I think that it is fair to give some background about myself. I wish to give readers an basic idea of where I am coming from. I am a 30-something engineer working in Silicon Valley (California). I started saving for my future after completing graduate school shortly. My main focus was getting the best savings rates from my bank or investment company then.
Even the concepts of 401(k) programs and mutual funds were something completely new to me. I did become seriously thinking about investing a little less than 10 years ago. Like many people, I acquired swept up in the technology stock craze of the late 1990s. Employed in the high-tech industry fueled my curiosity about these stocks also.
I rode a few of these stocks and shares down in the first 2000s. And, I’d say that my portfolio hit bottom in 2002. Coincidentally, I used to be also once subjected to downsizing not, but twice, in the past five years. Any employee stock options which i had were essentially worthless at the time.
But, I have already been resilient. Every time that I acquired knocked over, I’ve got right up and redoubled my resolve to achieve success back. Since 2002, I have rebuilt my investment portfolio. Although I actually nowadays own fewer stocks and shares, I am better diversified across industry groups. I feel that the economy is way better now, but I’ve learned never to get too overconfident, and to arrange for the worst while hoping for the best.
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On a personal level, I have been wedded for over five years happily. My wife and I haven’t any children yet. Recently, I have observed a prevalence of “under 30” personal financing blogs on the Internet. I imagine that I am much longer qualified to be in the under 30 audience no. Nevertheless, I am hoping that the under 30 bloggers would look to me for advice from someone who is only slightly older. Now I am starting a blog to share my experiences with others. On the other hand, I hope to study from those who have more experience than I do also.
Such information can only just be provided by an application of rigorous research. What should a research program look like? First, it must enlist the active participation of people and organizations that own and control places. Some preliminary research can be undertaken using police records, other public data bases, and surveys. Most organized evaluation and experimentation concerning changes to the characteristics of places will demand the assistance of the firms and home owners.
Second, a place-focused research and evaluation program should create a body of theoretically audio and rigorously examined interventions. 1. Where is each kind of crime most likely that occurs? 2. What place characteristics protect places from criminal offense or facilitate criminal offense? 3. What innovative prevention tactics come from problem-solving and situational crime prevention attempts?
4. What methods for analyzing problems and developing avoidance strategies are of help for local decision manufacturers particularly? 5. Which techniques are located effective, predicated on impact evaluations with medical methods scores not less than 3? 6. Of those tactics that appear promising based on impact assessments in single sites, which survive multi-site evaluations with scientific methods ratings of 4 and 5? The Drug Market Analysis Project (DMAP) is a good exemplory case of how demonstration, research and evaluation can together work. In five cities (Jersey City, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and San Diego) NIJ funded the development of advanced computer mapping.
These efforts improved police ability to investigate their crime and drug problems and they supported preliminary research into drug market places and thorough assessments of interventions to control drug dealing. DMAP addressed another research concern also. A place-focused research program should foster improvements in scientific methods used in evaluations. All assessments should utilize control groupings or interrupted time-series designs, unless there are mind-boggling explanations why such controls can’t be employed.
