I’ve been reading Anya Kemenetz’s blog Generation Debt for awhile now and I was thrilled this morning when I saw she is writing for Yahoo! Finance. I think she takes a very neutral and no excuses approach to finances for my generation. It’s worth reading her writing.
On a related note….
When I graduated from college in 2002 it was during a very bad recession. Jobs were few and far between for graduates. Many of my classmates decided to go to graduate school since there were no more jobs. I even flirted with the idea of law school taking the LSATs and applying to one school. The reality was though that I was sick of school and tired of college life (yes that is possible). So I ended up moving back home with my parents while I desperately sought a job.
During my down time between applying for any position I could remotely qualify for and doing yard work for my parents (had to contribute somehow), I decided to give myself a financial education. I was determined to try to learn as much as I could in hopes of avoiding the financial pitfalls of adult life. So I picked up every book that I could at the library and subscribed to financial magazines. The result? I was shocked at how much I didn’t know and what I was never taught in school. I am very glad that I took the time to learn and understand the critical aspects of basic finances.
Just recently someone close to me has graduated college with her bachelors. I am very proud of her and happy for her because she has worked very hard for this. She has held a 20+ hour a week job through the majority of her college career to pay the bills but is now facing a mountain of student loans. The monthly payments are almost what my parent’s mortgage payment is on the house they bought in the early 1980s. Now she is faced with finding a full-time “real” job that will allow her to cover her basic living costs which is sure to be a challenge at entry level salaries. In all likelihood she will have to have a second job just to try to pay her student loans.
The point here is that our generation faces a great set of challenges to try to get moving forward in our financial lives. The hope is that we will make more money than our parents and be able to pay off our student loans, eventually be able to buy a house, start a family, etc, etc. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that is happening.
I am a bit concerned about the economic stability and mobility of my generation but I have faith that we will find a way.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Reset, rebooted, restarted
Ok, I think I can start writing again. I’ve thought long and hard about a lot of things recently and think I have material to work with now.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Fashionably Charitable
I live in a very well off part of the country. Until recently, Connecticut was the richest state in the Union (the highest income per capita) but we have recently been eclipsed by the state of New Jersey. Regardless, in an area full of high earning socialites, it is easy to witness a phenomenon I like to refer to as fashionable charity.
Let me first begin by explaining the atypical family in the general area that I live. Most of families I would say probably earn somewhere between $75-300K a year and live in very nice homes. The fathers are usually business men working in the financial industry (insurance mostly – Hartford is the insurance capital of the world after all) and the mothers are either professionals of some sort or homemakers. They typically are driving a Acura, Lexus, Land Rover, BMW. Volvo, or Benz. The children are model citizens who are all star athletes, performers, students, blah, blah, blah. These are also the towns where if your kid isn’t taking Chinese lessons by age 5 you are sooo not fashionable.
So what is fashionable charity? It is what happens when a group of these people get together to raise money or support some kind of charitable cause. While some of the people are legitimately concerned and want to help, many are just there to be a part of something and be seen. Then to top it off you can find these same “graciously charitable people” doing the exact thing they were opposing – like smoking after a lung cancer walk. The best case I have to offer as example of this hypocrisy is recently a state spokeswoman for MADD (mothers against drunk driving) was issued a DUI. Obviously she really is concerned about drunk driving.
It just frustrates me when people do things for the wrong reasons. I know that the charities are benefiting despite the ego boosting, but the disingenuous nature of the effort is so disheartening. It naturally leads to a feeling of these people being so artificial and hollow.
I know that I am sounding like an old man saying all this but it seriously bothers me. Why bother help a charity or a cause that you knowingly violate on a regular basis? Is it really that important to have a certain image in the eyes of your neighbors? Does your public appearance really matter that much? Is selling out worth the risk? Seriously, is it?
Let me first begin by explaining the atypical family in the general area that I live. Most of families I would say probably earn somewhere between $75-300K a year and live in very nice homes. The fathers are usually business men working in the financial industry (insurance mostly – Hartford is the insurance capital of the world after all) and the mothers are either professionals of some sort or homemakers. They typically are driving a Acura, Lexus, Land Rover, BMW. Volvo, or Benz. The children are model citizens who are all star athletes, performers, students, blah, blah, blah. These are also the towns where if your kid isn’t taking Chinese lessons by age 5 you are sooo not fashionable.
