Looking at Office Space in Southern California
It’s been roughly seven months since I’ve been present or active on the site in any meaningful sense. There are largely two reasons for this.
Firstly, as you can probably imagine, nearly every waking moment of our lives has been consumed by the launch of our global asset management firm, Kennon-Green & Co. Whether working on the implementation of the performance reporting platform with our software service provider or structuring the back-office so we can scale as we eventually open beyond the information waiting list and to the broader public, neither of us has had much free time of which to speak. In terms of writing, my output has been devoted to writing quarterly private client letters, which are released through the private client portal and tend to clock in at 15,000 to 20,000 words a piece. (As a matter of fact, I have another one I need to wrap up soon). Coming out of what most people would considered retirement or semi-retirement has been an adjustment but one that we would do again in a heartbeat. Not only do we get to meet interesting people who share many of our values, there’s a sense of accomplishment in helping other individuals and families find solutions to challenges in their lives. I can say with a deep sense of commitment that this is it. This is the thing to which both of us want to commit the entirety of our professional careers and through which we plan on protecting and managing our own family’s wealth across multiple generations.
Secondly, a series of political and social events that began back in June of 2016 here in the United States caused a reaction in both of us that resulted an instinctual and defensive withdrawal from much of the world. Two things in particular stand out, and I’ve tried to write about them dozens of times, but to really explain myself, and do the conversation justice, it would require a degree of candor and emotional vulnerability that I’m either not willing or able to give at present. This is in no small degree responsible for us pulling up stakes and relocating from Missouri to California, which we will be doing sooner rather than later with a possible (though not particularly likely) chance at an 18 to 24 month stop-over in Chicago for reasons that we will explain the future.
On that front, back in January, Aaron and I looked at one another and decided that we needed to accelerate our plans. We had been analyzing commercial real estate leases on office space over the Internet, narrowing down potential communities based upon our trip to California several years ago and socioeconomic data, but reached the point at which we knew we weren’t going to be able to truly understand the neighborhoods or trade-offs unless we physically saw them ourselves. Around this time, the one bit of entertainment we had allowed into our lives was Final Fantasy XV, which is unique because, aside from exploring on foot, the primary mode of transportation in the game is with a car. Perhaps it psychologically primed us for jumping behind the wheel to get answers but we looked at each other, threw some clothes in our bags, and took off for Newport Beach, California. We arrived on the second day after an overnight stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It was extremely beneficial to us and our ability to plan the future of the firm. During this period, we met with representatives of real estate companies, who were all wonderful and helped us understand the buildings, the market, and all sorts of other details that can and, we suspect, will, make our lives easier. We also looked at residential real estate, too, taking into consideration the advice we had received from many of you who live in California that it is probably going to be prudent for us to rent an apartment in different communities for several years until we figure out where we want to live because, unlike the Midwest where you can travel 50 miles in either direction and still be surrounded by cornfields, in Orange County, you can go five minutes down the road and the entire feel of the place changes. In addition, the trip allowed me to focus on writing a good chunk of one of the private client letters, as well as complete some important reading that I think will be beneficial in the future.
While I can’t give you the usual, detailed narrative you’ve come to expect, I’ll try to provide the long and short of it so you can see some of the things we experienced.
Traveling from Missouri to New Mexico
For those of you who are not from the United States, you may not realize there are two primary ways to reach California by car if you are traveling from the East. One goes through Colorado, the other through the Southwest. Once you go beyond the Midwest, there are stretches of hundreds upon hundreds of miles where there is nothing to do see or do; endless fields or desert with the occasional McDonald’s or gas station being about the only thing you’ll encounter. From our starting point north of Kansas City the southern version of the trip, one-way, is 1,624 miles, or 2613 kilometers. This means that just to get the coast from our part of the middle of the country is only slightly shorter than the distance between London, England and Moscow, Russia. (In the past, we’ve discussed the misconception many foreigners have about the size of the United States, not realizing how enormous it is compared to Europe.) In other words, the task for our first day was to get as far as we could, which meant Albuquerque, New Mexico.
We left early, before first light, and ended up having to sleep in a parking lot off the turnpike in Kansas because we realized we were too tired to drive. After a couple of hours, we took off again and it was a smooth trip until we reached the end, at which point we drove straight into a snow / ice storm in the desert, which was so bad we couldn’t see the lines on the road at times. We finally made it to a Hampton Inn & Suites. We went back out to grab dinner at a nearby Panera Bread before returning to the room to work for the evening.
Snowstorms in the Desert
We woke up before daybreak, had breakfast in the hotel dining room, read the news, packed up the car, and returned to the road. There was a chance for bad weather but it was only supposed to last briefly during one,s mall stretch of the trip.
