Nice post. The lessons I often learned from my commercial artist mother when I got up for a glass of water at 2AM as a kid and saw her still working at her drawing board, were that life requires us to put in a lot of effort to succeed, and that you alone are responsible for seeing that happens. Bless her. She never had to say a word about it to me. She showed me.
I look at this and think of how in The Godfather the Corleones moved from their shady businesses into more upstanding and socially acceptable ones, which required a lot of movement and scrubbing of money. No money laundering with Game Stop, but definitely a process to transfer the very volatile (and potentially vanishing) equity of Game Stop into something more stable, and that will deliver a better financial future for executives (and maybe shareholders, too.) Look at the deal. Part of the consideration is Game Stop stock. Would you, as a shareholder in eBay, really want that? I sure wouldn't. A good part of Game Stop risk will be transferred to eBay shareholders. This same strategy is what you can expect down the line with crypto stocks.
Great article. I also took SS at 67 (or maybe 68) - the "lost" dollars either way seemed to be insignificant and I didn't have to tap my investments the first few years (which then promptly grew tremendously with the market run-up.) I'm a big fan of blended solutions in lots of areas. I'm known in my family for that. For example, no 100% cotton or polyester shirts - I need a blended fabric of both. I've thought about a blend here, but I'm not yet sure it works. The article makes me reconsider. I'll noodle some more. Thanks.
I have a contribution question but not regarding a DAF. I am starting to make larger charitable contributions, and have a dilemma about what account of mine to use to make those contributions. I'm finding it hard to resolve. I have a very large SEP and am taking pretty large RMDs. I also have a brokerage account with one mutual fund that has grown greatly over 40 years and I have a lot of fund shares there with a very low basis. It dwarfs most of my other holdings. Is it better for me to donate from my SEP and count it toward my RMD, or is it better to donate from my mutual fund to make that fund (and my portfolio) incrementally more tax-efficient and limit the large capital gains taxes that may be looming over those low-basis shares? Last year, I donated some low-basis shares directly and took the large deduction. But this year, I'm trying to find the "optimal" answer. I don't even have a good way to start this analysis. Suggestions are welcome!
That's pretty impressive. An 80-cup Lavazza Keurig-cup box at Costco was priced at about 46 cents a cup today (I bought a box), while most supermarkets sell those cups in boxes that pencil out to more than $1.25 a cup. Coffee prices are spiking.
Every time I open a container of a staple - toothpaste, shave cream, after shave, Advil, laundry detergent, Keurig coffee pod boxes, garbage bags, napkins, dishwasher tablets, etc, I write the date on the side in Magic Marker. I like to have a feel for how long they last. And I find I can stretch many of them without too much effort. For example, I was surprised at first at how quickly I used toothpaste, and by just taking a little less each day could stretch out a tube. But I also found shaving cream lasts quite a long time. I also found that Costco-sized packages really save money. Yet, I spend tons of money at Home Depot on small things I think I need, or want to tinker with. Go figure.
Mergers and acquisitions can be great or disastrous for companies and for employees. I've read that half of all combinations fail. And a combined company rarely needs duplicate employees in many areas - finance, accounting, HR, legal, many layers of management, and other jobs in areas that are disfavored. That's where deal "synergies" occur, supposedly. It pays not to have all your eggs in your employer's basket. Your salary is there, but most of your investments shouldn't be. Diversification should be the rule if you've gotten stock awards, have options, or get other ownership rights in your big company employer. It is not disloyal to sell stock, exercise options or take other steps to lower your exposure to your employer's future, especially if there is greater competitive risk ahead.
This is a great piece. Let me add a corollary. This explains why it is also a mistake to ever, yes ever, give wide or unfettered discretion to your broker to buy and sell on your behalf. You may subscribe to the "sit still" philosophy, but it is likely your broker without constraints will have already taken lots of action in unsettled times before you know it to "protect" you. Whether or not he or she succeeds, your own commitment to sit still was worthless.
To me, tokens represent yet an additional barrier or barriers between the investor and the desired investment - a piece of actual corporate ownership. That is unbelievably important. Just saying "tokens don't represent actual shares" doesn't begin to explain the risks. Only in times of trouble and/or dysfunction in the market, or with the companies involved, or with the intermediary token entity (or multiple entities) will these problems emerge. Who do you go after? What contract rights do you have? Who will be left holding the bag when someone - anyone - up the chain to the actual stock offeror runs into financial trouble? The individual investor will be last in line, and can't begin to know how to cut losses, much less be made whole.
Comments
Nice post. The lessons I often learned from my commercial artist mother when I got up for a glass of water at 2AM as a kid and saw her still working at her drawing board, were that life requires us to put in a lot of effort to succeed, and that you alone are responsible for seeing that happens. Bless her. She never had to say a word about it to me. She showed me.
