Langston Holland

Comments:

• Jonathan, you are such a gift to so many. I'm sure you've heard that many times, but I am convinced that your most optimistic estimation of the positive impact you've had is wildly short of the mark. My wife and I will add you to our daily prayer list. God can change this. Never give up. We and many other believers will be fighting this thing with you. Dare to ask Him to show Himself by healing you. I looking forward to good reports as the tide turns in your favor.

  Post: The C Word

  Link to comment from June 15, 2024

• Winning politics includes two skillsets: 1. That of the magician. 2. Appealing to the basest parts of human nature. The consistently short lifespans of empires indicates that history's warnings are little defense against those that prey on human nature. The magician directs the attention of his audience away from what he is actually doing to cover his real objective. He uses specially designed furnishings, lovely ladies, scary situations, etc. to distract. The politician incites fear, hatred, envy, etc. toward a smaller target to distract from the larger target he has his sights on - "the middle class". The combined net worth of America's billionaires is about $4.5 trillion. That's about 13.5 months of the current US tax revenue. Take everything away from them and it's nothing compared to "that fellow behind the tree". Willie Sutton would be proud.

  Post: Rich Pickings

  Link to comment from October 28, 2021

• Along with the previous time vs. risk article, these make up two of the most important entries on HD and I believe I've read them all. The primary avenue I used to get my Dad's full attention growing up was to ask him financial and investment questions. The year after college I figured out this was what really turned me on and I went to business school, learned how to do linear regression, the supporting statistics, etc., with a simple calculator and fell in love with math. In so doing I started to realize that my Dad was right about almost everything. : ) I went home and explained this to him and the next 10 years were some of the best of my life as we worked together, me the geek, he the oracle telling me how the math actually applied to the real world. Not long into this my Dad showed me an article in a serious financial rag that touted a "new" multivariate linear regression technique to beat the market. His gut knew better, but he didn't show it until I started laughing and told him you could get any answer you wanted by selecting bogus independent variables. To quote my econometrics prof: "Statistics is a method of drawing straight lines between unwarranted assumptions and foregone conclusions".

  Post: Time Heals Wounds

  Link to comment from October 22, 2021

• No suggestions - sounds like you've got a good system. : ) I'm down to 4 cards: 1. A Chase Amazon Prime card that is only used for that. No issues to date for 3 years or so. (5%) 2. A Fidelity Elan card used for everything other than Amazon and online purchases. No issues to date, but I've only had it 1 year. (2%) 3. Two BOA cards, one personal, the other business. I've had both about 20 years. The business card has never had an issue. We use the personal card exclusively for non-Amazon online purchases. (3%) The personal BOA card gets hacked about once a year, but the fraud reporting and replacement process is nearly painless. We never save the card # on websites during checkout. As of about 5 years ago BOA is batting 1000 on catching the bad guys before I do and I reconcile my accounts in Quicken at least twice a week. Thus the hassle/benefit ratio in my case is heavily in favor of continuing things as is.

  Post: Numbers Game

  Link to comment from October 19, 2021

• No. Money enables control over one's environment. We first use it to reduce risk. More money becomes a tool to pursue happiness or misery. We are complicated and experts at self-deception. Thus Solomon, when offered all the riches of the world instead chose knowledge (the raw material) and wisdom (its proper application). The wise and the foolish working with the same information simply apply it differently.

  Post: Does money buy happiness?

  Link to comment from October 18, 2021

• Rats! Yet another obstacle to successful investing I don't get to experience given my commitment to index funds. : ) Investopedia's take on pump and dump.

  Post: Getting Nudged

  Link to comment from October 18, 2021

• Extremely helpful, thank you Ron. Sorry for the hassles - my Dad went through similar issues with Humana's Medicare Advantage plan. He was a Humana fan because he'd made so much money on its stock over the years. Obviously not a great selection screen. : ) Seems like there's a market opportunity here for a company that will tell the truth and support their plan with the kind of customer service older folks need. In my Dad's case we handled the hassles for him and it was still a long, frustrating struggle that ended up with some self-pay events just to get things done correctly and on time. You've certainly provided an additional head's up for me when the decision comes in a few years.

  Post: Medicare and Me

  Link to comment from October 15, 2021

• It may be that cries of rising anti-intellectualism are largely attempts to shame political, philosophical and scientific opponents into submission, or at least silence. Men especially tend to resist such force.

  Post: The New Gender Gap

  Link to comment from October 13, 2021

• Great and important thought for the day, thanks John. This is a tough one. When I was newly married (in our early 20's), having children and with a young man's insecurity, I had a very successful father who instilled "work is the measure of a man" concepts in me. Like him, I worked too hard and made more money than necessary. I finally figured this out when I was about 50 and started correcting things. My Dad did the same around age 70, which was part of what "turned the light on" for me. The angel from Heaven that God sent to me for a wife largely sustained our children while I grew up. Now that I'm retired I'm working just as hard as I ever was, but the time and effort are directed toward my family and my health and other people God brings into my life with needs that I have the tools to address. My children (26 to 36 yrs) have found that I'm far more human than they previously thought, meaning that my "black and white" perspectives on life are a lot more grey than they heard from me growing up. I've added apologies where needed, but with the caveat that I loved them to the fullest of my ability. I didn't beat my Dad at the financial game (that's what it becomes after your needs are met IMO), but I did wake up to the work imbalance 20 years earlier than him and have challenged my children to beat me with their families by the same number of years! : ) The transition between me and my father felt like "wow, this guy is very cool, though not as perfect as I'd imagined". I'm hearing pretty much the same from my whippersnappers. : )

  Post: Invest in Your Tribe

  Link to comment from October 12, 2021

• Electrical engineering, physician, runner, classical music, intelligent investor, one of my favorite writers, Christian. Wow. : )

  Post: Ignore the Score

  Link to comment from October 7, 2021