So what is fashionable charity? It is what happens when a group of these people get together to raise money or support some kind of charitable cause. While some of the people are legitimately concerned and want to help, many are just there to be a part of something and be seen. Then to top it off you can find these same “graciously charitable people” doing the exact thing they were opposing – like smoking after a lung cancer walk. The best case I have to offer as example of this hypocrisy is recently a state spokeswoman for MADD (mothers against drunk driving) was issued a DUI. Obviously she really is concerned about drunk driving.
It just frustrates me when people do things for the wrong reasons. I know that the charities are benefiting despite the ego boosting, but the disingenuous nature of the effort is so disheartening. It naturally leads to a feeling of these people being so artificial and hollow.
I know that I am sounding like an old man saying all this but it seriously bothers me. Why bother help a charity or a cause that you knowingly violate on a regular basis? Is it really that important to have a certain image in the eyes of your neighbors? Does your public appearance really matter that much? Is selling out worth the risk? Seriously, is it?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
My Name
I get a lot of questions about my name. People want to know if it’s my real name and if the spelling is made up or an acronym. Well, it is my real name and the spelling is correct – JAERID. By the way, it’s pronounced just like Jared.
Jaerid was not my mom’s first choice of names, that was Nathaniel. I’m not quite sure what caused my parents to arrive at Jaerid but it came out of thin air because it isn’t remotely close to anything else in my family. The only reason I can see for it is that there is a history of males with J names on my dad’s side (Johns and Josephs mostly).
Ok – so what about the spelling? Well this is where the lifetime of unintentional torture comes into play. My mom says that she thought she made up the spelling but she’s been told that it’s an old English spelling (I’ve asked around and haven’t been able to confirm it). What about the torture you ask? When ever I am asked to spell my name, I have to repeat myself at least 3 times. Worse is the fact that I have relatives that still can’t spell my name and I’m 27! I can’t tell you how many cards I get addressed to Jared, Jarod, Jarrod, Jarid, etc. etc. The junk mail I get is even funnier – I don’t know if the data-entry people just assume there’s a typo when they enter my name but I’ve gotten Jaerio, Jaenid (I think my name is on a plaque in my high school as this), or some other butchered version.
Then there is the fun when I get introduced to people for the first time. I guess it’s just still not a common enough name for people to understand. I have been called Jerry more times than I care to remember and it is almost always by people over the age of 60. More often I get Gerald (shutter) or Jay (only slightly bearable over the others). Thanks to Subway, I now get the comment “Oh! Like the guy from the Subway commercials?” - I now can sympathize with my classmate from school whose name was Sara Lee.
In the end, I like my name but hate the frustration that comes with it. My wife has the same pleasure as her name is Kirstin (note the “in” not “en”) and is constantly called Kristen. So is it any surprise that we named our son Jacob? It’s simple, straight forward and common. I know that doesn’t sound exciting to some people, but sometimes having something different just gets to be a burden.
Jaerid was not my mom’s first choice of names, that was Nathaniel. I’m not quite sure what caused my parents to arrive at Jaerid but it came out of thin air because it isn’t remotely close to anything else in my family. The only reason I can see for it is that there is a history of males with J names on my dad’s side (Johns and Josephs mostly).
Ok – so what about the spelling? Well this is where the lifetime of unintentional torture comes into play. My mom says that she thought she made up the spelling but she’s been told that it’s an old English spelling (I’ve asked around and haven’t been able to confirm it). What about the torture you ask? When ever I am asked to spell my name, I have to repeat myself at least 3 times. Worse is the fact that I have relatives that still can’t spell my name and I’m 27! I can’t tell you how many cards I get addressed to Jared, Jarod, Jarrod, Jarid, etc. etc. The junk mail I get is even funnier – I don’t know if the data-entry people just assume there’s a typo when they enter my name but I’ve gotten Jaerio, Jaenid (I think my name is on a plaque in my high school as this), or some other butchered version.
Then there is the fun when I get introduced to people for the first time. I guess it’s just still not a common enough name for people to understand. I have been called Jerry more times than I care to remember and it is almost always by people over the age of 60. More often I get Gerald (shutter) or Jay (only slightly bearable over the others). Thanks to Subway, I now get the comment “Oh! Like the guy from the Subway commercials?” - I now can sympathize with my classmate from school whose name was Sara Lee.
