Sihanoukville

December 15, 2009

Geography

Sihanouk Ville is located at the south-west of Cambodia that has land area about 1,283 km2. There are 2 national road from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville.If we travel from PP to Sihanoukville along the national road No 4, there are 230 km long and we have to spend 3h 30mn or 4h.If we travel across national road No 3, there are 238 km long, we have to spend 5 hours. In Sihanoukville, besides the national road there is a railway from PP to Sihanouk that has 264 km, we have to spend 12 hours, moreover, there is an airway that fry from Por Chentong International Airport to Sihanoukville, we have to spend 45 mn.Sihanouk Ville was built in 1956 along the Kompong Som coast that the eastern border is next to theKompot province, northern next to the Koskong province, southern and western next to the Gulf of Thailand.This province divided into adminisrative regions that has 3 Districts, 22 Sangkats, and 94 Villages. The population is about 162,317 that 84,561 are ladies and 77,756 are men, and there are 30,210 families.This province there are many peoples came to live such as Khmer, Cham, Saouch, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other peoples.

About Sihanoukville

"Beach town" , "port community", "fledgling resort estination" , all describe about Sihanoukville , Cambodia's premier beach town. Sihanoukville, known locally as Snooky is called Kampong Som by the Khmers.It's probably the best value beach resort town in Asia, where you can live like a king for a pittance!

Sihanoukville is Cambodia's Premier Beach Resort with Casinos, new bars and restaurants and hotels springing up everyday, but one thing remains constant...the beaches are beautiful with their crystal clear aquamarine waters. Tropical sun is intense so be sure to pack your sun screen. On those days you might be recovering from a sunburn check out Angkor Brewery, KbalChaiwaterfall, ReamPark, or The sleepy port village of Stoung Hao to the north where workers spend hours shelling crab. Ream Park is on the outskirts of town and one can take a riverboat from the highway, through mangroves to the mouth of the river.

This coastal city is beautified by white-sand beaches that include OChheuTeall , Sokha , PramPiChan , Deum Chrey. These beaches are known for their quiet, cosy atmosphere and the large stretches of white sand and clear waters and these make them popular spots for families on vacation. These seaside paradises with the refreshing coolness of the fresh water streams can be enjoyed all year round. Business opportunities in Sihanoukville are varied from financial activities to tourist and travel-related industries in conjunction with the government’s objective of making Sihanoukville a major tourist destination besides its status as an International Offshore Financial Centre. The government welcomes both foreign as well as local investors to participate on a joint-venture basis.

Sihanoukville's white sand beaches and warm Gulf of Thailand waters combine with a laid back, beachy atmosphere to provide a great little tropical getaway. Sihanoukville is a place to unwind by the beach, enjoy the fresh from-the-ocean seafood, take in a snorkeling or scuba trip, and generally slow-down, lay back and chill-out.

Cambodian's only deep-sea port is located here and considerable international aid has been spent to improve the infrastructure in the province. Although tourism has increased over the past few years, the beaches of Sihanoukville are some of the most unspoiled in all of Southeast Asia . It is a prefect tropical getaway, filled with lovely beaches and facilities for swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving or just sunbathing. Boat trips are also available to many of the nearby islands. There are several hotels and local restaurants serving fresh, delicious seafood on the beach. On the weekend, there are many local visitors from Phnom Penh to relax, swimming and enjoy fresh seafood.

How to go to Sihanoukville

Coach/bus

Long-distance buses operated by Phnom Penh Sorya Transport Company (tel: (23) 210 359) travel to destinations such as Kampot, Sihanoukville, Battambang and Siem Reap.

Getting to Sihanoukville is made convenient by local express Bus from the capital city of Phnom Penh. It takes around three and a half hours to reach Sihanoukville from the capital city by National Road No 4 which is one of Cambodia’s best roads. . Traveling to Sihanoukville is quite comfortable by bus. You can avail air conditioned buses which depart from Phnom Penh several times a day. The passengers availing the bus route are let off at the bus station near the center of Sihanoukville. There are regular bus services and you will never have to face a problem as such.

Transportation in Sihanoukville is quite convenient. You can hire a shared taxi from the capital city of Phnom Penh’s Central Market. It will cost you about $25 -40.It takes about 2 ½ to 3 ½ hour ride to reach Sihanoukville. You can also avail Sihanoukville bound private taxis which wait at the south west corner of the central market.

