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Written by Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
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Tuesday, 16 June 2009 14:56 |
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To read an extraordinary essay on capitalism and money, I recommend "I, Pencil" by Leonard E. Read. Told from the perspective of an ordinary No. 2 pencil from the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company, Read narrates the complex miracles of money and manufacture that combine to create an object of seeming simplicity.
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Written by Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
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Sunday, 03 May 2009 14:21 |
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This is a "glass half full" approach to changing economic circumstances. A nice article for reminding ourselves that life is about more than the paycheck, "more" or raw ambition.
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Written by Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
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Wednesday, 22 April 2009 00:00 |
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In the aftermath of everybody's favorite day, April 15, while a bit testy about the income tax system, onerous recordkeeping requirements, difficult codes and mounds of paper, not to mention the money itself, all combine to make "tax day" fairly painful. The question comes as to whether it has long-term viability. Indeed, Mr. Frey suggests income tax system as we now know it may not even have mid-range feasibility. These articles by Thomas Frey underscore the problem from the perspective of complexity and simple engineering.
The exponential nature of complexity
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Written by Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
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Sunday, 24 May 2009 19:04 |
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Boomers Going Bust
By David Ignatius. Review by Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
People have accused the baby boomers of being whiners almost since we were born. But just wait until we get to retirement age and discover that we don't have nearly enough money to take care of our "golden years." That's going to be the ultimate generational bummer.
I've been gathering some data about what I'll call, with the usual boomer understatement, the "retirement crisis." My mentors have been Eugene Ludwig, the head of the consulting firm Promontory Financial Group, and his colleague Michael Foot.
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Written by Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
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Tuesday, 28 April 2009 20:51 |
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb is one of the few financial types to come out of the past year and a half looking like a genius. So, of course, when he talks, people listen. Fortunately, these ten principles make a lot of sense. If they only served as talking points, they would be excellent contributions to the conversation. However, they have the advantage of being fraught with common sense as well as informed insight. They are well worth the visit.
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Written by Mike Ryan CFP®
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Tuesday, 17 March 2009 17:58 |
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 The title is a bit misleading. This is not some great sweeping historical narrative moving across the swath of time. It is rather episodic in nature; eight extended essays, each dealing with one specific financial topic and setting an historical context for its evolution and development. Rather than some Vermeer portrait glimmering in the soft radiance of diffuse northern light, each pearl defined and the crisp lace almost jumping off the canvas, it is more some cubist rendition with the entire portrait presented at once from all sides, disjointed, out of perspective, yet somehow all the more complete for its jumble.
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