As we climbed through the mountains, I was trying to write the private client letter for Kennon-Green & Co. We were surrounded by storms. Suddenly, we were hit with a maelstrom that consumed everything. it was so blinding and powerful that we nearly had to come to a stop. Cell phone service dropped to non-existent as the devices couldn’t find a local tower. We live in tornado country and have our fair share of dangerous weather. We both looked at each other and realized there was a small, but not insignificant chance, we could be facing a mortality event. Neither we, nor any other vehicles on the road, had any ability to see, and the temperatures were so low that it would have been dangerous to leave the car (not to mention the very real chance that even getting three or four feet away could cause you to lose complete visibility, making it impossible to return). It was terrifying enough that we were focused on staying safe and didn’t manage to get any photographs or video. We had no idea whether we should attempt to keep going and get through it, stop entirely and risk getting hit by another car or semi-truck, or try to turn around to return to the city. Being in an area that was completely isolated, there was nowhere to take shelter, either. Neither of us has any desire to ever live through something like that, again.
The Barringer Meteor Crater
We kept driving and a little less than 300 miles later, we decided to take a slight off-highway detour to visit the nearby Barringer Meteor Crater when we saw it advertised. This probably went back to us playing Final Fantasy XV around Christmas as a major part of the middle of the map is devoted to an impact site that you have to visit as part of the plot. It turned out to be an interesting learning experience, both scientifically and from an investing history standpoint.
The Barringer Meteor Crater was formed roughly 50,000 years ago. It is the impact site of one of the largest meteor strikes planet Earth has ever suffered. In the gift shop, I picked up a biography of the mining engineer who squandered his entire personal fortune, as well as the fortunes of many of his investors, trying to mine for the asteroid’s metal, convinced that the asteroid was buried beneath the crater and could be exploited commercially. While it was an economic disaster, Barringer’s theories regarding meteor impact – theories that were originally rejected because the established scientists of the day thought them ridiculous – turned out to be correct, radically improving mankind’s understanding of these types of events. The site, which is privately owned, was ultimately transformed into a tourist attraction, making it a glorious example of the benefits of capitalism. It was Barringer’s greed and obsession, spurred by the promise of even greater riches, that was harnessed for the benefit of everyone. While he, himself, suffered due to poor risk management, we all benefited.
The meteor crater was a training site for Apollo astronauts in the 1960s, playing an important role in the preparation of the heroes serving our national space program.
You can’t get a true idea of the scale of this thing from the pictures. In one of them, try to spot the man standing on the observation deck. Even then, it’s a poor proxy. Anything and everything within hundreds of square miles would have been obliterated.
I found this video on YouTube, which might give you an idea of how massive the crater is. It truly is surrounded by miles upon miles upon miles of nothingness. It caused the winds to become so bitterly cold, and powerful, that it was physically pushing us around and we couldn’t stay outside for very long.
Completing the Final Portion of the Journey
Driving from Flagstaff, Arizona to Newport Beach, California
After an hour or two of visiting the impact site, the attached museum, and the gift shop, we got back in the car to continue traveling to Flagstaff, Arizona. I had no idea how beautiful it is. Then, randomly, at a Chevron station, we came across a Douwe Egberts machine. This marked the beginning of the shift in landscape; the point at which we went from endless stretches of nothing lasting for the past two days to breathtaking sights as the topography changed the closer you drew to California. I read the biography of Barringer, taking notes and highlights of lessons that investors should learn from his disastrous portfolio allocation decisions (which really comes down to a simple lesson, though maybe someday I’ll write a case study of it: do not allow irrational escalation to take hold of you when you are confronted with evidence that the cash generating power of an asset is either non-existent or becoming impaired).
Arriving in Newport Beach, California
We had done it. After looking at each other and deciding to jump in the car to take this trip for the asset management business – a trip we had to keep controlled, tight, with as few distractions as possible as we had an agenda to complete – we had made it the 1,624 miles from home to Newport Center in Newport Beach, California. Due to the last minute nature of the trip, we were unable to get an extended one or two week booking at the resort we wanted to choose, Pelican Hill, and instead had to split our reservation between the Marriott located right in Newport Center and, later, the Island Hotel, which used to the be the Four Seasons but was taken over by the Irvine Company, which developed and owns nearby Fashion Island. Both hotels turned out to be great and we’d stay at either, again. The reason for the low vacancy rates apparently had to do with Restaurant Week, in which people come to Newport Beach to try fixed menus at local restaurants wanting to show off their culinary skills.
We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then headed over, on foot, to Fashion Island. We wanted to look around, grab a bite to eat, and see Newport Beach at night. It took less than 30 seconds being outdoors for us to realize that our conclusions from our trip a couple of years ago still held: this, or one of the towns between Los Angeles and La Jolla, is where we want to live, work, and raise our children. For dinner, we checked out a cafeteria-style restaurant concept I had wanted to research called Lemonade then stopped into Pinkberry for frozen yogurt.
