Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Portfolio

Financial world post apocalypse

namewithhe1d — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:08:46 -0800

What types of job opportunities exist for people with a skill set derived from 3-5 years as an sector trader on the international trading desk for one of the top private equity investment firms? Do those skills translate well into other positions outside of trading? This role was to execute the trades of portfolio managers, research industries and portfolios, trade with sell side brokerage firms as well as electronic algorithms and direct market access.
Product managers? Project managers? Market analysts?

Any ideas are a big help... Kudos if these opportunities exist in the northeast.

Are portfolio days for real?

davidriley — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:02:30 -0800

I recently attended a National Graduate Portfolio Day for students interesting in pursuing an MFA. I had a positive response, making me feel confident about my work and its presentation. However, I am suspicious, as I haven't heard anyone telling stories that they were really chewed out or criticized by their reviewers. I actually tried to push some of my reviewers to give me negative feedback, but they were ultimately optimistic. Are these things for real, or are they just a way for schools to talk people into applying?

Updating my portfolio website and need help with web navigation, images, hosting and more.

mintchip — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:04:23 -0800

Updating my online portfolio and need help with web navigation, images, hosting and more. I would like to update my online writing portfolio, which is currently a blog hosted by Blogger. Each post is a thumbnail image along with some introductory copy. The thumbnails link to large jpg images
stored on Flikr. I want to spend a minimum of time updating my site, and I need to be able to make updates with ease. I have old versions of Photoshop and Dreamweaver at my disposal. Can you help me with these questions?

1. Navigation: On Blogger, new posts appear in date order rather than being organized by category. I am not happy with this navigation limitation. Is there any way around this without creating a whole new website independent of Blogger? I have been thinking about purchasing a domain name and then using an HTML template, but it would be easier if I didn’t have to do this. If I do need to move to a different site format, what would you recommend for a simple template and/or host?

2. Photo storage: My thumbnail images, which Blogger creates, link to Flikr photos. However, the type in these larger images isn't fully readable until the user clicks a second time (after clicking on the thumbnail), to enlarge the image to full size. I’m afraid some readers won’t do this. Is there a good solution to this? Where should I store my photos (if not on Flikr)?

3. Photo size and format: What are standard image sizes? If I abandon the blog format and create a new HTML site, how should I go about creating all of the JPGs I will need (full size, thumbnail)? What is the standard size for full size images and thumbnails and what do you recommend for a naming convention? Would PDF format be preferable? If so, what software should I use to create my PDFs, are there any standards to these, and where can I store them?

4. Should I allow people to download my writing samples, either as JPG or PDFs?

Can I include companies I was subcontracted to in my portfolio?

miniape — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:30:23 -0800

Freelancers, if you're subcontracted by company A to work for a big client, company B, do you include both company A and company B in your portfolio? Does this change if you're actually employeed by company A, but still want to maintain a freelance portfolio? I've often seen people do this and I've read 'how to break into the business' type articles that instruct people to do this, but something about it seems a bit dishonest.

Sure I worked on projects for company B, but I was an employee of company A. I'm I being overly cautious?

Here are samples of my work, and you can click here to read my opinions on Obama!

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:49:22 -0800

How would I best go about making a web-based writing portfolio with limited internet abilities? I am a former newspaper journalist now working in academia, but I still do freelance writing assignments from time to time. Most communication with clients is done through e-mail, and when asked for samples of my work, I typically send an MS Word document with 6 or 8 pieces copied and pasted from their various sources. I would like to find a more professional way to do this, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on how.

What I want is some sort of simple URL link to a easy-to-browse collection of my best or favorite work -- the kind of thing that I could send by e-mail, have in my facebook profile, etc.

My HTML abilities and time are extremely limited, so buying a domain name and building a fancy freelance site are kind of out of the question. Instead, I'm considering either using a pre-packaged portfolio service like inkspot.com, or a free blog like Wordpress or Blogger. If I went with a blog, which is where I'm leaning at this point, I'd choose a dozen or so articles I've written and link them as blog posts. Where necessary, such as with certain stories behind a newspaper paywall, I would excerpt parts or all of the story as the post, with some disclaimer of copyright. I have good relationships with all of these publications, and don't foresee any copyright issues.

