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Keeping simple in Investing and in Life

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The Human Mind

Humans are complex creatures.

We tend to over complicate things, making things hard, or at the other extreme – underthink things (read: Careyourpresent: Over or Under think your Life and Investment?). We don’t feel satisfied if we keep things too simple. Unconsciously or consciously, we become overthinker and tend to overcomplicate things.

But do you remember what happened when you were young (or simply at the kids/babies around you), simple things like $1 toy, small tibits, grass/flowers at roadside makes them laugh non-stop. As we grow older, these small little joys don’t happen anymore. We need more “sophisticated” things like salary bonus, find dining, vacation, option trading, atas condo, trading etc to drive up our adrenaline in order to make us happy. Small little things don’t work anymore.

This used to make us happy last time.

This is luxury and make us super super happy when we were young.
Now many need this or even more complicated things

Do you have the same feelings/realization?

In this article, I will share my views on how to keep things simple in Investing and in Life

1. Keeping Investing Simple

Let’s first talk about investing. The key topics that all finance blogs should cover.

There are many ways and strategies in investing. It is often deemed as very difficult/complex, especially for a person who is new to investing. That’s why we have so many courses created by many “experts” on investing. For those who have signed up for courses, please ask yourself if the trainers earn more from your course fees or from the equity markets? If they really earned so much from the markets, why do they want to waste time conduct courses for you? They might as well spend more time on markets to earn more money?

Of course, there are some courses that are really good and help you to get started on investing, especially for those who totally don’t know how to start at all. Once you know how to start, do the research on your own. Good investors spend hours to research, learn and test out their strategies using their real money in the real market. Can a 3-day course teach you all these?

If you’re just getting started with investing, it can be tempting to want to make things more complicated than they need to be. After all, investing is a lot like driving a car: The less experienced you are at it, the more you’re tempted to overthink and over-engineer it. For a start, beginner might want to read my article: Financial Literacy 101 – Art of Managing your Wealth for free!

But simple is best when it comes to your investments as well—that’s why so many people are turning to dividend stocks and index funds for their investment portfolios.

Index investing

Index investing is a great way to get started in the world of investing. It’s low-cost, easy to understand and easy to invest in. Index funds are broadly diversified and can be used for long term investing.

Index funds are passively managed, which means they simply track an index like the S&P 500 or NASDAQ 100 or even the MSIC World Index. The fees associated with these funds tend to be very low (often less than 0.1% per year). That means they’re more tax efficient than actively managed mutual funds because there are fewer trades happening within them–which means less capital gains taxes too.

The benefits of index investing

  • Index investing is a low cost way to invest in the market.
  • Index investing is a simple way to invest.
  • Index investing can be used as a long term investment strategy, or short term investment strategy, or income generating strategy!

Why invest in an index fund?

There are many reasons why you should invest in an index fund. They’re low-cost, easy to understand and have a diversified portfolio that can help you get started with investing.

  • Low cost: An index fund will usually be less expensive than actively managed funds because there’s no need for a manager or advisor who charges fees for his or her research and advice.
  • Easy to understand: Because they are simply tracking the performance of an entire market (or segment), it’s easy for anyone to understand what they do without having much knowledge about investing or finance. This means that even someone new at this type of activity could easily make decisions based on what they see happening with their investments over time without much effort on their part – which is why it’s often recommended as one way people can begin learning how markets work so they don’t feel overwhelmed by things like volatility when first starting out!

How to invest in an index fund

  • Buy ETFs that track an index.
  • Invest in a broad index fund that covers many companies in different sectors of the market.
  • ETFs are a good choice because they trade on the stock market, so you don’t have to worry about buying or selling them yourself if you don’t want to do it yourself.

It’s best to keep your investment strategy simple.

  • It’s best to keep your investment strategy simple.
  • Don’t get into complex investments unless you know exactly what they are and how they work. If you can’t explain it to a friend or family member, then maybe there’s no need for that particular investment right now.
  • Stay the course! This is especially important during times of market uncertainty (like now).

Dividend Investing

Another more common way in Singapore Context will be dividend investing. Of course, there are many people who like to invest in US markets for dividend but the 30% withholding taxes for foreigners are turning many dividend investors off. I have written quite a couple of articles in dividend investing. You can read them here.

Keep Simple!

So, what’s the takeaway?

It’s best to keep your investment strategy simple. Index investing (or Dividend Investing for some) is a great way to do that. It gives you exposure to many different companies and industries, so there’s little risk of losing money if one of them does poorly. You also don’t have to worry about picking stocks or timing market cycles–just invest in an index fund and let it work its magic!

This would work for most people who rather spend their time on more meaningful things to them. It can be simply Netflix for some; Spend time for families/friends for others; More alone time etc.

However, if you like the challenge of self-picking Stocks, Cryptos or Options as “passive income” and beat the market etc, please go ahead. Most important is to keep your life simple, happy and live to the best of your life.

This will bring me to the second part of this article – keeping Life Simple. Very often, we think too much and make life complicated.

2. Keeping Life Simple

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I think it’s time to share my thoughts. The idea is simple: if you want everything in life to be simple, the first step is realizing that everything already is simple.

The next step is taking care of yourself so that you can live how you want—and no one else does—and then take action on those things that make life meaningful for yourself.

Image from Unsplash.com

The future is uncertain.

