Category: Obstacles and opportunities

  • Buffett, Gottesman, and me

    In February 2024, Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she served as a faculty member. Her gift will cover tuition, in perpetuity, for students at this Bronx medical school. The Bronx is the poorest and unhealthiest county in New York State. Ruth Gottesman’s gift may make it financially

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  • A paystub education

    In 1985, I crept out from the shadows of the cash economy to join the formal labor market. I took tickets at the Arcadian Cinema, working 20 hours a week at $3.35 an hour. After two weeks, the theater manager handed me my first paycheck. I’d done the math: 40 hours at $3.35 an hour

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  • Rolling over

    In the church of personal finance, market-timing is a cardinal sin. The high priests of investor education inveigh against its temptations. “Market timing is a truly wicked idea,” writes Charley Ellis in his classic Winning the Loser’s Game. “Don’t try it!” Empirical research validates the ecclesiastical dogma, demonstrating that market-timing—attempts to exit the stock market

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