Taxi

Taxis can be hired in main cities, although they are not metered so the price has to be fixed in advance. Tips are appreciated.

Car hire

It is really only possible to hire a car with a driver. Car hire can be arranged by private negotiation with a taxi waiting outside the hotels or through tour operators.

Getting Around Towns and Cities

There are no public buses in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. Taxis wait outside hotels and restaurants but, as they are unmetered, the fare should be fixed before leaving. Cyclos (tricycles) or motodops (motorcycle taxis) are an efficient and inexpensive way to get around and some of the drivers, especially those found outside main hotels, speak a little French or English. Siem Reap also has motorised tuk tuks.

Places of Interests

Kbal Chhay Waterfall

Locates in Khan Prey Nup in seven Kilometers distance from the Sihanouk Ville, then turn left more nine Kilometers by a red soil road. The waterfall of Kbal Chhay has many souces from the mountain range at the seaside. The history of Kbal Chhay waterfall was found in 1960. Until 1963 Kbal Chhay was arranged as the clean-water sources to give Sihanouk Ville, but the arrangement failed. It became Khmer Rouge hideout . In 1997,Kbal Chhay was turned into the developing zone. In 1998, it was bid by Kok An Company on constructing road and changing this site for tourist resort for local and international tourists. Nowadays, the Royal government of Cambodia has changed this site to the clean-water sources for giving clean water to Sihanouk Ville.

Ochheuteal Beach

Ochheuteal Beach , known as UNTAC Beach in the early 1990s, is now the most popular in Siha-noukville, offering the full spectrum of beach venues from upscale hotels and dining to laid-back budget beach bars and bungalows. Ochheuteal is long, sandy and narrow, with ‘ Serendipity Beach ’ at the northern end, a golf- course development at the southern end, and a cluster of mid-range hotels and restaurants near the MP base in the middle. Little shack style restaurants and bars, grass umbrellas, rentable beach chairs line the beach from one end to the other. The mid section of Ochheuteal just south of the MP base appeals to visitors seeking middle to upper range facilities near the beach. It offers several nice hotels including the Golden Sand, the mid-range Holiday and Orchidee Guesthouse, as well as some of Sihanoukville’s better seafood restaurants, (Sea Dragon, Susaday, and Les Feuilles), within walking distance of the hotels. Bucking mid-Ochheuteal’s upscale trend, several relatively inexpensive guesthouses have sprung up, including the Susaday and a few more along the second road back from the beach. Further south along the beach near the golf course development, a number of budget traveler/backpacker oriented bar/restaurant/beach hangouts have sprung up, (including the well-known Chiva’s Shack and Chaimoy’s Frog Shack), all offering chairs, umbrellas, drinks and a chill-out atmosphere. Locates at Sangkat No 3, Sihanouk Ville. The beach has the most beautiful characteristics-large beautiful sand beach, shallow water and quiet sea. We found the beach has specific either geographical aspect or the arrangement.

Sokha Beach

Occupying all of Sokha Beach , the new Sokha Beach Resort, Sihanouk-ville’s first full resort complex, is offering upscale accommodation, restaurants, water sports, and more. Sokha Beach is about 1 kilometer long and comparatively wide so that there is plenty of sand left during high tide. It is perfectly groomed these days, fairly quiet by comparison to Ochheuteal, and is open to the general public as well as guests of the resort.

Independence Beach

Independence Beach gets its name from the deserted hulk of the 7-storey Independence Hotel at the north end. Locals call this beach ‘otel bram-pul chann (hotel 7-stories). It is labeled ‘7- Chann Beach ’ on the in-town street sign. Independence is more than a kilometer long, but the sandy area is quite narrow, making the beach best when the tide is low. The beach is wider and moretouristed toward the northwest end, near a small fresh water lake (which is the source of the town’s fresh water and is rumored to contain crocodiles). At the other end is the beach’s only hotel, Sea Breeze. Grass umbrellas and drink vendors now line the beach from end to end but Independence is still much less frequented than other beaches. The road up to the old Independence Hotel is often frequented by a small troop of Rhesus monkeys but is currently closed while the hotel undergoes renovation.Independence Beach is located next to Sokha Beach on its west. The beach was named after the old Independence Hotel. This beach offers a good stretch of clean sand. Situated at the northern end of the beach is Independence Hotel and Koh Pos Beach, the nice tiny island only 800m off the coast. Koh Pos offers cool shades but rocky waters.

