Under One Hour Turns 5 Years Old!!!

Under One Hour, LLC just hit the 5 year mark! 

The majority of time UOH has been in business was spent developing the concept and writing the first book. Expansion really only began in 2016. As 2017 continues to move along, we are excited about the projects currently underway as well as new topics to come. We also welcome many new authors in the near future.

We started with an idea to share personal finance with the world. As we researched and wrote the first book, we continued to form and reshape the format to the 6 sections and word count per section it is today. After publishing it, we continued to think of how to structure and market the business most effectively.

In 2016 we redesigned the cover and expanded to a type of franchise model which greatly benefits the author. This was set up as the industry typically has the publisher keeping most of the royalties while the authors do the hard part but keep less. We then went out and found some great authors which have written or are currently writing books.

As a result, we were able to host a book launch and signing event at the Evanston Public Library in November. It was great to meet some of the fans and sign books.

Some fans with the authors

In March, UOH has 2 new events to be represented at. The first is March 11th at the North Suburban Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Then on Sunday March 12th, we have an Author Fair at the Palatine Library! Be sure to stop by and show your support.

Current List of Books

• Personal Finance by Andrew Brown and Brendan Connolly (Digital and Paperback)

• Pokemon Go by Steven Grajek (Digital)

• The Films of Sam Mendes by Michael Jolls (Digital and Paperback)

• Children's Literacy by Magdalena Teske (Digital and Paperback)

• Nutrition by Kathy Brown (Digital and Paperback)

New and Exciting Books - Our current authors are working on finishing books to be published in 2017! 

• The History of the US Marine Corps by Andrew Belet

Future Books

There are many other book topics that are in the early stages of writing or which authors have approached UOH with the desire to write. Below are some that are scheduled for 2017:

• The films of Christopher Nolan
• Marketing
• Parenting
• The Rise of Donald Trump
• Buying, Driving and the Future of Cars 
• The films of Steven Spielberg
• Buying a Home
• Geocashing 
• Traveling to Germany

Interview Series/Podcast - UOH is in the process of launching an interview series of the authors and other published authors in regards to their topics, and writing process. We are also considering doing a podcast for live interviews. What do you, as the reader, think?

Translator - UOH is looking for a translator for Spanish primarily. If you, or anyone you know, would like an opportunity to translate, please reach out to us and we can get started. If you can translate a different language and would like to take on this challenge, let us know!

Want to Write for UOH? Have a non-fiction topic you would like to write about, or want to know how to start? Contact us and we can get your writing dreams to come to life!

Thank you

We want to give a big thank you to everyone who has supported the UOH mission of delivering high quality content in a easy, and short, format. We appreciate all of our customers, followers, friends, and families! 

Questions/Comments - If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us and we'll get back to you in a short manner. 

Author Interview - Magdalena Teske, Children's Literacy

Magdalena Teske works as a children’s librarian in a public library and has the opportunity to work with children who are not yet reading, in the process of learning to read, and already know how to read. She received her masters degree in library science from Dominican University and has recently written Children's Literacy Under One Hour.

____________________________________

The majority of the topics addressed in Children’s Literacy is easily accessible for parents to understand, yet the book occasionally touches on psychology. Did you do more hands-on research with kids for this book, or more of an academic approach?

I certainly  got a lot of the information from books and articles. Early childhood development in particular is a hot topic. As a children’s librarian, I’m very familiar with the commonly acknowledged best practices for encouraging early literacy, so I thoroughly enjoyed researching the specific studies and psychological explanations behind those practices. I also drew heavily upon my educational background, since my classes for my library science masters degree was focused on children’s literature and children’s services. But I wouldn’t say I took a completely academic approach, because I was also informed by my experience working with kids. I get to see first-hand which books are most popular and which storytime songs and activities-- which can be repeated at home-- are most effective.

When discussing genres, you highlight classic mysteries such as The Hardy Boys and The Boxcar Children. Are these sorts of mysteries still popular with young readers? Are they able to relate to books that are decades old?

Children today do still read and enjoy classic mystery series! Although most books will only be popular for a few years, there are a fair number of fictional detectives who have been widely read for several decades. They may not be quite as popular as they were once, but they won’t be disappearing from libraries and bookstores anytime soon. In the cases of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, there are also multiple spin-off series that use the same familiar characters but modernize the setting.  

