The Practicing Stoic: A Froogal Stoodent review

Feeling Philosophical:
The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User's Manual by Ward Farnsworth - Notes and Quotes

Sixth in a series of book reviews by The Froogal Stoodent

If you're interested, you can find this book at Amazon.

I wasn't planning to do a review for the blog on this one. An overview of the philosophy of some ancient Greeks and Romans seems a little heavy and off-topic for this forum.

But it turns out that plenty of what I read is applicable to personal finance. Moreover, some of these quotes are too great not to share!

Links for February 2022

Links February 2022

Another way our healthcare is broken: https://www.dailyposter.com/youre-being-gouged-on-medicine-you-already-paid-for/

An interesting meditation on career progression from someone in the FIRE movement: https://www.fierymillennials.com/fire-and-career-progression/

The devil's in the details, as Financially Alert's Michael Quan found out when he accidentally wrote his son out of his inheritance: https://www.financiallyalert.com/how-i-accidentally-wrote-my-son-out-of-his-inheritance/

An insightful interview with someone who has done quite well for himself: https://esimoney.com/millionaire-interview-27/

Only tangentially related to money, but interesting nonetheless: https://www.vice.com/en/article/gq857b/these-guys-made-up-a-fake-case-to-get-on-judge-judy

The White Coat Investor does an excellent job explaining the pros and cons of debt. Yes, there are both: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-to-think-about-debt/

Another excellent analysis from Lyn Alden: https://www.lynalden.com/qe-and-inequality/

Three articles on rethinking homeownership:

1. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/01/16/home-ownership-is-the-wests-biggest-economic-policy-mistake
2. https://richandregular.com/the-fallacy-of-homeownership/
3. https://www.wisebread.com/the-fallacy-of-homeownership-as-a-sound-investment
4. This one's fairly dense and has some investing jargon, but it's incredibly insightful: https://byrnehobart.medium.com/the-30-year-mortgage-is-an-intrinsically-toxic-product-200c901746a

A helpful reminder from David at Filled With Money: https://filledwithmoney.com/slow-and-steady-wins-the-race/

Great advice: https://stevepomeranz.com/radio/steves-commentary/my-last-commentary-to-you-all/

Average retirement savings by age, and how to plan for the future: https://www.averageretirementsavingsguide.com

Looking for a laptop? Here are two good options I found at good prices:

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ADA05 for $519

ASUS X512DA-BTS2020RL for $550

When Genius Failed: A Froogal Stoodent review

When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management

A Froogal Stoodent Review

If you're interested, you can find this book at Amazon.

Fifth in a series of reviews by The Froogal Stoodent

In his book When Genius Failed, author Roger Lowenstein describes, as the subtitle puts it, The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management.

That means it reads like a novel—but it’s true.

Life and Work Principles: A Froogal Stoodent review

Life and Work Principles by Ray Dalio

A Froogal Stoodent Review

If you're interested, you can find this book at Amazon.

Fourth in a series of book reviews by The Froogal Stoodent

As usual, I’m a little backward—I actually read Dalio’s The Changing World Order first (it was available online in 2020, during the pandemic, and was almost done when I stumbled across it).

I found The Changing World Order to be filled with insight, so I figured I’d read Dalio’s first work when I got a chance. Sure enough, I got the opportunity, so I took it.

The Clash of the Cultures: A Froogal Stoodent review

The Clash of the Cultures by John C. Bogle – Notes and Quotes

A Froogal Stoodent Review

If you're interested, you can find this book at Amazon.

Third in a series of book reviews by The Froogal Stoodent

If you told me 10 years ago that I’d be reading a book about agency problems, corporate governance, and financial stewardship, I wouldn’t have believed you. Or understood what you were talking about.

If you then told me that I’d actually enjoy that book, I would have laughed you out of the room!

But here I am, in 2021, reading Bogle’s The Clash of the Cultures (2012). And enjoying it, despite the infuriating problems unmasked therein.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: A Froogal Stoodent review

 Rich Dad Poor Dad

A Froogal Stoodent Review

If you're interested, you can find this book at Amazon.

