Ten Rules Of Life
Filed under: Guest Post, Inspiration, Money Management
This is a guest post by my brother-in-law from Silicon Valley. I think he has some great insight in these 10 rules of life.
Hello all,
So I know there are a lot of young people (at least younger than me!) reading this blog. Some of you aren’t married or don’t even know who you are going to marry (or don’t even know if you want to get married!) so some of this may seem abstract at this point. But trust me, these rules of life are powerful! I have presented them to people from other (non-American) cultures and they get smiles and nods. Anyone from Japan, China, India or even the Middle East (U.A.E, Israel and others) see these rules as second nature. It is only people from the USA that seem to have an issue with some of these rules (maybe that’s why the County is so messed up?).
Ok, here are the ten rules that are the basis for life and investment success:
(Hint - investing is a hobby!).
- Spend at least one hour per day outside.
- Exercise at least thirty minutes of that hour.
- Never spend your time, money, or energy on anyone other than members of your own family. Your children are the first priority.
- Have children.
- Don’t pass your problems onto your children.
- Hoard your money.
- Use the intelligence you are given to make the most money possible. You’re cheating your family if you don’t.
- Hobbies make you happy - have several. However, the hobbies should pay for themselves.
- Don’t have any debt - don’t give the bank money, give it to your family.
- Teach your children these rules.
January 11th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Brillant!
January 11th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Certainly some good rules. However I’m not so sure about the constant hoarding of money. Certainly you should save (I know I’m trying) but the goal should be to feel enriched by what you do, not just by what you keep.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I used to think that having more money saved than what was recommended for my age and income level was not important at all - as long as I was putting in the minimum recommended, good for me. Then I met my wonderful husband (the author of this post) and I have to say that my view on this has changed radically.
Although it is important to spend money on things that would bring enjoyment to your life - it is most important to keep your eye on ‘hoarding’ (for lack of a better word) as much as possible. There is a fine line to balance here. You do this by consistently living BELOW your means and saving the excess, as well as being frugal in all your purchase decisions.
Also, we care very little about ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. Appearances can be deceiving - lots of times those that make an effort to look ‘rich’ are really not, they are in debt up to their eyeballs. Read the book ‘The Millionaire Next Door’ for further clarity on this. Truly fascninating book….changed how I view people.
It may not have been as important to save more than average in the 50’s, when our country and economy was in growth mode and had a bright future ahead. But now, with this country teetering on the brink of serious economic problems (i.e. the recession we are probably already in & the energy crisis we are facing & more…) it is so important to save extra/hoard money to survive what is coming.
We see inflation in food and energy and continued deflation in housing prices and equities. Our children will need extra help (especially of the financial kind) and will have to work extra hard to have a standard of living that is equal to their parents. And we hope we can help them to do even better than that.
Money does not buy happiness, but it does provide security. And this is what we are after, for us, and especially for our children in the uncertain times ahead….
January 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am
[...] Ten Rules of Life that should be followed. I don’t have kids yet but believe me, they will come first above anyone else including myself. [...]
January 12th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Clarification:
“Hoarding” sounds like a bad thing. But hoarding really means “saving and diversifying”.
Hoarding doesn’t mean piling cash under the mattress. It means keeping any cash you have or save working hard for you,
Here is a good diverse way to keep your “hoard” save and working for you:
1. 20% should be in a Canadian Energy Company or two. These are both a hedge against a weak dollar dollar and rising energy commodities. The Granddaddy of all is IMO. Do a 5 year chart on it. Watch it when the Feds drop the prime rate this month.
Have enough of it to pay you $100 a month in divendends (free gas!).
2. 20% in I-Bonds. I-Bonds are such a potentially great investment that the Feds just restricted the amount of I-Bonds you can buy each year! Get this, they restricted the limit from $60,000 per year to $10,000 per year! That’s right, the Feds DON’T want you to buy these bonds as they know inflation is going to skyrocket over the next 2 years. The last time they restricted buying these type of bonds was 1973 - look up what was happening then!
3. 20% in high tech. Low cap high tech is the future and can offer explosive gains. Pick the right ones. May sure the company is a market leader, profitable and has money in the bank. APKT, JNPR, SONS, EMC are good solid companies that could potentially double even in a crappy market.
4. 20% in GE or MSFT (or mix). Bill Gates ain’t going down. He’s a Scorpio with Warren Buffet as his best friend - he isn’t going anywhere. GE is just in everything. It pays a good divident and is a good alternative energy play.
5. 20% in working cash. This should be in something like 5% MMF or even keep it in I-Bonds if inflation skyrockets. There is nothing more satisfying than money in your pocket too!
January 12th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Nice guest post by the BIL. Good to know he’s taking care of his family
January 13th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
[...] all we care about is money. Therefore, I really appreciated Anthony’s post about the “Ten Rules Of Life” which is very much [...]
January 14th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Nice list.
I disagree on the no debt. When you can borrow at under 4% (which you can in HK) and the official inflation rate is above 3%, debt is cheap and leveraging your investments can make a lot of sense (assuming you can live with the risks). Probably not for everyone, but it works for me.
I am also willing to spend some of my time, money etc on friends as well as family and supporting some charities.