December 2013 | FISH | Financial Independence Seeking Happiness

6 Happy Time Ideas

Contender 0 downshifting, financial freedom, financial independence, Happiness 23:14

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simple timeless pleasure - a free walk</td></tr>
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THE.PaST: "Happiness is doing well in school, getting a god job yadda yadda......"   
THE.PReSeNT: "Happiness is having lots of fun. Party hard, party on......"   
THE.FuTuRe: "Happiness is having power, status, wealth, a legacy....."   
CoNTeNDeR: "Fu**ed if I know, but I am not listening to you guys." 
 
<a href="http://www.getintheringwithme.blogspot.com/2013/04/10-happiness-guidelines.html" target="_blank">10 happiness guidelines</a> was posted earlier in the year which looked at a few topics around the happiness of the mind such as being positive and putting things into perspective.  
 
Here are a few ideas on actions on how the Tribe i sseeking achievement of personal happiness. 
 
What is personal happiness anyway?  
 
Whilst it is impossible to define happiness, after all it is a word that means a million different things. We can consider it a key part of our journey through life. We want to enjoy and extend ourselves to live our precious hours on this planet to the max. 
 
There are a few things that can be done to help seeking happiness such as avoiding distractions. Shopping and superfluous entertainment media such as soap operas come to mind. They waste time that could be spent with our friends, family and the great outdoors. Some free personal time allows you to reflect on what is really important to you and how lucky you are for what you have - there is always someone worse off (as for better off that is a matter of opinion). 
 
Most distractions incur a monetary cost and MONEY IS TIME. So avoiding frivolous distractions will reduce / eliminate unneeded spending. Keep your money and your time instead of selling it on the open market to someone else for their benefit. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins,
 somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply 
transferred from one perception to another." - Gordon Gekko</blockquote>
Time Ideas for a Happy Life 
<ol>
<li>Meet your friends and family as much as possible  </li>
<ol>
<li>A meal, kids running around, bottle of wine and table talk. What a great way to relax, switch off and just go with the flow.  </li>
<li>Building strong relationships, helping out (when asked might I add) and giving are all simple pleasures in life and are free.  Have a look at the posts <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/community-help-part-1-10-amazing.html">Community HELP! Part 1 - 10 Amazing Blessings</a> and <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/early-retirement-at-36-charity-time-r6.html">Early Retirement at 36 - Charity Time?</a> </li></ol></ol>

6 Happy Time Ideas

Simple timeless pleasure - a free walk THE.PaST : "Happiness is doing well in school, getting a god job yadda yadda......" ...

Maintaining Wealth II - We are all Investors Now

Contender 0 Black Swan, Critical Thinking, Dividends, Finance, Financial Armageddon, Gold, Inflation, Investing, Saving 16:03

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMT2LXXCUY23luSE5CxLn1XbS9-pqgbFpdkGkAGC9f6iS6tV8ZfI1oRSjy5P8pziPUudmLQ4mba0y1X5t_Cu7Z8fCibTcuEB86odvzRID7Uge_aI4-iLlTjqEswajXX2b_pWMvk9CVdDl6/s1600/InvestmentChoice.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMT2LXXCUY23luSE5CxLn1XbS9-pqgbFpdkGkAGC9f6iS6tV8ZfI1oRSjy5P8pziPUudmLQ4mba0y1X5t_Cu7Z8fCibTcuEB86odvzRID7Uge_aI4-iLlTjqEswajXX2b_pWMvk9CVdDl6/s320/InvestmentChoice.png" width="320"></a> 
TiMe: "Dring, Dring, TiMe to wake up sheeple" 
 
THE.FuTuRE: "Shussssh! They are sleep walking towards a cliff. We are providing wonderful <strike>distractions</strike> entertainment for them. Just look at all of their happy faces. Everything is great. There is no need to think just enjoy! Until I am ready to claim my pound of flesh MurrrGH HA HA HA" 
 
CoNTeNDeR: "Oi you evil B****** we the people will not stand for your bull****. We are waking up in our droves, turning off the entertainment and thinking about what you are up to. Financial freedom from your tyranny.  We are  lemmings no more and are turning away from the cliff - watch out below FuTuRE" 
 
In <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.com/2013/12/maintaining-wealth-i-bitcoins-and-real.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a> of this post we had a look at Paper Money, E-currency, Commodities, Real Estate and bonds. Today we are looking at Stocks, Land and investing in oneself as additional wealth preservation options worth considering. 
 
