Yesterday afternoon I received a call from Fraud Prevention at Visa.

They asked if I had been in India yesterday.

I said huh? India?

They said did you buy something or other for $40.25 and some other indecipherable something or other for about $55.00?

I said no.

They said did you buy food at Pannera Bread at the Phoenix airport yesterday? I said yes, and I wasn’t on the way to India either!

Apparently, someone at the airport restaurant copied or sent or somehow got the numbers on my Visa card and transmitted the information to a confederate in India.

The airport restaurant worker may also have taken the number and sold it to someone else who sold it to someone in India, etc.

I don’t know why they only made two small purchases. If it were me, I would have seen how much of the Taj Mahal I could have bought on the card.

Seriously, I think it’s terrific that the credit card system and their computers could catch something like this so fast and then confirm that the Indian purchases were bogus with me.

A good number of years ago, I had traveled from Chicago and New York to several Asian destinations and ended up in Seattle where I used my American Express card to charge a dinner. All this took place in about a 10 day period.

At the restaurant (this was in the days before widespread mobile phone usage) I was paged to the reception desk for a phone call.

The caller was American Express who wanted to confirm that I indeed was now in Seattle at the particular restaurant and had indeed been using the Amex card in all those other cities in such a short time.

Much credit is due (pun intended) to credit card companies for protecting their customers against fraud and then for not even requiring us to pay for it when the charge is unauthorized.

About 5 years ago, my wife was playing a slot machine in Las Vegas in the wee hours of the morning.  crafty thief reached into her purse that was looped around her leg and took out her wallet.

Within two hours, the culprit had run up about $800 in charges.

My wife didn't notice the theft till the next morning and then reported it.

To my knowledge, they never caught the thieves, but like in my case, the credit card company ate the charges and swiftly sent a new card.
 
My new card was couriered to me yesterday and arrived here today.

It's always refreshing to find organizations that provide outstanding service.

 

 

 

This is a conundrum facing many who have money to invest, especially in the current economic environment.

The last thing I should be called is an investment advisor, or a wise advisor or an expert at anything in the field of investments.

I’ve been there and done that when it comes to too many investment vehicles.

This includes limited partnerships in real estate. These were limited alright; limited profit for me and guys like me.

I did do well in land investment a few times, but that was small potatoes and only because I planned to eventually build something on it that I could use.

The homes I’ve lived in have always showed gains, but that was by accident. I needed a place to live and inflation took care of it.

I tried single-family investment properties. They were great going up but much worse on the way down.

Apartments – don’t ask. At the end, we had squatters living in the units.

I’ve invested in new business ventures.  The odds were against me as they were in fields unknown.

I got suckered into a time-share. Right where I wanted. Ocean front in Maui. It’s great to use, albeit the maintenance fee’s are now up to crazy levels, but if I really needed to sell it today, I’d be lucky to get back half of what we paid.

This leaves stocks and bonds.

In all of my years of handicapping stocks and bonds (and that’s what I compare it to (picking horses from the information supplied in the racing from at the track) I’ve had a few great winners. I’ve had others that have done very well

But….

I also have had some disasters that more than made up for the winners.

Mutual funds?

I’ve carefully researched and investigated and seen their methodology and past performance (as they say, past performance is no guide for future performance).

Like stocks, some have done better than others, but the good one’s come very close to the broad indexes and the bad one’s do worse.

Index funds, S&P 500, futures, puts/calls. You name it.

Believe me, if they were profitable, I’d still be investing that way and I’m not.

Two of the smarter retired guys I know have put their money in bonds that generate reasonable rates of return, are tax friendly, secure, widespread and provide the income they want to see.

Others who I’ve known over years loved to tell me about the “killings” they made but when I ask about the losses, usually the topic of conversation changes. Same thing for property and property development etc.

So what to do?

I currently have some money to invest. I was going to buy some more single family investment property, and the prices are seemingly cheap. At least cheap to what they were at their peak.

However, where I live, they’re cheap because there are far too many for sale and there’s still a reasonable downside risk.

