Postcards: How to Lose Your Car in Two Minutes

Reflections on Puerto Rico, community, and my desire to purchase pirate costumes from restaurants. ͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­ Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more You are a free subscriber to Postcards from the Florida Republic. To upgrade to paid and receive the daily Republic Risk Letter, [subscribe here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Postcards: How to Lose Your Car in Two Minutes]( Reflections on Puerto Rico, community, and my desire to purchase pirate costumes from restaurants. [Garrett {NAME}](floridarepublic) Oct 6 floridarepublic   [READ IN APP](   Dear Fellow Expat: “I’ll take your keys,” the young valet said. “Your car will be safe.” The question I should have asked is… “Where?” Where will it be safe? John Mauldin lives in a massive community in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Someone told me it used to be a plantation owned by the Vanderbilts, but I don’t have an interest in fact-checking things on a Sunday. The sheer size of this plantation and its residences is a character in this story. John’s Birthday Party was a delight. But he couldn’t park 30 guest cars on the lawn or the street. So, the valets were in full force. Due to the neighbors ' arrival, his driveway already looked like a golf cart dealership. John’s friends and family flew in from around the world. His Puerto Rico neighborhood expat community gathered to celebrate John (and to watch Alabama lose to Vanderbilt). After the dinner… and the laughs… and the toasts… his seven children (five adopted) offered reflections that cut me in half. One of his sons, adopted from St. Croix, claimed he wasn’t good at public speaking. Of his father, he said: “He gave me a life. He gave me a purpose. He gave me a last name.” Not good at speaking? It was one of the most powerful lines I’ve ever heard. After too much carrot cake, it was time to go. The valet driver, however, was missing from his post. The young man had returned my keys earlier in the evening, but I had no knowledge of where he’d parked the car. So, I started walking… in the direction that I believed the valet driver had taken my car. Suddenly, two members of the Mauldin family emerged by golf cart to tell me there was no parking in that direction. So I boarded their cart and went on a treasure hunt across Dorado for one of the ugliest rental cars in the Western Hemisphere. It had all the success of Juan Ponce de León seeking the Fountain of Youth or Percival’s quest for the Holy Grail. We drove. And drove. Then we drove some more. We scoured the hotel and common area lots. We “off-roaded” and bottomed out in the bushes… We swerved around the pickleball courts… I nearly fell out of the back of the golf cart three times. After a solid 30 minutes, we returned to John’s home. It turned out the Valet driver had returned after a long trip, driving a well-oiled guest back to my hotel. I thanked my tour guides… and told John to read about my journeys in Postcards. I boarded a second golf cart, only to have the valet drive me back to where I was walking. When I arrived in San Juan, I cursed Alamo for giving me their last Compact SUV—a Red Kia Soul that looked like a deranged, enraged turtle. But it was very distinct when we arrived at the tennis courts. I couldn’t miss it. And so, I drove back to a hotel and watched baseball, arriving just in time to catch the final innings of the Dodgers and Padres game. Dorado: Four stars: Would do again. For Lunch, We’ll Have a Swordfight I had to make a choice this morning. Either sit in Dorado at the Embassy Suites and listen to children yell. Or drive to Old San Juan and have lunch. I chose the latter. The drive into Old San Juan is nothing short of spectacular. The waves along the beach roll for miles; elevation becomes your friend as you pass the forts overlooking the Caribbean. I chose a restaurant that I’d only dreamt about – a place called The Cannon Club. I’ve been listening to a piano playing and enjoying the atmosphere. There were just me at one table and two men drinking champagne at another. Then, a man came in and played a piano accordion. Serenity followed. All the while, my eyes kept reverting to this on the wall. I must say, it is very difficult not to rip this down, storm off in the outfit, and start running through the streets of San Juan while telling strangers that Ponce de León owes me money. But I can’t get arrested. And I can’t stay an extra day… So, I enjoyed the brunch and the music. It’ll likely be my last trip for the year. My wife has had enough of my travels. I’d Love to Stay… But I Have a Dependent. My wife is now 0-2 on my trips to the Caribbean. We were supposed to visit the Bahamas for a conference two years ago. My daughter got sick halfway across