Most Recent Post
Reducing My Technological Footprint
Though the home renovations have gotten the most headlines due to their nature (constant onslaught of choices and tasks that need to be completed), one of the most important items on the agenda of the six-month project has been to drastically reduce my digital footprint. By the end of the program, … [Read More...]
Lunch Scholars – How Much Do High School Students Know?
This makes me sick. This high school is ranked in top 5% of high schools in the United States. The worst part of the video for me was the part where the kid says, “I was never taught that knowledge”. It’s not somebody else’s job to teach you, it is your job to seek out [...]
Mail Bag – A Message from Ms. Roxanne
This is a great way to start the day … one of the reasons I love writing this blog. Joshua, [In American Households Continue to Deleverage But That Only Tells Part of the Story, you wrote] “The numbers are just figures on a sheet trying to explain human behavior. Study the behavior, what is driving [...]
A Delicious Corn Chowder Recipe for Cold Winter Nights
We’ve been looking for a corn chowder recipe to add to the “permanent” on-demand recipe collection but most are geared toward summer when fresh corn on the cob is abundant in the Midwest. This allows you to use the rich pulp, corn juices, and kernels to create a delicious, thick chowder that can be eaten [...]
Mail Bag – Opportunity Cost and Enjoying Your Money
The best message I received all day in the usual flood of reader submissions … Hello Mr. Kennon, I am 24 yr old who has saved/invested incessantly since I was 18, and my portfolio just recently breached 6 digits! I have always had a similar mindset to you when it comes to the future value [...]
Signing My 11th Year About.com Contract
I’m working from home this afternoon, in part because I plan on making a beautiful corn chowder recipe for the family’s dinner tonight. I needed to take a break from what I was doing to review the new About.com contract that will govern the licensing of my copyrights to The New York Times subsidiary for the [...]
The Master Bedroom Renovations Are Mostly Done!
The master bedroom is done! One more thing to mark off the six month project. Thank you all for your great thoughts on carpet selection. I finally grabbed as many samples as I could, took them home, and then made a decision based solely on feel (“hand”, as I’ve learned it is called in the [...]
E. Dehillerin Delivers When Williams-Sonoma Doesn’t
In early December I ordered a 10-piece set of Mauviel Professional 2.5mm copper pots and pans from Williams-Sonoma. They were backordered until December 26th. Then, they were supposed to be delivered January 5th or 6th. Then, they were pushed back to February 28th. On the morning of January 20th, I received an email telling me [...]
Making a Beef Stew at 10 p.m. Might Not Be the Best Idea … But I Wanted to Try the Staub Cookware
I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to keep up on the blog or my messages this month because there have been some wonderful memories and experiences the past few weeks, from putting on a puppet show for my nephew to having an Auntie Mame movie night with pizza for a few members of my family. [...]
I’m Stumped on a Real Life Opportunity Cost Calculation: We’ve Hit a Snag Choosing the Wall to Wall Carpeting
The economists among you will enjoy this. I’ve run into an opportunity cost trade-off that has me stumped. The fact it has me stumped has me frustrated. That is distracting me from more important things. What is my problem? Carpet. Carpet is my problem. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fan of nicer carpet, [...]
I’m Working on a Recipe for Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Crumbles, Whole Almonds, Fresh Chicken, White Onions, Tomatoes, and Drizzled with a Cinnamon Pear Balsamic Vinaigrette
We’re working on dinner salad recipes tonight and my dish of choice was a spinach salad with blue cheese crumbles, whole almonds, fresh chicken, white onions, tomatoes, and drizzled with a cinnamon pear balsamic vinaigrette. It’s not perfect but it is a very good starting point. One option is to take it more in a harvest [...]
Mail Bag (Two Parts) – Which Financial Ratios Would You Use to Value Airline Stocks?
A question about airline stocks and performing financial statement analysis on an airline company: If you were asked to perform a financial statement analysis for an airline what 5 ratios would you use and why are these the most relevant ones? – Pauline I wouldn’t. Airlines are notorious commodity-like businesses that require large capital expenditures [...]
The Sitting Room – Before and After (In Progress) Home Renovation Photos
The home renovation or home upgrade project continues to progress. There is still much to be done so these aren’t really before and after pictures … more like before and in-progress pictures, half of which are taken at night in low light. I decided to post them, anyway, for Aunt Donna because it will give her [...]
Mail Bag – What Drives Successful People and How Do You Overcome Discouragement?
