Blog Category: Money

Dean had severe dyslexia and couldn’t read. Grew up in a trailer park. Got forgotten in school. People said he wouldn’t amount to anything. He didn’t go to college. “I didn’t have any money,” he said. “But I loved fixing things. Building things. I wanted to follow my passion.” Now he’s worth $50 million, and […]

FIRST… THE THREAT! Her college sent this email to me and my daughter at the end of her second year. Dear [X], This in an IMPORTANT email reminding you of your debt to [ABCD College] in the amount of $16.92! This amount is your damage fee you were assessed back in May. It is VERY […]

It was 2:32 p.m. May 6, 2010. $1 trillion dollars disappeared within minutes. I couldn’t believe it. I was looking at the market. I was looking at my bank account. I thought I was having a heart attack. What. The H***. Is Happening? I called someone and I think I started to cry. Years later, […]

I hate to think. And I hate emotions. I used to think I was smart. I’d make a trade and it would immediately go against me and I’d be miserable. I’d sit and look at the screen and feel the blood pumping all through my body. “Take a break,” another trader told me. I would […]

Our brains are messed up. Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize winning economist, calls the ways we are messed up “cognitive biases.” Our cognitive biases make us sell stocks whenever everyone else is selling. Cause us to buy stocks when everyone else is buying. This is called “herd behavior.” Another cognitive bias is called “loss aversion.” […]

I was scared and I needed to make a lot of money. This is what happened. It was a beautiful day. No clouds. A deep blue morning. The best day. The stock market looked like it was going to open higher. I ate breakfast at the Dean & Deluca on the bottom floor of the World Trade Center. […]

I threw out all my belongings. I was living in Airbnbs. I had one carryon bag that had one or two outfits and a computer and a toothbrush in it. My rule was, if I bought anything, I had to throw something from the bag out. I lived this way for three years. I would […]