Victory Beach

At over two kilometers, Victory Beach is quite long, but like Independence Beach , the sandy area is narrow, making low tide the best time. Victory is really two beaches divided by a rocky point and a small hill. The southern beach is sometimes referred to as ‘King’s Beach,’ ‘ South Channel Beach ’, or ‘ Lamherkay Beach ’, but ‘ Hawaii Beach ’ seems to be catching on as the appellation of choice. Like the other major beaches, southern Victory is now lined with umbrellas and little drink huts, though not as densely as Ochheuteal. There are a few boats on the beach that take tourists out to the nearby islands for a fee. Victory Beach north of the rocky point is a park at one end and a port at the other. It is a great place to watch sunset and the big ships come and go from the port. Chney Molop Chhrey seafood restaurant is right on the beach and the Holiday Palace Casino and Hotel is on the beach road. Weather Station Hill (a.k.a. Port Hill, Victory Hill, Backpacker Hill, ‘The Hill,’ etc.) between north and south Victory beaches just above the Victory Monument is the budget center of Sihanoukville. The Hill is home to dozens of guesthouses, restaurants of all types, bars, and shops, a couple of travel agencies, a scuba shop and more including such as Bungalow Village, MASH/Melting Pot, Sakal Bungalows, Mealy Chenda, Chez Mari-yan, Blue Frog, Indian Curry Pot, and Corner Bar. The beach sits just 50 meters from the base of the hill and is fast growing in popularity. Umbrellas, beach chairs and a few beachfront restaurant/bars dot the edge of this part of Victory Beach , which also offers excellent sunset views as well as a generally pleasant alternative to the sometimes overcrowded Ochheuteal Beach .Victory beach is situated at the furthest north of the peninsula of Sihanoukville. It was the original backpacker beach and still popular with budget travelers. At the northern end of the beach is located the deep sea port. Thus, apart from white sand and blue sea, this beach offers a good spot to enjoy the scenes of sunset. At the further south of Victory Beach is another small strand of sand called Lamherkey Beach where the Hawaii Seaview Restaurant is located. It is the place where a French/ Cambodian construction team laid groundwork for the construction of the new Port of Kampong Som during 1950s. At this beach, you can hire a boat to nearby islands.

Places for Dinning

Sokha Beach Resort

Range: $160 - $1000 SRF By far Sihanoukville’s finest accommodations - a luxury beach resort located on picturesque Sokha Beach. 188 rooms, suites and bungalows. All rooms finely appointed. Meeting facilities for up to 300. Three fine restaurants, two bars and a night club. Excellent service. Swimming pool. Groomed, white sand beach. Water-skiing, paddleboats, jet ski, scuba, gymnasium, tennis courts, playground, etc. Visa/MC

Tel: +(855) (0)34-935999
Fax: +(855) (0)34-935008
E-mail: info@sokhahotels.com
Web Site: http://www.sokhahotels.com/

Ana

Bar/Restaurant/Internet Cafe

New location for the popular, western-managed internet cafe and travel agency now serving Khmer food with an outside patio and comfortable bar. Laptop and wifi hookups. Rooms from $5 with fan and a/c. Full service travel service including visa extensions, air ticketing and tours.

Sopheakmongkol and Street 109
8:00AM - Late
Tel: 012-372018
E-mail: anainternet@yahoo.com
Web Site: http://www.anainternet.com/

The Bavarian

Restaurant/Bar: German/Thai

Restaurant and bar on the ground floor of the Bavarian Guesthouse near the bus station. Good German, Thai and some Khmer dishes including Schnitzel, goulash, pork fillet with dry plum and more. Eat in or take away. By night The Bavarian Restaurant becomes the Coyote Ugly Bar offering full bar, draft beer, sports TV, music and friends.

Street 109
7:00AM - 4:00AM
Tel: 012-964503

Cantina del Mar

Beach Bar/Restaurant: Mexican/Khmer Cambodia's first beachfront-fish taco stand serving fresh Mexican and Khmer seafood. Top shelf tequilas and spirited margaritas served on one of Cambodia's most pristine beaches. As with its sister bar Cantina on the riverfront in Phnom Penh, Cantina del Mar make their tortillas and salsa daily. Simple accommodations available.

