For
My parents, who teach me.
Gretchen, who guides me.
Miles and Reese, who inspire me.
Introduction: The Greatest Show On Earth
2. Luck & Risk
3. Never Enough
5. Getting Wealthy vs. Staying Wealthy
7. Freedom
9. Wealth is What You Don’t See
10. Save Money
12. Surprise!
17. The Seduction of Pessimism
18. When You’ll Believe Anything
Postscript: A Brief History of Why the U.S. Consumer Thinks the Way
“A genius is the man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind.”
—Napoleon
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”
—Sherlock Holmes
Ispent my college years working as a valet at a nice hotel in Los Angeles.
One frequent guest was a technology executive. He was a genius, having designed and patented a key component in Wi-Fi routers in his 20s. He had started and sold several companies. He was wildly successful.