Programming etc ...

Two amazing articles I read.

Perils of Java Schools

Beating the averages

Whimsical Raconteur again on Sulekha :)

In the meantime she has had a short story published in DNA's ME magazine and another short story in India Abroad.

Retirement Accounts - 401k's

I have been looking into getting free money, but then there is nothing that is free or maybe there is :) If your employer matches any amount of money that you put into your retirement account, then you maybe losing out on free money given away by your employer and some tax savings.

Example - Free Money
John Smith's employer matches 50% of the money John contributes to his 401K retirement account, upto 6% of John's salary. Also, this money comes out of John's salary pretax, so this reduces this current taxable income. Lets say John earns $2500 per month, he contributes 6% ($150) to his 401K savings account, his company matches 50%($75), so if John contributes $150 per month to his retirement account, his company puts in $75 (that is 50% instant profit). He does not earn any contribution from the company if he contributes nothing for his retirement. Some institutions give upto 200% of your contribution, $300 in John's case, for a total of $150.

Investments
This 401K money is put in various investments, depending on what you company provides, from a low yeilding money market account (better than most banks savings accounts) to mutual funds to stocks to self managed 401K's. There are ways in which you can get your favorite brokrage to maintain your 401K investments.

Tax Savings
John's initial taxable income was $2500 per month, @ 25% tax rate that is $625 in tax, now after his 6% contribution, his taxable income reduces to $2500 - $150 = $2350 and his tax reduces to $587.5, that is an additional $37.5 savings in taxes.

Taxes
If withdrawls from the 401K account are made after 59 1/2 years, then these withdrawals are taxed at the rate in which John falls in, at that age, this is expected to be less than his current rate of 25% because he might just be withdrawing $1500 from his 401k at that age.

Growing Money
It is said that money attracts money and the interest earned on compounding are great, if we take the average stock market return of 9% per year, $1000 invested by John at age 25 becomes $2367 at age 35, $5604 at age 45, $20413 at age 60. This is just the initial $1000, of course as John keeps adding more money per month in his retirement account, his final retirement nest egg is much bigger.

Cons

• If John withdraws money before age 59 1/2 from his 401k he is subjected to penalty and taxes.
• He has to pay taxes on the money in his retirement.

Personal Comments

• I think it is good to maximize your 401 benefits, upto what your employer matches, so if your employer matches upto only 4% of your salary, keep your 401k contributions to 4%. Because the principal (your money and the matched money) and any income will be taxed in the future.
• Roth IRA's: If the employer matches nothing, it is best to invest in Roth IRA's (more about this in the next post). Also, it is best to put your money in Roth IRA if you want to contribute more to your retirement account then what your employer matches. For eg. if John wants to put 10% of this salary in retirement accounts, he should contribute the first 6% in 401K and the next 4% in Roth IRA's

Links

Retirement Calulator - http://www.bloomberg.com/analysis/calculators/401k.html

More about Roth IRA's in the next post.

Satisfying Saturday !

My Team was playing the UK-ISC Volleyball Tournament this Saturday. The medal and trophy say it all :) We won the final in 5 sets.

God is Back !!

The Whimsical Raconteur On Sulekha :)

Baby Steps towards a bright future.

Asha for Education - Hats off to Medha

Medha told me recently that she is going to be running a 26.2 mile marathon.

O Man ! 26 miles, Indian girl ? Marathon? Running? (some of my stupid thoughts). So, I got more details from her:

Why?: To stay fit. To see if I can do it. To help children back in India.

Ain't that awesome?

Where?: Chicago, Oct 9th.

Training?: She started training at the beginning of this year. She has to train atleast three days a week. Also, the training gets tougher as the weeks go by. So if Medha runs 2 miles a day in week 1 she has to run 4 miles the next and 6 miles the week after that. There is a phase where the mileage reduces and goes back up again. Last weekend she ran 16 miles.

Too much hard work for me :)

Medha is running for Asha For Education, this group runs various projects around the country to provide basic education.