Otres Beach

10:00AM till interest fades

Tel: 012-702502

Cloud 9 Seaside

Restaurant / Beach Bar
From the point at the quiet end of Serendipity Beach you see the stars awaken from the day while enjoying sundowners. A full bar service includes cocktails, fine wine and champagne. Dine in romantic settings, open deck or covered areas. “The thoroughly enjoyable cuisine is Khmer with a touch of genius, western dishes and vegetarian fare.”

‘Serendipity Beach’ or via Sokha Beach
8:00AM - Late
Tel: 012-479365Website: http://www.cloud9bungalows.com/

For more information goto http://www.canbypublications.com/sihnoukville/ksrest.htm

Photographic Shops

Not the highest quality film processing in Cambodia but it will do in a pinch. Fresh film, disposable cameras.

Konica Photo Express on 7 Makara St T#015-912303

Ana Internet and Travel Digital camera to CD or print. On Ekareach St. 034-933596

CD World Digital camera to CD or print. Opposite Phsar Leu. 012-840455Konica Photo Express Film processing, photocopies, film sales. Opposite Phsar Leu.

Lucky Web Digital camera to CD or print. Three locations: downtown opposite Bamboo Lights, Seaview Villa on ‘Serendipity Beach’, and on Weather Station Hill.

Markets

Traditional Markets

Phsar Leu (Upper Market)

When people refer to ‘the market’, they mean this one. There is a particularly good selection of fruit and flowers in the back section. Traveler’s sundries such as shampoo, toothpaste, razors, etc. are available on the central aisle. Opens and closes with the sun. On 7 Makara near Omui.

The night market

Is made up mostly of noodle soup, sandwich, and fruit and drink stands. Sets up in the evening along Ekareach through the center of town and near Phsar Leu. Slowly shuts down from 1AM-4AM.

Psah Pinichecom

On corner of St# 109 & Boray Kamakor St

Central Night Market

Corner Ekareach St & Sopheakmongkol E St (24hr)

Convenience Stores

There are really only four shops specializing in imported foods and drinks

Samudera

Good stock of foreign foods, drinks, spirits, cigarettes, imports. Good business connections. Visa services. Air tickets. Foreign exchange. On 7 Makara. Open 7:00 - 20:00. Tel: 034-933441 Visa / MC

Shell Shop

Cold drinks, beer, spirits, soda, canned good, soft drinks. Foreign exchange. Visa services. Boat/bus tickets. Sitting area with cable TV, snacks, hot dogs. Located is the Shell station in the center of town. Open 24 hours. Tel: 034-933882 Visa / MC

Sovann Phoum

Beer, soft drinks, spirits, sundries, snacks. On Ekareach Street in the middle of town. 7:00AM - 11:00PM Tel: 034-9334780

Star Mart

Caltex convenience store offering drinks, ice cream, chips, hot dogs, etc. Ekareach Street in the center of town. Open till midnight

Bakeries

Like most of Indochina, local bread comes in the form of baguettes, freshly baked each evening. Bread is sold from sandwich carts and by ‘bread boys’ who roam the town calling “num-paan” and hawking baguettes from oversized baskets.

Aux Delices

French bakery, restaurant, pizza. On Ekareach in the middle of downtown.

Starfish Bakery

Cafe (see map) Excellent, fresh baked, western style breads and pastries. Rave reviews.

7 Jan Bread Shop

Cambodian style baguettes and cakes. Next to the Phnom Meas Hotel on 7 Makara.

The Bakery

located on unpaved road off Ekareach St at turn

Sokha Beach Resort

Freshly baked, finely prepared desserts, pastries, cakes, pies and more.

Climate

The best beach weather begins with the end of the rains in November. The dry, warm, breezy weather that follows lasts through January. Night temperatures can get down to a chilly 20° but the days hover around 28°-30°. Many think December and January are best with their balmy temperatures and blue skies.

At the end of January, Sihanoukville begins to warm and continues to get hotter through July (maximum 35°). After February, cool 'mango showers' occasionally blow in from the north. December through June is said by some local outfitters to be the best scuba weather with clearer (though cooler) waters than the rest of the year.

