My mother will be celebrating her 90th birthday this week. I am not sure what her plans are, but I suspect they will include swimming, which she has done six days a week for many years. Keeping her body and mind in shape has always been very important to her and perhaps a key to…
It was always a treat when my elementary teacher brought in the movie projector. One of my favorites was the Disney cartoon story of Johnny Appleseed. Though a bit mythologized, John Chapman was a real-life pioneer who travelled across the country planting apple seeds for those who would follow long after. Investors I work with often…
I have a second home with six Xanadu plants and two of them struggle while the others are doing great. With some research I discovered that the two were getting more hours of direct sunlight than the others. I learned that the Xanadu family of plants thrives in low light and the few extra hours…
This week I attended the Newport Beach Christmas Parade of Lights. It’s an annual event where dozens of yachts, decorated in Christmas lights, parade around Newport Harbor. The sights, sounds, music and festive parties were a sight to behold. The parade passed by multi-million-dollar homes, high end restaurants and hundreds of additional moored yachts, all…
A friend asked if the China trade war is the only issue that matters anymore to Wall Street. Based on the daily financial news, one might get that impression. It reminds me of a quote by the late Benjamin Graham, who is viewed by many as the father of value investing. He said, “Over the…
I try to avoid political topics, but quite often politics and investing cross paths and it’s part of my job to warn my clients when the one might negatively affect the other. One current issue I found interesting were the stories of this year’s Black Friday protests. Apparently, some individuals who take issue with our…
I saw an interesting story in the news of a pilot who hit some power lines with his small airplane. The accompanying picture showed the plane dangling upside down from the lines, while a fire department ladder truck rescued the pilot. I could only imagine how he must have felt as he hung there waiting…
My sister found a trove of old family photos going way back to the 1800’s. As I looked through the collection, what stood out the most was how dramatically different my life is from what my recent ancestors experienced. In the time frame of humanity 100 years is just a blip, but what a difference…
A university student interested in financial planning came to my office to discuss the industry. He asked, “What is the most important thing for me to do to prepare to be a financial advisor?” He listed the potential classes he might take, and internships that were available to him, trying to give me a bigger…
I drove past a business in town and noticed a big tent with banners advertising free hotdogs. In the parking lot stood quite a long line of people waiting for their food. I chuckled when I recognized many successful acquaintances in that line. I thought on the uniqueness of the situation. These well-heeled individuals were…