Checking Out Newport Beach During Torrential Rains
Having arrived as California’s legendary drought was clearly ending, we woke up the next morning and saw the rain continued. In fact, during the first couple of days in Newport, there were times we were caught in torrential downpours, having to run and take shelter, completely soaked. Aside from working in the hotel, which had to take priority because we could not fall behind our on task list at Kennon-Green & Co., we made a choice to check out the city as if we were living here; to look at things like grocery stores, drug stores, movie theaters, restaurants, school districts, neighborhoods, etc.
We’ve talked about it in the past but I really cannot get over the abundance of our market-based economy. The prosperity that is unleashed by well-regulated capitalism (which I do not think “well-regulated” describes the United States at the moment – many companies need to be broken up and consumer protections need to be increased in several areas) is ridiculous. I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the dangers, particularly in terms of personal freedom for minorities, of socialism and communism lately; in systems where individual freedoms are oppressed and political capital ends up becoming more important so resources are not allocated efficiently but, rather, based upon the ability of a person or a family to capture a political body or to control the weapons and instruments of force. It amazes me that young people, who were not alive to see the monstrosities those systems unleashed, are supposedly open to these abhorrent ideas, well-intentioned though they may be. Socialism and communism are insidious and cancerous. The rise of the regressive left, along with the near simultaneous appearance of the Alt-Right, is a danger that should not be taken lightly to those who prize personal liberty.
Touring Commercial Office Spaces and Residential Apartments To Learn About Different Buildings and Areas
We spent several days walking through office spaces with representatives of the Irvine Company, as well as looking at residential apartments in Irvine, Newport Beach, and the surrounding areas, to develop a better understanding of what the market is like and how the firm might look once we complete the relocation from Missouri to California. We didn’t get pictures of most of these days because we were too busy taking notes and doing research. Personally, we like Newport Beach better but Irvine has some advantages, too. We needed to get home and cross-reference a bunch of data to really match the economic and sociodemographic reality of each community with our impression of it. Each of the real estate professionals we dealt with were great.
When we weren’t touring office spaces or checking out local sites to see if this is where we want to relocate, we were working from the hotel.
Oh, and remember the different types of shoelaces that Aaron got me this Christmas? On one of these days – I believe it might have been during our tour of certain properties in Irvine – I wore one of my favorites because they looked like peppermint or cherry-striped candies. (Today, as I type this, I’m wearing a pair that look almost exactly the same except they are navy and white so they appear nautical.) If you have to wear dress shoes for work, give the shoelaces a try. For only a few dollars, you can dramatically expand how well the shoes go with a certain outfit by tying it all together (pun not originally intended but I’ll keep it).
At this point, we still weren’t sure when we were going to go home but we had decided that if we didn’t have commitments back in Missouri, and business holdings that needed to be dealt with responsibly, we would have never returned. Instead, we would have paid a company to pack up our stuff, ship it, and that would have been it.
When it came time to change hotels due to the reservation issues I described earlier, we spent a few hours in between check-out at one and check-in at the other driving through and around residential neighborhoods. Personally, we prefer being up in the coastal areas with higher views that being down near the water.
I can’t recall, exactly, but at one point during one of these days we loaded up on books from Barnes & Noble. At some point we made it over to the second hotel and checked into our room.
In the days that followed, as we continued to tour office buildings and residential living spaces, we studied more of the community, browsing a through a different grocery store called Bristol Farms and heading down to the nearest Williams-Sonoma. It was so bizarre to see the ocean alongside the road as we drove down the coast. In the parking lot of the store, you look up and there’s just … water. As far as the eye can see.
One morning, we woke up, had breakfast in the room, then headed over to Fashion Island, again. There are berries just growing in the landscaping, the weather is perfect, and the views are incredible. At some point during the week, we also headed over to Costa Mesa, California, checked out the local mall, looked at some of the office buildings, and tried to mentally map out our surroundings so when we returned to Missouri and were looking at specific office lease documents, we could figure out where things were based on memory. One of these evenings, we also went out and sat by the pool. California really sells itself.
On the last day, we woke up before dawn, again, swung by some of the apartment communities we had toured, passed some of the office buildings we are considering, and, then, headed back East. Our goal for the day is to make a little more than 1,000 miles to Denver, Colorado, as we are going to go back the more northern route.
We were tired, but managed to make it to Denver, where we stayed at the downtown Four Seasons. Both Aaron and I recommend it enthusiastically. (I think the last time we were in Denver was almost five years ago, when we stayed the Ritz Carlton on our way to a wedding in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While I love the latter, there is no doubt that this hotel is where I’d prefer to say when in the city. I’d be happy at either, though.)
The next day we woke up, had breakfast in the room, again, and got ready for the remainder of the drive back home.
