I made an enemy this week. She is the widow of an old friend. Before he died, I promised to try to look out for her a bit. During our recent conversation she said I made her feel small. She said I made her feel stupid. There were tears. I’m very likely guilty on both counts. I’m… [Continue Reading]
What Poker, Basketball and Mike Whitaker taught me about Luck
Here’s a little thought experiment. Consider all the people you’ve known for a moment. Now focus on the five who have been least successful and the five who have achieved the most. Ask yourself, what is their attitude regarding luck? In my experience the contrast is striking. What I notice is this: Less successful people… [Continue Reading]
How to Give Like a Billionaire: Vanguard, Tax Deductions, & Nuns
I know what you’re thinking. For sometime now you’ve been wondering what exactly Mr. and Mrs. jlcollinsnh have in common with Bill and Melinda Gates. Here it is: We both have Charitable Foundations Now you’re thinking, “I knew it! jlcollinsnh is a billionaire!” In this you’d be, sadly I must say, mistaken. More monk than… [Continue Reading]
Go ahead, make my day
Self portrait Or maybe Clint Eastwood A few days ago I received this email: “Apreciado Jim: Un real . You are over the top for a blog (lot’s of our age people don’t even know what that is) and I am blown away with all of the great stuff that you have on the site…. [Continue Reading]
Muk Finds Success in Tahiti
Let’s run away together One day, many years ago, I was having an especially bad day at work. Late in the afternoon I called my not-yet-then-but-soon-to-be wife and said: “I’m sick of this crap. Let’s quit our jobs and run away to Tahiti.” I’m not entirely sure I knew where Tahiti was at the time…. [Continue Reading]
Beanie Babies, Naked Barbie, American Pickers and Old Coots
As we begin preparing for our move we’ve been poking thru our various boxes and bins looking for stuff we don’t want to pay to move. Which, for me, is just about everything. I love getting rid of stuff. In one of those plastic bins (the oversized version) is my daughter’s collection of Beanie Babies. … [Continue Reading]
Index Investing, A Brief History of Vanguard, and the Case for Average Returns
Over on the post Magic Beans reader Mark had this to say in the comments: “Being a Boglehead myself, I read the ERE article to see what he had to say. I had to sigh when I got to this: “Index investing is basically equivalent to a buy and hold strategy with very low turnover of a… [Continue Reading]
Magic Beans
For supposedly rational creatures we humans seem irrationally drawn to Magic Beans. Being a geezer I’ve been around long enough to see quite a few flavors come and go. What they all have in common is that by the time you start reading about them everywhere, the end is near. Let’s see… I remember Growth… [Continue Reading]
Dividend Growth Investing
Update by JL’s Team Fact check time: If you’re considering single stock dividend investing (against JL’s advice, of course) versus index investing, in 10 years which will provide a better return? JL first published this post in December of 2011, and we wanted to see if his advice passed the test of time. JL references… [Continue Reading]
The. Worst. Used. Car. Ever.
Spitfire Back in 1977 I was renting a little studio up in Rogers Park, a neighborhood on the far north side of Chicago. I was young, single, employed, carefree and making some bucks. I needed a toy. A sports car. That’s the ticket. I lived in the city. I didn’t own a car. Didn’t need… [Continue Reading]
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