The more things change… I was sitting there in my “pedal chair” at physical therapy yesterday and there was an old man of 80+ in the chair next to me. I had actually just blown him away in our little fast walk over here. Him, with his little wooden cane, in the crosswalk and me, […]
Best $20 I ever spent
Long wait to tell this story I’ve been carrying around elements of this story for 30+ years. It’s about a friend, money, family and life in between. Early financial deal The day I met my friend Wox was actually a financial transaction.I heard about someone in our new middle-school, that might be interested in buying […]
How do childhood money lessons affect us?
Long time ago I remember it like it was yesterday. I was about 7 years old and was sitting there on our large oval living room rug watching Saturday baseball with my Dad. We were probably the last people in our neighborhood to upgrade to a color TV and I was loving it. Those were […]
How I got fat & happy and ignored my investments
A cautionary tale This is a cautionary tale of how “inertia” can really cost you a lot of money. I thought everything was on automatic pilot. I had been funding my Vanguard account for years, and with a few hot years afterthe financial crisis, I figured (around 2013) that the market was ready to take […]
Movie review: “Match point”..
Marrying for the money It’s one of the oldest tales in the book and still one of the most compelling. My Father-in-law used to say, “When you marry for the money, you end up earning every nickel.” While I didn’t have to worry about that as motivation for me or my wife, the lesson was […]
Did AI just save me thousands on my investment?
This post is not meant as financial advice and is not an endorsement of any individual stock or investing method. Do your own THOROUGH research and then invest with caution. AI and investing is a new area but will most likely grow in usefulness. Autopilot investing I’ve been doing the mutual fund thing for years and frankly, sometimes I find it boring and less than optimal. Therefore, I’m […]
Real Estate Dreams: Why It’s Good When They Shatter
In December of 2013, a real estate dream of mine was shattered. We were one document away from owning the perfect home in Portland, Maine when the deal fell through. I was crushed. I had fallen in love with the city after a single visit (just like with NYC). But it just wasn’t to be. […]
Give Before You Go: Create a Living Legacy Today
I’ve always been ambivalent about my own wealth. You might even say that I’m obsessed with implementing a plan to give it all away (after we’re gone, of course). To that end, I wrote a post about a year ago on finding a financial “steward in the age of blended families.” The gist is that […]
Shifting conversations
When I started on my “Personal finance” journey around when I was 16 years old, I used to say, “If I can’t retire by the time I’m 45 or 50, I’m going to be pissed off!”. That comment was born out of extreme austerity that I put in place at a very young age. That […]
In a hot market, supplementing our income w/ stock gains
Harvesting gains I was going to title this post, “How I beat the market in 2018”, but that’s not really what this post is about. Plus, I didn’t want to sound like an ass. This post is about being “OK” with spending or using some of your hard earned retirement funds. I’ve seen this done […]