You’re wrong about your risk tolerance
When you first visit a financial advisor, they’ll take you through a quiz to determine your attitude to risk. This has a fatal flaw: you can’t possibly know how you’ll feel about losing money until it happens.
Rob
What are you optimising for?
One question to help you make better, easier choices – and to understand the choices of others.
Observations after two months working abroad
I’ve just got back from spending two months in Seville. I’ll share a few thoughts about Seville itself at the end, but more relevant to you is how an extended trip like this can shake up how you work – in a really positive way.
Holding “too much” cash can be a good thing
“Inflation is destroying your savings – you need to have your money invested”, goes the typical personal finance advice. After building your emergency fund, conventional wisdom says that the rest of your money should be working for you at all times. This makes sense as a general principle, but I don’t believe it’s true for everyone in all cases.
We like what we do
Although it seems obvious that we do things because we like them, I believe we might have it backwards: we actually like things because we do them.
When “looking after the pennies” goes too far
Don’t embarrass yourself in a Thai market like I did.
The “Top 3” principle
I can’t remember where I first saw the most important sentence I’ve ever read about marketing. I don’t even know who said it. But it doesn’t matter, because I’ve never forgotten it and it guides my thinking every day.
Usenet: A practical, totally non-technical guide for beginners
Learn how to get Usenet set up with minimal fuss, even if you’re not even slightly “techie”.
3 observations from 2 years of parenthood
Because I’m one of the first people ever to have fathered a child, I feel a heavy weight of responsibility to pass on wry anecdotes and unsolicited advice – just in case this “parenting” thing ever catches on with humanity at large.
Project people and Perpetual people
Everyone has a natural tendency to be either a “project person” or a “perpetual person”. Successful hiring relies on knowing which type of person a role requires.