The recent recession, coupled with the persistently high rate of unemployment, tends to justify my theory of personal economic success for young people: If your living depends upon having a job, you are in trouble; if it depends upon the stock market, you are home free. I am basing that on the observation that those individuals who control the jobs market tend to be the same ones with a substantial investment in the stock market. Now I do not mean to suggest that one should buy into every stock investment that comes down the pike. The usual investing rules apply: diversify, balance income versus growth, keep your eye on the long-term, etc. And of course, have at least a three month emergency fund available. But to return to my original theory, as long as the government gives great tax breaks for investing in new equipment, research and development expenses, and other “productivity” investments, the ability to produce more products with less employees is going to contin
My alarm clock goes off every morning at eight, except for the few times when I have a breakfast date. Usually I wake up about an hour before that, or at least I partly wake up. It is important that I remain in a “not quite awake but not quite asleep” state, because I consider that time as the germination period for whatever seeds happen to have blown into my head.