I enjoy a little light gambling – fantasy sports, occasional Pai Gow or craps game, poker with friends, things like that. I’m not even sure that would even register as gambling on some radars!
It’s a little bit of a thrill but has zero chance of changing anything in our lives. You can’t go broke losing $20 in your annual fantasy football league. (and since I work from home, I skip out on the annual March Madness pools so when you think about it, I’m practically making money now!)
I find it fascinating that there are people out there who are willing to risk it all, multiple times, and go through the boom and bust cycle like that. it’s also a little heartbreaking because I believe it’s a hint of something darker going on. I don’t mean all gambling, I mean a specific type, which is discussed in the first post today:
The Psychology of Betting Big and Losing it All [A Wealth of Common Sense] – “Livermore earned more than a million dollars in a matter of days by shorting stocks during the Panic of 1907. He would lose it all and declare bankruptcy before the first World War ended. His greatest trade came when he shorted the market in the fall of 1929 just as stocks were peaking before one of the greatest crashes in history. At one point following the Great Depression, Livermore was worth upwards of $100 million. That would be multiple billions in today’s dollars. It made Livermore one of the 10 richest people on the planet. It would take just five years for him to lose it all yet again by making bad trades on margin.”
Mr. CC walks through his thought process on health insurance and ends up getting paid for being insured due to incentives. It’s a very hands on, detailed discussion that will be valuable if you intend to look at health insurance options:
How to Have Negative Health Insurance Costs [Clipping Chains] – “After years of worrying about health insurance costs in a post-W2 job world, I’m pleased to report that we are now getting paid to have coverage. Is the plan completely awesome? I mean, for us it is. We’ve chosen to insure minimally, but we don’t believe in no insurance at all. There are too many unforeseen risks of choosing to forego insurance.”
As someone who isn’t a particularly strong swimmer, I cannot even fathom freediving:
The Secrets of The World’s Greatest Freediver [GQ] – “With only a single breath, Alexey Molchanov, history’s most daring freediver, is reaching improbable depths—and discovering a new kind of enlightenment as he conquers one of the world’s wildest sports.”