Are preschool level iPad games helpful with getting children to read more? Are those eclipsing usage in books?

It depends upon which games and apps they’re using, how much time they’re spending with iPads, and how their parents are interacting with the kids even outside of screen time. There are lots of great educational apps out there, and I think that digital games can be a very effective way to practice letter recognition and phonics. But playing iPad games shouldn’t replace the experience of a parent and child reading books together; those kinds of games should be provided in addition to reading and other positive adult-child interaction. My experience has been that the popularity of digital games for young children doesn’t impact the usage of books. To a preschooler, iPads and books are two very different activities, and most preschoolers want to participate in both of them.

With regards to non-fiction, do find young children interested in history or any kind? Or does fantasy dominate their interest?

There certainly are some young readers who have little or no interest in non-fiction. Fantasy is a common genre preference right now, and certain realistic fiction titles garner a lot of interest. But there are a fair number of avid non-fiction readers as well. In the library, biographies are probably the most frequently requested type of children’s non-fiction.

What specifically?

In particular, a lot of children like to read about their favorite athletes. Some kids have a favorite scientific topic. Others are interested in specific historic events, such as the sinking of the Titanic. And for the youngest readers, animals tend to be popular subjects.

What would your advice be to parents who have children who are reluctant to reading? For the children who are intimidated by books?

My advice is to encourage the child to choose his or her own books. If the child finds that decision overwhelming, pick out four or five books on topics that your child enjoys, and let the child choose between them. That freedom will often be a bit of a motivator by itself, but the real turning point is when the child finds a series, author, or genre that he or she genuinely enjoys and wants to continue reading. Don’t be disappointed if that happens to be something non-intellectual like Big Nate or Diary of a Wimpy Kid. In fact, you could even recommend those books to your child to get him or her started. Any book can be a gateway to a lifelong love of books. Your first and most important step is to give your child positive reading experiences.

____________________________________

2016 Recap and the New Year

As we cruise to the end of the year, there is much to look forward to in 2017. 2016 showed a ton of progress for Under One Hour, and 2017 looks to continue that progress in a big way!

2016 Accomplishments

New Cover Design - Under One Hour had a new cover designed for every book. Thank you to all of the feedback on the cover to help design it to what it is today, and a BIG thanks to Steven Grajek for doing some phenomenal cover work! We feel the cover stands out and better aligns with the marketplace. 

Additionally Personal Finance Under One Hour was slightly revised to include the introduction of robo-advisors in Section 6.

New Authors and Books - Several new and experienced authors were hired to write books on their topics of expertise. Below are the newest authors with their published books:

• Pokemon Go by Steven Grajek

• The Films of Sam Mendes by Michael Jolls

• Children's Literacy by Magdalena Teske

Book Launch and Signing - Under One Hour hosted this event at the Evanston Public Library in November and provided snacks and coffee for all who attended! It was great to meet some of the fans and sign books.

Some fans with the authors

Andrew Signing "Personal Finance"

Michael Signing "The Films of Sam Mendes"

Andrew meeting a young fan interested in "Pokemon Go" and "History of the Marines"

2017 Plans for an Exciting Year

UOH's New Position - We would like to welcome Michael Jolls as our new Marketing Director! His experience in daily promotion, film, and previous books makes him a great addition to our team. We look forward to putting his new ideas in motion and delivering great content to our fans and customers.

New and Exciting Books - Our current authors are working on finishing books to be published in 2017! Below are the newest authors with their books on PRE-ORDER:

• Nutrition by Kathy Brown

• The History of the US Marine Corps by Andrew Belet

Other Books planned - There are many other book topics that are in the early stages of writing or which authors have approached UOH with the desire to write. Below are some that are scheduled for 2017:

• Buying, Driving and the Future of Cars 
• Buying a Home
• Geocashing 
• The films of Christopher Nolan
• Traveling to Germany

Interview Series/Podcast - UOH is in the process of launching an interview series of the authors and other published authors in regards to their topics, and writing process. We are also considering doing a podcast for live interviews. What do you, as the reader, think?

Translator - UOH is looking for a traslator for Spanish primarily. If you, or anyone you know, would like an opportunity to translate, please reach out to us and we can get started. If you can translate a different language and would like to take on this challenge, let us know!

