As always, though, before we get to this week’s links I again want to strongly recommend signing up for a free Feedly account. I get absolutely no kickback for promoting Feedly, but I am so appreciative of their product being the best RSS reader on the internet and I encourage everyone to use it. If you are using another RSS aggregator, please consider following JerseySmarts.com at http://www.jerseysmarts.com/feed/. If you are already on Feedly, then you can follow us by clicking here. Thanks!

One more time before you go – for those of you who love reading online articles, I strongly recommend considering a free Feedly account. You can follow JerseySmarts.com on Feedly or you can add us to your existing RSS aggregator. Enjoy!

Several years ago, the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation (the Foundation) started a program to create Chapter Educational Funds (CEF). Before we talk about what a CEF is and what it can do for you and your chapter, you should know that the Foundation is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization. This means that donations made to the Foundation are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. In other words, if you write a check to the Foundation for $5, $50, or $5,000, then all of those funds can be list as charitable contributions when you or your accountant prepares your deductions for the tax year.

Sigma Pi Fraternity (the Fraternity) and the Foundation have done a lot of research over the years. For the Foundation, that research was focused on what it could do to entice more of our 50,000+ living alumni to donate for the advancement of the Fraternity. In 2003, the Foundation commissioned a report from a third party group to ascertain – among other goals – whether it could raise significant funds from our alumni base to support national programs. The report gave the Foundation many results, including the fact that most alumni want to find a way to support their local chapter more so than the national organization.

Several years later in 2010, the Foundation again studied what Sigma Pi alumni felt strongly about as it put together its strategic plan. During the focus groups and outreach in 2010 it was clear, again, that our alumni love Sigma Pi and would love for the Foundation to provide an option that allowed them to donate for the benefit of their local chapter. This finding would be one of the many outcomes in late 2011 when another third party group researched the prospects of raising significant funds to support national programs.

The message is clear – Sigma Pi alumni are willing and able to donate to the Foundation. They prefer that those donations help their local chapters succeed.

The Foundation has always welcomed those individual alumni or groups of alumni who seek to set up a scholarship to honor a living mentor or as a memorial to a brother who has passed away. In fact, the Foundation awards several national honorarium and memorial scholarships each year. Yet, the research showed that the Fraternity’s alumni wanted to donate to something more directly aligned with their local chapter. Thus was born the CEF program.

The CEF program allows a group of local alumni – called a Local Advisory Committee (LAC) – to create a specific fund at the Foundation where money donated to that fund is used solely for the benefit of their local chapter. Like a traditional Foundation scholarship, a CEF can allow the LAC to award scholarships to members of their local chapter. Yet, a CEF is a more flexible tool to help the local chapter improve because of the other various uses of donated funds. In addition to scholarships, a CEF may provide fellowships for graduate members of a chapter to pursue advanced degrees or professional development programs.

Any use that is academic or educational in nature is an allowable use of money donated to a CEF.

In the recent past, CEFs have been used to provide full reimbursements of registration fees for undergraduates to attend Sigma Pi University (now called Sigma Pi UIFI). Similarly, CEFs have been used to provide full reimbursement of travel costs for undergraduates to attend the Mid-Year Leadership Conference as well as Sigma Pi University. On a more local level, CEFs have been used to pay for the event reservation fees and food costs for academic and leadership training breakfasts and luncheons hosted on-campus where instruction is provided by highly-qualified local alumni and/or invited guest speakers. In other words, if your chapter’s alumni want to host an annual brunch for your undergraduates where you can instruct the undergraduates on issues related to their academic and/or educational growth, then you can pay for the costs of that event through donations to your local CEF.

A CEF can also be used to purchase academic or educational equipment for the chapter. What does that mean? Well, it means if your chapter owns a chapter house and there is space for a library or study area in the house, then funds donated to a CEF can be used to outfit that space with academic equipment (i.e. computers, software, and networking needs).

The uses stated above are what can be achieved when money that you donate to your local CEF is granted (i.e. given away) to a specific cause. However, if you opt to keep the funds in the CEF (i.e. you’re not granting them away), then the flexibility of your CEF increases.

