Kiera and I hang’n out at Point Pelee, the southernmost tip of mainland Canada. (Middle Island is actually the Southernmost point in Canada.)
The point I’m trying to make (yes, there actually is one!) is exactly what I wrote last year, i.e., personal resources (time and money) directed towards experiences as against “stuff” are the keys to both short and long term happiness. This is one of the reasons we feel so good when we are engaged in acts of giving through its many different levels – not just money, but also time, friendship and, most important … love.
DEC 31, 2014
PARTIAL TO PENGUINS
BY KEITH THOMSON
Clearly, I realize this video is a TV advert for the British retailer John Lewis. Cleverly, it utilizes a John Lennon song to amplify the commercial’s impact. Creatively, it is a slick piece of marketing that is directly targeted to tug on our heart strings. And ultimately – at least from my perspective – how did the producers know that I’m partial to penguins? Taking…
NOV 27, 2014
IF YOU MISSED THE RALLY...
BY KEITH THOMSON
There are two types of people in the world – those that are too classy to tell you, “I told you so” … and then there’s me! You may recall last month’s Wealth With Wisdom, “Another Garden Variety Correction”. It was all about how we had a very minor and very to-be-expected correction (at least in the Canadian market). I believe the article below serves…
OCT 31, 2014
ANOTHER GARDEN VARIETY CORRECTION
BY KEITH THOMSON
As I write this, for the first time in over three years we have had a market correction (as defined by at least 10% pull back) in Canada. Interestingly, this did not occur in the US with the broader market not quite hitting the 10% marker. What is also interesting about this most recent spate of volatility is not that it happened, but that it…
OCT 2, 2014
WHAT REALLY MATTERS
BY KEITH THOMSON
To be frank, I find that over 90 % of what I read on the web as it relates to “investment advice” is complete nonsense. Having said that, I am always on the look out for those individuals who are worth reading and listening to and streaming them through my customized RSS feed. I use the free app Mr Reader that has saved me countless…
AUG 7, 2014
THE GRATITUDE PRINCIPAL
BY KEITH THOMSON
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
A couple of weekends ago my wife Tanja, my 9 year old daughter Kiera, and I traveled to Chicago to experience a little bit of what that great city has to offer. One of those newer experiences was Chicago 360° in which you are tilted 30…
JUL 17, 2014
WEALTH WITH WISDOM – SOME OF YOU MUST FAIL
BY KEITH THOMSON
In a previous Wealth With Wisdom blog I wrote that Morgan Housel, who writes for the Motley Fool website, is one of the very few individuals I feel who is worth paying attention to online when it comes to investment and financial planning advice. What really bugs me is that this guys has developed tremendous investing wisdom at the ripe old age of 30! See…
JUN 10, 2014
PECULIAR TRAITS OF RICH PEOPLE
BY KEITH THOMSON
One of the ways I filter out 99.9% of the media noise all of us are exposed to on a regular basis is to have set up an RSS feed on my computer that I check once a day. In this way I can access the wisdom of only those individuals who, over the years, I feel have something truly worthwhile to say. One of…
FEB 24, 2014
IT'S GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME
BY KEITH THOMSON
Last month I had the opportunity to travel down to L.A. for a conference hosted by Peter Diamandis. For those of you not familiar with Diamandis, he is best known as the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation. This $10 million competition was intended to inspire a new generation of private passenger carrying spaceships. Ultimately the winning team sold their technology to Richard…
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