Practically speaking, Cambodia has four seasons: 1) December-February, cool/dry; 2) March-May, hot / dry, 3) June-August, hot/wet; 4) September-November, cool/wet. The hottest days of the hot season rarely climb above 35°C and the cool season may push the mercury as low as 20°C. Sihanoukville tends to be breezier and a bit cooler than the rest of the country

Where to Stay

Crystal Hotel

Star Rate: * * *
Room : 47
Address: Mithona Street , Ochheuteal Beach, Sihanoukville , Cambodia
Telephone: +855 34 933 523

The Crystal Hotel , Sihanoukville, is located just 2 minutes walk from the white sands of Ochheuteal beach. Built in the shape of a boat, the Crystal Hotel is a beach lovers paraside. A stroll away are some small beach restaurants and some sunbeds under the shade of some large straw umbrellas. Rooms are simply decorated with blue tones and mahogany furniture.

Rates-per room per night

Hotel rates per night are inclusive of 10% service charge, 7% tax and American breakfast. Single room = One person, Twin/Double room = Two persons, Triple room = Three persons, including extra bed. Extra beds are unavailable.

Room facilities

Standard Facilities

Air-Conditioning, Telephone, Minibar, Room Service, Television

Standard Room

Standard Rooms are 27 sqm, located in the main building. Rooms are fitted with 2 single beds. Bathrooms have a bathtub with an overhead shower.

Seaview Room

Seaview Rooms are 39 sqm, located in the main building and have sea views. Rooms are fitted with a king size bed. Bathrooms have a bathtub with an overhead shower.

hotel facilities

Air-Conditioned Rooms, Air-Conditioned Suites, Restaurant, Coffee Shop, Banquet & Conference Facilities, Business Services, Wireless Internet, Laundry Service, Car Park.

Seaside Hotel

Star Rate: * * *

Room : 83
Address: 4th Mittapheap Section, Ochhoeteal, Sihanoukville , Cambodia
Telephone: +855 34 933 641/662

The Seaside Hotel, Sihanoukville, is located only 2 minutes walk to the beach across a small road. The Seaside Hotel is built like a palatial pagoda in a contemporary Khmer style. Rooms are well presented and comfortable. Enjoy eating at one of the small local seafood restaurants which are only a short stroll away or hire a boat to explore and discover the nearby islands.

