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	<title>Mo2 Thinks.com</title>
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	<link>http://www.mo2thinks.com</link>
	<description>Here&#039;s what I think about Finance, Investing, and the world&#039;s current events</description>
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		<title>Writing a Book and It&#8217;s Challenges</title>
		<link>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/04/writing-a-book-and-its-challenges/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/04/writing-a-book-and-its-challenges/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 May 2012 00:05:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mo2</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ipad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kindle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[writing a book]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mo2thinks.com/?p=1263</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It might seem like I&#8217;ve been pretty lazy especially since I haven&#8217;t done much posting on Mo2thinks as of late and you&#8217;re absolute correct that I have been lazy, at least in terms of blogging. I&#8217;ve been writing exams and have been pretty busy in real life. But all this is absolutely no excuse to not write more for this blog. I posted previously that I would let my ideas flow as they come as I write and I need to get back in that mindset. I always have this, &#8220;everything I must be perfect&#8221; mindset when it comes to this blog even though it never really is that perfect So, I have started writing a book. I actually plan to make this a series of Mo2thinks books. So stay tuned, it&#8217;ll probably take a while for me to actually finish writing this book and actually get it published but it&#8217;ll get done eventually. Mark my words! The great thing nowadays is the ease of being able to pubish books. I will definitely publish this book as an ebook on one of the more well known platforms (Kindle, Ipad, etc.) and you don&#8217;t need to have a big contract with a huge bookseller to publish a book. I have no idea if I&#8217;ll be able to sell my books, but this is something I&#8217;ve always wanted to do so just being able to work on this makes it worthwhile! Buddha reading Buddha book by Pixteca on Flickr.]]></description>
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		<title>One Year From the Disaster in Japan – What Happened and What We Need to do going forward</title>
		<link>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/03/one-year-from-the-disaster-in-japan-what-happened-and-what-we-need-to-do-going-forward/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/03/one-year-from-the-disaster-in-japan-what-happened-and-what-we-need-to-do-going-forward/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Mar 2012 07:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mo2</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2011]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[March 11th]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nakata Hidetoshi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[take action]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mo2thinks.com/?p=1256</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One Year From the Disaster in Japan – What Happened and What We Need to do going forward Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami Facts: Date: March 11th, 2011 Dead or Missing: 19,057 Number Injured: 26,992 Homes Completely Destroyed: 129,101 Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. It was a horrible shock to have such a beautiful country to go through such a tragic event. I remember at the time it was around 10 or 11pm in Vancouver and I was watching streaming news and it said huge earthquake in Japan, I also remember the Japanese Yen going crazy at the same time so I knew it was a pretty drastic event. I never thought at the time that something so dreadful had occurred. As someone that is of Japanese descent, I can only thank everyone around the world that contributed in one form or another to help Japan. There were so many people that suffered, not only those that died or got injured but people that lost loved ones. The list keeps getting longer as people are still affected by the nuclear mess from the Fukushima plant. Having followed the events of the natural disaster at the time and after I know how tough it was for Japan. I actually visited Japan last November and while I was in the Kansai region, I could tell how much of an impact it had on the country. This pain and struggle will continue for a long time but I strongly believe that Japan will come out a stronger country and it’s great to see so many people unite around the worldwide doing their part in rebuilding Japan. I know many people that have gone out of their way to try and make a difference. Hidetoshi Nakata, most likely the most famous Japanese soccer player ever has built Take Action that has held a variety of events that have helped those in need throughout the world. I have great respect for him for doing this as he has made a difference and what’s really great about it is that the foundation shows what actually happens with the donated money, something you don’t find everywhere. Take a look at their public website, although the English version isn’t exactly full with information. If you can read Japanese, there’s a lot more information, too bad they don’t have someone to translate stuff for them. http://www.takeactionfoundation.net/en/index.html Where does a country go from here? In my opinion Japan did a pretty good job in the beginning with the help a lot of people to rebuild the necessities right away. I can criticize how things have been done, but there’s little point in that. The people in Japan need to stay positive because optimism brings positive energy, and positive energy can only lead to a good outcome. I sincerely hope that people in Japan will come out of this natural disaster stronger and that this will propel them into new heights. At times like...]]></description>
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		<title>A Little Soul Searching</title>
		<link>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/02/a-little-soul-searching/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/02/a-little-soul-searching/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:52:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mo2</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life in General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Becoming a better person]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Happiness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Optimism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reflecting on mistakes and regrets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soul Searching]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mo2thinks.com/?p=1252</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another week has passed and so many things happen in a blink of an eye that it’s hard to really take in what has happened. I’m referring to both good and bad things. We always say, “time flies” passively but it’s only because we’re busy and not really spending the time to really appreciate the good and bad things that occur to us on a daily basis. As I was browsing around and brainstorming about what to write for tonight’s post, I realized how much negative news there was out there. Yes, it’s nothing new but it’s very rare for a good deed to be recognized. The first three topics that come out are Greece, the Presidential race, and something about the Middle East. Bad news sells and it’s an unfortunate that this is the world we live in, no wonder there’s so much anger, hatred and stress everywhere we go. I once read somewhere that it’s extremely important for someone to spend a bit of time every week to reflect on the mistakes and regrets. Sure it isn’t good to be negative, but it’s so important to understand the mistakes we make in everyday life. If you can reflect and learn, you become that much of a better person. I’m stating the obvious, but for so many people it just doesn’t happen. You see people in their late 40s and 50s acting like children