Learning Outside of Careers

The average life expectancy is 75 years old and I don't know about you but life seems to go by faster the older you get. There's more to life than just to live. Knowing this, I would consider it a great shame to die with the only knowledge being that of my chosen career path. There's simply more to life than whatever we are learning in our careers.

It's been said that it takes 10 000 hours to master anything. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant for this discussion. What we need to keep in mine is that we only have a set amount of hours that we can dedicate to our activities as well as our learning endeavors. This means that we won't be able to master everything.
If you're like me, and wish to learn all that you can before dying, then where do you even start? Which book? Which audio? Which video? The answer is quite simple: Get the information directly from the experts.

"Listen to those with the fruit on the tree". -Ripencil.com

You may not be a philosopher but there are many that are/were.
You may not be a economist but there are many that are/were.
You may not be a carpenter but there are many that are/were.
You may not be a mechanic.... (you got the point?)

We're decades into the information age now. This means that the information is out there for who ever wants it. We can pretty much learn everything that we want from the devices we carry in our pockets. There's no excuse so get to it!

It's A Pandemic - Stay Home!

"It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself..."
-Charles Darwin in his “Origin of Species” book.

There's a difference between courage and stupidity and we're seeing this first hand with the blatant disregard of public safety some people are exhibiting by not altering their daily activities following the pandemic state of the Covid-19/Coronavirus. We have to keep in mind that this Pandemic started with one person.

Even though you're not afraid it doesn't mean that you, or the people that you come in contact with, are immune to the disease.
Even though you're not at risk of dying it doesn't mean that the people you come in contact with won't die.
Even though you live somewhere that doesn't have many infected it doesn't mean that it won't change rapidly.

I saw a funny, but true, comment on Facebook that said "Your grandparents were called to war. You're being called to sit on your couch. You can do this."

We'll make it through the Pandemic but the amount of death will largely be determined by how many people are able to adapt to the quarantine restrictions. We're past the point where we can simply wash our hands and call it a day. We need to separate ourselves from the masses, as much as possible, and follow the guidelines put in place by our respective Government.

The question isn't whether or not we'll get through this, because we will, the question is will it be 50,000 deaths or will it be 1 million? We all need to do our part in order to contain this as much as possible and It starts with you!

The Sales Traps

Always be careful with people that benefits from having you think a certain way. I have a friend who worked for "Dealership A" and every time I would talk to him he would tell me how good cars from "Dealership A" were and how better the brand of "Dealership A" were superior than other brands. 5 years into his selling careers with "Dealership A", my friend decided to switch over to "Dealership B" and when I talk to him now all the positive things that he used to say about "Dealership A" is now being said of "Dealership B".

Good salesmen believe in the product that they are selling no matter if the product is actually good or not. Salesmen benefits in having you believe certain things about the product that they are selling. This statement is true for any field where salesmen are involved.

This isn't good or bad but it is something to keep in mind when you are in the market for something. Before buying anything be sure to do your own research rather than take whatever the salesmen are telling you face to face.

Another example of this is when buying a house. Is a house a good investment? If you ask a financial adviser, a financial adviser IS a loan/insurance/investment salesman, he'll tell you that it's a great investment when the reality of it is that it's not as good of an investment as the financial adviser is telling you that it is. If you want to make it a good investment then you have to do your research.
It is a GREAT investment for who ever is giving you the loan because if you stop paying the loan they get to take the home away from you - they never loose.
You, on the other hand, can loose much if you consider that the value of the house fluctuates (2008/2009 was an especially troubled time for the house market) and that you have to pay for the upkeep of it. In the best of circumstances, you can make a profit from selling but it's often not as good as you would think when you factor in the upkeep cost.
Most people don't do market research when buying a house because they either want to just own a place to live in or because they wrongly assume that the house they bought will always go up in value.

When your money is involved you can't be too careful. Remember to be careful with those that benefit from having you think a certain way. If you do your research you'll realize that not everything that salesmen support are actually good and that you're the one loosing as a result.

Invest Without Loosing

I recently finish reading Tony Robbin's "Money Master the Game" book for the second time and got more out of it this time around because I have a more mature investment portfolio.
One of the rules of investing is to never invest money you can't afford to loose but did you know that there are types of investments where your guaranteed to get back the money you put in? In his book, Tony Robbin shares many such ideas where you put money somewhere that is guaranteed not to loose with a chance of making more. One such idea was to invest in copper coins - you can either sell the coin for the copper value (if more than a cent) or use it at face value (of a cent). It's sounds kind of crazy but I've actually seen someone in the news do this and it was working for him.

Those aren't risky investments so they don't bring in as much either but the fact that you can't loose it can be liberating for some. If you decide to use this strategy with bank investments, rather than such things as copper coins, then the catch is that the bank will only give you 1-4% on your investment and keep the rest of the money that it can potentially make.
Since we're overdue for a recession, and that the Coronavirus seems to be slowing the economy down to a standstill, now might be a good time to look at those types of investments or wait until the recession hits and then buy more. We have to remember that recessions brings opportunity as much as it brings downfalls. It is wise to wait until the stock market hits a low before buying stocks. Many do the opposite where they buy stocks when the market is at the highest and sell it when it's at its lowest out of fear that they will loose more money. If you follow the "don't invest what you can't afford to loose" philosophy then you shouldn't have to sell your investment portfolio when the economy is in a low.

Tony Robbin's "Money Master the Game" book is a must read if you are new to the investment world. You can buy it on Amazon.