Other 3 Stars Hotels

- CCS Hotel between beach & town RM $20/$35, Bungalow $40 Tel: 034-320071

- Chher Molop Chrey on Victory Beach RM $20/$40, S $50/$60 Tel: 034-933737

- Crystal Hotel on Ochheuteal Beach RM $25/$35 T#034-933523

- Hawaii Hotel in town center RM $15/$20/$25 T#034-933750

- Indra Hotel between beach & town RM Up $35, Down $15 T#034-320101

- New Hong Kong Hotel near traffic circle RM $20/$30012-842089

- Orchidee Hotel near Ochheuteal Beach RM $15/$20/$25 T#034-933639

- Seaside Hotel, Ochheuteal Beach S-$25/$50 D-$30/$50 T-$40 T#034-933641

Other 2 Stars Hotels

- Chez Mari-yan near Victory Beach RM $6, Bungalow $10 T#034-933709

- Coasters Resort Bungalows & Restaurant at Ochheutal Beach $10 Tel: 012 964 170

- Cobra Bungalows on Ochheuteal Beach $15/$20 T#034-933643

- Colap 1 Hotel between beach & town RM $15 T#034-320175

- Colap 2 Hotel town center RM $13/$15 T#015-343004

- Holiday Hotel off Ochheuteal Beach,$15/$25 T#034-933658, F#034-320113

- Kampong Som Hotel town center RM $10/$15 T#034-933551

- Kampuchea Hotel near town RM $15/$25 T#034-933681

- Kamsab Hotel on Victory Beach RM $15/$25 T#034-933742

- Koh Pos Hotel between Indep/Vic Beach RM $15/$20 T#015-340067

- Koh Rong Hotel town center RM $10/$15 T#034-933456

- Loun Heng Hotel between Ochheuteal & town RM $15 T#034-933536

- Marlin/Semsak Hotel town center RM $10/$15 T#034-320169

- Mohasal Hotel near town center RM $15/$30 T#034-933488

- Nasa Hotel between beach & town RM $10/$15 T#034-320132

- New Okynawa Hotel in town near market RM $5/$10/$20 T#015-347721

- New Paris Hotel town center RM $15/$20/$25 T#034-933750

- New York Hotel town center RM $10/$20 T#034-933595

- Phnom Meas Hotel in town near market RM $10/$20 T#015-913459

- Royal Hotel town center RM $10/$13 T#034-320046

- Sampo Meas Hotel town center RM $15 T#034-933700

- Semsak Hotel town center RM from $10 T#034-320169

- Sea Breeze Hotel Independence Beach RM $15/$35 T#034-320217

- Sokha Bungalows on Sokha Beach Bungalows $20 T#015-34762

-2 So Nguon Hotel near the port RM $15/$25 T#034-320289

- Star Hotel near town center RM $13/$20 T#012-340159

- Tai San Hotel town center RM $10/$15 T#034-933455

- Victory Hotel in town near north hills RM $10/$20 T#034-933468

- Vimean Tao Meas Hotel near traffic circle RM $10/$15 T#015-345381

- Yang Chou Hotel town center RM $10/$15 T#034-933522

The easiest way to get rich

December 13, 2009

Judging by their behavior, most people have an obsession with wealth. Politicians promise to create it, most popular magazines are filled with gossip about those who have it, and the average person spends much of their adult life trying to obtain it. We are creatures obsessed with money, partly for what it can buy, but also as a thing of value in itself.

But most people misunderstand money. They don't really know how to obtain it, or how to hold onto it once they have it.

If you're interested in getting rich, I'm going to give you the simplest formula for doing so. In fact, if you follow it you're virtually guaranteed to build enough wealth to get you into the top 5% of society. As the shampoo advertisement says: "It won't happen overnight, but it will happen".

The hardest way to get rich

Before I go into my formula, let me tell you about hard ways to get rich.

One of the hardest is to be born into it. Of course, if you happen to enter this world as a Hilton, a Gates or a Windsor, then life is sweet. But since 99.9999% of the population aren't that lucky, I'm assuming you didn't win that particular lottery.

And speaking of lotteries, gambling is another very difficult way to get rich. Sure, some people buy a lottery ticket and win big, but most don't. You can gamble your entire life and you'll most likely end up broke rather than wealthy.

When I was younger, I thought the easiest way to get rich was to become famous through some kind of creative act. Stephen King got rich writing horror novels, so why not me?

I'm now much wiser and realize that the vast majority of novelists never even get published. Of those who do, most wallow in obscurity. Only very few make it anywhere near the best-seller list, and only one in a million will achieve any kind of serious wealth.

The same fate awaits the majority of musicians, software company founders, sportspeople and website creator. For every Google that makes its owners billions, there are a million websites that lose money. Creativity is the most fun and rewarding way to get rich, but it's also a very difficult way.

The reason the media raves about and idolizes those who've built wealth through creativity is because they're so rare. You don't hear about the vast majority who wallow in obscurity and poor pay, because they're not interesting. "Young genius makes $1 billion from website" is a great headline "Ten thousand young geniuses make nothing from their hard work" isn't.

I'm not saying you shouldn't keep your dreams alive. It's one of the best parts of life. But this article isn't about the most fun way to try and get rich - it's about the easiest way.

Okay, here's the system.

Step 1: Get a well-paid job

This is a reasonable amount of work, and takes a few years, but it's a virtually guaranteed way to make a good income. If they're willing to put in the work, almost any intelligent person can get a job paying $100,000 or more within the space of a few years. While it's not easy, it is by far the easiest and most likely way to secure a good income. In fact, I've already written an entire article on how to get a job paying more than $100,000 a year for those who wish to pursue this avenue.

Step 2: Get good tax advice

However you make your money, your number one expense is likely to be funding the government. In most developed countries, the average worker pays around 30% of everything they earn straight into the taxman's pocket. If you've taken my job advice, you'll most likely pay even more than that.

While taxation is necessary to fund the good things governments provide, you don't do yourself any favors by paying more than your fair share. If you're serious about building wealth, get a good accountant who understands how to legally minimize your tax bill.

Step 3: Save 20% of everything you ever earn

As soon as you get paid, arrange to have 20% of your income removed into a savings account. Many banks can do this automatically for you. Keep your savings account separate from your spending account, and you'll barely miss this money.

There's a saying in economics "expenses rise to meet income". This means money that's easily available to you is certain to be spent. That's why most people's paychecks disappear before their next payday. They get used to having a certain amount to spend, and habitually run down their bank account.

Have your savings moved somewhere it's a hassle to get them out of to avoid this risk. Many high interest accounts require you to give them a few days notice, which is ideal for this purpose.

