The Most Important Lesson From My Parents
Did you hear the one about CNN host Anderson Cooper losing out on $200 million? It sounds like the start of a bad joke… but there’s no punch line. Cooper, the son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, was disinherited from the family fortune. But there’s no bad blood. His mother planned…
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If You’re Not a Good Listener… You May Have a Big Problem
The tension in the room was palpable… The members of the Olander family sat in a circle of chairs. All except the oldest son, Adam. He was conspicuously absent. The family members and I were gathered because there were problems in the family business… and they were spilling over into…
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5 Strategies for Living a Simpler, Fuller Life
About eight years ago, I did a little experiment. I wanted to find out if it really is possible to do business from anywhere in the world. So I packed my family off to Rome (one of my favorite cities) for a six-week “working vacation.” I not only learned that,…
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The Greatest Gift to Leave Your Grandchildren
You’ve probably heard the phrase “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” It describes how wealth earned in one generation tends to be lost by the third. This is a common phenomenon. Avoiding this fate is a core theme in the Bonner & Partners Family Office newsletter. How do you hold…
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Are You Guilty of Thinking This Way
Most people are prone to the Golden Age Fallacy. This is the feeling that earlier times, often our childhoods, were simpler, safer, and happier. Today, fundamentalist terrorists threaten violence to Western cultures… ethnic cleansing has devastated African communities… financial markets seem shaky… governments are paralyzed by political gridlock… We could…
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How to Talk About Touchy Subjects with Adult Children
What would you do if your son were about to marry a woman who was a bad fit for him and your family? That’s the dilemma Ted and Marta faced. Their 25-year-old son, Jake, was going to ask his girlfriend to marry him… and they didn’t approve. Sure, Jake’s girlfriend was pretty, educated…
READ MORE2014 Toys for Tots Results and Celebration
I know it’s been a month since Christmas, but you have to see and hear about this. Although you ain’t seen nothing yet. Just wait till you hear about what we have planned for the 2015 Toys for Tots weekend in Denver. It will be the biggest gathering of A-Players…
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Who is in Your Scene?
My wife Claudia asked me, “What took you the longest in your life to understand?” I don’t know if I understand anything in my life. I don’t say this with self-modesty. Every day I learn something where I say to myself, “why didn’t I learn that before?” But I know…
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Choosing the Best Possible Life
Someone once said that the three most important decisions in life answer the following questions: 1. What are you going to do? 2. With whom? 3. And where? I thought that was pretty nifty when I first encountered it 15 years ago. Today, I still think it is practical wisdom…
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#1 Goal Setting Mistake, and How to Fix It
A few years ago I spent New Year’s Eve like many revelers, eating and drinking to excess. We had gathered in South Florida at my friend Joel Marion’s home to celebrate. The buffet spread was incredible. The cheese and nut plates were everywhere. The bar, well stocked with all the…
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How to Protect Your Kids from “Affluenza”
I attended an interesting dinner party a few years ago… Seated at the head of an elegantly set table for 10, the host dominated the dinner conversation with stories of his favorite subject: himself. He bragged about going to Formula One races in France. He name-dropped when talking about his celebrity neighbors…
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The One Simple Question That Leads To Success
When you encounter a problem or frustrating situation, what questions do you ask yourself? I used to ask the following: Why am I so unlucky? Who can I blame? Why am I so stupid? How do I make sure I don’t look bad? Why is life so unfair? I now…
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