The second of a new series of book reviews from The Froogal Stoodent.

Years ago, I ran across quite a bit of controversy about Robert Kiyosaki and his famous book, Rich Dad Poor Dad.

So, finally, I bumped into the 20^th anniversary paperback edition at my local library. Now that I have enough knowledge to actually assess its merits, I’ll share my impressions and some quotes.

Debt The First 5000 Years: A Froogal Stoodent Review

Debt: The First 5000 Years

A Froogal Stoodent Review

If you're interested, you can find this book at Amazon.

The first of a new series of book reviews from The Froogal Stoodent.

This book is far too complex and entangled for me to cite some quotes and provide a quick overview. You should read it for yourself!

In this instance, I’ll just identify one quote that really struck me:

Casimir’s behavior [that is, Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who sent a small army to brutalize his own territories in the wake of a rebellion—and of course, took all the gold]…seems, like that of Cortes’s angry foot soldiers when unleashed on the Aztec provinces, to embody something essential about the psychology of debt. Or more precisely, perhaps, about the debtor who feels he has done nothing to deserve being placed in his position: the frantic urgency of having to convert everything around oneself into money, and rage and indignation at having been reduced to the sort of person who would do so.”

—David Graeber, Debt: The First 5000 Years, p. 325

January 2021 update

 Hi everyone!

Sorry about going so suddenly quiet. In November 2021, I got an injury to my ribs—and as I was nursing that, I got sick in December, and had a subsequent complication.

The good news is that I'm feeling better now!

But I didn't get to blog nearly as much as I wanted.

The silver lining to all this is that I did a lot of reading, and will be starting a new series of undetermined length. The series revolves around reviews of the finance-focused books I've been reading. Hope I can connect you with some interesting new material!

Happy saving!

Investing at a Market Peak

 Investing at a Market Peak

“Buy low, sell high.”

That’s the well-known, traditional advice about the stock market.

But consider this advice from the legendary investor Warren Buffett: “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes.”

If you’re like me, you have terrible luck. What if you buy high? Well…you could take Buffett’s advice, hanging on instead of selling.

If you do that, how has that strategy fared in the past?

I have data going back to 1928, so I investigated. And here’s what I found.

Links for October 2021

 Links for October 2021

More great work from Karl at Mindfully Investing: https://www.mindfullyinvesting.com/future-return-forecasts-expecting-the-unexpected/

A ton of wisdom here: https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-highest-forms-of-wealth/

• And here as well: https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/historys-seductive-beliefs/

Can you get fired from an internship? Yes: https://filledwithmoney.com/fired-from-internship/

"That's why I'm interested in being rich. Not because I want to have a lot of money but because I don't want anyone in the entire world to have control over me." https://mywealthmoney.com/save-1-million-by-30/

A very thoughtful approach to a sensitive topic: https://steveark.com/2021/06/16/giving-grown-kids-money/

The Pandora Papers: The BBC provides you with a handy guide to 9 years of finance leaks. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-41877932

Two outrage-inducing posts from independent journalists Wall Street On Parade:

• The Fed is Now a Bailout Kingpin: https://wallstreetonparade.com/2021/07/the-federal-reserve-has-radically-changed-from-a-central-bank-to-a-bailout-kingpin-americans-just-havent-paid-attention-until-tonight/
   
• The Fed plans to permanently backstop Wall Street with overnight loans at below-market interest rates. Because bankers clearly don't already have access to enough cheap money; they need more... https://wallstreetonparade.com/2021/07/the-fed-announces-plans-to-permanently-backstop-wall-street-with-a-standing-repo-loan-facility-of-500-billionstarting-tomorrow/

There was a recent scandal about insider trading by the President of the Dallas Fed. This was written before his resignation, and it's 100% accurate. And also outrage-inducing. In fact, there are an awful lot of outrageous things going on in the halls of power. Makes you wonder... https://doomberg.substack.com/p/let-them-eat-pizza