Want to Write for UOH? Have a non-fiction topic you would like to write about, or want to know how to start? Contact us and we can get your writing dreams to come to life!

Thank you

We want to give a big thank you to everyone who has supported the UOH mission of delivering high quality content in a easy, and short, format. We appreciate all of our customers, followers, friends, and families! 

Questions/Comments - If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us and we'll get back to you in a short manner. 

Five Books For Aspiring Actors - Guest Blog Post

Sometimes we need to take a step back from who were are, where we are, and what we’re doing, so we can get another look at who we are, where we are, and what we’re doing.

~ Matthew Kelly, motivational speaker

***

If I spent at least five minutes on any given day, just scrolling down the newsfeed of my own Facebook, there is a 100% chance that I will see an aspiring actor post something that will make me, or any of the casting directors I work with, never want to call them in for an audition.

Why? Generally because their ego is the size of a yacht.

There is a theory, which I believe to be true, that many of today’s aspiring actors want to be famous for the sake of being famous. Try and ask any eager thespian why they want to be cast, and the majority of the answers will be disconcerting, as the responses are ignorant of solid reasons. Any actor knows what to do, where to do it, who to do it with, when to do it, how to do it - but many completely miss the ball on why. To be fair, this is not exclusive to actors; over ambitious directors, producers, and models do the same thing where they talk profusely about themselves on a public forum, yet display zero substance.

If you’re an actor reading this, and your answer to the why question is: “I act for the art form”... not good enough. It’s still a better response than: “because I want to make it”, but it’s still a shallow answer. It showcases a lack in the comprehension of why you’re acting. This generally leads to delusions of grandeur, a void in legitimate support, the appearance of desperation, and the inability to grasp the awesome role you play in the modern era!

If you’re sitting there thinking to yourself, “Naw, I got plenty of Facebook ‘likes’ on my statuses”...WARNING. If you’re sitting there thinking, “I don’t need to read books, I’m currently cast in an up-and-coming web series”...WARNING. If you’re still sitting there and thinking, “I gotta remember to take a selfie when I’m on set tonight”... MAYDAY! And… you were thinking about which hashtags you’d use too, right? Thought so.

There’s no single solution to this dilemma, but what you can do is supplement your mind. Motivational speaker Matthew Kelly has advocated over and over: “Books change our lives.” It’s time to make that happen by educating yourself in building a stronger conscientiousness about the Hollywood industry. The intention of the following five titles is to expand your view-point of the filmmaking business, develop a deeper understanding of the industry, and help you appreciate how cool of a job you have. Again, supplement. These books don’t hold the secret to “making it”. They are easy reads intended to give your mind something to ponder.

A Star Is Found

By: Janet Hirshenson & Jane Jenkins

Let’s be crystal clear: when you begin talking about some “producer” who has  “connections” to Netflix, and he saw your headshot and said you had “potential”.... go look at yourself in the mirror, say the following outloud: “I am having delusions of grandeur”. Then call up your local library and have them track down a copy of Janet Hirshenson’s & Jane Jenkins’ excellent A Star Is Found: Our Adventures in Casting Some of Hollywood’s Biggest Movies.

There are dozens of considerations that go into casting. Dozens. It’s so vital to be mindful of this fact, practically essential to grasp the concept of show-business, because it’s often similar to the independent industry. Actors would benefit from understanding how the studio-system casts. Actors who are not conscious of this easily slip into the realm of wishful thinking. With story after story, Hirshenson & Jenkin’s takes you through the in’s and out’s that occur throughout the development of a feature film. Each and every movie they discuss remains a new puzzle they had to solve, and it would be a major asset to actors to get a taste of how the casting director functions and thinks. Again, dozens of variables decide casting. Don’t take my word for it, allow Hirshenson & Jenkin to educate you.

Gods Like Us

By: Ty Burr

Personally, if I was king of show-biz, I would make Gods Like Us be required reading for all inquiring actors before they’re allowed to schedule their first photoshoot for headshots. The reason being that the modern culture is all about fast action, immediate information, and instant gratification. Then posting it, sharing it, and tweeting it and retweeting it. Then go support this fan page for a my modeling career, and another for an indie project, and check out these images from a photoshoot, and here’s an inspirational quote, AND a paragraph of hashtags (this is why the “do not disturb” is always activated on my iPhone). You’ve heard it said before that we need quiet-time from all this noise, and I encourage you to devote some of that silence to history. Specifically, the history of your profession.

