28/02 #14: What Causes Cancer

Cancer is pretty simple, believe it or not. I know this tidbit is longer than most, but once you're finished reading it, you will completely understand the concepts behind cancer. This is going to be an interesting subject, primarily because it's something that everyone has come to accept; but very few of us actually understand the biology and reasoning behind cancer and tumor development. What causes cancer? Why in the world do people tell you that stuff like cigarette smoke and asbestos is to blame?

It just so happens that I do a ton of recreational research on the subject, thanks mostly to the fact that it's so darn fascinating. In this edition of OtherSteve's Tidbits, I'll give you an abridged rundown of what exactly results in this terrifying beast known to most as only "cancer."

Your body is composed of cells, as I am sure all of you are well aware. Inside these cells, workers called enzymes perform all of the necessary labor to keep things running smoothly. Of course, life cannot continue if these crucial building blocks known as enzymes can not be created by the cell. Thus, the cells store information -- blueprints, if you will -- on how to construct every single relevant enzyme... and there are thousands known to date. This information is stored in genes (each gene contains the necessary information to produce a single enzyme or other protein). Your genes, as you probably know, collectively make up this enormous bank of information, which is located in every single nucleated cell, called DNA (otherwise known as deoxyribonucleic acid, the odd substance that is used by your cells to store everything about you).

Essentially, to put it another way, this huge twisted strand of DNA is segmented into "genes." These genes are passed from your parents upon birth, though many genes are common amongst all healthy humans. If a person just so happens to be missing a crucial gene, it can kill them outright or inflict them with serious health complications. For instance, if you're missing the gene that contains instructions for producing the enzyme lactase, your body will not be able to break down lactose, and thus you will be deemed lactose intolerant. Your cells reference your genes each and every time they need to produce an enzyme for their use; they physically scan, communicate, and construct the enzymes through the use of other enzymes that perform the work. If a particular gene is damaged or missing (a.k.a. mutated), the resulting enzyme will be corrupt or absent, and it can mean big problems.

Some mutation is necessary for the survival of a species. Mutation is the basis of all evolution; in other words, a cell mutates, the organism adopts a different trait, and 9 times out of 10, the trait ends up killing them through natural selection. However, should the trait be beneficial to the species, it will thrive, and all of the mutant being's offspring will have the new "superior" gene transmitted to them.

However, as you just read, most mutation is very bad and extremely threatening to the individual organism. Some of the organism's genes provide information on how to construct enzymes whose sole purpose is to regulate the growth and division of the cell. These genes, called oncogenes, tell the cell at what rate and under what conditions it should divide (for instance, it may prevent further division if cell DNA is damaged). Similarly, there are other genes that only serve to prevent a cell from dividing uncontrollably -- these are termed tumor-suppressor genes, and that's all they do. If any of the genes falling into either these categories is damaged permanently, the cell will divide unchecked into, eventually, millions of child cells that also inherit this damaged DNA. Thus, you will develop a malignant tumor -- in other words, you'll "get" cancer.

DNA damage happens all the time. Thankfully, certain enzymes specialize full-time in scanning the cell DNA in the nucleus and having it repaired if it is found to be damaged. The level of detail involved in these processes is absolutely amazing. For instance, many damaged genes can be repaired through the use of the complimentary -- that is, extra -- clone strand of DNA that also exists in every cell. In other words, yes, your cells contain two copies of the exact same DNA. Hence the "two chromosomes" or "double helix" description, or, in modern rock (heh), "46 and 2" (referencing 23 chromosomes in the human DNA library times 2). In this case, the repair operation is simple; the enzymes simply replace the damaged portion of the DNA with a copy of the undamaged complimentary strand's version. In case this isn't an option (for instance, if both strands are damaged in the same spot), the cell can still sometimes manage to sufficiently repair itself, often with impaired functionality resulting.

