*_Money, Life & Happiness_*

The more one tries to search for *happiness* from the outside world, the more is the probability that the person is never going to find it.

The more one tries to search for *exotic and complicated investment options*, the more is the probability that the person is never going to see / make money on them.

Happiness and Investment Returns are both *inward looking*....so is the reason that over 95% of the people in life and investing are in perpetual misery.

*Looking inward for answers is the most difficult thing to do* but Yes, a beginning can be made for a better future outcome.

Breakdowns…
Cycles...
Obstacles...

all keep coming on but Let's try to get into the 5% minority 🙂.......in *happiness & investment returns*

Calls - all can go the other way

_*Money, Life & Us*_

The best of expected things go for topsy turvy, in reality....be it a movie, life or investments.

The best is *no expectations*

Stay close to reality

Stay close to basics

Stay away from heresay

Brokerage calls, Movie reviews or Life calls.....all can go the other way 🤷🏼‍♂

*Money, Life & Free vs Paying* - Paytm to levy charges

Paytm to pass on the MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) charged by banks and card companies to customers - 
1 July 2017

"Everything  which is free to begin with will end up charging one day, with the compunding rate"

The sequence runs as  - "Hook → Addict → Milk; the customer"

The best way to avoid is - "don't get hooked in the first place  🌝"

*_Money, Life & Winning_*

34 matches played in the ICC World Cup cricket

The only team to have survived without losing till a game till now.... *India*

The only team to have survived a game without the rain god interfering.... *Australia*

But, let me get you some interesting stats about the Indian team' in this tournament....

In the top 5 leading  run scorers ..... *None from the Indian team*

In the top 5 leading wicket takers ..... *None from the Indian team*

In the top 5 leading players for the major sixes ..... *None from the Indian team*

In the top 5 leading players for making the highest scores ..... *None from India*

In the top 5 leading for the most catches ..... *None from India*

Now, the most interesting fact 😀

In the top 5 leading players for the

 *BEST ECONOMY RATE IN BOWLING* ..... 

*4 BOWLERS - Bumrah, Kuldeep, Chahal & Shami* 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

The end result till now....

*India has won all it's matches*.... Some with a significant margin of victory & some very close ones. But they won 👍🏼

Let's draw a simple parallel to this....

*There is no need for every investment one makes in their life to be the top performer*....or for that matter, any of the investments. If a windfall comes, take it.

But, one can still keep winning as long as the *team / portfolio keeps moving in a consistent and a sustainable way*

And....the most important lesson our bowlers showed us........

*Bowlers (Our Spending) win the crucial matches*

*Spending / having a best economy rate on one's spending (spending wisely) will take one trough a most comfortable match winning life*.

Batsmen win matches but if bowlers don't perform...... *Any # of runs scored (money) can't be defended* 🤷🏼‍

_Conflict of Interest_ - a highly debated issue, especially in the financial services industry.

I recently picked a copy of an 'Indian Mutual Fund' magazine which has been in existence for over 2 decades. Tonnes of gyan coming out in every issue from the editor & his team on how to invest, where to invest, random thoughts on regulatory & compliance issues, how should advisors work, what to avoid, what should be the compensation structures etc...+ the *Star Rankings* based on an, in house rating mechanism 🙂

Out of curiosity, I started counting the # of advertisements in this issue & with a particular interest on, 'who' are their revenue cash cows 🤔

Data points - 

142 pages - Issue size
30 pages - Full Page Ads 😳
Of which,

23 Full Page Ads are from various Mutual Fund Companies (there are 44 of them in the industry).

7 Full Page Ads are from Housing Finance, Banks & Insurance companies.

That's makes 22% of the magazine content is ads 😳....16% of the 'total pages' are ads from various Mutual Fund companies which probably??? *pay* the magazine.

By the statistics, *76%* of the *total ad pages* are from the mutual fund companies 😳😳

Is there a credibility in the magazine's content ? 

Yes, there can be, if the entire *content* is completely unbiased & consistent in approach. Be it, with the categorisation of the schemes, ranking the schemes, ideation of the industry issues, erratic thought processes of the content contributors etc...

Bottomline, 'there can be revenue streams with a *positive conflict of interest*, meaning, _everyone benefits, without short changing one another_.

But, I suppose that is an *ideal efficient stream of bliss*, which the majority 'service providers & takers' miss by a large margin. 

*A few good men / women, are indeed few*

"Gambling Disease kills One Australian a day, But it's too lucrative to cure" - Bloomberg

Australians lose most money to gambling per capita each year...$761. Followed by Hong Kong ($570), Finland ($360), Italy ($325) & Canada ($325).

& & &

Australia has never seen a recession in the last 25 years.

Well, data scientists might explore at Co- relating, "Per Capita of Gambling" to "# of recessions in a decade" 😳

Bottom line, Gambling has got nothing to do with an Australian Recession, but it fills $ 4.4 Billion as Government Revenue 🤔

Gambling in Machines = Speculating in Stock markets

Both behaviors trigger the same neural wires in our brain. It might be for just one shot in the slot machine or continuous slots (buy, sell, buy, sell etc...) in the stock market. Both are the same.

Avoid, Speculative Gambling

Indulge in, Peaceful Investing

"It is true that Fear is the root cause of degradation & sin. It is fear that brings misery, fear that brings death, fear that breeds evil. And what causes fear? *Ignorance of own nature* - Swami Vivekananda

It is true that -

Fear is the sure cause of Portfolio Degradation.

Fear is that brings Portfolio Misery.

Fear is that brings one's Portfolio Death.

Fear is that breeds Portfolio Churning, especially at the most inappropriate times.

And what causes *Fear*?

IGNORANCE OF OUR OWN BEHAVIOR & RISK TOLERANCE LEVELS

Sometimes, this is what too much data & number crunching can lead to...or should I say, 'Most times'.

Decision Making - "a thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options" 🙂.

Good description, but; Do we always have choices to make decisions? Do we always behave with all the logic? With all the logic, choices & rationality, do we always make the 'appropriate decisions'?

I don't know :( but, one thing is for sure in 'Decision Making'..."More often than not, the *Cost of Delay* in Not taking a decision & actioning it, leads to quite a disaster vs making a right or a wrong decision".

'Cost' of Delay = 'Time & Value' Decay.

Bloomberg - Harvard Does a Trade You Should Never Make http://bv.ms/2dguaQ4

Harvard, a Country, a State, a Corporation or an Individual...All think the same way :)

Reasonable Expenses are not the only criterion for delivery. Harvard listened to its Endowment fund donors & has now paid a *super heavy price* (in performance), for a decision which was *Million Wise & Billion Foolish*

Expenses matter, but there are things that matter even more.