In the game of blackjack, you can ‘double down’ on a hand by doubling your bet for one more card from the dealer.  (When playing blackjack, your goal is to create a hand that is as close as possible to 21 without going over)A  This action allows you to take additional risk for an immediate payoff.  Within the community of people who enjoy the game of blackjack, most will tell you that it is advantageous to double down on an eleven, or possibly a ten.  The principal reason for this …

One of the ideas that has become quite pervasive within the minds of investors is the notion of a “good stock” or a “good property” to own. A This notion stems from a general desire on the part of most people to own things of quality. A In our personal life, this frequently manifests itself as a desire to own a comfortable home, and a reliable automobile. A Quality gives us a feeling of safety and security. A Thus, it seems completely natural to want our investments to be the stock of a high …

One of the trends that many people experience in the world of investing is a noted tendency to become ‘gun shy’ when they experience volatility in their investments.  The reason for this is because our psychological makeup is much more afraid of loss than joyful over gains.  This leads many people to either become irrationally risk averse, or to take risks that they are not aware of in a desire to achieve safety.  The problem this creates is that fear of loss can make people blind to the opportunity for …

The financial planning profession has a long history of demonstrating the power of compounded growth to clients who are looking to invest for the future.  Typically, a chart will be shown that shows the difference between investing $100 per month at 1%, 5%, 8%, and 10% rates of return for 20, 30, and 40 years.  As expected, the results are typically astounding.  The extended impact of compounding for a longer period of time at a higher rate of return creates a tremendous difference in the amount of compounded returns after …

One of the most famous institutions in American cultural history during the 20th century is the Circus.  During the early portion of the 20th century, many Circuses moved from one small town to another, setting up a “Big Top” for their main show, and sponsoring side-shows, performance, and greasy food alongside carnival games in an area called the midway.  Traditionally, these carnival games were “difficult” (meaning that they were constructed so that you had an extremely low chance of winning) and required many attempts before the desired prizes were won.
When …

In the world of business, life, and investing there are many risks present.  The traditional view of risk is the probability of suffering a loss of value on your investment.  This is a very significant form of risk, but there are other equally important factors that must be considered for a full picture of risk to be formed.
Another kind of risk to be considered is the risk that your ‘safe’ investment will produce low returns that do not keep pace with inflation or do not make you any wealthier.  Preservation …

One of the oldest and most important notions in Finance is the statement that “Cash is King”. The purpose of this cliche is to focus examination for a business deal, product decision, or prospective investment on cash flow. This is especially important when the accounting profit & loss is different from the cash flows.
Consider the difficulty of running a business where all of the value comes from a future sale of the business to somebody else? What happens if large losses must be absorbed until the future …

One of the personal financial topics that many people desperately avoid thinking about is that of insurance, specifically life insurance.  The most prominent reason for this is because most people do not fancy the thought of their own demise, and choose to avoid, rather than confront this risk.  Another reason is because there are many insurance products available, and many people get confused.
By and large, the two predominate forms of insurance are Term and Permanent policies.  As the name suggests, a Term policy lasts for a pre-determined length of time …

When most people think of “creating wealth” it conjures up grandiose mental pictures of fabulous riches and exotic celebrities.  However, the term “wealth” simply refers to owning valuable assets.  There is no particular reason why normal, regular people cannot create wealth using nothing more than their current income and intelligent decisions.  The principal barrier to achieving this goal is a mindset many people hold that “It takes money to make money” and that they do not have enough capital to begin making money.  However, there are two problems with this …

In the American version of Football, there is a ‘system’ known as the “West Coast Offense” that has become a revolution in sports.  Bill Walsh implemented the system as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in the late 1970′s and went on to win three world championships, with two more achieved using this philosophy after Coach Walsh retired.
Up until Coach Walsh implemented the West Coast offense, there were two competing offensive philosophies that dominated Football.  The first was that of a ‘ball control’ offense where one team would attempt …