This week I’ll be cycling in Italy with Andrew Hallam and a few of our friends.
I’m so excited about spending time in nature…
With people who share the same values I do.
Here’s what I’ve been reading in between planning the trip.
It was the legend, Warren Buffett’s, birthday this week.
I enjoyed Safal Niveshak’s heartfelt letter to him, 'Dear Mr. Buffett'.
He references one of Buffett’s quotes:
“Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.”
One of the many lessons Buffett taught us all is to not worry about the opinions of others.
Follow your own path and measure it with an “inner scorecard” (doing what you know is right) rather than an “outer scorecard” (measuring yourself by the opinions of others).
Onto visualisation.
There’s value in spending serious time pondering your financial goals.
It increases motivation.
It can help you overcome the tendency to favour today and short-change your future self.
You can also get a better handle on what you truly want from your money.
Picture your ultimate financial goal – perhaps it’s retirement.
Then think about the steps you’ll need to take along the way.
More on this in Humble Dollar.
Morgan Housel wrote about 'Other people’s mistakes'.
He opens with an important truth from Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow:
“It’s easier to recognise other people’s mistakes than our own”.
That’s because when people make a mistake, we judge it solely based on what we see. It’s quick and easy.
But when you make a mistake there’s a long and persuasive monologue in your head that justifies bad decisions and adds important context other people don’t see.
Everyone’s like that. It’s normal.
But why?
Morgan offers a few reasons:
- When judging others’ poor behaviour it’s easy to underestimate your own susceptibility to the power of incentives.
- It’s hard to tell the difference between boldness and recklessness, greed and ambition, contrarian and wrong.
- Not all relevant information is visible.
By the way, if you’d like to see an exclusive video I did with Morgan, click here.
Jason Zweig wrote 'The Lazy Investor’s Guide to Getting Stuff Done'.
Importantly, he mentions your investment inertia could be costing you thousands of dollars.
Sometimes investing can feel like a lazy summer’s day where nobody feels like doing much.
And while we advocate for a passive investment approach, sitting back and doing nothing when you know you’re invested in the wrong things…
Can do major damage.
With the kids back to school, it’s easy for them to spend most of their days indoors.
National Geographic wrote about the brain benefits of trees and how kids can (and should) get a daily dose of nature (even when they’re living in urban landscapes).
It doesn’t take a whole forest or even a wooded park to spark kids’ imaginations and creative problem-solving. A single tree will do.
Takes me back to the tree-climbing days of my childhood.
Happy memories!
To end, and in tribute to Warren Buffett…
I wanted to share one of our older blogs.
It shows how the Warren Buffett approach (harnessing the power of compounding) can help your children retire as millionaires.
Picture this:
On the day your child is born, you invest £5,000 using a low-cost, systematic investment approach.
Let’s say that investment returns 10% per year.
On the first day your child can legally retire (their 55th birthday) they’ll have £1,195,892.17 in their account.
But what happens when you put aside just £500 every month for your child from the day they’re born until they’re 21…
And they carry on investing the same amount until they’re 55?
The number will astound you.
Enjoy.
Questions for you:
How much of your life is measured by your values and personal achievements?
How much is measured by comparing yourself to others?
Meditations:
“Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.”
- Warren Buffett
“The priceless gift of life, strength and time is our greatest wealth.”
- Lailah Gifty Akita
Safal Niveshak’s letter 'Dear Mr.Buffett'
Jonathan Clements' 'Seeing Visions'
Morgan Housel on 'Other People's Mistakes'
Sam Instone with Morgan Housel on 'The Psychology of Money'
Jason Zweig's 'The Lazy Investor’s Guide to Getting Stuff Done'
Maryellen Kennedy Duckett's article 'Why city trees can be good for kids’ brains'
Sam Instone's blog 'Here's how to help your child retire with £14,409,795.24 using the Warren Buffett approach'
