DTEJD1997

Hmmm....yes, you are largely correct... There are a few wrinkles on this woman's situation though.... A lot of people, even those who attend law school do not the true situation before they attend. Additionally, a lot of people see "working attorneys" and automatically assume they are successful. The reality is that a good percentage of them are SEVERELY underemployed and scraping by on $20k, $30k, $40k a year. The other facet not widely understood is the debt that a lot of them are carrying. $40k is a livable wage in a low COL area. It is NOT a livable wage when you have $200k in student loan debt. She is a graduate from a very low ranked school. Not the worst, but in the bottom quartile, probably something like 175 out of 200. As such, very few firms will even CONSIDER somebody from a school like this, especially after 2008. Then you have a problem that schools are not accurately reporting what incomes are like for their graduates. There is a fair amount of controversy over this. The fellow alumni of this woman have very mixed outcomes. The top 10% or so are generally doing reasonably well. Those that have VERY solid family connections are doing somewhat less well...Another 20% are doing OK, and a third are really scraping by, but are attorneys. Another 1/3 are just wipe outs. They have not passed the bar exam, OR if they have, they are not employed, OR if they are employed, they are not even making $25k a year. The next wrinkle or problem is that her region is FLOODED with attorneys. I know that there are AT LEAST 7 law schools in her state, maybe 8? The neighboring states have more than 5 schools in them too. Her county is also changing the system for assignment of work in the upcoming year. It will become MORE difficult for her to make money doing what she is doing. This is a certainty even without new attorneys coming into the workforce. 2014 will certainly see more attorneys coming online...More workers chasing the same pie (or even slightly smaller pie). She has no money to relocate. She lives at home. Where would she go? She has no connections in other states, she would have to pass another state's bar exam (time consuming & expensive & chance of failure). I know other markets such as NYC & DC are very bad... She has little business sense and for a couple of years simply did not think of the consequences of her loans/debt. She is starting to think about it now that it is having some severe complications on her life. As for a man bailing her out? Maybe? Who knows? The cynic in me thinks that a man who has enough capital/earnings that $250k is not a significant factor is going to get a younger/less indebted woman? Conversely, the same thing would probably go for a woman...there are lots of men out there, why would you date one that makes a low wage AND has a huge debt, AND does not have any realistic prospect of paying it back? I don't know....just curious...thought it would be a good topic for conversation...

Well, there is a BIG difference in the situation you described...The doctor is likely to be able to pay that debt off. This poor woman is not likely to make any significant progress on her loans. She is not even paying the INTEREST on them now. She is most likely NOT going to be able to earn her way out as an attorney. As time progresses, she MIGHT be able to make more than $25k a year, but the odds are stacked against her. Every six months there are more attorneys entering the market. This jurisdiction also will changes made to the appointment system in the new year. The changes will result in the same amount of work being handed out to more attorneys. Thus, her work level might eventually go to one day a week average (for appointments). The only way out of her debt is if she maybe got into a different field. Unfortunately, her education is law and journalism, not medicine or business...

I am unsure that this woman is a spendthrift, EXCEPT perhaps in regards to education... She lives at home still, and drives a Toyota from the mid 90's? Her clothes are nice, but what do I know about how much that would cost? She hasn't told me any stories of how she goes on crazy vacations or anything like that. It is her student loans that are just over $250k. I don't about her other debt, if any... So I don't she is a spendthrift per se...just has a mortgage sized+ student loan debt. The student loan debt is much WORSE than credit card debt, as she can't get it discharged in bankruptcy.

