Monday 24 June 2019

Bookworm

I have an unhealthy love for books. Be it books on Kindle (I shelled out for the top of the range Oasis). Or hardcopy. I have this romantic idea of building a library at home. Sometimes, I dream about having a coffee and book store in one. Ah, my ultimate.

I remember thinking that end was nigh for Exclusive Books. Here we are, many years later... they are still standing. How well they are doing I have no idea (I'd love someone to shed some light on that for me). All I know is every time I go to the shopping mall, I look forward to popping into Exclusive Books. I literally walk down every aisle. My current favourite is seeing what is new in the history and science sections (such a nerd).

Your thing may not be books. It may be cycling, trail running or scrap booking. Who knows. If you spend too much time worrying about politicians, you may stop enjoying them.

So this may seem like it has nothing to do with investing and you are right. This is the point. We forget the noise. We realise that is pointless obsessing over what we can't control. Julius who? EFF what? Stick to the plan.

To recap, here is our plan:
  • Invest your money in real assets (property, shares etc - if South Africa goes south, ZAR cash isn't going to worth very much. I feel real assets have a better chance of maintaining purchasing power.)
  • Build an offshore store of wealth or investment portfolio (heck, if you want to leave, it can be the start of you saving towards one of those Visa's you can buy in some European countries)
  • Have access to offshore cash in hard currency (USD, EUR or GBP). If you need to get on a plane then you have some rent and food money.
  • Start meditating (I am serious). Learn to deal with stress/anger that uncertainty in South Africa is causing you.
  • Lastly, on a sunny African day go for a walk on the promenade at your nearest beach and wonder is it all really that bad...

Saturday 8 June 2019

The Four

I am reading The Four by Scott Galloway. I have read the first half which tells the story of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. There is no doubt that these four companies have shaped the world over the last 20 years.

Should you own these in your portfolio? I think so (my opinion - do your own research). Sure, they sit on lofty multiples. For example, Amazon sits on a trailing 75x PE ratio. Yes, it has to shoot the lights out. It has to change the world. So far, it has done exactly that.

But guess what? I also own stocks such as Walmart. An old dinosaur to many.

Investing is about constructing a portfolio. Far too often we only talk about the stocks we should buy. A handful. A proper investment portfolio has more than a handful of stocks. A good investment portfolio should survive the multiple different futures.

I truly believe "The Four" will grow more powerful and continue to change the world. I could be wrong though and my investment portfolio takes this into account. The companies of tomorrow could actually be resurgent old dinosaurs or companies that haven't been founded yet. My point is that I have exposure to all of them.

I am not trying to have the best investment portfolio. I just want one that will grow a few percentage points ahead of inflation and one that will be around in 30 years time.

I'll leave the bold calls to the "pro's"...

Image result for the four book cover image

Tuesday 4 June 2019

Back with a...

I am been very quiet. Truth is that I haven't really had much to write. This is probably due to a combination of laziness and being busy on other projects. Well, I am back now. Certainly not with a bang...

I spent the weekend at the Cape Town Coffee Festival. One of my businesses (RECUP South Africa) hired a stand and presented South Africa's first coffee cup exchange programme. The company's goal is to rid the world of single use coffee cups. I was overwhelmed by the support we received. People are certainly very conscious of the environmental impact of their coffee consumption.

With all the negativity in South Africa at the moment, it was refreshing to spend the weekend at such an awesome event.

Onto investing. Even though we got a shocking GDP number today, we shouldn't deviate from our plan. Why? Because your plan should withstand shocks such as poor GDP numbers. This means your investment portfolio shouldn't be reliant on any one country, market, company and/or industry.

As always, here is a guideline for your plan:
  • Invest your money in real assets (property, shares etc - if South Africa goes south, ZAR cash isn't going to worth very much. I feel real assets have a better chance of maintaining purchasing power.)
  • Build an offshore store of wealth or investment portfolio (heck, if you want to leave, it can be the start of you saving towards one of those Visa's you can buy in some European countries)
  • Have access to offshore cash in hard currency (USD, EUR or GBP). If you need to get on a plane then you have some rent and food money.
  • Start meditating (I am serious). Learn to deal with stress/anger that uncertainty in South Africa is causing you.
  • Lastly, on a sunny African day go for a walk on the promenade at your nearest beach and wonder is it all really that bad...
PS: I wrote this post on a Chromebook. This is Google's operating system. I am a proud Microsoft shareholder but always trying new tech!