Let’s be honest, art school is outrageously expensive, and the majority of actors out there aren’t necessarily rolling in spare cash. Now, if you really want to make an impression on the producers and directors you meet, get to know the stuff that really turns them on (and I don’t mean mini-skirts). 99% of these guys are movie-buffs, and few books are as concise, articulate, and rich as Ty Burr’s Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame. This is a college-level class perfectly arranged into a terrific book, that takes the reader from Hollywood’s golden era to the modern day celebrity. As an actor, you are participating in a wonderful tradition - dig into its past.

An Improvised Life

By: Alan Arkin

The majority of most memoirs are a sporadic mixture of different scenes from one’s life, almost a banal narrative of the family photo-album. No so with Arkin. Rather, he splits his masterful book into two halves and keeps more structure by staying in chronological order. He begins in his youth, taking the reader through acting school, and into his career working on movie sets. Yet, Arkin’s acting craft is the dominating “person” in the book, specifically how the acting-craft developed through the years by trial-and-error. The second half departs from Arkin’s own biography, and delves into stories gathered from a monthly acting-workshop that Arkin and his wife manage. These stories, which generally feature doctors and bankers, showcase how the exercise of improv is a tremendous life tool, a form of relaxation, and mental growth.

What’s important to note about An Improvised Life is that it remains a Hollywood story that relates to the common man. This is a rare book that you could pass onto anyone who’s frustrated with the dull daily routine of life, as it showcases the brilliance of going outside of one’s comfort zone. Life’s journey is one of constant self-improvement and self-examination, and Arkin uses these themes to showcase the beauty of failure.

Killing Reagan

By: Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard

“Oh God, please don’t spoon-feed us politics!”

Hush. The emphasis here is on history, so Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency is included on the list because it serves several purposes. Consider the actor who “made it”; Reagan rubbed elbows with Academy Award winners on a regular basis and was president of the Screen Actors Guild for six years. Nevertheless, show-business remains an industry of fluctuation and Killing Reagan highlights the 40th president’s innovativeness and confidence to keep himself economically afloat. Shooter John Hinckley’s disturbing odyssey that lead him to attempting murder is paved with pop-culture obsession, so those unfamiliar with political jargon won’t be completely disassociated with the book.

Although these suggested titles have been assembled for actors, a percentage of amateur filmmakers also tend to deceive themselves with unrealistic objectives. These are the guys whose mind is filled, and I mean jam-packed, with nothing but movies. It’s good for one to take a vacation from the “hustle & grind” mind-set, and ground themselves on larger issues (yes, there are more important things in life than the title of the next 007-movie). The first third of Killing Reagan is about Hollywood, hence the material is easy to access. Hopefully you will be intrigued to keep going and consume more of the book. Perhaps it’ll be a spring-board for taking interest in the modern era. Don’t worry, social media isn’t going away anytime soon, and someone will always be waiting there to sucker you into being a background extra when you come back. If your conversations are dominated by what movie you want to see next weekend, or complaining about not getting paid for a Facebook video… there’s no nice way to say this, but that’s pathetic. Try grounding yourself in something outside of the industry. Alan Arkin improvised. Ronald Reagan improvised. You can improvise.

Conversations with Filmmaker Series

Edited By: Various Contributors

Another thing about these movie-geeks: I bet any sum of money that these guys each have a director (or two) that you are sick to death of hearing them reference. Still, there’s something to learn from everyone, and for actors, the great directors can be a source of incredible insight.

The University Press of Mississippi’s Conversations with Filmmaker Series has been around since the late 1990’s, and although not every single big name is included in the series, many of the famous directors are. These books are an excellent way to tap into the concept of directorial authorship and will help increase your awareness when watching movies independently. It’s also a fun and fulfilling activity to focus on one specific director and examine their work on your own. Again, self-education is fulfilling, and a savvy way to avoid paying heinous amounts of money for art school.

For actors specifically, I recommend any of the following titles: Woody Allen: Interviews; James Cameron: Interviews; Brian De Palma: Interviews; David Fincher: Interviews; Stanley Kubrick: Interviews; Alexander Payne: Interviews. 