Step 4: Conservatively invest the funds that build up in your savings account

Once a month, go into your savings account and divide the money by investing it into the three core conservative assets: shares, property and cash. Open a mutual fund account for shares, a property fund for property, and a money market fund for cash. Look for share and property funds that invest in a broad range of assets and most importantly charge very low fees. An index fund is ideal for the shares. An index of property funds is ideal for property.

Put an equal amount into each account. This will diversify you against risk in any one particular asset. If you're younger, this rule is a little bit flexible, allowing you to take a little more risk and put more into shares and property if you like.

Step 5: Reinvest any income you get from your assets straight back into buying more assets

Mutual funds and property funds pay dividends. Money market accounts pay interest. Don't take this income into your spending account. Instead, select the option to have it reinvested into the fund that generated it.

Step 6: Never touch these funds and do your best to ignore them

The business press, like the mainstream press, loves a crisis. "Shares to skyrocket" or "Property to plummet" headlines will sell many more copies than "Things to continue steadily". All markets go up and down. Every day, some speculation will be published about some crisis or opportunity.

Ignore it all.

Just keep putting the 20% into your assets. Sometimes they'll go up and sometimes they'll go down in value. But over the long term, they'll almost certainly go up.

Step 7: Wait a decade

Do what I've outlined above and in a decade you'll be rich. Sure, you won't be Bill Gates, but you'll almost certainly be in the top 20% of wealth holders. Wait another decade and you'll be in the top 5% or higher.

That's the plan. It's not the most exciting or glamourous way to build wealth, but it's the easiest. Quite simply, this is how most rich people got there.

You too can join them, if you follow it.

Modern marriage

A Joint Account That Underwrites Our Marriage

I HAVE been married forever.

Well, not since the Big Bang but since the Nixon administration — 35 years — a stretch long enough to startle new acquaintances or make talk-show audiences applaud. Recently one of my wife’s college students kept pressing us, with baffled curiosity, for our secret, as if there had to be some trick to it, like wearing each other’s clothes on Tuesdays.

Back when we became engaged, our news was also greeted with baffled curiosity. It was the ’70s, after all, when the freedom to be able to hop from one relationship to the next was as essential as anything in the Bill of Rights. Our friends were profoundly perplexed; nobody, they thought, could want a fondue set that badly.

We had already been together three years at that point, pretty much ever since I turned around at the orientation meeting for new history graduate students and saw her in her granny dress. (As I say, it was a long time ago.) Our feelings about marriage may have been shaped by our pursuit of such a traditional area of study. Perhaps our attitudes would have been different had either of us been in gender studies.

Of course, back then no one had heard of gender studies.

The surprise that now greets us at the fact that we’ve managed to stay married so long — as opposed to having shaken hands at some point and decided who kept the ice cream maker — is even more extreme. Friends you haven’t seen for a long time often inquire delicately about the spouse you had when they last saw you.

I once explained to a colleague that I was looking for a job change because of something going on with my wife. His eyes widened with the assumption that our situation involved a family law specialist instead of a fellowship that required me to follow her across the country.

Since our wedding, the numbers have increasingly turned against us. Fewer people marry. Fewer stay married. And when it comes to having and raising children, being married has become as optional as the color of your baby’s onesies.

Throughout the ’80s so many of our married friends broke up that it started to seem as if the married demographic consisted largely of us and the Huxtables. Since then, Hollywood has wisely shifted the base of many of its sitcoms to work and friendship rather than the nuclear family, situations younger viewers can better identify with.

Anyone who has been married for a long time starts to feel like a soldier surrounded by heavy casualties. In graduate school, a couple who married when we did failed to make it through a year. In my first job, we were one of four couples who got together almost every weekend; a few years later my wife and I were the only ones still together. Deep into our married life, five couples we knew, each together at least two decades, came apart in a single year, shells of separation bursting all around us. Like surviving soldiers, we like to think we were a little better prepared, maybe a little better suited for it. But we also know we’ve been lucky.

Anyone with an anniversary in the precious-metal range knows what it’s like to support friends whose marriages have fallen apart. That newly disconnected friend sleeping on your couch who came to dinner with a tight smile and a greater interest in red wine is like a walking cautionary tale, the image pressed permanently into any marriage’s mental photo album.

