Prosper is My Gambling Account

I commented on a popular personal finance blog that my Prosper account is "like gambling." Let me clarify. I started on Prosper because someone I knew needed a small loan. I offered to help him write his request and fund a small percentage of it ( a few hundred bucks). I think that any loan to family or friends should probably be considered lost money. I hope they pay it back, but at the same time I wouldn't lend any money I couldn't live without.

So I invested a few hundred bucks I could live without. So far this person has made timely payments and I expect he will pay on time for 36 months. I then reinvest all proceeds into new loans. If all the loans default, I will not be that upset. If am skilled at picking good loans then I will be rewarded with a very small residual income stream. Either way, I will be fine.

I am not much of a gambler or a splurger. However, I certainly know people who have lost a couple hundred bucks at casinos or betting on the Superbowl. There are probably millions more who waste money ( on what I consider "stupid stuff") on an almost daily basis.

I highly doubt I will lose any money on Prosper. At worst I expect to break even. To me it's a fun and interesting use of time and relatively cheap. I probably will not be investing any more except the funds already in the account.

Tim Ferris Book- Four Hour Work Week

A lot of bloggers have been writing about and interviewing Tim Ferris about his new book " The Four Hour Week." Honestly, it sounded like a lot of hype to me, and the Amazon Reviews seemed a little "fishy." His PR firm probably hired some people to write perfect score reviews. This is common and is one of various methods ( including sending out mass cross-promotional emails offering incentives,etc) of "creating" an Amazon "Best-Seller." I suppose the hype machine works in the same way that Soundscan inflation ( and for singles, payola) works for music. Once something becomes a "hit" everyone takes notice. No one wants to be left out, and more people buy it.

Well, I decided to read the book. Someone else sent me a copy. How bad can a free book be? Actually, so far it seems pretty good. I am only about 1/4 of the way through, but a lot of the ideas are things I already think about or have been coming around to recently.

When I am done with this book, I hope to write a review. I am going to try to have it published on a more popular blog that I frequent.