Edited by: Mary Morley

Michael Jolls is a film producer from Chicago, IL. His credits include the documentary Cathedral of the North Shore (2013), feature-length mockumenary The Great Chicago Filmmaker (2015), as well as numerous videos based off characters he co-created with fellow associates. Jolls worked as assistant editor on the book David Fincher: Interviews by Dr. Laurence Knapp. His new book The Films of Sam Mendes will release fall 2016 for Under One Hour publications.

The Tesla Model 3 (Under One Hour)

Background/History

One of Under One Hour’s upcoming books will be called Buying, Driving and the Future of Cars Under One Hour. So naturally, the announcement of the Tesla Model 3 has sparked my interest. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Tesla since the unveiling of the Model S sedan in 2012. The high end car has sold well and received top reviews and industry awards. Before that, Tesla built an all-electric sport car called the Tesla Roadster which was basically an 'expensive toy.' The purpose was to show that electric vehicles could be a great alternative. You might compare the Roadster to Fisker’s all-electric sports car. 

The Model 3 is Tesla’s version of a more modest car and the next phase of the company. The revenue from the Model S & X is what was required to pay for the development of the model 3. This is the typical path of bringing a new product to the mainstream market.

The Oatmeal, a funny comic website, published a great review of the Model S.

I encourage everyone to read it here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s

One aspect the UOH book will talk about is the alternative energy sources for vehicles. These include hydrogen, electricity, magnetism, and natural gas. The cleanest alternative energy seems to be hydrogen, with the biggest hurdle being the replacement of current infrastructure. It will take some time to get hydrogen development and fuel cells in circulation. There could be an easier solution, but we are years away from that.

This brings us back to Tesla and what they are trying to accomplish. Essentially, they are single-handedly trying to take the excuse out of owning a petroleum-fueled vehicle. Why own a gasoline vehicle if the more luxurious, faster, less expensive option is electric? With the expansion of clean electricity, and Tesla building out their supercharging infrastructure, electric cars certainly seem to be the near term future.

The big issue electric vehicles have is their range. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf have only about a 50-100 mile range with some versions having a gas tank to extend the range. Tesla has always promised over 200 miles per charge, no gas tank, and a quick charge of only 40 minutes. The range I would like to see, and one that would destroy any electric car disadvantages, would be a 1000 mile range on a single charge. This is something we’ll see in the future with better battery technology, or potentially solar paint integration, but it is not here yet. The furthest range Tesla currently offers is 288.

However, Tesla has built a ‘Gigafactory’ designed specifically for lithium-ion battery production. This factory is claimed to double the entire world’s current level of production. Naturally, they are researching and improving the battery capacity along with it. High volume with the world’s best battery technology allows the model 3 to be produced with the furthest range at the lowest cost. Their Fremont factory plans on producing 500 thousand Model 3 cars per year; Talk about an industry disruption!

Model 3 Reservation

As mentioned above, I am researching and writing a book about cars, so naturally I've been following the latest trends and seeing what new cars are coming out. Having test driven and know owners of the Model S, needing a replacement for my wife’s car in a couple years, wanting to decrease our carbon footprint, and not wanting to spend too much money, my wife and I decided to reserve the Model 3. Production and delivery of the car is scheduled for the fall of 2017.

On March 31^st, I went to our local Tesla store (there are 215 stores now and 441 locations by the end of next year) in order to reserve it. I expected there to be a lot of people interested, but I definitely did not expect a long line. The email I received earlier in the week mentioned that you could reserve the Model 3 in store on March 31^st, or online April 1^st. Knowing that we will need a replacement car sooner rather than later, I wanted to reserve it as early as possible. I figured if I showed up a little before the store opens, I should have a pretty good spot.

I did some searching on Google and Facebook the morning of and saw that there were already lines forming at 8 in the morning! Crap! I needed to get there way earlier and ended up getting there at 9:30 to find a decently long line. Perhaps there were a hundred or so people when I got there. By 10am, when the store opened, the line doubled! Is this black Friday or reserving a car we won’t drive for 2 years?

