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PallaDinero

Personal Finance, Budgeting, Retirement, Student Loan & Lifestyle Advice and Commentary

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Best Places to Live 2017

Best Places to Live 2017

June 5, 2017 by palladinero Leave a Comment

Have you ever read one of those “Best places to live” lists? I have fantasized about living in one of those towns/cities since I was a kid. Living in one of them never seemed attainable to me because they were either too far from my home, too cold or too expensive. What does it mean to live in one of those places?” What criteria is used to determine this?

Methodology

I looked at 3 websites to compare their criteria and methodology. 

Livability examines quality of life in over 2,000 cities in the US and have been doing so for the past 28 years. Their main focus is to help cities attract and retain residents and businesses. They narrow down the top cities by looking at 4 main criteria: Level, Inclusive, Variety and Engagement.
Level describes whether there is a level playing field for everyone to succeed (education, jobs and technology).
Inclusive measures a cities diversity. This includes age, race, income and other factors.
Variety describes flexibility for residents to choose schools, hospitals, housing, parks, farmers markets and transportation.
And finally, Engagement looks at whether residents are making the most out of all the opportunities available. This includes voting, local meeting attendance and joining community organizations.

US News & World Report is a weekly news magazine that was founded in 1933. They generate several “Best of” lists and are considered an authority on them. Their Best Places to Live list looks at the Job Market, Value Index, Quality of Life, Desirability and Net Migration.
The Job Market Index measures the strength of a cities job market.
The Value Index measures whether the average resident of each city can afford to live within their means, in other words a Cost of Living index.
The Quality of Life Index measures how satisfied residents are with their daily lives in each ranked metro area. It quantifies the crime rate, quality and availability of health care, quality of education, residents level of happiness and the average daily commuting time.
The Desirability Index measures whether or not people want to live in a given metro area. To determine this, they asked people from all over the country where they’d prefer to live.
And Net Migration measures whether people are moving to or away from each of the metro areas. It represents whether or not a metro area is actually attracting new residents.

Niche describes themselves as “…a website that helps you discover the schools and neighborhoods that are right for you.” Niche uses similar criteria as Livability and US News but they include some specific factors as well.
There is a Higher Education Rate which is the percentage of residents who have received a bachelor’s degree or higher.                                                                                                                                                              The Nightlife Grade measures the access to bars, restaurants, theaters, and other attractions.                The Outdoor Activities Grade quantifies weather, air quality, and access to parks and other recreational opportunities.                                                                                                                                                                   And the Weather Grade is based on number of sunny days, precipitation, and average temperatures in an area.

Based on these three lists here is my Top 10 Places to Live.

Ann Arbor, MI: The home of the Michigan Wolverines. A safe, highly educated town with a diversified economy that is growing in technology and health care. There are also plenty of outdoor activities to take advantage of as well.
Arlington, VA: A suburb of the nation’s capital boasts excellent education, parks & rec, access to a major city and is among the most diverse cities in the US (140 countries represented).
Austin TX: Home to the famous South by Southwest festival, is known for being the “Live Music Capital of the World”. There is no state income tax and low sales taxes. Even though Texas is known as a driving state, there have been major improvements to Austin’s public transportation.
Fort Collins, CO: Residents enjoy 300 sunny days a year, excellent schools and an array of recreational activities. Businesses such as Anheuser-Busch, Eastman Kodak, Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies loom large in the city.
Madison, WI: Madison is widely known as a top college town, food capital and music. Affordable housing, technology investors and good public schools are other reasons this annually makes top livability lists.
Naperville, IL: The suburb of Chicago is a safe community, has eight college and university campuses, 130 parks, four sports complexes and an award-winning Edward Hospital (its largest employer).
Overland Park, KS: A highly-educated community that has many companies based there, including Sprint, the city’s largest employer. The top soccer city in the US boasts many parks, 4 lakes and 6 sports facilities.
Portland, ME: Boasts more restaurants per capita than any other US city. Plenty of arts, culture and outdoor recreation keep the residents entertained. Portlanders are also among the healthiest due to all the outdoor activities. And did I mention the fresh lobster and seafood???
Rochester, MN: Having one of the top medical clinics has to be a major perk. The Mayo Clinic will soon be expanding and could add an additional 40,000 jobs. The University of Minnesota will also expand to here to anticipating an influx of young people. This city will be experiencing major growth and diversity in the next few years.
Seattle, WA: The Emerald City has an abundance of farmers markets and some are even open year-round. There is plenty of outdoor recreation and live music (the birthplace of grunge) to satisfy almost anyone’s taste. And no, it does not rain every day.

