Reader Muzie had shared with us some great comments. Thanks! I feel compelled to respond which should allow me to elaborate more on my thoughts and myself :) Here goes.

Does it truly matter Piggy?

No, it does not. What truly matters is the questions that I was trying to provoke beyond my words for everyone who reads it. And that is different for everyone, because what truly matters for each person is also unique. We already spend too much time measuring all kinds of shit in our life and have come to value quantity vs. quality. More is better. Bigger is better. Success is determined by how famous, powerful, and rich one gets.

I like to talk about money and personal finance sometimes because it is a practical side of modern life, so it is relevant. Moreover, it enables me to bring out deeper questions. And now, writing these thoughts remind me of what a sign in Einstein’s office says, “There are something that counts that cannot be counted, and there are things that can be counted that don’t count.”

I suppose I want us to explore what cannot be counted :) and to approach through what can be counted. In another sense, we take care what matter less so that we can focus on what matters but without mistaken what matter less as priority in the process.

There is a saying in Chinese, 本末倒置 (ben mo dao zhi), which can be interpreted as mistaking the means as the end, or overemphasizing methods in the expense of content/quality.

You said yourself you’ve tried to trade markets, and found it didn’t work. Thus I assume you are investing this money for the long term. 10, 20, 30 years from now, most of us will look at this time like a blip on the radar, an episode of little or no consequence.

You are right about the blip thing. I have tried trading from couple years back and have gained experience (and still learning). I have already said before trading market is like gambling. You can make it big with some expertise and some luck, but you can lose equally as much. For us with couple decades, it matters little because the average will likely not change whatever we do. Invest stably or trade aggressively. I think everything evens out at “the end”.

I mentioned choosing the allocation, which still matters for many because it will depend on their situation, what they think is “enough”, what they think of the market trend, and how they will react to certain scenarios. I also think it is okay to adjust one’s strategy base on experience and learning.

I went through the same process. I was thinking “do I really want to place my whole life in the hands of others who may or may not be willing to buy these stocks I have now, for a higher price later on?” or “Does “financial independence” really mean anything when it is essentially tied to the fickle mood and nature of a mob of people?

On the other, I can see this same mob is extremely cautious now. Yes, yes, stocks are up 25%. They are still lower than twelve years ago. I find that saying people are being exuberant in any shape or form is very much stretching the reality.

Whenever I read that market is selling off after a small rally, such short-term trading is a detraction from investing and should not be call investing. That is again, gambling (hence, there are some lucky winners). Makes me want to throw porcupines at people.

So I definitely agree with you. Do we really rely on such fickle stock market for “financial independence”? What with all these “experts” who are not more than operating with emotions and thoughts of greed and self-interest? Even the way people had become tight-wad with the money now, is merely an emotional reaction. Like a pendulum, from one extreme (overspending) to the next (not spending at all). “Exuberant” being the word, as you used. This is not a change brought about by true understanding of themselves and reality, it will hardly be permanent.

I took action in November and got 100% invested again. I will take no further action and have discovered I can live with the consequences should the money disappear.

The fact is, we know the market is fickle on short-term because it is mostly a reflection of current human nature and behavior. On the long-term, we still have high possibility of some sort of average growth to rely on… Well, or that our market could have disappeared, which is unlikely but if happens, we will have much more serious problems to deal with than worrying about investment.

Therefore, the path is clear. I am also invested and I continue to add to the pool.

The crash made me discover I can live with a feeling of abundance if I realign my values. Which doesn’t mean selling everything and calculating every possible scenario of doom, as I did back last summer.

True financial independence, I now think, is realizing if the money I have now completely disappears, I am confident in the value of my skills and my will that I can make money again.

After all that I have just said, let me go back to the 1st question. Does it really matter? Nope, and Muzie, what you said is exactly why. Awareness, critical thinking, introspection, and finding of your own values, are all things that I attempt to promote whenever I write… and it leads to your answer, which is also mine. A sort of a detached mentality that allows us to operate optimally because we have a sense of understand of ourselves, reality, and what is important.

I had walked myself many times through disastrous scenarios, not as worries but as to practice and see my own reactions. I am confident that with my abilities and physical status, if I lose all my money, my job, and my home, I will survive.

I also agree that retirement isn’t nirvana. In fact, feeling disengaged from society and unable to contribute is what I imagine can put many seniors in depression. Retirement goals have become a psychological burden for all of us and it’s very liberating to have an “I’ll be OK” attitude. I stil think aiming to gather a million $ is a worthwhile goal. It’s very satifying to know one has enough money to have extra freedom from financial ties. But I view it more as a “gift” now than a pre-requisite for further happiness. I still think stocks will do their 7-8% over time – but I don’t think view it as “a waste” if it doesn’t happen.

Yes, I agree that gathering a million is still a worthwhile and interesting milestone. I also agree that we can bet on some % of return averaged over time. Personally, I find 5-8% that will make me happy, and of course, understanding that I am betting my money still (less of gambling vs. short-term trade).

