AskDong

Before I get into my review of the book and my assessment of Chuck Feeney, I want to give a shout out to the Boston Public Library. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to read this book. 

Like most self made men, Chuck Feeney has led an interesting life.  He and his business partner, Robert Miller, founded what would become the dominant Duty Free shopping enterprise in the world, Duty Free Shoppers (DFS).  Chuck, who grew up of modest means in

The early years of Chuck Feeney’s business are covered in frantic detail, but Conor O’Clery concentrates most of his effort on telling how Feeney began his enterprise of giving his money away.   Feeney’s foundation, the Atlantic Foundation, has not behaved as a standard foundation would.   Previous to 1997, the Foundation was able to maintain the strictest veil of secrecy.  His giving was all done clandestinely and with the strictest anonymity on Feeney’s behalf.  In addition, the Foundation, because it’s based in Bermuda, was able to operate in a way that no

The success of Chuck Feeney is very much a story about being the right person at the right place at the right time with an emphasis on the person.   I sometimes think back to my days in college and wonder why I didn’t start Yahoo or one of the many smaller internet portals that have come and gone (not without making the founders fabulously rich).  I was in the right place at the right time, but I wasn’t the right person.  The right person recognizes opportunity and takes the required risk.  Chuck Feeney showed his appetite for risk when he first set off for Europe with no job and no prospects.  All he knew was that post war

The Billionaire Who Wasn’t, is officially sanctioned by Chuck Feeney and his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies.  As a result it’s not surprising that the man is canonized by the author, Conor O’Clery.  O’Clery does not completely ignore what are some dark spots in the life of Chuck Feeney, but he does fail to add enough color.   There are paragraphs that beg more questions, but instead of answering or attempting to answer those questions, O’Clery quickly moves on.  Even the best of men have failings, and strained relationships.  Feeney is certainly no exception. 

When I sold my TV, I had an idea of what TV I wanted, but I didn’t have an exact plan.  I indicated that I was originally looking at the 32 inch Vizio VX32L.  However, once I actually had a decision to make, I ended up getting the larger version of the VX32L, the VX37L. I brought home the TV from Costco this past weekend, and am quite delighted with it.  I was looking to get the smaller set because of concerns I had about how the TV would look in my TV cabinet. 37 inches is as large as my cabinet can take, and I thought the TV would look outsized. I’m happy to report that it doesn’t. Before purchasing the TV, I did a fare amount of research on what I should be buying.  Even though there’s a ton of information out there, I would say it’s likely information overload and hard to decipher.  Here are my ownquick  thoughts on the TV and HDTVs in general.

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I’ve recieved a number of new credit cards in the last few months. Some I applied for. Others were replacement cards. However almost all of them come with RFID technology.

• ExpressPay - American Express
• PayPass - MasterCard
  
• PayWave - Visa

While each of the major credit card companies have called the tap initiated payment something different, the implementation and technology behind each is nearly identical.  For those who haven’t gotten around to tapping their purchases, all these programs allow you to make transactions for under $25 by a mere motion of the card near a sensor at the cash register.  No signature is required. The card never has to leave your control. While initially it might seem this is less secure transaction, in reality it’s probably more secure.  Even when cashiers check signatures, cashiers are hardly equipped to discern a credible signature from a fake.

I’ve only become a recent user of this technology because my new goal of spending $15,000 on my credit card in the next 6 months. In the past I tended to pay in cash small transactions that this technology is geared towards. Transactions such as: fast food, coffee, or a bag of chips at the 7-11.  However, now that I’m using my credit card for every transaction I can make on credit card, I’ve tapped my card over 4 times in the last week.  I think it’s great. It’s easy and It’s convenient. I don’t even have to remove my car from my wallet.  The fact that I don’t need to take my card out means one less chance for me to lose my card as I have a tendency to lose things.

Of course some credit card opponents feel that this technology gives consumers just another length of rope to hang themselves. I don’t disagree.  People who can’t control their credit card spending behavior need to avoid tapping, but they should also avoid using credit cards in general.  Tapping is even more effortless than signing. When I tap, I don’t feel like I’ve engaged in any transaction.  For someone who is prone to spending because credit card spending doesn’t feel like using “real money”, tapping a transaction feels even less real. However, for those who are disciplined credit card users, this RFID technology is convenient and saves time. While the time saving for any individual on any given transaction is only a 15-40 seconds, the potential efficiency gains to be made in lines can be quite substantial.  I buy that Visa commercial showing how paying in cash (or signing a receipt) can slow down a smoothly operating line.

