The only medicine for anti-ageing is lifelong learning.
Charlie Munger once said,
“I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.”
He went on to add, “People are the Best Teachers, hang out and interact with people better than you and you cannot help but improve. And when I say better, I mean not only in terms of intellectual horsepower, but in terms of morals, values, ethics, character, and discipline.
These are the attributes which ultimately lead to a very fulfilling and satisfying life.”
He also often quotes the words of Epicurus, ““Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul and mind.”
Keep learning.
Right through the year, it has been my endeavour to read 25,000 words a day. To accomplish the task, I have subscribed to various blog sites etc
Sharing with you the 22 Best Blogs I Read in 2022. They cover a wide spectrum of topics ranging from economy to business to self help.
Hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed putting them together for you.
1.Do Most Family Businesses Really Fail by the Third Generation?
Author: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer
Source: Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2021/07/do-most-family-businesses-really-fail-by-the-third-generation)
Perhaps the most commonly-cited statistic about family businesses is their failure rates. Most articles or speeches about family businesses start with some version of the “three-generation rule,” which suggests that most don’t survive beyond three generations. But that perception could not be further from the truth. The data suggests that, on average, family businesses last far longer than a typical public company does. Far from being doomed to failure, family businesses across the world will continue to be a leading source of jobs and economic growth for years to come.
2. Getting Wealthy vs. Staying Wealthy
Author: Morgan Housel
Source:(https://collabfund.com/blog/getting-wealthy-vs-staying-wealthy/ )
Getting money requires taking risks, being optimistic, and putting yourself out there.
But keeping money requires the opposite of taking risks. It requires humility, and fear that what you have made can be taken away from you just as fast. It requires frugality and an acceptance that at least some of what you have made is attributable to luck, so past success cannot be relied upon to repeat indefinitely.
It is all about survival. Not growth or brains or insight. The ability to stick around for a long time, without wiping out or being forced to give up, is what makes the biggest difference. This should be the cornerstone of your strategy, whether it is in investing or your career, or a business you own.
3. The Financial Upside of Being an Optimist
Author:Michelle Gielan
Source: Harvard Business Review The Financial Upside of Being an Optimist (hbr.org)
A recent research study found that when it comes to money, optimists are more likely to make smart moves and reap the benefits. For example, 90% of optimists have put money aside for a major purchase, compared to 70% of pessimists. Nearly two thirds of optimists have started an emergency fund, while less than half of pessimists have. The good news is that optimism is just like a muscle, and you can build it. Small habits could help you take back 145 stress-free days each year, not to mention fuel your happiness and work success as well.
4. Why loafing can be work
Source: Why loafing can be work | The Economist
Daydreaming, promenading and zoning out can pay rich dividends. We all have a bias for the familiar in almost every aspect of life, so it’s no surprise that this phenomenon shows up at work, too. One such prejudice is about what constitutes work, such as attending meetings and responding to emails, whilst being in the office day in and day can make observers believe that you are more dependable and committed than others. But, as The Economist reveals, these familiar forms of work can be incredibly deceiving.
5. Three problems for world economy
Author: Ajay Shah
Source: Business Standard (https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/three-problems-for-world-economy-122032000878_1.html)
It is expected that there will be rate hikes in the upcoming year, and it is claimed that this will suffice to bring inflation under control. The problem with this position is that even after the short rate has been raised by 150 basis points; it will remain negative in real terms.
The second problem for the world economy is China. While China is a big economy, it does not have good institutions, and in many respects, resources are allocated by officials and not the price system. This results in fragility.
The third problem for the world economy is Russia. While Russia is a small economy, even smaller than India, the suddenness of the war and economic sanctions has generated a large economic shock for them.
6. Has IAS failed the nation?
Author: Duvvuri Subbarao
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/has-ias-failed-the-nation-yes-and-its-not-all-politicians-fault-the-service-rewards-mediocrity-risk-aversion/
The public perception of the IAS today is of an elitist, self-serving, status quo perpetuating set of bureaucrats who are out of touch with reality, who wallow in their privileges and social status and have lost the courage of conviction to stand up for what`s right.
