Money Management:

(This piece is from a blog I read today. I just want to put up for my own reference when in doubt ;)! - Carey Suante)

It was a little more than 160 years ago that Henry David Thoreau decided to leave his home in Concord, Massachusetts, and take up residence in a remote cabin he'd built on Ralph Waldo Emerson's land next to Walden Pond. "A mile from any neighbor," the Harvard graduate wrote:

"Our life is frittered away by detail. I say, let your affairs be as two or dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail ... Simplify, simplify."

Well, given modern-day complexities Thoreau couldn't even imagine, his advice is as timely as ever. If your financial life has become a bit cluttered, consider the following seven steps:

1. CONSOLIDATE YOUR ACCOUNTS
   Having too many accounts scattered among different providers creates a twofold problem: It's harder to track your investments, and you may be paying more in fees than necessary. Consolidating your accounts (including your banking services), with a single provider makes managing your financial affairs that much easier. In addition, you may be more likely to meet minimum balance requirements and pay less in the way of fees and service charges.
   

   
   

2. CUT DOWN ON YOUR CREDIT CARDS
   If you have more than one or two major credit cards, plus a bunch of department store and gas station cards, then you may have too many. Even if you don't use them all, a large number of cards could hurt your credit rating because lenders may be wary of all that available credit. And if you do use more than one or two cards, you could end up making a whole lot of minimum payments each month, burying yourself in interest.
   
   If you currently carry a balance from month to month, consider consolidating all outstanding credit card debt into a single tax-deductible home equity loan or line of credit. Then, just keep one or two major credit cards and use them only for purchases you can pay off each month. All else being equal with respect to fees and rates, keep the major cards you've had the longest to protect your credit history.
   

1. MUTUAL FUNDS — ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
   Some people collect mutual funds like others collect baseball cards or beanie babies. Too many funds, particularly in a single asset class style (large-cap growth or small-cap value, for example), could turn you into a "closet indexer."
   
   Being a closet indexer means you're paying higher fees for active management, when, if you put all your mutual funds together, you'd get pretty much the same thing if you just went out and bought a much cheaper index fund. Even worse, all those different managers could end up being concentrated in similar positions, increasing your risk and exposure.
   
   The Schwab Center for Financial Research found that holding more than three funds per asset class style could be too much. By consolidating your portfolio into fewer funds, you could find your portfolio is both easier to track and less costly, to boot.
   

   
   

2. MULTIPLE RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
   There's little reason to have more than one traditional IRA. The IRS looks at all your traditional IRAs as one, whether they include deductible and/or nondeductible contributions. It's called the "aggregation rule."
   
   If you have more than one traditional IRA, consider consolidating them into a single account. And if you have an old 401(k) still sitting with a former employer, consider rolling it over into your traditional IRA. You'll find it easier to keep track of your investments and you might even end up paying less in fees overall.
   

   
   

3. TOO MANY INVESTMENT BUCKETS
   Some investors like to compartmentalize their investments into multiple buckets. That's fine, as long as you don't get carried away and end up with a dozen different asset allocations for each of a dozen different short-term and long-term goals.
   
   Consider taking a "total portfolio" approach that includes all of your accounts, both taxable and tax-advantaged. With fewer accounts, that should be easier to do. You can always earmark certain funds for certain things, but putting it all together provides you with a one-portfolio, big-picture view of where your overall asset allocation lies. This could help you manage the overall risk you might be taking at any given time.
   

   
   

4. FILTER THE NOISE
   We all seem to suffer from information overload these days. Between newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet, we have access to more financial news and information today than previous generations could ever dream of.
   
   However, access to lots of information doesn't always lead to wise decision making. In fact, following the day-to-day noise too closely can be bad for your financial health if your goals are measured in years and decades. Be discerning — seek out sources you find truly informative, reliable and worthy of your attention, then tune out the rest of the clatter.
   

   
   

5. FOLLOW THE KISS PRINCIPLE (KEEP IT SIMPLE, SWEETHEART)
   It seems like Wall Street is forever coming up with fancy new financial products, and the more complex they are, the better they seem to sell. But do you really need to concern yourself with the latest derivatives, specialty funds, or any of the other new-fangled gimmicks for (supposedly) making money? Maybe. Then again, maybe not, especially if you believe that the simpler you can structure your financial life, the better.
   