As for retirement, I will address in the next post. It’s going to be too long for here :P

It is good to stand back, observe these things and the market, but one must not get himself influenced too much by other people who, at the end, don’t know any more than we do what will happen. The world and its economy is a supremely complex machine, and even those that say inflation is a given I think are slightly arrogant and over-confident in their abilities.

Truth be told, none of us knows what is going to happen. Inflation is likely because the Fed went on a frenzy with printing money, which dilute the value of each dollar. But like you said, the system is vast and there are too many variables. Again, no one knows what is going to happen. Experts, no experts. Some may have lucky guesses. Some more lucky than others. One thing is certain, is that the system will ultimately correct itself. ie. like people say we need a smarter planet, which is a bunch of bull crap because the planet is as smart as it could be, and it will be fine… it may just become a planet without humans :P

General people either think something’s very good (before) or very bad (now) going to happen and act to the extreme on those thoughts and emotions. There is almost no middle ground. They had forgotten to stand back and observe to see things as they are. This is exactly awareness, which enable us to see and learn to the best of our ability. Thus, we can make the best choices possible in the moment. And they are not results of being told or because we feel this or think that. That is self-realization and true living.

In the end, all these money, social, political stuffs… matter very little. On the surface, we have the market… hypes of technology… the next best thing. Underlying, we are in a world running amok with emotions and thoughts — ego. And people seem too invested in it to pull out of it (to be able to stand back and observe), which mean things will only get worse, even if it appears good.

I will end by saying — We live in a very interesting age. And we do what we can :)

Update: Forgot the extra comment…

It is not our job to become mini-macro-economists. We cannot be. One has to look the market in the eye, see how willing they are to actually take a chance losing money, and act accordingly.

I don’t totally agree that “it is not our job to become mini-macro-economists.” I believe we have responsibility to learn things that are relevant in our life, than depending on experts, especially with the amount of resources available now. No, we will not be in position to know all the details and dirts, but there is a certain level understanding that can be reached, and it is a responsibility to learn these things closely related to our life.

All there is in life are just “relationships”.

It is not our job to become nutritionist nor trainer, but does that mean we just eat whatever and do whatever? I’d like to say no. But yes, one can start dieting and training, while learn through mistakes and experience and act accordingly.

After witnessing much tumbling in the stock market for the past few months, the gain from last six weeks is probably making many people all warm and fuzzy.

I cannot help but feel ambivalent.

On one hand, it is nice to see the numbers going back up when I do my monthly tracking. It makes us feel like we are moving past the bottom of everything (probably not yet).

On the other hand, the problem of excess runs deep into every bones in the economy and financial system. That means to completely get rid of the ill in the system, because it is so large, must take its own time and pace.

Albeit nice to see a recovery now, if there appears to be a recovery so soon, it is most probable that the problem in the system is merely being swept under the rug for a few years — meaning a worse crash in a few years. Not a real recovery. A long bear market to shed the excess in system suddenly seems not so bad in place of a worse crash (implosion of the system) than what we have seen.

That is what I believed anyways.

As a result, I think it is really important to see how things work out this year and plan one’s investing strategy accordingly. If we do recover by the beginning of next year, a bigger crash seems imminent. And what about inflation? It almost seems like there is no place to put our money, but this only means the understanding of the market AND yourself the more important.

At this point in time, if a person truly value [long-term] financial security and personal finance, one must review carefully what is important, and therefore, what is enough in life to decide what to do and then the amount of % in cash, bond, and stock he wants to hold for the years down the road.

What do I really NEED?
What can I live on with? And without?
Does it really take a million?
Do I really need to be completely not working (AKA. retirement)? <– ‘Tis a bigger topic later.
What is truly important? Happiness? Peace? Relentless excitement?
What does it mean to be healthy? (medical cost)
What does it mean to live?

Last thing, I believe one must be careful to consider if he wants to fully risk obediently chasing after the ghost of 6-8% average gain in stock market. I thought of this when I kept reading people in their late 40s and 50s losing almost half their portfolio… if they truly had diversified, meaning not holding everything in equity, would they yet lose half their portfolio? I am thinking maybe 30% instead of half. I guess it could be the problem of some fund managers.

For every action in this world, there is an intention behind it.

To know yourself, it is very important to be aware of this intention behind each action. Therefore, to choose which action to take, one can first decide on this intention.

Notice I used the word “pure” instead of “good”. There lies the key because purity has nothing to do with good (or evil). What action follows the intention may not always be considered “good”, at least at certain time to certain people. So by pure, I mean to the degree which you are aware — of yourself and reality, as they are. Hence, if you are going to be evil, how pure can you be, act, and follow through on your evil intention.

Also notice that I also used the word “intention” instead of “thought” because the thought behind the action may not be the true intention. We have gotten too proficient in deceiving ourselves with our minds. Therefore it is important to examine the thought behind the action to be aware whether that is true intention. We must be honest with ourselves.

