Investing Behaviour

Ask Me a Question

I completed (well, almost) the 2013 edition of my Art of Investing Workshops last week.

The Workshops spanned 4 months and covered 7 cities, 11 sessions, 90 hours of discussions, and around 350 tribesmen (and a lot of tribeswomen).

There were intense debates on specific topics around investing, lot of questions answered, and yes, a lot of questions unanswered for the lack of time.

So, now, I have a proposal for you, whether you attended my Workshop or not.

If you and I sat down to have a coffee (or tea/water) and you could only ask me ONE question around money and investing, what would it be?

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How to Create Your Circle of Incompetence

One of the oft-asked questions in my Art of Investing Workshops is…

“How can a small investor create his circle of competence?”

This is a very important question, because “circle of competence” is in itself one of the most important facets of successful investing.

Fear, Investing and You (Yes, You!)

In the course of my Art of Investing Workshops over the past three months, I have met several tribesmen who are fearful of starting out as investors.

Plus, there are those who have been investors but are extremely fearful of taking their next step, especially given the uncertainty around.

How to Live Prosperously Without the Paycheque (A Personal Experiment)

It’s been exactly two years since I quit my job to start on my own. A lot of people I meet now think I am lucky to be living a life of my own choice – following my passion…doing what I love doing.

But it hasn’t been hunky dory all the way. Living without an “almost certain” paycheque has been a difficult transition for me. But then, it’s a choice that I made, and thus have no regrets.

In fact, I find myself blessed and very lucky to be able to see this day, when I am writing to you about how I have been living happily, prosperously, and without a paycheque.

Nah, it’s no secret! It’s just the way I have started to define prosperity.

That Sinking Feeling Can Destroy Your Wealth

Imagine two scenarios.

Scenario 1: You are looking to watch that latest Hollywood action flick you’ve been waiting for the past six weeks. Going by the pre-release popularity of the movie, you’ve had to pay Rs 500 per ticket, which is almost 3 times the normal price.

However, you are excited for the movie so the cost doesn’t pinch you that much. Now, just a day before your show, a couple of your friends who’ve already watched the movie tell you that it’s not worth watching at all. The hero’s acting is poor, and the story is very predictable and boring.

What do you do? You’ve already spent Rs 1,000 for a couple of tickets for you and your wife.
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The Most Important Portfolio of My Life…and Yours

I met a long-time Safal Niveshak tribesman and a great friend Sanjeev Bhatia and his family yesterday. Sanjeev took out time from work to visit me in Chandigarh (where I am holidaying), travelling almost 100 km from his hometown, Ludhiana.

While Sanjeev looks pretty lean and young (as you can see above :-)), he has a couple of grown-up boys, one studying engineering and the other also looking to go that way.

Being from a family that has several engineers – including Sanjeev and his wife – it’s obvious for the kids to head in that direction.

Investing and Shortcuts

It’s human nature to want to get a job done as quickly as possible. Like you cross the street between intersections instead of using the zebra crossing, or jump a fence instead of using the gate.

It isn’t your problem!

Many of us have grown up being told that it’s important to accomplish as much as we can. But what we often aren’t told is that rushing can result in accidents, errors, and more time spent in the long run.

How to Lose Weight and Make Money Fast

“What is an article on losing weight doing on an investing blog?” you may wonder.

Now, you asked this despite that you opened this article expecting a real good way to lose weight in seven days. Isn’t it? 🙂

Anyways, you are not alone in this search for a quick fix to your weight issues, for this is what the world is searching on Google when it comes to losing weight…

As you can see, most searches are for losing weight fast and without much hard work – “in a week”, “fast”, “in 7 days”, “in 1 month”…and “without exercise”.

The truth is that, and this is what I have realized, the faster you lose your weight, the faster you regain it.

Value Investing, the Chetan Parikh Way – Part 3

I recently had the privilege of meeting one of the highly regarded value investors in India, Mr. Chetan Parikh in his office in Mumbai.

After publishing Part 1 and Part 2 of his interview recently, here is Part 3.

Safal Niveshak: Do you think it’s important to do historical research looking back at companies in different circumstances and understanding or trying to draw conclusions about why they succeeded or failed in a particular decade or period of an economic cycle or change in leadership? Is historical research an important part of your investment methodology or not so much?

Mr. Parikh: In trying to answer the question, I’m reminded of George Bernard Shaw’s remark that when an historian had to rely on one document he was safe, but if there were two to be considered he was in difficulty, and if three were available his position was hopeless.

Work Less = Earn Less = Spend Less = Live More

“How can you be so kanjoos (miser) to be wearing a t-shirt worth just Rs 250?” a friend ridiculed me recently, while showing off his latest Van Heusen shirt worth Rs 2,000.

“Think whatever you want of me, but I am like that only,” I told him. “If I can get a t-shirt worth Rs 250 that I can use for a year, why should I buy anything expensive that would last almost the same time?”

“Wow, and you call this cheapness as enjoying life. Huh!” he continued.