Are you willing to jump in the FIRE?

It’s not about getting annihilated. On the contrary this fire is about setting ourselves free.

FIRE as a movement has increasingly grown in popularity among the millennial of the west. FIRE is the abbreviation for “Financial Independence, Retire Early”.

This trend is gaining further traction because freedom from the shackles of “work for living” existence allows an individual to chase his/her passion. Who wouldn't agree that creativity and innovation blossoms where the mind is without fear and the time is our own.

But how to reach there?

The proponent of the FIRE movement suggest the “4% rule” as a guide. It is another name for “ Trinity study”, an influential 1998 paper submitted by three professors for finance at the Trinity University. The study was to determine the “safe withdrawal rates” from the retirement portfolios containing a mix of stocks and bonds.

The 4% refers to the portion of the portfolio that is withdrawn during the first year. If that amount cover the yearly expense of the retiree, it is assumed that the person has sufficient assets to last for 25 to 30 years. The market volatility and increase of the consumer price index (CPI) to keep pace with the cost of living has been factored in a reasonable way.

This was back-tested by the authors and several other researchers and found to be workable. However, we need to note that the tests has been conducted based on historical data and no one know how the markets are going to perform in the future.

Are you willing to take the plunge?

Metrics for life

 “Only thing certain about life is death” is undoubtedly a cliché that everyone has used one time or the other. As the departure date never gets added to our Google calendar, reminders are not generated and most do not consider it to be a serious reality. 

But life is different once the true meaning is understood and this reality sinks within our souls.

Human being makes circumstantial decisions in life based on that moment and at times makes a wrong choice. Not everyone can see the big picture all the time and I believe it’s perfectly normal. But once we realize that what we did was not appropriate, there should be no reason for not making up for it one way or the other.

Given the choice, how many would be willing to regret about their life during before the final adieu. Nobody ask this question to a dying person but researchers has been collecting this data about their regrets in life from old people.  I have shortlisted 10 diverse regrets for this post as a start.

• I wish I had worried less
• I wish I had expressed love more frequently
• I wish I had taken chances with my career
• I wish I had cared more about my body
• I wish I had spent more time with people I love
• I wish I had forgiven more
• I wish I cared less for what other people think
• I wish I had lived more in the moment
• I wish I had faced my fears
• I wish I was more honest

We have a choice here. Either forget about all these and keep going on with life or we take a pledge to execute a “no regret” plan. First we “Select & Prioritize”, then we “Measure & Review” our progress regularly to attain a life without regrets.

Why we buy What we buy

We have a friend who could not resist buying bigger sizes clothes for her children during the seasonal sales though it will take 2-3 years for them to catch up. The prices and deals are too irresistible for her.

Impulsive buyers do not limit themselves to the cash at hand but can access future income to spend today. Unfortunately most of it is spent buying stuff that were neither planned nor necessary. While some people love to brag about their ability to clinch a deal that no one could, other love to peel off the price tags to reveal the original price to make them feel good.

This picture was taken at home.

Deep inside, we are impulsive buyers like the child who cries for a toy in the display window. But is impulsive buying a problem?

The answer is yes even if one has infinite budget or unlimited space. This disrupts the budget and leave us with little money along with stuff that we never needed. This prevents the creation of good and lasting financial habits that would allow to save up for larger planned purchases.  If not controlled this to could lead to a much more serious condition known as compulsive buying disorder (CBD), or oniomania.

According to Wikipedia this is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. This "is experienced as an irresistible–uncontrollable urge, resulting in excessive, expensive and time-consuming retail activity [that is] typically prompted by negative affectivity".

Impulse buyers are not likely to consider the possible consequences of their spending. Some of the reasons are:

• Extreme urge to possess an object as the person In China who traded his kidney for an IPhone.

• The love of buying new things because of a temporary high we experience upon buying a new item.

• Fear of missing out (FOMO) and being left without something that friends already have.

• Because of Brand affinity and a discount sale appears irresistible.

• Want to save money and believe the more we buy the more you save.

• Have a notion that buying a particular item will make them happy and improve their mood.

It becomes difficult to resist a situation once we see something in a store that is a great deal, but the reality is that it will probably just sit around your house and gather dust.

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Disclaimer – Any Similarity with People, Leaders, Politicians was intended

This post is about life of antelope in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, one of the sprawling grassy plains in Africa. Because of its seasonal flooding it remains a lush animal habitat for all types of living species. Notable heavyweights among the 160 species of mammals that thrive there are the likes of hippos, elephants, crocodiles, lions, leopards, rhinos, giraffes.