So my question is: how cheesy is this approach? Would you, as a magazine or newspaper editor, or marketing executive, etc., see my use of a blog-as-portfolio as unprofessional or cheap? Any better ideas?

UK Web Hosting for Indexhibit?

doobiedoo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:32:21 -0800

Can anyone recommend UK webhosting/domain registration for indexhibit? Hi I'm a total webhosting newbie trying to get an indexhibit portfolio going, I've done a quick search of previously recommended web hosts (this seems like useful advice) but am not sure if servers are location sensitive - I'm based in London, UK - or if there's a typical web hosting set up that people have found works well for indexhibit. I'm only looking to spend around £50/year and have left things to the last minute (interim show's on monday!) so advice is really appreciated.

Where can I find Merit-Based Art Scholarships?!

Griffinlb — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:48:26 -0800

Can anyone help me find (visual arts) portfolio based scholarships for my undergrad education? (Or other visual-arts-related scholarships) I graduated from highschool in '08. I'm currently in the tail end of my year off because I deferred my enrollment to Sarah Lawrence - I'll be entering as a freshman in August 2009. I have a pretty large portfolio of figurative artwork, but I'm NOT going to art school (SLC is a general Liberal Arts college with no majors). My work is mostly drawings, digital work, paintings etc.

Thanks for the help!

Reed mai werds pleez

Miko — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:23:20 -0800

What does a writing portfolio look like these days? I'm interviewing for nonprofit jobs, many of which have a strong writing component. I also freelance for local magazines and newspapers and have just started doing web content writing. I expect to keep going in all these directions.

But I'm a little unclear as to how writers collect and present their writing today, especially when it's across formats. I'm familiar with the idea of an online portfolio, but I have a lot of work (magazine pieces, grant narratives) that are not linkable online.

What is the best way to go about collecting and presenting my writing, especially for interview purposes? Is it better to make everything into PDF format and host it on your own site as a portfolio? Or is it still worthwhile to bring hard copies to interviews?

Thanks for any perspective you can give.

Help me design a navigation interface for my portfolio that people won't hate.

bristolcat — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:10:22 -0800

Help me design a navigation interface for my portfolio that people won't hate. I'm redesigning my graphic design portfolio and hoping to come up with a solid way of navigating through the examples of my work. I started to put some extra thought into this when I noticed that when a photographer's site or something similar is linked in the blue, often one of the main complaints is how bad the interface is. I want to avoid this and impress future employers and clients!

So, what things should I avoid? What are some good examples of a solid design? I'd like to hear from you what you think works and doesn't.

If it helps, I'm using Joomla as my CMS. If you have any plug-in recommendations for something that would work well, that would be helpful, but I'm not afraid to cobble together a custom solution either. I'll be displaying website design, print design, photography, logo work and fine art - so, multiple categories.

Website for soon-to-be-grad...

jdlugo — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:32:04 -0800

I'm thinking about starting a 'blog' or an online 'portfolio' type of website. My primary goal is to showcase projects and things I have worked on for fun and school to potential employers. I want to keep the site professional and technical. Tips or advice? I am a junior computer engineering student and will graduate a semester early (December of 2009). I have started applying to jobs and have had a couple of interviews. Two of my internships were in web development and I want to showcase some of my work online.

I'm thinking about starting a 'blog' or an online 'portfolio' type of website. My primary goal is to showcase projects and things I have worked on for fun and school to potential employers. I want to keep the site professional and technical.

I also thought of keeping an up-to-date resume on the 'blog'.

For those that have hired recent graduates, did they have a website? Is it a consideration or something you would even look at?

I am planning on using Wordpress and customizing it to my own needs. As a computer engineer, is this acceptable or do I need to roll-my-own? I can definitely do it, I'm just not sure if it's worth the headache.

I would appreciate any tips, advice, or things to avoid.