In the mid-1970s, if the government was being attacked by the opposition on a scam or a scandal, all that the CM had to do was to stand up in the Assembly and announce that he would appoint an IAS officer to inquire into the matter.
Today if a CM said that, she is likely to be booed.
7. Is there such a thing as an Indian way of doing business?
Author: Chanpreet Khurana
Source: Money Control(Is there such a thing as an Indian way of doing business? (moneycontrol.com))
No because, when you look at countries like Indonesia, Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, there are lots of structural similarities. You look at meddling in credible information, whether it`s by political actors or others, there’s a commonality there. So, when you run down the list of what we refer to as sort of institutional supports for business, there are lots of commonalities across them.
Yes because, there is nonetheless still some uniqueness to building a business here which comes from the idiosyncratic features of India. We have a particular kind of social structure that is not replicated elsewhere, like the reservations policy in India.
8. How Long Do Bear Markets Last?
Author: BenCarlson
Source: https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/05/how-long-do-bear-markets-last/
It`s been a couple of years since we`ve experienced a bear market so it`s probably a good time for a refresher: Historical comparisons cannot provide the blueprint for the present situation but they can help put things into perspective in terms of the length and duration of past bear markets.
9. Learning Management
Author: Rahul Dravid
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learning-management-from-rahul-dravid-prithvi-chandrasekhar/
Insights from legendary Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid on balancing success & integrity, using data analytics and India’s future.
10. The Crypto Crash: all Ponzi schemes topple eventually
Author: Robert Reich
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2022/jun/19/the-crypto-crash-all-ponzi-schemes-topple-eventually
Americans had been getting rich by speculating on shares of stock and various sorts of exotica (roughly analogous to crypto). These risky assets’ values rose solely because a growing number of investors put money into them.
The American economy once again became a betting parlor. Inevitably, Wall Street suffered another near-death experience from excessive gambling.
11. New India’s five big, surprising trends and what they mean
Author: Abhijit Majumder
Source: https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/new-indias-five-big-surprising-trends-and-what-they-mean-10704361.html/amp
Discussion about five recent trends in India which were inconceivable a decade ago have been unexpected, heartening, and harbingers of a fast-changing nation.
12. About 200 years ago, the world started getting rich. Why?
Author: Dylan Matthews
Source: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/6/1/23138463/how-the-world-became-rich-industrial-revolution-koyama-rubin
Two economic historians explain what made the Industrial Revolution, and modern life, possible.In the first, which lasted for the vast majority of our time on Earth, from the emergence of Homo sapiens over 300,000 years ago to about 12,000 years ago, humans lived largely nomadic lifestyles, subsisting through hunting and foraging for food. What today we`d characterize as extreme poverty was until a few centuries ago the condition of almost every human on Earth. Over the next two centuries, extreme poverty fell dramatically; in 2018, the World Bank estimated that 8.6 percent of people lived on less than $1.90 a day. That`s changed: How the World Became Rich, by Chapman University`s Jared Rubin and George Mason University`s Mark Koyama, provides a comprehensive look at what, exactly, changed when sustained economic growth began, what factors help explain its beginning, and which theories do the best job of making sense of the new stage of life that humans have been experiencing for a couple brief centuries.
13. How to win over Indians: Begin with a non-judgmental grasp of their most common features – here are 7 key ones
Author: Chetan Bhagat
Source:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/The-underage-optimist/how-to-win-over-indians-begin-with-a-non-judgmental-grasp-of-their-most-common-features-here-are-7-key-ones/
Chetan Bhagat, a bestselling author, and a popular newspaper columnist shares his insights on how to win over the diverse Indian population. However, while acknowledging the high variation, there is value in trying to figure out the average Indian citizen.
14. India to become 3rd largest economy by 2029: SBI report
Source: https://www.justdial.com/JdSocial/news/1662211253565000
India is likely to get the tag of 3rd largest economy by 2029, the State Bank of India (SBI) said in a research report released on Saturday, adding that India would surpass Germany in 2027 and most likely Japan by 2029 at the current rate of growth.
