I’m an old English major. I don’t much like poetry. Go figure. But this is a whole ‘nother frame of reference. Be warned, this is a bit erotic: Sucker for Spanish Speakers My pal Fran is her coach. Yeah. I didn’t know poets had coachs either. If you like that one, you’ll find a couple… [Continue Reading]
Archives for 2013
Consignment Shops: Best business model ever?
Our local upscale consignment shop, er, I mean Gallery Imagine you could have a business selling stuff you didn’t own. Imagine you had no manufacturing costs. Imagine you had no cost of goods sold. Imagine you could stock your store with inventory that didn’t cost you a dime unless and until it sold. Imagine you… [Continue Reading]
Cafes
Un Cafe du Paris Parisians love their cafes. Over this past Christmas we were there. It was December. It was cold. It was damp. It was sometimes raining. And there were the Parisians sitting in their cafes. Outside. We chose the inside seats. But the last time, some 23 years ago, it was Spring and… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XVI: Index Funds Are Really Just for Lazy People, Right?
Ah, no. Index investing is for people who want the best possible results. Over the last decade or so some of my investing ideas have drawn comment on other blogs and forums. Lately, I’ve noticed that even those folks seeking to compliment me sometimes frame my position on Vanguard and index funds as sound advice… [Continue Reading]
Social Security: How Secure and When to Take It
Cat food. It’s what’s for dinner. Back in the early 1980s I remember railing against Social Security to my mother who was on it. She’d grown up with the specter of little old ladies living on cat food. That was a real possibility when she was a girl and the elderly were the poorest group… [Continue Reading]
Fighting giraffes, surreal landscapes, dancing with unicorns and restoring a Vanagon
What better advice than this? As I mentioned last time, this whole retirement thing has turned out to be a bunch busier than I would have guessed. Or have planned for. Like a kid dishing out his own ice cream, I’ve heaped far too much stuff into my bowl. At least for the first part… [Continue Reading]
My plan for 2013
Late last night I finished the IRS certification process for VITA: Tests in Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Ethics. It was bit easier time around as it is my third year. Still, travel and other play put me behind the learning curve and the deadline was closing fast. Our site opens next Tuesday and Thursday night I’ll… [Continue Reading]
VITA, income taxes and the IRS
I wasn’t planning to do it again this year, but in the end I signed up. If I had been planning better, the work for my re-certification would be mostly done by now. But I’ve yet to begin. Too much traveling and playing. I knew this of course. It is the reason I wasn’t planning… [Continue Reading]
How to be a stock market guru and get on MSNBC
Back in the day Louis Rukeyser hosted a PBS program called Wall Street Week each Friday evening. It was an end of the week ritual watching it for me. Louis Rukeyser He’d open with a commentary on the follies and foibles of the previous market week and then turn to a rotating panel of three Wall… [Continue Reading]
