming, I also recommend it as a gift for those “legacy” type IT managers I mentioned earlier. It may be the most eye opening technology book they’ve read in the last 10 years!

You can purchase “The New Data Imperative” from: Today’s Audit Journal bookstore.

If you’re wondering about the “Nude Sunbathing” sign above…. let me explain why it’s here. This picture was taken last July one block away from the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in NYC, on the day the National Enterprise Risk Management Club of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was holding its national awards for the most creative use of Twitter in a crisis situation. When members saw this sign they Twitted all the participants, and half the Jacob Javitz Center emptied as the men rushed to the Hudson River to watch the annoyed sun bathers. Now the question being debated by serious Harvard sociologists is: Did Twitter empty out the Jacob Javitz Center, or was it the naked sunbathers and their uncontrollable effects on the hot Latins from Argentina?

Good-Bye, Microsoft Money! 16 Powerful Personal Finance Programs

J.D. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:00:43 PDT

As of today, Microsoft Money is no longer available for purchase. Microsoft has essentially conceded that there’s no demand for the product. From the website:

With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.

Now that Microsoft has thrown in the towel, where does that leave existing users of Money and Money Plus? Some of them are worried. I’ve received several e-mails about this recently, including this one from Lee G.: “Microsoft just left us in a lurch by killing Money. Any suggestions on finance software? I’m not really a fan of Quicken, but would entertain it.”

First, it’s important to note that Microsoft intends to support Money Plus at least through 31 January 2011. Until then, you can still get stock quotes and use the software’s billpay feature. After that time, the online functions may (read: “probably will”) expire. If you’re a Microsoft Money user, you still have 18 months to find a replacement. The Money FAQ offers this helpful advice to guide you:

A number of online personal finance management and planning tools are available, many for free, on the Web. Other software solutions may be for sale from companies other than Microsoft. For general account information and transactions, your bank Web site may provide the best solution.

It would have been nice if Microsoft had provided a list of these “personal finance management and planning tools”. Since they didn’t, I spent a couple of hours surveying the current options. Here are 16 powerful personal finance programs to take the place of Microsoft Money:

AceMoney is a Windows desktop app that offers all the features you’d expect: downloadable transactions, budgeting, investment tracking, and more. AceMoney costs $30, but a free “lite” version is available.

Budgetpulse is a free “upbeat” way to manage your money. It offers standard budgeting and tracking features, as well as international compatibility. One of this program’s stated goals is simplicity; it doesn’t try to do a whole lot other than track your core accounts.

Buxfer started as simple tool for tracking debts and has grown into a more comprehensive financial management tool. It allows users to import data from their bank and credit card accounts, set spending limits, track shared expenses, and more. iPhone app available.

ClearCheckbook is “an extremely easy to use tool that helps you balance your checkbook and manage your money. Think of us as an online checkbook register with the added bonus of viewing reports, setting budgets, creating reminders and more.” A premium version adds features. iPhone app available.

Expensr seems to be similar to Budgetpulse. It too offers simple account tracking. Expensr includes some social networking components, allowing you to compare your money habits with other broad groups that you select.

Geezeo allows users to create and manage a budget while obtaining support from other members. According to the intro video, Geezeo also has the ability to track investments. Mrs. Micah tried Geezeo and liked the goal-setting and community aspects of the tool.

Mint has become the Big Daddy of online personal-finance apps, with almost a million registered users. Mint offers support for investment accounts, which is cool, and allows users to create personal budgets. I’ve heard both praise and complaints from Mint users, so it sounds like something you’ll need to try to see if it’s right for you. (Here’s an early Mint review from a GRS user.) iPhone app available.

Moneydance is a full-featured desktop personal-finance manager. It’s available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Moneydance offers budgeting tools, investment tracking, and many built-in reports. Because I prefer a desktop money app, I’m very tempted to try this.

moneyStrands is the new kid on the block. Based in part on a financial management tool from Spain, moneyStrands offers all of the features you’d expect (though no investment-management yet). This tool offers lots of budgeting goals with highly-configurable alerts (”let me know when I’ve spent $30 on coffee this month!”). It also allows you to compare your finances with other demographics (not individual users, but groups of users). If you prefer Spanish, this app is for you. iPhone app available.

Mvelopes is a web-based version of the envelope budgeting system. It automatically connects with most banks and offers a free billpay service. This looks like a slick product, but it’s by far the most expensive program on this list. At a minimum, it costs $7.90 per month.

Quicken is perhaps the most popular personal-finance software available today. It’s fairly comprehensive and well-supported, but not without problems. Old versions are “sunset-ed” at regular intervals, forcing users to upgrade if they want to continue using certain features. I use Quicken for Mac, which supposedly updates investment portfolios automatically. Supposedly. My copy is broken though, and I can’t get it to update correctly. There’s an online version of Quicken, but to be honest, I haven’t heard good things about it. iPhone app available (though users don’t like it).

Rudder sounds like a tool for those who don’t want a lot of extras. As with all of these programs, it allows you to connect to all of your accounts. It also helps you schedule upcoming bill payments. Rudder claims that its “secret sauce” is a widget to help predict your future cashflow. iPhone app available.

Thrive is another online tool similar to Mint. It offers a budgeting component, as well as prompts for when to pay bills and how much to pay. It also encourages users to save. (This feature sounds neat.) Thrive features tools to help users plan for the future.

Wesabe was one of the first online personal-finance apps. It sports a dedicated base of hardcore users. In fact, one of Wesabe’s strengths is its active community — users draw support from each other, sharing tips and ideas. Here’s my review of Wesabe from 2006. (Disclosure: I am on the Wesabe advisory board.) iPhone app available.

YNAB is popular among GRS users, especially those for whom budgeting is important. I haven’t used this software myself, but I know that it allows you to import bank transactions, pay bills, etc. YNAB isn’t for users who want to track investment accounts, but is good for those who want to emphasize budgeting.