In the end, I like my name but hate the frustration that comes with it. My wife has the same pleasure as her name is Kirstin (note the “in” not “en”) and is constantly called Kristen. So is it any surprise that we named our son Jacob? It’s simple, straight forward and common. I know that doesn’t sound exciting to some people, but sometimes having something different just gets to be a burden.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Monday: Quote of the Week
"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein
If we all saw the world in this light, think of the things we could accomplish.
If we all saw the world in this light, think of the things we could accomplish.
Friday, May 25, 2007
What can I say (my misadventures in writer’s block)
Ever since I was a kid I wanted to write. I loved the idea of sharing ideas and stories with others. The main road block I ran into was that I am a horrible speller and even worse at being grammatically correct (hence why I am an engineer – these traits are job requirements). The funny thing is that these were not what really stopped me for pursuing a writing career – it was my writer’s block.
I used to write all the time as a kid. I would crank out short stories and mountains of poetry. The problem was that I never thought it was any good. I was always hypercritical of my own work and would never show it to anyone. I always thought to myself “if I can’t write something profound, then I best not write at all”. Honestly, this was my thought process. And even to this day I struggle with this.
I write a lot about failure and the fear of failing. I do so because I think that our society has an unhealthy obsession with perfection and not failing. I think it is a root cause for a lot of things that many people refuse to address. My writing is obviously one of the areas that I have trouble with failure. I can’t tell you how many posts I’ve written to just erase or lock away somewhere because I deemed them not worthy. I have been posting on this blog for about three months now. I have 40 posts prior to this one and now I am starting to hit the wall (hence the lack of posts lately).
Everyday I start to write a post then I get distracted or think about where I am trying to go with the post and the blog. What’s my point? Also (lingering in the back of my head) is the thought that I have now dramatically increased my online presence. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I have a very unique spelling of my name and it’s not hard to find me when you google it. (please note that the first result when googling “Jaerid” is NOT me, but all the hits for “Jaerid Rossi” are)
So,I apologize for the lack of posts, it is just a result of my inner struggle to figure out where I am going with all this. My perpetual quest to figure out what I want to do and what I want to be when I grow up is now gone digital I guess. I at first pledged to post something here every weekday but have been a bit lax in that lately. I figured that if I forced myself to write I would flush out the crude, refine my style, and find my niche. I’ll get over the hump. Thanks for the patience.
I used to write all the time as a kid. I would crank out short stories and mountains of poetry. The problem was that I never thought it was any good. I was always hypercritical of my own work and would never show it to anyone. I always thought to myself “if I can’t write something profound, then I best not write at all”. Honestly, this was my thought process. And even to this day I struggle with this.
I write a lot about failure and the fear of failing. I do so because I think that our society has an unhealthy obsession with perfection and not failing. I think it is a root cause for a lot of things that many people refuse to address. My writing is obviously one of the areas that I have trouble with failure. I can’t tell you how many posts I’ve written to just erase or lock away somewhere because I deemed them not worthy. I have been posting on this blog for about three months now. I have 40 posts prior to this one and now I am starting to hit the wall (hence the lack of posts lately).
Everyday I start to write a post then I get distracted or think about where I am trying to go with the post and the blog. What’s my point? Also (lingering in the back of my head) is the thought that I have now dramatically increased my online presence. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I have a very unique spelling of my name and it’s not hard to find me when you google it. (please note that the first result when googling “Jaerid” is NOT me, but all the hits for “Jaerid Rossi” are)
So,I apologize for the lack of posts, it is just a result of my inner struggle to figure out where I am going with all this. My perpetual quest to figure out what I want to do and what I want to be when I grow up is now gone digital I guess. I at first pledged to post something here every weekday but have been a bit lax in that lately. I figured that if I forced myself to write I would flush out the crude, refine my style, and find my niche. I’ll get over the hump. Thanks for the patience.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Monday: Quote of the week
“By labor we can find food and water, but all of our labor will not find for us another hour.” -Kenneth Patton
Time is such a fascinating thing. When you need more, there isn’t any. When you don’t need it, there seems to be an endless supply. Time is such a precious thing that it should be valued more than any other currency. Yet, it seems our society teaches us just the opposite.
Time is such a fascinating thing. When you need more, there isn’t any. When you don’t need it, there seems to be an endless supply. Time is such a precious thing that it should be valued more than any other currency. Yet, it seems our society teaches us just the opposite.
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