The best way to talk to people about money …
is keeping the phrases, “What do you want to do?” or “Whatever works for you,” loaded and ready to fire. You can explain to other people the history of what works and what hasn’t while acknowledging their preference to sleep well at night over your definition of “winning.” – Morgan Housel
Always be prepared …
“Invest in things that have never happened before, hedge for regression to the mean, and plan for the unimaginable.” – John Burbank a Hedge Fund Manager
Stick to your principles …
“It’s easier to hold your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold them 98% of the time.” – Clayton M. Christensen author of How Will You Measure Your Life
Travel Is No Cure for the Mind …
“We tend to grossly overestimate the pleasure brought forth by new experiences and underestimate the power of finding meaning in current ones. While travel is a fantastic way to gain insight into unfamiliar cultures and illuminating ways of life, it is not a cure for discontentment of the mind. Who we are inside a venue matters far more than the venue itself. Instead of having the wanderlust of travel guide our search for meaning, we have to look within and embrace the only thing that is present now. The only thing that actually exists today. Being grateful about our existence and its relation to others allows for a blossoming of meaning and purpose in our exploration of this life. It is the starting point for an endless list of awesome things we have going for us, and we don’t need to change our physical location one bit to witness this list grow.” … gratitude is the cure for the Mind.
Now is the only time there is …
“I have a clock that says “NOW” on it. That’s all it says.
I don’t spend a lot of time living in the past—can’t change it. I don’t spend a lot of time living in the future, either.
I try to live in the present, while also taking actions Future Me would be happy with.
That doesn’t negate the need for planning. You should always have plans. But you should also be ready to create new plans when things don’t go exactly as you expected.” – Jared Dillian – The Daily Dirtnap
Wisdom from movies …
Carter: Lee how do you manage to stay cool all the time?
Lee: Because I don’t get into arguments with stupid people, I just cut it short and say “you are right”
Carter: But that’s completely irrational and wrong
Lee: You are right
Ancient wisdom from a wise man …
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” – Rumi a Persian Poet
No question, times are getting better …
Why do we feel that times are not getting better? It comes from a funny chemistry between on the one hand, the nature of news and the nature of cognition. News is about stuff that happens, not about stuff that doesn’t happen. So there’s never a Thursday in April in which you say, ‘Hunger has plummeted’ or ‘Diseases have been decimated’. Whereas things that go wrong, go wrong all at once. – Steven Pinker – Enlightenment Now
My confirmation bias in action?
The Financial Samurai assesses different factors like “Income”, “Freedom”, or “Return on Education” to evaluate the ideal age range for retirement: Financial Samurai on the ideal age to retire
So, the ideal age range to retire is between 41 and 45. I can hardly disagree to that. But my sample size is 1.
Would you agree? Feel free to cast your vote towards the end of his blog post.
A bit of frugality …
derived from the Latin “frux”, meaning fruit or virtue; and “frui”, meaning to enjoy or use well. Therefore, frugality does not actually mean going without; instead, it means enjoying what you have!
“Frugal” simply means having a high “joy-to-stuff-ratio”, getting the maximum enjoyment out of resources.
And who wouldn’t like that?
Thus, stop focusing so much on being a consumer; instead do focus more on being a producer. Because we don’t own “stuff”, but “stuff” owns us!
How?
The Escape Artist looks at the “unsexy” term frugality from different perspectives.
“When presented with a choice between 1) buying more shit or 2) your life, CHOOSE LIFE.
Hint: you are presented with that choice every day.”
The most happy is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.
Hi Andy
Is doing housechores and educating children considered retired? Haha
At 34, seems like i didn’t meet the ideal age.
I like it a lot that says all is about our mind. I can’t agree more and i haven’t reached that zen mode yet
Hi FD,
Yes, it looks as retired from corporate duties to me. And certainly “qualifies” as Taking Care of Your Own Business.
Ideal is whatever you feel like. Not what others say.
Andy,
Pure dumb luck for me that “retired” by 44?
I didn’t plan it or anything. It just happened.
Nice to know after the fact its “ideal”
LOL!
That’s pretty the story of my life.
I did it first.
Then discover the theory behind the move 😉
Hi Jared, you call it luck. Others might call it fate. All depends on one’s perspective towards life, right?
Well, we are all looking for confirmation and reassurance on having made the right decision. And once we put our attention on it, we will find it, the proof, the confirmation. We all do suffer from that wonderful confirmation bias.
I guess you too live by the motto of regret minimization. Whenever we meet a fork in the road in life, we just take it. We could always correct our path subsequently.
I simply heard too many cases of “I regret not having done this and that” from the age-experienced that I decided to let ‘regret minimization’ guide my decision making.