Month: November 2016

Luck … there is a lot of luck in the investment process … and a lot of luck involved in life.

To be born in the western world … and to be born in Australia … and to be born a bloke … Slack Investor acknowledges his debt to the luck Gods … and he is grateful! (… further research has revealed that not all feel the same … Ms Slack Investor, for instance, is quite glad she is not a bloke OR an Australian!)

The great Warren Buffet talks about the “Ovarian Lottery”

“It’s 24 hours before your birth, and a genie appears to you. He tells you that you can set the rules for the world you’re about to enter — economic, social, political — the whole enchilada. Sounds great, right? What’s the catch?

Before you enter the world, you will pick one ball from a barrel of 6.8 billion. That ball will determine your gender, race, nationality, natural abilities, and health — whether you are born rich or poor, sick or able-bodied, brilliant or below average, American or Zimbabwean.”

“You’re going to get one ball out of there, and that is the most important thing that’s ever going to happen to you in your life.”

Slack Investor is well aware that defining life in terms of income is a narrow view. However, as a point of comparison, the Global Rich List offers some sobering perspectives.

For example, an Australian on an annual income of $50 000 is in the top 1% of world citizens by income.

And the western world in general offers opportunities for education and reward for effort … but most of all there is an environment where luck can at least enhance outcomes.

There are things that you can do to increase your luck. The golfer Gary Player adopted the aphorism

“The harder I practice, the luckier I get”

This is not against the Slack Investor ethos … there is some practice or research that you must do to become a good investor … however, we like to keep it too a minimum … and, as a rule, always remember to be grateful!

Slack Investor is not averse to parting with the odd dollar for things he values … but increasingly these are becoming experiences rather than things. However, looking at his adventure packed schedule for the week, amongst the usual pastimes like (work, cinema, social gatherings, personal development and grooming (joke!)) I notice that two of the things I am doing are, remarkably, free events.

The first was a concert a Yarrabah indigenous community featuring the incomparable Archie Roach and the second is local university sponsored lecture on ecology by the Stanford Professor Paul Ehrlich.

The first event, at Yarrabah, I have already been to … and it was fantastic! This was my first visit to this local indigenous community. It is a settlement of over 3000 people in an idyllic tropical location – and a place with a few social problems – unemployment, lack of local businesses and a high crime rate, to name a few. However, the concert headlined by Archie Roach and Montaigne plus various local acts was a ripper – and there was a real sense of hope from some of the community leaders (and Archie). It will take some time, but a few of the locals were quite inspiring.

One of the great things about living in Australia is that various levels of government and educational institutions subsidise occasional events – and as an abiding tax-paying citizen I make it my business to attend them if I find them interesting.

Ms Slack Investor reminds me often about the human need for occupation – and filling in your calendar with events is a great thing. As well as (hopefully) being kind and charitable, being busy is a fundamental part of a full life.

Although this blog is mostly about financial stuff, “The golden triangle of happiness” points out that this is just one corner of the triangle of well-being. I will revisit this important triangle in another post.

The Deakin University study points out that Relationships, Financial Control  and Sense of Purpose are the three corners to a happy life. As my full time working life is coming to an end, it is this sense of purpose that I will be working on … people are happier when they are active – and filling my calendar with enjoyable events, volunteering, travel – will be all part of it – I hope.