Wisdom of Rich Dad

According to EPA estimates, one billion cell phones are gathering dust in American homes. Here are four strategies to try with your old mobile instead:

Get Cash. Many sites, like uSell.com, Flipswap.com, or Gazelle, will pay you for your old phone. If maximizing profit is your primary motivator, and you’re willing to deal with the hassle, there’s always good ole’ eBay. I typed in the model number of an ancient Nokia we have hanging around here on uSell and Flipswap. No dough, unfortunately. But I like the idea of shipping it off to uSell, which promises if they can’t refurbish it to sell on the secondary market, they’ll take it apart and recycle each piece. According to the website, the company has a 0% waste policy.

Don’t procrastinate. According to uSell CEO Doug Feirstein, the prices change (read: drop) daily. You could see a significant reduction in the price your phone commands from week to week. uSell guarantees their bids for 15 days.

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The previews of Windows 8 are hitting the web and I have to say, it is pretty intriguing. Microsoft (MSFT) is unveiling a complete redesign on the user interface, likely the biggest change for a Windows release ever. The new OS will be used on desktops and mobile devices such as tablets.

Before I get into why I’m excited for Windows-based tablets, let me preface it by saying that I’m a huge Apple (AAPL) fan. I own an iMac, an iPhone, countless iPods and an iPad. They are amazing devices.

With that said, I run a small business and our business network is entirely Windows-based. When factoring in productivity, my iPad is still for the most part nothing more than an expensive toy. Now, it’s a toy that I absolutely adore, but I can’t smoothly access my business network.

Yes there are remote apps like GoToMyPC that help facilitate this, but it is still different from seamless network integration where I can access and edit server files and so forth. Integrating my iPad with our small business server at work requires expensive hardware and/or cumbersome apps.

Since Microsoft essentially still dominates the enterprise arena and Windows Servers and workstations complete with Microsoft Office are in nearly every business, integrating the tablet device into this ecosystem should be the No. 1 priority of Microsoft. Rather than trying to beat Apple with a “cooler” device (which is impossible), they need to beat Apple with a slick device that seamlessly bridges work/productivity with fun activities like surfing the web and watching videos.

I believe this tablet could sell very well. The new designed Windows 8 interface that is being previewed this week is encouraging.

While it seems every investor and analyst hates Microsoft and its stock, meanwhile obsessing over Apple (which is an incredible company) and its stock, I’m going to be buying more Microsoft at current levels.

With the incredibly profitable businesses, the bullet proof balance sheet, the cheap stock price, and yes, the possible growth opportunities in the years ahead, I believe Microsoft is a screaming buy at current levels.

- Kevin Parker ~

With a combined income of $225,000 and a nest egg of $330,000, Rick and Amy Mendez, 41 and 43, seem like they are in good financial shape. But a closer look reveals that they’re lacking something crucial: emergency savings.

As a result, when they needed a new roof in 2009, they had to borrow from their 401(k)s. Credit cards got them through other jams, but they’ve run up a $20,000 balance.

“It’s too risky for them to go without a safety net,” says Framingham, Mass., financial planner Cheryl Costa. At minimum, she says, they need to tuck away $25,000, which equals three months’ worth of expenses.

Easier said than done.

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~ Simon Clark ~

Rob Symington and Dom Jackman weren’t loving their jobs at consulting firm Ernst & Young in the City of London. “It felt like the work we did, crunching spreadsheets, just didn’t matter to anyone, including to our customers or employers,” says Symington, 27.

Reasoning that they might not be the only young people in the City having second thoughts about their chosen careers, in 2009 Symington and Jackman, 28, quit and founded Escape the City, a website dedicated to helping bored finance workers shake up their lives by taking jobs with Mongolian venture capital firms, African charities, and other far-flung employers.

More than 30,000 people have signed up to view the listings at Escape the City in London — registration is free — and now Symington and Jackman plan to open a branch in New York this month. “Escape the City was created specifically to help talented people escape from unfulfilling corporate jobs after we realized that our own feelings of misery and frustration at work were shared by a lot of people,” says Symington. “We stumbled upon a business opportunity by following a hunch about job dissatisfaction to its logical conclusion.”

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