The question we now need to answer is, “Where do we go from here?”. Our original plan was to try and be in California within 36 months or so of launching the firm. As I’ve mentioned, we’d now like to accelerate that as quickly as prudently possible so that it is not a distraction to the firm. Structuring, growing, and nurturing Kennon-Green & Co. has to be the most important thing in our professional life at the moment and there can be no distractions. Ultimately, it will be better for the business to be in California and for that reason, this move needs to happen. It’s a matter of which pieces get moved at which times. What makes this difficult is that our holdings are somewhat complex and we will be beginning the process of having children this year. We’ve achieved a lot since this trip back in January. Still, there is much more to accomplish.
Reader Comments (58)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
Infinite Ben
August 14, 2017
Great to have you back after all of this time!
"a series of political and social events that began back in June of 2016 here in the United States caused a reaction in both of us that resulted an instinctual and defensive withdrawal from much of the world"
I feel for you man, Im European it is this anti-establishment fever has been on a sharp rise here for the last few years, I could write a whole book on why, but i won't bore you with the details (FYI; blame bad economic growth in eurozone countries, failure to integrate European muslims and the EU's handling of the migrant crisis).
Anyways, good luck with moving!, I wish Europe had as much space as the US does!
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to Infinite Ben
Thanks! We're still trying to work out the exact timing - we've made huge progress since taking this trip back in January in terms of unwinding and divesting our activities in the state, cleaning up our entanglements, and drastically simplifying our lives so a relocation will be as easy as possible - but we have a few things left to check off our list. We'll end up sharing the journey and our thought process in future blog posts.
Emmett Truth
September 10, 2017
Replying to Infinite Ben
Thank God for Brexit.
David Hughes
August 14, 2017
Given the importance of tax efficiency, I'm surprised you're so drawn to California. I know you've pulled back on details compared to your prior blog incarnation but I'd be curious to know whatever you're willing to share.
I can totally see the climate appeal of California and I do have some family out there but I don't think I could ever deal with the drastic cost of living increase versus where I currently live.
joe pierson
August 16, 2017
Replying to David Hughes
>I'm surprised you're so drawn to California
Let me take a guess, a financial adviser for affluent and high net worth individuals needs to be close to his client base as they demand personal one-on-one hand holding. In the Midwest high net worth individuals tend to be business folks that already know how to allocate capital, where as some extremely high net worth individuals in SC tend to be people who can't manage a checkbook. So the available client base has a much higher density in SC vs Midwest. I suspect one of two $100 Million clients would more then offset any tax efficiencies
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to David Hughes
I'll write about our thoughts on the topic in the future. There is no doubt that it could end up costing us a lot in terms of long-term compounded net worth by the end of our life expectancy, particularly compared to a place like Florida or Texas, but there are some mitigating circumstances, some personal opportunity cost factors, that change our calculation. Maybe I can get on that post once I finish the client letter I'm working on at the moment.
Diracwinsagain
September 3, 2017
Replying to Joshua Kennon
If you haven't looked into it. I'd suggest the Denver-Boulder metro area. The economy is better, the taxes are lower, the cost of living is lower, and it shares the ideologically liberal attitude of urban California.
AC
October 6, 2017
Replying to David Hughes
I live in CA and the future tax situation is certainly a concern (there are currently discussions at the federal level of disallowing deductions for state and local tax). If that were to happen I would probably move to FL as soon as possible.
Even now, if you're in CA and in the highest tax bracket, capital gains taxes are the 2nd highest in the world at 33% (20% federal + 13.3% state).
IComeAnon
August 14, 2017
I was so excited to see an update from you! I truly appreciate your unique perspective and the detail you put into all of your posts.
As a fellow Kansas Citian I have to say I'm sad to hear that you are leaving the area, as much as I understand the decision. I look forward to reading about your journeys in the future.
Brendan
August 14, 2017
When my wife and I relocated from DC to Las Vegas back in 2014, it was a real treat to see America east to west, and the transition from the rolling, verdant, Appalachians, to a whole lot of corn, and then to the vast plains of Kansas and eastern Colorado, to the majestic Rockies, and then to the high deserts of Utah. I remember a truly magnificent June sunset as we passed through Kansas City, Missouri, on our way to Topeka where our hotel room had been booked; as you've pointed out before, there really is something about the Missouri sky (even if it was the last bit of Missouri). From your photos, I recognized I-15 through the Virgin River Gorge; always stunning, especially when it opens up to the deep red sandstone cliffs around St. George Utah. As for news and politics, I've taken a low quantity, high quality approach to the information I take in, via supporting individual podcasts; it's the only way to really sift out most of the nonsense and recreational outrage that is social and mass media in 2017. To me, it's like investing; one can "play" the mass information market that is just a barrage of mostly useless information, or one can invest their mental power into two areas: the first being niche areas where an expert has an extended conversation with an interviewer (like Sam Harris's format) or where an interviewer has on a guest and their topics may be broad, but it's not about shouting and "winning" the interview, it's about discussing ideas and why people hold them (like Dave Rubin's "Rubin Report").
