Last year, I described a set of ideas I called truisms of financial planning. They’re concepts I’ve found helpful in navigating the world of personal finance. Below are seven more. Jeff Bezos is a bad role model. So is Bill Gates, Elon Musk and pretty much every other billionaire. Of course, [...]
The Turkey Principle
Sitting at the Thanksgiving table yesterday, there was some joking about all the different turkey-related expressions we have: If you want to have a frank conversation with someone, you need to talk turkey. If you want to quit something in a hurry, you go cold turkey. If you’re a dancer, there’s the [...]
Jeff Bezos’s big day
For those who keep score — namely, the financial news media — last Thursday marked a milestone: For the first time in a long time, Bill Gates was no longer the richest person in the world. Instead, that distinction went to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. This probably doesn't come as any [...]
Social Security: tall tales and facts
When you were growing up, did you ever hear stories like this? "If you swallow gum, it will stay in your stomach for seven years." "If you keep making that face, it will freeze that way." "If you drink coffee, it will stunt your growth." "If you watch too much TV, your eyes will turn square." In [...]
America’s first personal finance expert
WITH THE FOURTH OF JULY JUST AROUND THE CORNER, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit the wisdom of America's first personal finance author — and an author of the Declaration of Independence — Ben Franklin. Franklin lived in the 1700s, but it turns out that virtually everything he had to say [...]
