Jinlu's Blog

Anyone watching Game of Thrones? Many people love stories about Kings and Queens. I’ve got another story for you today. Once upon a time, there was a King. He hosted a chess tournament for farmers. That’s weird, I know.  But he did it anyway. One of the farmers won. The King asked the farmer what he wanted as his prize. The farmer said, “I just want some wheat and I don’t want much. I want one kernel of wheat on the first square of the chess board, 2 kernels on the second square, 4 kernels on the 3rd square, 8 kernels on the 4th square, and so on.” The King said “That’s easy!” and he happily agreed.  One of the King’s advisors said to the King. “Your grace. We cannot afford that. To fill the last square, the 64th, there will need to be 1.8 times 10 to the 19th power kernels of wheat, which is 740 thousand billion lbs.” The King got mad, and he said: “Burn them all!” Oh, well. He didn’t really say that. I guess I watched too much Game of Thrones.  But the King wa...

I am very interested in economics, finance, and investment, and have learned these for a couple of years in my spare time. The main purpose of learning them is to improve my personal financial situation. The other day, I took the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) sample quiz and correctly answered 7 out of 10 questions. Not bad. I have summarized the basics of personal financial planning, 12 main points in total. As a tribute to Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life , I call it 12 rules for Personal Finance. 1. Set your goals . It could be to secure a financial future, to retire early, or even to achieve financial freedom. 2. Budget . Spend less and save more. 3. Increase your income . Invest in yourselves, e.g. get continuing education or professional certificates for career advancement. 4. Get out of Debt as soon as possible. Especially the high-interest debt, such as credit card debt. 5. Set up an emergency fund which can last 6 months without employment. 6. Boost your c...

When I was a kid, my mom told me, “Jinlu, you need to work hard otherwise you will be stuck in this village.” I listened, and I moved out of the village to a town, then to a local city, and eventually to the capital of China, Beijing. When I was in High School, my teacher said, “Jinlu, you need to focus on the coursework, so that you can get into a good college.” I listened and got into one of the best schools in China. When I was in college, my adviser told me, “Jinlu, you need to do some projects which will be good on your resume when you are finding a job. “ I listened and found my ideal job after I graduated. I did everything I was supposed to do, and I got everything I was promised. But I wasn’t happy. I felt insecure. When sitting in my own room by my self, I felt anxious, worried, I felt there was a giant hole in my heart. But I didn’t know why. I needed help. I needed a mentor. I didn’t have anyone around me who could guide me. But fortunately, I had something else, the thing I...

I have lived in the US and filed Tax returns for a couple of years. During the process, I have learned some knowledge and tips about Individual Income Taxes. Because I want to have control over my money, so I don’t hire an accountant to do my tax. I use TurboTax. I leverage it to fill out the forms for me but don’t blindly trust it. I will still go over the forms afterward, to double-check the numbers are correct, and to make sure the calculation is correct.  Followings are some knowledge and tips about taxes I have learned so far. Taxing Tax Brackets Federal Federal Tax Brackets (2018, Married Filing Jointly) are ( calculator ) 10% - <= $19,050 12% - <= $77,400 22% - <= $165,000 24% - <= $315,000 32% - <= $400,000 35% - <= $600,000 37% - no limit California State California state Tax Brackets (2018) are: 1% - <= $17,088 2% - <= $40,510 4% - <= $63,938 6% - <= $88,754 8% - <= $112,170 9.3% - <= $572,984 10.3% - ...

Note: This article is a speech script for Toastmasters Project: Understanding Your Communication Styles. The purpose of this project is to understand different Communication Styles and identify my own style. When I read through the description of each of the 4 different Styles, there was always one person I knew popped up in my head. “This is exactly him!” “This is definitely her communication style.” I talked to myself. After going through the whole project, I had vivid images of four people I knew, each had a different communication style. 3 guys and one gal. The first person is my classmate A and the communication style is Supportive . We went to the same university and studied Computer Science together. He was a big guy, but not intimidating at all. Instead, he was very nice, gentle, and amicable. He had a great smile. Just like me. He was a very good listener. Whenever I had something on my mind that bothered me, I would go and talk to him. He would always listen, nod, and...

Note : This article is a speech script for Toastmasters project, Research and Present. The deadline is approaching, but I just don’t want to start to work on the project. I have signed up for a speech this week, but I don’t know what topic to talk about yet. I know I am supposed to switch from Toastmaster Tradition Program to Pathways, but I am just not ready. By a show of hands, who think you procrastinate? Who feels that procrastination bothers you and you want to change?  The good news is, you are not alone. According to Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, 20 percent of people are chronic procrastinators. The website Procrastination and Science lists a lot of famous people who are also severe procrastinators, like The Dalai Lama, Victor Hugo, Saint Augustine, Bill Clinton, Leonardo da Vinci, and so on.  What exactly is procrastination? In the book Procrastination: Why You Do It, What To Do About it Now, Jane B Burka &...

It was 2012. My husband and I had been together for 4 years and we were living in Beijing. We love hiking and traveling, so we had been to most of the places of interest around Beijing. We have also done one domestic trip to Hangzhou and Huangshan, also called the Yellow Mountain. So we decided to stretch a little bit and go a little bit further. “Let’s go overseas. “Let’s make it our honeymoon.” “But we are not married yet.” “Then it’s our Quasi-honeymoon.” We said to each other. We took out the map, and wondered “Where should we go? Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines? We brainstormed. We planned to go around Christmas time, so we wanted to go somewhere warmer. So not Japan, not South Korea. We wanted to enjoy the tropical beaches, and swimming in the ocean. So all of the three Southeastern Asian countries sounded good: Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Then we started to think.  “It’s going to be our first overseas vacation. So maybe we should b...