Thoughts on Business, Politics, and Life from a Private Investor
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...]
I was speaking to a relative of mine when this person (who shall remain nameless) expressed horror that after living near New York for so long, I would buy a house near my parents in the Midwest. "I thought you were going places!" they basically decried in exasperation. It was then that I realized how truly stupid most people are when it comes to making money. They have no idea how capital allocation works. I started to get irritated and then I realized: If they knew how wrong they … [Read more...]
Over the years, I've written a lot about dividends on the Investing for Beginners site at About.com. In fact, over the past few years it has been one of my absolute favorite topics to cover because through the Great Recession of 2007-2009, those who owned a collection of high quality dividends stocks were better able to ignore market fluctuations and avoid selling their ownership to pay their household bills. It isn't an infrequent thing I'll hear people opine, "yeah, but who has money … [Read more...]
How The Marketing Industry Continues to Convince Average Americans They Know What a Millionaire Looks Like A few days ago, I quoted something from one of Dr. Thomas J. Stanley's books: "In the United States, there are three times more millionaires living in homes that have a market value of under $300,000 than there are living in homes valued at $1 million or more." For the past few days, I've been studying more about average household income in the United States and, specifically, the … [Read more...]
I was up until 6:30 this morning reading Stop Acting Rich ... By Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., the author of the incredibly successful The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. It's remarkable because so much of what the "average" millionaire did to achieve his or her wealth is exactly, precisely the same things I, and members of my own family, did to become financially independent. The premise of the book is that most people get in financial trouble trying to emulate the purchasing … [Read more...]
First: Before we begin, the education system in the United States over the past few decades has done such a poor job teaching basic logic that by virtue of the headline alone, it is statistically likely that you have already made a decision about whether or not this short essay on pay inequality is "good" or "bad". You've done this without considering any of the factual data or evidence I'm going to offer by virtue of my own experiences in finance, based nothing more on your own political … [Read more...]
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, I will have one personal presence [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. Continue reading ...
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Investing for Beginners
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