Life 01 (May 08 - Oct 08)

[winston]

How to Make It... How to Spend It
by Alexander Green

At FreedomFest in Las Vegas two weeks ago, conference promoter Mark Skousen invited me to join a panel discussion called "Libertarian Millionaires: How to Make It, How to Spend It, How to Give It Away."

My fellow panelists were Dr. Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of the investment classic "Stocks For the Long Run," John Whitney, Professor Emeritus of Management at Columbia Business School and former Presidential candidate Steve Forbes, Chairman and CEO of Forbes and Editor-In-Chief of Forbes magazine.

(Forget for a moment that putting me on a millionaires panel with über-wealthy Steve Forbes is like putting Shirley Temple on an actors panel with Robert DeNiro or Marlon Brando.)

It turned out to be a lively discussion with varying points of view. Here are just a few highlights.

How to Make It...

Since the audience was made up of several hundred affluent, educated, worldly, well-read, well-traveled individuals, this was a tough question. (Most attendees could have enlightened the panel with a few thoughts of their own on how to make it.)

Those of us on stage agreed that perhaps the first ingredient for success in business is education. Education, however, is not always synonymous with academics. Sure, if your goal is to become a doctor, a lawyer or a scientist, you are going to spend a long stretch in academia.

But in today's business world, an increasing number of employers are more interested in how you think than what you know. For example, tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple aren't looking for fancy degrees. They're looking for creative minds, specialized skills and well-developed aptitudes.

Other employers are looking for more generalized knowledge or a high level of social intelligence. If you don't have these skills, you'll need to develop them to maximize your earning potential.

I'll never forget that at my college graduation ceremony, the university president stood up and said, "Congratulations. You've just completed the first step in the lifelong process of becoming educated."

This is a message worth taking to heart.

How to Spend It...

My view on this one is straightforward. You made your money. You paid taxes on it. You have the right to spend it however you please.

If you want to blow it on Lamborghinis and dancehall girls, that's your prerogative. (Whether that will provide you with any lasting satisfaction or make you a role model for your kids or an inspiration to your community is another question.)

More importantly, if your goal is to accumulate wealth, the key is to make as much as you can, save as diligently as you can, and manage your investment portfolio as intelligently as you can.

However, you'll never get out of the blocks if your spending keeps rising to meet the income available.

I'm fortunate that my favorite past times are playing tennis, hiking, swimming, reading, listening to music, and playing with my kids. The cost of pursuing these hobbies - with the exception of an occasional court fee or racquet stringing - is essentially zero.

If I were to suddenly inherit $20 million tomorrow, I would not start yachting, racing thoroughbreds or collecting Faberge eggs. (This last comment, as I expected, elicited a cry from collector Steve Forbes.) No, if I were suddenly worth $20 million more, my primary interests would still be tennis, hiking, swimming, reading, listening to music, and playing with my kids.

Experience has taught me that accumulating "more stuff" provides a short-time high at best. When that wears off, you invariably find that all this "stuff" you had to have needs to be stored, cared for, maintained and insured. Hence the old saying, "do you own your possessions or do they own you?"

And ask yourself this: If you stepped in front of a bus tomorrow, as you lay there on the pavement, would you really regret the stuff you never bought? Or would it be the things you never did?

Spend a moment thinking about the things you've always wanted to do and still haven't done. Maybe the best way to spend your money is to get busy doing them.

It costs a lot less to collect experiences - memories - than expensive stuff. And you'll probably find it a lot more rewarding.

In my next column, I'll share our panel's thoughts on another important topic - how to give it away.

[winston]

Now the challenge is to find some real purpose. I think life is worth living only if we found something, someone or some cause to live and die for. I see myself "living in quiet desperation"... probably lost and absolutely clueless in answering "who am i."

Hi sidney,

Good to see you.

Over the past 20 years, I've been struggling with your statement above.

I'm always caught between "Responsibility" and "Passion". Eg. Should I quit my job to pursue my passion ? For the first 20 years of my working life, I could only pursue my passion after work-hours and weekends. At the same time, I have to also force myself to accept some of the BS in the Corporate World..

Even now, when I'm doing what I like, I'm also caught between "Responsibility" and "Passion". eg. Should I go back to the Corporate World or continue to pursue my passion? So far, I have already turned down two job offers

I have also been struggling with the following:-
1) How do you measure success ? In $$ or freedom to do what one wants ?
2) What is the purpose of life ?

With regards to number 2, Deepak Chopra has the following advice:-
1) Make a list of your unique talents
2) Then list all the things you like to do, while expressing your unique talents
3) When you are expressing your unique talents and using them in the service of humanity, you will lose track of time and create abundance in your life as well as others

In addition, I have also been oscillating between a "Spiritual Life" and a "Material Life".

Take care,
Winston

[winston]

What else do I want ?

