February 5, 2012

The Richest Man in Town by W. Randall Jones

The Richest Man in Town by W. Randall Jones

The Richest Man in Town - The Twelve Commandments of Wealth by W. Randall Jones, the founder of Worth Magazine, is one of the great business books I've read this year.  It profiles some of America's most successful self-made super-rich, focusing on the richest person in towns throughout the United States, offering insights into how they made their money and their advice for someone who wants to follow on the same path. The book offers some unique insights, such as explaining that a vast … [Read more...]

The 2010 Values Voters Summit Concludes

Well folks, the 2010 Values Voters summit just concluded and I've got to be honest: It makes me sad.  Mostly, I think it arises from the knowledge that, in a vast percentage of cases, people are not binary in terms of being "good" or "bad".  The same mindset that pervaded the Values Voters Summit seems to me as if it would have resulted, several generations ago, in opposing the Civil Rights Act, before that equal rights and suffrage for women, and before that, the emancipation of slaves.  … [Read more...]

A $1,000,000 Municipal Bond Dilemma

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...]

Where Do Millionaires Invest Their Cash to Keep It Safe?

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...]

How to Marry a Millionaire – An Economic Update on the 1953 Film

How to Marry a Millionaire

In 1953, a great movie starring Lauren Bacall, Bette Grable and Marilyn Monroe was released called How to Marry a Millionaire.  I got curious as to how much money it would take to equal the same net worth today so I did an inflation adjustment because I wanted to know how big their motivation was in the film. Turns out, someone who had $1 million in 1953 would have roughly $8 million today. That kind of asset base should generate cash dividends or interest of $34,000 per month without … [Read more...]

Does Geographic Location Influence Success?

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...]

Where Do Most Decamillionaires Get Their Money?

Most decamillionaires attribute their wealth to owning and investing in their own, rather than in other people's, businesses, which include the ones listed on the various stock exchanges.  The millionaires state that they can control their own businesses, but they can't control or dictate policy to public corporations, let alone determine prices in the stock market.  Most will also tell you they believe they are better able to operate a particular type of business than anyone else.  The … [Read more...]

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

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...]

New Jersey Battles Over Millionaire Tax

New Jersey Governor's Mansion

Think about all the income I earn and my businesses earn.  The sales and profits that are generated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Guess what?  The taxable income could have belonged to the state of New Jersey.  However, the cost of living, driven in part by the state tax rates, were too high for my liking so I left after roughly five years. Now, the New Jersey legislature wants to pass a tax that will hit 16,000 millionaires by taking 10.75% of their income above $1 … [Read more...]

Mail Bag – How Does Someone Start Creating Passive Income?

Passive Income from Computers Have Changed the World in the Past 20 Years

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 IT for my whole career, at least I hoped. I have a natural ability to invent and I really would love to own private business(es) to see my decisions in a company flourish. However, I'm unsure of how or when … [Read more...]