I met a fellow earlier today who, with a partner, owns and runs a company that imports a wide variety of goods into the United States from China.

I asked him, naively, how tariffs are affecting him.  He said, “Well, until recently, taxes on our goods were 3.5%; now they’re 45%. I pass most of this this on to my (retailer) customer, and he passes it on to you.  If you’re wondering why the price of a stick of deodorant has just gone through the roof, you’ve just figured it out.”

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.

An Encounter on Tariffs

I met a gentleman from South Africa yesterday, and I told him that I’m sure he knows that Trevor Noah is a huge thing here in the U.S.

He replied that he doesn’t like Trevor Noah and explained that he doesn’t think politics and comedy should be mixed.

I thought that to be peculiar, as political humor has been a big deal here for centuries, and has grown mightily since the 1970s.  Think of Saturday Night Live and all the late-night television hosts that have come along and achieved huge popularity.

More to the point, this is Trevor Noah’s brand. It’s what he does–and sells for a living. It’s like Nike and its swoosh and it’s “Just do it” slogan.

I have a feeling that what he objects to is the mixing of left-wing politics and comedy, because he doesn’t like to see progressive ideas promoted in society.

https://www.2greenenergy.com/2026/06/14/trevor-noah/

I’m not a financial pro, but here’s some advice:

Don’t live on a budget.  Make a lot of money and live far beneath your means.  What value does luxury actually bring to your life, especially if it makes you nervous about running out of cash?

As I told my kids when they were growing up, “Unless you’re completely shallow, showing off your money is an idiotic thing to do.  You make false friends and have people glomming onto you to sell you stuff you really don’t need.”

Warren Buffett still lives in a modest house in Nebraska, a state in which he could buy an entire country.  Maybe there is something about him and his values that could benefit you.

Ask a Pro