** I'm using 'blog' loosely because there may be a blog-like aspect to it. Such as, any recent Stackoverflow.com topics that relate to a project I may post or discuss.

help me create a portfolio website that doesn't scream "student work"!

MagicalHypotenuse — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:20:31 -0800

I'm an independent graphic artist looking to create a simple but not amatuerish-looking portfolio website to showcase my work. And because of my limited budget, I pretty much have to do it myself. However, I'm having trouble getting started because there's so much information out there, a lot of it conflicting, out-of-date, too specific, or too general. Please help me do this right! Plenty Basically, what I want is a simple main page leading to a few different galleries of my work, a blog, and a contact page. Nothing outrageously fancy; just crisp, professional, and clean. (Flash is not for me.) Anyway, at this point I can't really afford something like liveBooks so I have to do it myself. I've done a very basic portfolio website for a class, so I'm not entirely clueless, but I'm definitely hoping for something more polished than my student work.

Obviously, there's a lot of information out there (and i n h e r e), but I'm finding myself confused and hung up on all the particulars.

Examples of the kind of stuff that makes me nervous: domain registration, how hosting works, making sure a site is visible in different browsers and on different screen sizes, structuring a website, updating, adding site navigation & text to Photoshop-created galleries, making sure my site doesn't get hacked, etc.

I know this is a vast subject and I'm not expecting anyone to spell out every little detail here on MeFi. What I'm hoping is that some kind and clever people can point me in the right direction, perhaps by recommending specific books or detailed online tutorials that deal with creating online portfolios that are a) readily intelligible by (relative) web design newbies; b) current; c) not tacky or gimmicky. Any other resources or general words of advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

Young creative trying to break into advertising, wondering how to get by in Chicago!

designbyme — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:25:57 -0800

How can a young creative break into the world of advertising? What does it take to live in Chicago and go to Chicago Portfolio School? I am a 24 year old with a BA in graphic design (minor in marketing) and have had a long time interest in advertising. I have had 2 years of professional graphic design experience, but no advertising experience per se. I've been in contact with some reputable ad agencies and the consensus seems to be - improve the portfolio! Chicago Portfolio School has been offered as a suggestion by these reputable ad agencies, but its $15,000 for the one year program! I'm on my own (no rich daddy, damn!) and trying to piece all of this together before I make a huge leap... Any advice?

1. Does anyone have personal experience with Chicago Portfolio School?
2. How much do I have to make to just live in Chicago for a year while I'm at school? (I don't want to take out a loan for living expenses, just tuition)
3. Any other ideas?!

THANKS!

30-year investment portfolio which has to start before the end of the year and wants to be left alone afterwards?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:59:37 -0800

If you had a very strong incentive to invest money before the end of the year with a 30-year outlook, and a further strong incentive to not adjust your investment strategy over that timeframe unless absolutely necessary, what kind of portfolio would you assemble? I live in Germany, which has an effective 0% capital gains tax on long-term capital gains from financial instruments. The government has finally decided to end this peculiar state of affairs and will start to tax long-term capital gains at 25% or more starting in 2009. Investments made before 1/1/2009 and held for more than a year will continue to be (un)taxed under the old system. But, naturally, if you redistribute the portfolio at any point, what was redistributed will come under the new law, so there is a strong incentive to leave it alone if at all possible. I don't see this as a suicide pact, and would make changes that were necessary without sweating the tax too much, but I am trying to design a portfolio to put a little money in now that has decent odds of not requiring rejiggering and having acceptable performance over the long timeframe which is available.

Personality and background: I consider good money management to be an obligation but not a pleasure of life or inherently interesting, so I believe in keeping things as simple as possible, within reason. Past experience has taught me that if the workings of a financial vehicle aren't clear to me after one good and comprehensive explanation, I'd do best to avoid it. I have invested for the (shorter) long-term before and I've had good outcomes, and I've been lucky enough to have received my lessons about active short-term trading and speculation at reasonably low prices. My general financial health is healthy and the investment seed is extra money. I'm able to purchase many (but not all) US and other international securities/ETFs/funds/bonds without too much of a markup, so let's just assume for simplicity's sake that I can purchase any of them. This will be retirement money, but not the only source of retirement money.