I'm writing to u all from the 2nd floor of a bar, overlooking a beautiful lake.

They don't have Coronas so I've settled for a Carlsberg Chill.

There's Wi-fi in this place and I'm using my phone to access the Internet.

All of these would not have been possible just a few years ago. Am I not living in the best time of history ?

Cheers!

Take care,
Winston

[kennynah]

LIFE

Live It Fully Everyday

[iam802]

Not sure where to put this...

Randy Pausch - 'Last lecture' professor dies of cancer

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25848017/

For those who have miss the 'lecture' or would like a copy of the transcript, you can get it from

http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/

[kennynah]

and for every great man/woman who passes on, potentially many great geniuses are born everyday. Celebrate new beginnings as we honour those who leave us

[winston]

Life is like a train journey.

You have a long way to go. You must learn to make your journey comfortable. Do not carry heavy and unwanted luggage with you. That will make the journey miserable.

Similarly, do not indulge in fault-finding and picking quarrels with others.

Don't desire to have the best things for yourselves only. Share with others around, the good things you are given.

Anger, hatred, envy, jealousy, these are the heavy luggage I ask you avoid taking with you in the journey.

- Divine Discourse, January 6, 1975.

[winston]

The Antidote for Greed by Alexander Green

At a conference in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, I participated in a panel discussion called "Libertarian Millionaires: How to Make It, How to Spend It, How to Give It Away."

I shared a couple ideas on making it and spending it in a recent column. Here are a few thoughts on giving it away.

The English architect John Foster once remarked that the loudest laugh in hell is reserved for the man who dies rich. (Presumably because the decedent had neither the enjoyment of spending it nor the pleasure of giving it away.)

We all know shrouds don't have pockets - and hearses don't have luggage racks. That doesn't mean that giving your money away isn't a challenge.

Most of us struggle to earn a decent amount, spend a reasonable amount, and save and invest a prudent amount. Unless we plan, charitable giving can get short shrift.

Of course, we want to give intelligently. So we grapple with who should get it, when we should give it, and how much we should give.

These are deeply personal questions, of course. And I'm no more certain of the answers than the next guy. Fortunately, we have a couple millennia of wise commentary to guide us.

According to the medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides, for instance, there are eight grades of charity:

1. To give reluctantly
2. To give cheerfully, but not adequately
3. To give cheerfully and adequately, but only after being asked
4. To give cheerfully, adequately, and of your own free will, but to put it in the recipient's hand in such a way as to make him feel lesser
5. To let the recipient know who the donor is, but not the reverse
6. To know who is receiving your charity but to remain anonymous to him
7. To have neither the donor nor the recipient be aware of the other's identity
8. To dispense with charity altogether, by enabling your fellow humans to have the wherewithal to earn their own living

This ladder provides a good gauge of our charitable disposition. If we want to move up, we need only ask how to get started and when.

The answer to the second question is easy. Now. It's a mistake - albeit a comforting one - to imagine we'll start giving when we reach a certain income level or net worth.

Like studying or exercising, giving only becomes ingrained when we engage in it regularly. If you aren't charitably disposed now, becoming rich isn't likely to make you so. That makes it imperative to give along the way.

Most of us already are. According to the Giving USA Foundation, the leading researcher on philanthropy, two-thirds of U.S. households with incomes of less than $100,000 give to charity.

Americans gave away over $295 billion in 2006, the most recent year that figures are available. That makes the U.S. the most charitable nation in the world. And not just in terms of the gross amount given...

According to a recent study by the Charitable Aid Foundation, Americans give twice as much (1.67% of GDP) as the next most charitable nation, the U.K. In fact, Americans give more as a percent of GDP than France, Germany, Turkey, Singapore, New Zealand, and the Netherlands combined.

How much should you give personally? Some say 3% of after-tax income is a good goal. Tithers strive for 10%. The well-to-do often give much more. Ultimately, you must decide.

Mary Hunt, the creator and editor of the Web site Debt-Proof Living, says her family continued to give 10% of their after-tax income to charity even while digging out from more than $100,000 in credit-card and other unsecured debt.

Some financial planners would argue that it's foolish to contribute to charity while paying exorbitant interest rates. Hunt disagrees. She says she could have paid the debt down faster - it took 13 years - but is convinced the donations helped provide the discipline to make her debt free.

She believes in regular, systematic giving, calling it "the antidote for greed."

There are other benefits of charitable giving. Yes, you'll receive a tax deduction. True, it may force you to better manage the rest of your money. And, if your giving is sizable, you may receive public recognition.

All good. But you'll also feel better about yourself and appreciate more the blessings in your own life.

This doesn't require money, incidentally. As Maimonides reminds us in level eight, we can do more than just share our riches with another. We can reveal to him his own.

Time spent helping others do more for themselves can be the highest form of giving. Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish - and he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

(Sorry, but you already knew the original chestnut.)

