Archive for May, 2010
A vocal and keyboard improvisation with a drawing out of my poetry book.
Duration : 5 min 33 sec
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Duration : 2 min 37 sec
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Duration : 3 min 17 sec
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Dear All,
Maybe this is a strange topic to talk about here, but the recent General Election made me focus on this topic more.
Coming from working class West Yorkshire roots, I have always been radically to the left in my political views (Socialism – i.e. workers owning the means of production and an equitable distribution of wealth), and used to do activism back in my early 20s although I’ve not done much since (I’m now 30). For ideological reasons, I never looked into a job in Financial Services where the big money is (although many Physics grads do), and in fact worked in the Public Sector for a while, although sadly not in a field where I was making much of a difference.
I now work in the private sector for a small IT company, and while the company is a great place to work, it is struggling at the moment, all salaries have been on hold for more than two years and my salary has actually gone down in real terms. Part of my appeal to stay at the company and accept these terms is that the work-life balance is usually very good, the Management are extremely goods to work with and quite modest, I have a very diverse role and get to travel a bit and the company makes a real commitment to (apart from the salaries) take care for its staff – despite the struggles the Managing Director made and honoured a commitment to make noone redundant during the recession.
However, at the age of 30, I have started to lose patience with things and am looking for a new post. I am feeling that while I am staying here, I can’t progress with other areas of my life like getting the funds to move to a nicer area, combat the high and rising cost of living in London etc.. I have written an earlier thread about that. I feel the only way to get anywhere is to apply to large companies (since the Public Sector – my first choice ideally is cutting back), but am at odds with that internally, especially with the idea of pushing ahead with my own life and success working for a system I don’t like. Another option is to work for myself, but I am not sure what business model I would choose that would comply with my Socialist leanings.
I have spoken to a few people who have suggested that I simply change my political views to get ahead, since the trade unions are dead and noone in the City/Top Companies wants a Leftist to work for them etc. etc. – or simply to ignore it and keep them hidden but go for the money, however I find this idea terrible.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
You seem to be a position at the moment where you can reconcile your beliefs and your current job; you seem to enjoy the role and have respect for your management structure. I would consider you to be a lucky person.
Larger organisations (i.e. IT multinationals) have a much harder and stark view of life. Their cultures and business models react according to their share price and changing business model. They think nothing of moving big chunks of their activities offshore, or making swathes of the workforce redundant, just to eke out an extra point of margin.
I would caution you against moving to such an employer. I don’t think that you will feel true to yourself working in a hard nosed corporate environment.
With respect to changing your views; at the age of 30, I think they are part of you and cannot be traded or compromised. Be proud of who you are!
This is a short video discussing the players involved in buying or selling bank bulk REO properties. Also, included are some of the terms you will need to know.
Duration : 8 min 40 sec
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Duration : 1 min 11 sec
So, I have been looking into working for a small financial planning practice or investment management company that would allow me to learn how they do business. I was able to find one about two weeks ago and currently in negotiation. They are a small company (less than 15 people) and they are strictly just money managers. They do not have any financial planners on board and has reiterated to me that there are no advancement opportunities. I would still like to join their firm because the practice that I want to build someday would have an emphasis on investment management and I want to learn how a small business does it. I currently work in the portfolio management area of a large wealth management firm assisting the PMs. I want to get of my current firm because their business model does not fit mine. Like I mentioned in a previous post, chances for advancement are very slim even though the company is huge. I have already given up on advancing my career with anyone, which is why I want to go independent.
The smaller company that I interviewed at can match my current salary, but that’s basically where it ends. I would have to work there for two years to get a pension-like plan where they contribute 15% of my salary. I do get health care, but that doesn’t concern me much since I get that through my spouse’s plan. They have a bonus plan, but it’s not guaranteed. Calculating all the benefits that my current employer provides me versus the small company, I would be losing about $10K a year plus the reimbursement for my CFP education/certification. The economic cost is high for me even though I feel I would be learning a lot from the small firm.
My motivation to work at my current job has gone down the drain since most of the people I have enjoyed working with are gone. Ok, all of them are gone (among other things). 
I suppose I can hold my breath just a bit longer. I think I already know the answer to this, but any other opinions are welcomed. My spouse thinks I should just hang in there, finish my education and wait for a better opportunity. I would be happier if it was a financial planning AND investment firm all together.
P.S. The position in the new firm would be in similar role as I am in currently (support level)
There’s more to life than money. Job satisfaction is a really big deal. If you can do something you like, it makes no difference if there is advancement potential. Besides, the real potential is going out on your own. It seems like a no brainer. Take the new job, be happy, work toward building your own business, and forget about the slightly lower wage.
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Duration : 1 min 11 sec
I’ve seen interest rates from retail banks as high as 2%. No fixed term; you deposit the money, it earns 2% on every dollar, you can access the funds as you so require.
I won’t specify which Wealth Management firm offers this (it’s a pretty large firm), but while inspecting what rates they’re offering on cash deposits, an uninvested balance will only earn 0.02%, and the highest rate I could see on the whole sheet was 0.80%, which was for a $100,000+ balance, and had a set of prerequisites to earn such a rate.
So, if I’m reading this correctly, that would mean that a balance of $1,000,000 when invested with a wealth manager would earn $8,000 over the course of a year in the best of circumstances, or $300 on an uninvested deposit.
But at a regular retail bank, I could earn $20,000 per year on said $1,000,000 balance… so why on earth would I go to the trouble of using a wealth management service when I have an option with virtually the same amount of certainty, and offers what appears to be an interest rate 67x superior to a Wealth Manager?
Am I just not understanding something here?
I have not seen any banks offering 2% on other than CDs of at least 2 years duration. I will say this though. Blue chip stocks are paying dividends of better than 3%. Of course their prices might fluctuate. KO, MCD, CVX, CLX, PG. All above 3%. There are some stocks paying even much higher than that. ETP, SXL, PAA, KMP about 7% or better.