Yodlee is the grandpappy of online money-management software. It’s the platform on which many tools, including Mint, are based. But Yodlee also offers its own personal-finance product called MoneyCenter. As you’d expect, it provides the same account-tracking functionality that most of these applications have, but it doesn’t feature budgeting as prominently. Yodlee offers tight integration with most banks, and also has a billpay feature. iPhone app available.

From what I’ve seen, these apps are a lot alike: the desktop programs offer similar feature sets, and the online tools are all close cousins. There’s not a lot to differentiate them. Wesabe has a great community, Mint tracks investment accounts, and moneyStrands offers a Spanish-language option. Each program offers something unique. But is there any one app that knocks it out of the park? I don’t know. What do you think? Which option would you recommend for refugees from Microsoft Money?

For myself, I’ll continue to use the desktop version of Quicken on my Mac. It’s not perfect, but I know its quirks.

Addendum: Many commenters also recommend gnucash, a free Open Source money-management tool. I considered listing gnucash, but discarded the idea because the software is billed as an “accounting” package. GRS readers report that it’s actually very suitable for personal finances.

Note: There are many other specialized personal-finance apps out there: PearBudget for budgeting, Fuelly for tracking gas mileage, etc. I’ll do a run-down of these in the future.

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Annuity Laddering

Mr. GoTo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:11:02 PDT

You’ve probably thought about CD ladders and Treasury ladders. But have you considered a ladder of annuities as a retirement income strategy? If you are baby boomer, maybe you should.

What is an Annuity Ladder?

Annuity laddering takes the strategy of using a fixed annuity and then spreading the risk around by using multiple annuity products.

Let’s assume that you have $300,000 that you are willing to invest into an immediate annuity for a lifetime income. If you bought a single annuity at age 65 today, you would probably receive a fixed monthly income for life in the range of $2050, with no benefits paid to beneficiaries.

Now assume that as an alternative, you are willing to spend more from savings now and purchase a smaller annuity. At age 65, you can buy a lifetime annuity for $100,000 and receive $684 a month. At 70, you can purchase a second $100,000 annuity and receive another $775 a month, for a total income payout of $1,459 monthly. At age 75, you purchase a third $100,000 annuity to receive an additional $909 a month, increasing your combined annuity income to $2,368 per month. (These numbers are based on today’s payout rates, from immediateannuities.com)

The Benefits of Annuity Laddering

Obviously, if you ladder the annuities by delaying the purchase for 5 and 10 years in my example, you are foregoing the additional income in the early years. The trade-off is that you can invest that other $200k in the market. Using this strategy, you may come out ahead overall in the size of your retirement nest egg.

A study by MassMutual Financial Group produced some very interesting retirement income results:

The study, which tested four strategies for managing a retirement income account over 181 time periods (referred to as cases) between 1965 and 2006, found that the three strategies involving an income annuity, whether purchased all at once or over time, generally out-performed the stock and bond-only strategy, regardless of market conditions in the periods studied.

In fact, the investment-only approach, — even during strong equity and bond markets — ran out of money in 25 percent of cases. In contrast, the strategy of laddering into a life annuity matched the income goal in 100 percent of the cases tested.

This study also compared growth of the four different investment strategies using market data from 1980 to 2006. The stock and bond portfolio ended with a value of $489,346. The portfolio using laddered annuities ended at $735,292. This was the highest value of all the strategies that were tested.

Obviously, market conditions can change but that is one of the potential advantages of a ladder of annuities. You might get a much better return on one of the annuities you buy later in the ladder.

A related benefit of an annuity ladder is that by purchasing the annuities from different companies, you reduce the risks associated with an annuity company going bankrupt.

Final Thoughts on Annuity Ladders

Annuity ladders are not for retirees who need all of the income immediately. If you are one of those, many experts think that a laddering strategy that ends half-way between your present age and your life expectancy is the sensible approach.

If you are patient and good with numbers, you can run an analysis yourself, comparing the return on a single annuity with the combined return of multiple laddered annuities with the delayed premium money invested in the market.

Photo credit: Kevin Steele

This is an article from Go To Retirement
Copyright 2009 Go To Retirement. All Rights Reserved.

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Inverse and Levered ETFs

soyouthinkyoucaninvest@gmail.com (SoYouThinkYouCanInvest) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:19:00 PDT

Over the last decade, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), have been one of the fastest growing segments in financial services. Within ETFs, inverse (bear) and levered funds have been gaining enormous popularity. Let's take a few minutes to examine the performance of certain funds then we will draw some conclusions.

To see how an ETF should work, let's compare the 10 year performance of the S&P 500 with SPY, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (click on images for larger views):

In the past 10 years, the S&P 500 has returned -29.8% while SPY has returned -29.89%. This is about as good as performance gets.

Now let's compare SPY to SH, the ProShares Short S&P 500 ETF. Ideally, SH should return the inverse of SPY:

The one month return for SPY is -2.56% while for SH it is +1.73%. That is a degradation of .83%. That might not seem like much, but let's look at the returns over a longer time period:

Over a 6 month period, SPY returned +2.31% while SH returned -9.16%, for a degradation of 6.85%. Let's zoom out just a bit farther to one year:

Over a one year period, SPY returned -28.1% while SH returned -5.87%, for a degradation of 33.97%! In other words, in one of the worst one year returns in stock market history, holding an inverse stock fund resulted in a net loss!

If you think this was a fluke let's look at the one year return of QQQQ, the Nasdaq ETF, versus PSQ, the ProShares Nasdaq ETF, versus PSQ, the Short Nasdaq ETF:

Over a one year period, QQQQ returned -20.53% while PSQ returned -5.67%, for a degradation of 26.2%.

