Writing is mostly staring out the window. Spend enough time sitting there, staring at a blank page, and you get bored enough to start pecking away at the keyboard.

And the most gratifying aspect of stringing words together is the potential to change someone’s life. Think about that. You can probably rattle off some books that caused some profound change in the way you look at life.

That’s why my inbox is the lottery. I never know if an unread email is a winning...

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By Chris Reining / 0 Comments

Markets crash. On average, the market falls 10% once a year, about 20% every four or five years, about 30% every decade, and 50% a few times during your lifetime.

I used to think weathering market downturns should be easy. The market always recovers and reaches new highs. As Charlie Munger puts it:

“You can argue that if you’re not willing to react with equanimity to a market price decline of 50% two or three times a century, you’re not fit to...

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By Chris Reining / 3 Comments

I used to think to be a millionaire all you had to do was make a lot of money. Then I realized most people earning six figures don’t have two nickels to rub together.

What’s the secret then? Living below your means so you can save, and then investing those savings.

And it took me a long time to realize there’s only so many expenses you can cut, so why...

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By Chris Reining / 0 Comments

Have you heard the story of Grace Groner?

She attended Lake Forest College, in Illinois, and after graduating in 1931 took a job at Abbott Laboratories, where she worked as a secretary for four decades.

In 1935 she bought three shares of Abbott stock for $60 each. Over the years the shares split many times, and she always reinvested any dividends.

Groner lived simply: buying clothes from garage sales, walking rather than owning a car, and living...

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By Chris Reining / 4 Comments

It’s Sunday morning, and every Sunday morning I walk down the street to this meditation center to sit and meditate for an hour.

You might remember that time I went to a 10-day silent meditation retreat. When I got back I was meditating two hours every day, because that’s what the instructor told us to do.

Well, you can probably guess that meditating for two hours a day doesn’t last very long unless...

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By Chris Reining / 7 Comments