How many times have you heard people say they can’t wait for 2020 to be over? LOTS! I know the feeling. The coronavirus pandemic made it impossible for me to see my three precious grandchildren,...

If you’re a longtime reader, you know I spend most of the year in Asia. I’ve lived in Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.  Asia is wonderful, but, I must confess,...

I could almost feel the apprehension in his voice: “Dad, I’m really sorry to ask,” he started, “but can you loan me $1,000?” I’m pretty unforgiving when it comes to irresponsible spending, but...

I thought I was cool. Of course, my father said I looked like a moron. He was talking about me strutting around like a peacock, a big boombox blaring from my shoulder rather than a colorful...

High school classes weren’t that interesting to me. College classes, however, were like inspirational sermons … especially those in finance and economics. That’s because my plan was to become...

I could do a month of Thanksgiving Thursdays. It’s one of my favorite days of the year. And doing it that way means putting off the following day. I think you know which dreadful day I’m taking...

I know what is like to be poor. At one point in my life, my mother and I lived under a bridge and ate out of garbage cans for three months in Tacoma, Wash. But thanks to four decades of 60-plus...

When I was a 30-year-old newbie retail stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, I thought I knew everything. You couldn’t tell me anything. But looking back, the only thing I really knew was the sales jargon...

The coronavirus crap is really getting old. And my highly unscientific polling of my friends shows a roughly equal split between those supporting lockdowns and those opposing lockdowns. ...

Growing up, my family was one of the poorest in our town. Despite my father working his behind off on our small vegetable farm in western Washington, he never made much money.  Our family car...