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to Brendan
Sounds wise to me. Our response to the news these days is usually one of us sighing and the other going, "What now?".
caleb
August 14, 2017
I too am interested in the tax efficiency question...
May just be a cost benefit analysis.
I could never live there because of many reasons, taxes being a major one, but Socal is one beautiful place.
Also my wife loves that Four Seasons in Denver too.
Glad to see the blogging again.
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to caleb
I just saw another question about this. I'll try to write about our thought process going into it sometime in the future.
Kevin
August 15, 2017
I would recommend checking out laguna niguel! I live in Orange County and had worked in Laguna Niguel, I feel your tastes and preferences would definitely prefer there. It's very like Newport in a sense.
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to Kevin
We've seen some interesting real estate listings for there online. We'll have to make a point to travel through it during the next trip. Thanks for the suggestion!
joe pierson
August 15, 2017
Must be a difficult decision knowing how close you are with your folks, good luck!
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to joe pierson
It is. We don't like it but we have to start thinking about what is going to best for our own kids. Our parents support the decision (even if it makes them sad). Our solution: trying to get everyone to retire to the coast in a few years. We'll see how that goes.
Kaleb McKelvey
August 15, 2017
Their back!! Sounds like you have lots to determine and knowing you from previous blog post you and Aaron will make the best choice. I hope you all are still able to regularly see the fam!
JB
August 15, 2017
Josh, I'm very happy to see you posting again. I really appreciate all you share with us. I also owe you an email, so let me get on that. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to JB
Thanks! I look forward to the email. Regarding the P.S. about tax efficiency, given the interest so far, I'll try to make a note to write about our thoughts regarding the topic. Aaron and I talked about it a lot. We put enormous thought into what we were willing to give up in terms of long-term compounding and what we were getting; how we might be able to mitigate some of the burden; long-term possibilities that might offset some of the costs.
Joe O.
August 15, 2017
So good to hear from you. That third-to-last sentence made me very happy. You've been hinting at it for awhile (such as with the most recent car post), and I'm glad to hear the wheels are in motion. 🙂
Joshua Kennon
August 16, 2017
Replying to Joe O.
They are! I've been wanting to post about it when we have a moment - I've started a draft on the backend of the blog. We're going the route of gestational surrogacy so it might be interesting for people who want to follow along the journey with us. We're both excited. It's funny how knowing we're getting started has already begun changing how we think about things. It's a major reason we are accelerating our exit from Missouri.
Blair
August 15, 2017
That crater is really, truly, huge.
Steve Roberts
August 16, 2017
This made my day. It's great to hear from you two.
Questions:
Aaron - Does Joshua always make you drive? Did you drive the whole trip? I try to get my wife to drive but she always defers to me 🙂 She has a spotless driving record too!
Joshua - Why do you wear your wedding ring on your right hand?
What happened to Temecula? I remember the blog post from 2-3 years ago. I understand it's not LA. But it was gorgeous too.
Allen Jarboe
August 16, 2017
Glad to see you writing posts again! Best of luck on the move out West!
parmenidis
August 17, 2017
i was reading yesterday an article on index investing and i discovered you! i discovered munger and the rest of the great invertors a year or so ago (i m a late bloomer!) and i have to tell you that you are a world class thinker! bravo!!! if you ever come to europe i would give anything to meet you! my formal education is zero i m good in chess great in tnnis very good in golf very interesting in life an filosophy in general! and i think i m naturall value invertor! and lived 22 years in new york i m greek and live in finland! 8my portofolio is in greece! first time in my life i invested in greece in the beginning of the crisis and i m still standing tall!!! most likely another record! i have a few! PS it is a pleasure reading your writings!
Joshua Kennon
August 17, 2017
Replying to parmenidis
Welcome to the site! It's nice to meet you!
parmenidis
August 18, 2017
Replying to Joshua Kennon
Thanks! great to meet you also!
Vic
August 17, 2017
"Regressive Left"
Joshua, have you been listening to Dave Rubin?
Art Vandelay
August 18, 2017
I was worried for you guys when there were no posts for seven months, and some of the experiences you went through sound really hair-raising, particularly that storm! I'm so glad you guys are okay!
I have spent a lot of time amongst what I think you are calling the "regressive left." And they are more fallout from the deregulation and mis-use of capitalism which you mentioned. I am a late-period Gen-Xer (a "Xennial" born in 1977) but a lot of the younger set who have become Sandernistas have never lived as adults during a time when capitalism has worked for them. Most of them came of age right when the recession started in 2007-2008, and all they know is a time when it's difficult to find long-term employment that pays well, difficult to go to college without being in debt for life, and healthcare is difficult to come by even with the ACA in place.