This is a Mail Bag question from back in December. I’m using it for several people, who wrote asking about many of the same concepts, which is why it got bumped to the front of the line even though I still have old messages from September and October to which I am working on responses. [...]
Stealth Wealth (Why America’s Rich Hide Their Money and Why You Should Practice Stealth Wealth Yourself)
In our discussion of how much money it takes to rank among the top 1% of wealth in the United States, we uncovered the fact that roughly 80 out of every 100 members of the “new elite” in the United States – those with at least $5 million to $10 million in liquid net worth [...]
My Day In Pictures – Staying Home During a Winter Storm to Take Deliveries – Thursday, January 12th, 2012
There is a winter storm descended on the area, announcing itself last night with raging winds that ushered in snow flakes and ice. The temperature dropped so low that it almost feels as if the cold is seeping into the house, radiating from the glass window panes, which hardly ever happens since the home is [...]
Sometimes, An Upgrade Is a Downgrade
Depending upon where you live, you may have noticed the blog design fluctuation in tests the past week or two. Some of you were served a new version of the blog that was more graphic intensive but easier to navigate (or would have been, once it was fully rolled out). I was fairly optimistic about [...]
Mail Bag: You Are A Narrow Minded Prick
In a recent article published at About.com, a division of The New York Times, I addressed a significant group of readers who write to me asking how to handle their emotional inability to watch the value of their stocks fluctuate. The article, You Don’t Have to Invest in Stocks to Get Rich, provided some alternative [...]
Every Month, 200 Fresh Roses Are Delivered to My Home (A Lesson on How to Save Money)
I’m working on an essay about how to run your home like a business to maximize your purchasing power when I realized my actions today provide a great didactic example of how I work in my day-to-day life. Earlier, I did something that I’ve wanted to do since my childhood. I’m not sure why [...]
Mental Model: Addition Through Subtraction
Sometimes, in order to make something better, or work more effectively, you must take something away. This principle is called addition through subtraction. The theory behind addition through subtraction is that reducing components and complexity can add value if you make something: Simpler Faster More reliable More profitable Less expensive (though not always; certain strategies [...]
The Family Has Finally Selected Some of the Artwork for the Home And Pierre Bouillo’s Fortune and the Child Won
I very rarely get exhausted. Right now, that’s how I feel. I’m beyond exhausted. Between the office and the home renovations, I’m ready to sleep for a few days at this point. It’s been years since I’ve been this ready to get certain projects behind me but I’m running against the six-month deadline I established [...]
Late Night Dividend Calculations Over Tea and Downton Abbey
I’m reviewing the dividend distributions for the last fiscal year over a cup of tea with cream and sugar and buttered toast, working out the final capital retention policies for one of the companies. Striking a balance between opportunity costs is particularly hard because, as the saying goes, “when it rains, it pours”. Suddenly, very good [...]
Once Upon a Time Set Design Makes Me Think the Evil Queen Was Spying On Our Home Renovations
This Sunday New Year Day, the family slept in until 11 a.m. and then decided to do brunch again, having enjoyed the Belgian waffle party so much the other night, as we watched movies and television shows on Hulu Plus and Netflix, starting with Once Upon a Time, an ABC family show. The premise [...]
President Obama Signs Law Allowing Indefinite Detention of Americans Citizens Without Constitutional Protections Such as a Trial By Jury
Stop what you are doing because this is one of the most important things you will ever read. If you have any knowledge or sense of American history, you will understand why. It doesn’t matter if you are conservative, liberal, libertarian, or politically agnostic, this effects you. President Obama just signed his version of John [...]
Some Things In Life Shouldn’t Have a Price Tag
There is a great story about legendary British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, that goes something like this: At a dinner party one night, a drunk Churchill asked an attractive woman whether she would sleep with him for five million pounds. “Oh my, Mr. Churchill … I suppose, but we would have to discuss the terms,” [...]
A Memory of Long Ago and a Way to Reflect It In My Life Today
After the Belgian waffle party tonight, once the goodbyes had been said and the lights turned off, I set to work on the personal projects that need to be accomplished. This led to me, in the silence of my living room, remembering something that brought me tremendous joy. When I was 18 years old, my [...]
I'm a private investor, author, and business philosopher who started with nothing and was essentially retired by my early twenties thanks to my first Internet startup. I went to school on a music scholarship and spend my days doing what I want and growing Kennon Green Enterprises, LLC, the family holding company. 