But sometimes this process fails... very rarely, yes, but it does. The reasons for this are many, but one of the most common ones is aging; as we age, our DNA repair mechanisms become less and less effective, and eventually, DNA damage outruns our cells' ability to repair the damage. When a cell fails to sufficiently repair its damaged DNA, mutation results. Every child cell this cell is henceforth allowed to create through mitosis (cell division) will also inherit this damaged DNA. Luckily, even if the DNA repair process fails, the cell can often detect the error and "shut down," resulting in either senescence (eternal sleep) or apoptosis (cell death). But as explained above, if the damaged gene just so happens to be a regulator of cell division, DNA repair fails, and the cell fails to perform an automated shutdown, cancer is the result.

How does DNA get corrupted? Well, some of the corruption is uncontrollable. For instance, 50,000 to 500,000 molecular lesions per cell per day result thanks entirely to metabolic processes that power the cell. That's only 0.0002% of your total DNA. But that number can rise to much higher values if cells are insulted by external, controllable forces... and only one unchecked DNA mutation is necessary in order for cancer to result. Every time DNA is damaged, it's like playing a gigantic game of roulette; if the numbers fall the wrong way, you will inevitably develop a tumor of constantly growing cells.

And guess what the number one environmental cause of cancer is (by far)? You guessed it -- cigarette smoke. The carcinogens (translated: "cancer-causing chemicals") in cigarette smoke insult your cell DNA and damage it repeatedly, causing your cell's DNA repair mechanism to have to tend to additional gene damage. Should this damage just so happen to occur to an oncogene or a tumor-suppressor gene (such as p53), and the DNA repair efforts fail, you'll have developed cancer thanks to cigarette smoke. In other words, smoking is stupid. Ridiculous. Dumb as heck.

There actually are other ways to help prevent cancer. Here is an article from MFMER regarding simple ways to maximize your cellular health. In short, don't smoke, eat healthy, exercise, and protect yourself from cell-damaging UV radiation and other carcinogenic exposure. But unfortunately, nothing can ensure you won't fall prey to this baffling condition... oddly, it seems almost tied to our existence as a regulator in and of itself, to ensure that we do not live for longer than we should.

Thanks to Molecular Biology of the Cell, Fourth Edition and Wikipedia for help compiling this tidbit.

~os

23/02 #13: Stop the Hiccups

The reason people hiccup isn't entirely understood. No scientist has any idea precisely why this occurs, much like yawning. Every theory as to why it happens is, to date, little more than a shot in the dark. For instance, some scientists believe that hiccupping, since it occurs even in the womb in unborn babies, prepares humans for breathing or possibly suckling on a mother's teat. Other theories, seemingly even wackier, suggest that it could be due to evolution following the time where some scientists argue we were marine creatures. Needless to say, none of these theories really "holds any water." (Sorry about the pun. ;-)

What we do know is that it's the involuntary contraction of your diaphragm that results in the uncomfortable syndrome. The glottis, which is "the opening between the vocal cords at the upper part of the larynx," then often closes reflexively, resulting in the "hic" sound that has earned the phenomenon its name. The vagus nerve, which is arguably the single most important nerve in your body, is responsible for controlling the diaphragm (among many other things like sweating, heart rate, speech, and skeletal muscle control). If you manage to "upset" this nerve, you'll sometimes end up with the hiccups.

Here are a few known causes of the hiccups:
• Eating too much or too quickly
• Eating spicy foods
• Drinking carbonated beverages
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Smoking
• Stress

Fortunately, it's possible to get rid of the hiccups, and it's also quite easy.

The whole idea of stopping yourself from hiccuping uncontrollably is to either distract the vagus nerve or convince your body that something else is happening that is more important than the hiccup response. Thus, here are a few very effective ways of ceasing the hiccup sequence once it has begun:
Hold your breath, raise your arms above your head (if possible), and release slowly after you don't think you can hold it any longer. There is no known rationale behind why precisely this method works, though it is theorized that it may relax the diaphragmatic muscles and thus calm the nerves responsible for the spastic contractions. Alternatively, you can breathe out slowly and completely, and then breathe back in slowly and completely. Afterwards, continue breathing short gulps to expand your diaphragm even further, and then hold it until you no longer can.

Dump a spoonful of sugar near the back of your tongue on the "sour" receptors. This overloads the nerve endings in your mouth and results in your vagus nerve "forgetting" about continuing the response.

