Joshua Kennon is a Managing Director of
Kennon-Green & Co., a private asset management firm specializing in global value investing for affluent and high net worth individuals, families, and institutions. Nothing in this article or on this site, which is Mr. Kennon's personal blog, is intended to be, nor should it be construed as, investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell a security or securities. Investing can result in losses, sometimes significant losses. Prior to taking any action involving your finances or portfolio, you should consult with your own qualified professional advisor(s), such as an investment advisor, tax specialist, and/or attorney, who can help you consider your unique needs, circumstances, risk tolerance, and other relevant factors.
One of the questions I get constantly, both in-person and online, is how we went about arranging our household once we became parents. We put so much thought into it, and it’s clearly of interest to folks, that I thought I’d take a moment over my morning coffee and write a brief high-level overview of how we approached this if only for a quick reference guide in the hope it is helpful to someone. It’s also partly my way of paying it forward since both Aaron and I were, and remain, so grateful for the other parents who shared suggestions, ideas, and recommendations about the journey we were about to undertake.
The Legend of Zelda, the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, technology upgrades … all the making of an excellent weekend.
As a big fan of different sub-genres of folk music, I was thrilled with Avi Kaplan’s new release, Peace Somehow. I’ve had it on repeat throughout the day.
As I sit here working at my desk at 1:35 a.m., December 20th, 2024, I’m listening to a recording session of Levels by the Robert Glasper Trio feeling exhausted, but grateful, for a phenomenal year. Decisions made over the past 18 to 24 months bore extraordinary fruit. I’ve also been thinking about something Charlie Munger said shortly before his passing.
I have a bunch of earnings reports to read and as I work from home, I can’t get Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K.64 / L. 58 / P. 33 out of my head. He wrote it sometime around the year 1740 and it was printed in Volume II of a book of keyboard sonatas he published in 1742. Harpsichord, clavichord, piano, guitar … it just sounds so catchy no matter the instrument on which it is performed.
Our real estate purchases in and around New Albany, Ohio continue. In addition to the two houses we already bought, we are under contract to acquire a commercial property. We’ve also started moving the pieces to someday have more kids.
I could hardly sleep Friday night because of excitement. It felt like Christmas as a kid, when all that joy, happiness, and anticipation are bundled together. Only much, much greater. Imagine you had been waiting on Christmas to arrive for more than thirty years.
Many of you watched me put off this purchase for decades as I prioritized investing over consumption, but it is now here: Aaron and I finally settled on our “forever” piano. We purchased a Bösendorfer 230VC model with the Enspire Disklavier Pro add-on and a custom-inlaid Macassar ebony wood around the soundboard. It is being manufactured near Vienna, Austria for us and should arrive in the next year.
The paradox of 2024 for investors is that the stock market keeps getting more expensive but individual blue chip stocks are getting cheaper. I’d argue this has created a wonderful environment for long-term value investors.
When we were originally furnishing our Missouri house, I came across a desk that I wanted to buy. However, I decided to invest the money, instead. Twelve years later, I discovered it, again, and, being older, determined this time around I was going to buy it. I will almost assuredly start, and finish, each day reading at this desk.
We are launching a podcast in the near-future, the landscaping is coming along nicely, and we continue making progress on transitioning to a more traditional design aesthetic as we buy up antique furniture on the secondary market.