15. A post-dollar world is coming
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/989b2e50-e8b5-474c-86a3-190c6881b235
Ruchir Sharma (The writer is chair of Rockefeller International) says, as the dollar surged to levels last seen nearly 20 years ago, analysts invoked the old Tina (there is no alternative) argument to predict more gains ahead for the mighty greenback. What happened two decades ago suggests the dollar is closer to peaking than rallying further.
16. Enough longtermism — we need to think about now
Author: Stuart Kirk
Source: Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/6fdd7867-3574-4b31-9673-4b2b1842973a )
“We need to start worrying about what kind of world we are going to leave behind for Keith Richards” is the funniest line I`ve ever heard on global warming.
It encapsulates our hallowed obsession with the future — that securing it for generations to come, or even just for “Keef”, is paramount.
The ethical view that people living decades, centuries, and millennia from now are as important as those plodding around today is called “long termism”. This so-called impartiality across generations is why the likes of Professor William MacAskill argue that “influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time.” The only other public challenge I`ve ever heard to the idea that the future trumps everything else was a heartfelt plea years ago that has stuck with me ever since.
Why do we devote so much effort to an unrealized future with a massive deviation in possible outcomes when events with a 100 per cent probability of occurring exist today? Or imagine we incurred huge costs in 2019 worrying about the welfare of the 11bn people the UN predicted would be alive in 2100.
17. ‘They want toys to get their children into Harvard’: have we been getting playthings all wrong?
Author: Alex Blasdel
Source: The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/nov/24/have-toys-got-too-brainy-how-playthings-became-teaching-aids-young-children)
For decades we’ve been using toys to cram learning into playtime – and toys have been marketed as tools to turn children into prosperous, high-achieving adults. Is it time for a rethink?
18. A Brief History of the Past 10,000 Years of Monetary Policy and Why Last Week Was a Big Deal
Author: Ben Hunt
Source: A Brief History of the Past 10,000 Years of Monetary Policy and Why Last Week Was a Big Deal – Epsilon Theory
The business of Wall Street consists of two and only two things: thinking up news ways to create a transferable share of some future economic activity, and thinking up new ways to borrow money today for a promise to repay that money and more in the future.
In addition to shaping the price of leverage through interest rates, these central banks are also charged with providing emergency cash (“liquidity”) to buy securitized things when all the people with money are so freaked out that they are no longer voluntarily willing to buy those securitized things.
19. Indian equities’ persistent performance
Author: Akash Prakash
Source:https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/indian-equities-persistent-performance-122092601344_1.html
The report tracked 30 years of equity-market performance. Asia ex-Japan equities have delivered a dollar return of only 3.7 per cent per annum (excluding dividends). If you break down the Asia returns further, China was the worst performer at (-) 1.4 per cent and India the best at 7.3 per cent dollar returns over a 30-year period. The next best markets in Asia were Korea and Taiwan, which delivered dollar returns of 4.5 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively, over this period. China having a return of (-) 1.4 per cent per annum over a 30-year period seems absurd given the growth and prosperity we see there today. The US delivered nominal gross domestic product growth of 4.5 per cent compared to 9.5 per cent for the countries of Asia ex-Japan since 1992.
20. Why this is India’s decade
Author: Ridham Desai
Source: Why this is India’s decade | Business Standard Column (business-standard.com)
Estimates says this New India will drive a fifth of the global growth by 2031, led by a combination of offshoring, unique digital infrastructure, and energy transition.During the two pandemic years, the number of people employed in this industry in India rose from 4.
3 million to 5.1 million, and the country`s share of global services trade rose 60 basis points to 4.In the coming decade, the number of people employed in India for jobs outside the country is likely to at least double to over 11 million, and we estimate global spending on outsourcing could rise from $180 billion per year to around $500 billion by 2030.
21. Crypto is now dead
Author: Chetan Bhagat
Source: Times of India (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/The-underage-optimist/crypto-is-now-dead-ftx-a-cryptocurrency-exchange-collapsed-last-week-proving-a-lot-of-cool-guys-horribly-wrong/ )
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, the gold standard for all things crypto, crashed in November.
Bitcoin prices fell a whopping 75% in the last year, or down to a fourth of its value.
This, for something touted to be a better store of value than gold, US dollars or any other fiat currency or precious metal.