Hey all: I had a very unusual situation the other day...really made me think... I had lunch with a younger attorney. She is a nice looking woman in her early/mid 30's. This was a "friendly" lunch, and we are platonic friends... She is somewhat intelligent, well dressed, nice looking, good personality. After lunch, she told me of her situation, which she assured me is relatively common amongst her compatriots. So her is her story... She went to a small, well regarded, regional liberal arts school. She majored in journalism. After graduating, she had a good amount of student debt, and tried to get a job as journalist. That didn't happen. The closest she got were a few unpaid internships. She worked a few odd jobs, but could not get any traction. After a few years, she decided to go to law school. She went to a lower ranked school in the Mid-West. While in law school, she had an unpaid clerking position. She also had an unpaid internship with a couple of different law firms. She worked hard, networked, and graduated on time. After passing the bar, she continued to look for a paid position. After a year or so of this, she simply could not find one. She then decided to open her own criminal defense practice. She is now chasing criminal appointments in various courts. She has a small amount of success and gets some appointments and a few retainers. The problem is that she is not really getting enough work. She gets MAYBE 2 days of paid work per week. Without any partner/associate, she has to do all the research herself and has a steep learning curve. She frequently works 3-4 hours for every 1 that she gets paid. The end result is that she is making about $25k a year! She took out student loans to go to law school. She is on "income based repayment" for her loans. The payments she is making do not even cover the interest expense, so the principal goes up every year. The balance of her student loans are now just over $250,000. She lives at home. She drives a late model junker. She recently broke up with her long term boyfriend. She admits that her debt played a MAJOR factor in the breakup. Now she is worried that she will not have a serious, long term relationship. She thinks most men will take a pass when they learn of the amount of debt she has. She is worried that she will not be able to get married and start/have a family. I am not sure what to think. I would never have thought that debt would make a big deal in a relationship. HOWEVER, the amount of her debt is simply staggering. In her area of the country, that could EASILY buy a tremendous house. I doubt she will ever be able to be hired on in a law firm. I doubt that she will EVER be able to earn her way out of her situation working as an attorney. The legal market in her area is simply terrible, and it is rapidly getting worse. Bankruptcy is simply not an option as student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy. At the end of 20 years on IBR, her loans will be discharged. She will be in her early/mid 50's when this happens. So I've been thinking about her situation. I think she is in a very difficult spot. Also made me wonder just how many others are like her... So my question to the board: Would the debt and earning ability of your girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancee play a role in deciding to have a relationship with them?

Yes, $100k is a bit of a stretch for a middle school teacher after 20 years, but it is not too far a stretch... Doctors and partners in law firms have a LITTLE more education than a teacher. They also work a bit harder... Of course, most attorneys do not make as much as most teachers...There is TREMENDOUS risk for most attorneys, especially younger ones. Doctors and attorneys also have to pass professional licensing, which is a bit more difficult than what teachers undergo. They also have to pay a bit more for their schooling/education. So I think a lot of teachers are VERY well compensated, especially as compared to other occupations. They have less debt, and safer career paths. They typically have better benefits too. I don't have any problem with teachers making a living, even a good living...but a middle school history teacher making $85K after 20 years with summers off, tremendous benefits, ability to retire after about 20 years? That is a pretty good gig! What is that teacher's pension worth? Probably well over $1,000,000... This is one of things leading to income equality in the USA...

I am not sure I would use the term "hijacked" a board seat!!!!! ;) I can personally attest that in addition to being a skilled stock investor, Jeff is also a capable, skillful, and experienced real estate investor. I am sure he will be an EXCELLENT addition to Sitestar's board. His real estate experience will help the company immensely. It will be very interesting to see what happens with Sitestar. I think this stock has a lot of potential. I am VERY happy with my capital gains on it so far, and am looking forward to much more. Good work Jeff!

Not to argue that too much money is spent on foreign entanglements (as it is)...BUT there is a LOT more money spent on education in this country than is spent on the military. Think about all the property taxes, all the lottery money, all the private tuition, all the student loans going towards education, and you will see that it is MORE than what is spent on the military. It is an easy number to miss, as most of the money is spent at the city and county level and is very dispersed. As for national defense, almost all of that is spent by the federal government, not states, counties or cities.

Evidently the job has been filled, but the Barbers Hill school district was hiring kindergarten teachers a few months ago, and starting wage was about $50k with no experience. I am unsure about where that position would top off at with 15 years time put in...I am sure that there are good numbers of teachers in the Michigan area who can make very close to $100k with a Masters degree and 15 years put in. Please see: http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/michigan/teacher-salary-in-birmingham-city-school-district/ So if you have a Masters degree and 15 years in, you are going to be somewhere above the 75th percentile...That puts middle school teachers at about $79k. The 90th percentile is at about $93k. This is a decent living for somebody with a bit of education in their very late 30's, early 40's. Bloomfield Hills is putting up similar numbers... Livonia is putting up numbers about $8k per year less. Taylor is similar to Livonia... Ann Arbor schools are similar to Livonia & Taylor. These schools are all suburbs of Detroit. Birmingham and West Bloomfield are relatively affluent suburbs. Livonia & Taylor somewhat less so... I have also heard that teachers and admins get paid additional sums for after school activities, such as attending/supervising football volleyball games, running the French club, etc. So I would argue that these are relatively well compensated positions with AWESOME benefits... As to why more people don't flock to these positions, I simply do not know...perhaps it is not well known just what teachers are paid and their level of benefits?

