“I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence.” –Ayrton Senna A friend of mine once got a chocolate lab and wanted to build an outside dog run so that his dog wouldn’t go crazy from lack of exercise. Apparently, everyone else he knew within a five hundred mile radius must have had other [...]
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Why Paying Assets Under Management Fees is Like Getting a Car Loan From A Used Car Dealer
“Why is it that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” –George Carlin People hate buying cars from dealerships. The stereotypes abound. The white-shoed salesperson. The slimy process where he has to go “check with his manager” to see “what we can do for you.” [...]
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Why Personal Finance Gurus Are Like Free Schooling
“When you introduce competition into the public school system, most studies show that schools start to do better when they are competing for students.” –Bill Cosby I am a product of public schools through and through. My elementary, middle, and high schools were all public. West Point is a public university. I went to graduate [...]
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Are We Taking the Wrong Retirement Risks?
“Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples.” –George Burns It’s pretty well known that we’d rather have pleasure now than pleasure later. A whole self-help industry popped up in the 1980s based on the notion of delaying gratification and the benefits of doing so rather than giving into our [...]
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The Life Cycle Saving and Investing (LCSI) Approach
What does this mean? What is the purpose of having money? Is it so that you can put it in a bathtub and roll around in dollar bills (or hundred dollar bills) a la Scrooge McDuck? Money is used to purchase the things and the services that you want. Just as Austrian economist Ludwig von [...]
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Why You Shouldn’t Obsess Over Your Net Worth
“Cure for an obsession: get another one.” –Mason Cooley There are few things about which I am obsessive. One of them is toothpaste on the rim of the tube. For whatever reason, if the top doesn’t smoothly twist onto the tube, it drives me nuts. Yes, I know…squeeze toothpaste. Even though I am a generally [...]
