So, here we have this wonderful wealth building tool that relentlessly marches upward but—and this is a major but—boy howdy it’s a wild and unsettling ride. In Part I & Part II I presented to you a very rosy view of the stock market and its wealth building potential. Everything I wrote is true. But,… [Continue Reading]
Archives for 2012
Stocks — Part II: The Market Always Goes Up
On what was later to be called Black Monday, in 1987, at the end of a very busy day I called my broker. Remember now, this was when we had brokers and before cell phones, personal computers, the internet and online trading. “Hi Bob,” I said cheerfully. “How’s it going.” There was a long silent… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part I: There’s a Major Market Crash Coming!!!! and Dr. Lo Can’t Save You.
I’m feeling testy today. I just finished an article in Money Magazine and reading this magazine is, in and of itself, enough to make me testy. This particular piece is an article on page 87 of the March 2012 edition interviewing Dr. Andrew Lo*. Dr. Lo is an economist and finance professor at MIT’s Sloan… [Continue Reading]
You can eat my Vindaloo, mega lottery, Blondie, Noa, Israel Kamakawiwo ‘Ole, art, film and a ride on the Space Shuttle
Elvis and “You can eat my Vindaloo.” If we had ads like these I wouldn’t fast forward thru the commercials. I’d also buy me some New Walkers Poppadums. Bet you can’t watch it just once: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QduTLFILORY&sns=em My pal Trish is a whip smart, drop dead gorgeous international entrepreneur. She’s lived and traveled all over the… [Continue Reading]
Where in the world are you?
jlcollinsnh around the world I don’t know too much about this whole blogging process. Since starting last June, I’ve only barely figured out how to write the posts and put them up. But measuring readership and other metrics is still mostly a mystery to me. (I also just got an email from a reader asking… [Continue Reading]
How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable, Part V: Sold! and the Taxman Cometh
Previously: Part IV: I Become a Landlord Part V: Sold! and the taxman cometh. One of the few good things to come from all this was the bond and friendship we owners developed. My pal, whose name I have somehow shamefully managed to forget, was now the Condo Association president and he kept an eye on… [Continue Reading]
How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable, Part IV: I Become a Landlord
It is said some are born to greatness, some seek greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. So, too, with landlording. And I was definitely in category #3. So now the battles have ended and the dust has begun to settle. I’m a home (well, condo) owner! Got my very own personal little slice… [Continue Reading]
How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable, Part III: The Battle Is Joined
Major Mistake #3 In the comments section of Part II you may have noticed a couple that celebrated my ultimate success in the completion of my unit. At the time, me too. Things looked pretty good and I was feeling thrill of victory. But I had lost sight of the bigger picture. I had no… [Continue Reading]
How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable, Part II: The Limits of the Law
Part I: Impossibly Naive Part II: The Limits of the Law Here’s what YP had been doing. sales office He had acquired the building with bank financing and gutted it. Maybe at this point he really planned a real project. Attractive literature had been prepared showing floor plans and images of the finished units. He… [Continue Reading]
How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable, Part I: Impossibly Naive
Up In Smoke Nowadays, everybody has a tale of money lost in real estate. Dreams and cash evaporated. It has become all the rage. Hard perhaps to believe now, but time was not so long ago, real estate was a can’t lose proposition. People said things like, “Buy land. It can only go up. They’re… [Continue Reading]