The line moved quickly and the store was well prepared for the volume. Essentially, around 10:30 am, I was able to enter my basic credit card information into a computer terminal with a salesperson. The process took about 45 seconds! Similar to waiting in line at amusement parks, it’s quite laughable that so many people were waiting such a long time for less than the minute it takes to actually reserve the car; ESPECIALLY since no information on the car has been released!!! Those details would be released via live video stream at Tesla’s headquarters the night of March 31^st with Elon Musk presenting the details. But your spot in the queue matters for delivery!

                You can find the video on their website and details of the Model 3 here:

https://www.teslamotors.com/model3

Model 3 Details

Finally, for the specs of the Tesla Model 3 (Based model, options will improve):

• Price: $35,000. According to USA Today, “The estimated average transaction price of a new car or truck sold in the U.S. in April [2015] was $33,560 — 2.6% higher than in the month a year ago, according to data from auto researcher Kelley Blue Book.” So with the Model 3 coming in at $35K, it seems like a very practical alternative now.http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/04/new-car-transaction-price-3-kbb-kelley-blue-book/26690191/
• Tax Incentive: $7,500. One of the attractive price breaks has been the federal and state tax incentives. Most of the state incentives have met their quota and are no longer offered. Currently, the federal tax incentive is $7,500 and it has not yet met the quota. While this would greatly reduce the price of the Model 3, it seems as if the tax incentive will have ended by the time Tesla actually builds and prices the Model 3. With climate change becoming more pronounced every year, the incentive could be extended however, but it is wise to not factor that into the budget. Either way, the price is still very reasonable.
• Safety: Tesla claims it will have a five star safety rating, making it the safest car in its class. This is one of the best things to know as there won’t be any explosions from a gas engine, they have eliminated any potential battery fires, and since there is no engine in the front of the car, the car has extra crumple room. This is a great justification to family members as well by buying the safest vehicle for your children!
• Speed: 0-60 in less than 6 seconds for the base model. Elon Musk said “At Tesla, we don’t make slow cars!” Another attractive feature of being all-electric, there is more energy efficiency than gasoline vehicles. An electric motor is over 90% efficient while gasoline engines manage only 20% efficiency (most energy goes to heat)! This means that the Tesla vehicles bolt off the line and are incredibly responsive. Of the fastest cars in the world, the $130K Model S ranks 6^th in the world with a 0-60 of 2.6 seconds! The next fastest car is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, World Record Edition coming in at 2.5 seconds…The price… $2.3 million. Talk about value! I would never reasonably consider a car over $100K, but the value of the Model S being able to compete against a $2.3 million dollar car is incredible!
• Range: Starting minimum range of 215 miles at full charge. They project to have more miles at full charge by production time with the advances they are making at the Gigafactory. While I am not too impressed with the range (as described above), this will still last me about 2 weeks of driving before charging. The options for the vehicle will include longer ranges and I would love to see 300+ for this vehicle.
• Size: Seats 5 comfortably. Being comfortable is key and to do this they moved up the front seats to make more leg room (you can do this when there is no bulky engine in the ‘front trunk’) so that 5 people would still have room. Apparently you can fit a 7-foot surfboard inside the car! Since there is a front and back trunk, it will have more cargo room than any other car in its class.
• Panoramic Roof: To make the back seat feel more roomy, they are including the unique all glass ceiling in the car. This is another feature I wanted to pay for and on the Model S, it cost $1500! Thank you, Tesla, for including that in the base price!
• Autopilot: Autopilot will be INCLUDED in all Model 3’s! This is the most exciting feature for me because this seems to be the way of the future. I've been wanting fully autonomous vehicles since 2008 when they were first being tested. On the Model S, this feature is $2500, so to have that included on the Model 3 is a fantastic deal!
• Supercharging: Supercharging is INCLUDED. This means that you can charge the Model 3 at any Tesla supercharger FOR FREE. To put this in perspective, imagine never having to pay for gas again! Feel free to look up the testimonials online about the people that have crossed the US and never paid for gas or electricity! Additionally, by the end of 2017, they plan on doubling the number of locations around the world, and tripling the number of superchargers. As of 3/31, there are 3,608 superchargers and 3,689 destination chargers and by the end of 2017 they plan on having 7,200 superchargers and 15,000 destination chargers! Free mobility at its finest.
• The Look: In my opinion, it looks like a Porsche Panamera (The only Porsche I actually like). My initial reaction when it rolled onto the floor wasn't that great, but when they zoomed in, so you can see the detail of the car and how it actually looks, I became very impressed. 

