4tNox.com

What Millionaires Do Right

4t Nox — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:50:15 +0000

What are two of the main practices that help millionaires build wealth and success over time? Saving money and good time management.

CNBC.com's Personal Finance section has a post up called "The Highly Effective Habits of Millionaires."

A recent survey of wealthy Americans revealed what millionaires plan to do with their money this year.

Their priorities are still to pay down debt and save money: The average millionaire household saved over $39,000 last year, and plans to save the same or more this year, according to a recent survey by Spectrem Group.

And then they get into the habits of billionaires Bill Gates and Steve Jobs:

Millionaires only have 24 hours in a day, just like the rest of us. What separates them from us is time management. While the rest of us go home and flop on the couch in front of the TV, the wealthy are reading and doing things that contribute to their success.

Go check out the full article for more discussion of how millionaires succeed and where they're planning on allocating their investments in the coming year.

The Highly Effective Habits of Millionaires – CNBC.com

Atlantic.com’s Complete Money Report

4t Nox — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:05:35 +0000

We've featured a few bits and pieces from the special Money Report segment that The Atlantic has been running. They've just wrapped it up and have a post linking to each article in the series. If you missed a couple of our favorite articles or just want to see what else they had to say, we highly recommend hitting the link.

The Complete Money Report – The Atlantic

Announcing the Spring 2011 Life Finances Portfolio Management Game

4t Nox — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:03:32 +0000

Portfolio Management Game

Thespis Media is proud to announce the 4t Nox Spring 2011 Personal Finance Contest – “The Life Finances Portfolio Management Contest”. In addition to students competing for prize money, teacher incentives have been added as well. I want to take this opportunity to personally invite you and your students to participate and wish you the best of luck! The documentation for the Portfolio Management Game can be found here. Please see the following note from our CEO for more information regarding these files. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.

Warm Regards,
Eva Franklin

4t Nox Educational Support

E-mail: evaf@4tnox.com

A Message to our Partner Teachers

I wanted to send a quick note to wish you and your students the best of luck as you compete against numerous other high school teams in our inaugural PM contest.

As guides to provide direction, see the files linked here – six word documents and one spreadsheet. Please review them prior to starting the competition. If you have any questions, contact us at your earliest convenience.

I would encourage you to read the Instructions and Lessons documents first. The article document may or may not be something you use in class, but discussing its framework may be helpful. Three of the documents deal with key terminology; one is a list of definitions, one is a teacher’s guide / answer key to the student assignment/quiz, and one is a student version of key terms which was created to be copied and utilized as an assignment and/or quiz. The spreadsheet is the format for our contest and will be what your students use to submit their initial and end-of-contest portfolio entries.

Thank you for all of the work you do to help the next generation become financially literate. It is a very important discipline. You may not see the end results, like many of your efforts with teenagers, but rest assured you are having a long-term positive impact on someone’s financial future. You will reduce the number of “Eddie’s” and the eventual fallout from poor financial decision making.

Good Luck!

In Education,

Brooks Levonitis, CEO
Thespis Media, Ltd. Co.

Life Finances Portfolio Management Game Files

4 Things to Add to Your Credit Databank

4t Nox — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:23:19 +0000

The Mint Life blog has a post up about the realities of consumer credit: banks exist to make money and you're in charge of looking out for your own best interests.

It’s clear that many of us have unrealistic expectations when it comes to banks and credit card issuers. These companies are FOR PROFIT organizations. That means they’re in it strictly for the money, your money. They don’t care about your personal situations, they don’t care about your excuses, they don’t care that the dog ate your checkbook. They want to be paid, they want to make money, they want to make MORE money and they want it to come from YOU.

Hit the full article for a candid look at what you should keep in mind when you think about your credit.

4 Things You Don't Want to Hear About Credit, But Should – Mint Life Blog

Life Finances Teacher Surveys – Mid-Term Spring 2011

4t Nox — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:18:31 +0000

To all of our Life Finances teachers and facilitators: we're looking for feedback again.

Our Mid-Term Spring 2011 Teacher surveys can be found here.

We'd love it if you took a few minutes to let us know how we're doing.

Survey Link

Baseball Opening Day & Cheap Hats!

4t Nox — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:19:37 +0000

It must finally be spring, because today is the season opener for Major League Baseball! Time for all you fans and sabermaticians out there to start doing your thing.

Here's a listing of today's opening games (hit the link for the huge listing of games through this Saturday):

And because 4t Nox loves a bargain, here's a link to a one-day sale for MLB hats at Lids.com:

Celebrate MLB Opening Day with a new hat! – 25% Off – Lids.com

Are You Getting Less For Your Money?

4t Nox — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:24:49 +0000

Here's a story from Brandchannel that calls out some packaged goods brands for quietly trimming down the amount of product you get on the store shelves…while still charging you the same price.

Sometimes the changes are very subtle — a manufacturer shaves off an ounce or two of product contents but retains the same physical package size and price. Consumer Reports cites several product packages that are sold for the same price despite the fact that the content has been reduced, among them: Ivory dish detergent (24 oz. vs. 30 oz. previously), Scott 1000 toilet tissue (104.8 sq. ft. vs. 115.2 sq. ft. previously), and Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice (59 oz. vs. 64 oz. previously).

The idea here is that customers are much more sensitive to the price they pay than they are to the quantity they receive. This strategy only seems well suited to companies that can hide products behind a box, or to products that don't come in standardized sizes. You don't read about companies reducing the size of a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. Instead, those companies have to pass price increases along to the customer.

So the next time you're in the grocery aisle, take a look at the weight or the volume of the cookies in that box. You might not be getting as much as you think.

The Incredible Shrinking Package – Brandchannel

10 Reasons You Aren’t Rich

4t Nox — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:40:56 +0000

7. You Have No Goals

It's difficult to build wealth if you haven't taken the time to know what you want. If you haven't set wealth goals, you aren't likely to attain them. You need to do more than state, "I want to be a millionaire." You need to take the time to set saving and investing goals on a yearly basis and come up with a plan for how to achieve those goals.

From: 10 Reasons You Aren't Rich – TheStreet.com

Free Credit Score Book for Kindle

4t Nox — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:12:38 +0000

Amazon is offering a free e-book titled "Your Credit Score, Your Money & What's At Stake: How to Improve the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future" by Liz Pullam Weston.

Overall the reviews seem pretty positive. And after all, free is free.

1933 Inflation Infomercial

4t Nox — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:39:03 +0000

via The Atlantic