I am in Texas, just outside of Houston. Believe me, this is a VERY low cost area. You can get nice houses for $150k. You can get big, very nice houses for $250K, and I'm talking with a pool. Not every teacher is well paid of course, but they are in a LOT of places. I know several teachers/admins back home in Michigan that are getting close to $80k, one of them WELL over $100k. Of course, these guys have a good amount of time & experience in. Tenured university professors generally are making WELL over $100k and are incredibly well paid. I know for a fact that teachers in North Carolina are paid less than the average... So of course, it depends somewhat on where you are at, but there are large areas of the country that compensate teachers, very, very well. Both of these states are not high cost areas.

Teaching is not a respected profession in the USA? Teachers are not well paid in the USA? I live in a low cost of living area. The school district next to me is hiring kindergarten teachers. Teachers with NO experience get $54k to start. If they have a Masters degree, they get several thousand more. If they have various certifications/specialties, they get several thousand a year more on top of that. They get benefits that are simply not seen in most private sector jobs. Namely, they have 3 months off in the summer. They have Christmas break, and other various days off. They could theoretically retire in their mid 40's if they start teaching right after graduating college. I play poker with a vice principal who is going to be 45, and he is seriously considering retiring in a year. He will get a reduced pension (65%?), but the guy has 21 years in, and thus can take retirement.... What is the lesson plan for kindergarten? Don't bite anyone, don't soil yourself, and behave yourself? Perhaps it is more than that, but I can't see a kindergarten teacher doing heavy research at the library every weekend to come up with their lesson plan... These teachers also get raises at regular intervals and can wind up making $100k at the end of their career. I don't have any problem with somebody making a living, but these people are VERY well compensated for what they do. I think there is a popular misconception that teachers are very poorly paid. That simply is not the case in a lot of areas of the USA.

You must have seen the Troy McClure movie: "2 minus 3 = negative fun!" He had so many good movies! Wish he had made more...

Yes, but another point I was trying to make is that a LOT of banks have made a LOT of money these past 2-3 years. If a bank has even border line competent management, they've made money. if a bank HAS NOT made money, they were either in a catastrophic situation OR had terrible management or both. I suspect that future earnings for banks will be a little more difficult. The easy money has largely been made. If a bank was not able to make money in the past couple of years, I don't think they are going to make it in the future. The FDIC may also tighten up on regulatory levels. They have been especially lenient this past year or two. That may change. If it does, I would not want to be in a bank with thin capital levels. When the cycle turns tougher (which I think it is), I definitely do not want to be in weaker banks.

I did quite a bit of research on the small community banks a couple of years ago... I am going to suggest that this is a VERY low quality bank if they have not been able to improve their earnings, book value, and regulatory capital levels. In fact, if they have not does this by now, when are they going to do it? I am going to suggest that is a NEVER. The easy money has already been made. As to their accounts having value, most definitely, yes... HOWEVER, put your yourself in the shoes of any acquiring bank. Why not simply wait & see if the FDIC seizes the bank. Make no mistake, they are most certainly at risk of seizure if they have negative book value and are losing money. So a sharp acquirer would probably wait to work a deal with the FDIC. They are most certainly going to get a better price from the FDIC than the shareholders/management of FMAR. Another thought is why to even fool around with such a bank? There are banks that are SOLIDLY profitable, selling well below book value and paying dividends. Check out SBFG.

As am I, someone reads VIC.... Just saw it yesterday and now moving cash around to buy. Yes, VIC is a good board! HOWEVER, I must give credit to XXX1313. He tipped me off to Nevsun (very nice gain) and Mawson West. I bought a little bit a while ago, and I'm kicking myself I didn't get more. Mawson West very well might be the cheapest company out there. I think they are going to put up some very good numbers. There is risk with them, but the valuation is just too compelling, management looks good. We'll see soon!

