Archives for 2023

23 Ideas from 2023

The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself. ~ Warren Buffett

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Right before the year ends, I thought I’d share a handful of ideas I’ve read, learned, re-learned, and wrote about in the past twelve months. Here are 23 of them, in no particular order of importance. I hope you find these useful, as much as I did.

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Why You Must Not Quit Your Job to Become a Full-Time Investor

The Sketchbook of Wisdom: A Hand-Crafted Manual on the Pursuit of Wealth and Good Life

Buy your copy of the book Morgan Housel calls “a masterpiece.” It contains 50 timeless ideas – from Lord Krishna to Charlie Munger, Socrates to Warren Buffett, and Steve Jobs to Naval Ravikant – as they apply to our lives today. Click here to buy now.

Short view – It could get lonely and frustrating, plus dangerous for your sanity and financial well-being.

Long view – First, a clarification. I am not a full-time investor i.e., I and my family are not dependent for our living on the stock market. I earn my living by teaching people how to invest sensibly in stocks and how not to blow it up as an investor, and by selling books. And I invest a large portion of my savings in stocks. But I won’t have sleepless nights if the stock market were to tank tomorrow and remain down for the next year or two, because that is not what earns me my oats and sprouts (I don’t eat “bread and butter” you see).

Anyways, the reason I am writing this post is because this is that phase in the market where I see a few questions from readers about how they could quit their jobs to become full-time investors in the stock market.

In most of my replies, I have asked people to avoid quitting their jobs to become full-time investors, and here are five reasons I have often mentioned to support my reasoning. In case you have had this question but were afraid to ask, I hope what follows below helps you take a decision.

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Dealing with the Unknown Risks in Life and Investing

In the world of investing, risk is an ever-present companion. We spend countless hours analyzing data, studying market trends, and crafting meticulous strategies to mitigate known risks. Yet, as the legendary investor and co-founder of Oaktree Capital, Howard Marks, once famously stated –

Risk is what’s left over after you think you’ve thought of everything.

This sentiment is a stark reminder that in the unpredictable world of investing, there are always unknown and unexpected risks lurking in the shadows.

Today, I share with two compelling stories told by Marks and another noted investor Joel Greenblatt, to shed light on the importance of acknowledging the existence of these hidden dangers and surprises, especially when you are sure that no such surprises exist.

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The Dark Room of Investing Success

Growing up in the 90s, and before digital cameras became common, one of my most precious possessions was a Kodak roll camera.

It was a simple box camera that came loaded with a 36-exposure roll of film (if I remember that correctly). When the roll was finished, the camera or the roll was handed to a photo studio for processing.

My friend’s father had a photo studio that was one of the best in town and where I got my photos developed. The studio contained a dark room (called ‘darkroom’) that no one was allowed to enter, which was typical of any photo studio those days.

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The 45th Lesson

Life’s passing by too fast, or so it seems. I complete 45 years in my present state of existence today. That’s more than three-fifths of the average life expectancy of an Indian male.

Now, while spiritualists would want me to believe that I have existed from anadi (before the beginning of cosmos) and will exist till ananta (infinity), I see forty-five years as a good enough time to find some meaning in one’s life. At least, my rapidly greying hair and receding hairline help me realize that.

Now, while it amazes me that I’ve been around that long — I feel like I’ve barely begun (except when I look at the actuarial table).

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The Charlie Munger Investing Manifesto

Close on the heels of The Charlie Munger Manifesto, which contains his most important rules for living a good life, and avoiding bad outcomes, here comes The Charlie Munger ‘Investing’ Manifesto, which lays down some of his most profound ideas on becoming a wiser investor.

Click here to download the manifesto in high resolution.

Click here to download the manifesto in high resolution.

Read it. Print it. Frame it. Face it. Remember it. Do it.

And if you find value in it, please share it.

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You can never get enough of Charlie. And so, in his memory, and as part of The Inner Game podcast, I am launching a new series titled “The Munger Method” on his unforgettable speech titled “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment.”

In The Munger Method, I am going to try and dissect Charlie’s timeless wisdom from that speech and break it down into bite-sized, easy-to-understand podcasts.