I’m semi-actively looking around to buy real estate. I don’t have broker and don’t have plans on getting one at the moment. I’m not pre-approved. I’m not even sure exactly what I want to buy. I’m a tire kicker. I go to open houses, and take notes. I think everyone who is at all thinking about buying should be doing some research at all times if they’re anything like me. I purchased a condo 5 years ago. I rent it out now. I’m generally pretty happy with the purchase, but didn’t do everything right when I picked it out. On my next purchase, I want to make sure I get exactly what I want for the price I want. Currently renting in Boston is actually more economic than buying - hence no rush on my part to buy a place, and it’s not like the housing market is hitting new highs.

• Redfin.com
• Zillow

When I first discovered Zillow, I was in love. Zillow is fantastic for comparing real estate in your neighborhood, but it’s not designed to find properties. Zillow is great for window shopping but not actual buying. Redfin.com on the other hand was designed to help match buyers with properties. If it weren’t for two major shortcomings, Redfin would be enough for me. Redfin does not allow me to search for open houses. Redfin also doesn’t let me search specifically for multifamily homes. While I’m not exclusively looking to buy a multi-family home, I’m certainly interested. I’m also interested in Condos. I want to be able to segment my searches by those two categories

While I’m a fan of both of those sites, I find that I still use Realtor websites.

• Realtor.com
• ZipRealty.com
• ColdwellBanker.com/NewEnglandMoves.com

Realtor.com I actually find the most useful. Both ZipRealty and Realtor.com allow me to can save multiple searches into one account unlike the Coldwell Banker site.  This allows me to login to my account quickly look for a multifamily in Cambridge (the city on the other side of the river from Boston), and then just as quickly search for condos in Boston. Personally I prefer the Realtor.com website, and the fact they don’t assign an Real Estate agent to you upon registration. The only problem with Realtor.com is that I still can’t find open houses. From my limited research, I’ve found that open house listings don’t seem to be shared.  Coldwell banker has a large market share in the Boston area and as a result is the best site for me to find open houses.  However for me to find all open houses, I need to visit multiple Realtor websites.  While there are a number of sites that purport to list open houses, I found them ineffective.

The other day I wrote about how I was thinking about getting an American Express Platinum Card. I haven’t, but thought about applying again as I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about 1st class lounges the other day. I used to travel for business, and much of it was international. As a result I would often fly business class and have access to these lounges. On long international trips with any kind of layover, these lounges were a godsend. After flying 8 hours and having to wait another 3 hours for a connection in a crowded waiting area can be very much a personal hell.

While every lounge from every airline from every airport is different, they typically offer:

• Free Drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic)
• Free Snacks (bagels, muffins, sandwiches)
• Free WiFi
• Comfortable chairs
• Desks with easy access to power
• Clean comfortable bathrooms

Some lounges I know also offer:

• Showers
• Hot food
• Massages

Forbe’s has top 10 list of 1st class and business class Airport Lounges.  The lounges overseas are much better.  International travelers in general demand more luxuries.  

You might be asking how airport lounges has anything do with personal finances. When being mindful of personal finance, there is a constant struggle between frugality on one side, and convenience and luxury on the other. Airport lounges definitely fall on the side of luxury and convenience. While we should all make an effort to be frugal, certain luxuries and conveniences are worth it. Airport lounges are probably not worth it for me right now (and certainly not though a 1st class or business class ticket), but this is not to say they are not worth it. If the cost of admission of $495 annually for Access to 4 different lounges (Delta, Continental, Northwest, and American), and I flew 20 times a year on those airlines, the cost of around $25 per trip might not seem so bad. As is, I often will shell out $6-$10 for WiFi access. Being able to do work or read in a more comfortable environment is definitely worth something.  Again, I don’t think it makes sense for me to shell our the dollars for lounge access, but for someone else it might.   Sometimes luxuries can be a frugally minded decision.