A simple question that could fundamentally change your thinking. “What are the second and third order consequences?” Ray Dalio I was chatting with my cousin and his wife. They are both involved in the military. She mentioned that they were…
Category: Aspiration
Your Deceptive Values, Your Reflective Habits
It was windy and raining, a cold front was passing over. The weather was not appealing, but it would have been more uncomfortable not to go. I put on my running shoes. If I hadn’t, it would have itched at…
Should I Rent or Buy? – What does the maths say
When I moved back to South Africa last year, I couldn’t understand the fixation on buying property. There is of course the ill-informed – “paying someone else’s mortgage” argument, rather than the “paying a subsidized amount for the use of…
The New Car Trap – Too Many People, Too Often – make this crucial financial mistake
This week’s guest post is from Jack Atlas – the nom de plume of a fellow aspiring Financial Independence seeker. He has kept things frugal and focused during his early financial journey which has allowed him to build a tidy…
Building a Property Portfolio in South Africa – Personal Tax, Endowment or PTY?
I generally subscribe to the Simple Path to Wealth. My strategy is generally equity based, with the highest likely return over time. The over time being crucial, it is no where near as consistent in terms of cash flow. In…
Contribute more to a Retirement Annuity or go Offshore and pay CGT? – Why a South African RA isn’t for me on my journey to FIRE
I started this post with the intention of explaining why an RA isn’t for me. I’ve been skeptical for a while now that it’s advantages outweigh the constraints for disciplined investor. So, I built a model to prove my point.…
Spending tomorrow’s happiness
I stopped drinking 439 days ago. I have an app that tracks it. It was useful to remember “my why” in the early days of breaking that happiness debt cycle. – “Too many wasted days to hangovers. Feeling down, losers.…
Investing Strategically – So many Opportunities in this time of Crisis
To save some time, for those looking for the next 10x investment and/or how to be rich by Friday, this post isn’t going to help you. It’s been almost 12 months since I last wrote in my Project Fire 40…
Corona Virus: A Considered Response Needed for South Africa
We knew a potential flood was coming, so we put up the flood gates to buy preparation time. But the water is still there, behind the gates which can’t hold forever. We also can’t open them completely, as all we…
No Emergency Fund in this Emergency – Didn’t earn enough or spent too much?
An emergency fund is between 1-6 months of expenses, in a readily accessible non-volatile account, like a high interest savings account. It is for those rainy days and guess what, it’s raining. If you don’t have an emergency fund, I…