Also found there are Lechwe, a species of antelope family that stand 90 to 100 cm at the shoulder and weigh from 70 to 120 kg. They dominate the marshy areas feeding on aquatic plants while staying within knee-deep water to avoid the predators. With legs covered in a water-repellent substance, they have the perfect tools to run off any big cat in the knee deep water chase.

The males have long spiral structured horns they use it for fighting over territory and females. The sound of one horn hitting another sends clear message to the lions that another territorial fight is in progress and they are quick to cash in on this opportunity. The Lechwes are so engrossed in their fight that don’t realize that a predator has sneaked in and when they does, it’s too late.

Whenever we as human has taken our guard off because of our in-fighting, we too have paid for it dearly. It always pays to be careful and remain vigilant from predators, who sometimes hide behind a mask.

The post has been inspired by this picture posted by Natgeo on the Instagram.

Meraki

I got introduced to the lovely sounding word “Meraki” & its meaning had a great impact. 

Yes, I too thought it was a Japanese word but it turned out to be Greek. For some reasons, it didn’t sound Greek to me and pun is intended!

It means doing something with soul, passion and creativity. Although “Meraki” is thought to be one of the untranslatable words, we can still extract its meaning.

“Work with your heart and soul” is a phrase, we grew up with while not many realized the depth of it but “Meraki” takes it deeper.  Whatever we do, do it with great love and so much passion that a part of our soul remains there. This way we are eternally connected to all that we do or create and isn’t it wonderful!

Now on let’s do everything with Meraki and I have trust that the results will be nothing less than any Miracle!

Do You Still Put Ink On Paper?

I believe we need to put the ink on the paper to cement new knowledge in minds. Being from an earlier generation, I follow the analog process …. Like those good old days. 

Whenever possible, I try to write, scribble or doodle on my journal like notebooks as I get along a presentation, webinar or the process of reading a book or website. While the main purpose of taking notes may be to implant the material in the mind, it serves a secondary purpose as we grow older.

These notes turns into our Visual Aids every once in a while as we refer back. Being grown-ups, we can follow the subject, its logic, and sequence with relative ease but when it comes to holding it back in the memory, we are hopeless.

Once a notebook runs out of space, I digitize it for convenience but it makes a difference to see my handwritten notes as compared to my MS Word typed notes on the screen.  More often than not, I can relate the time-space aspects of a handwritten note, which brings in another desirable dimension to the whole process.  I do use programs like “evernote” to organize materials gathered through web research but wouldn’t prefer to record the audio from a webinar. 

Please leave your thoughts on your viewpoint on this matter and how do you prefer to take notes.

The following is one of the pages from a webinar explaining how International Standard Organization (ISO) adopts new terms and definitions.

It is good to remember that a vehicle with two wheels, a handle bar, a seat and driven by a pedal wouldn’t qualify as a bicycle if the chain is replaced with a shaft. This is how critically a definition is attached to a term.

The Tiger is Back on the Prowl

This week we celebrate the marvelous win of Tiger Woods and there are many good reasons to do that. This is such an epic moment in history that united Donald Trump and Barak Obama in their thought and action.

Tiger Wood is the sporting hero and for his fans, the fact that Tiger doesn't know them is inconsequential. He might be a mentor to a fortunate few but as a hero he will continue to lend his imaginary voice to inspire countless admirers. 

In 1996, Woods became a professional golfer at the age of 20 and by the end of April 1997, he had already won three PGA Tour events and his first major. Woods was not only the dominant force in golf but his name became synonymous with the term “Winner” for decades. Having won thirteen of golf's majors, and placed in the top ten on sixteen occasions he was at the pinnacle occupying the top golfer in the world position from August 1999 to September 2004 and again from June 2005 to October 2010. His name then became synonymous with the term Golf.

He took a self-imposed hiatus from professional golf from December 2009 to early April 2010 in an attempt to resolve marital issues and his many alleged extramarital indiscretions. His physical injuries added to these complications and the world watched with disbelief as the mighty Tiger dropped out of the world's top 1000 golfers.

But Woods worked relentlessly and made steady progress to the top, winning his first tournament in five years at the Tour Championship in September 2018 and his first major in eleven years at the 2019 Masters.

Without delving into his personal life and morality or immorality of his action, I believe it takes massive strength of character to regain one’s position. Human being make mistakes, they slip and sometimes falls on the hard floor but this getting up by giving 100% is what will inspire generations.

This reminds me of Monica Lewinsky and her affair with Bill Clinton and how unfairly the world ostracized her for life. At the age of 22-23, she made the mistake of falling for the US President, a very powerful matured person. Being constantly the butt of joke all around the world, she asks an honest question…… how many young people fall in love with the wrong person at that age not thinking of consequences. Does everyone pay such huge price?

Let the injustice meted towards one not diminish the celebration of the other.