They see an older generation whom they believe has looted the current system and left nothing for them, despite the relative prosperity we enjoy here; and it's hard not to blame them for being discontent. I suspect most of them aren't going for Soviet-style communism - they want something more like the system that Canada has, or what exists in parts of Scandinavia. And economics isn't really a skill that people are taught anymore in public schools without expressly seeking it out (I know it wasn't for me - we had an "economics" semester that basically amounted to a project where we charted certain stocks over the course of the semester, and that was it) so they don't know how to make the system that currently exists work for them - or they may be part of a marginalized group that has been restricted from benefiting from the current system.
This is part of the reason for the rise of populism right now, on the Right and the Left. It is disheartening to see, especially as it has dovetailed with the rise of bigotry and outright fascism on the Right.
Steven
August 24, 2017
Replying to Art Vandelay
I have to add I've been worried too! This may seem silly to you guys, but a lot of us have really enjoyed reading your blog and then to have you disappear is disconcerting.
A quick check in to say hi every couple of months would probably reassure a lot of your fans...I can understand you not wanting to share your quarterly letters with those of us who aren't your customers, but those of use who've drawn inspiration from your posts for years would really appreciate knowing nothing catastrophic happened to you:)
François Wirion
August 18, 2017
I'm sure you've got your hands full with other things, but is there any possibility you might reconsider your position on Bitcoin as potentially the future of money?
Eric Vaughn
September 4, 2017
Replying to François Wirion
Does it have to be "the" future of money? It has many use cases but tends to turn people off if they're forced to think in terms of using it for everything. Still, a big bitcoin fan.
Derek
August 18, 2017
Sounds like both of you had quite the adventure passing through my neck of the woods! Sorry we couldn't treat you to the nice weather New Mexico usually enjoys.
I'm happy to see the silence on the blog was simply that you and Aaron were both keeping busy with the new company. I thought about checking the blog for updates today after spending a nice morning in Kansas City while traveling for work. This really is a beautiful city, with some lovely architecture and monuments. It can't be easy to contemplate leaving it behind.
On a totally selfish note, is there any chance you would consider making some white papers on economic and market thoughts available to the public after your asset management firm is up and running? If not I'd understand completely. Clients pay good money for expertise and rational thinking from advisors. They might object to seeing their advisors publishing some of that analysis for free.
Best wishes to both you and Aaron with the move, the firm, and hopefully starting a family soon.
Kapitalust
August 18, 2017
Always nice reading a new post, even more so now that they are far and few between!
(I don't think I could ever give up living on the West Coast: ocean, forests, and mountains are a potent trifecta not easily topped)
fran
August 18, 2017
Go west, young man! Once again you will turn your adversity into opportunity. I love it. Your story has always been rich with challenges and triumphs, and keeps getting better.
Nicholas Archer
August 19, 2017
The experience of moving to a drastically different place is one I'm familiar with. Moving from Connecticut to Miami. And then from Miami to Phoenix in 2016. Really like Arizona. California is really beautiful but how do you do with crowds? Do you have any tricks to offset the mobs of people everywhere? That's what keeps me out of Cali - not the cost - it's the 2 hour waits for breakfast. Welcome to the West! My buddy Kyle texted me you had a new blog post. So happy to hear updates.
Connelly Barnes
August 20, 2017
Big congratulations on the move Joshua and Aaron, and the exciting new life you have planned!
L.A./Cali are not my favorite place (too many people, outdoors access can be challenging due to congestion, car culture --- I prefer to bike or walk ---, and the fiscally irresponsible state with high income tax brackets) but a lot of people like that lifestyle. I usually go to L.A. once every year or two due to a computer graphics conference there (ACM SIGGRAPH, it will probably next be there in summer 2019) in case you want to meet up.
As far as career and hours the way I look at it is that long hours really can be justified only if one has passion. It seems you are quite passionate about making the asset management firm, so that is good. Even when I am working some long hours or have a deadline I just make sure to also stay focused on what are the #1 life priorities for me, which are fitness/nutrition/outdoors, and the relationship with my wife. As I get older, one of the most valuable things I have realized is the importance of keeping life priorities in a clear order so I can make optimal decisions without regret.
Mr.owenr
August 21, 2017
Joshua,
What a beautiful day today, not sure why. Did you see the Solar Eclipse? To think that I allowed people to get under my skin, as if anything people can do could ruin how awesome this reality is.
Blessings.
PastIsPrologue
August 21, 2017
I am most pleased to see this post and wonderful update. Glad you both made it through the storm - very scary photos. I appreciate the update and have been reading some of your use cases as I scan the universe of investment opportunities. I keep the quote below and your use cases in mind as I do as I haven't found anything since a October (more of a reflection on me than the marketplace).
