CW 393: Airbnb in San Francisco Plus Trading vs Investing and Apartments vs Single Family Homes with Douglas J. Utberg

Douglas J. Utberg - Biograhy   My professional life started when I was delivering newspapers at 15 years of age, progressed through multiple jobs paying near minimum wage.   This experience taught me the value of gaining a strong financial education to ensure that I would be able to lift myself up to higher opportunities in the future.   Upon completing my first year of college, I enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserve.  The experience of training in the Marines taught me the importance of a strong work ethic, and the ability to adapt and improvise during difficult situations.  During my six years of service in the Marine Corps Reserve, I eventually earned the rank of Sergeant, and was assigned responsibility for a squad of fellow Marines.  This taught me the importance of placing the team’s needs before your own when in a position of responsibility.   Later on, I graduated from Portland State University, earning a bachelor of science in Finance.  Immediately afterward, I embarked on a brief career in the financial services industry, selling insurance products and mutual funds.  During this experience, I discovered the extent to which the financial industry is driven by a desire for management fees and commissions.  This experience inspired me to seek out both a different career path and to develop a way for people to learn the skills necessary for managing their own finances and investments so that they can escape the fees and commissions of the financial services industry.   It is at this point when I began my career at Intel Corporation, during which I was able to earn my MBA from George Fox University.  While working at Intel, I was fortunate enough to gain a broad array of experience ranging between manufacturing, cost, inventory, software business analysis, open source business analysis, microprocessor pricing, long range planning, compute continuum, and leading the P&L team in building and implementing a new forecasting system.  Each assignment during my career at Intel provided a unique opportunity to learn and develop.   In addition to my career working for an employer, I have also engaged in a broad variety of business and investing activities, ranging from the purchase and management of single plus multi-family investment real estate to stock market investing to building web-based businesses.  My investment and business philosophy are both the same, with each centered around fundamentals and value.  My personal and professional studies have repeatedly found that speculation is not a formula for consistent long-term success.   My experience has shown that the best way to succeed in both our career and our investments is to seek value in everything that you do.   Visit Doug's website: http://DougUtberg.com   Connect with Doug on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DougUtberg