The Financial Analysis Guy

I have not made any posts to this site for a little while due to a recent addition to our family unit.  My wife and I just adopted our first child and little Jackson Daniel made his first appearence with our family on “gotchya day” on April 2nd, 2008. 

We have been in line for a Chinese adoption for over 3 years now and have all but given up hope on that one.  We were caught right in the middle of many different factors coming together at once to cause this to slow down considerably, but that is an entirely different post.  So, my wife and I decided to adopt locally while waiting for the Chinese government to get their collective heads out of their asses and let more of their lost girls get adopted.

So, we went through the full gamet of process to adopt locally - background, financials, fingerprints, home-study, classes, etc.  There is a ton of stuff you have to do, but since we were ready for China, we pretty much had it all done and ready for the local one.  We got in line at the end of December and got our call on March 29, 2008 - the day he was borne. 

What is significant about this is that we were not expecting it.  It was not like we had a mother that picked us or we knew the delivery date or anything.  Nope, there was a baby and it was presented to us.  Talk about stress.  Even more intriguing was the fact that the baby did not meet our criteria for race.  We are both white and this new baby was a mix Hispanic/African-American. 

The wildcard, though, was that the baby was PERFECTLY healthy.  The new baby boy was 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was in perfect health - no drugs, alcohol or smoking.  This was indeed rare.  Babies are rare enough - but a completely healthy one as well.  We jumped at it and it has been GREAT!!! 

Jackson is starting to smile and things are going wonderful.  We are not getting enough sleep, of course, and the wife and I are “negotiating” over shifts.  Awwwww, the fun has begun, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!!!!

As a financial analyst, though, the best analogy I have heard for this came from my current boss, Rex.  He said the first 6 months, it is all negative cash flow.  Then the investment really starts producing for you when they start to smile and interact with you.  Then you know where your time and money went…incredible…

This is a great post from a great writer, Trent over at The Simple Dollar.   His blog is one of the best personal finance blogs out there and the most widely read as well - no coincidence I assure you. 

Trent discussed the importance of one’s reputation and used a famous, well-used quote from one my idols, Warren Buffett.  I love Buffett and all that comes along with him.  He is the true silent assassin though.  He folksy mannerisms and “aw-shucks” ways should not lead anyone to believe he is not a killer when it comes to business.  But one thing he does do that is completely above board.  He will never lie, cheat, or steal to get what he wants out of life.

He believes in hard work, doing your own homework, and NO SHORT CUTS!  This last one is the most important in my opinion. 

The quote Trent used was as follows:

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

There is another quote from the Oracle of Omaha that I like and that is “there can’t be two you’s.”  Why is this one so important to me?  I like it the best because he simply states that the person you are in public MUST be the same person you are in private as well - and vice-a-verse. 

Trent’s post was amazing because it really focused in on the hurdles of keeping and maintaining the most important asset you have in your life - your reputation.  The quote I like, the two you’s quote, runs along those same lines, but the reputation implications is just part of it. 

Think about the implications of making sure you act the same way in public you do in your private life.   Oftentimes in our lives, we save all the niceness and kind words and politeness for those who mean the least to us.  And when we get home from our hectic lives, it is our children and spouses that suffer the negativeness of the real world pushing us around.  If we just treated our loved ones the same way we would treat our co-workers or perfect strangers (for the fear of not being liked or making a good first impression) our lives would be enriched beyond our wildest dreams.

We can not live a phony life in public and not be that same person in private.  We also can’t be cruel and uncaring in private and not have that carry over into our public persona.  It just does not work that way.  The truth about who you really are catches up to us no matter in public or private. 

So the lesson here is to take a long hard look at who you think you really are.  If you don’t like what you see, it is time to make some changes in your life.  If you are happy with who you are in public (or private) but the other one suffers because you are trying to be something you are not - it is time for some changes as well.  In any event, you will be a better person for it.

There can’t be two you’s quote is genius.  I respect Warren Buffett the man as much as I do the personality and the business savvy.  I respect Trent’s writing over at his blog just as much and wish him all the best.