I've read the Scott Adams article, lots of Warren Buffett, and several good books on index fund investing, and now this is my AskMe gut-check/brainstorm request before proceeding: what would your 30-year fire-and-forget portfolio look like? I would love to hear your ideas and advice if you wouldn't mind sharing. Thank you!

Unhappy at college - Help me figure out what my next steps should be?

SputnikSweetheart — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:54:46 -0800

Considering transferring to a different college (possibly for art): suggestions/advice on where to go/what to do? How to build a portfolio? Transfer tips? I'm currently a first-year at a women's liberal arts college. It's not that I don't like it... my classes are interesting and my professors are wonderful. But the selection of courses is kind of limited by the size, and despite the availability of cross-registration, it's making me wonder about my ability to really decide what I want to do when one of my main interests (Photography) isn't even offered here.

Additionally, I'm here on a GPA conditional scholarship, besides racking up considerable debt, and the financial pressure is really taking it's toll on my mental health. The general atmosphere here is very high-achieving, and that has never been my style. I will put in time and effort to things I enjoy (namely creative writing, studio art and photography) but I tend to put off my other subjects and do a half-assed job. I know this is something I could change about myself, but to be honest, I don't see why I should. I have a lot of probably silly opinions about the educational system in the U.S. and our system of values as a society, but I'll save them for another time.

My main problem is (and it's one I should have considered before choosing a liberal arts college, instead of just taking my mom's word for it that that was the only way to go) I don't see the need to excel in, say, history and a language and math and science, when I don't see a future career in any of those. I want to do what I love, especially if my future self will be paying dearly for it (and oh, she will be).

So, in considering transferring, I'm thinking of either a state school in my home state (because it would be either free or very very cheap, and I would have a greater variety of classes to choose from in my desired subject area) or an art school.

The art school concern, for me, is that I was never really encouraged by my family to pursue art as a possible career (for example, I wanted to apply to the magnet high school for the arts, but my mom absolutely refused on the grounds that it wouldn't be academically challenging enough) so I have only taken Photo 1 & 2, A.P. Art History (which I passed, but probably not by enough to impress anyone) and private watercolor classes in middle school. I paint and sketch on my own, and take pictures every chance I get (I may finally get a DSLR soon, as it is I used to use a film SLR that belonged to my mother and I use a friend's Nikon D40 on occasion). I'm also very interested in sort of illustrative lettering and collage.

I know I would need to build a portfolio - would I need a separate portfolio each for photography and paintings and drawings, or could I combine different media? I had an art teacher who said you couldn't call a painting or drawing your own if it was drawn from a picture that you didn't take yourself - many of my best sketches are. Can I include these or are they considered unprofessional? Any other advice or definite "Don'ts"?

I'm also terrified of the logistics of transferring should I actually be accepted somewhere else. I know as long as I am receiving an education somewhere I won't have to make payments on my loans, but are there other financial things to consider? I know the art college option could possibly be almost as expensive as my school now (which costs about 36K a year with tuition and fees now, with, naturally, a tuition hike next year)... are schools typically just as generous with financial aid to transfers as they are to first-years, or is it more of a "you get what's left" situation. My family does not contribute to my college, and my mom has already told me she won't cosign on any future loans because her credit is maxed.

And since I have just begun searching for schools, if anyone wants to recommend a school I may not have heard of, I'm open to suggestions! I can receive in-state tuition in Florida and maybe Colorado (my father lives there, but he's not on my birth certificate, so he would have to be added in time) and I currently live in Atlanta and really don't want to leave that sort of city environment.

Any advice is appreciated, but to clarify, I am not totally set on transferring... I just want to know what steps I need to take to have it as an option for next year and make myself an attractive candidate to an art school. I am not just giving up on this school, and I will try to make my next semester work. There are many things I love about it and I don't want to just "quit"... but at the same time, I have never felt so much pressure in my life, and it's just not working for me now.

