Carl C Trovall

Comments

• Thank you for stating this, Chris. The old aphorism about the golden rule: Those who have the gold make the rules. Structural injustice gives certain people advantages over those of us further down the ladder. Making the rules is a big one.

  Post: I think billionaires are under appreciated

  Link to comment from November 19, 2025

• He is, he is. While I could never emulate his wealth, I do my best to emulate his character.

  Post: I think billionaires are under appreciated

  Link to comment from November 17, 2025

• This is a wonderfully thought-provoking post! Yet one aspect of it is bugging me. I just don't buy the 'self-made' argument. While I never deny the importance of hard work and good decision-making, it seems we underestimate the role of moral luck in financial success—or in any of our successes. I suspect Warren Buffett's recent message to his shareholders is shaping my reaction this morning. He put it this way: ...Lady Luck is fickle and – no other term fits – wildly unfair. In many cases, our leaders and the rich have received far more than their share of luck – which, too often, the recipients prefer not to acknowledge. Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or, worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters would have had one even worse. I was born in 1930 healthy, reasonably intelligent, white, male and in America. Wow! Thank you, Lady Luck. My sisters had equal intelligence and better personalities than I but faced a much different outlook. Lady Luck continued to drop by during much of my life, but she has better things to do than work with those in their 90s. Luck has its limits. I am always amazed to think that we were born by no choice of our own. We did not choose our parents, their wealth, their social status, our race, our gender, our genetics, or the nation (including its political or economic system) we were born into. We were born with certain opportunities that were presented to us, but we were not free to choose the presence of those opportunities. We were born able-bodied in a way that allowed us to work. We were born within reach of schools that could give us a basic education. The question I ask of myself: How can we bring about a society in which the most privileged and lucky among us can use that power to create more, not less, fairness—to mitigate the terrible traps of Lady Luck?

  Post: I think billionaires are under appreciated

  Link to comment from November 17, 2025

• Glad you could make a career out of avoiding certainty addiction. And, I couldn't agree with you more about how we can over-simplify. Reminds me of the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead's aphorism: Seek simplicity, and distrust it.

  Post: Certainty addiction in financial decision-making

  Link to comment from November 17, 2025

• I completely agree! Great connection.

  Post: Certainty addiction in financial decision-making

  Link to comment from November 17, 2025

• "Luxury is not about how much you have, but how much you don't need." -Pico Eyre

  Post: Frugality, Minimalism, and Aligning Values

  Link to comment from November 13, 2025

• Hi Jack, I would second your recommendation of that book. I sometimes used the ideas in the book to help my class discuss difficult ethical and religious issues. When it comes to discussion financial matters with friends, I struggle with the proper balance between privacy and learning from others so that I can be a better steward.

  Post: Discussing money matters with friends- a slippery slope

  Link to comment from November 7, 2025

• Great post, Mark. You bring back memories of those struggles of spending vs. saving when we lived paycheck to paycheck. I am so thankful that we always decided to spend on improving the house. We built a screened-in porch, and while it seemed a somewhat frivolous expense at the time, we now spend nearly every morning and evening out there. So many delightful conversations and glasses of wine shared with friends and family, too. We can't imagine not having it. Re. travel: When our kids were young, we took our first international trip to Panama. Because of that formative trip, our kids were inspired to travel. In fact, my wife and I are a tad jealous of them. They have been to more places in the world than we have. Still, our kids point back to that first trip in their formative years as the impetus for their adventures. And, in turn, now they inspire us. Because we live in different parts of the United States, one family practice we started was to pick a city to travel to (domestic or international), and explore that city/area together. What memories we have created over the years! Now that we are retired, I hope to help fund more of those trips.

  Post: The Best Money We Almost Didn’t Spend

  Link to comment from November 7, 2025

• Many moons ago, I remember hearing this definition of an optimist: A Yugo owner with a car alarm.

  Post: The hard work of optimism

  Link to comment from November 6, 2025

• What is a normal goal to a young person becomes a neurotic hindrance in old age. -Carl Jung

  Post: The Point of Diminishing Returns

  Link to comment from November 5, 2025