Wealth Inequality in America
Wealth Inequality in America
Infographics on the distribution of wealth in America, highlighting both the inequality and the difference between our perception of inequality and the actual numbers. The reality is often not what we think it is.
What is Enough? By Vanguard Founder John Bogle
What is Enough? By Vanguard Founder John Bogle
Vanguard Founder John Bogle explains what is enough in his book Enough:
“Not knowing what enough is subverts our professional values. It makes salespersons of those who should be fiduciaries of the investment entrusted to them. It turns a system that should be built on trust into one with counting as its foundation. Worse, this confusion about enough leads us astray in our larger lives. We chase the false rabbits of success; we too often bow down at the altar of the transitory and finally meaningless and fail to cherish what is beyond calculation, indeed eternal.”
John Bogle puts our obsession with financial success in perspective
Throughout his legendary career, John C. Bogle-founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group and creator of the first index mutual fund-has helped investors build wealth the right way and led a tireless campaign to restore common sense to the investment world. Along the way, he’s seen how destructive an obsession with financial success can be. Now, with Enough, he puts this dilemma in perspective.
Inspired in large measure by the hundreds of lectures Bogle has delivered to professional groups and college students in recent years, Enough seeks, paraphrasing Kurt Vonnegut, “to poison our minds with a little humanity.” Page by page, Bogle thoughtfully considers what “enough” actually means as it relates to money, business, and life.
- Reveals Bogle’s unparalleled insights on money and what we should consider as the true treasures in our lives
- Details the values we should emulate in our business and professional callings
- Contains thought-provoking life lessons regarding our individual roles in society
Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this unique book examines what it truly means to have “enough” in world increasingly focused on status and score-keeping.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give – Winston Churchill
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give – Winston Churchill
Special Offer From Lugen Family Office – Limited to ONLY 150 People to Join in 2013
Special Offer From Lugen Family Office – Limited to ONLY 150 People to Join in 2013
Family Business Owners, Professionals, CEOs, Senior Executives, Management, and Philanthropists often need a Consigliere, or most trusted advisor, to discuss strategies about successfully implementing their goals for the year. However, to hire a Life Coach that works with the Ultra High Net Worth can be expensive, costing $50,000 plus per project, and to create your own private Family Office to provide these services can cost millions of dollars. Now, for the next few weeks only, you can get amazing one on one teleconference coaching from leading experts for less than $10 per day. The following are areas that Lugen Family Office, and its Strategic Network, specialize in:
As an introductory offer to our services and expertise, limited to ONLY 150 people in the world in 2013, Lugen Family Office will provide an innovative Consigliere Teleconferencing Service on a monthly basis which includes:
1) 45 minutes of one on one strategic coaching each month.
2) A psychometric assessment of your unique abilities.
3) Access to our Strategic Network where appropriate.
4) Free Membership into two of the world’s largest private LinkedIn Groups in their categories, Building a Family Business Dynasty and the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy. More importantly, your monthly teleconference coaching will show you how to utilize the vast resources within these Groups to help you achieve the results that you want.
5) Special discounted rates to other services provided by Lugen Family Office, and its Strategic Network, where available and appropriate.
6) Access to unique Business Opportunities and Investment Strategies utilized by Affluent Business families (these opportunities will ONLY be offered if Lugen Family Office deems these opportunities appropriate from our Confidential Conversations and all parties agree that a specific opportunity or strategy aligns with your Goals and Values),
7) Email support between teleconference sessions.
8) Direct collaboration with Lugen Family Office on agreed upon projects over a secure and confidential network on the Cloud.
9) Access to a Customized Resource Report on a quarterly basis to assist you with your 90 day goals.
10) Plus so much more since the Consigliere Teleconferencing program is customized to your specific needs.
The role of your private Consigliere is to counsel you through guidance, support, accountability and encouragement.
Accountability is one of the greatest strengths of working with a Consigliere. Remember, it’s difficult to get a truly objective answer from yourself about your business, or even certain aspects of your life, but your Consigliere will always tell you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it. This is also the primary reason that we request a one time, non refundable fee of $3,600 per year since we want to be truthful with you and not give you guidance dependent on future monthly payments.
A Consigliere is much better than a consultant or a coach for many reasons. With years of successful experience that can provide valuable insight, Lugen Family Office, and/or its strategic network, will assist you with both long-term and short term goals and strategies for your personal, family, and business life in areas that you might have overlooked. You may be able to survive without a Consigliere, but it’s almost impossible to move from success to significance without a most trusted advisor…
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Money only magnifies who you truly are
Money only magnifies who you truly are
Financial Principles Every Entrepreneur Must Know for Success
Financial Principles Every Entrepreneur Must Know for Success – Part 1
Published on Jan 4, 2013
Michael E. Parker moderates the discussion with Valerie Coleman Morris former CNN anchor and money experts, Cheryl Broussard and Ilons Dolinska Reiser at the Entrepreneur Extravaganza annual event.
Part 2
Part 3
Your Family is your business, Mankind is your business
Your Family is your business, Mankind is your business
by Enzo Calamo
As this is the Holiday season, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.
The other night I was watching Charles Dickens‘ A Christmas Carol movie starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. One of the most impactful moments in the movie is when Scrooge tells Marley’s ghost, “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob.” Upon which Marley’s ghost cries out in anguish:
Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!
With that simple statement, Marley’s ghost teaches Scrooge, and all of us, three very important life lessons:
1) Real assets in the world are people, not possessions;
2) Your family is the first place that you experience true love and care. As a baby, and as a child, whether your memories are good or bad, you were completely dependent on others. In today’s aging world, many of our seniors are also completely dependent on others again. Is it not time that we learn that love is based on our ability of loving and caring for the living, who can love us back, AND keeping alive the memories of our loved ones who left us too soon? Material things will NEVER love us back!
3) Fulfilling your life purpose and helping others, not accumulating profits, should be man’s highest aims.
In an article Nothing Beats Family, posted on www.Inspire21.com, Ridgely Goldsborough addresses the importance of family as follows:
I’m deeply troubled by the number of parents who wake up too late with the realization: “My children grew up too fast. In the hustle-bustle of career and corporate rat race, I missed their childhood.” What they fail to say but too often inwardly think causes me even more pain: “…and I barely even know them.”This applies to couples as well – so in a hurry to get who-knows-where – a destination seldom defined. Relationships turn into co-habitations, romance into convenience. Very disturbing.
A hundred years from now, no one will remember the size of your bank account, the car you drove or the square footage of your house. The world might differ greatly however, based on your impact in the life of a small child. Your life will most certainly improve, if you pay attention to your significant other, make the choice to put her or him first. Your example will benefit the rest of us. Our world cries out for role models and heroes of every day living. What could you do today to let your loved ones know how much they mean to you? What will you do tomorrow? And the next day?
The following inspirational story, by author Jeff Davis at the Brobdingnagian Bards, further highlights the importance of spending time with loved ones:
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind-he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles”.
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. “Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital.”
He continued, “Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.”
And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.” “You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy- five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.”
“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important part.”
“It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail”, he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”
“So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.”
“I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”
“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast.
This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.”
“It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”
“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile. “Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”
During this holiday season, it would be wise for us to remember the words of Robert Louis Stevenson:
That Person is a Success
Who has lived well,
laughed often and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent people
and love of children;
Who has filled his or her niche
and accomplished his or her task;
Who leaves the world better than he or she found it,
whether by improved poppy, a perfect poem,
or a rescued soul;
Who never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty
or failed to express it.
Who looked for the best in others
and gave the best he or she had.
Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!!!!!!