I am buying Mawson West. I think they will have good numbers coming up.

There are many problems with income in the USA. In HUGE swaths of America, education is simply set up as a wealth transfer scheme from taxpayers to the educators. I would argue that almost all of the online "for profit" schools are like this. A huge percentage of the regular brick & mortar "for profit" schools are like this too. Then you have to look at the "non-profit" schools. A lot of students are graduating with degrees that will not allow them to get a job that pays a sufficient wage to pay back their student loans. While the outcome for their students is better than the "for profits" it is not too far behind... There is now well over $1 Trillion in outstanding student loan debt. Some universities now charge so much, I have to question whether it even makes economic sense to go to the school. Even if the student graduates AND gets a decent job, there is no return on the education when you factor in the time spent getting it and the money paid, and interest on the loans. There are now many schools where the yearly cost is $50,000 or more per year. So you have a student who spends $200k to get an undergraduate degree. If they borrowed that money and have to pay 6% or 7% interest, how will they repay it? They could have interest payments of well over $1,000 a month! That interest is not tax deductible. In addition to having to pay the interest, how is a student going to pay off the principal of the loan? Then you have to factor in the work they undertake to get the degree! There was a report that it now more likely for people WITHOUT a college degree to own a house, than those that do have a degree! This is most certainly going to lead to massive income inequality. You can't have 23 year olds $100K+ in debt for education. Then look at the cost of graduate schools, especially law school. There are reports that 1/2 of the graduates from law schools will NEVER practice as attorneys. There simply are no jobs for them. Meanwhile, they are saddled with TREMENDOUS student loans. This is but ONE example of how society is producing massive income inequality in the USA.

I am! I still my positions in "Greek Organization of Football Prognostics". Which is one of the best names for a company that I've ever seen ;D It has had a tremendous run lately, but is now starting to back off. If it rallies again and goes over $8/share, I would be very tempted to sell.

I agree with a lot of what you say, BUT do you think property in CA, especially L.A will continue to appreciate 7% a year for the next 20 years? If so, that $1MM house today will be something like $4MM 18-20 years from now? Wages have not been going up that fast... Who is going to be able to pay $4MM for a somewhat above average house 20 years from now? Heck, I am amazed there are enough people willing/able to pay $1MM for a house now... In certain areas of the country, you can get a very, very nice house for $100k or $150k. At some point, I would think business/buyers will start moving away from the high cost areas. Granted, living in LA is better than living in Indiana or Michigan...but at some point the cost simply is not worth it... You are starting to see this in the legal profession...work is being outsourced out of NYC and DC to Detroit and Minneapolis. You can get plenty of lawyers willing to work for $25/hour in the midwest....so work is moving out of the high cost areas. I think this trend will accelerate in the future.

Only 4,000 listed companies? I think there are lot more than that.... I regularly invest in some pretty small, obscure companies, and I know there are others watching, and I have competition. Certainly not like what there would be on AMZN, but you would be surprised how many different people are watching small companies.

I used to dabble in that too! I've found many 40% Kennedy halves but NEVER a 90% silver. 98/100 of the general public have no idea about 40% silver halves and dollars. There are reports of casinos that have slot machines that pay out in half dollars, and those are fertile hunting grounds. I think 90% is just too scarce. I have heard stories of people finding them, but I've never found one. The other great way to get the silver is to buy big bags of it from your local bank that has a change counting/sorting machine in the lobby for the customers. People will dump in their coins and not know. I think this way of finding silver is just about played out. There are radio ads in my market saying "Just say these 3 words and get silver from your bank!", it is an ad for some scammy newsletter, but they clue people in on the 40% halves. You also don't need a machine to sort halves. You can easily look through a couple thousand dollars worth in a hour...not like with pennies. You also can tell 90% silver halves a mile away (that are not 1964 Kennedy). Another area to possibly invest in is GOLD coins....but that is a story for a different post...