Here is the Tesla Model 3:

 

Here is the Porsche Panamera:

Summary/Conclusion

In summary, I believe this car is the future and am willing to back it up with my reservation. Regardless of the environmental benefits, this is a car I would want over just about every other car (including the Model S!). The unique thing about Tesla vehicles is that they do not change the production lines each year. They attempt to produce such a great vehicle from the onset that all they have to do is continually update the vehicle through software updates. This allows the life of the vehicle to be extended (and stay new) much longer than gasoline vehicles! Assuming you’re concerned about the battery, they are rumored to have the ability to replace the battery at some superchargers instead of waiting with your car plugged in. This would allow Tesla to give you a new battery indefinitely.

What do you think? Have you reserved one or are you going to? Let me know in the comments below! Make sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on our latest books and growth!

-Andrew Brown, 4-1-16

UOH Book Summary - Rescue Your Money by Ric Edelman

      For those of you interested in personal finance, Ric Edelman is one of the most popular authors on this topic. His 2009 book titled, Rescue Your Money, makes for a quick read, but the content is very powerful. Below is a summary of the book.

            

Book Summary:

Essentially, the trick to investment success is buying low and selling high. People want to beat the market which they typically gauge as the S&P 500. This is a basket of the top 500 US public companies. The problem with this mentality is that your investment happiness is determined against the index rather than the overall performance.

For example, in 2008 if you lost only 20% instead of 35% that the market lost, you would have beat the market and therefore consider that a success. But losing money should not be a happy event. Ric states “only one thing matters when it comes to investing: achieving financial security. That is your one major goal.” (Page 8)

      His book, and our Personal Finance Under One Hour both explain that the main reducer of return on investments are taxes and investments, and there are multiple levels of taxes. See the two charts below:

 

Top Tax Rates (Page 13)              Inflation (Page 15)              

These are the biggest reducer because they generally are overlooked! Ric shows a great example in his book of this very concept.

“Let’s assume that you pay both federal and state income taxes. Let’s further assume that your combined federal/state tax bracket is 30 percent. Since the CD paid 3.1%, you lose .93% to taxes, leaving you with a profit of 2.17%. But let’s not forget inflation. If inflation is averaging 3.2%, you’re actually losing 1.03% on every dollar you invested in that CD. Now, losing 1.03% annually might not seem like much, considering the S&P 500 lost 38.5% in 2008. But the stock market doesn’t lose every year, while the CD does.” (Page 16 & 17)

The figure below shows the numerical example of taxes and inflation affecting your CD returns.

         Taxes and Inflation (Page 18)  

We explain CD’s in our book, Personal Finance Under One Hour, and they can be a good investment in some cases. For instance, today’s CD rates are better than leaving the money in a savings account, however, you cannot touch the money and you still lose on the taxes and inflation. Safety is the main reason consumers like CD’s. “As a result, millions of Americans are going broke safely and they don’t even know it!” (Page 20)

This next picture lists all of the products that are safe, but not great for generating the returns to rely on.

    Product Returns (Page 25)

Parts of this next section in his book are worth quoting directly. It is a great look into the big picture of consumer investing. It explains the issues with fads and the media.

“What about CNBC’s Jim Cramer, who offers a barrage of advice on each night’s broadcast? Barron’s studied each of Cramer’s recommendations in 2006 and 2007, and in its August 20, 2007, issue concluded that his picks gained an average of 12 percent. Barron’s noted that for the same period the S&P 500 gained 22 percent. Cramer was about half as good.” (Page 39) 

“Clearly, trusting the media’s investment advice is not a successful strategy, yet judging from the millions of people who read, listen, and watch all the commentaries, it’s also clear that most people don’t know this.” (Page 42)

“It doesn’t surprise us when the weathermen get it wrong. It doesn’t surprise us when sportswriters get it wrong. Why, then, does it surprise us to think that an investment analyst or portfolio manager might be wrong? And why are so many people willing to invest their life savings on the prognostications of such a person?” (Page 44)

  

Another common pitfall is investing in large companies. There is nothing wrong with investing with them, however, they do lose money from time to time and many people focus solely on these companies for the majority of their retirement or investing.

