What is more important?

What is more important? Your career or your freedom?

So many people choose to move to expensive places like NYC, SF Bay Area, and Philadelphia to pursue their careers. Those places are expensive not because of demand alone but because of socialistic city and state overlords -- I mean elected officials. They pass regulations left and right and make living in those places something only the rich can easily afford.

Given that, why do people willingly move there when they can get a job elsewhere. Say they're in the high-tech field. They could go to a free/cheap place like Austin or Research Triangle.

Maybe they think they'll make it big in their careers. For some people that is true. But the path there is long and hard. Few people make it. And they sacrifice their health, their families, and maybe even their sanity.

Or, they want the excitement of a bustling city and can't stand being anywhere else. I can't say much there. To each his own.

Texas gun laws

I found this someone posted online for liberals migrating from California or New York to Texas:
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/03/migrating-liberals.html

This is such a great spiel. I can't wait to pull something like this on my friends when I go back to that democratic socialist bubble called the SF Bay Area:

Texas does not have a law entitled "brandishing". And even if we did, carrying your rifle from your pickup to your house would not violate such a dumb-bunny law.

Texas does not have any laws concerning the carry of shotguns and/or rifles. Yes, he can carry his rifle over his shoulder as he walks down the farm-to-market road. Deal with it.

Texas does not have any laws concerning ammunition. It is not against the law to have loose ammo in your vehicle. Or your pockets. Or in the change plate at church.

Texas does not register guns. Period. Suck it up.

Texas does not have the legal term "assault rifle". It's a rifle. It's legal. Shut your pie hole and evolve into a spine.

...

We're happy with our laws. Texas laws have worked just fine for Texas. If we wanted the California garbage they call a Penal code, we'd have moved to California. If New York is that great, I-35 is that way. Leave your daughters at the state line.

The rise and fall of Google

A year ago, while there was widespread carnage, Google reported a 45% rise in earnings. The stock hit $700 in October and amazed people as it had done several times during its post-IPO rise. My friend even wanted to buy one share just so he could show his confidence in the company's leadership.

Guess what, people? Today GOOG closed at $390. The invincible giant has fallen. It can't deliver endless growth, just as the dot-com bubble couldn't. And while some say that its business is solid and that the stock was simply overbought, I can't help but wonder if it also means Google is running out of steam. After all, people are always expecting Google to come out with The Next Big Thing. But eventually, it runs out of creative steam -- it can continue to do well what it is already doing, but has a hard time coming up with new services to throw out.

Talking to Google engineers, I also get the impression that Google has passed its peak. People are going there just so they can put it on their resume, and then move on to another company.

The golden days of Google are past. The stock price shows as much.

Retire at 35

Some people who have known me for a while know of my big idea to retire at age 40, something I had a year before I graduated from college. While it seemed like a lofty goal back then, I think I have a pretty good chance of making it happen, given what I have learned. In fact, I might retire earlier than that.

I came across this blog post from earlier this year that sounds like something I would write today for recent graduates along those lines:

If you continue your frugal college habits, and avoid the temptations of consumption, you can easily save enough money to be able to retire at the age of 35. If your monthly salary is $5,000, and you save 25% percent of your salary or $1,250 per month, you will have $400,000 at the age of 35.

Live below your means, save what you can, etc. Until you reach $X and can retire off of that. Simple enough -- just a matter of getting the right numbers. The numbers here don't actually add up to $400K. According to the comments, there's an extra 9% compounding thrown in.

Yet it seems most people my age who earn a substantial amount of money don't follow this. I think there are several possible reasons for it:

1. They don't know that this can be done, thanks to the near-lack of good financial education in America's government schools and colleges/universities; or they don't know of any way to achieve the rate of compounding necessary.
2. They're used to the career-building mindset as opposed to the wealth-building mindset. Many people equate wealth with having a high income rather than a high net worth. This is the difference between an upper-middle class mindset and an upper class mindset, I believe.
   
3. They're not willing to put off buying luxury goods and live below their means.

On the other hand, I wonder if my own perspective comes from having found the means to obtain substantial returns on my savings as well as a job in low-cost Texas. If I didn't have these, maybe I would be more focused on building my career (not that I slack off with it). Maybe I would be resigned to working for the next 20 years rather than being able to retire in 10 years or less.

The Intelligent Investor

I started reading Ben Graham's value investment classic, The Intelligent Investor. For those of you who don't know, Ben Graham was the mentor of the world's richest investor, Warren Buffett. I've been learning various aspects of value investment but never actually looked at the source.

In the first chapter, Graham makes a good point about what makes an investor intelligent -- being able to make wise decisions in the market, rather than simply being book smart or having head-knowledge. He counts the brilliant scientist Isaac Newton among the victims of the South Sea Bubble. The 2003 commentary adds engineers and mathematicians to the list as victims of the dot-com bubble. I can point to many of the same engineers, scientists, professionals, etc, to the list of bubble victims -- the housing bubble, that is.

What does this mean? Well, if you're smart in the conventional sense, you can have a great job in the corporate world, but your intelligence will not take you further. You'll be a corporate drone -- a very well paid one, but a drone nonetheless. If you want a good chance of to becoming financially independent at an early age -- say, before 40 -- then you need good investment sense -- being able to analyze stocks rationally and not get carried away by the turbulent emotional waves of the market.

"Take the plunge."

"Take the plunge." That's what my friend told me when I asked him if I should accept a job offer in Texas. And so I did.

Here I am in Texas, several months later. I'll use this blog to describe my new life here, away from the Silicon Valley salt mines. Not just detailing events but also writing the thoughts and insights that I have.