Slowly drink a glass of water. This prevents the hiccuping procedure from occuring, and that sometimes prevents your nerves from continuing their part.

There are a few other methods as well, but these are by far the easiest and most effective ones out there. Of course, you could always have someone scare you as well; that apparently works because it distracts the vagus nerve from the procedure and forces it to deal with other activities.

Thanks to Howstuffworks.com, BBC News, and Wikipedia for this tidbit.

~os

16/02 #12: "Cold" Viruses

When someone says "I have a cold," what they're actually referring to is that they have contracted one of hundreds of completely different viruses that your body attempts to fight in similar fashion. You see, "the cold virus" is actually not just one virus, but very many... and none of them seeks to give you cold symptoms. That runny nose, headache, fever, and those sore muscles are all thanks to your body's immune response -- not the viruses' activities.

A virus (or, prior to infection, virion) is a strange creature. It straddles the line between living and nonliving. In fact, all viruses really are are bits of DNA or RNA (nucleic acid) wrapped in a protective protein coat. Viruses can't perform any action without the assistance of a host (seeing the connection to computers here?); however, that also means that they can potentially live for days, months, or years just sitting around on a contaminated surface. The only reason, in fact, that soap works to help protect you from viruses, is not that it kills them (since that's not even possible in the traditional sense) -- it just washes them off with the assistance of water and friction.

When a virion enters your body, it injects its DNA into existing cells (whether by merging through the cell membrane or literally injecting the DNA inside) and then hijacks the cell's internal machinery to replicate itself, thanks to the instructions contained in the nucleic acid. After the necessary ingredients to produce copies of the virus are created, an assembly process begins and the viruses are constructed. Eventually, the new viruses either phase through the cell's membrane and out to infect other cells, or they explode the cell, destroying it and releasing all of the viruses within (a process called lysis).

Antibiotics do not work against viruses because, again, they cannot be killed. This is precisely why we immunize people against common viral threats like the flu (influenza virus) and polio -- the vaccine is simply a weak or incapacitated version of the same strand of virus, and once injected into the bloodstream, the body fights it and develops a proper strategy for dealing with such a virus thereafter. Thus, when the actual virus is introduced to an immunized creature, the creature is already protected from infection and the virus' attempts are ineffective.

Now that you understand what viruses are and how they work, let's talk about the "cold" virus (which, as we said before, it actually just any number of hundreds of viruses to which your immune system responds similarly). All of the usual symptoms of a "cold" virus infection are merely immune responses to the infection. For instance, the runny nose is your body attempting to expel the virus particles contained in your nose. A cough attempts to expel the virus in your bronchial passageways. Vomiting is an attempt to remove the virus from the stomach via the esophagus.

Fevers, interestingly, are also entirely controlled by your body and are part of the immune response as well. They are initiated to slow down the chemical reactions and cell behaviors viruses take advantage of in order to reproduce (which function most efficiently at a temperature of 98.6 degrees). Fevers are, thus, actually beneficial to your recovery, and are not dangerous until they reach 107 degrees. Typically, the body with throttle the temperature down before it reaches this point. If it does not, that is when there should be cause for concern. Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil), and acetaminophen (Tylenol) can be used to lower a fever temperature, but again, it is not a beneficial course of action unless you really just want to get rid of your high temperature. Of course, any significant fever is cause for concern simply because it signals that there is a problem inside your body, which can often be a serious infection of some sort.

The best thing that can be done to aid recovery during a cold virus infection is to simply treat the symptoms:

• Pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine for congestion – these constrict blood vessels and thus reduce swelling of your nasal passages, which promotes draining.
• Guaifenesin for lung/chest congestion – this expectorant thins mucus in your lungs, making coughs more productive and clearing your chest of mucus
• Loratadine or diphenhydramine for itchiness and allergic reactions – these histamine blockers reduce the irritation and itch in your nose and eyes, as well as decrease mucus production in the nose. Only use them if you need them, and be advised that diphenhydramine will make you quite drowsy.
• Drink plenty of fluids – This helps your body replace the water used in fighting off your viral infection.
• Nasal saline spray, hot steam, and chicken soup – Yes, chicken soup actually does help to fight colds. I'll write about this in a future tidbit.