Do you currently live in one of these towns? Is your town deserving? Are you planning on moving to one of these towns?

Mike

PS: I can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook

Personal Capital – Before Personal Capital, I had to log into 5 different financial institutions to track my account balances. My finances were scattered but that is no longer the case. Now I can just log into Personal Capital to see how everything is doing in one place. Some of you might need some organization and Personal Capital will help you with that.

MDD Hosting – I am big proponent of using MDD Hosting as my website server. Their tech support is helpful, especially if you are a newbie to website building. I could not be happier with their service and so will you.

StudioPress – I bought the Going Green theme from this site because I loved the layout and colorization. It is advertised for Environmentalist organizations but I loved it because it’s the color of money. There are many other Themes to choose from, so take a tour and see if any of them can help you with your site.

Lifestyle Tagged: best place to live, crime rate, diversity, education, jobs, livability, niche, outdoor recreation, public school, quality of life, us news & world report

Credit Score and Credit Report

Credit Score and Credit Report

June 2, 2017 by palladinero Leave a Comment

Are you looking to buy a house ? What about a car? If so then you will need to find out what your credit score is. It could save, or cost, you thousands of dollars.

What Are The Scores

Our credit score basically quantifies your default risk to creditors. The higher the number the lower your default risk. It helps decide what type of credit is available to you, how much interest you will pay and other options such as utilities and mobile phone purchases. The scores range from 300-850.

579 and lower: This is a poor FICO Score and is considered to be poor credit. You may be rejected for credit and may require a fee or a deposit to obtain a credit card. Utilities may also require a deposit. A credit score this low could be a result from bankruptcy or other major credit problems. About 61% of consumers with a credit score under 579 are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.

580-699:  Indicates a fair FICO Score and is below the average credit score. You are considered subprime borrowers and getting credit may be difficult and will include high interest rates. Approximately 28% of consumers with a credit score between 580 to 669 are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.

670-739: Considered a good FICO Score and is in the median credit score range. These are known as “acceptable” borrowers. Generally 8% of consumers with a credit score between 670 to 739 are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.

740-799: If you are in this range you have a very good FICO Score and is an above average credit score. You may qualify for better interest rates from lenders. Approximately 2% of consumers with a credit score between 740 to 799 are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.

800 and above: You have an exceptional FICO Score and a well above the average credit score. You may experience an easy approval process when applying for new credit. Approximately 1% of consumers with a credit score of 800+ are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.

How Credit Scores Are Calculated

35%: Payment history

30%: Amounts owed on credit and debt

15%: Length of credit history

10%: New credit

10%: Types of credit used

How Did I Improve The Score

I went from having a 625 credit score to an 800 score. It took me several years to get to above 750 but I’m happy with my progress. I started off by paying off my bills to a zero balance. There was a time when I did not pay off my bills every month. After I wisened up financially I vowed to never pay interest on credit cards or utility bills ever again. Review your credit report with a fine tooth comb. I was rarely late paying bills but for the past 13 years I have not been late or missed a payment.

Another trick is to increase your credit limit every couple of years. Increasing your available credit improves your credit score. But do not get an outrageous amount because that might not help that much. Other tips would be to setup Payment Reminders, use cash instead of credit cards and to contact your creditors if you are having a hard time paying off your balance.

How a Credit Score Effects Us

Loan applications get approved much quicker than ever before. The score can be delivered immediately. A mortgage used to take weeks to get approval and now it only takes hours. Credit scoring is fair and does not take into account race, gender, nationality or religion. It only looks at risk.

If you have had poor credit in the past, this may not haunt you forever. Credit problems get fixed over time and as recent good payment patterns show up on your credit report. Credit scoring takes into account all of the good and bad credit-related information. 

Lenders who use credit scoring approve more loans, because credit scoring gives them more precise information to base credit decisions. With more credit available, the cost of credit for borrowers decreases. Automated credit processes, including credit scoring, make the credit granting process more efficient and less costly for lenders, who in turn have passed savings on to their customers. And by controlling credit losses using scoring, lenders can make rates lower overall. 

Where To Go

I use Transunion to track my credit report. But there are other options as well. In addition, I noticed that my credit card companies started giving me my credit score within the past year. So there is no excuse for me not to track going forward.

Do you know your credit score? How did you improve it?

Mike

PS: I can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook

Personal Capital – Before Personal Capital, I had to log into 5 different financial institutions to track my account balances. My finances were scattered but that is no longer the case. Now I can just log into Personal Capital to see how everything is doing in one place. Some of you might need some organization and Personal Capital will help you with that.