“I think the record shows the advantage of a peculiar mind-set – not seeking action for its own sake, but instead combining extreme patience with extreme decisiveness” Charlie Munger
joe pierson
August 22, 2017
Replying to PastIsPrologue
That's a great quote, but doing big things rarely is very difficult, as you will have little experience doing big things, you remain a novice.
Aditya Pai
August 23, 2017
Great to hear from you and best of luck on both your move and on your new family!
Brad Spencer
August 23, 2017
Love the update. I seriously MISS you sharing your thoughts.
One thing I've always admired binge reading your posts is how well thought out your points of view are on everything. Plus it's nice seeing the pictures you share (especially on this one...California really is nice).
You're a tremendous writer and love seeing your journey as you two move and make your dreams come true.
Absolutely love it!
Dan Callinan
August 24, 2017
I'm so happy to see this, congratulations!
Don Hilario
August 26, 2017
Hi Josh! So glad to see you post - been in a while, and I know you're busy!
even more delighted you and Aaron will be relocating to So Cal! I live in Irvine - been here since 2005,. love love love it here! Newport Beach is minutes away, I see you saw Fashion Island too! please keep in touch! excited that my favorite finance blogger turned global asset manager will be a fellow neighbor in the immediate future!
TimInvesting
August 28, 2017
I know most of your readers are likely chomping at the bit for economic insights, but I have a bit of a different question: You happen to have introduced me to the world of fragrances by reading some of your posts on the subject, I'm curious, have you had a chance to sample Creed's new scent, Viking? I'm tentatively holding back from making my first Creed purchase until I give this one a chance, but am a little leery of the overwhelmingly glowing reviews its gotten so far (not a single negative word found yet is odd to me).
Joshua Kennon
September 9, 2017
Replying to TimInvesting
This makes me so happy! Congratulations on discovering what I like to think of as a happy obsession. You not only get the fun of collecting, but it's such a personalized thing due to individual preference. Plus, you get to wake up every day and decide how you want your day to "feel", for lack of a better word. It changes everything. (I really should start writing the fragrance posts, again, because they are one of my favorite things in the world to discuss and there are quite a few passionate collectors in the community.)
In regards to Creed's new Viking scent, I've been meaning to get around to it but haven't, yet. When the messages first started arriving telling me it was available in the New York boutique, I thought about picking it up but with my schedule effectively being full I kept putting it on the back burner. Creed's done a lot right lately so I wouldn't be surprised by the reviews. To this day, if either Aaron or I have even a small amount of Creed Aventus sprayed on our wrist or clothing, people will stop and comment on it. It's crazy the reaction that scent causes in men and women alike who just happen to walk by and immediately want to know what you are wearing and where you bought it. It's fame is well-deserved. Contrast it with something like Creed's Royal Mayfair which causes a lot of folks to draw battle lines. To some, it is intoxicating. To others, it smells like a medicine cabinet.
Lately, I've been really, really into tobacco-related scents. I almost crave them. Today, we picked up a 100ml bottle of Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille after Korean language class and dinner with our family at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Overland Park. It's one of those things that you can't really recommend to others because they're probably going to love it or hate it but it's comforting, both intellectually and emotionally, to me at the moment. It makes me welcome the upcoming arrival of autumn and winter; to want to throw on a giant, chunky cashmere sweater with a pair of blue jeans and wool socks, sit in a leather chair by a fireplace, and read books or work my way through a stack of annual reports. I think it is because I am feeling very insular at the moment with the world being so crazy; it's like a fragrance version of a soft hug. I also think of all of the past case studies I've done of tobacco fortunes, banks built on tobacco money, etc.
This summer, one of my favorite fragrances was Montblanc Legend Spirit. I also wore Creed's Vetiver quite a bit. It's funny... when you go down this path, you start measuring periods in your life by what you were wearing at the time. I still can't smell Creed's Love in Black without thinking of family trust funds and wealth preservation because I had a bottle sitting on my desk at the time I was throwing myself into researching trust fund strategies several years ago. Tiffany & Company's flagship men's fragrance puts me back at the insurance internship I had at NJM Insurance Group my senior year of college. There are two scents that immediately transport me to being 18 or 19 years old, with Aaron in our freshman year dorm room at college. If I catch a momentary breeze of Creed's Original Santal, I am transported back to the original Mount Olympus Awards office, one specific autumn and Christmas when we were helping my family expand its gift retail business. Strangely, for whatever reason, certain other scents are universal and don't get anchored to places, people, or events like that. I've worn Creed's Royal Oud since it was first available and don't associate it with anything specific. It's just nice and been around for years. It exists and doesn't exist at the same time.
But, yeah ... as it is shaping up, late 2017 through early 2018 will be all about the tobacco leaf for me. I think, at least subconsciously, that is partly why I haven't gone after Creed's Viking, yet. I'm not ready to introduce something new as I want to enjoy this fragrance wave for as long as I can.
