How To Automatically Build Passive Wealth
Based on my own conversations with wealthy individuals regarding the arrangement of their estates, I have gathered that the process of building wealth is best done when the strategy is put on...
View ArticleNetflix Stock Still Has A Profit Problem
If you enjoy movies and TV sitcoms, Netflix (NFLX) offers one of the best tradeoffs for consumers in Western Civilization’s entire experimentation with capitalism. If you watch 50 hours per month, your...
View ArticleTreating Stocks As Businesses Still Works
Last month, I made fun of the fact that Fred’s stock had skyrocketed over 85% on the news that it was set to acquire 865 Rite Aid locations. My reaction to the news included the following: “Investors...
View ArticleNew Car Prices Show Us Why Young Americans Can’t Get Ahead
Approximately 58% of American adults under the age of 35 will purchase a car that has a negotiated price of $40,000 or greater. This is hardly a surprise, as the Kelly Blue Book has indicated that the...
View ArticleHow Much Money Does Glenn Beck Make From Goldline?
If you visit the GlennBeck.com website, there is a good chance that you will get met with an advertisement from Goldline–one of the site’s premium sponsors. I was thinking about this after I listened...
View ArticleHow Do The Rich Invest In Real Estate?
The most common way for the average investor to invest through real estate is to purchase stock interests in a real estate investment trusts (REITs). This comes with three advantages: (1) You get...
View ArticleWhat Are The Record And Ex-Dividend Dates?
The payment of a specific cash dividend to shareholders involves four dates–the announcement date, the ex-dividend date, the dividend date, and the payable date. Some of them mean exactly what they...
View ArticleA Cautionary Business Investing Tale
In 1973, a man in Connecticut took out an $8,000 loan to start his own business that would provide maintenance to make-up air units at commercial locations. Through grit expressed by his willingness to...
View ArticleWarren Buffett’s Coca-Cola Dividends
When Warren Buffett purchased Coca-Cola stock, a purchase that took place between 1987 and 1994 with the most intensive buying occurring in 1988 and 1989, he managed to acquired 400 million shares at...
View ArticleHow Financial Advisors Fail Their New Clients
A great deal of wealth in the United States is invested for the benefit of people who don’t give a darn about the stock market. Some data points bear this out, such as Abbot Downing’s internal survey...
View ArticleWhy Tootsie Roll Stock No Longer Outperforms
Between 1957 and 2012, shares of Tootsie Roll stock compounded at an annual rate of 13.57% (it was originally called The Sweets Company). You would have turned $10,000 into $4.5 million over a...
View ArticleMultimillionaires Spend Way Less Than Their Passive Income
In a survey of 1284 households that have a net worth of at least $2.5 million, 1232 of the households indicate that their annual spending is less than the income generated by their private business...
View ArticleOil Stock Investments vs. Commodities Futures Trading
I do not understand how regular commodities trading can be part of any sustainable wealth-building plan. A futures contract is when you agree to buy or sell a commodity at a certain price at a certain...
View ArticleHow Mutual Funds Are Taxed
Similar to partnerships, mutual funds pay no taxes themselves and operate on a pass-through basis (technically, the IRS puts mutual funds in the category of “regulated investment companies”). For tax...
View ArticleWhy The Wealthy Own Timberland
Other than oil and natural gas, guess what is the most widely owned commodity by the wealthy? As the headline gives away, it is timber. Among households with over $2.5 million in investments excluding...
View ArticleWealthy Americans Lie About Charitable Giving
In 1973, Pew Research asked the typical American whether it is okay tell “white lies” or “harmless lies” that were intended to spare the feelings of the lie’s recipient. Over 79% said that this type of...
View ArticleWhy The Mega-Rich Hoard So Much Cash
During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, approximately 1 out of 7 millionaire households liquidated 20% or more of their portfolios. The rest either stayed the course, refusing to part with their...
View ArticleThe Four Risks Of A Real Estate Investment
There is a reason why you don’t see many investors get interested in physical ownership of real estate until they can ensure that they can afford a property management company to run the day-to-day...
View ArticleAmerica’s Wealthy Top 1 Percent Didn’t Inherit It
In 1900, it required a net worth of $39,000 to be classified as America’s top 1%. The median factory worker earned just shy of $500 per year. At the end of the Gilded Age, it would have been a fair...
View ArticleInvesting In Artwork Will Eat You In Fees
I do not like art as a long-term investment. Why? Artwork not generate any cash flow. Strike One. Artwork costs money in storage fees. Strike Two. Artwork costs insurance. Strike Three. Batter out!...
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