For good measure, let's compare the one year performance of EEM, the iShares Emerging Market ETF, versus EUM, the ProShares Short Emerging Market ETF:

Over a one year period, EEM returned -26.05% while EUM returned -33.14%, for a degradation of 59.19%.

Not all inverse ETFs are made equal. Let's compare USO, the United States Oil Fund ETF, with USL, an alternative oil ETF, and SZO, the PowerShares Inverse Oil Exchange Traded Note (ETN):

USO and USL returned +31.07% and 26.28% respectively while SZO returned -29.58%, about what one would expect from an inverse fund.

Let's look at the one year returns:

USO and USL returned -67.26% and -55.47% respectively while SZO returned +112.81%. Again, this is about what one would expect from an inverse fund. I will try to post an article in the future on why SZO performs so well compared to the other inverse funds. Moving on...

In addition to inverse ETFs, levered funds have also become quite popular. What many investors might not realize is that these funds are geared to return the DAILY specified leverage and not long term leverage. What this means is that if the index returns +1% today, a 2x leverage fund should return +2% today. Over a longer time frame, however, returns will degrade in a similar (or worse) manner than inverse funds.

Let's examine our earlier chart with SPY, the S&P 500 ETF, and SH, the inverse S&P 500 ETF, but then add the double long fund (SSO) and the double short fund (SDS):

SDS, the double short fund, returned -17.42% while SSO, the double long, returned an astounding -55.99%.

With all of the power that double daily leverage brings you, let's go one step further and use three times leverage! Below is an 8 month comparison between XLF, the SPDR Financial Sector ETF, and FAZ, the now notorious Direxion Financial Bear 3x ETF:

While XLF returned -14.9%, FAZ returned a remarkable -93.67%! Being that FAZ launched a mere 8 months ago at $74 and it now trades at $4.70, how much longer will it be before the fund literally trades at zero?

Direxion has a whole portfolio of ETFs with 3x leverage which you can view here. Of the 20 funds they offer, all were launched in the past 8 months and all have negative returns (their return results are outdated). Talk about a fly by night organization.

***UPDATE***Just after posting this article I saw this piece of news. "The Board of Trustees of Direxion Shares ETF Trust has approved reverse splits of the issued and outstanding shares of both the Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (“Financial Bull Fund”) and Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (“Financial Bear Fund”)." The reverse split will be five to one. Absolutely hilarious.***

What conclusions can we draw from this exercise? Be very careful when investing in inverse or levered ETFs. Both usually work in a similar manner in that their performance degrades over time. Holding them short term might be OK but long term they are usually suicide. Before you invest in a levered or inverse fund, make sure to check the fund performance against its index over a time period equal to your expected holding period. If the fund does not have a long enough track record to compare it is likely not worth the risk.

Averaging Down - Good or Bad?

thewild1 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:01:09 PDT

First off, averaging down is the process of buying more shares at a lower price to try and bring down your average price, hence the name. Is it a good or bad practice to conduct???

13 Tips (http://speakstocks.com)

Como evaluar una oferta de un banco: caso Banco Sabadell

Remo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:12:48 PDT

La mayoría de las compras de vehículos se realizan mediante la formalización de un préstamo. En este caso, Banco Sabadell ha mejorado las opciones de financiación de su BS Credi-Auto en las siguientes condiciones:

7% TAE
Comisión de apertura del 2%
Se exige domiciliación de nómina.

Se regala una tarjeta Solred con 400 euros para gastar en combustible.

A priori puede parecer una opción sumamente atractiva, si estamos pensando en comprarnos un coche pero es probable que no sea tan beneficiosa como se pinta. Busquemos cualquier otro crédito en cualquier entidad que no ofrezca tarjeta regalo pero exija condiciones similares.

He seleccionado por ejemplo el Crédito nómina BBVA. En este caso, las condiciones son las siguientes:

Comisión de apertura 0,5%
Domiciliación de nómina.

Tipo de interés 0% durante el primer año. Resto al 10% TAE (*)

Realizando unas sencillas operaciones, para un crédito de 20.000 euros a pagar en 4 años, con el Banco Sabadell tenemos unos gastos iniciales de 400 euros de comisión de apertura y coste de intereses toral de 2.988,39 euros. Como la comisión de apertura es igual al regalo de la tarjeta de gasolina, el coste total de la operación sería 2.988,39 euros.

En el caso del BBVA, tenemos una comisión de apertura de 100 euros y un coste total de intereses de 2.540,70 euros. El coste total de la operación sería de 2.640,70 euros, opción que resulta más ventajosa al no pagar intereses durante el primer año que la propuesta del Banco Sabadell.

No incluyo en la comparativa la comisión de tarjeta Solred y los costes de los seguros de los vehículos en el caso que se exigiera porque este coste puede ir en función del vehículo escogido.

Si el tipo de interés que nos ofrece BBVA es del 11,25%, las dos ofertas de financiación serían equivalentes para el importe y plazo señalados en el ejemplo. Con esto, no digo que se contrate con un banco ni con otro, si no que antes de escoger cualquier opción de financiación, hay que tener muy presente todos los detalles, no sólo el reclamo comercial.

(*) Este tipo de interés es estándar y puede ser más alto o más bajo en función del perfil de cliente que solicite este tipo de préstamo en BBVA.

Más Información | Cinco Días
Imagen | Juli Calopes
En Ahorro Diario | Oferta de ultraportátil de Bankinter ¿dónde están las ventajas?

To Rent or Own a Home?

admin — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:53:08 PDT

In the last few months, I’ve debated with numerous personal finance gurus who believe that owning a home is overrated and that renting works out to be more cost effective. However, when asked, these individuals confess to not being renters, but home owners. Their main reasoning being that, when retirement nears, they rather minimize the ongoing expenses associated with renting. Even if property taxes or strata fees rise for the home they own, this will still only represent a small amount compared to the ongoing expenses of renting.