FTX, one of the big crypto exchanges, where people come to trade and store their cryptocurrencies, also collapsed in November.
22. 7 wonders of the world economy
Author: Ruchir Sharma
Source:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/7-wonders-of-the-world-economy-how-india-six-other-countries-are-defying-the-pessimism-of-a-world-tipping-towards-recession/
In periods of gloom, when commentators see nothing but faults in most countries, it is worth highlighting the few that defy the prevailing pessimism.
They share some combination of relatively strong growth, moderate inflation and strong stock market returns – compared to other countries.
Education is the only thing lying around loose in the world, and you can have as much as you are willing to haul away.
Education does not take place when you learn something you did not know before. Education is your ability to use what you have learned to be better today than you were yesterday. We hope that the New Year keeps on raising the curiosity in you and you keep on reading to satisfy it.
I seriously suggest that you subscribe to some of the publications and to the Newsletters from which the above blogs/article shave been selected. When the content lands in your mail or on WhatsApp, it is much easier to read than to hunt for the articles that you must read.
Happy Reading! Kindly keep the feedback coming.
May the New Year bring more dreams and more hopes and may you keep raising the bar to upskill and teach yourself.
Have a great year ahead.
Stay Blessed Forever.
p.s. In case you are unable to open the link and access the article, kindly contact us at 9914146888 and we shall share the complete article with you.
Kindly check our earlier blog on a similar subject : Investment Lessons from Mythology at https://sahayakgurukul.blogspot.com/2019/03/investment-lessons-from-mythology.html OR https://www.sahayakassociates.in/resources/our-blog/2553-sahayak-associates/sahayak-associates-blog/8435-investment-lessons-from-mythology
Note: All information provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not constitute any professional advice or service. Readers are requested to consult a financial advisor before investing as investments are subject to Market Risks.
About The author
Sandeep Sahni
After completing his schooling from St. Johns, Chandigarh (Class of 1980) and Modern School, New Delhi, (Class of 1982) Sandeep did his B. Com (Hons.) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University (Class of 1985)
Sandeep is an alum of IIM Lucknow with a Post Graduate Degree (MBA class of 1988).
He has also written two books, ‘Dear Son, Life Lessons from a Father’ on the teachings of Life https://www.amazon.in/dp/1637815271 and the Second book which he has Co Authored titled, ‘What My MBA Didn’t teach me about Money’ on the Human and Financial perspective of money. https://www.amazon.in/dp/1637816502
He has a rich work experience and started his career as a corporate man with Asian Paints after IIML. He has a rich experience covering the FMCG, Food Distribution, Cold Chain, Logistics, and Hospitality Industries. He is currently in the Wealth Management and Personal Finance domain. He has a passion for finance and is an active speaker on topics in finance. The stories he narrates strike a chord close to his heart, as they are based on events from his own life. He believes in a holistic view of Personal Finance.
Sandeep’s investing experience and study of the Financial Markets spans over 30 years. He is based in Chandigarh and is advising more than 500 clients across the globe on Financial Planning and Wealth Management.
He has promoted “Sahayak Gurukul” which is an attempt to share thoughts and knowledge on aspects related to Personal Finance and Wealth Management. Sahayak Gurukul provides financial insights into the markets, economy and Investments. Whether you are new to the personal finance domain or a professional looking to make your money work for you, the Sahayak Gurukul blogs and workshops are curated to demystify investing, simplify complex personal finance topics and help investors make better decisions about their money.
Alongside, Sandeep conducts regular Investor Awareness Programs and workshops for Training of Mutual Fund Distributors, and workshops and seminars on Financial Planning for Corporate groups, Teachers, Doctors and Other professionals.
Through his interactions and workshops, Sandeep works towards breaking the myths and illusions about money and finance.
His passion has driven him towards career counselling for young adults and mentoring the youngsters on achieving their life goals and becoming “Successful Humans”
He also writes a well-read blog; https://sahayakgurukul.blogspot.com
He has also conducted presentations, workshops and guest lectures at professional colleges and management institutes for students on Financial Planning and Wealth Creation.
He can be reached at:
+91-9888220088, 9814112988,
sandeepsahni@sahayakassociates.in
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