Don't use more of these medications than necessary. Often, the best treatment is simply rest and some natural assistance from stuff like the steam, saline spray, or soup. Showering can help to ease the symptoms quite a bit.

~os

13/02 #11: Yawning Doesn't Mean You're Tired

That's right; nor does it mean there is has been a "lack of oxygen intake," as some theorize. Studies have been performed to prove that people who are given constant oxygen, and others whom are deprived of oxygen, still yawn at about the same frequency. So, what is yawning all about?

Actually, no one knows. Some scientists suggest that it could be a form of communication to signal the beginning of an activity that satisfies a basic need; a sort of signal for synchronization, if you will. Others seem to think it may be a method for indicating superiority over other humans, since the act of yawning exposes your teeth (perceived by many animals to be a threat). Regardless of why we do it, we know that even babies under one year of age have the capability (and thus the inclination) to yawn.

It's also contagious. Why exactly that is is difficult to explain. Scientists have found through studies that yawning contagion circumvents the MNS (mirror-neuron system) that is typically necessary in order for people to "learn" activities and mimic them. Rather, it deactivates the left periamygdalar region of the brain -- with the level of deactivation being proportional to the amount of "urge" to reply with a yawn -- and this portion of the brain is most closely related to the unconscious facial expressions we make in response to particular stimuli. Yawning is an automatic motor response, scientists agree, and it's not one that we're likely to fully understand anytime soon.

Thanks to my psychology professor and World-Science.net, among a few other sources I don't have handy at the moment.

Hope you enjoyed this edition of OtherSteve's Tidbits!

~os

10/02 #10: Acetaldehyde, Fusel Oil, and Hangovers

Here's a subject I don't have to touch very often. While I might not be a heavy drinker, plenty of people are, and one of the most dreaded elements of sucking back on grandpa's old cough medicine is the beast known as the hangover (formally called veisalgia). So what causes it, and what can be done to prevent it?

Let's begin by understanding it. The "primary ingredient" in alcohol is ethyl alcohol, a.k.a. ethanol. In order for your body to process ethanol into energy, it must first be converted into pyruvate/pyruvic acid (a major part of glucose, your body's energy sugar). However, before ethanol reaches the form of pyruvate, it first is converted into acetaldehyde, a nasty, dangerous carcinogen also found in cigarette smoke. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and glutathione are both needed for this process to take place; and since women have less of both, that makes them particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of alcohol.

Simply converting ethanol to acetaldehyde is quite taxing on your body; it consumes tons of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which is integral to glycolysis (should have paid attention in chemistry class... that's the body's energy-producing process!). First of all, this alone strips you of your energy and darkens your mood. But worse yet, as your body tries to replenish your supply of NAD+, you end up exhausted, dehydrated, and, as a result, severely lacking essential vitamins and minerals (such as electrolytes like potassium and magnesium, which your cells need). You'll also probably end up with a nasty headache, because your body will try to replenish its water level by taking water out of the brain, which shrinks the brain and strains the membranes connecting it to your skull, resulting in splitting pain.

After the chaotic cooking process is finished, acetaldehyde is processed by the liver before it reaches the desired form of pyruvic acid. While this conversion happens, the buildup of acetaldehyde, which is processed at a constant rate by your liver, messes with your mind.

Alcohol consumption also stifles the production of vasopressin, a necessary chemical for your kidneys to be able to send water back into your body for absorption. Thus, you'll pee a lot more often when you're intoxicating yourself. Sodium, potassium, and glycogen are all expelled in the urine, which robs your body of natural nerve function and energy. And finally, it inhibits the natural stimulator glutamine; when your body tries to replenish the natural stock of glutamine, it ends up overproducing, which strongly interferes with the sleeping process, resulting in even more fatigue.

Alcohol in the stomach also increases the levels of hydrochloric acid, which in turn causes your body to expel the liquid violently through your esophagus (vomit).