Ask an investment adviser? A stock broker? How many are rich? Do they follow their own advice? Most don’t and are far from rich.  A therapist might be better to see!

The six best pieces of business and investment advice I’ve ever received are:

 

1.   Stick to what you know

2.   The greater the rate of return, the greater the risk

3.   Over a long period of time, invest in a broad range of stocks and bonds and spread your risk.

4.   If you buy it right, you’ve got it half sold (you can’t go wrong buying something that’s under valued)

5.   The time to buy is when everyone else wants to sell and visa versa.

6.   Minimize your risks, expand your opportunities.

 

There are three ways I am aware of to accumulate wealth.

First is to build a better mousetrap.

Invent or create something that people need and manage a business to deliver the product and service the customer. Build an enterprise that is better than all of your competitors. Find a niche and keep it. That’s what’s always worked for me.

The second is to save a portion of whatever you make and invest it wisely.

The third is to inherit it. If you do, don’t spend it. Invest it. Watch it grow over a long period of time and pass it on to those behind you, meanwhile enjoying the security it brings.

Through it all, live below your means and you will always sleep better at night.

 

Now…..

 

If I had only remembered these axioms when I was making all the mistakes I’ve made over the years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya can’t beat the Arizona heat!

The Phoenix forecast tonight said that the average temperature for the next several days will be between 113 and 116 degree’s.

That’s a bit warmer than it’s been lately as mid July is about the hottest part of the summer. In August, temperatures should “cool down” to around 105-110 as we prepare for the long cold winter!

Terrible you say. How can you stand it? How can you live in a place like that?

The answer is quite simply; air conditioning.

At the Second World War, there were only about 50,000 people in the metropolitan area of Phoenix. Nobody was aware of any illegal immigrants.

Today, about 4,000,000 million or so lucky soles call the Phoenix area home and live here year round. These numbers swell in the winter. Snowbirds come in for months at a time and the tourist season is in full swing.

The other factor that makes it tolerable here in the summer is humidity.

It typically runs between 7 and 15% except during the Monsoon season that starts later this month and lasts through August or so. During this time, the humidity about doubles and there are occasional rain storms that produce torrents of water for a day or so.

So the comfort factor here with temperatures over 110 compares to many other parts of the country where it’s in the 90’s and has 80-90% humidity. Not ideal in either spot, but certainly tolerable. Our “misery index” likely is less miserable than other places on the globe.

The only time most people are outside in the heat are when they get in their cars to go to work (you don’t see anybody strolling down the street here in summer!) or go to a restaurant, store, or simply run errands.

For the first 5-10 minutes, the cars are hot. Infact, if your car is parked in the sun for more than 30 minutes or so, the steering wheel will be so hot, you won’t be able to hold it until the a/c kicks in for a minute or two.

I once had an English car with aluminum door handles on the outside. If the car sat in the sun very long, we’d have to use a towel or handkerchief to grab the handle to open the door.

A majority of homes, rich or poor, have some sort of swimming pool that are frequently used. The water is usually the temperature of what you may like your bath water to be like.

Speaking of bathing, we have some friends who told us that they elected to jump out of bed Sunday morning and jump naked into their pool.

While they were frolicking in the water, the police showed up. They said it was hard to tell who was more embarrassed. These naked grandparents or the twenty something policeman?

It seems they forgot to turn off their alarm system before their leap into the water. The silent alarm system went off when they opened their door to their pool/patio and they didn’t now it. The alarm company got notice that a patio door was opened, called the police who rushed to the home.

I too had a “mishap” over the July 4^th week end when it was only about 107 most of the time.

As readers know, I like to smoke cigars. However, it’s illegal to smoke indoors in the Phoenix area and at these temperatures, not too much fun to sit outside and enjoy one.

Therefore, when I get the urge at this time of year, I go into my pool about chest high. I put on a big hat, light up, put a book to read on the edge of the pool, and turn on my ipod in a holder attached to my upper arm – above water level

Great, right?

