February 2012

Til Debt Do Us Part…

February 29, 2012
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Last week the United States debt to GDP ratio quietly hit 101% for the first time, moving us solidly over the 100% mark (hit on January 30th of this year) and bringing us ever closer to countries like Greece (168%), Italy (121%), Ireland (108%), and Japan (233%). (Numbers from 24/7 Wall St.) We’ve been talking [...]

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Live from Chile: Sovereign Man Resilient Community

February 27, 2012
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I’m writing you today from a luxury bus enroute from the Sovereign Man property to Santiago, Chile, where we will sadly depart for home tonight (actually it’s with mixed feelings—we really miss our girls, but will miss Chile, too). What an amazing weekend! If you ever have an opportunity to take an investment-related trip like [...]

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QnA Friday: Live from Chile!

February 24, 2012
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Hola! Today I am writing you from my swanky hotel room at the W Hotel in Santiago, Chile (thank you Simon Black for having excellent taste in accommodations!). Santiago is a beautiful city—modern, charming, and bustling with energy and excitement. La gente (the people) of Santiago are warm and welcoming and definitely don’t seem to [...]

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Guest Post: Adventures in Real Estate Investing

February 22, 2012
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I am hopping on a plane today for Santiago, Chile, to get a “boots on the ground” perspective of Simon Black’s new real estate development and sustainable community, so today’s article comes from one of our very own Kung Fu Finance community members, “Aunty from Hawaii” (and no, I don’t know her, at least not [...]

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What Is Money? (Part 3)

February 20, 2012
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(Part 1: History of Money) (Part 2: Fractional Reserve Banking, You, John, Steve, Sarah) (QnA: Inflation) We left off on our juicy story of money with the basics of fractional reserve banking under a gold standard, using our example of you, John, Steve, and Sarah and how the banks had magically created money (currency) out [...]

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QnA Friday: Inflation, Index Funds, Money Supply, 401k, Options

February 17, 2012
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Happy Friday! You may have noticed that I didn’t post yesterday…due to my upcoming hectic travel schedule (next week I will be in Santiago, Chile, and then in Washington D.C. the following week) I will be cutting down the frequency of Kung Fu Finance emails to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (and in all honesty, this [...]

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Cool Educational Money Tool

February 15, 2012
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You’ve probably heard about the “Khan Academy“, a not-for-profit company started by Sal Khan that has over 2800 free educational videos online. But did you know that the Khan Academy has videos now for more than just K-12 students? They are beginning to cover much more college-level material and have sections now on the following [...]

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Sexy Money…How to Instantly Give Yourself a Raise

February 14, 2012
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(No pun intended…) So in honor of Valentine’s Day I thought I’d spice things up a little here at Kung Fu Finance! (I mean, hey, we already talk about one “taboo” subject every day, so why not add another into the mix?) Besides, wouldn’t you like to know how you can give yourself a $50,000 [...]

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The Three Keys to Success (Bruce Lee)

February 13, 2012
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Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes! I was lucky to spend this weekend with my favorite people in the world…my friends and family and you! It was so nice to read all of your nice comments and wishes on Sunday (and I’m sorry I’m a little behind in commenting back—it was a hectic [...]

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QnA Friday: Checking on Markets, Bonds, Robert Kiyosaki, Open Opportunity IRAs…

February 10, 2012
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Happy Friday! Today is an especially happy Friday for me because it is the beginning of my birthday weekend…tomorrow is Birthday Eve, and then Sunday is my birthday…yay! Even though I should probably change my AKA from Kung Fu “Girl” to Kung Fu “Matron” or Kung Fu “Ancient One”, I am always happy when my [...]

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Conspiracy Theory Thursday (What Is Money? Part 2)

February 9, 2012
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It’s been awhile since I’ve written a juicy “Conspiracy Theory Thursday” post, so it must be time for another one… We left off with our story of money earlier this week with people having progressed from using coins made of precious metals to using receipts for these metals. Precious metal coins were wonderful, but they [...]

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Apparently I’m Now Wanted By the FBI

February 8, 2012
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We interrupt our regularly scheduled program (fractional reserve banking…) to bring you this breaking news: Apparently Kung Fu Girl is now wanted by the FBI! (Or at least is considered an “extremist”…) Yep, it’s true… This morning while getting my daily dose of my favorite financial news site, Zero Hedge, I came across this little [...]

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What is Money? (Part 1)

February 7, 2012
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It’s impossible to be a great investor without a solid understanding of what money truly is, how it came into being in its current form, and how it works in today’s society. Money vs. Currency What is money? Most people assume it is whatever currency they are carrying in their wallets, whether US dollars or Japanese [...]

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Rules I Live By (personal)

February 6, 2012
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On Friday I promised to write an article similar to Craig Ballantyne’s “The 12 Rules I Live By” (which if you haven’t read yet, I highly recommend—he’s an extremely successful and genuinely good guy). Thinking about and writing down your guiding principles or “rules to live by” is a great exercise, and I hope you’ll [...]

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QnA Friday: Real Estate, Precious Metals, Quicken, Life Tips, More!

February 3, 2012
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TGIF and Happy Super Bowl weekend for those of you who watch the game! I am going to jump right into the questions as there are a lot this week! Also, I have not forgotten about Wall Street Survivor — I will set that up for us next week. A huge thank you, too, to all of [...]

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Super Cool Money Tool…Make Some Quick Cash!

February 2, 2012
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I have a fun and potentially lucrative one for you today (we need a break from all that organization!). I learned about an awesome new website while down in Austin, Texas, a site where you can get anything (just about…get that mind out of the gutter!) for only $5. Yes, $5!!! And I don’t mean [...]

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Channel Your Inner Kung Fu: 5 Steps to Clutter-Free Finances

February 1, 2012
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If you have summoned your inner motivation and excitement for achieving your financial independence, you are now ready to get going and get organized! Um, you have summoned your inner motivation, right? I know it’s extremely tempting when faced with a yucky task to hope that your fairy godmother will magically come and whisk it [...]

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