But the worst of the hangover culprits are congeners, byproducts of the fermentation involved in the production of alcohol. Generally, the darker the alcohol, the more congeners within. Fusel oil, particularly, is a horrible congener to have in your glass. These congeners are much more prominent in cheap alcoholic drinks because they result in exponentially higher amounts thanks to the shortcutting of the fermentation process to produce the drink at a lower cost. Distillation simply accentuates the levels of fusel oil even more, and so hard liquors, especially cheap hard liquors, are an extremely bad choice if you're going to drink a lot.

Likewise, mixing different congeners is a horribly bad idea. Your body already has to deal with the crap you're putting into it when you drink any alcohol, so mixing reds and whites and other forms of alcoholic drinks just makes matters that much worse.

Anyway, so here's what you can do to help prevent yourself from coming down with a hangover:

• Eat plenty before drinking, preferably fatty foods.
• Take a multivitamin.
• Don't drink too much.
• Avoid cheap alcohol.
• Don't mix alcohol types.
• Drink water along with your primary drink or order mixed fruit drinks as your primary drink.
• Don't drink anything with caffeine in it, such as rum and Coke, as caffeine increases the amount of fusel oil you absorb.
• Carbonated beverages are a good thing, as carbonation speeds up the absorption of alcohol.
• After you're finished and ready to go to bed, rehydrate yourself and replenish electrolytes (Gatorade seems like a good choice for this).
• Take two aspirin (NOT Tylenol/acetaminophin -- that's extremely dangerous!).
• Sleep on your left side so that your stomach is below your esophagus.
• Eat a big breakfast in the morning.

Or:

• Don't Drink.

Two more fun facts before I finish: Acetaldehyde is used to manufacture perfumes and fusel oil to make explosives. Heh!

Hope you enjoyed this Tidbit!

Thanks to How Stuff Works, Tuscon Weekly, and some old science crap I remember my professor spouting off a while back.

~os

09/02 #9: Memory and the Method of Loci

On an almost daily basis, we're met with the challenge of remembering important concepts or lists, often in order. Nearly everyone struggles with this task, and part of the reason is that the methods used to commit such elements to memory are insufficient.

Luckily, there is a better way. One of the most powerful memory tools ever conceived, which dates back thousands of years, is the loci method. This strategy allows memory masters (and plenty of regular folks, as well) to record and recall some of the most impressively intricate lists and concepts you could imagine. When demonstrated to me at a workshop several years ago, the professor was able to recall the content of any page in a 150-page book. It was fascinating, though it does take a bit of preparation and practice before you're able to fluidly and instinctively apply it.

Here's how it works:

PREPARATION STEPS (must only be performed once in your lifetime for as long as you can remember the location you choose):

1) Find a vivid location (in reality) that is well-lit and colorful if possible (a good choice: your own home). Physically walk through this location several times slowly -- in the same order each time -- visually recording the environment around you, paying careful attention to any distinctive decorations or objects. Walk through the location again mentally, then revisit the location once more and do a final walkthrough to ensure you have accurately committed it to long-term memory.

2) Now you're ready to remember anything you need to remember. Each time you are presented with a list, a speech, or any other sequence of concepts, perform the following steps for each item in the list.

CORE STEPS (performed each time a list or sequence of concepts is presented):

3) Visualize the list item or concept in a vivid or memorable fashion, tied somehow to the first room or object of recognition in a room. Remember these guidelines to make your mental images memorable: 1. Interaction (ensure that either you are interacting with the object in your mind, such as walking on a porch made of bananas, or that the object is clearly acting visibly, such as a dog sweeping with a broom), 2. Vividness (make sure it's detailed and possibly colorful), 3. Bizarreness (If it's disgusting or disturbing, it makes remembering it that much easier). With regard to that last one, it might be helpful to employ some obscene or offensive properties to the visualization in order to help you remember it -- anything that will help you to remember it unmistakably. For instance, if the first item on the list is a tiger, and the location you've chosen is your kitchen (probably not the best choice, but still), you might imagine a tiger being cooked in the microwave (assuming the microwave is the first area of the kitchen where you begin). If the next list item is a prescription drug, and the next memorable item in your location is the sink, you might imagine someone dumping pills down the garbage disposal. This may sound preposterous, but it absolutely works. And better yet, it generally takes only around ten seconds per item. Try it.

4) Repeat step 3 for every item in the list or every separate concept you need to commit to memory.

