Category: Money
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Five powerful words
“I could do with less.” Less income, less stuff, less in the portfolio, less alcohol, less junk food, less screen time…… “I could do with less” is a way to build resilience and margin against hard things: Job loss, bear markets, illness. But it’s also simply a better way to…
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The power of “I don’t know”
Next time you have a conversation with a partner or spouse around money, try to joining it with a posture of “I don’t know, but let’s find out together.” The temptation can be to join these conversations with a sense of certainty and clarity, but most of the time that…
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Growing poor by getting rich
The possibility of growing poor by getting rich is much higher than you can imagine. It’s a knife’s edge between blessing and curse. One of the things that can lead to wealth and riches is a hyper-vigilance around investment returns, around time and productivity, around relationships as opportunities. But while…
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Big problems, small actions
Most of the time a big problem seems to demand a big solution, a loud and complex action. But that’s an illusion. To begin with, a big problem doesn’t get to be big all at once. Big problems are compounded little ones. There’s no such thing as suddenly waking up…
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Appetite suppressant
You can buy a drug now to suppress your appetite. Take the drug, reduce your appetite, reduce calorie intake, lose weight. Just remember appetites go beyond food and drink, and at some point you will need to manage them on your own.
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It’s not the next thing
What if everything you owned right now was fine? What if it did the trick? What if the car that needs a repair got one, and you kept driving it? What if your wardrobe just…didn’t change for a bit? What if your house is actually okay, despite its outdatedness and…
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Make friction work for you
A simple equation for financial health: There is nothing wrong with spending. There are plenty of good things to spend money on! But too often our lives are “Buy now with one click,” “Save after several months of clicking,” and “Give…eventually.”
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A path of peace
The world is always on fire. Fear is rampant, anxiety is the norm, and cynicism is the soup of the day. Peace is a word more likely to produce a barely concealed snicker than it is a sense of hope. Of course, peace is not merely the absence of fear…
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Sandpit economics
“Money is the sandpit of the soul.” That’s a line from Irish rock band Fontaines DC, and I think it’s true. Just as the imagination and ideas of kids show up in the way they play in a sandpit at school, so the values and longings of our souls show…
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Two types of real
There is a character in Dickens’ Bleak House who gets into a great deal of trouble because of a mistaken belief that someday, someday he would receive a large sum of money from a suit tied up in Chancery court. Sam Bankman-Fried is going on trial tomorrow because it seems…
Meaningful Returns 