Climb the RI Ladder: Step 2, part 1

It’s never too late for a second beginning

Let me start this blog category again…

I have to give credit where credit is due. I started this blog because of one book: the Rich Idiots book. The book contained one three letter word that stood out: A-C-T. Funny one of the blog’s I’m following had listed rules for career changers: and that idea was: 1. Take Action. As a rule when ever I see the same idea from two sources I tend to secure it as a fact of nature - at leas in my mind.

I’m still not sure why this book is sticking with me. As you read this blog I’ve been following the self-help community for awhile. Maybe it’s me - the author just hit me at the right time. By the way, I discovered this book by accident while waiting in Barnes and Noble for my kid to pick a book on of all things levitation. Karma, I guess.

A contradiction

I gave some advice – I was solicited - to another blogger on how to make their web-site better. They were mixing topics, and I told them split it out. Now here I am. As mentioned I started this blog to following the book. But I’ve also include self-help nuggets along the way, that seem to have permeated my thoughts. Oh well, carry on.

Cigar chomping Scrooge McDuck.

Not all people who want to better themselves – by better I mean to obtain more money - are cigar chomping Scrooge McDucks. This blog is more of a humorous adventure in – do any of these books help – or are they a money making scheme for the authors.

Brass Tacks

Ok let’s get down to brass tacks.

The Judgment

In the Rich Idiots book the author lists 4 main paths to wealth all dealing with assets: Cash, Stocks, Real Estate, and owning a Business. There may be more assets Art collections, Acting Abilities, etc. I will ignore them for now.

Alright given these four I was left with conundrum: how to judge how I’m doing. What I came up with was a scale from 50 to 0 – for each asset with 0 being the best.

I will talk more about this scale later on but for now here’s the score

Cash (48)
Stocks (23)
Real Estate (23)
Business (0)
Over All (27)


to be continued…

Climb the RI* Ladder: Step 1

Start a Rich Idiot Savings Account

As you know from previous posts - I’ve been following the Rich Idiot’s guide. I want to give it some time maybe 1-2 years to see if following a guide really works.

There are over 30 ideas in the book - I will pick and write about a few of them. The ideas I present aren’t in any order, rather how fast I can implement them.

So with that comes suggestion #1: Start a RI (“Rich Idiots”) savings account.

There are two main ideas behind starting a special savings account: 1st it’s a place to collect monies earned by bargaining, secondly this account is a place to have what Robert Shemin calls the “cash-on-hand” feeling.

The author recommends starting an account at a brand new bank – in order to in order to start a new business relationship. Well, since I deal over 5 banks, I felt I have enough relationships, and I wanted something convenient.

So I started at an “old”bank. Funny, even though I’m in computers I was amazed how simple it is to open an account online. It only took $2 - from a debit card – and whiz bank I had an account.

The idea is to put money in this account from
Saving a dollar a day
Bonuses and raises
Money saved by asking for – sweating for – discounts
Any other little cash saved along the way.

There are four asset categories I will be tracking in the coming months – according to the book. I will list this asset along with a rating: ~ to 10. With ~ being not recorded yet to 10.

I’m going to rate my Savings Account (i.e. cash asset) a 1/2. Not zero because I started it, but a 9 year old probably has more money saved it a piggy bank then I do at the moment.

Box score –

Four Assets
Cash ½
Stocks ~
Real Estate ~
Business ~

*RI = Rich Idiot