: About Me

I am on the leading edge of the Baby Boomers, in my early sixties. I grew up in the fifties and sixties in Indiana. After high school I worked at grocery stores and then joining the Army to avoid the draft. Thanks to the G.I. bill I went to Ball State University (yes, David Letterman's school). My original major was pre-engineering but I discovering that I was going to have to spend extra time and money learning calculus and educating myself more deeply in physics so I changed my major to accounting. This was before the time that taking five or six years to get a four year degree was stylish.

During my college years I met and married the love of my life, Kay. We moved to Cincinnati in 1973 when I graduated from college. All of our married life was spent in Cincinnati where we raised three sons. Sadly, Kay died a few years ago. I now live with my two old cats. I have two grandkids and keep family as a big part of my life.

I began my career with a major accounting firm, moving to industry after a few years. I worked at manufacturing companies and banking in my 24 year career in accounting and finance. In 1997, after one closing and two downsizings, I switched to real estate. I started as an agent and quickly shifted focus to the appraisal of residential real estate. I have also taught appraising at two local colleges.

I have always loved the world of ideas. All subjects are interesting at some level. Writing is a natural extension of that love. Putting those ideas on paper is a way of running them through my personal filter of knowledge, opinions and logic to express the ideas as clearly and cleanly as possible.

My writing emphasizes themes from my professions. I also write about computers,investing, the Internet and just about anything that tweaks my interest at any moment. Sometimes I enjoy the research too much and it takes awhile to actually get to writing

Professional Certifications and Licenses:

- Certified Public Accountant (Ret)

- Certified Residential Appraiser

- Real Estate Agent

My passion is ...

learning new things.

I know too much about ...

too many things

My parents always told me ...

if its worth doing it is worth doing right.

My childhood ambition ...

was to have a really cool car. (I eventually did.)

My favorite memory ...

a family vacation that rivals the Griswalds.

Why I write ...

I like the thinking.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

The Federalist Papers

My first job ...

sanding cars in a body shop.

Personal Finance > Investing Basics Speculating vs investing: What's the difference?

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Smart investors speculate not by accident but by choice. Smart investing is a way of thinking about investments using objective measures to estimate real value. By identifying actual value the investor always knows when they are investing and when they are speculating. Recognizing speculating is not always easy but, to paraphrase Judge Stewart, "You may not be able to define speculating but you know it when you see it". There are traits that separate speculating from investing and part of smart investing is learning to "know speculating when you see it". Smart Investors Buy Value The first...

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• Certified Public Accountant
• Helium Charter Member