Back In the Saddle

Have you ever had someone reach out after a long absence and act like nothing happened? They just give you the ol’ “Hey, how’s it goin’?” like they were talking to you yesterday, but maybe it’s been years. It’s weird. They typically want something.

I don’t roll that way. If there’s an elephant in the room, I’m talking elephants. And the elephant in the room is that my Cal Ripken, Jr.-like streak of weekly posts crashed and burned at summer’s end.

I probably should have told folks I’d be taking most of August off, but that actually wasn’t the plan. Although my sons were done with their camps and stuff and were the top priority for my time, I had planned to keep writing. Days would chase adventures with the boys, while nights would craft posts of genius for you, dear reader.

That was the plan. The problem was that as writer Paul kept joyfully submitting posts for review, editor Paul kept saying, “Ummmm…This is crap. We can’t publish this.” Tensions rose until editor Paul finally said, “Listen, take the rest of the month off, and get your head back in the game.” Managing talent is hard.

But school is back in session, and while I have a number of pokers in the fire, I should be back to my blazing pace of a post per week. I may even surprise you guys with two in a week, which I believe will be the first time that’s ever been done in the history of blogging.

Today isn’t so much pearls of financial wisdom but rather clearing out the cobwebs and getting you prepped for a fall of excitement. You should rest easy knowing I’ve got a long list of award-winning ideas. Some of the upcoming topics vying for post-worthy status include:

• Mortgage payoff: worst idea ever or brilliance personified? (Pretty sure those are the only two possible options)
• Why ETF index funds are the absolute best and you would be crazy to invest in anything else
• Why individual stocks are totally better than index funds
• Book review: Captain Underpants 1-12 (See? My August reading adventures with my 6 y.o. weren’t time off – they were research!)
• My incredible record of picking losing products and businesses, and how you can profit from it
• How to (almost) guarantee your kid’s academic success and get them into Harvard and stuff
• How I made over $500K from video games
• Insurance bids for fun and profit
• Grill recipes that will change your life

If you simply can’t wait for one of the above, feel free to let me know and I may be able to push your fav to the front.

Also, if you have an idea for a post (your personal situation, a question that’s confounded you, etc.) that other finance bloggers are simply too scared to tackle, send me a note (see contact tab) or leave a comment and I just may jump right on it. To those who already have given me ideas – many thanks. They aren’t all listed above, but they’re definitely in the queue.

Building a Network of Super Friends

It is possible, however unlikely, that some finance bloggers make even greater efforts to engage with their fellow blogger buddies than I. They head to FinCon (just down the road from me this year, but sadly not in my plans), they comment on their top 1,000 favorite sites each day, and they guest post ‘til blue in the face. I’m working my way to all of those goals, but I’m pacing myself.

However, I think I have scored a coup that few others have: I convinced two of the greatest bloggers in the history of blogging to join my fantasy football league this fall. PK from DQYDJ and Nelson from Financial Uproar have entered the fray. I’m announcing it here in the same spirit of “accountability” that motivates many bloggers to disclose their net worths: I’d like to keep PK and Nelson accountable when they are flattened by a steamroller this season.

Net Worth Hit

Remember how I wrote about my massive net worth, and included a comment about how I was able to run around and play soccer like someone half my age? That was awesome.

What wasn’t as awesome was me hurting my knee playing soccer less than a week later. That is what we in the business like to call “ironic”.

Thankfully it’s not serious, but I’m going to be out for several weeks, and I’ll need to rethink whether I play indoor soccer at all going forward (it’s a fast game with frequent cuts and collisions – not ideal for an old man…). It just goes to show you how fleeting good health and knees can be.

 

I hope everyone finished their summer strong and is headed to a great autumn, a consensus top-two pick for the greatest of all seasons.

 

Picture courtesy of B. Iyata