For example, charity donation. It is often discussed, especially on personal finance blogs, as many have it as part of their budget. Some questions I could think of for that is (for you to explore but not for me to answer and decide right or wrong)…

Is it to be done because we SHOULD?
Is it to be done because we will feel good about ourselves?
Is it to be done because others will cheer and praise us?
Is it to be done because of tax breaks?
Is it to be done because we feel guilty of all these “stuff” we have?

Or, is it to be done because we are truly compassionate about people out there who are starving, malnutritioned, without homes, without education, etc.?

One other quick example is… behind many actions that we take, how many of them is all about money? I understand we have to be practical in life, which is why I have a job, but I cannot help but wonder, money… is that all there is to our life?

Learning about yourself. Learning about your true intention. Finding that pure intention is important.

Acting out of that pure intention leaves no room for regret because that means you fully understand the circumstances and is making the best choice, and that choice is solely yours. As a result, you are also being fully responsible. It leaves no room for “I should have this, or I should have that” or “So and so told me to do it” or “If I had known better…” (because you could not have know better if you were already fully aware)

Therefore, “When the intention is pure, the action follows.” Given that the person is being honest with himself about his intention.

It will also do us well to be observant and fully aware of others’ intention behind the actions. That way, we know who are friends, and who are… not-so-friendly.

Lastly, I want to link this to the law of attraction. The law of attraction has been thrown around A LOT. Consequently, “affirmative thinking” has also gotten pretty trendy. Maybe it works for someone but I don’t believe in “affirmative thinking”. What I believe is that the true mechanism of attraction… lies in this pure intention. Thus, to make the law of attraction works with you requires awareness.

Whatever type of TRUE intention you have, things and intentions of the same types will happen more frequently. Note again, intention can be different from thought, especially for people who barely know themselves. If your true intention means well, better things will more likely to happen to you. Likewise, if your true intention is one of anger, hatred, selfishness, more of that will also happen to you. If the intention is half good half bad… I suppose that cancels out.

And well, if you don’t know your true intention, then everything around you probably seems to happen at random.

The paradox is though, if you go around doing good things because good things will happen to you, that is a selfish intention… and it also falls back onto the “agenda mindset” that I talked about last. Something I leave for us to think about.

Everything we have these days seem to be designed to be fast and easy for us to get somewhere, to have done something — always having a destination in the mind.

Everything we do had become a mean to an end.

When we do that, we have made the means almost meaningless. As such, when we reach the end, we will most certainly regret, or be in denial, because we have given up everything for this end… only that, this end… this moment you have hoped and wished and dreamed about is not much more special than all the other moments you have sacrificed, if it is more special at all.

That is why I said, “We are trying so hard to live now that we are not living.”

Everything is a mean to an end. For modern people, the end is a moving target. Then everything becomes a mean, meaning there is no end to their pursuit. They ignore this moment. They have little respect for
whatever they do now.

Living in the moment is just that. Not for sake of peace. Not for the sake of happiness. When you seek, you have not. But that is not what we teach. That is not what the society teach to next generation.

The idea of good behavior is no longer because of the good behavior itself but becase you can get something out of it. This agenda mindset, has seeped into most aspects of our daily life, and has led to the perversion of everything that we do. The rampant desire for an end has overwhelmed the quality of the means.

It is not wrong to have an end. Just that the means are always perverted (meaning, bad shit happens) when one is concern only about the end. Because we will do anything to get to the end. That’s how desires make us do bad things.

For example…

The virtue of frugality lies in its non-wastefulness, not because you will have lots of money and become millionaires.

The goal of relationship is the relationship itself, not because you NEED to network, or that you will become happy or you will get something out of the relationship.

The reason to create quality is for the quality itself.

One of the way I determine success now is, “Am I being sincere in the moment of doing whatever I am doing?” Sincere being the keyword. The more I can be sincere, the more “successful” I consider myself.

I will just quickly recap a few things that’s been going on in my life. Those who do not care, you can stop here :)

My mixed choir at the local community had its first major public performance on Sunday. The concert was a success and was 3 seats (out of 400) from being sold out, in a brand new performance center on campus! I was happy with my own performance. Not perfect, but good. It is a good feeling to see myself improving over the last few months. From what I can hear, we sounded great and our audience seemd to be impress. Yay.

The concert was quite inclusive as it featured other groups including women choir and another local men’s choir and then, the performance includes acapaella, piano accompanied, pieces from different era, and a major choral piece with full orchestra — Gloria by Vivaldi. My personal favorite is a piece called If Music be the Food of Love.

Choir asides, I am learning this song, Se tu mami, se sospiri, for my other singing class, and also I am in the process of mastering Canon in C by Pachelbe. One of my favoirte piano piece! I’m really pushing myself to learn it, because it’s just my 3-4 years learning piano. You’ve probably heard it somewhere :)

All these while, I am still working, staying with my work out routine, and recovering from my 2 weeks old cold. A lot to keep up? Maybe, but if I die tomorrow, I would not care. Just living my life the best way I know how.

It’s no excuse though… but I want to share what’s happening that keeps me away from writing. Writing something haphazardly and not of quality just to have a blog post is the last thing I want.

Well, this is a little more about me than the usual writings :P