Medha's owns words and other details.

What can we do?: As a part of the run, medha is expected to collect donations to the tune of $2600+ . Various people and companies are sponsoring the runners and the event. So if you are interested in sponsoring Medha's run or seeing Medha's running log and to help Asha for Education please use this link

Happy Independence Day 

मन* से रावण* जो निकाले* राम उसके मन मे है.

Not sure, if the Hindi is correct :), I picked this line up from the swades song pal pal hai bhari

* = corrected.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Pre-ordered from Joseph Beth !

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I am second in line to read the book :(

Money – Investing.

The most important driving factor of our lives, still no one talks about it, people will talk philosophy, religion, emotions, books etc, Money zilch :)… I know nothing about that beast, except that I need to have it somehow and I need lots :)

I have been recently pursuing Investing, not that I have a lot of money to invest, but in general of how people make money and how money attracts money :) here are the few investing options that are out there:

1. Get out of debt: This is the first evil, All Debt is bad, but some are better than the others, Credit card, personal debt, cars are among the worst. Anything you pay interest on is bad. Loan on your home is not as bad, but it needs to get off soon.
   
   
2. Banks: For all those who just use the interest provided by the bank to grow your money, the days of 6-10% interest rate was for our previous generation not ours, the best we can do as of now is open an ING account whose current interest rate is 3%, which is better than most fixed deposits, If you need a recommendation to this let me know, in that way both of us can make money :)
   
   
3. Real estate: If you are in the US (in most areas) and have a stable job (going to last 2 years or more) and have 5% or so down payment then buy a house and remember the mantra, Location! Location! Location! My personal opinion is not to overextend your self on the house loan, get a loan which you pay off in 10-12 years and own the house. Things like number of earning members of the family are important and things like wife’s future maternity leave should be carefully considered before you set down a price on the house you can afford.
   
   Other real-estate investments can be additional rental property purchase. This way the rental property pays for the loan and the property hopefully will appreciate in a few years :)
   
   
4. Mutual Funds:
   Advantages
   
   
   
   • There are 9 categories of mutual funds, based on the risk level you are willing to take
     
   • There are more mutual funds then stock! I was surprised at this first but it is counter intuitive.
     
   • Since a mutual fund consists of a number of stocks, owning a mutual fund gives instant diversification.
     
   • Mutual funds should be No Load
     
   
   Disadvantages
   
   
   
   • You can loose money, Loss is possible with a mutual fund. It is not like a savings account :)
     
   • All funds have fees, which mean they will take a percent of the profit that is made by the fund. This is usually taken yearly and is in the range of 0.5% to 2%. I don’t like no fees, but they are necessary.
     
   • Profits are not huge (like doubling your money). The average mutual fund will give you like 10-20% in a good year.
     
   • Good mutual funds have a minimum ($2500) that you need to invest. Sometimes I think, I am not ready to risk 10% loss on $2500 of my hard earned money :)
     
   
   Difficulties
   
   
   
   • Finding a good mutual company.
     
   • Understanding Morning star ratings.
     
   • What should be the risk level?
     
   
   
5. Stocks
   This is risky business:).You should own stocks, but do yourself a favor and don’t put all your money into it.
   Advantages
   
   
   
   • Profits can be great if you pick the right stock at the right time.
     
   
   Disadvantages
   
   
   
   • You are responsible for diversifying your own stocks. It is not very helpful if you put all your money into 1 company.
     
   • Fees, Scottrade Interactive Brokers probably offers the lowest fees amongst the online traders. At $7 for Market orders, this is pretty good; I have not found anyone reputed and cheaper then them. Though I don’t have an account here:)
     
   
   Difficulties
   
   
   
   • Needs a constant following of the market.
     
   • What stocks to buy?
     
   • When to buy?
     
   • When to sell?
     