In this option, money donated to a CEF can be used to provide a loan to the local chapter, alumni club, or housing corporation to make improvements to a chapter house. The breadth and scope of those improvements do not have the same academic and educational limitations as when money is granted from the CEF because in this instance, the money in the CEF isn’t being given away. Instead, an LAC may request a loan from its CEF for any housing-related reason including making immediate quality-of-life repairs to a chapter house, building an addition on to an existing chapter house, or even helping a chapter purchase a new house. In those scenarios where a loan is provided by your CEF, the LAC should expect a full underwriting and approval process – just like getting a loan from a local bank. Typically, interest will accrue on the loan at a rate agreed upon by the LAC and the Foundation and the CEF will have to pay an origination fee (which can be negotiated). Unlike a bank, however, it is typical for half of the interest that is paid by the borrower to be placed back into the chapter’s CEF and for the other half of the interest to be paid to the Foundation, which helps it operate (once the interest funds are put back into the CEF, they can be used for the same purposes noted above). Several Sigma Pi chapters around the country currently have loans outstanding from their CEFs with similar repayment terms.

There are some other ins and outs that an alumnus or group of alumni need to know before opening a CEF, but those issues can be better discussed directly with the Foundation. What is important to understand is that if you want your chapter to have an annual scholarship or some academic fellowships, if you would like to see your chapter’s registration fees and travel costs to attend most national conferences fully reimbursed, or if you’d like to see your chapter receive a loan (where they’re actually getting a portion of the interest back!) to address housing issues, then you really should consider the Foundation’s CEF program.

Remember when I paid off my student loans?

Now I’m not going to go into another discussion here about how I paid off my student loans and you can, too. Lord knows I’ve written enough about that stuff that if you really wanted to learn how I was able to pay off those loans and pay them off quickly, then you can find that information on the blog.

And yet, I was struck by my buddy’s utter shock at my having paid off my student loans. And this had me thinking about something for the rest of that night and for the days since the auction ended. Namely, there are some people in life who are victims and there are other people in life who are victors. I’m not suggesting that my buddy is a victim. In fact, he’s the furthest thing from a victim.

There are people out there, though, who look at the hand they were dealt and hang their shoulders in defeat; they essentially turn into Droopy. They may as well turn around and ask everyone to go ahead and kick them in the ass. That’s the victim mindset. That’s the mindset that takes whatever the world gives you and says, “Oh, I was hoping for something better. But okay. I guess this will do.”

It won’t do, damn it! Be a victor! Be someone who makes their own way on this planet. If you don’t like the hand that you’re dealt, then get a new hand. If you don’t like the new hand, then stop playing that game and get up and make something else of your life! We are all the end result of the various choices that we make – choose to be a victor. Choose to be the person with their hand raised at the end of the fight. Choose to win!

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve made many mistakes and I’ve not always made the choices that led me to be the victor at the end of a particular fight. But when it came to student loans I made a conscious decision that I was winning this fight. In fact, I made the decision that I wasn’t just going to be the victor, I was going to be the conqueror! And I was…

Throw your excuses to the side and make this world your own. Be a victor – the choice is yours!

The folks at Princeton have an interesting study about money and perceived happiness.

An August 2010 study by Princeton University suggests that the more money you make, the happier you are… until you make $75,000 per year. According to the study, $75,000 is the magic number where a person’s annual salary maximizes personal happiness. Any money earned over $75,000 doesn’t significantly add to a person’s evaluation of their life. The study also suggests that when you make less money, then issues like poor health, divorce, and loneliness are amplified. In other words, if you can make $75,000 per year, then you just might be able to buy yourself into being satisfied with your life.

From my personal experience with sinking so much money into repaying my student loans, I don’t know if I’m a good example of the results from the Princeton study. Sure, my income is at or above the $75,000 mark (forgive me for trying to express some modesty with my income here, folks), but I wonder if the Princeton group analyzed what the impact is of significant levels of debt on the happiness or perceived happiness of individuals. On the one hand, I’m a happy guy with not many complaints so I think I already fit well into any happiness measures. On the other hand, though, even with my current income I’m constantly trying to find ways to earn more money so I can retire more debt.

