Randy Jones | March 30, 2009
I’m a little tired of Jon Stewart’s CNBC-bashing. It’s hard to feel sorry for Jim Cramer, but enough already. He’s an entertainer who happens to have a financial background. For many, he makes the world of investing accessible, a little less arcane, and I think that’s a good thing. Following his advice? Well, caveat emptor.
Randy Jones | March 16, 2009
Amid all the economic chaos that is swirling around our great land, the financial equivalent of 9/11, I find myself looking for voices of reason and sanity. Even with a four-day market rally last week, housing starts are still at an all-time low and unemployment is raging toward the 10 percent level not seen since 1982. So now more than ever, Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard and the creator of the popular Vanguard 500 Index Fund, is a voice we should all give our undivided attention.
Randy Jones | March 12, 2009
I have never personally known anyone to win the lottery—until now. Recently my first cousin and her husband won the Georgia Lottery, to the tune of $133 million. That sum will go a long way, especially in these recessionary times, in Carrollton, Georgia, population 22,000. They are now the richest folks in town. On hearing the […]
Randy Jones | March 4, 2009
“If I made it once, I can make it again,” is a common refrain I hear from the self-made wealthy. And I don’t think it’s classic success bravado, either. The self-made see the recession through a slightly more optimistic lens because no matter what the economy throws their way, they believe they can weather the storm. For one thing, as I found in my research for The Richest Man in Town, the self-made rich loathe leverage, so they don’t have creditors knocking at their doors. Perhaps more fundamental, though, is their self-assurance that they could so it all over again if they were so forced. In fact, most of my self-made multimillionaires have done just that.
