On quotes and Cafe's

Some cafe's in Wellington have this nice habit of writing some quotes on their ad boards to attract customers. One such that caught my eye was:

"A dry crust of bread served in peace is better than a steak served with an argument".

The accompanying photo though was taken in Christchurch.

I will be posting more such quotes in future.

Good intentions - Bad use of time

From time to time we receive some emails as these. About some child suffering from terminal illness. The mails come from trusty, responsible friends. Action requested being merely to forward the mail. For every mail forwarded, some kind-hearted organisation offers 5 cents. This way, the cost of the operation or medical treatment is proposed to be covered. Basically, some organisation is so full of love that without knowing the money it will be committed to pay, it agrees to pay something for every mail - Similar to signing away a blank cheque.

Usually I delete these mails (albeit with a slight trace of guilt). Last time I decided to get more pro-active. I Googled with some key words of one such mail. It showed the organisation mentioned as the first result. The website of the organisation had a different story to tell. It cautioned against such mails and said that they waste a lot of time responding to queries generated by these kind of mails. They also stated that if one wished to help the children (not the ones metioned in the mails - for they were all false names in hoax mails) they could do so by donating directly.

Another such mail that has been doing the rounds for the last few years has been one regarding Microsoft and AOL merger and that Bill Gates has so much of greenback in his wallet that he has pledged so share a few thousands of dollars with spammers for merely forwarding emails.

So people, if you simple delete these mails, it could save a few thousands of people-hours spent in reading and forwarding the stuff.

India - An economic giant?

We read from time to time that India is progressing at a rapid pace. It's economy is ticking at a nice rate (around 7%). We also witness the changes that have taken place in the attitude and lifestyle of the Urban Indians when we (NRIs) visit India. From time to time we receive emails and attachments about our achievement in various fields such as better infrastructure (modern roading), more satellite channels etc. and that the number of rich people in India has grown exponentially.

Bush visits India and is shown India's pretty face. We also think all is spectacular with India except a few problems such as corruption and bureaucracy.

Are we aware that around 70% of the population still lives with a wage of under $2 per day? (Courtesy - The Time Magazine). This growth rate of around 7% would translate into a couple of hundreds of rupees per month for the poor people of India. And it is these people who are the real face of India.

So...the real question is 'have we progressed economically?' Or are we cheating ourselves and the world?

It is said that when Nehru visited the Rural India (before he became the P.M?) he was moved to tears seing the plight of the Rural India. Have we moved forward from that position or have we merely created an illusion of progress?

Who doesn't want to be a millionaire?

Everyone wants to be a millionaire. A million bucks in whatever major currency is big money. We envy the lotto winners pocketing megabucks. Though the smart ones among us know that these big money winners seldom live happily ever after, we still feel that a million bucks will somehow set us free.

How many of us know the eighth wonder of the world - "Compound Interest". Even if we know, how many of us have the character to apply the basic rules of investing and compunding a sum of money from an early age - so that we become millionaire a few decades thence?

Yes, there is a wait period but the certainty that we will eventually become a millionaire is a heartening feeling.

Warren Buffett follwed his path to riches by making the eighth wonder his fast friend.

$10,000 invested at 15% compound interest for 35 years will make the coveted million. A little more added to it every year will result in a million more.

So, the challenge is to keep the money invested for the whole period. A tougher challenge will be to earn 15% average compound interest over the period.

Have you found a formula for investing which yields 15% p.a, or have you come across a fund that pays the same return?

If your answer is yes - then you are certainly on your way to the millionaires club.