In addition, the monetary advantages of owning a home do not cover some intangible aspects. These include such attributes as the inherent human desire for having control of a given piece of territory and the pride of ownership. There are other advantages, such as being able to use your property as a collateral or utilize a reverse mortgage in cases of a looming financial crisis. A home can also be a tax shelter, since no capital gains tax on a main residence is imposed. Additionally, a home is a major and cherished asset to be passed on to family members.

Let’s look at the counter argument. A home owner is likely to require at least a 5% downpayment on a house. If you’re 30 and buying a $400,000 home with a 5.5% interest, you’ll pay $470,367 in mortgage interest alone, which works out to $870,000 total. Compare that to renting a three-bedroom apartment for $1,252 per month. This works out to approximately $800 less than the $2,025 it would cost to for the aforementioned mortgage. Without property taxes, maintenance and utilities you can easily save $1,250 a month by renting. Moreover, investing this saved cash, at a conservative rate of 4%, will grow to $1.1 million when you reach 65.

Essentially, both sides of the argument have their merit, except that owning a house does impart you with a stronger financial security, assuming you can afford the mortgage. If you choose the renting option, you better be committed to a fairly thrifty life and hope you will not need a financial boost for most of your adult life.

A contrarian view, favouring renting, can be found in this Australian blog article. The interesting post looks at how we accept certain age-old notions and socially accepted practices regarding home ownership, and may cause you to rethink where you stand on this issue.

Do events repeat themselves? If so, show me.

Mike — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:03:19 PDT

I’m currently reading Larry Swedroe’s Wise Investing Made Simple, and I came across an example of something I’ve been wanting to highlight for a while. Here’s the quote:

“For the twenty-year period from 1979 to 1998, just 14 percent of the funds outperformed their benchmark on an after-tax basis.”

What’s the problem here?

The problem is this only shows one thing–it shows that such an event can occur, not that it is likely to occur. In other words, it shows possibility, not probability.

I’m obviously a big fan of index funds over active funds, but there’s nothing in this particular factoid that should necessarily lead us to think that the following 20-year period should exhibit a similar result.

Quick Disclaimer

I have nothing but respect for Mr. Swedroe. This is the first book of his that I’ve read, and overall I’d highly recommend it. Also, Larry is supremely helpful for many investors over on the Boglehead forums. The only reason I’m picking on him is that his is the book I happen to be reading at the moment.

Also, Larry is not the only person who does this. I’m writing about it precisely because it is so common, even among excellent authors–John Bogle does it, William Bernstein does it, etc. And if you look back through the archives on this blog, I’m sure I’m guilty as well.

We wouldn’t let others get away with it.

Imagine if somebody made the following claim (which I’m admittedly making up on the spot):

“From 1998-2002, you could have outperformed the market by investing in the S&P 500, but getting out of the market on days when Dr. Phil was scheduled to appear on Oprah.”

What would we say to this investor? We’d say that his strategy is nonsense.

And how would we go about proving that? We’d look at how the strategy performed over other periods. If the strategy was unsuccessful over the majority of other periods tested, we’d conclude that the strategy’s success during that one particular period was purely due to randomness.

So why, then, do we let authors get away with quoting what happened over one particular period?

Show us repeated results, please.

For example, in the 20-year study that Swedroe quotes, they could have shown us what the results looked like in each of the 11 10-year periods included in those 20 years. That information would tell us (a little bit) more about the probability of such a phenomenon occurring again.

Conclusions:

For the writers (or financial advisers) among us: I think we owe it to our readers (or clients) to provide more thorough evidence of our claims. Yes, it will be a pain in the neck sometimes. I’d argue that it’s worth it.

For all investors: Please be aware that just because something has happened over one particular period, it isn’t necessarily likely to happen again. Remain skeptical and ask for more data/information if somebody tries to prove something to you using such anecdotal evidence.

Like this article? Sign up for free daily updates, or if you’re new to investing, you may want to pick up a copy of my book on Amazon.

ETFs vs. Mutual Funds: Five Trends Show that ETFs Are “Winning”

blenheimeducation — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:33:19 PDT

While the asset management industry isn’t a zero-sum game, it’s clear that the growth of ETFs is occurring at the expense of the mutual fund industry.

15 Tips (http://etfdb.com)

A Visual Guide to Deflation

WallStats.com — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:34:31 PDT

Deflation is inflation’s polar opposite. It’s what happens when prices go down and you get more bang for your buck. Sounds good right? But deflation, like inflation is complicated and much less understood than inflation. It can lead to what’s called the deflationary spiral and grind the whole economy to a halt. In this second of a two-part series we take a look at deflation. We look forward to your feedback and comments below.

How I Use Credit Cards … And Why

Trent — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:00:16 PDT

Sasha writes in with a typical question:

A lot of different personal finance bloggers have different ways that they use credit cards. Some of them don’t use them at all. Others seem to use them a lot. Where do you stand and why?

I started off answering this question for the reader mailbag, but then I realized the answer was going to be rather long and involved so I spun it off into its own post.

So, let’s break this down bit by bit.

How do you use credit cards? To put it simply, we use rewards cards for routine purchases in our life and pay off the full balance at the end of the month. If we can’t afford the purchase or haven’t budgeted for it, the credit card is not a crutch to help us purchase it.

What do you do in emergencies without the card as a crutch? We have a large emergency fund in place to deal with true emergencies - a car breaking down, a hot water heater failing, and so on. We’re able to have this emergency fund because we consistently spend far less than we earn.

Why not just use a debit card? Two reasons. First, a debit card doesn’t improve your credit score. A healthy credit score not only helps you out with things like car loans, it also reduces your insurance rates. Second, a debit card typically doesn’t provide you with any rewards for using it. Similarly, using a debit card means the money is directly pulled from your checking account, and since my wife and I have an interest checking account, we prefer to keep the cash in there so that it can earn interest before we pay the credit card bill at the end of each month.