Post: Sundry Memories of Mom
Link to comment from May 9, 2026
I look at this and think of how in The Godfather the Corleones moved from their shady businesses into more upstanding and socially acceptable ones, which required a lot of movement and scrubbing of money. No money laundering with Game Stop, but definitely a process to transfer the very volatile (and potentially vanishing) equity of Game Stop into something more stable, and that will deliver a better financial future for executives (and maybe shareholders, too.) Look at the deal. Part of the consideration is Game Stop stock. Would you, as a shareholder in eBay, really want that? I sure wouldn't. A good part of Game Stop risk will be transferred to eBay shareholders. This same strategy is what you can expect down the line with crypto stocks.
Post: Pricing the Impossible
Link to comment from May 9, 2026
Great article. I also took SS at 67 (or maybe 68) - the "lost" dollars either way seemed to be insignificant and I didn't have to tap my investments the first few years (which then promptly grew tremendously with the market run-up.) I'm a big fan of blended solutions in lots of areas. I'm known in my family for that. For example, no 100% cotton or polyester shirts - I need a blended fabric of both. I've thought about a blend here, but I'm not yet sure it works. The article makes me reconsider. I'll noodle some more. Thanks.
Post: Why I use a Donor-Advised Fund
Link to comment from April 26, 2026
I have a contribution question but not regarding a DAF. I am starting to make larger charitable contributions, and have a dilemma about what account of mine to use to make those contributions. I'm finding it hard to resolve. I have a very large SEP and am taking pretty large RMDs. I also have a brokerage account with one mutual fund that has grown greatly over 40 years and I have a lot of fund shares there with a very low basis. It dwarfs most of my other holdings. Is it better for me to donate from my SEP and count it toward my RMD, or is it better to donate from my mutual fund to make that fund (and my portfolio) incrementally more tax-efficient and limit the large capital gains taxes that may be looming over those low-basis shares? Last year, I donated some low-basis shares directly and took the large deduction. But this year, I'm trying to find the "optimal" answer. I don't even have a good way to start this analysis. Suggestions are welcome!
Post: Why I use a Donor-Advised Fund
Link to comment from April 25, 2026
That's pretty impressive. An 80-cup Lavazza Keurig-cup box at Costco was priced at about 46 cents a cup today (I bought a box), while most supermarkets sell those cups in boxes that pencil out to more than $1.25 a cup. Coffee prices are spiking.
Post: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
Link to comment from April 19, 2026
Every time I open a container of a staple - toothpaste, shave cream, after shave, Advil, laundry detergent, Keurig coffee pod boxes, garbage bags, napkins, dishwasher tablets, etc, I write the date on the side in Magic Marker. I like to have a feel for how long they last. And I find I can stretch many of them without too much effort. For example, I was surprised at first at how quickly I used toothpaste, and by just taking a little less each day could stretch out a tube. But I also found shaving cream lasts quite a long time. I also found that Costco-sized packages really save money. Yet, I spend tons of money at Home Depot on small things I think I need, or want to tinker with. Go figure.
Post: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
Link to comment from April 19, 2026
Mergers and acquisitions can be great or disastrous for companies and for employees. I've read that half of all combinations fail. And a combined company rarely needs duplicate employees in many areas - finance, accounting, HR, legal, many layers of management, and other jobs in areas that are disfavored. That's where deal "synergies" occur, supposedly. It pays not to have all your eggs in your employer's basket. Your salary is there, but most of your investments shouldn't be. Diversification should be the rule if you've gotten stock awards, have options, or get other ownership rights in your big company employer. It is not disloyal to sell stock, exercise options or take other steps to lower your exposure to your employer's future, especially if there is greater competitive risk ahead.
Post: Navigating a Turbulent Career
Link to comment from April 19, 2026
This is a great piece. Let me add a corollary. This explains why it is also a mistake to ever, yes ever, give wide or unfettered discretion to your broker to buy and sell on your behalf. You may subscribe to the "sit still" philosophy, but it is likely your broker without constraints will have already taken lots of action in unsettled times before you know it to "protect" you. Whether or not he or she succeeds, your own commitment to sit still was worthless.
Post: Resist the Urge to Act
Link to comment from April 12, 2026
To me, tokens represent yet an additional barrier or barriers between the investor and the desired investment - a piece of actual corporate ownership. That is unbelievably important. Just saying "tokens don't represent actual shares" doesn't begin to explain the risks. Only in times of trouble and/or dysfunction in the market, or with the companies involved, or with the intermediary token entity (or multiple entities) will these problems emerge. Who do you go after? What contract rights do you have? Who will be left holding the bag when someone - anyone - up the chain to the actual stock offeror runs into financial trouble? The individual investor will be last in line, and can't begin to know how to cut losses, much less be made whole.
Post: Stock Tokens
Link to comment from April 12, 2026
Thanks!
Post: Tax Efficiency
Link to comment from April 5, 2026