Mike Jr | My thoughts on life, business & technology.

I hope Mark Cuban won’t get mad at me for repurposing his content. The post he made about Investment advice for 2006 is definately worth the read.

Mark Cuban’s blog is a great read. Out of about 10 blogs I skim daily using feedblitz, I have to say Blog Maverick is the only blog that I read every post word for word.

My Investment advice for 2006 – Blog Maverick: “So here is my investment advice for anyone who doesn’t have enough saved to walk away from their job and retire…

1. If interest rates stay where they are or go higher, look at 5 year or shorter maturity vehicles. It doesnt matter if its a bank CD, a money market fund, a tax free fund, treasuries or combinations there of. Bottom line is this, 4plus percent taxed, or up to 6 plus percent tax free equivalent (depending on your tax bracket), is not a bad way to go. If rates go down, do the same thing, evenif you earn a lower rate. At the end of the year, you are guaranteed to have more than you started with.

2. Evaluate your lifestyle. People forget that sometimes the best investment they can make is in wisely buying things they know they will use. If you track what you use and consume, whether its gas vs bus fare, buying bulk quantities or other discretionary spending, you can save more and earn a far greater return than you could in the stock market. If you can save 10pct per month on a hundred dollar per month budget, thats 120 bucks you can put in the bank. Thats the equivalent of earning 12 pct on a 1k dollar investment. If you can cut 100 bucks per month off 1k dollar monthly budget, thats like earning 12 pct on 10k dollars. Thats pretty darn good. Spend smart, put your savings in risk averse, interest earning offerings.

3. Invest in yourself. Do the things that can get you closer to your goals and dreams. It wont come from a brokerage commercial. It will come from preparing yourself , working hard and standing apart from your competition. You Inc is the best stock you can ever buy…if you are willing to do the work.”

Taken from an interview of Mark Cuban from Young Money Magazine.

YM: Do you have any general saving and investing advice for young people?

CUBAN: Put it in the bank. The idiots that tell you to put your money in the market because eventually it will go up need to tell you that because they are trying to sell you something. The stock market is probably the worst investment vehicle out there. If you won’t put your money in the bank, NEVER put your money in something where you don’t have an information advantage. Why invest your money in something because a broker told you to? If the broker had a clue, he/she wouldn’t be a broker, they would be on a beach somewhere.

I have a friend who bought a spindle of DVD-R discs. After he moved, he tried using one and it wouldn’t work. So he filled out a contact form on the Memorex website. Let’s follow this communication with Memorex. [names, emails, & numbers have been changed to protect my friend's identity]

—–Original Message—–
From: John Doe [mailto:John_Doe@domain.com]
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 10:21 PM
To: Warranty Replacement Status
Subject: Memorex Warranty Replacements Status

The following information was submitted

First Name: John
Last Name: Doe
Telephone (Day): (111) 555 – 1212
Telephone (Eve): (111) 555 – 1212
Email: John_Doe@domain.com
Question: I bought a pack of 25 Memorex CD-R’s about a month ago before I moved. I opened the pack and tried to use 1 of the CDR’s but it didn’t work. I meant to figure out why but forgot b/c I had to move. I cannot find the package (except I still have the CD spindle) or the receipt of my purchase but I think the CD-R’s are ALL bad! Can you possibly replace these CD-R’s or tell me how to use them if they’re not broken? I would greatly appreciate replacement or refund of my purchase which was about $25 US.

Thanks!

Looking at this communication from an outside, objective perspective, Memorex really has very little responsibility in this from a returns perspective. They can tell my friend to return it to the store and be done with it. However, look at the extraordinary service response…

Dear Valued Customer,

We are sorry for the inconvenience you have experienced with our products, and we hope that you will give us a second chance! We strive to produce a high quality product, and to ensure this quality, we do extensive research at our manufacturing facility, and we also conduct various quality control tests.

We will be shipping your replacement. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of the items you are requesting.

Thank you
Memorex Products, Inc.
Warranty Replacement

OH MY GOSH. I am impressed. When I have a choice of choosing Memorex over another company, I will remember this email.

My friend wrote back…

Wow, what a very pleasant surprise! I have never had a faster response or a more amiable one with a customer service dept and I will let all my working relationships know about this great experience.

If you would like to include a return label and shipping package, I can return the bad DVDR’s I purchased to you for research? It would be no trouble, and hopefully you can keep this from happening to anyone else.

My Mailing Address is:

>

Thank you for your quick response and this will go a long way towards future purchases from Memorex!

Sincerely,
John Doe