In closing, keep in mind that "simpler" should not be confused with "simplistic," just as "buy-and-hold" should never be confused with "buy-and-forget." Simplification doesn't mean you ignore the sound principles of investing, and keeping things simple should never lead to neglect.

Still, there's no reason to make things more complex than they need to be, and wouldn't it be nice to structure your financial affairs without having to worry about how your portfolio is doing at any given moment in time? Why not choose a diversified asset allocation that fits your personality, goals and objectives, implement it as simply and efficiently as you can, resolve to revisit your plan periodically to keep it on track, and then just relax? After all, there are enough things to worry about already.

Biography of Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Ong San Soo Chee), Burma’s pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate, symbolises the struggle of Burma's people to be free.

She was born on June 19th, 1945 to Burma's independence hero, Aung San, who was assassinated when she was only two years old.

Aung San Suu Kyi was educated in Burma, India, and the United Kingdom. While studying at Oxford University, she met Michael Aris, a Tibet scholar who she married in 1972. They had two sons, Alexander and Kim. On March 27 1999, while Aung San Suu Kyi was in Burma, Michael Aris died of cancer in London. He had petitioned the Burmese authorities to allow him to visit Suu Kyi one last time, but they had rejected his request. He had not seen her since a Christmas visit in 1995. The government always urged Suu Kyi to join her family abroad, but she knew that she would not be allowed to return.

Aung San Suu Kyi had returned to Burma in 1988 to nurse her dying mother and was immediately plunged into the country's nationwide democracy uprising. Joining the newly-formed National League for Democracy (NLD), Suu Kyi gave numerous speeches calling for freedom and democracy. The military regime responded to the uprising with brute force, killing up to 5,000 demonstrators. Unable to maintain its grip on power, the regime was forced to call a general election in 1990.

As Aung San Suu Kyi began to campaign for the NLD, she and many others were detained by the regime. Despite being held under house arrest, the NLD went on to win a staggering 82% of the seats in parliament. The regime never recognized the results of the election.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been in and out of arrest ever since. She was held under house arrest from 1989-1995, and again from 2000-2002. She was again arrested in May 2003 after the Depayin massacre, during which up to 100 of her supporters were beaten to death by the regime's militia. She is currently under house arrest in Rangoon.

She has won numerous international awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament and the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has called on people around the world to join the struggle for freedom in Burma, saying "Please use your liberty to promote ours".

Chronology
1945:
Born in Rangoon on June 19th, the daughter of independence hero and national leader General Aung San and Daw Khin Kyi; General Aung San is assassinated July 19, 1947.Aung San Suu Kyi is educated in Rangoon until 15 years old

1960:
Accompanies mother to Delhi on her appointment as Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal and studies politics at Delhi University

1964-67:
BA in philosophy, politics and economics, St. Hugh's College, Oxford University. She is elected Honorary Fellow in 1990.

1969-71:
Assistant Secretary, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, United Nations Secretariat, New York

1972:
Research Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bhutan; married Dr. Michael Aris, a British scholar.

1973-77:
Birth of sons Alexander in London (1973) and Kim (1977) in Oxford

1985-86:
Visiting Scholar, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

1987:
Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Simla

1988, March:
Student protests break out in Rangoon.

1988, July 23:
General Ne Win steps down as Chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party(BSPP) after 26 years, triggering pro-democracy movement.

1988, Aug 8:
The famous 8-8-88 mass uprising starts in Rangoon and spreads to the entire country, drawing millions of people to protest against the BSPP government. The following military crackdown killed thousands.

1988, Aug 26:
Aung San Suu Kyi addresses half-million mass rally in front of the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon and calls for a democratic government.

1988, Sep 18:
The military reestablishes its power and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) is formed. The military again crushes the pro-democracy movement, killing hundreds more.

1988, Sep 24:
The National League for Democracy (NLD) is formed, with Aung San Suu Kyi as general secretary.

1988, Dec 27:
Daw Khin Kyi, mother of Aung San Suu Kyi, dies. The funeral procession draws a huge crowd of supporters, which turns into a peaceful protest against military rule.

1989, Jul 20:
Aung San Suu Kyi is placed her under house arrest in Rangoon under martial law that allows for detention without charge or trial for three years.