No.  After about 15 minutes or so of this, I heard a sound of a bird or something behind me. As I turned around, I discovered that Ipods do not swim well!

I inadvertently had dipped my shoulder and the Ipod got a dunk. $125 later I now have a new Ipod and a lesson – don’t take an Ipod anywhere near water!

A nice feature of summertime in the Phoenix area is traffic. There’s hardly any.

As noted above, no snow birds, few tourists, and a majority of locals take their out of town vacations in the summer months.

There’s no problem getting a table at the most popular restaurants and everything is on sale. Every store has big sales, and again, no crowds, no lines.

Last night we had a first class dinner at a top spot with a free appetizer (big enough for a small meal), and two seafood dishes, and a glass of wine all for $25.00. Everybody’s got two for one’s etc.

Like to play golf on top courses? $25 or less buys 18 holes and locals take advantage of it by starting out around 6 am and finishing later in the morning before temperatures climb to their high of the day.

Hotels? The very finest that sell for $400-$500/night in winter are glad to see anyone for $100 or so and the “cheap” $250-350 winter priced rooms are less than $75/night.

There’s a big charity walk coming up this week end. Walk in this heat you say? No problem It will be held in a mall. Thousands are expected.

When people here want to cool off a bit, they can drive about 5-6 hours to California and the Pacific Ocean, or Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. In 2-3 hrs, we can drive up into the mountains surrounding Phoenix where temperatures are in the 70’s and 80’s and enjoy very low humidity as well.

Arizona summer heat – no problem except for:

The electric bill that more than doubles between June and October. Ouch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do we indulge ourselves with food and too often too much alcohol on holidays?

By holidays I mean national one’s like July 4^th as well as birthday’s wedding etc.

An ancient days, feasting was the thing. The way to celebrate a rare event.

However, those were the days when many people went hungry most of the time. There were no supermarkets etc.  Most of the population ate what they could grow or raise themselves.

There was no such thing as restaurants. Just maybe Inn’s, which were, really bars with perhaps a little bit of simple food.

So feasting was a big deal

And now?

Our problem is eating too much food.

It’s never been better tasting, cheaper or more readily available down through all history.

So why do we still feast? Why do we get together with friends or family and incorporate food around our time together?

I think the answer may be that we all enjoy eating, even if we’re not necessarily famished. It’s relatively relaxing to eat and enjoy a meal when you’re with someone you enjoy conversing with.

I think it all comes down to socialization.

It’s universal. It’s done all over the world

People like to share meals with friends or relatives, even if it’s no big deal to eat pretty much what you want anymore.

Even watching TV with friends or family is enhanced with food. So is a movie where we all have the Pavlovian urge to eat popcorn. Same thing at a sporting event

And we wonder why our population is over weight? Why gyms are busy all around us? Why we are susceptible to all of the food and restaurants we see advertised?

In my social circle, few couples want to invite another couple over for dinner. The wife, who typically bears the brunt of it, says to her husband, lets go out with them. I don’t want to cook and clean.

Others are somewhat intimidated that their meal might not impress their friends. Others say; you never know when it’s time to leave, or the hosts might say afterwords, “I thought they’d never leave?

Another benefit of socializing with another couple or couples over food is that you’re not distracted by preparation serving or cleaning up. You can focus on your companions

So aside from perhaps birthdays or anniversaries or a few major holidays where we “feast” together, a good number of us like to socialize with friends in restaurants or coffee shops or even a McDonalds.

People and food go together.

It’s a chance to step out of the hectic pace most of us live in each day, sit down and eat and try to relax a little.

Not a bad thing

 

 

 

As of 2008, an estimated 117,325,000 Americans aged 12 or over (47% of the US population aged 12 and over) report having used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetimes.

More than 102 million Americans have tried marijuana; 15.2 million Americans are estimated to be "past-month" users. Yet there are only an estimated 1,855,000 "past-month" users of cocaine and 213,000 "past-month" users of heroin.