Click here to watch the introduction episode.

You can also find this series and all past episodes of The Inner Game podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Amazon.

Hope you like them and find some value. Please let me know your feedback and/or suggestions for improvement. Thank you.

The Charlie Munger Manifesto

“We have a passion for keeping things simple,” Charlie Munger would often say.

And taking a leaf out of that, I have created The Charlie Munger Manifesto, which contains his most important rules for living a good life, and avoiding bad outcomes.

These rules are something you can reflect back on, like I have done, if you ever feel stuck in your life.

And if you believe in them, follow them, and stand for them, your life will be good.

Click here to download the manifesto in high resolution.

Click here to download the manifesto in high resolution.

Read it. Print it. Frame it. Face it. Remember it. Do it.

And if you find value in it, please share it.

Thank you.

Charlie Munger Lives on as All Great Philosophers Do

“The best armour of old age is a well spent life preceding it.” – Charlie Munger

It’s a natural human tendency to seek comfort in the belief that certain scenarios are beyond the realm of possibility. Whether it’s a health issue, or a personal tragedy, we often tell ourselves, “That could never happen.” We build mental fortresses around these notions, finding solace in the illusion of invincibility.

But life has a way of humbling us, showing us that no one is exempt from its capriciousness.

Today is one such day.

Charlie Munger, whom I have considered a hero in my life, has passed away at the age of 99, just 34 days from turning 100.

And Charlie is not just a hero for me on paper. He has been, and always will be a guiding force in my life, shaping my values, decisions, and aspirations. His wisdom has been my compass, and his principles are sort of my North Star.

As I mourn his passing, I also celebrate the incredible legacy he leaves behind. The impact he had on my life and the lives of countless others is a testament to his extraordinary character and the enduring power of his words.

This is a moment of grief for me, and it may take some time for acceptance to set it. And so, I will stop writing right away, and just leave you with these beautiful quotes from Charlie on how to be happy in life and survive a long time to tell the tale.

Over to Charlie.

If all you succeed in doing in life is getting rich by buying little pieces of paper, it’s a failed life. Life is more than being shrewd in wealth accumulation.

Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets – and can be lost in a heartbeat.

A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid: early death, a bad marriage etc.

Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?

Confucius said that real knowledge is knowing the extent of one’s ignorance. Aristotle and Socrates said the same thing. Is it a skill that can be taught or learned? It probably can, if you have enough of a stake riding on the outcome.

Some people are extraordinarily good at knowing the limits of their knowledge, because they have to be. Think of somebody who’s been a professional tightrope walker for 20 years – and has survived. He couldn’t survive as a tightrope walker for 20 years unless he knows exactly what he knows and what he doesn’t know. He’s worked so hard at it, because he knows if he gets it wrong he won’t survive. The survivors know.

Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.

Finally, as Charlie would have said, “I have nothing to add.”

Will miss you, Charlie! 🙁

The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make

The Sketchbook of Wisdom: A Hand-Crafted Manual on the Pursuit of Wealth and Good Life

After I had decided to quit my job in late 2010, we got to know that our second child was on the way. There was a momentary dilemma whether to go ahead with the decision to quit the job or not.

A new family member meant added responsibilities, that too in a period of high financial uncertainty. I had exhausted a large part of my savings to pay off my home loan to be able to quit that job, and now there would be an extra mouth to feed, apart from other expenses of a newborn.

“Quit your job!” was my wife Vidhi’s call. “We will see what happens only after we take this step. Worst, if nothing works out, we will sell our house and move back to a small town.”

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It’s Either Hell Yeah or No

When it comes to thinking and decision making, Derek Sivers is one contemporary philosopher I look up to.

In 1998, Sivers was making a comfortable living as a full-time musician. He wanted to sell his music CDs online, but there was no way for a small time musician to sell online, so Sivers took matters into his hands and built a website to sell his CDs. Very soon his friends started requesting him to list their CDs on the website. That’s how CD Baby was born. Ten years later when he sold the company, it was doing $100 million in revenues. Sivers gave away the proceeds from the sale ($22 million) to a charitable trust.

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Archives for 2023

The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself. ~ Warren Buffett

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