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Stay Open to Opportunity
Investment December 7, 2021/Investment My years in business have taught me that relationships pay. To reap those dividends, you first need to find the right people and invest in making connections. Daily life is full of opportunities to connect. It starts with taking out our earbuds and actually interacting with people. The formula for connection…
Read More >>Living Longer, Saving Less
Financial December 7, 2021/Financial The economic outlook in America looks good right now. The stock market is soaring, employment is strong, and our economy is diversified and resilient. It’s hard to fault people for feeling optimistic that the future will be good and things will work out. But there are still many long term trends…
Read More >>Private Ownership is Good for Risk Taking
Investment December 7, 2021/Investment People who know me know that I appreciate risk takers and entrepreneurs. Their willingness to dream big and go all-in on their beliefs drives us all forward. Elon Musk, CEO of several high profile companies, has been an interesting one to follow. Last week, Musk said he might take Tesla Motors…
Read More >>Insurance: A Key Part of Investing
Investment December 7, 2021/Investment Nobody likes thinking about bad scenarios. Illness, death, property destroyed by flooding – these are uncomfortable subjects. Many avoid planning for trouble because it seems remote. But my grandfather liked to say we should prepare for the worst, and the best will take care of itself. I think he was right,…
Read More >>Alliance Case Study: Unlocking Resale Value
Investment December 7, 2021/Investment Negotiation is at the heart of the real estate investing. Doing it well requires sound analysis and and an understanding of your counterparty’s motivations. Together, these elements bring out a calm, patient confidence that enables a company like Alliance out-maneuver, and find win-wins, with the other side in negotiations, even when…
Read More >>Picking Winners And Losers
Development December 7, 2021/Development Governments around the world are intervening in the economy more than at any time in recent memory. It’s happening through tariffs, tax codes changes and even Twitter. The more government is in the business of picking winners and losers, the more uncertainty investors generally feel, and that usually hurts investments.…
Read More >>If Admission Tests Aren’t Fair, Neither is Life
Lifestyle December 7, 2021/Lifestyle In recent years, I’ve seen a troubling trend toward protecting kids from unfairness and anything that might make them feel bad. I applaud the sentiment – we all want a just and happy world – but I worry that we’re creating unrealistic expectations in our kids. Eventually, reality comes crashing in.…
Read More >>Better Relationships Beats More Relationships
Lifestyle December 7, 2021/Lifestyle For cutting through all the digital noise, there’s still nothing like face-to-face interaction. Some people might call it wasteful to travel by for a conversation when video chat or even a phone call would do. But a video call isn’t the same, and I believe that meeting in person can…
Read More >>How Will Americans Ever Retire?
Financial December 7, 2021/Financial I hate saying it, but Americans are financially illiterate, and that’s a real problem. Up and down the education and income scale, people don’t save enough to retire securely. They borrow heavily without understanding the costs, spend more than they can really afford, and they’re not prepared for an uncertain…
Read More >>World Cup Fever
Lifestyle December 7, 2021/Lifestyle World Cup fever is here. While Team USA failed to qualify this time, we’ve just been selected to host (along with Mexico and Canada) the 2026 tournament. This is a big opportunity, and I hope we use it well. In the US, we spread our sports fandom across so many sports…
Read More >>Our Digital Shadows
Lifestyle December 7, 2021/Lifestyle The internet is powerful because it connects us to each other. By the same power, it also connects different parts of our lives together. Everything we do online leaves a trace – a digital shadow. It’s time we all recognize that our actions traceable back to us, and act accordingly. The…
Read More >>Don’t Worry About Italy . . . Yet
Financial December 7, 2021/Financial Should we be worried that this latest Italian bond crisis is going to have a major economic impact here in the US? In my opinion, no. For the umpteenth time, the news media is hyping an economic crisis in Europe. This time, it’s Italy, which just formed a new government of…
Read More >>Blockchain: Beyond the Hype
Financial December 7, 2021/Financial When it comes to “investing” in Bitcoin, I say buyer beware. In just the last 5 years, we’ve seen Bitcoin rise from a few hundred dollars per coin, up to twenty thousand per coin, and then fall back down under ten thousand. That’s pretty extreme volatility, and I think that crypto-millionaires…
Read More >>The New Face of Technology Investing
Financial December 7, 2021/Financial A new breed of technology investors is rising in the modern economy. Rather than aiming for short or medium term profits, these techno utopians are chasing after radical technological improvements with unpredictable consequences. They’re broadly optimistic that progress will be positive, new capabilities will let us overcome the problems that are…
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