Celebrate success, don’t denigrate it

When one is deemed to be successful, often is the case where the public will only see the outward notes of success and not realize what went into making that person successful. Success comes in many forms; health, finances, relationships, etc.

Often is the time when people unknowingly believe that a person became financially successful because of their connections, or walking over people, or perhaps they were just lucky or have great genes. This mindset completely discounts the many years of hard work and sacrifice one has made to become successful, while it also roots itself from jealousy or envy over unbiased rationale. Whether you believe in Gladwell’s 10,000 Hours theory or not, someone achieve mostly the path to success through time, dedication, blood, sweat, tears, and yes, some luck will often come in to play.

The fact is that most successful people have given up many things in their lives to reach a certain level in life. For example, we recently had the 2021 NPC Florida Grand Prix (bodybuilding) in Boynton Beach, Florida, where the best of the best showed off their achievements. While genes help many in such a competition, it is only through hard work, discipline, and genuine sacrifice that the winners made it through to receive their accolades.

Aren’t we, as a nation, tired of being so negative toward one’s success? Instead, it should be celebrated and serve as motivation for us all to do better and achieve more. Allowing envy or jealousy to enter your mind to discount what someone has accomplished not only diminishes the success, it also is a negative emotion that lives in your mind.

On Saturday evening, Elon Musk is scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live and some cast members are protesting; some have reportedly said they are not going on stage with him because he’s a billionaire. As with many Americans, it will be the first SNL episode I have watched in years; they expect ratings to be the highest in a very long time, and yet some will still throw stones. Why? These same people being critical of Musk appearing on SNL do not seem to have a problem with multi-millionaires living in multiple $20 million homes hosting. Like, SNL cast member Pete Davidson, it makes little sense why some do not want to share the stage with the third wealthiest person on the planet. While I have some issues with Musk and would have advised him not to do the show in the first place, if I was a cast member, I would be ecstatic to share the stage with him.

We are living in an odd time, and it is sad people are so down on those who have made the world a better place and gone over and above the norm. We shouldn’t be envious of other’s success, we should see them as inspiration to motivate us to become more productive for ourselves and society.

June 2019 permanent portfolio update

Here we are with another update of the Permanent Portfolio and it has been performing well. Overall, it has increased in value of 159% with an annualized return of 27.47% (inclusive of dividends). During the same time frame, the DOW has increased in value by 50.7% and the S&P has increased by 39.6%. The relatively small original investment in Bitcoin (3%) has taken over a disproportionate percentage (41.1%) of the portfolio due to its dramatic rise over time. The portfolio’s worst performers have been investing in the Swiss Franc (a loss of almost 9%) and silver (a loss of over 6%). Besides Bitcoin, the best performers in the portfolio are NVR (108%), PayPal (over 213%), and the New Zeland Dollar (over 51%).

As said in the intro, this portfolio is designed to remain static (no trading) while also keeping one’s tax bill and fees to the lowest levels. I feel it would have been prudent to have trimmed the Bitcoin investment so it didn’t “take over” the portfolio with its wild swings. But we’re in for the long haul on this one, so it will be interesting to see its progression. Next update will be on the four-year mark – August 21, 2019.

See the portfolio page here.

Atlas Network hosts webinar titled Greece at a crossroads: What is at stake, and what to expect, featuring Aristides Hatzis

On Wednesday, July 1, at 2 p.m. EDT, Atlas Network will host a one-hour webinar on Greece at a crossroads: What is at stake, and what to expect, featuring Aristides Hatzis, the leading pro-reform expert on Greece and an associate professor of philosophy of law and theory of institutions at the University of Athens, to discuss Greece’s debt crisis and the urgency for finding a solution.

Hatzis will address the solutions that have been proposed and how each could impact both Greece’s and the world’s economy. Hatzis is one of the most sought-out intellectuals for nearly every major international news agency, a friend of Atlas Network, and a featured author in Tom G. Palmer’s After the Welfare State. He recently spoke at Atlas Network’s Athens event, Emergency Economic Summit for Greece. Hatzis is also the founder of co-founder of two Atlas Network partners, the John Stuart Mill Research Group and LearnLiberty.gr, and one of the leading blogs that has covered the Greek Crisis since its beginning, greekcrisis.net.