Money, of course, is the way most organizations get things done. But dollars and cents are only one kind of gift.

Those of lesser means can always give a portion of themselves, whether through a thoughtful act, a timely suggestion, a helpful idea or a word of appreciation.

As John D. Rockefeller Jr. observed, "Giving is the secret of a healthy life. Not necessarily money, but whatever a man has of encouragement, sympathy and understanding."

In the end, our worth is determined by the good works we do, not the fine emotions we feel.

And while we may not always have happiness, it is always possible to give it.

[winston]

When Disaster Strikes
By Michael Masterson

Your doctor reads your EKG and says, "Holy Cow! I've never seen anything like this before!"

That "party girl" you woke up to New Year's Day tells you she missed her period.

You left your bag, with all your IDs and banking information, on the subway.

Sometimes life dishes out these little disasters. How you react to them says much about your character and bears heavily on your ability to carry out a successful life.

The first time I lost my wallet, my first thought was doomsday: a highly skilled theft ring had taken it and already emptied all my bank accounts. That tells you I am prone to panic. K will attest to that. She has had to remind me on countless occasions not to panic, that "chances are everything will turn out fine."

Having a positive disposition is very helpful when you are faced with a challenge - big or small. But I've learned that even bleak-minded people like yours truly can overcome their fears and respond to crisis positively by following a few simple guidelines.

My nephew is a lot like his uncle. Recently, he got himself into a bind at the college he goes to. He acted imprudently and broke a few rules. Now he's facing disciplinary action. What had begun as a very promising college career at a great university has metamorphosed into a potential disaster.

He's worried, he told me - so worried that he can't think straight. He's imagining Armageddon. Sleeping fitfully. Distracted at work.

I know how he feels. I'd feel the same way if I were in his situation. But I've had enough experience by now to know that you can't give in to your fears. When you are faced with a threatening challenge, it's difficult to push ahead. But if you don't find a way to do so, your productivity can quickly shrink to zero and your life can be put on permanent hold.

You don't want that to happen. So the next time disaster strikes you, follow the protocol I suggested to my nephew in an e-mail this morning:

1. Make friends with the devil.

What is it that is scaring you? It is probably some "worst-case" scenario that you keep running through your mind.

Some people will remind you that most of the time worst-case scenarios don't unfold. That's why they call them worst-case. "Don't worry about that," they'll tell you. "It probably won't happen, so get it out of your head."

But such advice is useless to the person who has already got the worst-case scenario in his head. It is, after all, a very scary movie. And he's the star of it. Not thinking about it is not an option.

The solution that works for me is to let the movie play itself out in its entirety. I allow myself to imagine the worst, vividly and in detail. And then I find some way to see myself living satisfactorily with that dire reality.

If, for example, I am imagining identity thieves stealing all my assets and leaving me in penury, I imagine myself being happy to go back to work and start over again. I run a mental movie of myself waking up the next day and starting a new business on the change that is in my pocket, and gradually rebuilding my wealth and a successful career.

By letting the bad movie play out and giving it a happy ending, you can exorcise the fear and return to an emotionally positive state. Only by finding a way to "accept" the worst can you find the peace to take positive action.

Chances are things will not turn out as you have imagined, but if they do you are emotionally prepared for them. You won't panic. You won't cry. You will move forward according to your plan.

2. Look for the silver lining.

Every disaster has a silver lining. Even terminal cancer does. You have some amount of time to organize the end of your life and say your goodbyes. You wouldn't have that chance if your fate was to get run over by a train.

Identify what is good about a bad situation and spend some time thinking about that. If you do it sincerely and repeatedly, it will bring you some emotional comfort.

Eventually - if you are very successful at doing this - you may even find yourself feeling grateful for the problem.

3. Develop a plan.

You need a plan to deal with the problem. The plan should be multi-leveled, since you can't know how the situation will play out.

A good disaster plan should deal with at least three eventualities: worst case, bad case, good case. Articulate each one clearly and in detail. Then find solutions to, or at least responses for, each of those details.

4. Take action.

Making friends with the devil, finding a silver lining, and developing an action plan will make you feel 100 percent better - and you can do all that in a matter of hours, days at the most. But that improvement in your emotional state won't last unless you start acting on your plan.

Action - as in all other areas of life - is critical when you are faced with disaster. The moment you start moving your response plan forward, you'll be making progress and lessening the chances that things will end up really bad.

You'll feel better about yourself the moment you start, and will continue to feel better so long as you are taking positive action.

[kennynah]

the worst case is death...and we cannot escape death...so why worry....hahaha.... for worrying wont worry the worries away....

just like trading/investing...if one is mentally prepared to lose that sum of capital, then how the market moves, one should not be jittery....ai zai...means, be prepared..for the worst...and hope for the best.

just ROL (ranting out loud)....