Hetty Green……who??
She would have been a bitcoiner!
Maxims for Life and Investing
Here is a list of ideas I took away from this episode and my research.
“I buy when things are low and nobody wants them. I keep them until they go up and people are crazy to get them.”
Position beats prediction. Always keep cash reserves.
“If you can manage your brain, you can manage your fortune.”
“Before deciding on an investment, seek out every kind of information about it.”
The skills to get rich and the skills to stay rich are not the same.
“In business generally, don’t close a bargain until you have reflected on it overnight.”
Only invest when downside risk is low and upside is high.
Self-reliance is the ultimate competitive advantage.
Everyone looks smart when they’re in a good position, and even the smartest person looks like a fool in a bad one.
Panics are temporary. Value is permanent.
Have a detective’s eye. Uncover what others miss or ignore.
“I go my own way, take no partners, risk nobody else’s fortune.”
“Never owe anyone anything. Not even a kindness.”
Mix extreme patience with extreme decisiveness.
Never bet against America.
“Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
Move in silence. Keep your positions private.
Never take advantage of people, even when you could.
“When you try to do too much, you never get anywhere. Focus.”
Stay connected to reality. Frugality keeps you grounded.
“When it comes to spending your life, there have to be some things neglected. If you try to do too much, you can never get anywhere.”
“My work is my amusement.”
“Property is a trust to be enlarged for future generations.”
Live by your own rules, not society’s expectations.
Be fair in all things. Your conscience will haunt you otherwise.
“Don’t kick a man when he’s down.”
“Seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion.”
“When I see a good thing going cheap because nobody wants it, I buy a lot of it and tuck it away.”
From her favorite poem: “To live content with small means; To seek elegance rather than luxury, And refinement rather than fashion; To be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich.”
Things Not to Do
Hetty gave her children a list of things not to do.
Don’t cheat in any of your business dealings, for sooner or later, your conscience will trouble you and you’ll worry yourself into an early grave.
Don’t fail to be fair in all things business and otherwise.
Don’t kick a man when he’s down.
Don’t envy your neighbors.
Don’t overdress, whether you have the means or not; this causes envy.
Don’t fail to go to church, for the church needs you and you need the church.
Don’t forget that riches dishonorably gained must be left behind someday, and when you depart, you will find the gates of heaven bolted against you.
Don’t forget to be charitable.
Sources
Wallach, Janet. The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2012.
Slack, Charles. Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America’s First Female Tycoon.