Our 4-Hour Workweek

A "thirty-something" colleague of mine asked me last week what would I recommend he invest in given he had $10,000.

I love these kinds of questions and with zeal set out to come up with a meaningful recommendation. Considering his age and the fact that he has three young children and a stay at home wife, I felt his risk tolerance was low and so I made a beeline to the MSN Money Central website and the deluxe mutual fund screener. I set the following search criteria:

1. 10-year annualized return equal to or greater than 12%;
2. Morningstar rating of 5-star;
3. Morningstar risk of low;
4. Zero front-end load.

Wow! Seven great funds with low risk and 10-year annual returns of 12% or more. Pretty good stuff!

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The 4-Hour Workweek blogging lifestyle is working for J.D., Darren, Millionaire Mommy, and Tina. Their readership experienced double digit growth over the past two months, since my initial report.

I read four blogs with a 4-Hour Workweek flair on a regular basis.

1. Get Rich Slowly, authored by J.D. Roth; subscriber base of 56,053 (up 18.8%);
2. Problogger, authored by Darren Rowse; subscriber base of 47,862 (up 15.5%);
3. Think Simple Now, authored by Tina Su; subscriber base of 5,049 (up 14.0%);
4. Millionaire Mommy Next Door, author is anonymous; subscriber base of 3,062 (up 18.5%).

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tim Ferriss, you would be proud of Jeff Livney! Check out his story, courtesy of Angela Shah, reporter for the Dallas Morning News.

Jeff Livney thought he wanted to be an attorney, so, at 16, he secured a paid internship at a law practice in California.

For one of his first assignments, he was asked to create the firm's Web site. "They assumed all young high school guys knew about this, and I didn't," he said. "But I had a friend that did. So I paid him less than what I was being paid and enjoyed a leisurely summer in California."

With that mindset, Mr. Livney created Liveny+Partners, a full service boutique marketing firm in the four years since that internship.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Move over Tim Ferriss - Gillian & I can tango too! And here is our proof.

I am back and ready to continue the journey for a 4-hour workweek.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweei

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I found an interesting acticle by Abby Ellin on the MSN's Money Central today - "Can You Teach Your Kids To Be Rich?"

If you are a parent with young children, this is well worth your time to read.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:36 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For the week:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% (-7.0% year to date) to 12,337.22.
• The NASDAQ rose 0.1% (-13.0% year to date) to 2,306.20.
• The S&P 500 Index rose 1.3% (-8.1% year to date) to 1,348.78.
• The Power Women 50 Index rose 0.1% (-6.5% year to date) to $88,286.98 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index rose 1.2% (-9.4% year to date) to $88,724.62 (details).
• The Dogs of the Dow fell 0.5% (-4.3% year to date) to $95,734.44 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash rose 6.5% (-4.4% year to date) to $23,097.51.
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds rose 3.1% (-8.5% year to date) to $62,320.95.

Note: data is as of market close on February 19.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 2:54 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly was asked the question by one of his readers, “What motivated you to take control of your finances?”

Here’s J.D.’s response:

I started to answer but, as conversations will, our discussion lost its focus. I never gave a complete response. I thought about the question for the rest of the day, though, and concluded that for me, money represents freedom. In his book "Debt is Slavery", Michael Mihalik writes:

"Too many people hate their jobs but are afraid to leave, because they wouldn’t be able to pay their mortgage, credit card bills, car loans, or boat loans. Debt can turn a free, happy person into a bitter human being. Debt can turn you into a slave."

For fifteen years, I felt like a slave. Debt was the dominating force in my life. My choices were limited by the fact that I owed tens of thousands of dollars. For a long time, this burden only weakened me — I took on more debt in a futile attempt to ease the pain with more stuff.

Eventually I realized that what I wanted was freedom — freedom to work and live where I wanted, freedom to travel, freedom to retire early — and that the only way I could achieve this freedom was by eliminating debt. My non-mortgage debt is gone now, but this desire for freedom remains my primary motivation. It’s why I’m willing to live frugally. It’s why I want a huge emergency fund. It’s why I want to pay off the mortgage.

Click here for J.D.'s complete post.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

David Gardner, co-founder of The Motley Fool, reveals "The Greatest Secret Of All" to investing -

"Find good companies and hold those positions tenaciously over time to yield multiples upon multiples of your original investment."

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mr. Market gives and Mr. Market takes. This week he took back precisely what he gave the previous week. Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4.4% and this week the Dow fell 4.4%.

For the week:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.4% (-8.2% year to date) to 12,182.13.
• The NASDAQ fell 4.5% (-13.1% year to date) to 2,304.85.
• The S&P 500 Index fell 4.6% (-9.3% year to date) to 1,331.29.
• The Power Women 50 Index fell 2.4% (-6.6% year to date) to $88,168.83 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index fell 5.7% (-10.5% year to date) to $87,694.29 (details).
• The Dogs of the Dow fell 6.7% (-3.8% year to date) to $96,222.01 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash fell 1.9% (-10.2% year to date) to $21,680.01.
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds fell 4.8% (-11.3% year to date) to $60,445.49.

Upcoming this week – I plan to invest $1,043.30 in my 401K. du Pont (NYSE symbol DD) and General Motors (NYSE symbol GM) will announce their dividends. I expect du Pont will pay 41 cents per share (3.63% yield) and GM 25 cents per share (3.8% yield). The Dogs of the Dow offer great yields given the current market conditions.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I read four blogs with a 4-Hour Workweek flair on a regular basis.

1. Get Rich Slowly, authored by J.D. Roth; subscriber base of 47,147;
2. Problogger, authored by Darren Rowse; subscriber base of 41,530;
3. Think Simple Now, authored by Tina Su; subscriber base of 4,429;
4. Millionaire Mommy Next Door, author is anonymous; subscriber base of 2,585.

Can you see a bit of Tim Ferriss in each of these bloggers? I do. They make great online mentors. By studying each of their efforts, perhaps I will be able to learn and implement some of their successful techniques.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:20 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)