In light of my own experiences, I would suggest that there might be an addendum that we can include with the Princeton study. That addendum would say that while making $75,000 per year is the apex of integrating money earned with impressions of happiness, there is a correlation between exhaustion and high levels of debt – regardless of how much money one makes.

All of this really begs the question, though, on what you think of the results of the Princeton study. Do you think $75,000 is enough of an annual salary to buy happiness? Or, as the Princeton folks write it, is $75,000 in annual income enough for you to feel satisfied with where your life is right now?

I don’t know – I wonder what other people think about this conclusion. It seems to me that $75,000 might be a lot of money in some parts of this country, but not necessarily so in other parts. Also, if you have extreme amounts of debt, then how much of that $75,000 is actually being used to enhance those factors in your life that would leave to an improved self-image? Or improved happiness? And is there a level of debt where the money you owe is small enough that it doesn’t necessarily impact your happiness any more? Interesting questions…

The only part of the season that I really looked forward to was going to church and going to my brother’s house for Christmas. If you want to count Thanksgiving as part of the holiday season, then I also looked forward to going to my Mom’s house for Thanksgiving, too.

However, there was one thing that made my eyes open wide and get really excited about the whole gift-giving part of Christmas. So, for your reading pleasure, here’s the brief story of the gift that caught my eye last winter and made my otherwise dreary holiday season pretty bright!

When you cut right down to it, I think that most of the people on this planet are nerds in one form or another. Sure, you might not have a pocket protector and yeah, you might not have glasses held together by masking tape, but chances are that there is something on this planet that you “geek out” over. When I suggest that you “geek out” over something, I’m talking about the type of reaction that you have when your favorite baseball team wins the World Series, when your favorite football team wins the Super Bowl, when you win your fantasy football league, etc. For some, it’s the type of reaction that you have when the extended editions of all three Lord of the Rings movies get released on Blu-Ray (with extras!).

Sometime last winter I was browsing around the internet and I came across a website with a simple name: Authentic Post Office Box Door Coin Banks. For the life of me, I can’t remember what brought me to that website. I think I was looking at a list on some website that talked about “cool gifts for men” or something like that – who knows? Anyway, I saw the coin bank fashioned from some wood and an old post office box door that was offered on this website and immediately I started geeking out over it. Go ahead, click over there and take a look and then come back and finish reading this post. I’ll wait…

Back? Did you go take a look? Good! It’s a pretty cool coin bank, right? Anyway, back to the story…

My family and I use Elfster.com for our Christmas shopping. It’s a good deal because you just post stuff that you want for Christmas and then your family buys it for you. Assuming everyone understands how the process works, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get exactly what you want for Christmas each year and you can even provide details on what customization that you want on your gifts. This year on Elfster the first gift I put on my Christmas list was the coin bank. I even left detailed instructions on which size coin bank I wanted and what number I wanted on the post office box door.

And last week on Christmas day, guess what I got?

How sweet is that? Come on! Look at the new coin bank as it stands next to the old plastic chocolate covered peanut jar that I’ve been using for the last few years:

There’s no comparison! And there’s the point of this update – that this coin bank, for some reason, makes me geek out and managed to bring some happiness to my otherwise “blech” holiday season. I don’t know why and I can’t explain it. I don’t know why I think this coin bank is the coolest thing ever. But when it caught my eye last winter, I bookmarked the page and said, “I need one of these things as soon as possible!”

If you have a guy in your family and you have no idea what to buy him for Christmas (or any holiday for that matter), then I strongly suggest getting him one of these coin banks. Maybe it’ll give him a geek out moment or a helping of the holiday spirit just like it gave me!

Wait until the next time the Powerball lottery gets to one of those outrageous dollar amounts and I guaranty that you’ll hear those conversations going on all around you.

For those of us who graduated college or graduate school with inordinate amounts of student loan debt and have successfully completed or been engaged in a repayment plan, we have a slightly different version of daydreaming. The truth is that this small cohort of student loan borrowers doesn’t sit around and wonder what it would be like to have millions of dollars to play with; instead we sit around and daydream about what it would be like to have all of those student loan payments that we sent off to play with instead.