What cards do you use? My wife and I, between us, have three active credit cards - a Citi Driver’s Edge Mastercard, an Amazon.com Visa, and a Target Visa. We use the Driver’s Edge card for gas and automotive purchases, the Amazon card for purchases on amazon.com, and the Target card for purchases from Target. This allows us to get roughly 3% back on all of our purchases on cards. These three cards take care of the vast majority of our purchasing on cards.

Don’t reward cards encourage you to spend more? No. These cards are tools, not excuses to spend more. They simply make the purchasing process more convenient (it’s easier to run a card than it is to fill out a check at the checkout) and occasionally earn us a nice reward - a 10% off card for Target, a $25 reward certificate for Amazon, or, occasionally, a check from Citi.

What’s the disadvantage of doing things this way? First of all, you have to be disciplined. If you’re tempted to buy unnecessary things simply because you have the credit to do it, this strategy won’t work. You also need to have the routine of paying your credit card bills down cold - even one late payment can wipe out the benefits of doing things this way.

To put it simply, I do not believe credit is inherently bad as some people do. I believe the big risk associated with this strategy is personal - it’s up to your organization skills and personal willpower to make it a success. I’ll be the first to admit that there was a time when I didn’t have either of those attributes - and it resulted in $17,000 in credit card debt. I had to learn how to use a card.

If you have those attributes, using a reward credit card for your routine purchases provides nothing but benefits - better credit rating, rewards, and convenience at the purchase site. For us, these benefits have been a great help over the past few years.

10 tips for surviving a layoff

bob — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:15:00 PST

I was laid off last year. I honestly had it a lot better than some people I know. I got about 9 months advance notice and ended up getting about 5 months of severance. I am well aware that cases like mine are few and far between. That said, there are things you can do to help you survive a layoff, should it happen to you.

If you are fortunate enough to get advance notice, I suggest taking these steps as soon as you find out about the layoff. The sooner you get started, the better positioned you are going to be financially to handle it.

1. Cut expenses like crazy

If you are getting laid off, it is time to be ruthless and cut anything other than things you absolutely need. I wrote about 15 ways to cut expenses, but you have to cut the fat. It would be a terrible thing to get a few months down the road and realize that you can’t pay your electric bill because you couldn’t break your daily Starbucks habit.

If there are any small debts you can pay off quickly, it may be worth it to pay them off to eliminate the expense each month. For anything other than small debts, I suggest…

2. Start paying the minimum on your debts

Take the money that you used to be paying above the minimum payment and start building up your emergency fund.

3. Calculate your bare minimum monthly income

This part is very important. Start by downloading a free budget spreadsheet. You have to find out how much money you need each month to survive. After cutting your expenses, this number should be a lot lower than your current monthly income. If it isn’t you need to go back and cut more! The goal here is to figure out your bare minimum income that you need while in “survival mode.” and figure out the minimum that you can live on each month.

4. Start filling your emergency fund any way you can

If that means selling your stuff on Ebay, getting a part-time job, or other ways to make money, you need to get some money saved up.

5. Start looking for a job immediately

The first benefit here it is a lot easier to survive a layoff when you know that you have a job lined up. The sooner you start looking for a job, the sooner you will find something.

The second benefit is that you will likely have more competition as time goes on. In my case, I worked in an industry that only had a few major employers in my city. So everyone who got laid off at my firm was calling the few other firms in town. Some people started looking for a job right away, and some people took their time and called just before their job-end date. As you could imagine, most of the jobs had already been filled.

6. Ask your friends

I know an accountant who sent out an email to everyone he knew explaining that he had gotten laid off and what type of of job he was looking for. He ended up getting referred to a job by one of his friends. He then rewarded the referrer by taking his family out to a luxury restaurant. Not a bad idea.

7. Don’t burn any bridges

It isn’t uncommon to feel some animosity, but burning bridges is never a good idea. I noticed that many people in my department had previously worked at the same company together. At the previous company they worked in different departments and different roles, but they all ended up working together. You never know when you might run into people again.

8. Don’t spend your severance check!

I was blown away to hear one of my co-workers say that he had already spent his severance check - months before his job-end date and without another job lined up! As soon as he found out how much his check was going to be for he went out and bought a car and a swimming pool or something on credit. I mean seriously, there must be 50 reasons why that is a terrible idea.

Instead, when you get the check, stash it in a high-interest savings account. I like ING Direct for a lot of reasons, but you may be able to find a higher rate elsewhere.

9. Figure out how severance will last

After completing #1 you should hopefully be able to make your severance last longer. Once you figure out the bare minimum (#3) that you can live on each month, add your severance and emergency savings and divide it by your bare minimum number. This will tell you how many months you can last without additional income. This gives you a concrete date of when you have to find a job by.

10. Consider taking a job that pays less

This is a tough one. Some people don’t want to sacrifice income, so they will stay in the job hunt without any income for a year or more waiting until they get the pay they want. Personally, I subscribe to the theory that you should get anything just to keep money coming in. Preferably something that will allow you to continue your job search.

In my case, after doing #9, I realized that my severance and emergency fund would last twice as long if I had some part-time income coming in. So if your severance and emergency fund would last 9 months, you may be able to increase it to 15 months just by working part-time at Starbucks during your job search. This essentially gives you 6 more months to find a job that pays what you want.

Side note: Last I heard Starbucks offers health insurance to part-time workers (20-hours per week)

Summing it up

These are a bunch of practical things to do for surviving a layoff, but the most important is to seek God and His wisdom. Wisdom is one of those things that He promises to give when we ask. Be diligent to do your part, but keep trusting Him and stay encouraged!

