Naive and Sophisticated Economics

Imagine a financial planner who tricked his or her clients into behaviors that were against their long-term best interests, encouraging them to spend, when years of overspending had left them in perilous financial shape, and scheming to have them sell their safe, conservative assets and instead, have them invest their funds in unsuitable risky assets. Furthermore, what if […]

Does Anarchy Have A Bad Rap?

The other day someone tried to cut in line at my local Starbucks and although it was probably unintentional, the sense of outrage from the other customers was palpable. It was as if customers had suffered a grievous personal blow, and it was not directed at their grande mocha cookie crumble frappuccino. Their sense of fairness […]

Backpacking Lite: The Secret To Real Wealth

Last week I was asked why, as a financial planner, I am writing about everything from happiness and parenting to dying and character development. The clue is in the subtitle of the blog, “Financial, economic and wealth related issues in the broadest sense of the word.” The origin of the word “wealth” is the old English word […]

The Future Of Currencies

In an earlier post I wrote about the likelihood of continued market volatility as asset prices veered back and forth between the effects of monetary stimulus and the deflationary forces unleashed by a generational deleveraging event. In this tug-of-war between the forces of inflation (money printing) and deflation (deleveraging) the dollar is the medium through which […]

The Limits Of Passionate Parenting

Philip Larkin’s poem below sums up the prevailing view that parents are the most important influence on children, and that they have it in their power to produce either intelligent, well-adjusted young adults or below average social misfits. Because most parents believe that their actions can significantly affect their children’s beliefs, morals, actions, health, IQ, future […]