How We Used Shares of Coca-Cola to Teach My Youngest Sister About Investing (and Why the Cycle of Consumption and Financial Stress Starts as a Teenager for Most Americans)

When I was a senior in high school, I bought my youngest sister, who was first grader at the time, a single share of Coca-Cola common stock for her 6th birthday.  I had it framed with an engraving of the first part of Deuteronomy 8:18 placed under it, “You shall remember the Lord your God, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Professor Richard Wolff Says Capitalism Is To Blame … for Everything

Amherst professor Richard Wolff, is arguing that capitalism is a failure because events like the housing crisis keep occurring with some regularity.  Evil banks are “forcing debt” on more Americans who are downing under their bills.  He proposes that we should create low cost “community owned” housing for everyone. Yes, Richard, because American Express and [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Strap on my Montblanc Star Chronograph Automatic Broke (Another Lesson in the Time Value of Money)

When I was 22 years old, or thereabouts, I bought a Swiss made Montblanc Star Chronograph Automatic stainless steel watch from Borsheim’s during the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting.  I wanted something that would last, God willing, for the rest of my life and would remind me of when I was young, just starting out, and [...]

from Joshua Kennon

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 [...]

from Joshua Kennon

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 [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Here Is One of My Secrets to Making Money (Or, How I Once Bribed Women to Code for Me with Diamonds, Rubies, and Chanel)

The Secret: Strike Deals Where Everyone Has Limited Downside and Harness the Super Power of Incentive Some of you have been writing to me privately and asking about the early days when we started out and were trying to build our companies.  I thought it would be useful to share some of the things we [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My (Almost) Three Year Old Niece Has the Saving Money Gene

My niece, who turns three this fall, has somehow come to associate me with money (or as she calls them, “monies”). When she goes to visit my grandma Ruby, which is her great grandmother, she gets to save up an allowance in a bank bag for when they go shopping or out on the town. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Department Store Sales Make Me Really Happy

Although I’m normally a Nordstrom’s guy myself, I have to say that after reading an article a few years ago (The Wall Street Journal or The Financial Times maybe?) about the vastly improved quality of department stores suits such as the J.C. Penny brand thanks to the use of expert tailors in Hong Kong for [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Bosendorfer Strauss Grand Piano – A Real Life Lesson in the Time Value of Money

The Opportunity Cost of a Bosendorfer Strauss Grand Piano I’m going to teach you a financial technique that can help empower you to make informed choices about your own life and keep more cash in your pocket.  I’ve been using it since college and it’s done wonders from my bank balance and investments. From the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Kennon Retirement Insurance Plan

One of the Things That Helped Me … From time to time, you may come across reference to my “stupidity” insurance or my “reserve” fund.  I’ve had a bunch of readers write me over the years and ask about various comments I’ve made so I thought it might be useful to explain it.  My parents, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The 5 Levels of Building Wealth

Early in life, I developed a theory that there were five levels of building wealth that most self-made men (and women) go through to reach financial independence.  It was started by my love for Carl Barks Scrooge McDuck comics.  When I started reading the Federal Reserve reports of consumer wealth, empirical studies, and other sources [...]

from Joshua Kennon

What The Rich Really Collect

from Joshua Kennon

How to Find Investment Ideas

Years ago, I wrote an article called Finding Investment Ideas for Your Portfolio for About.com, a division of The New York Times.  I’ve been thinking for the past few days about how it is that I seem to come across so many opportunities and then I realized that most people like me are always looking [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Misconceptions About Wealth

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 [...]

from Joshua Kennon