After publishing my newest About.com article, What is a Mutual Fund Family? as part of a new group of content focused on very, very basic financial concepts for beginners, I spent the morning over a cup of coffee in my home, curled up at a desk in a side room with reading lamps (it was dark from the rain falling; it made for a great view of the forest, though) reading the Abbott Laboratories annual report. I also found time to place an order to purchase more shares of an unrelated blue chip stock that I’ve been acquiring across all of our accounts for the past few years.
My afternoon was spent across town in a three or four hour meeting about the sporting goods businesses and the growth plans in place for this autumn and winter. There are some really exciting things going on there in terms of product line and market expansion. I feel about my equity membership units in those companies as the Reynolds Tobacco employees felt about their famous Class A shares. There is a tremendous psychological benefit, too, knowing that all of the stock is held by members of the Kennon and Green family. If we make a particularly wise investment, the rewards flow not only to ourselves but to people about whom we care. That is a powerful motivation that makes success that much sweeter.
Now, I’m hanging out at one of the Kennon Green Enterprises offices. My goal is to write several new About.com pieces this afternoon and set them to auto publish over the next few weeks, followed by a couple of hours of Resonance of Fate.
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Reader Comments (2)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
Kevinkeane1
August 18, 2011
Hi there Joshua. I am based in Ireland and I read your article about 10 secrets of the capitalist class. I am 35 and was heavily involved in property. I am involved in finance here and my business is gone down in size dramatically in recent times.
I have debt of€3.5m. Think I could get out of this debt before I'm 40?
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Joshua Kennon
August 18, 2011
Replying to Kevinkeane1
First, I'm sorry you went through that and had to experience the financial and emotional loss of that kind of hit. In my own life, I have known several people (mostly older mentors and friends) who have lost everything and rebuilt fortunes from nothing but the ashes. For some, the process was quick. For others, it took longer. What I do know is that they all made it through it and were wiser and more experienced for it.
As to your question, one of the greatest industrialists of all time, Henry Ford, said, "Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you're right."
So the question is: Do you believe you can get out of the debt before you are 40? I don't know your situation or your circumstances, your experiences or resources. I do know that there is more than $100 trillion in wealth in the world, all of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by people. If you can figure out how to honestly and ethically satiate a desire or need, and earn a profit doing it, you have an opportunity to redirect a portion of that into your own bank account, just like tapping a pipe into a main water line.
Whatever happens, I encourage you to be coldly rational about the process. Keep perspective. Your personal value has nothing to do with your net worth. Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Milton Hershey, and H.J. Heinz all went bankrupt. They went on to build companies that still dominate their industries today.