   
   
6. DRIPS
   Dividend Re-investment plans; these plans allow you to buy stocks of a company monthly. E.g. you can say I want to buy Home Depot $250 of home depot stock monthly or fortnightly.
   Advantages
   
   
   
   • Dollar Cost Averaging: Build up your assets slowly in a number of companies.
     
   
   Disadvantages
   
   
   
   • There are fees associated with each purchase, like $2.50 each time to purchase stock of $250, which is 1% of your principal. So the stock has to appreciate at least 1% before you can realize any gains.
     
   
   

Any more Investing Ideas?

Birthday Treasure Hunt + Chakarapongal

If you thought getting gifts on a Birthday was easy, think again.

On my 28th (read 16th) Birthday, I had to go on a treasure hunt to get my gifts. This treasure hunt was prepared by RS and Prad. Also, its not 1 clue per gift, I have to solve 2 clues per gift.

1. I have to solve the first clue to tell me what the gift is. (like baseball/cricket bats, ipods etc ;) )
2. The second clue leads me to the location of the gift (basement, pile of clothes, cupboards etc.)

I have very little time to solve these clues, because the party audience is waiting and all the pressure is on me. I did manage to solve some on my own and others with lots of prompting :)

Here are the clues if you want to take a shot.

I will update this place with answers and pictures in a couple of days.

Questions 1a, I have to guess my first gift using this question.

Answer to 1a - Start Higlighting here => The last line gives it away easily, Its all part of the "game". We've played a lot of board games before so, the clue says "we have done this before and it is loads of fun". So the gift as a board game called "Balderdash". It was awesome :)


Question 1b, This is where my first gift is located.
Answer to 1b - Start Higlighting here => "The Smelly cat" phrase indicates a sock, shoes, pig sty, trash can something nasty. Since I take it on a walk once a week, it most probably is something like a trash can, "the lid", confirms that :). The unscrambled word is "PRADNYA", she finds it amusing that I am @ home with filth :) . So, the board game was behind the "trash can"


Question 2a, I have to guess my second gift using this question.
Answer to 2a - Start Higlighting here => This is a bit complicated :), lets start with the signs first, The exclamation mark is "NOT", the second sign is a directional sign with "SOUTH" highlighted. The third sign is mountains, trees and the base is highlighted for "LAND". Which results in "Not South land Alley", this is a bowling alley that we frequent. The next sign is for "GOLF", !G but R means ROLF :) . The clue "Will your friday question change" means, I usually ask if we can go bowling each friday, so the gift is something that will distract me from asking this question :) ... which means its probably a game of some kind. "all your dreams bundled together" means its a collection of games. The gift was a 15 in 1 game, containing foosball, airhockey, table tennis, basketball, bowling etc.


Question 2b, This is the clue to the location of the second question.
Answer to 2b - Start Higlighting here => This one is a bit complicated too. The first sign is an "ENTER" key, the second is some kind of dots, but "Dont make a mountain out of a mole hill" points to ants living in them. So, ENTER + ANTS = ENTRANCE and cloes to the shoe rack. So the gift was near the entrance :)

Chakarapongal: My Ethiri, made awesome chakarapongal for all of us. I was thinking its a ploy to kill me? I tried it, anyway. I usually dont like chakarapongal its too rich in ghee, gooey etc .., this one was really awesome, I had a lot of it. I am still alive :)

Book Tagging

Since Ethiri tagged me, here is the list.

Total books I own:
Ok, with 10 textbooks a year on an average, I studied for a quarter century of my life so,
10 textbooks/year x 25 years = 250 textbookss (figure out the trailing s, thats the geek)

250 other books so about 500?

Books I hate:
Self healing books, they are the worst, why would someone buy them ? :)

Favorite books:

First 2 books are just amazing

• The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand


• Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
• the Harry Potter Series, Goblet of Fire is the Best !!
• The Mango Season, Amulya Malady - I finished this in one sitting, one of the very good books I have read recently.

Last book(s) I bought:

Life of Pi by Yann Martel, I was patient enough to read 25 pages, I got my money back after that !

