Plants Vs Money

So Equifax messed up, the breach potentially affects more than 45% of all Americans. Think about it this way, you are at the movies and the movie pauses, you read a message on the screen that reads – “Hey patrons! Those of you who have parked your car in our parking lot, about half of those cars have had their windows broken. But don’t you worry; we were able to stop the hooligans from breaking the remaining cars. Thanks for watching! P.S. This happened about an hour ago” And then the movie resumes… So what’s going on in your mind now? Your first thought should be, let me get out of here and checkout my car. And you are correct, since most of us keep a copy of our insurance cards in the car, and other personally identifying things such as credit cards, parking permits, office badge, favorite addresses on the GPS such as Home, School, Work, Gym, Kid’s day car and finger prints…so many personal details and so many fingerprints. All of this information is pote...

I was reading Dr. Beard’s post on Beards and Money and this thought dawned upon me - What will happen to my young fam, Mrs. El Jefe, if I accidentally get hit by a bus while wandering around downtown HTX, especially when these damn bus drivers think they can cross the complete intersection not when the light is yellow, but red, perhaps maroon? I am no longer the guy who procrastinates and lives life like there’s no tomorrow. I am a planner, and I have to secure a future for Mrs. El Jefe, so that should anything happen to me prematurely, she can continue the journey of life as normally as possible. I am smart. Be like El Jefe. Dr. Beard excellently lays out a plan for the “I love you money”, and I highly recommend reading that post . The thought that dawned upon me is that – If I am gone or become a vegetable, how will Mrs. El Jefe know where our “financial stuff” is? How is she going to extract it out of my brain, and how to use that information? She is the creative one in the f...

El Jefe is my keyboard name a.k.a pen name, a.k.a pseudonym. I am neither a chief nor a boss as Wikipedia defines it, although I do think of myself as a realist manager. I have an MBA which is not in Finance and a full time job as a techy in HTX. This blog is not about the cognitive science of making money. We all know how to make money – work-sleep-work. It’s about getting started in life post-education, post-partying in your 20's and post-not-planning-about-your-future-self. It’s about securing a future and trying to live in the illusion called the American Dream and how my fam and I are trying to achieve it. WIITFM  (What Is In It For Me) My MBA training says Value = Benefits – Cost. In the real-grown up world, it’s not quite as black-and-white. Much like growing a plant in your patio or backyard, growing money takes patience, perseverance, re-potting, propagation and then finally seeing it flourish, hence Plants vs Money - the analogy. In my professiona...