Category Archives: Money

Opportunity Cost

Posted on July 14, 2012 by AJ Kessler

How much does it cost to help your friend move on a Saturday?  What if you had planned to take your son to a ballgame?  What if you had planned to work overtime? There’s a cost to everything you do, … Continue reading →

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Link Dump

Posted on July 13, 2012 by AJ Kessler

How do good hotels stay always feel so fresh and clean?  Lots and lots of manpower. How the cast of friends banded together to leverage their per episode salaries into seven figures.  Great negotiating story.  Ctrl+F “breakout”. 7 Useless Money-Saving … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Inspiration, Money, Negotiation, Photography | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Lazy, Weak and Dumb

Posted on July 8, 2012 by AJ Kessler

People overwhelmingly think they’re smarter, stronger, more industrious and better looking than they really are.  To some extent, this is healthy.  If most of us realized how ugly and dumb we really were, we’d have trouble leaving the house, landing … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Diet, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Money, Self-Improvement | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Scammer’s Logic

Posted on June 28, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Why do “Nigerian” scammers say they’re from Nigeria?  After all, if you were running a widely known scam, wouldn’t you vary the details so you had a better chance of fooling a wider audience? Probably not.  In an interesting paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Food For Thought, Marketing, Money, Persuasion, Productivity, Psychology, Rationality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Marriage and Economics

Posted on May 13, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Some interesting statistics about money and marriage from The Economist: Marriage itself is “a wealth-generating institution”, according to Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe, who run the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. Those who marry “till death do us … Continue reading →

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If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy, You’re Not Spending It Right

Posted on May 3, 2012 by AJ Kessler

This sentiment that money can’t buy happiness is lovely, popular, and almost certainly wrong: Money allows people to live longer and healthier lives, to buffer themselves against worry and harm, to have leisure time to spend with friends and family, and to control the … Continue reading →

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Sleep on Concrete

Posted on May 2, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Something Sebastian Marshall said to me a long while back has really stuck with me: sleep on concrete. Anyone who has travelled a lot has literally done this at least once.  Baggage handlers go on strike and the airport shuts … Continue reading →

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Should I Go To Business School?

Posted on April 18, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Generally, business school is a poor investment.  If you want to go to a top 20 school, you’re going to spend at least $100,000 and two years of your life (easily another $100,000 or $200,000 in lost earnings).  Realistically, your … Continue reading →

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Make Yourself Redundant

Posted on April 15, 2012 by AJ Kessler

There’s a lot of career advice out there that implores you to make yourself indispensable.  Taken the right way, this is clearly good advice.  But I’ve seen this misinterpreted any number of times.  Making yourself indispensable or irreplaceable in terms … Continue reading →

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Failure Gives Perspective

Posted on March 8, 2012 by AJ Kessler

That was the lowest moment I had yet encountered in my life. The phones in my office were even quiet, which had never happened before. In fact, I suddenly had a lot of quiet time to think, and I reviewed … Continue reading →

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I Could Never Make $xx,xxx,xxx…

Posted on March 7, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Only 1/10th of 1% of the people in the United States have a net worth of more than five million dollars ($5,000,000). Only 1/10th of 1%?  That’s 357,000 people!  That’s more than the population of New Orleans, or Honolulu, or Cincinnati. If you … Continue reading →

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The Thank You Economy And Your Tribe

Posted on December 22, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Louis C.K. continues to publicly prove the points championed by the likes of Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk: build your own audience, connect with them, interact with them, let them in on the your secrets, and success will follow. And, … Continue reading →

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Money Is Not Wealth

Posted on November 14, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Imagine if you suddenly had the power to make anything you thought about appear in front of you.  *Juicy Steak*  Zap.  A sizzling, pink New York with a great crust on your kitchen table.  *Rolls Royce*  Boom.  Brand new Phantom … Continue reading →

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If You Can Easily Describe What You Do, You’re Fucked

Posted on October 27, 2011 by AJ Kessler

If you’re hanging out with the spouse of someone who is very successful, it’s hilarious to ask them what their spouse does.  Most of the time, they have no idea.  They’ll know what field he’s in, “uh… she works with … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Future, Inspiration, Money, Self-Improvement | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

How They Use Statistics To Scam You

Posted on October 26, 2011 by AJ Kessler

I guarantee you I could pick 10 stocks that would outperform the market, each year, for the next 10 years.  How? The Dow Jones Industrial Average, or the S&P 500, or Nasdaq, are stock indexes.  A stock index is a … Continue reading →

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