How to find agency responsible for a web site?

seeminglee — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:25:53 -0800

Which interactive agency is responsible for designing adobe.com? And ultimately, what is the best way to find out who did what? I haven't been able to come up with a good query for these kinds of searches, and I thought that there *has* to be some kind of database online which shows agency-client line-ups. You'd think that these things would show up in AdAge's DataCenter but it does not - or perhaps I've missed it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Help me create a portfolio, quick!

micketymoc — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:40:08 -0800

I'm a writer, and I have a job interview on Tuesday afternoon. While I have my work lying around in folders on my PC (some video, some print, some flash, some radio), I haven't organized them in any meaningful, presentable way. How can I organize my work quickly into a decent portfolio that I can burn onto a CD as a leave-behind? Difficulty level - no Flash ability whatsoever, conversant with HTML.

Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:16:34 -0800

Financial advice-filter. I'm a college student with no debt and negligible living expenses. Where should I be putting my income? I'm a college student who is lucky enough to have parents footing the entire bill for college, hence I have no student loan debt. I'm also living at home and not paying rent or for groceries, or for anything except incidentals, really. I know how incredibly fortunate this situation makes me, and I want to do everything I possibly can to ensure that I am financially independent from my parents as quickly as possible, while understanding where to invest my money and why.

I have a part time job where I take home between $220 and $300 a week after taxes. Right now it's going directly into my online savings account, which currently has an APY of 3%. I have about 5k socked away in this account. I also have a Roth IRA and an investment portfolio (mutual funds, etc.) that is managed by a financial advisor and about which I know very very little.

My financial goals are manifold; I would like to own a home within the next 10 years and I'd like to save prudently for retirement. I also have a pipe dream of opening a small business.

That said, where should I be putting my money right now? I'm young so I'm not risk-averse, but I also have some short term financial goals like owning a home and opening a business. I was planning on maximizing my contribution to my Roth ($5,000 for this year), but that would leave me with very little left over to put into my portfolio, which I'm told (by Warren Buffett, among others) is a good idea right now since the market is so depressed and I have a long time to make my money back. (Buy low, sell high and all that.)

Or...should I make sure I have a decent emergency cash fund before I think about doing any of these things? I plan on graduating college in 2010 and there's no guarantee in this economy that I'll be able to line up a job right away, so it'd be nice to know that I could still pay 6 months' rent someplace. Or should I open a CD or a money market account to save specifically for my short-term goals at a higher return than my savings account?

Clearly I already have some money put away in various places but I would really like to start taking more responsibility for my own finances. Additionally, any recommendations for good places for young investors to learn about managing their own money, along the lines of the Motley Fool or Get Rich Slowly? I've also read Suze Orman's book geared toward young people but that was mostly about getting out of debt (which I am not in) and advice that might have changed based on the conditions of the economy right now.

(Anonymous because I'm not too comfortable talking specifics about money publicly.)

Looking for the website/portfolio of a female photographer.

querty — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:59:03 -0800

Looking for the website/portfolio of a female photographer. This photographer had a photo series following an American soldier's homecoming from the Iraq war back into daily life but the soldier's face is messed up. I believe some of the shots hinted that he was going to get married. And I *think* there was another shot taken inside their home with the soldier sitting at a vanity.

I should've bookmarked the site the first time I saw it. Help me find it again?

How can I link to the first post of each category in a dynamically created category list in wordpress?

msbrauer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:18:00 -0800

In a Wordpress-powered site, how can I create a list of categories that link to the first post in that category rather than the category archive? I'm using wordpress as a cms for a portfolio site and I'd like to create a dynamic list of categories with each category as a link to the first post in that category.

I currently use wp_list_cats(); to list the categories I want, but each link goes to the category archive page. I've temporarily gotten the behavior I want by limiting the category template to display only 1 post per page. If posts move around or get changed, however, the permalinks change for particular content that may be bookmarked or linked to elsewhere (i.e., what was at blah.com/?cat=26&paged=2 is now at blah.com/?cat=26&paged=5)

I'm not scared of code, just running into some difficulty determining exactly how to implement what I want; it seems like I could take a list of the category ids in the site, call up the posts for each category, put the first post id from each category into an array associated with the category names, and then print out the list of category names using the first post id as a link.

