
Times Are Rough, So Think Smart and Profit - markbao
http://www.kevinelliott.net/blog/2008/09/26/times-are-rough-so-think-smart-and-profit/
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callmeed
So, when times are good, "think dumb and burn money"?

Seriously, these are good points but why only follow them when the economy is
down? In my opinion, really smart businesses do these things all the time. My
business partner is a total non-geek. But he does these things and I think
it's part of the reason we've done well over the last 5 years (he runs the
money, I run the dev).

Also, the FDIC thing is tough. If you have a business where purchases/payments
are coming in from a merchant account daily, I'm not sure how you can keep
that account balance under $100K at all times.

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ibsulon
You're insured for 100k for each bank's accounts. If you can spread it around,
do so.

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kevinelliott
You are incorrect. My article, although a bit unclear, was not wrong.

Taken right from the FDIC website at
<http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insuringdeposits/>

"The basic insurance amount is $100,000 per depositor per insured bank.
Certain retirement accounts, such as Individual Retirement Accounts, are
insured up to $250,000 per depositor per insured bank."

They further describe:

"You may qualify for more than $100,000 in coverage at one insured bank if you
own deposit accounts in different ownership categories."

They then describe what the different ownership categories are:

"The most common ownership categories are: Single Accounts, Certain Retirement
Accounts, Joint Accounts, Revocable Trust Accounts" (obviously this is not a
complete list)

And lastly, single accounts were described as:

"These are deposit accounts owned by one person and titled in that person’s
name only. All of your single accounts at the same insured bank are added
together and the total is insured up to $100,000. For example, if you have a
checking account and a CD at the same insured bank, and both accounts are in
your name only, the two accounts are added together and the total is insured
up to $100,000.

Note: Retirement accounts and qualifying trust accounts are not included in
this ownership category."

So what this all says is:

    
    
      You may have a total of $100,000 in your combined Single Accounts (checking, savings, etc)
      You may have a total of $250,000 in a qualifying IRA.
      You may have a total of $100,000 in a trust. (Although trusts get more complicated, this is not entirely true).
      You may have a total of $100,000 in a joint account, your partner another $100,000.
    

Since this is not a complete list, I can't blankly say that you can have up to
$550,000 at one bank.

By the way, thanks for all the comments here on my article and at the article
itself. Was a real treat to see the activity yesterday!

~~~
kevinelliott
I meant to post this under seiji's reply.

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MicahWedemeyer
It irritates me that he lumps together those that say _The worst has come!_
along with those that say _Now is the time to buy!_ It can be the right time
to buy, even if you're not 100% sure that we've hit rock bottom.

As Warren Buffet put it: _Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when
others are fearful._

Well, there's a crap-ton of fear floating around right now, so maybe it's a
good time to buy. Maybe not the _best_ time, but if you know when that is, you
already know the future so you've got nothing to worry about, right?

~~~
run4yourlives
It's a good time to buy if you aren't looking to get out tomorrow. That's why
day trading is such a shady and risky call.

Most of us will still be around when we pull out of this recession, so a buy
anytime that we're in it is a good call... you may have to wade through a
little muck, but it doesn't really matter if you make $10 or $20, what matters
is that you make money.

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danafrancesca
Great article. I completely agree that we need to start thinking smarter
before it is too late and we are up to our ears in debt. I also agree that
there are numerous ways of getting extra cash such as starting a blog and
placing ads on it. This is a way to have some fun, get your opinions out and
possibly pay a bill or two.

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newmediaclay
Good article with some pretty intuitive and straightforward advice. I can't
stress enough that one of the best places to move marketing dollars during
tough time is Online. You can get more bang for your buck, better
accountability, and greater engagement.

Just put up a blog post on it earlier today:
[http://www.newmediacampaigns.com/page/tough-times-
squeezing-...](http://www.newmediacampaigns.com/page/tough-times-squeezing-
your-marketing-budget-invest-online)

While this article shows you the best ways to not lose money during the
recession, I think it's important for businesses to continue focus on making
more money despite the economic conditions. If you spend efficiently during a
recession, you'll do very well.

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portfolioexec
On the whole some good tips - I do think these should be applied more
generally too. It's always important to stay lean and watch the bottom line.

I have to disagree on the point about putting 20% down on a property! I've
grown up around property investment and in my opinion the current economics
are brilliant. I'm getting ready to borrow more and more to snap up some great
bargains. The important thing with property is cashflow... it doesn't matter
whether prices fluctuate. Lower capital values just mean higher cashflow... so
bring on the good times!

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Harkins
His first two points are wrong if there's inflation coming as the current
crisis seems to precipitate, you should spend your money before it loses
value..

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furiouslol
No you shouldn't.

You should invest them.

If you are conservative, you can go for Treasury Inflation Protected
Securities (TIPS)

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perezd
This is definitely some sound advice, its important for small companies to
stay pragmatic at times like this.

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ajaman
Nice article Kevin.