Rich Dad, Poor Dad , This is a good book, I am not sure I bought it :)

Last book I read:

The Automatic Millionaire, David Bach,This is a good book

Last Book I was Gifted:
1000 Places to see before you die, and I returned it :) I am not sure why this book is awesome, you can get all that information from the inet,

In my defense, Automatic Millionaire was also gifted.

Book that made 0 sense to me:
Life of Pi?

Now, is the time to tag someone, I tag

RS - This is the Koyal Singing (little bird chirping)

Mohan - Ha Ha, like I expect him to come up with a list.

Pradnya - You can use my comments section, until you get your own blogger id :)

Vasu - This guy is funny so he might have a good list. I am sure there will be a lot of Hindi books and shayri's

One day trip to The Great Smoky Mountains

Decent versions of the trip:

1. D's version
2. K's version
   

Indecent highlights of the trip (Ok some are not that indecent :) )

1. P wanted to P: 10.30 AM, I get a request from P to take a gas exit. Unfortunately for him, I take the exit @ 12.30 PM. By that time all wanted to P :)

2. Sitting Duck: D was trying to maneuver the tube around the river with the back of her hand lightly touching the water. You know what happened next, the tube headed straight for the banks and the trees.


3. Successful rescue attempt: On the tubing trip R2 thought she was way ahead of everyone else, so she hung onto a tree branch just after a rapid, unfortunately for her the float wanted to carry on its downstream journey. The tree branch is not strong enough to hold her so she went into the water. R1 watched all this and came to rescue like a Knight in shining armor. She speeds up her tube to the bank breaks a tree branch in the water and tries giving it to R2. R2 holds onto the tree branch after a struggle, guess what happens next, the branch snaps! . R1 walks in a bit and gives the branch again, the branch snaps again. On the third try R2 was rescued to the comforts of dry land and the tube was a mile downstream :)


4. P and D wanted everyone to trek: We started on the Big Creek Trail @ 7.30 in the evening, reached the mouse creek fall @ 8.45 PM. By the time we saw our car again, it was pitch dark. We saw a bearded man walking towards us while we were trying to get out and he was trying to get in??? We also saw some eyes in the bushes, some fire flies, P analyzed 3 different kinds of animal faeces. Which all of us stepped on :)


5. In the nick of time: All of us thought it was going to become dark on the trail and we decided to head back without seeing the Mouse Creek Waterfall. S suggested we go on for 2 min on the trail to see if it is very near, and like a bull's eye, in 20 steps the waterfall was upon us. Thank You S. This delayed us further :)
   


6. Nobody ate @ Shoney's: One thing, I have learnt, I am NEVER taking a desi gang to a soup, salad american place. I loaded 2 full plates, S and K ate some. But then, some other plates just had 3 onions and 2 cucumbers and a biscuit.

Disclaimer: All the characters in this post are non-fictional and all pun, intended.

I am the Best !

Cool Mom !

This post is very well written.

http://sandhyakrish.blogspot.com/2005/03/for-her.html

Confessions of an NRI's dreary mind

 
The second part of the story, is something I dont do and I hope I never do !

Found this article on Hindustan Times.

Confessions of an NRI's dreary mind

BOSTON DIARY | Sunil Lala

May 9, 2005


A hello from Boston to all my Indian readers! The New England winter is now over, and the snow has melted off our driveways.

Those romantic nights spent sitting in front of the crackling fireplace, sipping Courvoisier, while listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, are behind us. The skis and ice skates are back in the basement.

Those ever stubborn thin green blades of grass are beginning to grow again. The perennials planted in the yard last year are blooming once more. Warm and sunny days are here, and so are a thousand fun-filled activities.

Baseball on weekends, roller-blading on the BU campus, leisurely walks on Newbury Street, moonlit cruises on the Charles, dinners at the Top of the Hub, maybe a trip to Paris.