Stocks - Growing Profits? 
 
What
 value can you give to a company, let alone picking the winners in the 
stock market? This issue has flummoxed investors for years. 
 
Owning
 part of a company gives you an interest in that company's profits. 
Provided the profits keep rolling in due to a competitive advantage, the
 company should have some longevity. 
 
Perhaps looking 
for companies that have a distinct brand, product or advantage such as 
extremely difficult barrier to entry are the place to be. Those 
companies will grow in value along with their sales and / or return some
 of that profit back to shareholders through buybacks or dividends. 
 
Companies generate wealth - can you pick the right ones? THE.ConTeNDeR is trying see the <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.fr/2013/11/screener-for-value-and-dividend-stocks.html">Screener for Value and Dividend Stocks Here</a> 
 
For a seasoned professionals take on stocks for the long term, check out some articles by <a href="http://www.investmentu.com/2013/October/a-near-perfect-portfolio.html" target="_blank">Alex green from InvestmentU</a> and I am a fan of his book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470598204/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0470598204&linkCode=as2&tag=thecontfinain-21" id="static_txt_preview" target="_blank">The Secret of Shelter Island: Money and What Matters</a> 
Warren Buffet even has a <a href="http://www.ivillage.com/warren-buffett-teaches-money-lessons-kids-cartoon/6-a-533797" target="_blank">cartoon series for kids on investing</a>. 
 
Tribe's opinion - Stocks allow the building of a diversified set of businesses. If stocks were not available it would probably be difficult to invest in diverse ideas such as graphene, new drugs and technology companies such as Google. Core holding. 
 
Arable Land 
 
An interesting investment class in THE.CoNTeNDeR's
 opinion. Precious renewable resources can be harvested from arable land
 year after year making it a very profitable investment class.  
 
Invest
 in woodland and you get free winter fuel and can sell the excess. 
Farmland can be planted for delicious fresh vegetables to be sold down 
the market. 
 
THE.ConTeNDeR likes the idea of some
 arable land next to his house. From a purely financial independence 
perspective 'free' heating, vegetables and eggs would reduce our living 
costs substantially. 
 
The <a href="http://www.transitionnetwork.org/" target="_blank">Transition network</a>
 are keen on this concept to help preserve the planet and combat 
resource depletion. They do a good bit on supporting communities as 
well. 
 
Tribe's opinion - We really think owing a bit of land even if it is used by someone else is a good idea and something we are looking at for THE.FuTuRe

Maintaining Wealth II - We are all Investors Now

TiMe : "Dring, Dring, TiMe to wake up sheeple" THE.FuTuRE : "Shussssh! They are sleep walking towards a cliff. We are pro...

Screener Updated

Contender 0 Investing, Oil, Schiller PE10, Silver, stock screen, Wheat 14:12

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The Stock Screener and Market analysis spreadsheet has been updated and a few more analysis graphs have been added. 
<ul>
<li>PE10 and Real Commodity Prices have been updated</li>
<li>Historical Debt to GDP and population growth analysis has been added for the US and the UK</li>
<li>All sources of information are included in the spreadsheet </li>
</ul>
Future improvements will be made to give a bigger picture of asset class valuations e.g. supply and demand of a commodity which can then be looked at further. Further long term trend analysis is another interest 
 
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/lifeplanltd/home/StockScreener.xlsm?attredirects=0&d=1" target="_blank">Click here</a> to download* - its introduction post can be <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.com/2013/11/screener-for-value-and-dividend-stocks.html" target="_blank">found here </a> 
 
Peace, prosperity and happiness 
 
THE.CONTENDER 
 
Welcome New CONTENDER Readers! Please take a look around. 
 