 

The world consumes some 3,700 tons of illicit opium per year (1/3 raw and 2/3 processed into heroin) and seizes 1,000 tons. Illicit opiate trade flows have never been previously known: this report breaks new ground by estimating them by country (and regions)."

 

I believe that the majority, if not then at least a very large percentage, of those of our population behind bars in this day and age are directly or indirectly there due to drugs.

Many inmates are “serving time” (ever think how that expression evolved)? Jail for stealing, mugging and or murder, etc for trying to get enough money to buy illicit drugs.

We have spent hundreds of millions, maybe billions in the “drug war” politically popular some years ago. Places like Columbia and Afghanistan find the drug business a leading part of their economies. They are not the only countries.

Readers don’t need me to point out the dangers of drug use, but I wonder if the costs of prevention, and the results of this prohibtion, which are far from total, do more harm than good.

My contention is that our governent should seriously consider and investigate removing the prohibiton on drug consumption.

Horrors you must say. We’ll have a drug epidemic.

My theory is if done properly we won’t.

The effective drug policy of the Netherlands officially has four major objectives:

 

1.   To prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users.

 

2.   To reduce harm to users.

 

3.   To diminish public nuisance by drug users (the disturbance of public order and safety in the neighborhood).

 

4.   To combat the production and trafficking of drugs.

 

Most policymakers in the Netherlands believe that if a problem has proved to be unsolvable, it is better to try controlling it and reducing harm instead of continuing to enforce laws with mixed results. By contrast, most other countries take the point of view that drugs are detrimental to society and must therefore be outlawed.

Why not create a U.S. program similar to Holland?

 

I think that if controlled properly, there will be far less harm done to society than there is presently.

There will be less violence and death like we now have due to traffic injuries and fatalities than there is by alcohol consumption. For certain, far more than consumption of tobacco in public places.

How?

First, make the U.S. government be the only legal customer for drugs in the country?

Huh you say?

Second, continue to make it illegal to buy or sell, import or distribute drugs and maintain the stiff sentences we now have.

Thirdly, have the Government Issue permits or licenses, much like driver’s licenses are now, to permit citizens to consume drugs

Fourth, these drugs would then only be obtained at Federal, or Perhaps State retail stores. Each citizen would be able to get a permit that sets a limit on how many drugs, or quantity or drugs he can have in a given period. Say a month. They can only get it from the authorized retail outlet when their new permits come for the following month

The price is free. Yes free.

The catch is, as noted, you only get so much per month with fingerprints, photo id’s etc to make sure that the permits to not become forged or a tradeable commodity. Eye prints are another technology that may be utilized.

If anyone can’t break his drug habit, then the state or Federal government will provide dry out clinics, counseling, social services etc.  Also for free.  Ample rehabilitation for the user or addict who puts them in custody till cured would be promoted.

Here are the residual benefits as I envision them

A.   Far fewer drugs will be consumed, as the heaviest users will be limited.

 

B.   Drug enforcement can become much tighter as the authorities will only have to watch out for those who will still sneak in drugs for those who need more than their permits allow.

 

C.  The world market for drugs will evaporate. Why pay when it’s free in the U.S? America will be the world’s largest single buyer and can then force producers to accept it’s low prices.

 

D.  Ye, there will be a market for re-sale drugs by those who get it for free with their permits and don’t use it, but it will carry a severe penalty if caught, so again, less potential drug criminals for police to look for

 

E.   Mexican, Colombian Thai, Afghani warlords and their infrastructure will be forced out of business. Their only real market will be in other countries and if anyone can get it “free” in the U.S. the street price will tank. The fuel that feeds much of world crime is profits from drugs.

 

F.   Enforcement cost will drop more than enough to fund the free drug retail outlets and dry out clinics. Far less “security” will end in public places. Jails will have a much lower population and save governments even more money.

And the affects on society?

I don’t believe there will be anymore stoned people walking around than we have now and conceivably less.

The drug culture should evaporate. The tantalization of doing something illicit will take much of the thrill out of it for young people especially.