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We Are Living in the Midst of One of the Biggest Bond Bubbles in History

September 24, 2010 By 8 Comments
McDonald's Bond Certificate Corporate Debentures

Today, I was sitting at the dining room table, drinking a cup of coffee and wearing my Brooks Brothers pajamas watching the stock market skyrocket when it occurred to me that, given the secret project and some other things going on at the business, I want to build some cash and bond reserves at one of the individual operating companies; maybe put aside money a little at a time, let it build and do something fun with it three or four years from now, like design and build a row of townhouses or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Corporate Bonds Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Factor In Your Income Sources When Seeking Diversification

September 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Are You a Stock or a Bond

When it comes to diversification, you have to look at your entire life and not just your portfolio.  Several years ago there was a book I really enjoyed that dealt with this topic called Are You a Stock or a Bond?: Create Your Own Pension Plan for a Secure Financial Future. It explained some professions, like tenured professors, are like bonds - there is little risk of you ever losing your job, the pay it steady and almost fixed with small incremental increases based upon inflation, and you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Recommendations, Diversification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

What a Superpower China Means for the United States

September 12, 2010 By 3 Comments
The Face of Modern China

When I was 16 years old, I was sitting in the hallways of the local high school, waiting for class to begin, discussing the state of the world with Molly.  She stopped me and asked a simple, direct question: "Do you believe that the life of an American is more valuable than the life of any other human?  Because the answer to that question is going to determine your economic, political, social and moral worldview." As we established in the first essay on the rise of the Chinese … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics, Religion & Culture Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Free Trade Isn’t Always Fair Trade

September 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Free Trade and Fair Trade Global Policies

A few days ago, I wrote a five-part essay called How to Solve the Trade Deficit in response to a reader question about trade policy in the United States. The reader, Adam, responded on his blog.  Here is my followup to his commentary. I Would Love to Run Trade Surpluses But It Isn't Going to Happen If the United States were to run trade surpluses, as opposed to going trade neutral, we would be accused of mercantilism (rightly).  This would immediately cause our trade partners around … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, Making Money Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stock Market Finishes with Worst August Since 2001

August 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Investments

The stock market crash this month was the worst August since 2001.  At times, it was, to paraphrase Buffett, "like a bird flying into the middle of a badminton match." The long-term investment accounts were unscathed (there, in fact, we love falling prices) but the speculation accounts took a beating.  For now, it's all on paper due to most of the maturities in our derivatives coming up in January. I joked with my dad yesterday that if I were to sell all of the businesses and take a very … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Businesses, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A $1,000,000 Municipal Bond Dilemma

August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Municipal Bonds and Muncipal Bond Investments

Those of you who follow my writings at About.com, a division of The New York Times, know that I've written about municipal bonds at the Investing for Beginners site including one article that detailed some ways to help you determine if a specific municipal bond was "safe". At the wedding this weekend, I was discussing a family friend, who shall remain nameless, who is in his 80's and has more than $1,000,000 parked in municipal bonds.  As many of you know, this means he earns tax-free … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Municipal Bonds, Saving Money Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Where Do Millionaires Invest Their Cash to Keep It Safe?

August 26, 2010 By 3 Comments
Where do millionaires invest their cash?

I've been having a conversion about investing and money with the reader "Frat Man" in the comments section of another post.  He asked: I also had one other question I have always wondered. Where do millionaires keep their money? In the sense that FDIC insurance only covers $250,000 at the bank and SIPC only covers $500,000 at the brokerage. I mean, I can't see Bill Gates putting $250,000 at thousands of banks across the country, nor can I imagine Lou Simpson's net worth getting wiped down to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Banking, Economics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Avoid Financial Stress

August 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
How to Avoid Financial Stress

I was reading through the comments on an article about investing over at Yahoo Finance and a lot of people were whining about the fact that it is impossible to save money.  Only those who inherit their money can be rich (which you all already know is false based on the evidence). A gentleman named Frank replied to the commentators: It is absolutely, positively true.  Pay cash.  Eliminate all debt.  No mortgage.  Save as much as you can.  For a vast majority of people, that is the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Debt Management, Saving Money Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Response to What Is Probably the Most Ignorant Message I’ve Received In 10 Years of Writing Finance Articles

July 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

A reader named Medusa wrote me and, to keep it short, explained that I shouldn't believe people should be rich because the Bible is against rich people, that I was going to die a miserable, lonely old man with no one who loved me because I saved my money instead of spending it, and that after reading a profile I wrote based on Federal Reserve data of the Capitalist Class in the United States, she was starting to consider the possibility that the rich were nothing but oppressors who steal from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Saving Money Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The House of Creed Is the Perfect Family Business

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Creed Fragrance Counter at Harrods Department Store

This is cross-posted from the Investing for Beginners site at About.com, a division of The New York Times.  I wanted to point it out to the readers here and tell you to head over there and check it out because I had been writing so much about Creed perfume, cologne, and fragrance products the past few days and the Creed business itself.  Many of you read my About site anyway, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't miss it. For the past few days, I've been adding to my collection of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Case Studies & Profiles, Fragrances & Perfumes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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