With this method, you can remember names, people, animals, objects, subjects, concepts... pretty much whatever you need to recall. Overall, the loci/visual association technique is a sworn tool of true memory masters, so get used to it, and it may simplify your daily challenges.

~os

03/02 #8: 30 Year Mortgage in 23 Years

Mortgages are helpful when you're buying a house, but the interest you pay on an average loan is quite a bit higher than you might expect. For instance, on a $200,000 loan at 7% interest, you pay $279,018 interest. That means you're paying a total of $479,018 for a $200,000 loan. Must be nice to be a bank, right?

Your monthly payment on such a loan comes to $1,331. Needless to say, however, 30 year mortgages are the most popular for any type of house, simply because the payments are lower and the equity you build can always be used to "upgrade" to another house in six or seven years. So getting a 30 year mortgage does not mean that you have to keep your house for 30 years.

But what if you could save tens of thousands of dollars on your mortgage, legitimately, and easily? There has long been talk of a biweekly payment schedule that will allow you to pay your mortgage off nearly seven years early at a savings of lots and lots of money. With one of these, instead of paying $X per month, you just pay $X/2 every two weeks. Banks promote these payment plans -- for a price. They're perfectly happy to see you accept them, even though they lose out on interest in the end, because 1) they charge you a substantial fee for them and 2) they pile your extra cash into a trust fund and earn interest on it as well.

Regardless, here's how it works: Typically, on a 30 year mortgage, you make a monthly mortgage payment of a specific dollar amount every month for thirty years -- that's 12 payments a year of, in our example above, $1,331, equalling $15,972. With a biweekly payment schedule, however, you actually end up paying an extra payment. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, paying $X/2 (or $665 in our case) ends up being $17,303. That's precisely one extra payment of $1,331 per year. It's brilliant.

But there's an even better way to do it. Simply divide your monthly mortgage payment by twelve, then add that amount to your monthly mortgage payment. Make sure to specify that you want the extra money to go toward your principal. For our $200,000 mortgage, we'd be doing the following:

$1,331 / 12 months = $110.92
$1,331 + $110.92 = $1,441.92
So our new monthly payment is $1,442.

How much do you really save when you do things this way? Well, first of all, you end up paying off your mortgage seven years earlier for just the price of two years' payments. The total interest you pay over the life of your mortgage loan is now $210,683. That means you just saved $68,335.

$69,000 will buy a heck of a nice car.

Thanks to my finance professors and The Wall Street Journal's fiscal wisdom for this tidbit.

~os

03/02 #7: Drain Your Sinuses

Hopelessly congested?

Try this. Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth and move it steadily from side to side (make sure to keep applying pressure while doing this). Do this for around ten seconds. Next, take your thumb and press firmly between your eyebrows, just above your nose. This method rocks the vomer bone back and forth, loosening congestion. Keep pressing with your finger for 20 to 30 seconds and you will feel your sinuses draining.

Amazing!

Thanks to Men's Health magazine for this tidbit.

~os

02/02 #6: The Millionaire and the Time Value of Money

Give me just five minutes and I will change your financial future. In today's Tidbits, we'll talk about how you can become a millionaire when you retire and not even feel the difference day to day.

Everyone's worried about the solvency of the Social Security and Medicare programs, and for good reason. Who knows if in twenty years they'll even be sustainable without some serious changes?

Lots of people are going through their lives worried that they may not have any money to retire with. It's got to be stressful; could you imagine what it would be like if you were in your forties, working hard on a daily basis, only to have a few thousand -- or even a few ten thousand -- stashed away in an account somewhere? What's your annual salary hopefully going to be? What's comfortable? $50,000, $60,000, $100,000? How about in retirement? Where's that $20,000 going to take you? Wouldn't it be nice to ensure that you don't have to worry about these things?

How does $200,000+ a year in retirement sound? It's easy. Much easier than you would ever believe. But you have got to read this and you have to promise yourself to start doing this the moment you receive your first paycheck. It’s so frickin’ easy it’s ridiculous.

Everyone talks about the Time Value of Money. Chances are, you've taken classes and read textbooks about it. But there's a lot more to it than just compiling interest. You have got to make sure you force yourself to get rid of the money before you ever even see it in your hand.

