Theo Burchell > Recent Status Updates

Introduction etc, ab how he got hit on the head by a baseball bat and had to go through rehab to get back on track and his getting into habits helped him fulfill his potential in baseball

Chapter 20:
This was about his experience with investment and what he does. He values independence so that is his goal, he has no mortgage on his house and live frugally on only what he likes which is reading and walking (cheap). This means he invests the rest allowing for compound interest and saving. Not for anything inperticar but just as a safety for the unexpected.

Chapter 19:
This was a summery with the key points:
Be kind when going right and forgiveness when going wrong, have less ego and more wealth, manage money to help you sleep at night, increase your time horizon, be ok with things going wrong, use money to control your time, be nicer and less flashy, save for no point, define the cost of success, worship room for error, define the game your playing.

Chapter 18:
The idea of perception and how we fill in the gaps of things we don’t know with stories and how when we want something to be true we use things to back ourselves up rather than find evidence against it. E.g. we’d rather no go into a recession but in 2007-9 we were but no one predicted it in a forecast. Of which nothing is predictable / controlled people just like to feel they can control things.

Chapter 17:
This was about the difference in optimism and pessimism and how people love to be pessimistic bc it’s hard to be optimistic. Basically the thought that things will go bad or stay the same is easier to think about than the idea that everything will be fine therefore people choose the first.

Chapter 16:
This was about knowing the game you are playing + how it is different to the game others are playing, e.g a long term investor is there for 30 years whereas a day trader wants to make £3 per stock by the end of the day, different plans. The mistake comes when you start using one idea to influence the other. A long term trader shouldn’t get caught up in whether there will be a recession or not next year

Chapter 15:
This was about selecting what you want because nothing is free and knowing the cost of everything even if it says it’s free it will always have a long term cost. always.

Chapter 14:
This was about decision and how our opinions and thoughts change over time, obviously right? How a child’s dream of becoming a tractor driver is unrealistic and how someone 18 can make a decision you stick with till you’re 80. It was saying that decisions change and we should plan for those decisions to change.

Chapter 13:
plan for your plan to not go to plan. We can always plan for the main stuff but the random stuff can creep up on us, which is why having a buffer and safety net is essential when planning. (Like the mice in ww2 stalingrad). Basically we can never be certain therefore plan for things to go wrong and you will be safer than those who don’t.

Chapter 12:
This was about surprises, and how they cause the greatest shifts in the economy and everyday life. Therefore w shouldn’t look to the past for current specific advice and rather use the past to form general opinions on money and trends, like how people behave under stress. History also doesn’t have context, we have changed a lot as a world since ‘x’ yet people think it will happen again.

Chapter 11:
Being reasonable is better than. Being rational bc being reasonable you can explain and justify allowing you to believe in it whereas being rational can cause you to leave to early (in stocks that is). It is also very easy to think behaviour rationally however thinking reasonable is the greatest way to predict that behaviour and succeed.

Chapter 10:
This chapter was about saving and why you should do it. It says that saving is the gap between what you absolutely need to spend and what you do spend. It says that spending gives you freedom to choose and gives you a cushion for life’s uncertainties. Basically - save so you can have the freedom of wealth and choice in the future and this is done by setting your ego aside and doing it.

Chapter 9:
This chapter was about wealth over being rich. Rich being spending money and showing that you have the money through cars or houses whereas wealth is the ability to choose and have options because of money. It is more financially freeing to be wealthy but a lot harder because there are few role models of wealthy people but a lot of rich people because being wealthy means saving and choosing.

Chapter 8:
This was short, it was about the idea of buying expensive things to impress others. It said that rarely do we admire the people in the cars or houses but rather admire the admiration they may get for having them and think of ourselves getting that respect and admiration. Therefore the expensive things don’t bring respect so we should learn to get it ourselves and not rely on money for it.

Chapter 7:
This was about using money as a tool for freedom rather than money dictating what you do day to day. For example an investment banker (idealised job) has little time for himself or little freedom to do what he wants, whereas a musician gets to choose who, when, where, and why they do what they do rather than money dictating it. So, use money as a tool to dictate your own life and use it to be free.

Chapter 6:
This chapter was about tail events / wins. Which are 1 in a million events that cause the success. Much like investing 90% of the time you loose money, but 1% causes that 50x of your investment making you a lot of money. So the main idea is to know that 90% of the time it will fail but 5% might make you a lot.

Chapter 5:
This chapter was about learning to stay rich instead of get rich. A lot of people e.g Rick guerin who lost it all in the stock market alongside warren buffet who stood strong. It is about staying financially stable and survival as well as planning less than you think bc there will always be a curveball. And lastly, to be optimistic ab the future but paranoid. (And don’t have a swelled head!!!)