<a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-me.html" target="_blank">Here you can find out about </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">THE.CONTENDER</a> and the purpose of the blog is or perhaps browse the <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/all-posts-get-in-ring.html" target="_blank">all posts list</a>, have a <a href="http://pinterest.com/gitrwm/contender-vs-the-future/" target="_blank">look at the pictures on the notice board</a><a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-me.html#random" rel="13"></a>. Please feel free to play with the <a href="http://getintheringwithme.blogspot.co.uk/p/muff-tools-and-check-lists.html" target="_blank">planning tools and checklists</a>. 
 
Keep in Touch:  <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/MuffFreeLifeAndExtremeFinancialFreedomPlanningTools" target="_new">RSS Feed</a>, follow THE.CONTENDER on <a href="https://twitter.com/The__Contender" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Contender/368729006562792" target="_blank">Facebook </a>or subscribe to posts by email: 
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* Like everything on this website the tools 
have been created for personal use / entertainment purposes. The 
information is as accurate as far as the author is aware (unfortunately 
he is human and is prone to mistakes from time to time - **** happens). THE.CoNTeNDeR
 is not a financial adviser just a guy who is on the cusp of financial 
independence for his little tribe through frugality and investing for THE.FuTuRe.  
 
Please read the disclaimer that comes with 
this website and always do your own due diligence and research. Seek 
professional advice as required.

Screener Updated

The Stock Screener and Market analysis spreadsheet has been updated and a few more analysis graphs have been added. PE10 an...

Maintaining Wealth I - Bitcoins and Real Estate

Contender 2 Black Swan, Critical Thinking, Dividends, Finance, Financial Armageddon, Gold, Inflation, Investing, Saving 20:18

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THE.FuTuRE: "Contender you wuss, what is all this talk about income, growth and protection investments. I will take it all from you eventually. I have time on my side" 
 
TiMe: "Tick Tock, Tick Tock" 
 
CoNTeNDeR: "Precisely FuTuRe I have no idea what you are really up to. Heck I had a guess at the outlook for the year and how did that come out.....so I need a bit of diversification because of all of your conniving, plotting and outright corruption!" 
 
We are living in very interesting times especially with regards building and maintaining wealth. 
 
In this post we cover the TRiBe's options for investments in currency, commodities real estate and bonds with examples and opinions on some of the pro's and con's? 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
 "You have much more opportunity 
to earn money than you do to 'not spend' money, and yet most people spend hours 
upon hours clipping coupons and perusing daily deal sites instead of 
brainstorming how to earn more money and solve 
people's problems." - Susan Fujii</blockquote>
In the second post we will be looking at other investment classes such as stocks and yourself followed by the TRiBe is current thinking. 
 
Paper Money Supply - Blind Faith? 
 
Since 1970 when Nixon took the world off the gold standard there has been no anchor to excessive money / currency creation. Governments have control over the supply of their currencies and they can determine the ultimate value of the currency in circulation depending on the amount in circulation. 
 
Previously if people wanted to save their labour and future buying power through the means of a currency, they could chose a checking account. It earned interest that was enough to offset any excessive increase in the currency supply. This is certainly not the case at the moment, interest rates are artificially low and people are being 'guided' to riskier investments for a return. 
 
One may ask but why is the currency supply increasing above the increase in productive capacity of the economy. Unfortunately this is easy to attribute to governments' fiscal irresponsibility. Excessive overspending is used to buy votes from the electorate. 
 
Alternatively if a country has strong institutions, low spending and fiscal responsibility - holding that countries currency is less of a concern. 
 
Fiat Money is covered by <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005GSYZRA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B005GSYZRA&linkCode=as2&tag=thecontfinain-21" id="static_txt_preview" target="_blank">Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis</a> by James Rickards, and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0718192141/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0718192141&linkCode=as2&tag=thecontfinain-21" id="static_txt_preview" target="_blank">Paper Promises: Money, Debt and the New World Order</a> by Phillip Coggan. There is also a good video to watch by Warren Buffet highlights how <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DvuyvuHmJI" target="_blank">countries get into trouble in the first place</a>. 
 
See the video series <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyV0OfU3-FU" target="_blank">Hidden Secrets of Money</a> by Mike Maloney 
 
Tribes opinion - it is so easy to transact in paper money and in the governments interest to keep them in place we will always keep some in our portfolio. 
 
Electronic Currencies - How Many? 
 