I'll use my own personal finances as an example; I don't care. (Keep in mind I live in Louisville, so depending on the cost of living in your area, these numbers might end up being a lot different). I just graduated college less than a year ago and got married. I currently earn an annual salary of $50,000 -- pretty standard stuff. My wife makes $30,000 teaching as well. That makes for a combined income of $80,000, or after income taxes, something like $57,000 a year.

Now, I have my expenses. All told, they're around $30,000 a year. And honestly, that's pretty average stuff -- rent, house payments, utilities, groceries, eating out, entertainment... whatever, yours probably won't come out to much more than that if you keep things reasonable. $57,000 - $30,000 = $27,000. Of course, blowing $27,000 in one year just because I've got it would be pretty ridiculous. So why not put some of it away?

Surely you've heard of the IRA. It stands for Individual Retirement Account, and it's a fantastic way of investing your money and saving on investment taxes. The government currently allows contributions of up to $4,000 per partner between a married couple (for a total of $8,000). That's all well and good, but I want more money when I retire. So I contribute $11,400 a year.

Here's the thing. I don't even feel it. Why? Because I started putting away money since the very first check I ever received. And I don't mean walking into the bank every week and saying "deduct two hundred bucks and put it into my IRA," because I'd hardly ever do that if I had to.

No; I have the bank remember for me instead. I have set up a fairly simple (though it sounds complicated) system, with the help of my investment banker, that basically just deducts $220 from my account each and every week (that’s 20% of our total household income). Alternating every four weeks, that money is then, at the end of the month, either contributed to my IRA or my wife’s IRA. The effect is that about ¾ the way through the year, both of our IRAs will be full. At that point, the rest of my investment spills over into a separate joint investment account, which theoretically should have seen some $3,400 contribution at the end of the year ($11,400 – ($4,000 + $4,000)). I also have set it up so that I contribute to four different mutual funds equally, and all of them consist of different types of stocks (one of them being European stocks), for diversification purposes. What do I do? Nothing.

That might sound boring… and it’s supposed to be. But guess what? I’m 23 right now. In 36 years, when I retire (at 59, and that’s even if I don’t do it earlier… which I may), I’ll have contributed $410,400 to my retirement account. Let’s say I earn just 9% annually on it (which is actually a conservative estimate for a diversified stock portfolio) – I’ll have $2,934,086 in my account, before taxes, of course. And that’s if my salary doesn’t increase (which it will), my wife’s salary doesn’t increase (which it will), and I don’t make more than an average of 9% annually (which I will). What if it’s 10%? Suddenly the number jumps to $3,751,050. After taxes, if I live until I’m 73, that’s over $130,000 a year. And that’s if I take it all out at once and never put it back into the account for the last twenty years.

Basically what all of this means is that realistically, after X number of salary increases and an average rate of return of some 10%, I’ll be filthy rich when I’m retired. And I don’t even have to do anything or think about it for it to happen. Plus, on top of all that, I’ve still got some $17,000 to use for whatever I want every year. What in the world do most people do with their money?

On top of all this, it’s important to mention a couple more things: the only thing I will ever borrow money for in my life is my future house and my kids’ college education (since the interest rates are so low). I pay everything else off early, and I have it all done automatically via online banking. Most creditors even offer a discount if you set up automatic payment. So guess how many bills I sit down and write a check for each month? None.

Also, it’s really important when you build your mutual funds portfolio that you choose three or four different funds that include different types of stocks. This is called diversifying your portfolio, and it’s extremely important. If you’re interested in learning why, it’s pretty simple. Statistically, if you maximize the number of stocks you hold at any given time, you will come substantially close to matching the stock market’s rate of return. Most good funds easily perform at a long-term average rate of return of 9% - 12%.

Let’s recap:

1) Talk to your bank the instant you earn your first paycheck working full time and have them set up an automatic weekly deduction from your Checking Account into a traditional or Roth (your choice) IRA, plus an additional spillover account if necessary. Make this deduction at least 20% of your income if possible. You won’t feel it if you do this right – trust me.
2) Choose the mutual funds to deposit into each time money moves into your investment account.
3) Live. Luxuriously.

