Uncredited Success

Although it's too early to say, there are some accomplishments or hurdles that i don't have to tackle anymore because they've been put behind me. These ones that I'm referring to are ones that I don't get credit for because others achieved them for me.

In fact, truth is that i would've probably failed in tackling these circumstances which led me to think whether i should be proud about these kinds of accomplishments. I decided that if i were to be proud about it, that would mean i'm an idiot. But i suppose there's nothing wrong with enjoying the fact that you don't have to face the problem anymore.

What's more important, i realize, is that you should learn humility when this happens. Humility will keep your eyes and mind clear of reality. With a clearer mind, you're better positioned to become a better person.

Let's hope that at the end of our lives, we've progressed a long way as a HUMAN PERSON (haven't used that term since college) from where we started.

What is serving God? It is doing good to man - Benjamin Franklin

In my last blog, i tried to illustrate what life with options is like vs life without options. When you reach a certain stage where you are more than financially well off for the rest of your life, what do you do next? According to Andrew Carnegie, it is the obligation of the rich to share their wealth. Actually a more accurate statement for me would be that it is the obligation of the rich to share the wealth that is entrusted to them. Entrusted by whom? For me, it is said in Matthew 25:14-29.

Matthew 25:14-29
"For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents saying 'Master, you entrusted give talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours' But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.' For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away."

As you can see, we really don't own anything in this world. Resources and wealth are only entrusted to us and at most, we just borrow them. As Benjamin Franklin would say, if your wealth was really yours, why don't you take it to the other side of the world with you?

If you believe as I believe, that the resources and wealth that we have access to belongs to a higher power and not to us, you may also believe as I do that we will be held accountable for what we do with it. I believe that the true owner of the world's wealth wants us to grow and maximize our wealth and more importantly not waste it. One of the best ways to waste wealth is to hold it just like the wicked lazy slave did. Imagine living in a small world where there are only 10 of you and you control 90% of the world's resources such as food supply and just held on to it for fear of losing it or simply for indulging in it. That is what most of the rich do with the wealth and resources they control, especially in poor nations. They don't find ways for their society to enjoy it so as a result, their society is impoverished. Because their society is impoverished, they sometimes complain and wonder why they live in an impoverished society.

Ofcourse, the wealthy cannot simply give out wealth and resources to the poor and must allocate it WISELY. Andrew Carnegie would say that it would be just as bad as not giving it in the first place since they probably won't use it properly and only waste it. Only a few in this world know how to allocate resources properly whereas many don't. For Andrew Carnegie, he believed that it's the people who amassed their own fortune in this world that is best fit and required to allocate resources to society. This makes sense since it is also the rich who controls a major portion of the resources in his (or her) society in the first place.

Anyway, this is just a matter of personal opinion that I'd like to share.

Maintain and Increase Options

What i am about to write are thoughts from my own and from others that i've learned about wealth, focusing on the mechanics and general principles of its nature.

What is the general characteristic of a rich man vs. a poor man other than the rich man having more money? My conversation with an elderly man (for many men are wiser than I) told me that in general, the rich have more options available to them than the poor. So by having more options, the rich can afford to reject more options than the poor can. By being unable to reject options, the poor have to swallow up whatever's offered to them including oppressive offers. "Necessity never made a good bargain" as Benjamin Franklin would say. Perhaps we can also say that it is difficult to bargain against someone with many alternatives. It is clear that the more options one has, the more choices he can make. The more choices he can make, the more FREEDOM he has.

So how does one who is in his 20s and starting out his career create more options and opportunities for himself so that he may one day be free from money troubles? To begin with, most people rely on one source of income. It could be from one's employment, business or family (spouse or daddy and mommy or even grandpapa). Given that we live in a dynamic world where things go up and down continuously, odds are that your current source (or sources) of income have a limited life span and it is out of your control. Like people, what was once there will turn into air, and it is also out of your control. If you don't believe this, you should study business history. So while your current source of income is pumping out cash for you, save and preserve that cash and look for ways for it to generate more cash for you. I guess it's called investing. This takes some work and effort but it could save your financial life when your only source of income goes down or when you're unable to maintain it (because you get physically injured and unable to work). However, becareful not to spread yourself too thin when diversifying. Maintain a balance. Neither under diversify nor over diversify. Should you be successful in generating sufficient income from other sources, you'll be more ready to lose your original source of income, which in time becomes more possible whether you're ready or not. When you already have multiple sources of income, don't get too complacent. Continue to look for other sources. Your multiple sources of income still have a good chance of going down if you give it enough time (again, it is out of your control). The dow, since 1928 have continuously been going up and along the way, it dropped 26 out of 30 of the 1928 components and continuously replaced it with others. Maintain and increase your options. Maintain and increase your sources of cash flow and perhaps you shall be set free.