AN UNUSUAL STORY hit the news this week. GameStop, the struggling video game retailer, announced a bid to buy eBay. The offer was unexpected, but what surprised investors more was the economics of the proposed deal. eBay is many times larger than GameStop, making it difficult to understand how GameStop would be able to finance the acquisition.
GameStop has offered $56 billion for eBay, comprised of cash and stock. For the cash portion, according to its May 3 press release,

What advice would you offer those graduating college this month? I imagine it’s a long list. Mine sure is. Here are just five of the items I’d emphasize:
Move quickly to build a financial cushion. That money should be in a regular taxable account, but it doesn’t have to be sitting in cash investments. If you’re comfortable, feel free to stash some of those dollars in stock funds, so you have a shot at earning decent long-run returns.

This is a story of a startup and will be told in two phases.
It was in 1992 that my twin brother Nick and I entertained the idea of starting our own landscape company. We had worked together at two other landscaping companies and were growing restless. We wanted something of our own. Something we could build, not just manage.
By September 1992, Panoramic Landscape Services was born, backed by $40,000 we couldn’t afford to lose.

Some of us can choose our path through school and career. But life often has other plans. It did for my mom. As Mother’s Day approaches, I got to thinking of her story.
Mom was one of nine siblings. She was the third youngest, but she was old enough to draw the short straw when her pharmacist father fell ill and died as she was coming of age.
With her older siblings off at school or busy establishing careers,

I used to get frustrated with certain people I know. And when I say frustrated, I mean the kind where you want to grab them by the shoulders, shout directly into their ear, “Wake up — you’re sleepwalking through life!” — and then maybe shake them for good measure.
I’m happy to report I’ve since been cured of that particular affliction. These days I simply shrug, step back, and let them crack on with their endless parade of self-inflicted financial disasters.

I like a good cup of coffee – not that easy to find. I have two or three cups each morning (decaf) and use a Keurig. I know, not the best way to make coffee, but it’s quick, easy and expensive. I received the machine as a gift (it does cappuccino and lattes too- which I rarely use).
My true love is Starbucks, black no sugar, that too is expensive.
I spend considerable time in the supermarket market coffee aisle trying to figure out the best deal on K-Cups and looking for sales.

When I read Social Security is a scam or that Congress stole the funds, or “I paid for my own benefits,” I find it very upsetting.
When someone says they paid Medicare taxes while working so why should they pay premiums in retirement and also demand to know what happened to the money, such ignorance is disturbing-mainly because there is no effort to learn the facts.
During my working life I paid $132,817 in Social Security taxes.

I recently had a hair-raising experience in a contraption called a Mini Moke. The best way I can describe it: imagine a compact car and a golf cart had a baby, slapped a rollbar on it, and threw a canvas roof over the whole thing. My backside was a mere 12 inches from the ground, and despite topping out at 20 mph, it felt like we were about to break the sound barrier. This thing has the aerodynamics of a brick.

My wife, Jiab, was cautiously excited when she told me she received a strange message from a fellow member of her group-messaging app. Containing over 200 members, the group is dedicated to discussing the where and when of pickle ball in Dallas. It has members of all adult ages.
The person contacting my wife called herself Lissa. She said she was an artist and her profile pic showed a woman in her thirties in an art studio.

OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD recently arrived, which naturally has us thinking about the smartest ways to build a strong financial foundation for her future. In 2019, I wrote Take a Break, which outlined saving strategies on behalf of children. Since then, the landscape has changed with the introduction of Trump accounts and Roth-conversion pathways for 529 accounts. 
Families have four tax-advantaged savings approaches on behalf of young children plus the Roth IRA option once the child has earned income – 529 education savings account,

RECENTLY I TOOK a free ride on a driverless bus trialling its proposed route, part of my local administration’s ten-year rollout plan for self-driving public transport and taxis. I see real potential in this technology, and I’m hoping the infrastructure and implementation stay on schedule. That hope is mostly selfish, I’ll admit.
In fifteen years I’ll be in my mid-seventies, and I’d love to ditch my car and rely on cheap, dependable robo-taxis instead.

IN THE INVESTMENT world, May 1st is a notable day. It was on May 1, 1975 that the Securities and Exchange Commission deregulated the brokerage industry. For the 183 years prior to that, trading commissions on the New York Stock Exchange had been fixed at uniformly high rates. But when deregulation arrived, competition got going. That’s when discount brokers like Charles Schwab got rolling, and over time, May Day, as it’s now referred to,

I do the grocery shopping. I just returned from such an adventure. It’s one way I get exercise as a walk up and down the aisles, intentionally – .75 miles today.
Shopping is not easy. First, you need to locate things, which, eventually after shopping in the same store, you figure out. It would help though if the aisle signs actually reflected what was on those shelves. 
Then there are prices, different prices. There is the regular price,

During a recent trip to the Philippines, I found myself watching the people who keep everything moving. From construction workers under the heat of the midday sun, laborers doing jobs that most would quietly avoid, jeepney drivers bringing people from A to B while barely making a profit. After that visit, I sat down and wrote a poem about their struggles. This is my attempt to turn that reflection into something more.
What I saw stayed with me.