One of the biggest mistakes can be investing the most in your employer. Typically, you can buy your company’s stock at a slight discount which makes buying very beneficial. While you may believe in the company you work for, what happens if the company folds? Not only do you lose a job (your source of income) but you could also lose all you have invested over the years. “Do you really want to risk your financial security on the fortunes of a company over which you have little knowledge and no control?” (Page 49)

The basics of Buy Low, Sell High.

S&P 500 (Page 57)

This chart shows how the stock market typically performs during the booms and busts. The market typically rises for a longer period of time than the market falls. This is due to more money going into the market, companies continuing to grow, and the economy expanding. Essentially, every time the market falls from a previous high, it will climb even higher over time. The market never falls and stays down.

So when the markets are troubled, such as January of 2016, it is usually a good time to buy, not sell. The key is your intention for investing, and typically that is not to pull your money out within a month or two. Usually, you are looking at investing for a long period of time. That said, Ric asks,

“Why bother looking at your account each hour, day, or month? Looking often at your investments is likely to make you do the opposite of what you should do. If you see that prices are down, you’ll become upset and want to sell. If you see that prices are up, you’ll get excited and want to buy.” (Page 64)

“History provides the reason why you shouldn’t do that: past recessions, panics, and depressions have taught us that stock markets recover with astonishing suddenness and velocity. By the time you realize that the bottom has been reached, prices have already risen sharply – meaning that you are forced to buy back in at prices that are higher than when you sold.” (Page 113)

Can you predict when those short spurts are going to occur? Me neither. That’s why we remain invested the entire time, so we can catch the profits when they come.” (Page 107) 

Ric, and many other advisors, recommend patience with the market. Diversify your portfolio, then let it sit. Over time, he recommends strategic rebalancing.

        

   

     Jan 1^st Portfolio (Page 117)            Dec 31^st Portfolio (Page 119)

The idea is counterintuitive at first. You would think that since Stocks performed better than cash, we would take money out of cash and put more into stocks…However, this is not what Ric recommends, and so many investors do what was just mentioned. Instead, he recommends selling stocks as that has become the majority of the portfolio and therefore subjects the portfolio to the ups and downs significantly more; If the stock market declines, your portfolio will be affected much greater.

“In other words, we sell the asset that made the most money and we buy the asset that made the least (or maybe even lost) money.” (Page 120) This is kind of like buying and selling on Ebay; you want to buy coins when they are cheap, and sell them at a higher price. Most of the time, investors want to buy the investments that made the most money recently.

“No one wants to buy gold at $200 an ounce. But when it reaches $1,000 an ounce, they load up. Later, when it falls to $700 and they’ve lost 30%, they sell and swear that never again will they buy gold.” (Page 123) 

For instance, a short-term anomaly might cause an asset class to jump in price momentarily. A quick sale of high-priced assets and a purchase of low-cost assets would have locked in your gains. But calendar rebalancing will miss it.” (Page 127)

      To diversify, Ric, as well as our book, recommends exchange-traded funds (ETF’s). With mutual funds, the fees will eat into your returns while ETF’s have very low or negligible fees. Mutual funds might also trade in and out of stocks meaning that the short-term gains and losses actually turn you into a short-term trader when tax time comes around.

“In all, you’re paying the average retail mutual fund 2.67% per year. Based on the stock market’s average annual return of 9.6% a year, that means you’re giving away 28% of your profits on an annual basis.” (Page 148)

The U.S. retail mutual fund industry is a $9.4 trillion industry. Collectively, U.S. equity and bond mutual funds charge $248 billion in fees each year. No wonder these guys are among the wealthiest people in America.” (Page 151)

As a recap, Ric’s advice sums up to the following:

·       Diversify into several non-related asset classes (S&P 500 ETF, International ETF, Bond ETF, Short term Security ETF, and cash to name a few)

·       Rebalance periodically based on the pieces of the pie in your portfolio becoming too large compared to your other investments. Sell the part that made the most money, and put that in the parts that lost money.

·       This is not to say sell the S&P 500 ETF to put in your single failing experimental biotech stock, but instead put it into another non-correlated ETF. Avoid putting a significant amount of money in a single stock.

Buy the book:

      Have you read this book?  If not, does this summary inspire you to read it? If you are interested, you can get Rescue Your Money by Ric Edelman here.

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