Other articles about surviving a layoff: How to survive a layoff, Surviving job loss

Technorati Tags: surviving a layoff

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George Kinder: Three Questions about Life Planning

J.D. — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:00:46 PST

I spent last Tuesday at the mid-winter conference of the local financial planning association. I was there to give a one-hour presentation about financial blogs, but I had a secondary motive. I wanted to hear the keynote speaker, George Kinder.

George Kinder takes a unique approach to financial planning. He moves beyond the numbers and tries to address the goals and values of the client. Kinder calls this method “life planning”. From his website:

Life planning focuses on the human side of financial planning. In life planning we discover a client’s deepest and most profound goals through a process of structured and non-judgmental inquiry. Then, using a mix of professional and advanced relationship skills, we inspire clients to pursue their aspirations, discuss and resolve obstacles, create a concrete financial plan, and provide ongoing guidance as clients accomplish their objectives.

In this three minute video, Kinder explains that in his view, life planning is financial planning done right.

Three questions
Kinder believes that life planning is essential to developing a sound financial plan. “Without life planning,” he said during his talk at last week’s conference, “financial planning is like using a blunt instrument on the organism we call the human being.”

I’ve argued before that the road to wealth is paved with goals. This is a similar sentiment — but it’s not the same. Kinder isn’t simply asking us to set goals; he’s asking us to examine our values, and to decide what’s important. To help clients discover the deeper values in their lives, Kinder poses three questions:

Imagine you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. How would you live your life? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t hold back on your dreams. Describe a life that is complete and richly yours.
Now imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only 5-10 years to live. You won’t ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining? Will you change your life and how will you do it? (Note that this question does not assume unlimited funds.)
Finally, imagine that your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have 24 hours to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What did you miss? Who did you not get to be? What did you not get to do?

Kinder says that answering the first question is easy. There are lots of things we’d do if money were no object. But as the questions progress, there’s a sort of funnel. They become more difficult to answer, and there are fewer possible responses. Life planning is all about answering the third question.

Three answers
During Kinder’s presentation, we were given several minutes to answer these three questions for ourselves. This was difficult for me, and more emotional than you might imagine. I’m at an interesting place in my life, a sort of crossroads. Before hearing Kinder speak, I had already been exploring these subjects and ideas.

My answers to these questions were fairly consistent. If money were not a concern, I’d continue to write, but I would do less of it, and I’d do it without a schedule. (I realize that my schedule here at GRS is self-imposed, but it’s still there: a daily deadline.) If I knew I only had a few years to live, I’d travel more, and read. I’d spend more time with family and friends. And if I only had a day left? I’d miss not having traveled with Kris, not having spent more time with her.

According to Kinder, the third question usually generates responses that follow five general themes:

Family or relationships — 90% of the responses to the final question contain this topic.
Authenticity or spirituality. Many responses involve leading a more meaningful life.
Creativity. Surprisingly, a large number of respondents express a desire to do something creative: to write a science-fiction novel, or to play guitar like Eric Clapton.
Giving back. Further down the list are themes about giving back to the community, about leaving a meaningful positive impact.
A “sense of place”. A fifth common theme (though nowhere near as prominent as the top three) is a desire to have some connection with place: a desire to be in nature, to live someplace different, or to help the environment.

Kinder says that some people — the facts and figures people — look at the life-planning process and ask, “What does this have to do with money?” It has everything to do with money. When you understand what you want to do with your life, you can make financial choices that reflect your values.

All of these questions — and the entire life-planning process — are meant to cause the participant to ask herself, “Who am I as a person, stripped from what I do as a job every day? Is it possible to derive meaning and satisfaction with this stripped away?” Inevitably, the answer is yes.

George Kinder will return to Portland in a couple of weeks to present a two-day workshop for financial planners. I’m trying to decide whether I should go. It’s expensive ($1300), but it’s a business expense, so I’m okay with it. My concern is whether I could get enough out of the experience to share with you, the readers.

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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:

Las ventajas de los coches híbridos en el ahorro (II)

SandMan — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:00:05 PST

Vale, ya sabemos lo que es un híbrido. Ahora, ¿cuáles son los coches híbridos que hay disponibles en nuestro mercado? Pues destinados a ahorrar, pocos. Sólo dos, el Toyota Prius y el Honda Civic Hybrid. El resto son demasiado caros y no suponen una reducción de consumos considerable, ya que sus motores son mucho más potentes que los de un utilitario o compacto normal. Para los interesados, son tres modelos de la marca de lujo Lexus, pero ya aviso que el más barato se va hasta los 55.400 euros y el más caro tiene un precio realmente prohibitivo. Es el Lexus LS 600hL y sus 145.000 euros. Directamente los descartamos, ¿verdad?

Vayamos entonces a los dos modelos que nos quedan, que son los que de verdad nos interesan. Su precio, en ambos casos, es superior a los compactos de tres volúmenes de similares características. 23.900 euros para el Honda y 24.750 euros para el Toyota. Por poner un ejemplo, el Renault Mégane Sedán equiparable cuesta 18.100 euros (pongo este ejemplo porque es el modelo más vendido en enero de 2009).

En estos tres ejemplos, las potencias apenas varían, quedando entre los 112 CV del menos potente y los 116 CV del más potente. Diferencia casi despreciable. En los tres casos, el combustible utilizado es la gasolina (no hay híbridos diésel en nuestro mercado) y el cambio de marchas es automático. No entraremos en equipamientos porque sería liar demasiado la madeja, pero más o menos, para hacernos una idea nos vale.

En un principio, comparando precios, puede parecer que nos saldrá más caro comprar un híbrido que un coche no híbrido de similares características. Siempre que no miremos los consumos, claro. El Renault Mégane Sedán declara unos consumos mixtos de 7,7 L/100 km, mientras que los dos coches híbridos tienen unos consumos homologados en ciclo mixto de 4,6 L/100 km del Honda y de 4,3 L/100 km del Toyota. Una gran diferencia.