This isn’t one of those entries where I’m going to bore you with intricate financial statistics or complex equations talking about the amount of money that I lose everyday to interest expenses on my student loans ($3.32). Instead of all of that stuff, I’m going to eyeball a round number to indicate how much I think I’ve spent on student loan principal payments, interest payments, origination fees, transfer fees, and consolidation fees. I’m going to suggest that this estimated round number is between $135,000 and $145,000.

What this range doesn’t calculate is what I might have gained if I would have had the opportunity to invest these funds, but that’s another post for another day.

Those of us who willingly took on exorbitant amounts of student loan debt with the full knowledge that we would be saddled with a repayment obligation that we always intended to meet (lots of qualifiers in the beginning of this sentence…) get a bittersweet feeling when we sit around and think of what we could have done with years and years of student loan payments (which are usually over-payments each month). This past weekend, several of my college buddies stayed over at my place after a group of us went out to the bar. The next day when a few of us were sitting around and talking about different things, the topic of student loan payments came up and it got me back to this familiar form of daydreaming: What would I have done with all of those payments if I didn’t have these student loans?

Immediately, three things come to mind.

First, I would have a substantial savings structure including more equity investments (stocks), fixed investments (government-backed bonds and certificates of deposits), and liquid savings (regular savings account). Granted, I have different levels of these savings structures in place right now, but I’d definitely have more and more varied types of these savings accounts if I had all of that student loan money back.

Second, I would have a more secure housing situation. Now this one is a little bit trickier than just something as simple as, “I would have purchased a house by now.” The area of New Jersey where I live (the northern Jersey Shore area) does not produce reasonable real estate prices right now. Sure, I could have used some of those funds to purchase a home, but the amount, type, and location of the home that I would be able to purchase would not be as much, the type of, or in the area where I’d want to live – so I wouldn’t do it. Plus, the time period when I would have been buying a home would have put me right in the group where the value of the home would be declining quicker than the amount of the outstanding loan principal. So… I wouldn’t have purchased a home.

Instead, I would have set aside a substantial amount of money (around $20,000 to $30,000) to be my “housing reserve fund.” I would still budget my monthly rent from my monthly cash flow, but I would have these funds available in the event that I had to vacate my current place, that I wanted to move, or that I just needed funds for housing-related costs. That housing reserve fund would have provided me with the type of long-term stability that most renters don’t have the benefit of enjoying.

Third and finally, I would have either purchased or been in the final stages of building a vacation home. I know, I know – this one seems crazy. I get it. There are folks at my office who call me Mr. Austerity because of my strong discipline to strict rules and regulations when it comes to the financial aspects of our company. In other words, I hate spending the company’s money even if the company wants their money spent! And I’m a stickler for following a strict set of rules in the office because I think companies need structure and if they have that structure already in place, then they should follow it.

So… the idea of me taking some of this money and purchase a vacation home may seem somewhat insane. I assure you, though, it’s not crazy at all. In fact, there are a lot of reasons why I’d either be savings towards buying a vacation home or I would have already purchased one. Among those reasons are the fact that I would buy a home somewhere in or near the Poconos – where the real estate and property taxes are much, much cheaper than in New Jersey. Plus, there are a lot of beautiful areas in that part of Pennsylvania where you can have a wonderful home with gorgeous, wildlife views. Don’t get me wrong – I love living on the Jersey Shore, but I also really enjoy the peaceful feeling of being surrounded by nature.

I’d also be looking to get that vacation home to host group gatherings. In other words, it would be a nice place where my family could gather for events and holidays, where I could host barbeques and parties for my family and friends, and where I could host other events (planning sessions for my team at my company, annual strategy sessions for some of the nonprofit fundraising work that I do, etc). With respect to regular usage, I’m lucky that my company allows me to work from home on Fridays, so I would probably spend most weekends (weather permitting) up in the vacation home, especially during the summer months when the traffic down the shore is incredibly annoying.

