Randy Jones | April 18, 2009

Have you ever said to your child or to a loved one, “You can be anything you want to be, anything you dream of being”? If you have, you are not alone, but I’m sorry to tell you that you lied. Not deliberately, of course, but it is a blatant falsehood. Shocked? Don’t be. Instead, it’s time to stop the madness and get real. That’s hard to do, because our culture has inculcated this belief in our unlimited potential in most every one of us, just as we have all been taught to believe that money doesn’t bring happiness—which is also untrue.
W. Clement Stone, the insurance man and author of numerous books on success, who in the last century was the richest man in Chicago, was famous for saying, “Anything the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” This ultimate optimist had the best of intentions, I’m sure. And it’s a message that we all want to hear: Sure, I want to be Warren Buffet, or at least have his billions. I wouldn’t mind looking like Brad Pitt while I’m at it, and I would love to play tennis like Roger Federer, but those qualities are simply not in my genetic code.

Category: Money and Meaning | No Comments »
Tags: Brad Pitt, perfect pitch, Roger Federer, W. Clement Stone, Warren Buffet

Randy Jones | April 16, 2009

When I turned in The Richest Man in Town to my publisher last fall, there were slightly more than 9 million millionaires in the United States. By the time my book debuts on May 4th, there will be just under 7 million. One is forced to question whether this is a good thing or bad thing.

Many people think this economic correction, which has cost wealthy Americans $10 trillion dollars in net worth, has brought the rich their richly deserved comeuppance. And as I have written before in the blog, that attitude is understandable, at least toward those rich who made their fortunes on the backs of others, and those who expected the government to bail them out from the consequences of their recklessness and greed.

Category: Money and Meaning | No Comments »
Tags: economic correction, millionaire, millionaires, self-made wealth

Randy Jones | April 10, 2009

This week I was lunching with my friend, communications wizard and former NBC TV anchor Mary Civiello. She had just finished reading the galleys of my forthcoming book, and she said, “I had so much fun writing my obituary as you suggested in your book. I had a ball.” That was not exactly the response that I had expected, but it did make me happy, I must admit. It proved to me that the concept is not as morbid as one might think when first hearing the idea. As I say in the book, it’s daunting to think about what will be said when the curtain comes down on our last act. But it’s a darn good way to plan the rest of your life. It’s a magnificent, exacting lens through which to look at the big decisions in life, especially in times of change or times of uncertainty—say, when you’ve lost your job, or lost half your hard-earned retirement savings.

Category: Money and Meaning | No Comments »
Tags: Mary Civiello, Write your own obituary

Randy Jones | March 30, 2009

Yes, we should hate the Ponzi-scheming, bonus-binging, financial-engineering, value-destroying, tax-evading rich. The Madoffs, Stanfords, Kosloskis, Ebberses and Skillings of the world, who created their wealth and all-too-lavish lifestyles by perpetrating fraud and stealing from others rightfully should be detested. We should hate the Wall Street bonus-grabbers, and we should question the shadowy world of huge hedge funds and private equity wealth. But we should not tar all the rich with the same brush.

Category: In the news, Money and Meaning | No Comments »
Tags: Alan Stanford, Bernard Madoff, Bernie Ebbers, Bernie Madoff, bonuses, Dennis Kosloski, Jeff Skilling, The Richest Man in Town, Wall Street