Categories for 2 Cents Worth
September 14, 2021
_________________________________________________ In April of 2020, one month into the Covid experience when very little was certain, a good friend asked me if I thought it was a good time for his daughter to buy her first house. For the first time in my professional life, I flinched at that question. Long a disciple of the maxim that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and that the second-best time is today – until that moment I... View Article
September 1, 2020
________________________ There is an often-used saying about planning, usually trotted out by would-be authority figures; teachers, parents, bosses -as an admonishment for being unprepared. It goes like this: Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Fair enough. It is great to plan. However; there is another saying, popularized by John Lennon that I think is a little more apt today: Life is what happens to you when youre busy making other plans. Life has thrown us a Covid curveball... View Article
August 4, 2020
____________________________________________ There has been a trend for some time in the news world, away from informing us about what happened, and towards telling us what we ought to think about it. An example of this can be witnessed anytime President Trump is scheduled to address the media. CNN has taken to not airing his speech, but rather televising a panel of experts deciphering what he is saying, often in real-time, fact-checking it, and pointing out the inaccuracies. And no doubt... View Article
March 16, 2020
_________________ If ever there was a moment or event that causes one to reevaluate one’s priorities, or at least remind us of them, this would be it. Although the coronavirus has been on our collective radar for several months now, count me among the group that still found myself surprised by the sheer scale of implications it has wrought on our lives, with more certain to come. I suspect I am not alone. Today, in what I truly hope hindsight... View Article
February 13, 2020
____________________________________________________ As parents, we sometimes fall into the trap of telling our kids you can be anything you want to be. High school and university graduation speeches are steeped in platitudes affirming to the gathered that their potential is limitless. Optimism abounds, and so it should. But is it true? Can I be anything I want to be? Can I be tomorrow’s leader? And what exactly is a leader? Fear not, I will not pretend to espouse what a good... View Article
January 28, 2020
___________________________________________ Three months after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the neighbouring Gulf Coast in 2005, I found myself driving along Mississippi State Road 90, which hugs the Gulf Coast from Pass Christian, Mississippi to Gulfport, and beyond. Having been familiar with the before, the after was a particularly devastating site that frankly, the nightly newscast could not adequately portray. Stately antebellum mansions were reduced to nothing more than a single set of brick steps leading to where the porch... View Article
December 9, 2019
Bankers, as Mark Twain aptly observed, are folks who lend you their umbrella when the sun is shining and want it back the minute it begins to rain. Rainy days are made for private bankers offering credit, when perhaps it has not yet been fully earned. Most business people have at one time or another, relied on a private banker, even if they referred to them as uncle, mom or dad, or in my case, neighbour. Momentum is... View Article
November 6, 2019
_____________ My high school days are almost 35 years behind me, so my recollection of the curriculum may be less perfect. I recall loving geography, struggling with French, and everything else falling somewhere in between. Curiously, two subjects I do not recall being addressed are the two I would argue to have the largest impact on a majority of students’ futures – personal finance and sales. The former is obvious. If we are not taught the value of money,... View Article
October 10, 2019
______________ Everyone likes to feel that the efforts they make for the benefit of others are appreciated and useful – particularly if they are volunteering. Most of my volunteering experience has taken place in an ice rink attempting to teach hockey players how to be a better player than I was. It is surprisingly common that we coaches expect our players to reach higher heights than we may have! Every once in a while something happens to remind us... View Article
September 11, 2019
__________ Rising Prices and Changing Expectations When I was young, Harlem (Manhattan’s northern neighbour) was synonymous with poverty. It was a working class borough with a well publicized crime problem which nonetheless served as an affordable hometown for those who had been priced out of the Manhattan real estate market. Harlem has changed. Today, the average per square foot price of a home in Harlem is well over $1000, or put into local perspective, 3 times ours. ‘What spurred... View Article