The distance between my office and the general area of the Poconos is about an hour, which is a little bit longer than my daily commute so the distance isn’t a big deal at all. I could easily leave my office on a Thursday afternoon at 4:00pm, head to the vacation home for the weekend, and be there by 5:00pm. Then, I could just as easily leave the Poconos and get back to the office on Monday morning. In the event that I opted to do something like this, then I would probably move out of my current area of the state and, instead, move somewhere a little bit closer to my office. Not too close, though – I’d still like to be within close proximity of the northern Jersey Shore area due to attending Monmouth University basketball games, teaching at the local college, and attending other events in the Long Branch/Asbury Park area. My new apartment wouldn’t have to be too big or costly, either. A standard efficiency arrangement would be fine given that I’d have most of my nice stuff (like high-end electronics) up in the Poconos.

In short, I think I could definitely make that type of living scenario work out. And I’ve given it a lot of thought so I’m sure I’ve thought through most of the difficulties. Oh, and I wouldn’t worry abo-

Hey! Wake-up!

Those are just the daydreams from someone in my situation. You know, someone who has pushed more than $135,000 into student loans over a 6 year period; someone whose 12-month budget shows a whole lot of additional money getting pushed into student loan payments to finish these things off. And here’s the kicker of the whole situation: I might be 12 months away from being free of these students loans, but that doesn’t mean the financial daydreams you read above would be kicked into high gear. Not at all.

Instead, once my student loans are paid off I can then just begin to think about budgeting to start saving to meet just one of those daydreams.

And that is a splash of ice cold reality in the face of some fun daydreaming, don’t you think?

So what do you think? Should we get rid of pennies? Personally, I like pennies because if I have a few floating around my pocket, then I can potentially pay for an item with exact change. More importantly, though, I keep a jar of change in my closet that I clear out once each year around Christmas so I can buy myself a little gift. Each year, the jar usually yields about $85, which isn’t so bad (this year, it provided about $167, but that’s because I haven’t emptied it out in two years). Many of the coins that get dropped into my change jar are pennies.

Plus, I think pennies make it easier for young people to learn about money. I’ve seen some pretty impressive presentations prepared by the community outreach sections of traditional banks that talk about the full scale of money – from big bills down to the one cent piece.

Anyway – do you have any thoughts on the penny? Should it stay or should it go?

If you are new to living in Plainsboro, New Jersey you must stay informed on the latest deals around town. Did you know that you can follow Plainsboro on Facebook? Or, did you know that you can search “Plainsboro local businesses” and connect to well-known restaurants, grocery stores, housing markets and more? A very simple search can even provide you with recommended apartments in Plainsboro.

Online tools are essential to staying informed and keeping up-to-date with current offers. Check out our money saving tips below.

Money Saving Tip One: Locate Affordable Housing
Before you start packing boxes you must have a budget established for your move and potential housing needs. In Plainsboro, some of the large apartment complexes offer move-in incentives including first month free or reduced move in fees. These discounted costs can be easy on your budget during a time that is normally associated with additional expenses or fees. Before you sign any type of lease you should take the time to understand how it will influence your months ahead.

An apartment with a higher rent and a great move-in deal may end up costing the same amount as a cheaper apartment with no move-in deal. Again, online tools are essential! Explore the area and apartment markets online before you schedule any appointment to review spaces.

Money Saving Tip Two: Know Where to Shop
Many towns, including those in New Jersey, have an abundance of local shops that can help you save money. Look around the main downtown and surrounding areas for locally owned shops before you head off to your well-known chain stores. It is great to support local businesses and you can also get to know the community you choose to live in.

Money Saving Tip Three: Comparison Shop for Utilities
There are many positive incentives associated with comparison shopping for cable, telephone services, and internet. Many of the larger companies offer first time sign up deals or even bundling discounts.

If you are moving into an apartment your new home may be pre-wired for specific cable and/or internet services. Remember to speak with your landlord and discover all the possibilities and company options you can shop.

If you are ready to live in Plainsboro, New Jersey you can discover many different techniques to live on a budget. Take time to discover your new neighborhood, local businesses, restaurants, and utility options. It is possible to live on a fixed income in this area.

