Chris Erice

Credit card companies take what they can [3]

Chris Erice — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:50:41 GMT

The New York Times reports that credit card companies are more than willing to negotiate debt with customers. Thanks to the recession, collectors know that Americans are strap for cash. Therefore credit card companies are willing to settle for a lot less than what is owed to them. In fact, the NY Times article states that some credit card companies are forgiving up to 70 percent of credit card debt.

Banks and card companies are bracing for a wave of defaults on credit card debt in early 2009, and they are vying with each other to get paid first. —Eric Dash, NY Times.

Of course, there is no such thing as free lunch. Consumers with forgiven debt will see their FICO scores drop as a result of this. The average consumer score will drop 70 to 130 points for someone with a strong FICO score of above 700 points. In addition, there will be a negative mark on your credit report that will last for 7 years, almost as bad as declaring bankruptcy.

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Lessons in Life

Chris Erice — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:40:02 GMT

As the year comes to an end, I take the time to look back at what lessons I have learned, things I have accomplished and hope to do in the New Year. For me, life has been busy (you can probably tell by the lack of postings on this blog). I look forward to the great opportunities in 2009. I also look forward to more blog posts too. Below is a quotation I found on Facebook that sums up my 2008:

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away they were meant to be there. To serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or help figure out who you are or want to become.

And some things happen to you that seem horrible, painful, and unfair; but in hindsight you realize that without overcoming those obstacles, you would have never realized your potential, strength, or willpower.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The success and downfalls you experience create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, the lessons they teach us are probably the most poignant and important ones of all. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them because they helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but also because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you.

—Author Unknown

Have an awesome 2009 everybody! :)

Is Apple iPhone 3G really half the price? [1052]

Chris Erice — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:49:16 GMT

I often agree with Apple commercials. In their “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC.” commercials, I agree that PCs have more viruses and a lot of problems. After years of using Windows and finally making the switch to the Mac platform, I should know. However, in their recent iPhone 3G commercials, I totally disagree with their message. It is not half the price.

“Everyone” commercial transcript:
Some people will like surfing the web twice as fast.
Some people will like downloading stuff twice as fast.
Some people will like finding their way twice as fast.
But pretty much everyone will like paying half the price.

True, the cost of the actual phone is half the price, but it is because the new iPhone 3G is subsidized by AT&T. And don’t think AT&T is doing you a favor. They have worked the subsidy back into the iPhone 3G contract, which means you will be paying them back the subsidy and then some.

To summarize the new iPhone 3G plan: you will have to pay $30/month for its data plan compared to the original iPhone data plan of $20/month and pay an additional $5/month for 250 SMS text messages (250 text messages are included on the original iPhone plan).

Please be informed before purchasing on the basis of their advertisement because it is not entirely true. The additional monthly fees will more than make up for the half that you thought you were going to save.

Staying in Sync with MobileMe [1]

Chris Erice — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:39:34 GMT

The MobileMe service by Apple was widely promoted as “Exchange for the rest of us.” And for those who do not know what exchange is, it is basically a messaging and collaborative tool developed ironically by its rival Microsoft.

When I first heard about this service, I got really excited. Not because of its push messaging service, which allows you to receive email notifications the moment someone clicks on the send button. I was more exited about the possibility of syncing my calendar and address book between my iPhone, computer, and the web without the need of actually hooking my phone physically to a computer. To me, that is what this service is really about.

MobileMe, however, has a much clearer mission that solves a much clearer problem. It’s meant to keep the e-mail, calendars, address books and Web bookmarks on all of your computers — Macs, Windows PCs, iPhones and iPod Touches — synchronized in real time. —David Pogue, NY Times.

See, the revolutionary idea about MobileMe is that once you update your appointment on the iPhone, that data is automatically transmitted up to MobileMe and down to your computing devices. You do not have to physically hook up your iPhone to your computer nightly to backup your address book and calendar!

While push email is exciting to see in action, there is one main disadvantage. To use MobileMe’s push email service, you will need to use their me.com domain. There is really no way to configure your iPhone to use the push email service without using the @me.com domain name. I agree that it is a really cool and short domain, but I am totally against the idea of using an email address that I have to pay for the privilege to use (for example, using an email address assigned by your ISP), since you’ll be stuck paying for a service just for its email address.

What I found MobileMe’s push email service useful, however, is using it for notification purposes. For example, American Express (and most financial institutions) emails you a notification when there is a new statement or if your bill is due. By configuring your notifications to be sent to your @me.com address, you will be instantly notified if your bill is late, or if you have gone over your credit limit.

For more technical purposes, I have also set my servers to notify me if something goes down or if customers are in need of assistance (very useful). Since MobileMe’s push email service is instantaneous, I will be able to react to any notification the second it reaches my iPhone.

Sure MobileMe has push email, but what you really get for $100/year is syncing without the cable.

A sit down with Warren Buffett [1]

Chris Erice — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 04:57:36 GMT

If you did not know this by now, Warren Buffett is the world’s richest man alive, according to Forbes. At 77, he is the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company that owns the gecko at Geico, the fruits at Fruit of the Loom, and all the lactose at Dairy Queen. Buffett’s wealth came in the form of great investments into public companies such as American Express, Coca-Cola, and Gillette. He is admired by many, which is why 25 thousand investors make their way to Omaha, Nebraska to attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting.

A few lucky business students were invited to meet the man himself in a Q&A session (the entire Q&A session is linked below under related links). Below are some tidbits that I found interesting…

Why do you think that despite making your methods publicly available, that relatively few people have been able to emulate your success?

People want to make money fast, but it doesn’t happen that way. Graham’s philosophy doesn’t promise enough for many people. You don’t know when it will happen, but you just wait for the fat pitches within your circle of competence. It’s not as exciting as guessing whether the stock price will go up the next day. Most investors in internet companies didn’t know the market cap. They were buying because they thought the stock would move, but if you asked them to write “I would buy XYZ company for $6 billion because”, they wouldn’t get halfway through the sentence. It’s the classic tortoise versus hare, bound to work over time. Charlie and I have educated competitors. Most don’t compete with us, though. It’s fine, we have more than enough money.

Given your business success, your immense fortune, and your celebrity status, how do you stay so down to earth and humble? Are there specific people or lessons you have learned throughout your life that enable you to maintain this outlook?

I was lucky to have the right heroes. Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out to be. One of your most important jobs in life will be raising your children. They will learn more from you than they will in graduate school. My father was a huge influence, and later on Graham came along. I was also never let down by my heroes.

What importance do you give to balance as it pertains to work and life and what do you do to maintain your appropriate balance?

I have so much fun that it’s not work. In my own life I did virtually no social functions or meetings that I didn’t want to do. In my adult business life I have never had to make a choice of trading between professional and personal. I have simple pleasures. I play bridge online for 12 hours a week. Bill [Gates] and I play, he’s “chalengr” and I’m “tbone.”

There you have it: there is no such thing as quick money in the stock market, find the right heroes in life, and find a job that you enjoy so much that it does not become “work.”

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