Ah! The life of a Non Resident Indian! Always new things to do, exotic places to visit, exciting parties to attend. Always fascinating, always adventurous, always glamorous. Right?

Wrong!

It's time for a confession, dear readers. But please - this is strictly between you and me. Don't let those other NRIs get a whiff of this. They might feel hurt, even betrayed. Brace yourself for the truth.

Truth that no other bottled water sipping, Ralph Lauren wearing, "oh I can never drive in India" NRI has ever dared to divulge. Come closer now, I must whisper this in your ear - it is a closely guarded secret after all.

Our life is actually - yes, you heard it right - pretty boring, monotonous and uneventful! Shocking, eh?

Here's an insider glimpse into what we NRIs do in our spare time. Our weekends are largely spent on one of the following activities:

1.The NRI weekend get-together - This is our default weekend activity. Various NRIs, mostly IT professionals with a smattering of doctors and MBAs, gather at a restaurant, or at someone's house.

These events typically begin about ninety minutes later than their scheduled time. As people arrive, jokes are cracked about their sense of schedule, or the lack thereof. These are the exact same jokes that were cracked the previous weekend and the weekend before that.

Everyone laughs. Men and women split into separate groups. Bottles of wine are popped open - red for the men and mostly white for the women. Discussions are usually centered on a few major issues - how India has completely changed in the past ten years, how Bollywood movies are so different, how cheap it is to call India now, and why we all should move back to our homeland soon.

2.The NRI "Surprise" Birthday parties - These are occasions when someone, in most cases a woman (the chief conspirator), throws a surprise birthday party for her unsuspecting spouse (the victim).

The activity begins with the chief conspirator sending out emails to her friends (co-conspirators) informing them of the upcoming event. The victim is excluded from these emails, to maintain an element of surprise. A plot is hatched.

Plans are made to lure the victim away from home at a predetermined time, using a lame excuse. Hushed phone calls between conspirators generate tremendous excitement.

The day of reckoning arrives. The conspirators turn up, one at a time, and park at secret, pre-designated spots. They enter the victim's house and wait patiently. They keep a close eye on the driveway, through the family room window.

As soon as the victim's car pulls up, a stern "silence" warning is issued. Everyone complies. Except for that one odd guy, who despite ten years of attending surprise parties still hasn't quite grasped the concept. A child begins to cry.

The hapless victim enters the house, thoroughly bored. People wait with baited breath. As soon he walks past the corridor and into the kitchen, everyone pounces.

"SURPRISE!!" they all yell in unison. The victim acts shocked and the conspirators break out into rounds of self-congratulatory back-slapping.

They recount exhilarating tales of how the event was planned. The chief conspirator talks about the difficulties encountered in convincing the victim to leave the house. Everyone asks the victim if he was aware of the plot. Unwilling to extend this torture anymore, he quietly shakes his head.

The women squeal in sheer delight. Bottles of wine are opened, red for the men and white for the women. Discussions begin. On how India has changed, on Bollywood movies, on international dialing rates, and on how great it would be to move back to India.

3.The NRI getaways - At one of these above mentioned parties, someone mentions the need to break away from it all, to do something different, to be adventurous. A getaway! Everyone nods in agreement. Vigorously.

In the coming weeks, schedules are reviewed. Suggestions are made. The absolute essentials for such a getaway are listed. They are identical to the last getaway of course. A table tennis or a pool table, a fireplace, preferably a hot tub. Oh, and definitely not more than two hours' drive from home. There are limits to adventurism after all.

The internet is googled. Phone calls are made. A decision is arrived at. Everyone concurs. Everyone except that one hard to please couple.

So, the search starts afresh. After a few attempts, a consensus is reached. On the designated long weekend, everyone arrives at this paradise on earth, a 90 minute drive from home. The men hit the beers and the pool table. The women hit the wines, white of course. The kids hit whatever they see in front of them.