If you’ve been reading JerseySmarts.com or Joe’s Journal for a while now, then you know that I like reading books about self-improvement including eating better, understanding the human body better, and using money better. Stop Acting Rich …And Start Living Like A Real Millionaire by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley falls into the latter category as this book focuses on how real millionaires spend their money. Sure, we all think that we know who a real millionaire is (the flashy people you see on television and maybe one or two families in your community that live in a bigger house and have nicer cars), but the truth is that some of these folks are only what Dr. Stanley terms the “glittering rich.”

In other words, these are the people who want to live the rich lifestyle without actually having the dollars to back it up! I prefer to call these folks idiots.

What I found most interesting about reading this book is that as you go through each chapter and Dr. Stanley writes about how real millionaires live versus how people who want the prestige and status associated with being rich live, I was amazed at how many people in my own life popped into my head. For example, did you know that most millionaires drive Fords, Chevrolets, and Toyotas? And I’m not talking about the “high end” brands that are associated with each of these companies, either. True, you might expect most millionaires to be riding around in Mercedes-Benz automobiles or BMWs, but the scientifically-researched data proves those assumptions false.

And that is another thing that is great about this book, namely that Dr. Stanley uses scientifically-compiled data to make the points for him. He doesn’t approach this subject with a predetermined mindset where he is attempting to prove that millionaires spend their money in a certain manner (frugality) versus a different manner (splurging). All he does is compile the research and explain what the data mean. Frankly, it’s refreshing to read a book about money that isn’t pushing a certain agenda or method of using one’s scarce financial resources. This book just simply tells the read how real millionaires choose to spend their money in their daily lives.

Again, though, I was struck by how many people came to mind as I read through the book. Using the car example above – how many of us know people that are driving around in cars that cost upwards of $50 thousand? The research shows that there is a strong chance that those individuals are not only not millionaires, but likely struggling to put away any funds for retirement. Think of another example – how many of us know someone who has a “fascination” with certain inanimate objects like watches? Did you know that most millionaires spend less than $150 for their watch? And they usually own one or two at the most. But don’t we all know someone who has to have that thousand dollar Rolex? Talk about a waste of money.

I was sitting at my desk reviewing my personal finances (which is a nightly ritual for me) and I was thinking about how I used to use both Microsoft Money and Intuit’s Quicken software. These days I don’t use anything besides some spreadsheets that I created and, frankly, they work great! But as I was going over my finances I started to think about the old Mint.com account that I opened up about a year ago before shutting it down.

Some months ago I remembered hearing that Mint.com was purchased by Intuit, which I thought was a real shame since Mint.com had a great user interface and was very user-friendly. Intuit doesn’t have the best record on either of those issues. Anyway, as I was thinking about this stuff I pulled up the New York Times website and wouldn’t you know that there was an interview with the creator of Mint.com (who is now a Vice President at Intuit) right there on the front page? It was a good interview, too! For example, I found out things like this…

Q. Are there parts of corporate culture that you find strange?

A. The corporate campus seems so quiet. A start-up is overflowing with energy. Here it’s a little more subdued. They’ve got these high, very depressing cubicles.

If I wanted a new computer or had some I.T. issue at Mint, I just walked to the tech ops team and they would get me set up in a couple of minutes. At Intuit, being a big company, you call the help desk, and the help desk has been outsourced to some foreign country — I can’t place the accent. They really have no idea of where you are or what your needs are. It’s the standard phone service when you get sent to a foreign country, but this is an internal help desk. It’s a real pain. I expressed this to one of my Quicken colleagues and he said, “Yeah, we just never call the help desk. Don’t bother, here’s who you need to call to skirt around the system…” I thought, that’s sort of dumb in a bureaucratic way.

But at the same time, a big company has processes with much more rigor than what we ever had in a start-up. They have great specialization when it comes to retail, packaging, search engine marketing or affiliate programs. And the financial rigor of a big company is phenomenal in terms of projections, making sure everything is on track on a weekly basis, or reporting your numbers — they’re very, very good at that sort of thing.

I found that interesting, but I also like reading about corporate culture. The interview – linked above – is a short read and one that I think you’ll enjoy if you’re interested in the internet and technology or just how entrepreneurs are integrated into established organizations.