How the Vanderbilt Family Lost Their Fortune
When Cornelius Vanderbilt (the Commodore) passed away in 1877, he left the majority of his fortune valued at $95,000,000 to his oldest son. In today’s dollars, this fortune would be worth around $2.1 billion. He left smaller amounts to all of his other children. This particular son, who received the majority of his fortune, actually…
The 7 Income Streams of Millionaires (According to the IRS)
According to the IRS, most millionaires have these seven income streams: 1. Dividend income from stocks owned. 2. Earned income from a paychecks. 3. Rents from rental real estate. 4. Royalties from selling rights to use something they’ve written or invented. 5. Capital gains from selling appreciated assets. 6. Profits from businesses they own. 7.…
Hetty’s $100,000,0000 Fortune
Have you heard of the “Witch of Wall Street?” This is her picture: This is a picture of Hetty Green, who was the richest woman in the world. When she passed away in 1916, she left $100,000,000 to her two children. In today’s dollars, this would be around $2 billion. The crazy part is Hetty…
How to Retire at 35
Back in 1988, Paul Terhorst wrote a book titled, “Cashing In On The American Dream – How to Retire At 35.” Paul was a partner at a large public accounting firm and decided to retire at the age of 35. When he retired, he only had a net worth of around $500,000. As I write…
Is a monthly salary a harmful addiction?
I’m sure you’ve heard of Nassim Taleb. He’s written several books including “Black Swan” and “Antifragile.” Back at the end of 2014, he apparently tweeted his resolutions for 2015. You can see the full list of resolutions here. His resolution listed as #9 is extremely interesting. This resolution is: “Use courage and wisdom, not labor,…
The Marshmallow Test
Back in the 1960s a study at Stanford University was completed with preschoolers. This study is now referred to as the “Marshmallow Test.” They presented the preschool children with two choices: ONE marshmallow they could eat immediately OR TWO marshmallows if they waited alone for 20 minutes Years after this study the research team…
A Portfolio of Properties?
When I talk with new clients I typically will try to understand what their goals are with regards to their investments. Some aren’t concerned with current income and are focused more on long-term appreciation. Others aren’t worried too much about long-term appreciation and are focused more on maximizing current income. Depending on the client’s goals,…
How To Increase Your Income
Want to increase you monthly income? Well, you have a three choices… 1. Increase the number of hours you work 2. Increase your rate of pay – hourly or salary 3. Get other people to work for you On a high level, these are the only 3 ways we can increase our income. Think about…
What you measure improves
One of the businesses I used to own was a Fit Body Bootcamp franchise. Our goal in the business was to help our members lose body fat and get in the best shape of their lives. We had a lot of success with this goal and it was incredible to witness these physical transformations. To…
The “Layaway Life Plan”
The life plan most of us are taught to follow is to go to college in order to get a good job. Once we get our good job, we are taught to open up a 401k plan and save 10% of our paychecks. After 30, 40, or even 50 years of working, we’ll hopefully have…