The hot tub goes unused because the women are reluctant to wear swimsuits in front of other desis, no matter how friendly. So, a few rounds of Antakshri are played instead. Discussions begin. On how India has changed, on Bollywood movies and?.well, you get the idea.

So the next time an NRI gives you any grief about the exotic, alluring, bacteria free life in the US or England or Canada or Australia, just remember this NRI's confession, and smile. Oh, and pass those unhygienic jalebis and paan please - they are to die for!

Ketan V. Patel

QCT - Processor Solutions

Check this out

No Google - Imagine that ?


Some funny quotes on that page.

• Google is as essential as water to humans
  We're all googlers! The Others (those who don't use google) are merely primitive cavemen trying to search with some weird and primitive search engine).
  
  
• I LOVE YOU GOOGLE!!! (10:07am EST Mon May 09 2005)
  GOOGLE I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY!!! - by Jordan

I Lose ....

My keys everyday.
My wallet everyday.
On a serious note, my mind everyday.
My office ID card everyday.
My 4 pairs of spectacles everyday.

The other day I lost my car :)

I See ...

An old man giving out shopping carts @ Walmart.
An old man @ the cash register of a Gas Station.
An old man carrying a heavy load on his back.
An old man sitting in the peak hour rush of a mumbai train.

I, do not want to be this old man.

Phone Number mnemonic

Most Companies will go to a great extent to get a phone number which is easy for their customers to remember. Like 1-800-PICK-UPS.
Is your phone number a mnemonic ?

First Day - Evening Show - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

One of the very funny movies, I have seen in recent times. My favorite character is a robot called Marvin. Marvin has a head "the size of a planet" and he has "feelings", sad feelings :) The other highlight of the movie is the "hitchhikers guide" the guide reveals some really funny answers. A must see movie. 

I Believe

Here is an inscription that I read during my trip to New York during the Labor Day weekend last year. It reminded me of Ayn Rand's books Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I am not sure if these books were pure fiction, but this inscription / speech by John D. Rockefeller, Jr, brings these books to life.


I Believe
I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character -- not wealth or power or position -- is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.



I was thinking of highlighting the parts of the speech that I like. I understood that I would have to highlight the whole inscription.

This inscription is in front of the Rockefeller Center in NYC.

My Source, John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. I really liked the tribute to his father under the section "Work with his father".

Language

Why do I find it so hard to express myself, when I am trying to translate something from Hindi to English or Gujrati to English or Tam to English :))

The other day I was trying to explain what my blog name "Dil-e-Nadan" meant. Some of us agreed on "Thoughts of the heart" the other better one was "The heart is innocent". Innocent, innocence still does not seem to be a good enough substitution Nadan. It is something more.

Maybe it is just that English is more of a matter of fact language where as Indian languages having been influenced by Sanskrit, Urdu and Farsi are more poetic.

Similarly, with songs, some English songs are just not "song - like". You can sing them once someone puts a tune, beat to it, other times they are just jarring and one has to go through the lyrics to understand what the singer is trying to sing. Hindi/Gujrati/Tam songs are not like that, you can hum them, sometimes just speak them and it sounds poetic. Of course not all Indian movie songs :)

Do you have a word/song you can think of which is like that?

Poems

Some poems from my 10th grade that I remember. It is from the book "Panorama A Selection Of Poems" by Oxford Press

• Seven Ages of Man, William Shakespeare - Phases in the life of a human
  
  
• She walks in beauty Lord Byron - Describing her beauty.
  
  
• Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert frost - Dreams.
  
  
• O Captain! My Captain!, Walt Whitman - Inspired by the death of Abraham Lincoln
  
  
• Lines to an Indian Air, P. B. Shelley
  

Interesting Mahabharat / Ramayan discussion

http://srinivasbadri.blogspot.com/2005/03/mahabharata-fact-or-fiction.html

Home Network

My Simplified Home Network

How can you have, Dish network, Cable, High Speed internet, wireless internet and to top it all a VOIP phone setup. I am disregarding basic stuff like Video and DVD players :)