Blog.
Anxiety, Lazy Brains, and Investing
Why invest? Why get an education? Why not just live for today? Why plan, be forward-looking or think about the future? Of course these are loaded questions, but the answer is simple: We must be forward-looking because we live in the future and have no choice but to assume that the world will be here tomorrow, that the economy will not crumble and my home will still be standing.
Should I Take a Volunteer Vacation?
Question: I need a vacation, and I’m happy to spend my hard-earned money someplace that needs it. But my husband wants to try a “volunteer” vacation. He says working to help desperate people will feel better than lying on the beach. I think we’ll be providing free (unskilled!) labor to a place with already high unemployment. I’d feel better by overtipping.
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore who governed for more than three decades from 1959 to 1990, passed away last month. Lee left a legacy that proved that you can change a culture, you can pull a country out of poverty and you can create a first-world county that’s ranked 7th in least amount of corruption, highest in pro-business, provides economic freedom, ease of doing business, social cohesion, employment, education and the 3rd highest per-capita GDP in the world.
Zero or Hero
During a recent investment committee meeting, I recalled a conversation I had back in the early ’80s with a fellow money manager who was much more experienced than me. I asked him what he thought the ideal “paranoid-conservative, set-it-and-forget-it portfolio” would look like. His response: 10% gold for economic uncertainties like hyperinflation and geopolitical stress, and 90% U.S. Treasury bills for stability.
Help! I Don’t Know What to Think About Taxes!
Question: I don’t know what to think about taxes. Our country seems in serious debt. The rich are getting much richer while more of us face what we now call “food insecurity.” I’m not worried about hunger, but I’ve got kids and college bills and retirement. I’m not thriving.
It's Complicated
“The market will not go up unless it goes up, nor will it go down unless it goes down, and it will stay the same unless it does either.” – Adam Smith
How Do I Fund My Big Dream?
Question: I’m thinking about raising $50,000 for a movie. It’s a huge life dream for me, and I never thought it was even possible. Maybe it really isn’t, but with crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, maybe it is.
Principles + Optimism + Commitment
The young monk carefully pulled each young sprout out of the earth, just a bit, to try to help them grow just a bit faster...or so the story goes that has been used for years by Buddhist monks to teach their students the importance of patience and having faith in nature.
The Practice of Making Good Decisions
I just got back from a six-block walk to pick up a quinoa and avocado salad for lunch, and I found your question sitting in my inbox. My job does not seem stressful to me. I just make lots of (hopefully) good decisions. Before lunch, I entered an order to buy well over a million dollars’ worth of shares in a company with operations in Namibia, Philippines, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Mali.
His Name Was Flemming
His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.