Tim
September 11, 2017
Replying to Joshua Kennon
On Tobacco, I find myself really liking Creed's Tabarome Millesime. I enjoy it much more than what I heard was the very popular Dolce & Gabbanna The One EDP (this one just smells of ginger and some orange to me, even into the dry down I just get ginger). I hear Tabarome is about to be vaulted and some stores are already running out, which is hastening my search for something in this vein. My biggest issue is it seems these pleasant Tobacco scents seem to disappear in only an hour or two, which makes it hard to justify the cost of this Creed.
On a slight tangent, isn't the marketing of Creed fantastic? It appears to be based on a widely known lie, that they existed before the late 1970s, yet everyone just allows it to persist because the hype is so strong. New fragrances are measured against Creeds, something I don't see as much with comparisons to Guerlain, for instance. Who else in this connected world of the internet could even get away with a campaign like that?
Joshua Kennon
September 11, 2017
Replying to Tim
It reminds me of marketing and corporate history retelling for bank holding companies. Only, in the case of banks, you'll have a bank holding company buy up other banks. At some point, they pick one with the best, oldest story, and rebrand the company's history around it. It's technically true. Or, kind of true. Or not true, depending on how you view the facts. It's interesting. (As for creed, I'm curious just how far they can stretch the brand power because it seems to me like the current management is on the verge, or may have already gone past the point, of abusing it. The on-going/upcoming shift from 4.0 bottles to 3.3 bottles at roughly the same price has alienated a lot of fragrance collectors; people who otherwise rejoiced to open their wallet suddenly feel as if they are being taken for granted. It is not an intelligent way to behave. It breeds resentment.)
Speaking of Guerlain, several years ago, Aaron and I picked up a bottle of the Arsene Lupin Voyou Eau de Parfum for Men from the boutique the perfume house opened at Walt Disney World's Epcot. It's woody and spicy but, in some ways, hits me at the same height certain tobacco fragrances do. It was one of our more enjoyable finds. I'm not sure if they're still selling it but if you happen to come across it, it's worth sampling.
AC
October 6, 2017
Replying to TimInvesting
Creed Viking is horrible! One of their worst fragrances. Check the reviews on Fragrantica and you will see.
Josh, thanks for getting me into Creed. I think between my wife and I we've bought 6 different Creed fragrances and sampled most of them. I'm wearing Silver Mountain Water as we speak. It is a funny company though as it seems to be consensus that most of their history is fictional. No one can find any advertising, bottles, photographs or other records of their existence before a certain time period. Yet they claim to have made so many fragrances for heads of state and royalty, lol.
Tim
October 15, 2017
Replying to AC
Just give it a month and we'll see a press release from Creed reminding us that this was originally commissioned for Erik the Red.
Eric Vaughn
September 5, 2017
Have you read the book, Who's Your City, by Richard Florida? It discusses the clustering of like-minded people. You might enjoy.
Tom Fulfaro
September 16, 2017
Welcome back Josh you were sorely missed! I had almost given up hope of seeing another post from you again. Best wishes on the move to California, and I look forward to hearing more insights again from you in the future.
Connelly Barnes
September 21, 2017
BTW, you two are probably aware of these, but there are a lot of safety precautions and devices one can follow when traveling through snowy mountains, ice, or other such adverse conditions. Some of the ones my family uses are: (1) Snow tires, (2) Snow chains, (3) All wheel drive, (4) Carry plenty of water, food and outdoor gear, (5) Side and front air bags, (6) Use low speed and/or chains if ice is suspected, (7) Monitor temperatures and driving conditions on DOT websites, (8) Drive only in day time.
I should actually consistently follow all of these, so the above list can be viewed as a reminder for myself also...
Clint
September 28, 2017
Oh man! What a drive that is! My wife and I frequently make about that same trip, though we are starting a bit closer. I remember the first time we ever drove it, we made it straight through without stopping from Tulsa to Point Loma, in a car with no power steering. That was an experience which I wouldn't recommend! I always thought of the desert as a dry place, but I have to say, more times than not we seem to hit a major ice or snow storm.
Good to hear you made it through without too much ordeal!
AC
October 6, 2017
Josh,
Just wanted to drop a quick note to say thanks for posting! I'm sure I speak for many of us when I say that I've missed reading your posts!
All the best.
bryan
October 8, 2017
joshua - be sure to check out some of the local korean eateries in irvine next time you visit. my personal favorite recommendation is yigah which is situated at diamond jamboree, a well known plaza that hosts a variety of asian restaurants. yigah is well known for their short rib soup called galbi-tang. you can also try bonchon chicken right next door at BBQ chicken if you still have an appetite!
Joshua Kennon
November 10, 2017
Replying to bryan
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll try to do that!