I am not an engineer, so I don't understand the mechanics fully...but NO it does sort based on sound. It is rather noisy, as there is a hopper feeding into the sorting mechanism. It is my understanding that the copper pennies have a different electrical conductivity than zinc pennies. The machine sorts them based off of this. One of the problems was returning the zincs. We took them to a couple of different banks. It was a hassle, especially at first. However, we had business accounts with them, so they allowed it. I've heard stories of people dumping them in Coinstar machines and getting Amazon gift cards. At the time, there was no service fee for doing that, so that was an easy to get rid of the reject pennies if you didn't have things set up with the banks. I've looked into nickels, especially Canadian ones, but the premium is not big enough for me. At best, I think nickels were worth $.06/nickel. Pennies were worth $.03/penny. Of course, that is how Kyle Bass got his nickname. He bought $1,000,000 worth of nickels and took physical delivery of them! I would have LOVED to be in line behind him at the teller.... TELLER: "Can I help you?" Kyle "Nickels" Bass: "Yes, I would like some nickels please." TELLER: "OK, how many would you like?" Kyle "Nickels" Bass: "I would like $1,000,000 worth!" TELLER: "WTF ?!" ME: hahahahaha

Hey all: I've had a few non-stock investments... Back when i had a warehouse and a forklift to move things about, I invested in PENNIES! Pennies minted before 1982 are 95% copper. Thus, the pennies have MORE than a pennies worth of copper in them. Today (10.17.13), they have about $2.2/cents worth of copper per penny. I had a special machine called a "Ryedale" that would sort copper pennies from zinc pennies. We would get a few hundred dollars of pennies twice a week and would feed them through the machine, and then return the zincs. We had a standing order with our bank to have extra pennies delivered ;) At the time, there was almost $.03/penny worth of copper in them. Of course, you can't legally melt them down. Not now...but I suspect that will change in the future. I managed to accumulate a couple of pallets of copper pennies. Now they are in storage locker...but a great way to get copper on the cheap if you willing to be patient. I've heard stories of people owning TONS & TONS & TONS of copper this way....I've seen a video of guy who keeps 4 of the machines going all day long.... I also got boxes of "wheat" pennies, which are easily worth $.03 to $40(my best penny!), also a couple of handfuls of older "Indian" pennies. If I get the time, space, and capital, I would get this up & running again. It is only a matter of time before copper pennies exit circulation. It is also a great hedge against inflation and collapse of the dollar. What if in 10 years copper goes to $7 or $8 a pound? Those pennies could contain $.07 or $.08 worth of copper! It is also an almost "no lose" proposition. Those pennies will NEVER be worth less than $.01. Your only expense is time, effort & storage and a minimal cost for machines...I calculated that I was getting just over $20/hour in value running one machine...A great hobby!

Hey all: As time progresses, I am noticing that my portfolios, especially my IRA, have very little market correlation. On days where the day is up 200+ points, I may be up only marginally. On days the market is DOWN I may be up tremendously. That is not to say that I have a negative correlation, but it seems that the companies I am investing in, have little a mind of their own and move in their own direction. A lot of the companies I am invested in are small and micro-caps. They seem to be more event driven than market driven. Their price is determined by earnings, dividends (and their initiation, increase, etc), and buyout rumors/news. The result is that these smaller companies are more akin to investing in a partnership than the market as a whole. Of course, if the market were to go back down 45%, I am sure my positions would take a hit. It is NICE when the market is down 150 points and I can tell my associates I was UP nicely for the day...but it is FRUSTRATING when my associates are giddy with a 200+ point move in the DOW and I'm unchanged... Anybody else experiencing something like this?

Hey all: Was on the Yahoo! finance site and an add popped up for LSU online MBA program. First, I am surprised that traditional "brick & mortar" schools are now starting to offer online degrees. The second shocking thing was that the cost was $1,042 per credit hour! There was an asterisk that noted prices could rise at any time. I am going to assume that an MBA program would be at least 60 credit hours. Who is thinking this is a good idea? Besides the school of course... OVER $1,000 PER CREDIT HOUR? I would think a good candidate for an MBA program would gauge the cost of their degree? Of course, maybe I'm just a cheapskate. Any thoughts?

I might be interested in taking you up on your offer. Question: Why select 19 years? Why not 10, 15, 20? I think the race would boil down to China or the USA. Other possibilities? ESA, Russia, India, Japan? What type of stakes would you like to wager?