We now have alternative currencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin hitting the news wires for their massive gain in relative value to reference currencies such as the US dollar. 
 
Firstly there are many people in favour to the inbuilt scarcity of the digital coins. Secondly they are not issued by any government and they are scattered globally that make them uniquely difficult to manipulate. 
 
One thing that is a red flag to THE.ConTENdER is what stops an unlimited amount of new versions of electronic currencies being created? 
 
Will the herd just jump from e-currency to e-currency chasing gains - see a list of them <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptocurrencies" target="_blank">here (10 listed)</a>? THE.CoNTeNDeR thinks this is highly likely until the number of e-currency options goes to infinity or faith in them is destroyed. Their value will go the same way as fiat currencies trending towards their intrinsic production value of close to zero. 
 
What may save them is if the herd all commit to ONE e-currency. 
 
One thing preventing this e-currency utopia is ... human nature. We are opportunistic and after an easy meal / fast buck. Our prehistoric past moulded us that way. When we were being chased by sabre toothed tigers whilst eeking out an existence coming across a free lunch in the form of a dead Mammoth. 
 
Will everyone commit to one e-currency? I would like to think it could happen but who can tame  human nature. Will we have to live in a dystopian future where we all take the happy pill to keep us controlled? 
 
Zero hedge recently <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-27/presenting-bitkillers-these-are-richest-holders-bitcoin" target="_blank">reported that 100 people hold 20% </a>of the bitcoin currency - a new type of Ponzi scheme in the making? Create a new e-currency holding a large percentage of the issue then cash in and move on as the perceived value burns. Who is left holding the proverbial handbag - the new entrants - good luck or what a good SUCKER!- THE.FuTuRe would be impressed! 
 
See this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_hBhymFfm8" target="_blank">utube documentary on bitcoin</a> 
 
Tribes opinion - Speculative and almost impossible to value - mine some coins by all means* but only purchase if you have some spare gambling money :) 
 
* THE.CoNTeNDeR has had a go at mining. The setup is a pain, it is geeky, based on lots of technical know how. To mine alot of coins and to really exceed requires specialise mining rigs - a currency for the people - you must be joking! 
 
Next up commodities

Maintaining Wealth I - Bitcoins and Real Estate

THE.FuTuRE : "Contender you wuss, what is all this talk about income, growth and protection investments. I will take it all from you ...

Welcome to FISH !
You have come here looking for answers. How to get out of debt? How to save and invest? How to retire early and how you want to live in retirement.

Well this is the right place for you as out tribe has been through all of these steps. We no longer work for a corporate employer and have saved enough to retire early. How we did this is shared here on this site for you.

Our little tribe found out these secrets to financial independence in our late 20’s. Since then we have taken early retirement, in our late 30's, in just 7 years. We now live in the South West of France with our two young children.

Along the way I decided to share everything I learnt. My articles and tips on aggressive saving and compound investing are there to help you meet your financial goals fast. I discuss ways to help you decide what you want by building a life plan. This helps to work out how to get where you want to be whilst avoiding the pitfalls along the way.

My expertise was built up working in blue chip corporate jobs, extensive reading and putting it into practice. I have condensed this knowledge into simple strategies to help you meet your goals and not those of the bank or the place you work.

There are free planning tools on this site that help you make a life plan. A plan for your future. The tools calculate how to reach your financial goals in a timeline that suits you. The tools help set out your life goals, make them happen and how to exceed them.

There are tips on how to simplifying your life to remove day to day headaches. These include ways to pay off debt fast buy eliminating wasteful spending habits. How to reduce your monthly bills through choices that actually improve your health and wellbeing. Identifying things you don’t need that sap your time and wallet.

There are little sustainability projects to reduce your dependence on shops and utilities whilst saving money to spend on things you want.

All of these little steps will show you how save 50%+ of your salary so you can meet your goal whatever it is. This huge saving rate can be compounded for very early retirement. I am sure you will find something here for you.

Darren Lee (A.K.A the Contender as in my blog)

FISH | Financial Independence Seeking Happiness

6 Happy Time Ideas

Maintaining Wealth II - We are all Investors Now

Screener Updated

Maintaining Wealth I - Bitcoins and Real Estate

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