I-75 (Alligator Alley) in Florida. We pulled over – and she had a 101 temperature. This time, I flew here without much warning. And sure enough, my daughter got sick again. She’s been dealing with childhood asthma, but now she’s being treated with pneumonia medication. She had pneumonia and COVID-19 when she was three, and it’s been tough. We need a specialist. Or we might need to find a warmer client that isn’t constantly in the eye of a storm. Any ideas are welcome. Don’t… DON’T Sell Baseball Cards Before a Trip As you might recall, I’m helping my family sell many of my father’s old baseball cards. He had sold the bulk of the “HIGH” value cards in the 1980s and 1990s. However, plenty of vintage cards from the 1950s and early 1960s still exist. We’re not going to pay to grade all these cards. And to ensure that I can sell a lot of the commons – I’ve packaged many lower value cards with mid-tier or high-tier ungraded cards on eBay. After a month of categorizing all the cards, I took some time last Saturday to put up 65 auctions on eBay. Auctions last seven days. Most of the bidding ramps up in the last hour… as people watching the auctions start to bid as the clock winds down. What I didn’t account for… was that all of the auctions would be ending between 4 pm and 10 pm last night while I was at this birthday party. Turns out… every single time that you get another bid… you get an email. When someone else outbids that previous bid… you get an email. When the auctions end… you get an email. When you get paid… you get an email. If you have the eBay app—as I now do… you get notifications for all of these things. And so… while having conversations… my phone vibrated with the power of an oil rig… nonstop for six hours. But… I had to keep my phone on because Amelia was sick, and my wife checked in regularly. Needless to say… I am very convinced my leg has radiation poisoning from the non-stop eBay action. Total email notifications during those six hours? 458. eBay Notifications: Zero stars. Won’t do again. Community Matters In Puerto Rico, a sizeable “expat” community enjoys the self-employment tax of just 6% on the first $100,000… and only 20% on the over $500,000. Yeah… that’s pretty great. One of the things I thought was great about being here was the community itself, and how so many people share similar ideals. It was funny to listen to people say, “I don’t want to start talking about politics,” only to talk about politics and explain how and why they came to Puerto Rico. I don’t believe anyone has to justify anything. Especially when it comes to their time and their money. As I’ve long argued, there’s no shame in putting yourself first. And if someone else wants to complain because they made a better decision and are enjoying their life at a higher level, that’s someone else’s problem. Here in the Republic, we are in a state of mind. It will be important that we grow our community, but we will also focus on ways to optimize every dollar we have in the market. Whether that’s focusing on better tax-incentivized investments or improving our time horizons to bolster our capital gain returns, education is important. I’ll dive into several tax rules and various incentives you should consider this week. We’ll call it… Tax Week. Tomorrow, I’ll start with the obvious… duration of your holdings. It makes a huge difference… Then, I’ll discuss alternative investments, tax incentives, tax-free closed-end funds, and things like gold (which is starting to see movement in terms of how we manage capital gains for the asset and sound money). For now, I’m going to sit in the airport. The plane is delayed at least an hour… but the Bills’ game is on. It doesn’t seem to be going well, so here’s hoping for a better second half. Stay positive, Garrett {NAME} Disclaimer Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. While we may answer your general customer questions, we are not licensed under securities laws to guide your investment situation. Do not consider any communication between you and Florida Republic employees as financial advice. Under company rules, editors and writers cannot recommend their positions. The communication in this letter is for information and educational purposes unless otherwise strictly worded as a recommendation. Model portfolios are tracked to showcase a variety of academic, fundamental, and technical tools, and insight is provided to help readers gain knowledge and experience. Readers should not trade if they cannot handle a loss and should not trade more than they can afford to lose. There are large amounts of risk in the equity markets. Consider consulting with a professional before making decisions with your money.   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2024 Garrett {NAME} 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()