So here we go…

1) Win the Lottery!

The upside of this approach is simply outstanding! Basically being handed millions of dollars for almost no work at all, how much better can it get? Some lotteries get into the hundreds of millions.  If you are considering this route, the basic approach to achieving your dreams is to go to a store, typically with a “Quick” “E” and “Mart” somewhere in the name. Once there, ask the person behind the counter for a ticket and hand them money.

There is a lot about the upside, but are there any drawbacks to this approach to financial freedom?  Well a few to keep in mind:

• You have to pick the winning numbers for the big lotteries. It turns out they don’t just give you a check.
• If you win the money, you have to do some math to figure out if you should take the lump sum or receive money over many years.
• You might have to share if someone else wins! Yuck…
• Things don’t always turn out well for the winners. Many times they end up worse off after winning than before. Maybe it was all about the experience!

Oh and one more thing… The chance that you become wealthy with this approach is somewhere around one in 195,249,054.

So for winning the lottery, Elusive Wealth says:

Don’t play the lottery unless you are also equally willing to set the dollar that would pay for the ticket on fire.

2) Sue Someone into Oblivion!

So winning the lottery isn’t for you, you need other options. Another way to score some fast cash is to sue someone.  You can either take the “easy” way by falling on someone’s sidewalk, suing them, and hoping they have a lucrative umbrella policy. Or you could go the more ethical route of accidentally spilling hot coffee on yourself and bringing litigation against McDonalds for not stopping it somehow.  Yes, this can be quite an attractive approach to wealth building!  However, with this there are also a few caveats:

• The odds of winning a baseless lawsuit probably are not much better than winning the lottery.  I couldn’t find any good statistics on this, I am sure it depends on the lawyers and the particular case.
• Some lawsuits may require actual physical injury before they can seriously be considered.
• If you are considering this, have you ever heard of ethics?

Well, you can also consider a combo play by actually suing the lottery.  This especially comes in handy if you play an instant lottery game where the last winning ticket was already played somewhere.

Elusive Wealth says:

Stick to suing only when you have a legitimate gripe that seriously caused a financial loss.  If that is the case though, go for it!

3) Get a Scam Named After You

Financially this one may rate above both suing someone and winning the lottery, if you have got what it takes.  Once you get a scam named after you, you know you have it made!  Madoff, Ponzi, and Stanford (Group) all know what I am talking about. Not only does this path to wealth come with riches, it is matched equally by fame!  Unfortunately there are some downsides:

• You can’t actually get the scam named unless you get caught.
• This is a touch less ethical than suing someone for no reason.

Elusive Wealth says:

Don’t even try scamming, unless you can make the scam both legal and official sounding, like “credit default swaps.”

4) Get a Job, Save Your Money

This option may look a bit out of place on this list, because it is the only one that results in actual, legitimate earned wealth. However, before I encourage anyone to go this route, I have to honestly lay out all of the downsides:

• To get wealthy with this approach, you might just need an education. The good news is, this isn’t always true. In fact many people do quite well without a college degree.
• To get a job, you have to apply for them and compete for them.
• Once you have a job you have to work.
• Saving money means not spending some of it.

Seems like getting a job has as many negatives of anything else on this list! Maybe it is not the best way to go. But consider this: people have done amazing things with the U.S. average household salary ($50,000) and even less. The truth is that by staying away from debt and making good choices, you stand a better chance of getting wealthy this way than any of the above options. Sure there can be some serious road bumps along the way, especially health issues and healthcare. If you think it can’t happen though, then that may be a major part of the problem. This IS how most people become wealthy.

Elusive Wealth says:

This is really the only option worth considering… what did you expect?

Late last year I purchased a Lenovo S10 netbook.  The netbook was great — very portable and versatile. The biggest downside to the netbook was just its speed, it sometimes got bogged down in handling tasks in the background while trying to surf the web. And it often struggled a bit with video. But overall the device met most of my needs, especially as a portable document reader. However in April I decided to purchase a Kindle anyway. What drove my decision, and has it been worth the price?

Here are the things that motivated me to make the purchase:

• Well let’s be honest, I am a gadget geek. I love gadgets. So I have to be truthful here and include this as a reason.
• There are publications and releases that are available on the Kindle that are not available elsewhere.
• The Kindle is even more portable than the netbook.
• The battery of the Kindle lasts longer, especially with the wireless turned off.
• Delivery of new books and many of the publications is free through Whispernet (though delivery of blog feeds costs $2 / month)
• The paper like screen of the Kindle is easier on the eyes than the netbook screen over a period of time.
• The whole device is well geared toward reading — making it easier to read anywhere. Finding Next Page on the Kindle is easier than finding Page Down on a netbook.
• The price of many of the books, newspapers, and magazines is less than the price in the bookstore or on the newsstand.

So those are the many reasons I decided to purchase the Kindle. And these reasons are fairly consistent with the pros you probably have already seen about the Kindle. However there are some negatives too, and often it is more important to consider the negative aspects before purchasing something than the positive ones.

Screen Looks Almost Like Paper

But I said this was a pro, why have I listed it here!?  It is a pro, and it is one of the best features of the Kindle.  However I have noticed a key difference with the Kindle versus using a computer eBook reader. The backlight on a computer, although sometimes harder on the eyes, helps me stay awake while reading. I have a wonderful habit of falling asleep if it is late while reading a paperback or hardcover book. The Kindle shares that same feature. The downside to the Kindle here, of course, is that it is more dangerous to drop the Kindle than it is a book!  This is a minor disadvantage, but I have found it to be true for me.

Newspapers and Magazines Are Incomplete

Most of the books are the full edition, though some of the figures in certain books are difficult to read. Periodicals and magazines on the other hand tend to have few of the illustrations, photos, and figures that the print edition has. Some of the magazines and newspapers actually have fewer articles than the print edition.  Although the price of these is generally much lower than print, it is disappointing to find a watered down Kindle edition of a publication. The good news here is that the magazines and newspapers all have a trial period so you can try it out before paying for it.

The new Kindle, with a larger screen, should help address the readability of some of the figures. The question remains as to whether the content providers will provide more of their content. But the new Kindle has a higher price point, so it may be wise to wait for the price to come down.

Missing Formats

The Kindle would be nearly complete if it supported PDF natively and MobiPocket. This would cover the majority of electronically published material. The newest Kindle edition supports native PDF, though I have not seen how accurate and readable its output is.  MobiPocket covers a wide range of content that is not already available through the Kindle. Overtime I expect more content to support the Kindle, eventually this will no longer be an issue.

The Kindle Doesn’t Come With a Cover

Considering the device costs over $300, throwing in a $20 cover to make sure it makes it past the first week would be considerate of Amazon.

Conclusion

Despite the few issues, I still love the Kindle and highly recommend it to everyone who likes to read, and even some people who don’t. The Kindle is a great resource for professional growth, staying informed, and entertainment. You can purchase the Kindle directly from Amazon.  Though for the frugal minded, if the price of the Kindle is close to affordable but still a roadblock for you, consider purchasing an older edition through eBay.

Because I highly recommend the Kindle, I feel it is worth endorsing.  If you are considering buying one, you can find it in one of the following two places:

http://www.ebay.com/