All posts tagged: invest

Financial Education Books

Let’s admit it—financial education studies at school suck! It doesn’t really matter which country you live in. Everywhere in the world, biology, history, and math are the main subjects in school. Such subjects as financial education and communication in society are not included in ordinary school curriculums. However, these two subjects are essential, and used in everyday life. It doesn’t matter how old are you or how much are you earn, there is always the possibility to spend money wisely. Rethink your spending behavior in order to protect yourself, your future and your family. Here are two books that I strongly recommend to everybody. It doesn’t matter if you have a financial education, or not. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki I remember the feeling I had after reading this book at the age of 18. I felt like the biggest secret of the world was all of the sudden, revealed. The book is very easy to read, the examples are easy to remember, but the idea of the book is worthless.  Stay ahead …

Black penny, red penny… Investing in stamps!

Almost everything in this world works in cycles: solar activity, tides, fashion, and even financial crises. As far as long-term investing is concerned, the “cycle” plays a vital role when deciding when to cash out, so predicting the optimal period during the cycle is “key.” Actually, you can increase the probability of becoming a successful investor if simply: You are a disciplined investor. You are a patient investor. You can forget about the money you have invested. Everything seems to be “too” rational and practical. Where then is the inspiration and enjoyment of investing—sitting back and relying on interest rates and investment trends to be in your favor, and hoping to be wealthy in the future? Is there a way to enjoy investing? There is a way – collecting! Investing in something you can physically touch is one way to enjoy investing, knowing also its value will increase over time.  Today’s topic is STAMPS. Philately is the study of stamps, postal history, and other related collectables—a movement that appeared in 1840, just after Great Britain issued …

How smart women invested in 2013?

In Sweden, declaration (tax returns) time has come again. Every citizen earning an income, recently received a large yellow form from a local taxation office reminding us to submit all sources of revenue, as well as expenditures. This year my income consisted of the usual source—my job and the firm that I own. However, there was a new entry included among my income sources—revenue from rising stock shares! The value of my portfolio rose 19% from last year. Smart girl! How smart women invested in 2013? “How smart women invest,” for me, was an interesting experience. Back in November of 2013, a friend of mine invited me to a seminar. It was more or less a breakfast meeting comprised of smart women, and Barbara Stewart, a researcher and portfolio manager from Canada, travelled here to Stockholm to share her financial insight and wisdom. The event was organized by NASDAQ OMX. Barbara, an elegant and charming woman, revealed to us information about what motivates smart women to invest, and how they make an investment decision. For her research, she talked to 100 …

April. It is all about money!

April. ‘It is all about money!’

Some of my readers claim that an investment blog should discuss more about actual money investments, and not only discuss the investment of assets like “time”, “lifestyle,” and “connections.” Let’s talk about “the real investments”- The process of investing money for profit. Red Alarm Bulb Some people say that happiness in life is not all about the destination – it’s more about the process. The same idea applies with “money investment” – you need to enjoy the process. If you’re not crazy about the idea of investing because of its association with “limitations” and “saving,” and the red alarm bulb consistently appears somewhere in your brain creating mild anxiety, then I would say it’s about time to learn where, how, and how much. This month I will tell you how to find and harness motivation, as well as save at least 10% of your monthly income, leaving you with a fabulous feeling!   The ugly truth The ugly truth is that I am not a disciplined investor. In fact, not at all.  I remember telling my …

F.R.I.E.N.D.S (part one) The Story of Agnes

Friendship is such a huge and interesting subject that I cannot stop writing and rewriting about it again and again. I do not like long texts and always try to keep my posts in the range of one page A4 format, but there is just so much to say about F R I E N D S. I decided to do 3 posts in a row and I chose to elaborate on quotes by F. Dostoyevsky  for todays subject. The author of Crime and Punishment will share his wisdom about life and friendship with you, my dear readers. Choosing friends, the right friends in your life has a great importance. People have a tendency to become similar to the people they hang out with: in lifestyle spending habits, interests, goals (or the absence thereof), attitude towards sports and fitness, eating habits, etc. It’s likely that we cannot see the the subtle influence of our friends taking place, but as the years pass, we “wake up” and analyse our habits and changes in tendencies.  It can be quite shocking …

Spending habits….. part two

It seemed to be much easier to describe bad spending habits than to write an article about how to change them. And it is quite clear why: many people have these bad spending habits, but the correct way to change them varies individually. 1. Parents’ example. If you spend the way you spend because of your parents and their example and you are 19 at that time – it is okay. But if you are 30 and you are still blaming your parents for your bad habits – it is your choice to do so!  You can choose to blame them until the end of your life, instead of sitting down and writing a list about what they did with their assets, what you think they did wrong and why.  Put that list on the door so it will be the last thing you see  before leaving your home on the way to work every day.  Promise to yourself to never return to your old spending habits.  You might also need to go to psychotherapist and talk with …

I want this N O W !!!

To be able to invest and multiply our assets, we need to understand ourselves first and, in particularly, our spending habits. I will never forget a situation happened almost a year ago with my friends. We were sitting in a very nice and cozy Italian restaurant with 7 friends of mine after the ski day in mountains. All  my friends work at good positions in big international companies for quite a long time. It was Sunday night, 24 th of February. When the desserts were served my friends began talking about staying a little bit longer and waiting before midnight. I asked if it was any after ski tradition or so. They replied that there was no specific tradition; they just needed to wait for a midnight, because it was a salary day and exactly at 12 a.m. in the morning their bank account would receive thier monthly wage so they could pay for a dinner…. Continuing the discussion started a week ago about how we are influenced by the society we live in (Friday …

We are all made of stars

We are all made of stars.

Hello all! How are you? How was your day? Fine, I hope. You know, my literature teacher in high school used to love making us write incredibly long essays. When we complained about trouble getting started, mainly due to the broad subject matter, she used to say, “Just start writing about something and it doesn’t matter what you write about, then leisurely go back to the subject’s main theme.” Surprisingly, it really helped. Today it’s difficult for me to start this blog. I can’t really put my finger on it. At any rate, my dear readers, I’m not going tell you who I am, what I do, my sex or nationality, my education, or the color of my skin and the color of my hair. I’m not going to reveal any pictures or tags of me in a coffee shop around the corner. My aim for the moment is for you to maintain a clear mind free from prejudices and clichés. Nevertheless, you should have some sort of certainty. Hmm… let’s say I am a …