Poco más de 3 L/100 km de diferencia, en el mejor de los casos, es algo a tener muy en cuenta. Pero aún hay más, puesto que la cifra de consumo urbano en un coche con motor de combustión interna se dispara respecto a la cifra mixta homologada, llegando a aumentarse hasta en otros 3 litros cada 100 kilómetros. En el caso de los coches híbridos, estas cifras apenas difieren un litro. Y cuando hablamos de más de 5 L/100 km de consumo extra, son palabras mayores.

Dependiendo de los trayectos que realicemos en el día a día, el ahorro será mayor. Si nos movemos principalmente por ciudad, un coche híbrido supondrá un ahorro considerable a final de mes respecto a su homólogo de motor térmico. En el caso de viajes largos, la diferencia no será tan notable, pero seguirá estando a favor del híbrido.

Entonces, ¿cuando compensa un coche híbrido? Pues se podría decir que casi siempre, sobre todo si la mayoría del kilometraje se hace por ciudad. Haciendo un poco de trampas con un comparador de diésel o gasolina, nos sale que con unos 7.500 kilómetros anuales (una cifra realmente baja) el coche híbrido sale mucho más rentable. Si los trayectos son principalmente por carretera, esta cifra aumentará, pero aún así no pasará de los 20.000 kilómetros anuales para que sea rentable.

Además, los coches híbridos son más cómodos. Producen menos ruidos por llevar motores más pequeños, son más confortables a la hora de conducir por ciudad y sobre todo, son menos contaminantes. A todo esto también hay que sumar que estos coches tienen ciertas ventajas administrativas, como estar exentos del impuesto de matriculación o que directamente, no pagan en zonas de estacionamiento regulado (sólo en algunas ciudades, ojo).

Por cierto, para el que esté algo reticente por el tema de las baterías y demás, decir que están preparadas para usarse durante toda la vida útil del coche, incluso más. Así que ya sabes, si estás buscando coche y quieres ahorrar a largo plazo, no dejes de mirar los híbridos, son una muy buena opción.

Jose, editor de Yo llego a fin de mes

Imagen | Honda

Neumáticos de coche: sustitúyelos ahorrando un 27%

Seekend — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:32:36 PST

Los neumáticos son un elemento esencial de seguridad pasiva en el medio de transporte particular por excelencia: el coche. Pero a su vez, y por desgracia para muchos, supone cada cierto tiempo un agujero en nuestra economía doméstica que en algunas ocasiones incurre de manera inesperada.

Ya sea por falta de previsión, por situaciones “inevitables” o simplemente por el propio desgaste como consecuencia del uso habitual de nuestro utilitario, los neumáticos tienen su propio ciclo de vida y, como tal, en la última etapa deben de ser sustituidos principalmente para preservar nuestra propia seguridad en la carretera.

Llegado el momento de tener que realizar la ineludible sustitución, no tengamos miedo en hacerlo porque Internet nos brinda la posibilidad de ahorrarnos entre un 8% y un 27% como mínimo, sin olvidarnos del binomio “tiempo y dinero”.

Para entrar de pleno en materia, lo haremos con un producto concreto del cual poseemos presupuestos y facturas reales en nuestras manos. Lo primero que hace un usuario “sin experiencia”, o sin ganas de gastar mucho en quebraderos de cabeza, es realizar el cambio de los neumáticos sin más preámbulos en el concesionario oficial del vehículo.

He aquí el presupuesto emitido por el concesionario oficial para dos neumáticos de la marca Continental, modelo SportContact 2 235/45 17”. Dicho presupuesto incluye mano de obra, reciclado del neumático y un plus por ser llanta de aleación. Como se puede apreciar en la imagen con algo de esfuerzo, el montante asciende a 406 euros con el IVA incluido.

Tomando como base la cantidad anteriormente citada, 406 euros, vamos a compararla con el presupuesto que nos pueden hacer en cualquier taller no oficial del cual tenemos buenas referencias. Conocido coloquialmente como “taller de barrio” o “taller de un conocido” cuya experiencia del personal avala las mismas garantías profesionales que el taller oficial.

Con el simple hecho de solicitar presupuesto en un taller no oficial conseguimos reducir el presupuesto en un 8%, unos 32 euros en total. Vayamos más lejos, siendo el momento idóneo para hacer uso de la verdadera potencia de nuestros amigos los buscadores.

En Google, con una sencilla búsqueda, obtenemos como resultado un extenso listado donde elegir. Probamos con dos de los muchos portales dedicados al servicio integral para la sustitución de neumáticos, Neumáticos online y Pneus online.

Este servicio abarca desde la propia venta de los neumáticos, pasando por el envío de los mismos, tanto al domicilio particular como al taller concertado, hasta la concertación de cita con el centro de montaje donde serán sustituidos los neumáticos.

Entre ambos portales existen pocas diferencias en el precio de los neumáticos, mano de obra, equilibrado de las ruedas, reciclado de los neumáticos y otros extras. La diferencia más notoria podemos apreciarla en el amplio segmento de centros de montaje concertados en el portal Pneus online frente a un número más reducido de talleres disponibles en Neumáticos online.

Configurando un pedido con dos neumáticos idénticos a los mencionados inicialmente, el precio de cada uno asciende a 140 euros (gastos de envío gratis). Montaje y equilibrado desde 6 euros, dependiendo del taller podría costar hasta 24 euros por neumático. Retirada y reciclado, 4 euros cada uno.

Con unos clics de ratón y un breve formulario relleno obtenemos un presupuesto de 300 euros, que frente a los 406 euros del presupuesto inicial obtenemos un ahorro del 27% aproximadamente. Objetivo cumplido, no sólo obtenemos un considerable ahorro económico sobre un gasto inevitable sino que además hemos ahorrado tiempo en desplazamientos innecesarios. Hagan la prueba.