MDD Hosting – I am big proponent of using MDD Hosting as my website server. Their tech support is helpful, especially if you are a newbie to website building. I could not be happier with their service and so will you.

StudioPress – I bought the Going Green theme from this site because I loved the layout and colorization. It is advertised for Environmentalist organizations but I loved it because it’s the color of money. There are many other Themes to choose from, so take a tour and see if any of them can help you with your site.

Credit Score Tagged: credit card, credit report, credit score, experian, fico, mortgage, transunion

Professional Sports Gambler

Professional Sports Gambler

May 31, 2017 by palladinero Leave a Comment

What is your dream job? When I give it a lot of thought, for me, it would be a professional sports gambler. This “job” would have flexible working hours and would require me to watch sports with an actual vested interest in the games. Is this particular dream job even possible for me?

I enjoy going to Las Vegas (and definitely need to visit again). I’m not a big participator when it comes to playing slots or table games. Once in a while I will play roulette or a few quick pulls on slot machine. The one thing that I like to bet on is sports. I have mainly bet on NFL, NCAA football and horse racing.

One of my favorite trips to Vegas was spending an entire Sunday watching every NFL game at the Caesars Sports Book. There was a group of 20 of us who spent all day there. Plenty of laughs, excitement and fits of anger happened during the games. The comfy seats, waitress service and overall experience made it memorable. It was 12 hours well spent. I won a bit so that that it better too.

Gambling Podcast

A new podcast that I’m currently listening to is “Against All Odds with Cousin Sal”. It’s a sports gambling podcast featuring Jimmy Kimmel’s “favorite” cousin. I really enjoy listening to it because you can hear the genuine delight and fury when their picks win or lose (mostly lose). It’s amazing how much research Sal and his panel of “experts” put into making a pick just for it to blow up in the last seconds of a game. It goes to show you that gambling really is a game of chance.

I brought up the podcast because Cousin Sal bets on so many games and events (Oscars, Dancing With The Stars) and is hilarious. Even though it is not his day job, it might as well be. I’m not sure his wife would want that career change though.

So is it possible for me to become a professional sports gambler? Of course it is. But I would need to develop an excellent betting strategy, accumulate a big bankroll and a large amount of luck.

Move to Vegas?

Legally speaking, yes. Las Vegas is the only city in the US that allows sports betting on the major sports leagues. But I have found many websites that take action. All that said, I think my wife wouldn’t mind because she will enjoy the weather.

Jumping In

After moving to Sin City and finding a job I would have to start by saving 10%-15% of my paycheck to build up a bankroll. The bankroll would allows me to bet every week without dipping into my personal funds. So keeping my day job would be a must so that I don’t ruin my life.

Bankroll Strategy

There is no standard bankroll amount but there is an excellent betting strategy for beginners that will allow me to keep me bankroll afloat. Bet no more than 2% of the bankroll on each bet. Let’s say that you have a $1,000 bankroll, the most you would bet would be $20. That way you will never get greedy and “let it ride” on one bet. It is similar to Zeno’s Paradox and will never get to zero. Obviously in the beginning i would need to bank all of the winnings to the bankroll. If I keep winning this will get me on the path to sports gambling heaven. But, that is a big “If”.

When to go Full Time?

The obvious answer is when I become a Whale. Amassing a small fortune would have to be the starting point for me. Plus the betting system would have to earn enough money each month to live on.

That is if the Sports Books keep taking my bets. Sports Books tend to close accounts if you win too much, so I will have to place some sucker bets every now and then. That sounds so unfair but it would be the cost of doing business.

Record Keeping

I would need to keep meticulous records of winnings and losses to keep the IRS happy with my details. No reason for me to get audited.

Good luck to me, I’ll need it. And take a listen of The Cousin Sal podcast.

Do you know any Professional Gamblers? Could you take the plunge and do this for a living?

Mike

PS: I can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook

Personal Capital – Before Personal Capital, I had to log into 5 different financial institutions to track my account balances. My finances were scattered but that is no longer the case. Now I can just log into Personal Capital to see how everything is doing in one place. Some of you might need some organization and Personal Capital will help you with that.

MDD Hosting – I am big proponent of using MDD Hosting as my website server. Their tech support is helpful, especially if you are a newbie to website building. I could not be happier with their service and so will you.

StudioPress – I bought the Going Green theme from this site because I loved the layout and colorization. It is advertised for Environmentalist organizations but I loved it because it’s the color of money. There are many other Themes to choose from, so take a tour and see if any of them can help you with your site.

Career, Gambling, Lifestyle Tagged: gambler, Gambling, las vegas, NFL, sports, sports gambling

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