John T. Reed’s news blog

After criticizing Putin for using convicts as soldiers, Ukraine is now doing the same. . When I was a company commander of a 400-man training company all my cooks were paroles from Leavenworth. Soldiers in uniform. They did not associate with the other men in the company who were attending communications courses indicating they were higher than average IQ. . Did the ex-cons do a good job? No. If I told them to refill the coffee dispenser, they would. But if I did not tell them to do it, they would let it go empty during meal time. . Notwithstanding...

A memorable line I once read about real estate investment was that could tell the pros by the fact that they were figuring out how they were going to get OUT of a property before they got IN. I would add that the pros also should not agree to balloon payments although many who ought to know better do. . My most recent book about principal residences is very much about this although I may not have mentioned it per se in the book.. . To get out of a home, you just sell it. The buyer can easily get...

“Being of sound mind, I spent it all when I was alive.” That was a bumper sticker. Is it possible to do just that?.Yes. With annuities. Academics love them because they so neatly take care of the uncertainty of having money until you die and also convert all of your wealth..You buy an annuity—generally from a life insurance company—for a lump sum. It typically pays you a month sum until you die. The monthly sum is based on your likely death date from actuarial tables and the interest rate the lump sum will earn before you die..If you die earlier...

I recently said here that when people become affluent they frequently buy things which they end up getting rid of because they did not need them and eventually stopped using them, like second homes, cars in excess of the number of drives in the family, boats, etc..I also said your home should not exceed 4,000 square feet and the lot upon which is sits should not exceed one acre. Basically, those are the limits of an actual home. Bigger than that in either category is more showing off than living or using. Our house—3,492 square feet—has five bedrooms, master, one...

Can you learn how to fight a war at West Point or Fort Benning or Fort Bragg? I doubt it. When I was at West Point 64 to 68 they taught how to reenact WW II in Europe with front lines. Then they sent me to a war with no front lines in the jungle of Vietnam..Ditto Benning and Bragg. True, I have not been there in a while—54 years. Somebody's going to say I'm out of date. But I know from experience writing about this stuff that other current soldiers will tell me it is amazing how little the...