Wealth in Words

If you want to succeed in business, you should study this man’s work. It was no accident that he amassed a personal fortune  of $100 billion dollars. Walmart has become a worldwide business thanks to his drive and entrepreneurial tactics  employed during his tenure. Sam Walton is considered the greatest entrepreneur  of the 20 th century. In his autobiography, “Made in America,” he shares insight and experiences that allowed for him to build his iconic brand . Learn to Value a Dollar Walton learned how to organize Walton Enterprises into a partnership from his wife Helen’s family farm business. Each of the family members had a partnership status with regular payouts and voting rights as well as a vested interest in the family business. Over the years the Waltons accumulated wealth through this partnership by starting humbly with anything they could save to where they eventually compounded a fortune  in Walmart stock in the partnership. Mr. Sam, as h...

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have referred to this individual as the smartest man they know. He may be best known for his book of witty remarks and sage advice called “Poor Charlie’s Almanac.” Of course, I am alluding to Charlie Munger. Munger is the long-time business partner of Warren Buffett . Together, this team has grown their conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, into one of the world’s most respected businesses. Below are some observations from “Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor” that should help you in your own financial , professional  and entrepreneurial journey . Solve Hard Problems by Using a Checklist Munger is a proponent for using checklists  to get your most important tasks done. He states that “I’m a great believer in solving hard problems by using a checklist. You need to get all the likely and unlikely answers before you; otherwise it’s easy to miss something important.” Similarly, Buffett has said that “if you haven’t written it down, you ...

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is an investment style that caters to environmental, social, and corporate governance concerns. A socially responsible investment has two mandates: find companies that promote positive social impact as well as offer opportunity for financial gain. As it turns out, the two are not mutually exclusive. For example, from 1990 through 2013 an investment in the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index would have produced a higher return on your investment than a buy and hold strategy with the S&P 500 Index. Visually, the chart below dispels the myth that investors may sacrifice some potential gains in order to meet their socially-conscious investment objective. Instead, the opposite may be true. That is, socially responsible companies may make better products and earn more money for their shareholders, thereby creating long-term value through a higher share price. As the markets have evolved so too have SRI objectives, driven by shifts in societal and i...