May62012
The Socialists Have Taken France - French Riviera

The Socialists Have Taken France

In the News31 Comments

I’ve been watching the French election.  Hollande won.  He has promised a 75% income tax on the rich and vows to, “re-negotiate a European treaty on trimming budgets to avoid more debt crises of the kind facing Greece.” Looks like we’re selling the French stocks in the retirement funds.  I’m not dealing with this s**t.  Forgive me the language.  Life is too precious, and too hard, to deal with thugs who don’t understand human nature and the velocity of money. A fundamental rule of humanity is that people go where they feel secure and appreciated.  I love the United States.  If the United States took $75 out of every $100 I earned, do you think I would stay here?  If I did, do you think I’d work anymore?

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Apr232012
Change the Way You Think About Business Ownership and You Can Change Your Life - Header

Change the Way You Think About Business Ownership and You Can Change Your Life

Case Studies & Profiles, Dividends, Making Money17 Comments

Shortly after World War I, Raymond Poincaré, the Prime Minister of France, decided against partnering with Royal Dutch Shell to fund the energy needs of the French people.  One of his military commanders, Colonel Ernest Mercier, worked with 90 banks and businesses to establish a new oil company called French Petroleum Company (er, technically, Française des Pétroles Compagnie since they weren’t speaking English).  The name might sound prosaic but keep in mind this was the era of “General Electric” and “Standard Oil”.  The new undertaking began operations on March 28th, 1924. Today, that business is known as Total, S.A. and it is one of the six supermajor oil powers on the planet.

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Apr202012
Buying a Car Decision Tree

The Opportunity Cost of the Car You Drive Is One of the Biggest Financial Decisions You’ll Ever Make

Cars, Economics, My Life21 Comments

The great thing about making decisions in life through the lens of decision trees and opportunity cost is that it allows you to focus on what you actually want. You tend to protect yourself against giving up what you really want for what you want right now.  Everything in life has an opportunity cost.  It doesn’t…

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Apr192012
You Can Still Get Rich and Make Money In a Terrible Economy with a Miserable Stock Market

You Can Still Get Rich and Make Money In a Terrible Economy with a Miserable Stock Market

Case Studies & Profiles, Making MoneyLeave a comment

Towards the back of the most recent General Electric annual report is an interesting graph.  It shows what an investor would have experienced by putting $100 into three different investments: GE shares, the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  It assumes that dividends were reinvested in each respective investment when they were distributed.  How were you rewarded for six years of patient investing, assuming you added no fresh cash outside of the dividend reinvestment?  Take a look.

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