1990, May 27:
Despite her continuing detention, the National League for Democracy wins a landslide victory in the general elections by securing 82 percent of the seats; the military junta refuses to recognise the results of the election

1990, Oct 12:
Awarded, in absentia, the 1990 Rafto Human Rights Prize.

1991, Jul 10:
Awarded, in absentia, the 1990 Sakharov Prize (human rights prize of the European Parliament)

1991, Aug 10:
The military regime retroactively amends the law under which Aung San Suu Kyi is held to allow for detention for up to five years without charge or trial.

1991, Oct 14:
Awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize

1991, Dec 10:
Aung San Suu Kyi's ‘Freedom from Fear’ and other writings published in London.

1992:
The Nobel Committee reveals that Aung San Suu Kyi has established a health and education trust in support of the Burmese people to use the $1.3 million prize money.

1994 Sep 20:
Gen. Than Shwe and Gen. Khin Nyunt of SLORC meet Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time since the house arrest.

1995 Jul 10:
The junta releases Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

1995 Oct 10:
The NLD defied junta's ban on changes in party leadership positions and reappointed her as the party's General Secretary.

1999 Mar 27:
Aung San Suu Kyi's husband Michael Aris dies of prostrate cancer in London. His last request to visit Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he had last seen in 1995, was rejected by the military junta which said if Aung San Suu Kyi wanted to leave the country she could do so. She refused the offer knowing that she would not be allowed to return to Burma.

1996-2000:
Aung San Suu Kyi defies travel bans imposed against her and continually tries to leave Rangoon. In March 1996, she boarded the train bound for Mandalay but citing a "last minute problem" the coach she was in was left behind at the station.
On 2 September 2000, around 200 riot police surrounded Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade near Dala and forced them to return to Rangoon after a nine-day standoff.

2000 Sep 23:
Aung San Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest.

2000, Oct:
Aung San Suu Kyi begins secret talks with the military junta. Substance of the talks remains secret, and UN Special Envoy Razali acts as a "facilitator."

2000 Dec 07:
US President Bill Clinton confers America's highest civilian honour on Aung San Suu Kyi. Her son Alexander Aris receives the award on her behalf.

2002 May 6:
Aung San Suu Kyi is freed after 19 months of house arrest.

2003 May 30:
During a tour of northern Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters are attacked by the regime's militia in the town of Depayin. As many as 70 people were killed in the attack and over 100 people arrested, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung San Suu Kyi remained in secret detention for over three months.

2004 March:
Razali Ismail, UN special envoy to Burma, has his last meeting Aung San Suu Kyi.

Current situation:

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest in Rangoon. She is allowed no visitors, her phone line has been cut, and National League for Democracy volunteers providing security at her compound were removed in December 2004.

On 20 May 2006, Ibrahim Gambari, UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs, met Aung San Suu Kyi, the first visit by a foreign official since Razali’s visit in 2004. Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi again in November 2006 but his visit failed to secure any concessions from Burma’s military regime.Aung San Suu Kyi's term of house arrest was extended on 25 May 2007.

My Sassy Girl

Also known as: That Bizarre Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo

Language: Korean

Subtitle: English

Release Date: 2001

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Synopsis:

Based on a series of true stories posted by Ho-sik Kim on the Internet describing his relationship with his girlfriend. These were later transformed into a best-selling book and the movie follows the book closely.

As the film opens we are introduced to Gyeon-woo, a kind-hearted but at times naive college student who seems to keep getting into trouble. On his way home one night he rescues a beautiful but completely smashed young woman. She subsequently causes a scene in the subway, calls him "honey", and then passes out. With the eyes of the other subway passengers upon him, who all believe that she is his girlfriend, he has little choice but to take responsibility for her.

Thus begins his relationship with the at-times charming, at-times violent damsel who steals his heart. Much of the film is structured around the bizarre antics of Gyeon-woo's newfound girlfriend. After she passes out yet again, Gyeon woo looks at her blissful face and promises to himself that he will save her, and right whatever it is that troubles her. This proves to be much more of a challenge than he expects.

Starring:

• Tae-hyeon Cha as Gyeon-woo
  
• Ji-hyeon Jeon as The Girl (name is never mentioned in the film)

Rating: 8/10

Personal Note:
"My Sassy Girl" is a not-to-be-missed Korean movie of all time (at least that's what most of the reviews I've read about says, hehe!)