A Christmas Message
As I did last year, I’m going to be spending the day with my loved ones — my wife and children, my sister, my mother-in-law, and some of our very best friends. We’re going to get up when Michael, our youngest, wakes us. He’s 15 now — maybe too old…
READ MORELet’s Be Grateful for Things that Really Matter
“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Michael, my third son, never liked the private school we sent him to. Like his two elder brothers before him, he was unhappy not with the academic requirements and rigors but…
READ MOREPerfect Dad, Flawed Dad: How Good Do You Have to Be?
“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.” – Katherine Mansfield SM told me that he’d always assumed his father was “above it all” because of how successful he had…
READ MOREFive Good Reasons to Own a “Vacation” Home
“Home is where the heart is and hence a movable feast.” – Angela Carter There are at least five good reasons to buy a second home: 1. It can become your future retirement home. Buy it now and have it paid off in today’s cheap dollars. Years from now,…
READ MOREForget Most of What You Think You Know About Feng Shui: Here Are The Essentials for a Productive Place of Business
I tried to believe. I really did. But half of what I read about feng shui seemed totally loony. So, once again, I’m going to rely on the benefit of 52 years of experience. Here’s the “ETR shui” on setting up a good office/studio. First, some observations and conclusion: *…
READ MOREChoosing The Right Home, Part I: How Big A House Do You Need?
I grew up in a family of 10 in a four-bedroom home the size of a Hummer. I was embarrassed to have to bunk with two or three siblings and was amazed and in awe of Tommy Harrington, a friend whose house contained not only one full bedroom just for…
READ MOREGive Gifts That Mean Something and You’ll Be Remembered For Them
Charity often pleases the giver and weakens the recipient, but gifts are another matter. The occasional gift (occasional, as for a birthday, Christmas, etc.) — even an extravagant one — can sometimes have a lasting positive effect. Such was the result of a gift my godmother, JK, gave me many…
READ MOREMake Your Personal Life Richer This Year
What are your hobbies? If you say “watching sports on television,” I’ve got news for you. That’s not a hobby. It’s a habit, and a bad one at that. A hobby is, or should be, something that makes your life richer. The kind of hobby Winston Churchill was recommending…
READ MOREAn Easy Way to Make Your Child Very Wealthy
“With money in your pocket, you are wise and you are handsome and you sing well too.” – Yiddish proverb Let’s say my friends could afford to put $20,000 into such a fund. And let’s further assume that the fund provided a net return of 8% — which is lower…
READ MOREGet Thin And Stay That Way By Ending Ritualistic Eating Patterns
To lose weight and stay thin, you must change the way you eat. Changing your eating pattern temporarily is easy. You go on a diet. But to stay thin, you’ve got to do more: You must change the way you think about eating. For many of us, eating is a…
READ MOREHow to Make Your Children Wealthy
“One of my father’s most precious legacies to me was spiritual. I learned from him the value of courage and the strength of will.” – Armand Hammer (Hammer, 1987) TG told me that a mutual friend, OJ, had burned through an inheritance of $180,000 in a year. Most of…
READ MOREA Simple Way To Make Your Children Wealthy
“There is nothing like dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow.” – Victor Hugo (Les Miserables, 1862) Did you know that your children can easily acquire substantial wealth by the time they have to pay the bills for their own families? How much? Starting with less…
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