In fact, I think our country would be a different place if everyone had to write a personal check and send in their taxes like this. When people really see what they pay (or don’t pay) I think they would feel differently about their tax burden!

This is a common refrain among certain political observers — but it has me thinking about what it might mean for YOUR family …

In fact, this is part of the genius of financial guru Dave Ramsey’s "envelope system" for family budgeting (whereby you place cash into specified envelopes, and pay only as much cash as remains in the envelope for different budget categories). "Automating away" our obligations can lull us into financial slumber.

Which is why I now propose that you REMOVE automation from certain checks that you write each month. (Again, this is aside from automated savings, as discussed last week.)

[But a word of caution: The only danger to this approach is that you run the risk of focusing too much on scrimping pennies. I certainly advocate wise budgeting, but it's important to remember that thinking over much about saving money can constrict your mind away from important "risks", which can often be worth taking -- like starting that business, making a new investment, etc. Don't let this technique keep you from expanding your financial mindset!]

So, a few suggestions for what you might DE-automate:
1) Just once, receive your paycheck in cash (instead of ACH’d), or cash the full amount when you receive it. Because, have you ever HELD one paycheck’s worth of money before?  It’s really hard to fully comprehend how much you’re bringing in until you physically feel those stacks of $20s in your hand.  I can guarantee you it’s a lot harder to spend it when you’re seeing it in person rather than online.  And it hurts frittering it away more, too.

2) Paying your mortgage manually. Feel the burn of this large check, every time you write it. It will trickle into how you think about the other bills which you pay such that even if this is the only bill you take off of "auto-pay", you’ll be wiser with your remaining funds each month.

3) Only purchase vehicles for cash. If you had to pay outright, wouldn’t you end up with a cheaper car?  Probably. Just because many are used to setting up loans and payments for vehicles, does NOT mean it’s wise — in fact, this is one of the primary markers for the "quiet millionaires" (those who are getting ahead financially, even on relatively smaller salaries). Yes, your pride might suffer when you’re not rolling around in a 2011 Lexus … but considering the real cost of that pride-booster does wonders for ameliorating your egotistic tendencies.

In short, paying in cash (or with a manual check) helps you to consider the following questions:

* Is this ____ still WORTH it?
* Is there a way I can cut it down a bit?
* What’s the best way to pay for it right now? (c/c, check, cash?)

While your investments were geared for making you money over the long haul, you now need to switch that strategy to help make money in the short term.  As they always say: "While past returns are no indication of future performance", many people try to base their decisions on what kinds of returns were done in the past. For instance, if you had an investor who just went with his gut instinct and you made 30% on your investment — and you had another investor who knew and understood the markets, guaranteed and produced a 15% return on your investment, which one would you choose?

Well, I’d say that it’s more important to base your decision on investment managers who really understand what they are trying to accomplish instead of winging it using past performances.

I did some digging, and I turned up the three qualities many of the Ivy League Endowment Fund investors look for in their managers. And if the big boys look for these qualities, it doesn’t hurt for individuals to do the same when it comes to picking out a retirement investment manager:

Risk-adjusted returns
These returns must be exceptional. Risk-adjusted returns basically compare the amount of risk used in order to generate the return, which helps investors to compare investments as apples to apples. It is basically like the difference in total score and degree of difficulty in a gymnast’s or ice skater’s routine.

Investment rationale
Taking a look at not only how a company is doing financially, but what a company is all about, is a big factor in making investment decisions. Investment rationale is the ability to look past the "hype" and figure out if a company will be around and doing strong for a good number of years.

Stickiness
This is where Ivy League investors look at how well investment managers take note of what their clients want and stick to the plan as well as possible. Customer satisfaction is based largely in how well a company sticks to a stated investment style and preference.

Keeping these qualities in mind will help individuals looking to find the perfect retirement investment manager. Your retirement is extremely important, so it is imperative that you find someone who knows what they are doing, are able to explain every step of the way, balance risk and return, look beyond the stats, and keep you in their best interest when making decisions.

Pick several top choices for your investment manager and sit down with them.  Ask them each about their past experiences, but more importantly, ask them how they came to those decisions, because the process matters more than the outcomes.

And I may have a specific idea or two, as well — so feel free to contact me.

In my view, there are three kinds of procrastination. Depending on what you do instead of working on something, you could work on:
(a) nothing
(b) something less important, or
(c) something more important.

That last type, I’d say, is good procrastination.

This is the "absent-minded professor," who forgets to shave, or eat, or even perhaps look where he’s going while he’s thinking about some interesting question. His mind is absent from the everyday world because it’s hard at work in another.

That’s the sense in which the most impressive people I know are all procrastinators. They’re type-C procrastinators: they put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff.

What’s "small stuff?" Roughly, work that has zero chance of being mentioned in your obituary. It’s hard to say at the time what will turn out to be your best work (will it be your thesis for your PhD, or that detective thriller you worked on at night?), but there’s a whole class of tasks you can safely rule out: shaving, doing your laundry, cleaning the house, writing thank-you notes-anything that might be called an errand.

Good procrastination is avoiding errands to do real work.

Good in a sense, at least. The people who want you to do the errands won’t think it’s good. But you probably have to annoy them if you want to get any real work done. The mildest seeming people, if they want to do real work, all have a certain degree of ruthlessness when it comes to avoiding errands.

Some errands, like replying to emails, go away if you ignore them (perhaps taking friends with them). Others, like mowing the lawn, setting up legal forms or filing your tax returns, only get worse if you put them off. In principle it shouldn’t work to put off the second kind of errand. You’re going to have to do whatever it is eventually. Why not (as past-due notices are always saying) do it now?

The reason it pays to put off even those errands is that real work needs two things errands don’t: big chunks of time, and the right mood. If you get inspired by some project, it can be a net win to blow off everything you were supposed to do for the next few days to work on it. Yes, those errands may cost you more time when you finally get around to them. But if you get a lot done during those few days, you will be net more productive.

So here’s where we come in.

Consider us "The Ultimate Procrastination Solution".