And making all those changes in your address book affects your own marriage. When a close friend left his wife for someone much younger, my wife intensified her exercise regimen. Watching other couples break up also reminds me that divorce causes friends to choose between the two parties, and I would not like my chances.

The appeal of the alternative is everywhere. In popular culture, predictability seems like a bear market compared with possibility, and falling into a pattern is the opposite of falling in love. But if you stay married long enough to make people speculate about your religious beliefs, you come to see that patterns are the point; there’s a reason the heart is an organ measured in rhythms.

Being single is all about the future, about the person you’re going to meet at Starbucks or after answering the next scientific compatibility questionnaire. Being married, after a certain point, is about the past, about a steadily growing history of moments that provide a confidence of comfort, an asset that compounds over time. What you share is what you’ve shared, and measuring your communal property in decades puts you in a freakishly high bracket.

So experiences such as my being fired from my first job — I’ll tell you the story sometime; my wife has heard it often enough — or the long years when it seemed my wife would need to undergo complicated and scary spinal surgery transform over time from life’s low points into promontories of reassurance.

A writer’s capital, it is calculated, is his experience. After a while, the same applies to marriage, and a couple draws on it for what they need, a checking account of life’s checkpoints.

Our largest deposit was a long and painful stretch of infertility, ultimately producing two happy outcomes. It sounds self-evident to say that a husband and wife couldn’t have made it through infertility without each other; presumably they couldn’t have gotten into the situation without each other, but it has a particularly intense effect on a relationship. When the whole point of a condition is the absence of a third person, the two who find themselves alone together — a phrase that seems contradictory, except to an infertile couple — look at each other very closely, and look to each other very closely.

It was a major bonding moment when, in our early 30s, a fertility doctor told us that new discoveries were being made all the time, and that there was no reason we couldn’t make use of such discoveries until we were, say, 55.

Parents for the first time at 55?

We looked at him, and then at each other. Mutual resentment of authority figures can provide a powerful pillar for marriage.

I’ve heard it said that pain is something people can’t remember or accurately express to others. But those years of monthly meltdowns and longing looks at other people’s children come right back, all of our time spent on that barren island. Holidays were hard, especially the family-centered ones — Thanksgiving, Passover.

I have now been a father for the last 23 turkeys and Seders but I can still instantly call up the agony of those earlier occasions, that feeling of being forever outside the circle.

Some infertile couples we knew tore under the strain; others became more or less numb. We spent years living in a weirdly inverted world where an unwed teenage mother was envied for her facility. And while the wife of legend may explode in anger on coming home to find her husband in bed with somebody else, my wife did when she found me alone in the bathtub, having forgotten the effect of hot water on sperm count.

When our sons appeared, and the years of shared pain turned into a fund of shared experience, it was like coal being crushed into a diamond.

Even as marriage itself has taken a battering, it’s been eagerly seized as a symbol. Some who fervently endorse it are those with whom you may not agree on anything else. Marriage these days seems not only less effective in uniting people, it also appears to be playing a growing role in dividing them, particularly when it comes to what seems to be the last group actually excited about the idea — gay people. For an institution that these days can use all the support it can get, their application should not be easily dismissed.

And when I hear people explain that gay people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because the purpose of marriage throughout history has been to produce children, and they can’t do that, I envision decades of our anniversary cards being shredded.

During those years when our marriage was clearly failing in its natural assignment of procreation, were we not, according to these people, really married? If marriages have to be about children — rather than about affection and respect, or even the kind of endurance that leads teenagers to marvel at any marriages that have lasted longer than they have been alive — then gay people aren’t the only ones whose unions are somehow unsanctified.

LOOKING for something profound to tell my wife’s student, I mumbled something about respect. She nodded reflexively; sure, respect, human beings deserve respect. I couldn’t quite make my mouth move fast enough (I’ve been married since before the Bicentennial) to explain that that wasn’t it. It wasn’t a matter of basic human respect in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights sense, but of respect for someone who is in some way better than you.

I am somewhat better with words than my wife is; she is infinitely better with people. In different ways, we translate each other to the rest of the world, and admire each other’s contrasting language skills. Being married to someone you respect for being somehow better than you keeps affection alive. That this impressive person chooses you year after year makes you more pleased with yourself, fueling the kind of mutual self-esteem that can get you through decades.

The other part, about how those decades change over time from obstacles into assets, is something my wife’s student will have to figure out for herself. It could take awhile.

Like, forever.

source: nytimes.com