Some of the richest people in America have little or no life insurance. Many billionaires, for example, believe that they are essentially self insured. And who could argue with those who have a billion dollars backing them? But what about those high income producers who have low levels of wealth and have family members who …
In Chapter 5 of Stop Acting Rich, Keeping Up with Your Spirits, I discuss several issues concerning the consumption of distilled beverages. In the process of researching this topic I discovered that vodka is the number one distilled beverage consumed by the affluent. Also, I mention the fact that there are more than 300 competing brands of …
Please join Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for The Washington Post, and me on March 4th for a live chat at Noon ET. My latest book, Stop Acting Rich, was chosen as The Color of Money Book Club selection for February. I look forward to your questions!
An excellent article in The Wall Street Journal by Alex P. Kellogg, “BMW Touts ‘Joy,’ Value in New Ads,” Saturday/Sunday, February 13-14, 2010, highlights the changes in the advertising themes of several prestige manufacturers of automobiles. It seems that status is out and satisfaction, value and physical properties are being emphasized. Acura is now touting …
The cost of housing is often a major barrier to becoming financially independent. That’s why Ms K.S. might consider becoming her own landlord, as did Brian. But “just follow the rules.” And as I wrote in The Millionaire Next Door: To build wealth, minimize your realized (taxable) income and maximize your unrealized income (wealth/capital appreciation …
Ms. K.S. recently e-mailed me: Should I buy a home/condo or rent an apartment? I’m moving to a large metro area where the cost of housing is very high. My annual income is about $70k. Will buying help my chances of becoming wealthy someday? I’m not sure if I can afford to buy [a home]. …
Glen W. Bell, Jr., the founder of the Taco Bell restaurant chain, recently passed away (see The New York Times). After taking Taco Bell public, Mr. Bell sold it to Pepsico for $125 million. At that time, the chain had 868 restaurants. Today there are more than 5,000 Taco Bell stores operating worldwide. All toll …
In a recent article from Vanguard reviewing my latest book, Stop Acting Rich, the author referred to the story about “a restaurant with bugzappers.” This topic generated a lot of comments. Here are the details from the book. After I interviewed an entrepreneur from Texas with a net worth in the mid eight figures, he told …
How do I categorize millionaires who inherited all or most of their wealth? I do not consider them to be fortunate. Actually, I think of them as being deprived. They were deprived of the great pride, joy and satisfaction derived from building one’s own fortune. Countless millionaires have told me that it is the journey to wealth …
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal mentioned that a conference of academic economists was taking place in Atlanta. The theme of the article centered around the frugal nature of academic economists. “Some economists may be cheap, . . . . because of their training or a fascination with money and choices that drives …