Finance: Grab the ‘bull’ by the horns

PHUKET: Many times in life it can seem like things completely spiral out of your control, and this can leave us feeling helpless. I have seen this happen not only numerous times with decisions my clients have made, but have made the exact same mistakes in my own investments.

One mistake leads to another poor decision and in the end we are left almost paralyzed to make any more for fear of continuing to compound even more mistakes.

It doesn’t need to be this way, however, and usually taking action, even if only re-reading the advice of experts that reinforces our decision to stay on course, can be a very empowering thing. In no area of our life is it more important to feel like we can have control over our destiny than in our financial condition. Education is the very best way to do this.

I have long advocated investors educating themselves and if you have read my column for any length of time you may have read some of my previous suggestions. After having read over 100 books on economics, trading, and investing in my life, I had gotten to a point where anything I read was something rehashing the same old thing. However I recently read a book that absolutely blew me away and is one I would have probably never read to be honest. I only read it because it was given to me by a friend who works for Tony Robbins.

If you don’t know who Tony Robbins is, you may have been living in a bubble for the last 3-4 decades. He is the number one motivational speaker in the world and has advised everyone from President Bill Clinton to Oprah Winfrey. I have read his other books and absolutely loved them. However, when I saw the title “Money: Master the Game”, I figured it was simply all about getting your own psychology right so you can earn money. I doubted he had anything of value to add on the topic of investing.

Sometimes finding out you are dead wrong is an amazing surprise. The book is a wealth of information from the best of the best in the investing world. Because of who he is, Tony is able to interview people who normally require a US$500 million minimum investment, such as Ray Bagio, who generously shares his own asset allocation model that any small investor can replicate with low cost index funds. Ray Bagio runs the world’s largest hedge fund with US$160 billion in assets under management. Tony also interviews John Bogle from Vanguard, Warren Buffet, David Swensen, Paul Tudor Jones, Sir John Templeton and many others who condense lifetimes of experience into one book.

I liked the book so much that I have decided to do a series of articles on some of the main points; however there is no substitute for reading the entire book. It can get a little technical in places but he always explains it in simple terms that anybody can understand. If there is one book that could mean the difference between running out of money when you are too old to re-enter the workforce and living out your golden years in luxury, this is it.

David Mayes, MBA, lives in Phuket and provides health, wealth, and life coaching to expatriates around the globe. He has been involved in financial markets for 15 years and specializes in tax efficiency and UK pension transfers. He can be reached at lifeisamazingthailand@gmail.com

— David Mayes