Minimalism isn’t just for people who want to live out of a van or cram their life into a backpack.

This is what you usually think of when you hear about minimalism, but minimalism is really just a mindset.

When I was younger I was in a 12-step program, and a popular saying there was “take what you want, and leave the rest.”

That’s a pretty good description of what minimalism is. If something is useful or valuable you keep...

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By Chris Reining / 2 Comments

Warren Buffett turned me down for an interview. It was his secretary, Debbie B., who wrote me back:

“Thanks for the nice note. However, Mr. Buffett has asked me to turn down all requests. His plate is more than full now, even at the age of 84.”

Then I asked her if it was true mentioning her name at Gorat’s, an Omaha steakhouse, will get you an extra boat of gravy when you order the hot roast beef sandwich. I heard that once.

She told...

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By Chris Reining / 4 Comments

In college I was a finance major before switching to computer science. Marry finance and technology together and you get something called fintech, which means I should love robo-advisors, that golden child of fintech, right?

The sites like Betterment and Wealthfront that invest your money using sophisticated computer algorithms that last I checked every personal finance blogger was promoting. I don’t use them, and here’s why.

Let’s say you’re 25 and you have $3,000 you want to invest. You start asking around what you...

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By Chris Reining / 15 Comments

I have a treat for you. This is Morgan Housel, former columnist at The Wall Street Journal and Motley Fool, who’s now partner at The Collaborative Fund.

I’ve been following his writing and excellent Twitter account for years and asked him to sit down for an interview.

You don’t meet deep thinkers like Morgan outside of academia much, and I crafted these questions to get his best thoughts for you in areas like personal finance, psychology, and...

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By Chris Reining / 12 Comments

I’m wandering around this full-scale replica of a New York City apartment. And I’m wondering if the artist ever thought about giving up as he was sewing every little detail in translucent fabric. Because I think that’s the hardest part about life: Knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing.

For years I didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing. I was getting up, driving to work, dealing with an inbox full of...

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By Chris Reining / 8 Comments