I’ve been ramping up the frequency of my posts over the last month, and I’ve also been tightening the focus of the blog to cover mostly personal finance and investment.  In the future, I hope to post more about entrepreneurship and real estate as well.  I have several posts in the works that I’m excited about, but I wanted to open it up for suggestions as to what topics you’d like to see me cover.  I enjoy doing research and I follow a lot of blogs and websites via RSS every day, so I’m basically offering to help hunt down the answer to any personal finance, investment, real estate, or entrepreneurship questions you might have.  Here’s a few ideas off the top of my head:

• How do you find that first job out of college?
• Roth vs. traditional 401k?
• How much should you save for retirement?
• Asset allocation in your retirement portfolio?
• Should you use extra cash to pay down your mortgage or invest?
• What are some ways to get extra cash?
• What are the options for budgeting?
• How do you write a financial plan for your life?
• How do you get started investing in the stock market?
• How do you get started investing in real estate?
• Rent vs. buy? (not always a no-brainer)

I would love to cover all of these topics, and maybe I will, but some comments and suggestions would definitely help me understand what my audience is interested in.  Leave a comment or hit up my contact form.  Thanks!

Lately, I’ve been running up to Muni Pier for my morning workout. The view there is amazing, giving you a full 360-degree panoramic view of the Bay. You can simultaneously see the Downtown/Financial District, Coit tower, Russian Hill, Treasure Island, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s especially stunning at night or in the early morning before the sun rises. I couldn’t find any decent night photos, but here’s a link to a 360-degree Quicktime panorama that may give you a taste of the beauty here.

http://www.lwn-photo.com/images/PanoLg/AquticPrkLg.mov

I’m finishing up Winning by Jack Welch, and I wanted to highlight an excerpt from the very last page. Read the rest of this entry »

Inspired by my buddy Ben Rasmusen’s attempt, I thought I would also google myself and check out the results. Fortunately, the first result was ryanwaggoner.com. There was one or two other results for profiles of mine around the web, but nothing substantial. I tried “waggoner” but stopped caring after 20 pages. It doesn’t really matter if you’re on page 21 or page 57,567; no one will find you. Guess it’s time to ratchet up my SEO efforts.

Alexis and I were sitting in our apartment on the 10th floor last night. I started feeling like my chair was vibrating or something. It took us both a second to realize what was happening, but the tremors got worse for a second, and then all of a sudden, there was one big shake, and our entire building kind of groaned as the shockwave passed through it.

It freaked me out, but I also find it pretty fascinating. To think that thousands of square miles of land are essentially jostling and bumping into each other is incredible. It’s also pretty amazing to think that a city with millions of people and hundreds of thousands of buildings could just disintegrate into dust if we got a big earthquake. It’s like building a sandcastle on a cookie sheet and then shaking the cookie sheet back and forth violently and watching the sandcastle turn into a pile of sand.

We found out later that it was a 4.2 magnitude that occurred about 20 miles from us. We still love it here.

About once every week or two, I indulge in a guilty pleasure and enjoy a small fries and double cheeseburger from the $1 menu at McDonald’s. I know, I know, it’s horrible for you. That’s why I indulge only once every week or two. Anyway, I was on my way into McDonald’s last night when I was accosted by one of the many homeless who decorate the fair city of San Francisco. They’re everywhere.

I’ve lived in a few decent sized cities, and I’ve traveled enough to see homeless everywhere. But when I moved here, I was stunned by the sheer number of homeless, especially in my area. We live in an area that is popular with tourists, and the homeless are always hanging around to beg from them. Tourists might be the smartest people elsewhere, but they turn into complete idiots as soon as they step off the plane. That’s a topic for another post, though.

Anyway, this particular homeless man gave me a pitiful look and recited his line about needing money for food, something like “Please, sir, I’m trying to get enough money to buy a little food.” As usual, I averted my eyes to avoid him and walked on by. But then something stopped me. Being hungry sucks, and I can easily afford to buy this guy some food. So I turned around, went back, told him that I was heading into McDonald’s, and asked him what he’d like.

He looked me square in the eyes, and said “I was actually trying to get enough to buy a half-pint of vodka.” He then turned and walked away.

When I first moved here, I had a hard time walking past people who have nothing and who are begging for a few pennies to buy some food. I felt something for those people. But after awhile, and after a few encounters like this, it’s hard to not become a little cynical. It’s still sad, and I will still offer to buy food for homeless people from time to time, but my emotion about the situation has largely been removed. Maybe it’s for the best.