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1967, Hatzis completed his basic legal studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He studied sociology, philosophy, history, and economic analysis of law at the graduate level at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Law (LL.B., LL.M.) and at the University of Chicago Law School (LL.M., J.S.D.).

In 1999, he received his doctorate on the economics of contract law under the supervision of Richard A. Posner (chair), Frank Easterbrook, and William Landes. He is an attorney-at-law and a member of the Thessaloniki Bar Association since 1992 and of the American Bar Association since 1994. In 2001 he was elected a member of the steering committee of the European Association of Law and Economics, and in 2002 he was the local organizer of EALE’s 19th annual conference.

Hatzis is also an associate fellow of the Center for Free Enterprise in Seoul and a member of the advisory board of the Society of European Contract Law, the steering committee of the European Network for Better Regulation, and the editorial board of the European Review of Contract Law. He is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, and the author of many academic papers and newspaper op-eds. He recently authored A split verdict on the blackmail and bullying over Greece and A ‘take-it-or-leave it’ vote is a recipe for disaster for Greece in the Financial Times.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR HERE

Guggenheim CEO, Minerd, says “it’s going to end badly”

Speaking yesterday, April 27, 2015, at the 2015 Milken Institute Global Conference, Guggenheim CEO, Scott Minerd, said, “It is going to end badly.” CNBC co-host of Power Lunch asked Minerd, “When we look around the world there are literally trillions of dollars in assets that have negative real yields. In other words, it costs you money to own these vs. you getting paid. We have never been here before. How does this end?”

Minerd said, “Brian, at the end of the day, it’s going to end badly. Eventually all of these assets around the world, as QE continues are going to become more and more overvalued. We’re seeing it in portions of the stock market, bonds I would tell you that a bond yielding less than 1 percent in the United States for the next 10 years — that’s not an adequate return. Some day when liquidity gets turned off around the world we are going to have a nasty hangover. But, the party is still going on, the punch bowl is out, enjoy the party.”

Yes, the stock market has been doing very well in recent years and Barack Obama is more than happy to take credit for it. But WHY it is doing well will end in disaster for the U.S.

QE, is quantitative easing, and here is Peter Schiff to explain it for those unaware as to what is going on and why the federal government is setting us up for serious failure.  You have been warned. WATCH THIS VIDEO TO EDUCATE YOURSELVES.

Guggenheim CEO, Minerd, says "it's going to end badly"

Speaking yesterday, April 27, 2015, at the 2015 Milken Institute Global Conference, Guggenheim CEO, Scott Minerd, said, “It is going to end badly.” CNBC co-host of Power Lunch asked Minerd, “When we look around the world there are literally trillions of dollars in assets that have negative real yields. In other words, it costs you money to own these vs. you getting paid. We have never been here before. How does this end?”

Minerd said, “Brian, at the end of the day, it’s going to end badly. Eventually all of these assets around the world, as QE continues are going to become more and more overvalued. We’re seeing it in portions of the stock market, bonds I would tell you that a bond yielding less than 1 percent in the United States for the next 10 years — that’s not an adequate return. Some day when liquidity gets turned off around the world we are going to have a nasty hangover. But, the party is still going on, the punch bowl is out, enjoy the party.”

Yes, the stock market has been doing very well in recent years and Barack Obama is more than happy to take credit for it. But WHY it is doing well will end in disaster for the U.S.

QE, is quantitative easing, and here is Peter Schiff to explain it for those unaware as to what is going on and why the federal government is setting us up for serious failure.  You have been warned. WATCH THIS VIDEO TO EDUCATE YOURSELVES.

Tony Robbins’ new book is out this morning. Get this book!

It has been 20 years since Tony Robbins has released a book and this morning, 11/18/2014, is the debut of his new book “MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.“

Tony Robbins' new book is out this morning. Get this book!

It has been 20 years since Tony Robbins has released a book and this morning, 11/18/2014, is the debut of his new book “MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.“

Tony Robbins: The National Debt and Federal Budget Deficit Deconstructed

To find out more about Tony Robbins, go here: http://www.tonyrobbins.com

How to drive free cars for life via Dave Ramsey

Free cars for life? With a little bit of planning and smart investing, you CAN do it. Financial expert Dave Ramsey teaches about this and much more in his high school and college curricula. Visit http://daveramsey.com/school to learn more.