A few years back, three very different things happened and, to the best of my recollection they didn’t happen all that close together. First, in 2012, I wrote the post How to Give Like a Billionaire. In it I described how to use Donor Advised Funds (DAF) to maximize your tax deduction for your charitable… [Continue Reading]
Angel Investing, or Angel Philanthropy?
If you are reading this blog there is a very good chance you are rich. Or well on your way to becoming rich. Or you may be closer to your starting point and being rich still seems a distant, maybe even improbable, destination. Or you may only stop here briefly before moving on never to… [Continue Reading]
jlcollinsnh gets a new suit
Welcome to our still classic new look! Just about three years ago jlcollinsnh.com underwent its first redesign and the sweeping changes you have become used to were ushered in. There were lots of reasons for this but the tipping point was when Sean over at Renewable Wealth, in the nicest possible way, said “…your current design… [Continue Reading]
YNAB: Best Place to Work Ever?
You want this: Not this: Trust me. The second hand made its agonizingly deliberate sweep. All eyes were locked to it. Ever so slowly it erased first the seconds, and then the minutes, on the plodding march to 4:45. The workers sat, bundled in their winter hats and coats, their belongings at their feet, with… [Continue Reading]
Help Wanted
Pony Express When I launched this blog back in the good old days, I barely knew what a blog was. I had heard the term but I had never actually seen one. I joke that the first blog post I ever read was the first post I ever wrote. If it is funny it is… [Continue Reading]
The Blog has New Clothes
Waves painting by Sergey Gusev* Well looky here. Little ol’ jlcollinsnh is growing up a bit. With this post you’ll notice three big changes. We could have done them separately, but just seemed to make sense to plunge ahead. Before we get into all that, let me start with some well deserved “Thank You” shout outs…. [Continue Reading]
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]
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]
I could not have said it better myself…
“If you reach for a star, you might not get one. But you won’t come up with a hand full of mud either” — Leo Burnett “Never be haughty to the humble. Never be humble to the haughty.” — Jefferson Davis “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying… [Continue Reading]
Happy Birthday, jlcollinsnh; and thanks for the gift Mr. MM!
In 1974 my dad died. I was 23. (Didn’t expect the Happy Birthday post to begin there, I’ll bet!) He never had much interest in kids so our relationship didn’t really begin to develop until I was in college and could relate to him as an adult. Of course, by then I had my own… [Continue Reading]