http://www.subramoney.com/book-written-by-me/

Then the myth of ‘you must own your house’ was beautifully spread – and the great middle class dream of being a house owner was started. Over the past few years property prices adjusted to inflation (and interest) have done well. However it could be just part of the asset boom of 2002-7, then the fall in 08, and the rise in09. The Americans (also under the same sales pressure from cement, steel and housing finance companies) have not been so lucky. Most of them have had their pants taken off in the recent crisis. However the learning is not much. Most people anchor to their price, do not know how to calculate the cost of the house, do not know SIP returns (as a benchmark)…this is not my lament, The economist says so…read on

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/04/housing_markets_0

and while on the topic, there might be some of you who believe that real estate cannot fail. Or even worse ‘You can NEVER lose money on real estate..well for such people, here is a note

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/real_estate/1004/gallery.commercial_real_estate/index.html

After spending 10 years in the ‘profession‘ of training here are some expensive learning:

Television is an entertainment source – not an education source.

To be good in the media you need to say something interesting / controversial. Largely you can say anything and be sure that it will not come back to haunt you, because the program was not recorded by the viewer.

You can get paid to entertain far far better than to teach. Actors get paid more than teachers, correct? Do not argue with the market. Take to teaching ONLY if you are not Kareena kapoor.

Investing is a lousy group sport, but a great solo sport. Like golf you keep trying to get better than yourself each year!

Managing money is far more difficult than making it. Reasonable Index returns are easy to get, but trying to get that return above the index return (called alpha) can sometimes take you to the cleaners.

Managing money is not about doing difficult things, it is about doing simple things well, staying out of harm’s way and controlling your ego about stopping the feeling “how smart you are”.

Growing your money is about understanding risk and knowing how to react to it, not about your IQ.

more to follow….

http://www.subramoney.com/book-written-by-me/

Many people know that Hanuman is the Guru according to Hindu mythology (for the very philosophically minded, Hanuman caused the Atma (Sita) to join the Parmatma (Ram) – and that is the essence of Ramayana. So you need a Guru to teach you from the learnings of all the great people mentioned above. However is that enough?

Many people know – and many others may not know – that Parvati (Uma) is the Hindu Goddess of Wisdom. Wisdom is about doing what you know. This is the crucial link. Training, Learning is all fine – but for it to translate into action, you need wisdom. That is the crux.

So knowing that compounding creates wealth, living a simple life gives peace, tobacco free, alcohol free, stress free living gives peace is not enough.

Seeking a simple life, doing a simple sip (and sitting tight during turbulent times), having a term insurance, one credit card, IS ABOUT DOING all that you know. That will give you nirvana. So as Nike says, Just Do it.