Free Trade Isn’t Always Fair Trade

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 [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Where Do Millionaires Invest Their Cash to Keep It Safe?

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 [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Super Tycoons Facebook Update: From $100 Million to $14 Billion

On May 9th, I gave an update on the Super Tycoons game I’ve been playing every day on Facebook in which you have to build an empire and compete against other players. I’ve even convinced my grandma to start playing it as a steel tycoon. When I wrote about the game back in May, my [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Business and Money Wisdom for the Day – 07/05/10

The rich start from combined savings. – Traditional Chinese Proverb Do as the thirsty person drinking from a river.  He drinks happily enough, but does not covet the voluminous flow … This is how the gentleman exercises his mind for he regards rank and position as a tumor and material wealth as dirt and dust. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Creed Spring Flower Review

Creed Spring Flower was created in 1951 as a signature scent for the adorable Audrey Hepburn, star of films such as Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and My Fair Lady.  Hepburn reportedly wanted the famous House of Creed, which has served as the official perfumer to royalty dating back to 1760, to create a unique scent [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Wisdom for the Day – 07/01/2010

True gold fears not the test of fire. – Traditional Chinese Proverb War is like a fire; if you do not put aside your weapons, they will eventually consume you. – Li Chuan, Tang Dynasty There is no victory in winning a hundred battles. There is victory in subduing your enemy without fighting at all. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Mail Bag – How Does Someone Start Creating Passive Income?

Among the thousands of emails and messages I receive regularly, I came across one today that was sent to me on May 17th by Cale P. Here is the question that was posed: I’m a pretty talented IT professional with great salary and a standard quality of living. I’ve known that I won’t be in [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Tycoons Game on Facebook

There is a free game on Facebook called Tycoons that I began playing a few days ago.  The premise is that you acquire businesses and sell the commodities or products generated by these companies in a real market-based system.  Over time, those who grow the richest are put on a leader board.  I’m coming quite [...]

from Joshua Kennon

French Style Gardens … A Gift to My People

I decided to spend through a lot of the accumulated gold in my treasury from Ngmoco’s We Rule game on the iPad.  Following an extensive kingdom redesign, the citizens of my realm can now enjoy French styled gardens.  I said it before and I’ll say it again … my munificence knows no bounds If you [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Postman Just Brought Gifts

The mail just arrived. I have the new Sears Holdings 10K, the Union Pacific 10K, the Panera Bread 10K, the Charles Schwab annual report, and a host of others. How on earth am I supposed to write now? I want to read!

from Joshua Kennon

We Rule by Ngmoco for iPad and iPhone Has a Really Cool Business Model

I’ve been playing We Rule, the new video game by Ngmoco.  It is a freemium model, meaning you play the game for free by downloading it from the iTunes store.  But to level up faster, you can spend real money on something called Mojo.  It is the 21st century equivalent of an arcade game business [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Some Interesting Surprises Hidden In Your Insurance Policy

It’s that time of year again … I’m reading through all of the insurance policies covering our businesses, houses, etc.  There are some interesting surprises, as always, and I’m guessing a lot of the provisions apply to most of your reading this, as well.  We utilize several different insurance companies, each for a different purpose. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Verdict on the Truefitt and Hill Shaving Sets and Shaving Product Line

We are expanding our shaving section at Kennon Home Accessories and one of the things I’ve been testing is the Truefitt & Hill line of shaving creams, shaving lotions, aftershave, colognes, and other products. It is toward the higher end of the price point when it comes to luxury shaving sets for men (a bottle [...]

from Joshua Kennon

It’s Comforting How Oddly Predictable Humans Can Be on the Small Things

A few days ago, Aaron got a message from one of our friends, Jimmy, at about 4 in the morning.  We were both still up working on a project that’s going to have some fairly large financial ramifications for us in about a year or two, so we happened to read it in near real-time.  [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The American Express Plum Card Program

How the American Express Plum Card Helped Revolutionize Mount Olympus Awards A few days ago, I mentioned in The Importance of Frugality in Building Wealth that one of the ways we were able to save money was by using the American Express plum card at all of my businesses.  The new product offering by American [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Exotic Asset Classes for Asset Allocation

You may have been tempted to add some exotic asset classes to your asset allocation portfolio. Although financial instruments such as auction rate securities and options on futures may sound exciting, they can be fraught with danger, waiting to wipe out your entire portfolio if you aren’t careful. This brief overview of exotic asset classes [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Precious Metals Asset Allocation

For investors that want to add gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals to their asset allocation plan, you’ll find that it has never been easier thanks to a new wave of financial products that have been created over the past ten years. Whether you are seeking an inflation hedge or you want to speculate [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Tactical Asset Allocation and Your Portfolio

Tactical Asset Allocation vs. Value Investing The difference between tactical asset allocation portfolio management and value investing is that tactical asset allocation only seeks to find undervalued asset classes – not individual securities or investments. That is important.  An investor that is using a tactical asset allocation approach may look at stocks, bonds, real estate, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Real Estate Asset Allocation 101

When you’re ready to add the real estate asset class to your investing portfolio, your asset allocation decisions aren’t done.  You have a smorgasbord of options, including REITs, apartment buildings, storage units, parking garages, farm land, strip malls, office buildings, and rental houses, just to name a few.  You can even invest in mixed asset [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Balanced Asset Allocation Model Portfolio

A balanced asset allocation model portfolio is one designed to generate a steady combination of growth, income, and capital preservation.  The intention is to create a combination of asset classes that results in lower overall volatility so the investor doesn’t need to worry about wild market fluctuations because the holdings in their account mitigate each [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Use ETFs to Make Asset Allocation Investing Even Better

ETFs, or exchange traded funds, are like mutual funds only they trade on the open market as if they were stocks.  (I’ve written about them over at Investing for Beginners many, many times.)  This means ETFs can be shorted, or fall above or below the net asset value, unlike a traditional open-ended mutual fund.  ETFs [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah

Discussing the Sin of Sodom at a Family Dinner After we left St. Louis, I stopped by to visit family and spent an afternoon at my grandmother’s house having dinner, discussing politics, and Christianity in general.  The conversation was great and had many of the same topics that the younger generation of Christians have been [...]

from Joshua Kennon

How to Make Money in Fable 2 – Or, How I Made My Fable 2 Character a Millionaire in a Few Days Without Cheating

It’s remarkable that the same concepts that allowed me to be effectively retired by my mid-twenties allows me to frequently become rich in video games. That’s the nature of compounding.  It is a law, exactly like gravity. This weekend, Ashly and Ian drove in from Columbus to visit – they are thinking about relocating to [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Douwe Egberts Coffee Machine at Headquarters

One of the first things I did when my original company became successful was to order a Douwe Egberts coffee machine for the breakroom.  For the uninitiated, Douwe Egberts coffee is the best in the world.  There are no exceptions.  In fact, I was visiting someone in a town called Branson, Missouri several years ago [...]

from Joshua Kennon

David Oscarson Releases New Pen Series

Sweet!  David Oscarson released the next installment of his pen series called Consider the Lilies.  They were inspired by Luke 12:27 when Christ said, “Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Aurora Talentum Classic Fountain Pen

Lately, I’ve been writing with a black and gold fountain pen from Aurora. It came as part of the inventory expansion we did at Kennon Home Accessories to launch the pen business this winter, and I’ve got to say, I’ve never written with anything like it. Truth be told, despite it being only $325 retail, [...]

from Joshua Kennon