En Ahorro diario | ¿Dónde llenar el depósito más barato? , Neumáticos en buen estado para ahorrar combustible

Fotos de carné: cómo ahorrar un 75%

Tomás Pulido — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:20:32 PST

En cualquier fotomatón o estudio fotográfico, al menos donde yo vivo, nos cobran como mínimo 2 euros por 4 fotos tamaño carné. Sin embargo mi hermano, que necesitaba una foto para renovar el DNI, ha encontrado una original manera de obtener 8 fotos tamaño carné, por sólo 50 céntimos.

El procedimiento que ha seguido apenas le ha llevado 10 minutos llevarlo a cabo, y es así de sencillo:

1. Él mismo se ha tomado una foto con su cámara digital.
2. Con Photoshop, ha eliminado el fondo de la foto, dejándolo blanco.
3. A continuación ha formado un mosaico de 2 filas con 4 fotografías cada una, formando un rectángulo con un largo 1,5 veces el alto.

4. Por último, ha grabado la imagen en un pendrive, y lo ha llevado a un quisco Kodak, donde imprimirlo en papel fotográfico de 10 × 15 cm sólo le ha costado medio euro, aunque en otros sitios es incluso más barato.

Posiblemente para cantidades mayores merezca más la pena hacer uso del servicio de impresión fotográfica que ofrecen algunas webs a menor precio. Pero en este caso y debido a los gastos de envío no merecía la pena.

Enlace | Quiosco KODAK Picture

Behavior Gap: The Psychology of Investing

J.D. — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:15:09 PST

At Behavior Gap, Carl Richards is on a mission to help investors overcome the self-destructive behaviors that prevent them from prospering. Over the past week, while preparing for an upcoming presentation to a conference of financial planners, I’ve had the chance to e-mail and speak with Carl about his site and his goals. “Any way we can encourage people to think about money is good,” he told me. He wants people to become aware of how their behavior affects their financial position.

The classic example — and the source of his blog’s name — is the “behavior gap”. “In general, we’re bad investors,” says Carl. “We tend to buy high, sell low. This behavior creates a gap between investment returns and investor returns.”

Here’s how Carl describes the behavior gap visually:

Carl believes that investment success isn’t about skill, but about behavior. To the extent that you can control your emotional and psychological involvement with the process, you’ll outperform your peers. That’s not to say that you should be a cold mechanical machine with money. But that you should be aware of when you’re making decisions based on irrational exuberance (or irrational fear) instead of financial best practices.

Behavior Gap includes great articles like these:

The Great Reset, in which Carl argues that it’s not a bad thing that consumers are saving more while spending less.
Average is Not Normal, which explains why the market rarely returns the annual average.
The Wealth-Management Paradox: Real people don’t care about their returns; they care about the wealth they have available to fund their goals. (Also part two.)
Media Fast, in which Carl argues that it pays to ignore financial news.

In addition to insightful articles and the occasional slideshow, Behavior Gap offers a nascent collection of sketches about behavioral finance. More impressive, the site boasts several “white papers”, short PDF ebooks on important topics such as:

The Behavior Gap — “Your investing behavior matters.”
The Family CFO — “When was the last time you examined your finances?”
Investing Like an Adult — “Sometimes it is easier to complain about the market than to take the time to understand it, because it allows us to place blame on something or someone else.”
A Manual for Scary Markets — “It’s perfectly normal to feel nervous in a scary market. It’s part of being human.”

It’s rare that I find a site that completely enthralls me. Behavior Gap is one of them. After sharing ideas with Carl, I’m confident I’ll be linking to his blog often in the future.

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All Weather, Lazy and Couch Potato Retirement Portfolios

Mr. GoTo — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:15:44 PST

I am a student of asset allocation strategies. More particularly, I am interested in retirement portfolios that can perform well in all market conditions. Sometimes these are called “all weather”, “set and forget”, “lazy man” or “couch potato” portfolios.

The important feature of such portfolios is that they are designed such that regular re-balancing is not required.

Instead, using a selection of different asset classes that are not correlated, an investor can sit tight under most market conditions with a reasonable expectation that at least some of the asset classes in the portfolio will show positive (or substantially less negative) market returns. By “not correlated” I mean that one asset class will not move in the same direction and at the same time as another asset class.

Lazy man or couch potato portfolios are therefore different from target date retirement funds. Target funds actually re-balance each year as the pre-determined retirement target date approaches. This also a lazy way to manage a portfolio but in my opinion it is not the best way. To me, the evidence supporting the merits of a constant decrease in equity percentage in your portfolio is underwhelming.

I use an all weather portfolio in my 401(K) account. It is based on the 10 Speed Portfolio devised by Scott Burns. As you can tell from the name, it contains ten different asset classes which I have implemented using a combination of nine low cost Vanguard mutual funds and ETF’s and one other ETF (BWX). Burns has put together a number of other lazy portfolios, with fewer distinct asset classes included.

I selected the 10 Speed Porfolio because of its diversity, including inflation protected securities and foreign treasury bond funds. I also did a lot of research on the theory behind the use of each of these different asset classes. Ibbotson Associates has published a lot of research in this area, some of which you can look at on Morningstar’s site. I have also reviewed some of the work of Craig Israelsen, Ph.D. who is very active in the area of retirement investing and asset allocation.

The 10 Speed Portfolio did not do particularly well in 2008 compared to some of the other lazy man portfolios. Fortunately, we have investments outside that portfolio that helped minimize the overall damage to our retirement nest egg, including I-Bonds and additional inflation protected securities.

Anyway, I continue to be a believer in set-and-forget retirement investing for the most part. However, I will keep researching and investigating different options in retirement portfolio allocations. Fortunately, there are a number of different tools available for analyzing different portfolios.

Image credit: Craig Jewell

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All Weather, Lazy and Couch Potato Retirement Portfolios