Is there an easy way to do this? A hard way?

I'm using wordpress 2.5 and higher

Academic Portfolio

b33j — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:14:17 -0800

Is there such a thing as an off-the-shelf electronic academic portfolio system? One of my clients, an academic, is changing jobs. The new institution is requiring her to provide similar information but in different formats. This means I get to do a lot of cutting and pasting. Apparently this is not uncommon. X institution wants details of publications by order of DEST category. Y Association wants lists of grants by order of amount, then year. Z Faculty wants grants listed by grant fund, then by researcher and publications by order of year, and so on.

So I'm thinking of writing up a database for her, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

Portfolio? No one said anything about a portfolio!

andeles — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:33:11 -0800

I applied for a copywriting job that I thought I had no chance of ever hearing back from, and they have actually asked me for a portfolio. But I don't have one - yet! Help! I have a BA in English, and I'm sort of in an MS in computer science program at a university in Chicago, taking prerequisite classes before I actually enter the program in the winter. I've been unhappy so far, and so I've been researching jobs in the area, and stumbled across an awesome advertising company located downtown, and lo and behold, they had a junior copywriter position open. On a complete whim, I applied, never actually expecting to hear back. Well, my cover letter must have been pretty good, because I got an email back asking for my portfolio. The catch: I've never actually written copy before, and I don't have a portfolio.

A portfolio is something that I've been meaning to put together for some time, but I've never felt that I had any real content to display. I almost feel like I must have been a little disingenuous in my cover letter, because why else would they have responded to me? But I didn't claim to have prior copywriting experience, and my resume definitely reflects that. The job description said that the position required 0-2 years of prior experience, which was why I had the temerity to apply in the first place. I believe that my writing skills are strong enough for the job, but the only writing samples that I have would be from essays that I had written for school. I also could link to a Flash presentation and a website that I built for class projects.

My question(s): is it worth it to pull an all-nighter and try to get something online? If I do try to throw something up, what should I use? Should I try to put it all in something like Wordpress or Blogger? I think that I have some online storage through my internet provider - should I try for that route (and if so, what are some good templates to use, and how does one go about registering a domain name)? Or should I just admit that I have nothing to show them yet, because I've never actually done this before? Am I just wasting their/my time?

All advice, insight, and answers would be greatly appreciated. I would like to have something to send the recruiter by tomorrow morning.

Writing For Fun And Profit

Phalene — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:28:29 -0800

Writing Filter: How do I get published, or to be exact, how do I network with editors, so I can do some freelance writing on the side? I was a campus paper staff member, and I got two articles published in a local alternative weekly. Now that I'm relocating to Montreal, I'd like to continue to write little '$25 an article' style jobs with an eye to making a side business to the part time writing thing and building a broader range.

I have a flair for witty how tos, writing about art (ie, gallery show = awesome), and doing bland filler articles on the topic of the editor’s choice. I write for fun, and I adore taking a potentially boring subject and jazzing it up. What would this sort of talent work well with?

People tell me that things like travel magazines and websites will pay for articles, but I haven’t the foggiest idea about going and pitching myself to these people. How do I assemble a portfolio of clippings? How do I track down English language publications who want articles? People looking for web content that actually pay?

What, as a novice freelance journalist, should I keep in mind? I’m sort of attracted to the idea of doing what I love for money. Now how to make editors think I'm awesome?

Why haven't I been hired?

Richard Daly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:14:50 -0800

I have been applying for entry-level graphic design jobs from Philadelphia craigslist for two months and haven't received even the slightest nibble of interest. What am I doing wrong? First off, my work is online at my site

My ego would like to pretend that it's just a hard market, and that all entry level work is difficult to catch, but if I face facts, I suspect it's my portfolio or resume.

