Here are some words of wisdom I came across about portfolio management and building wealth from billionaire Charlie Munger. We’ve really made the money out of high-quality businesses. In some cases, we bought the whole business. And in some cases, we just bought a big block of stock. But when you analyze what happened, the…
In economics, opportunity cost is defined as the cost of not choosing the next, best alternative for your money or time. Everything in life has an opportunity cost. If you want to go to the movies with friends it means you can’t stay home and read a good book. If you want to spend cash on…
I want you to take a moment and put yourself in a scenario that will tell you a lot about your thought processes and inner priorities regarding individual well being versus group well being. You are married with three children. Your family is your highest priority. Your life is comfortable. You earn more than $100,000…
Mental Model: The Micawber Principle In Charles Dickens’s novel, David Copperfield, published in 1850, the eternal optimist Wilkins Micawber was known for saying “something will turn up”. He was poor but lived in expectation of becoming rich, sometimes foolishly taking on debts due to the belief. We have Micawber to thank for one of the…
As Gene Bedell wisely reminds us, nothing happens until something is sold. That is one of the greatest business truths you can ever learn. Get it engraved on the back of a watch, keep it in your pocket inscribed on a small sheet of paper, or repeat it to yourself silently, but learn this principle so…
I ultimately decided upon a pure mage strategy my Elder Scrolls Skyrim character, Azrah Gestahl, based upon the early manifestations of Ganon in The Legend of Zelda series from the 1980’s. Although my character is mostly good, serving as the Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, a member of the Imperial Army, and possessing a healthy penchant for destroying bandit hideouts, the general composition of skills leans heavily toward a very powerful mage in a robe capable of extreme conjuration and destruction, with very strong illusion, alteration, and regeneration knowledge. I’m not talking about modern day Ganon, mind you. I’m talking about Ganon as he was back then – magic artifacts, conjuring minions, blasting fireballs, all draped in a cowl as he sought world domination.
The gourmet food posts on the site are probably going to grow exponentially over the coming years. I’d publicly debated various cookware as far back as last year and finally decided to take the plunge as part of the six-month May Day project. Yesterday evening, I bought a set of copper Ruffoni pots and pans, which were going…
We’ve talked about how a holding company works in the past, provided a beginner’s explanation of holding companies, and even looked at two high profile private holding companies owned by America’s richest families, Walton Enterprises, LLC and Cascade Investment, LLC. I even gave a very basic explanation over at About.com as to how family members can invest together through a limited liability company. Tonight, I thought I’d go over a very basic, very simplified explanation of a much more advanced concept that isn’t appropriate for most people but will show how a family holding company can be used to gift millions of dollars tax-free to heirs and others, while retaining control of assets and binding a group together economically. This is a high-level, conceptual explanation. Do not act on any of this without consulting with your own tax attorney, tax accountant, and other qualified advisers. None of this is investment advice. None of this is tax advice. None of this is legal advice.
I was curious tonight so I began reading the 2010 College-Bound Seniors Total Group Profile Report (PDF), which includes data on 1.59 million college-bound students who took the SAT. One of the charts, Table 25, interested me so I put the data into an Excel spreadsheet, created an aggregate column, and then ranked the SAT…
Mental Model: Gaslighting One of the big themes that I perpetually hit upon is that you, as a rational, responsible adult, should not outsource your thinking. When it comes to what matters in life, you must rely on your own judgment and analysis of the facts. In the words of Benjamin Graham, “You are neither…
