Our kids tend to be rule-followers, which is perhaps not surprising as my wife and I tend to be more rule-breakers. Not big ones, but I do have a lead foot. I was reminded of this recently when I rewatched the classic movie To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck,...
Former U.N. Ambassador, U.S. Secretary of Energy, New Mexico Governor, and Member of Congress Bill Richardson recently passed away. Interestingly enough, despite holding all these high-level government positions, he may have been most well-known for his ability as a...
My son starts college at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois next week. Time flies! As the son of an author, he recently bought a book for my wife and me entitled “The Naked Roommate [For Parents Only]: A Parent’s Guide to the New College Experience.” I...
I met my wife over 20 years ago when one of my former law students introduced us. When I learned she grew up in Wisconsin, I immediately felt a connection. After all, I grew up in Minnesota and sensed a “Midwestern” thing going on. She felt it, too. This feeling was...
I recently attended a conference where an expert started his presentation with a photo of a toilet up on the big screen. What?!? Of course, it grabbed our attention. But it also made a serious point, as the speaker – Chris Graham – noted in “the part about toilets”...
“The buyer paid 8x my client’s EBITDA [a revenue-related financial calculation often used to help evaluate a company’s market value]. He didn’t have to pay this, as he had extremely strong leverage because he was my client’s largest retail outlet and one without...
I know the best way to maximize the financial value of my family business is to hire an investment banker and auction it off to the highest bidder. That’s all about leverage, right? And I need to achieve enough financial security to continue our current lifestyle...
“Usury” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the lending of money at exorbitant interest rates” and can also be used “in a moral sense,” according to Wikipedia, as “condemning taking advantage of others’ misfortunes.” We as a society have even passed laws prohibiting...
Our AC unit recently went on the blink with the temperature in Scottsdale around 115. Yikes! We needed to get it fixed or replaced ASAP. Talk about weak leverage! Fortunately, we found an AC guy willing to come out within a day and fix it. I’ve never been happier to...