Three months ago, I graduated from a small New England school where I was a big fish in a very small pond. My professors loved my work, but the final portfolio class was a boondoggle and now I question their evaluations. I'm afraid I need a bitter dose of hard truth, and I know of no better place to get it than metafilter.

What needs work, what has to go, what should I build from scratch, and what errors have I made that are keeping me from landing an interview?

Liquidating an estate in the USA... in today's economy. Shouldn't we just wait a while?

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:33:00 -0800

How should we handle liquidating assets in an estate in the USA right now? Assets consist primarily of a stock portfolio and a house. My father recently passed away, leaving behind an investment portfolio worth about $650,000 and a house valued at $300,000. This will be split 6 ways; four of the inheritors have expressed a preference to liquidate everything straightaway and wash their hands of it.

Aside from the emotional issues the other 2 inheritors have with rushing into this, we are wondering financially what is the best way to handle this given today's market conditions. My understanding is that housing prices are very low, and we can all see what's happening with the stock market. My first reaction is that now is an extremely bad time to be liquidating any assets from a strictly economical perspective; this view is what I am asking for your feedback on.

None of us are very experienced in financial matters; we plan on searching for a financial advisor next business week, but in the meantime I would appreciate any informed advice about how we can best retain the value of these assets as we decide how to handle the estate.

Specifically:

1) Should we sell the house now and take what we can get, or is it likely that we could get more value from holding on to it for a year or so and possibly trying to rent it in the meantime? I think that there are two factors that would contribute to the house being sold under value: today's market conditions, and the desire on the part of the executor of the will to sell the house as quickly as possible regardless of any loss. At least one of these seems avoidable, but if the market is expected to worsen, it would be an advantage to sell it now. No one plans to live in the house, but there are local family members who have offered to help with its care and administration if needed.

2) Same as above for stocks; I have not yet seen the contents of the portfolio, but am inclined to believe that after the November elections, there is a good chance the economy will be positively affected. We also know that the portfolio consisted of low-risk stocks aimed more at stability and long-term returns. Should we wait and see, for this or any other reasons, or should we cash it in now in case things get even worse?

3) The biggest concern: what happens if the 6 beneficiaries disagree on the questions above? One of the four who wants to eat the whole cake now will have power of attorney by Monday. If the two of us strongly disagree with his opinions on how to handle the assets, what happens?

More important background: the 4 who want to take the money and run are all 40-something homeowners who are married with 2 or 3 kids apiece, have Masters degrees, are stably employed in long-term careers, and generally already have all the security they could ask for as far as I know. We (the other two) are in our early twenties, have bachelor's degrees, are employed but with very modest salaries, and are unmarried. I think these differences are serious and, without being selfish, I feel that given that they have so much more security, our needs for the near future should be prioritized. The people who left this inheritance were there to support them when they were our age, and we no longer have any sort of safety net. Side question: is this incredibly selfish of me? I realize that they are probably looking forward to using their share towards their children's college tuition and their retirement funds, but the fact is that a few thousand dollars lost by liquidating sooner than necessary could mean a lot more to the younger beneficiaries. We are not sure why they want to rush into liquidating everything immediately when none of them have any immediate need for large sums of cash that we know of, and certainly no one was anticipating this to happen now.

Again, we will look for a financial advisor and are going to speak with some attorneys in our local network as well, but appreciate your advice in the meantime.

Where can I get an 11x17 portfolio in portrait orientation?

bradbane — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:55:54 -0800

Where can I get an 11x17 portfolio in portrait orientation? I've checked with the obvious sources (House of Portfolios, Brewer-Cantelmo, Lost Luggage, etc.) and it seems that no one carries 11x17 as a stock size. I'm a photographer and was planning on printing my book full bleed and roughly half my images can't be cropped down to the more common 11x14 without losing something important or ruining the composition.

I've requested quotes to get one custom made in that size but I have a feeling it's going to be out of my price range. Anyone know of a company that stocks portfolios in that size? I wanted a standard, black leather book but at this point I'm open to anything that looks professional.