Thanks to David Bach's The Automatic Millionaire and my finance professors for this tidbit.

ALSO: Here is a link to a very useful Time Value Calculator, so that you can check to see the prospective value of your periodic investment amounts in X number of years.

~os

01/02 #5: Lying

Everyone lies. And most everyone's been told how to detect lying. But have you ever actually applied this knowledge?

Probably not. It's too hard to sit and consciously think about each point when you're in the process of conversation. But it's easier than you think. There are several flags to watch for when talking with someone to discern whether or not they're telling you the truth. I've done some research on the subject, and across several sources, including my knowledge from my study of psychology, I've compiled a short guide to help you keep your peers honest. Here's the lowdown:

WATCH FOR SUDDEN CHANGES IN THE FOLLOWING (two or more of the following)
1. The pitch or tone of a person's voice
2. The number of interjections ("um," "er," "ah")
3. The person's rate of speech
4. Level of exaggerated laughing or friendliness
5. Eye contact. Normal eye contact happens 25-50% of the time you're talking to a person. Be especially wary if they glance quickly toward a means of egress (escape/exit, such as a door).
6. Pupil size. The pupils constrict when a person is under the stress of lying.
7. Hand movements. If they reach to cover a part of their face, even just for a second, it's often a sign of dishonesty.
8. Body language. Again, if they turn away from you, cross their arms or legs, or "close themselves up," watch out. Psychology teaches us that lying often provokes such "defensive" gestures. Also look for restless arm and leg movements.
9. Inconsistent verbal/nonverbal cues. If a person says "yes" and shakes their head "no," they may not be telling you what's on their mind. Similarly, if a person grimaces or clenches their fist when they tell you they like you (or anything else positive), there is serious cause for suspicion. Even worse are detectably fake smiles or facial/hand gestures that immediately seem unnatural. You are looking for complete congruency between the person's words and their gestures.

Once you nail a couple of these warning signs while someone's speaking to you, try asking them more about the same topic. If their reply and accompanying physical responses once again match your suspicions, you may have your answer.

Finally, ensure that you open yourself up to the truth; if you want to hear the truth from people, there are some things you can do to provoke it. First, position yourself physically above them -- or at the head of the table -- if possible (psychologically, this establishes a sense of authority). Stay calm and open yourself up physically (uncross arms/legs, open palms, and make comfortable eye contact). Next, ask them detailed questions about the topic (if they're lying, this makes it much more difficult... Mark Twain said "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." But always leave them a chance to tell the truth or correct themselves in your questioning.). Carefully mimic their gestures and body language -- this subtly establishes a rapport so that the suspect feels they can "trust" you. Never let them know, via any form of feedback, that you are aware of the degree of honesty in their statements. Leave that to them to ponder as they gradually unfold their responses for you.

Examine their speaking style, and look for clues as to what type of information processing they are most comfortable with. Internal Auditor suggests the following valuable information:

Those who process information visually generally remember things by storing pictures in their mind. Visual communicators use phrases such as "the project looks great" or "I see what you are saying." Their eyes will generally look up, and to the right or left, when not engaged in eye contact. They often take shallow breaths, speak rapidly, and may appear to be in a daze when in thought. Building visual images for these people can result in more effective communications.

People who primarily uses an auditory system to process information often rely on verbal images to communicate, using phrases such as " the project sounds good to me" and "I hear what you are saying." When in thought, their eyes tend to look left and right but remain level. They breath deeply, and their heads may tilt to the side when listening or thinking. Clear verbal explanations can be crucial for communication with these people.

Kinesthetic processors tend to use emotions and feelings to communicate. They use phrases such as "I feel good about the project" and "I can support what you are saying." They generally look down when listening or thinking. They appear relaxed, speaking slowly and breathing from the abdomen. Using action words and emotional references will enhance rapport with kinesthetic communicators.

This stuff is more effective than you may think -- try it the next time you're chatting with your friends (of course, don't let them know), and see if you can't solicit the kind of response you're looking for.

Thanks to monster.com, weeno.com, Internal Auditor magazine, and my psychology professors.

~os