The house pictured above is in Montgomery, Alabama. I have never seen this house in real life. I have never been to Montgomery, although I am sure it is lovely. The odds are good that you, too, have never been to Montgomery and have also never seen this house. Even if you have been to… [Continue Reading]
An International Portfolio from The Escape Artist
The Escape Artist Regular readers know the story. This blog launched in 2011 at the suggestion of a business colleague of mine. I had shared with him letters and notes I had been writing to my daughter, mostly about money and investing. One of my core beliefs is that, in this complex world we have… [Continue Reading]
How to Invest in Bitcoin like Benjamin Graham
“On October 26, 2012 I bought 100 Bitcoins for $1017 USD. As of November 28th, 2017, they are worth almost exactly $1,000,000 USD.” Of late, I have been getting an increasing number of folks asking for my opinion on cryptocurrencies. The above line (cribbed and slightly modified from Lucas’ opening below) would be the ideal… [Continue Reading]
Sleeping soundly thru a market crash: The Wasting Asset Retirement Model
Back in July I found myself up in the far north of Maine looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. I was a guest of one A. Noonan Moose. Mr. Moose owns the beach house with this lovely view where we were guests and it is a far more impressive place than my little shack. The… [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]
Buy Your Freedom; Rent the Rest
Stan: How did you get JL Collins to post on your blog, like did you relentless email him or something? FIRECracker: Nope, he contacted us and told us he liked our blog. You can imagine our surprise. It was a little bit like Michael Jordan coming over and saying “Hey, you’re pretty good!” jlcollinsnh:… [Continue Reading]
Case Study #15: The Scavenger Life — Freedom first, then Financial Independence
“I can’t believe that I got a college education just so I could end up selling old shoes on the internet.” Over the past five years of writing this blog – thru the comments, reader meet-ups and the Chautauquas – I’ve had the opportunity to get to know jlcollinsnh readers pretty well. While not universal,… [Continue Reading]
Around the world with an Aussie Biker
The motorbike I found parked in my Guatemalan hotel lobby; here in the Moroccan desert In March 2014 I was spending the month in Antigua, Guatemala, where they will kill you for your shoes. Or maybe not. One day I returned to my hotel to find a motorcycle parked in the lobby sporting an Australian… [Continue Reading]
Trish and Stan take an Intrepid Sailing Voyage
January 10, 2015 Trish’s Caribbean Report Part I: This is island life. I’m sitting under a couple of coconut palms, in a rattan chair, a view of the ocean in the distance. There are black and yellow butterflies on the red hibiscus flowers, and a lizard is watching me. In the tree beyond the terrace,… [Continue Reading]
Cafe No Se
So I am here in Antigua, Guatemala hanging out in one of my favorite dives, Travel Menu, drinking beer and eating some awesome food and talking to my new pal Lito. The talk turns, as talk will do, to other worthy dives here in town and he asks if I’ve made it to Cafe No… [Continue Reading]