all the time, setting an example of what you don’t want to become. The difference is if you’re going to learn from them and become a better person or fight back and bring yourself to their level. There are some things that just aren’t meant to be and some things that are. You will never know until you try. I guess I’m doing a bit of soul searching right now trying new things out and exploring a portion of myself that I never had a chance to before. Not only do I want to become a better person in all aspects, but I also want to be a happier person; someone that is capable of spreading happiness to others, and that stems from having a positive attitude and having a genuine smile. It isn’t easy. Most of you work day jobs and unless you’re living and working your dream, to be able to do this consistently is extremely difficult. I thought I came across an opportunity that is extremely rare recently. Something that could throw me to new level, but it turns out it just wasn’t meant to be. I have a few options but the option I’m opting for is to let go for now, and hope there will be another opportunity. Sometimes things just don’t go your way, and I haven’t had the best of luck the past couple years but I’m optimistic that the tide will change. Optimism can be contagious, but it can’t hurt. I’m going through a phase where I need to keep gutting it out, hoping for the best....]]></description>
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		<title>Retiring Early and What it Really Means</title>
		<link>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/01/retiring-early-and-what-it-really-means/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/01/retiring-early-and-what-it-really-means/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:55:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mo2</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[000]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Freedom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[living off of $30]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retirement planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retirement vs financial freedom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mo2thinks.com/?p=1245</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When it comes to Investing and Finance, I’m a bit of nerd. Ok, that’s probably an understatement. Many a time, I have sent e-mails to close friends that have turned out to be essays trying to give them good advice. It’s definitely a passion I have. I’ve spent countless hours studying this stuff and probably will continue to do so going forward. I came across this article about a couple that became financially free at the meager age of 30. Now that’s young, and many of you probably doubt that it’s possible at all. If you go ahead and read the article, you’ll find out that they were both frugal and earned a nice salary. But what you should see is that it’s both possible and that you simply need a plan. So let’s start out and see what you need. How much do you need to be financially free? If you’re planning on buying a new car every year, spending tens of thousands on new clothes and going on extravagant vacations every 3 months, you will need quite a bit. But if you are willing to be frugal like the couple in the article and can actually live off of $30,000 &#8211; $40,000 a year, then financial freedom is definitely attainable! Sure you have to think about taxes, but the fact of the matter is most people live off of $30,000 a year before taxes since in reality, that’s what many people earn. It makes a difference if you own a home or not. If you do, over time you will be much better off than someone that is renting. There are a variety of reasons but to state the most obvious, you won’t have any mortgage payments while renters will have to pay for rent forever. Of course, as a homeowner you will have maintenance, insurance, and property taxes costs. To get back to the point, spend some time on figuring out what you spend your money on. You should be doing this anyway to keep track of your expenses so that you can figure out what you’re wasting a big chunk of your money on. If you do the numbers $30,000 will most likely be enough, obviously depending on where you live. In Vancouver, $30,000 honestly isn’t enough to live but it can be done. Now to earn $30,000 pretax at 5%, you need an investment portfolio of $600,000. That’s a pretty big number, but not completely out of reach. You can’t build it overnight, but it definitely is reachable if you’re disciplined enough. Retirement versus Financial Freedom Retirement means you’re going to stop working and do whatever you want. Financial Freedom means you don’t have to work but still probably want to while not having to worry about your finances. In all honestly, at 30 I can’t imagine myself stop working. I would be bored out of my mind. Sure, I could write on this blog everyday, but even then I’d still be bored out of...]]></description>
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		<title>The Search for Balance in Life</title>
		<link>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/01/the-search-for-balance-in-life/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mo2thinks.com/2012/01/the-search-for-balance-in-life/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:54:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mo2</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life in General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[balance in life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mo2thinks.com/?p=1240</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I started out the year writing about how I wanted to find balance in my life. The search continues as it isn’t something that can be accomplished overnight. I’m currently working and taking three courses at the same time. Having to drive out to a class after work and coming home around 10 pm is mentally and physically draining. I don’t have to do it very often, but trying to plug in 15-20 hours of studying on top of work and trying to find balance is tough. I know I’m not the only one out there that’s going through a similar situation. Kudos to those of you that are investing the time and money into yourself to make yourself smarter and more marketable, it will pay off eventually. At the end of the day, knowledge is power and there isn’t anything to lose by learning new things. Keep at it. But in the midst of all this studying and work I always like to take a step back and look at the big picture. I know, I probably should be doing this more often. You look at all the different people out there and how they live their different lives. How some people have no money and others have a ton of it. How some people are happy and some aren’t or some look happy, but aren’t happy at all. How some people look like they have a huge number of friends (or like 1,741 Facebook friends) but have noone they can’t talk to about important matters. And well people that have like 5 designations but don’t really make all that much money. All that makes me wonder if I’m doing the right thing, I second-guess myself all the time and then come to the conclusion that I need to think about the longer term. Taking courses aren’t cheap, and like I said the mental and physical strain takes its toll. But in 5-10 years I’ll be looking back thanking myself for gutting it out. Sure, it might lead to a better job, but more importantly I’ll be a more competent person (hopefully!) This second-guessing goes beyond my studies and everything else I do. Do you ever have a time when you second-guess yourself? Yes, this turned out to be a bit of a rant post so I apologize for that. It almost sounds like I’m trying to justify myself for what I’m doing and that just might be the case. I have a long year ahead of me in 2012 in terms of studying and I need to stay on track while juggling work and other things. Having said all that, finding a balance in life will probably take a little longer… The next post, I’ll talk about retiring young and what it takes. I read this inspirational post about someone retiring at the age of 30! Stay tuned. Photo of city scene in Hamamatsu Cho, Japan by heiwa4126 on Flickr.]]></description>
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