It’s important to understand that the future is uncertain. But you can prepare for it by setting goals and making plans in advance.

You need to prepare for the future, but don’t worry too much about the future. Plan enough for it, but not so much that you are paralyzed by anxiety when things don’t turn out as planned (or maybe even at all).

The past is unchangeable.

The past is unchangeable. You can’t change it, but you can learn from it and move forward by forgiving yourself for mistakes you’ve made in the past and not dwelling on those mistakes.

There’s no use in beating yourself up over things that happened 10 years ago or even five years ago—you’re better off focusing on living in the present without regretting anything that has happened before or after.

The present is yours to shape.

The present is yours to shape.

The past, on the other hand, cannot be changed and can only be recalled. You may wish you had done something differently in the past, but it’s too late for regrets now—you’ve already lived through those moments and made your choices then. The only thing that’s left for you to do is look back at them with an open mind and see how things turned out as best as possible given what was known at that time.

Learn how to Truly understand Living in the Moment now. Don’t wait until you lose your most precious things before you learn how to live in the moment.

Soul Crushed sadness. Created using https://creator.nightcafe.studio/

Time has no reset button.

Time has no reset button. You can’t turn back the clock. You can’t change the past, and you certainly cannot live in it. The only option you have is to live in this moment and make it count for something useful and good!

If you’re feeling stuck, the first thing you need to do is stop looking back. You have a lot of options in front of you, so take some time to consider all of them.

Live in the moment.

  • Live in the moment.
  • Don’t worry about the future, or your past.
  • Be present, mindful and aware of what’s happening right now.

This is a practice that can help you live in the moment, but there are other things you can do to increase your mindfulness.

Fill your life with meaning, not just things.

Fill your life with meaning, not just things.

This is a simple concept to understand but can be difficult to put into practice.

You might be surprised by how many people don’t take the time to think about what they want out of their lives and why they are on Earth in the first place. We spend so much time trying to achieve certain goals or impress others that we often forget about ourselves and what makes us happy.

For example: “I want this new car so I can look cool at work.” Or “I need this new computer because my old one broke.”

Instead of filling our lives with stuff we don’t need, fill them with people who care about you—friends who listen when you talk; family members who make sure everyone around them feels loved (and vice versa); coworkers who laugh with each other instead of at each other etc!

These are important relationships because without them we would feel lonely most likely since there wouldn’t be anyone else willing (or able) enough yet willing enough anyways 😉

Take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually.

  • Take care of your body.
  • Take care of your mind.
  • Take care of your spirit!

Make time for rest and relaxation. This can be as simple as taking a bath, reading a book or listening to music.

Set aside time each day for exercise. Start with just 10 minutes a day and build from there.

Eat healthy foods and avoid unhealthy ones (foods high in sugar, salt, fat).

Photo by Ethan Rheams on Unsplash

Life is simple if you want it to be

Earth itself is simple. We are simple in the Universe if you think you are. 🙂

Life is simple if you want it to be. It’s not complicated or difficult, but it can seem that way if you get caught up in the busy-ness of life and forget to live in the moment.

You see, there are only two things that matter: now and then (and then). If we let go of our attachment to things—whether they are material or otherwise—we will find ourselves living an incredible life full of purpose, meaning and love.

Learn for Let it go! like ELSA!

KEEP SIMPLE!

As you can see, life is simple if you want it to be.

Of course, there are always going to be things that we need, but by focusing on the things that bring meaning into your life—things like love and family—you’ll find joy in the simplest of pleasures. We don’t live in a world where everything is perfect or easy; but if we focus on what really matters, then maybe tomorrow will be even better than today!

Good articles that you should read!

People are drawn to dividend investing.

Why? Firstly, dividends provide a regular stream of income, allowing investors to receive a portion of the company’s profits on a periodic basis. This can be particularly attractive for individuals seeking consistent cash flow or looking to supplement their existing income. Additionally, dividend investing is often viewed as a more stable and predictable investment strategy compared to relying solely on capital appreciation.

I always write and share articles, especially on dividends which many people love them. Do read them!

Alternatively, you can go the right side of my page, there is a search bar where you can simply search “dividend” to see all my articles related to dividends!

Of course, you can search for other things that would interest you such as “Careyourpresent”, “Reits”, “Side Hustles”, “Fixed Incomes”, “Savings” etc.

CAREYOURPRESENT

Money just buy you the chance of freedom.

When you are young and working, you exchange time for money. When you are old, you can have lots of money but you can’t buy time back, especially the things that you have missed while busying striking out in career. Of course, if you love your career, and consciously know that you are missing out the first time your child walk or talk, that’s ok, but if you are the other spectrum, please do something about it.

Your kids grew up and they no longer need you to accompany them. They no longer want to sit on your lap to share/do things with you…all these time you spent in your 9 to 6 or even longer cubicles…can the money that you have earned by you back these?

We always thought we have more time with our old parents, but we are wrong. Time with them is ticking away every day. One day it will suddenly be gone. There is no regret medicine, no reset in time. Gone is gone and cannot come back. No matter you are billionaires or millionaires, you cannot reset this.

We always thought that we have more time with our spouse every day, but we are wrong. One day they will be gone too. When you read this, please go tell your spouse that you love him/her and he or she is the best thing that you ever had in your life.

I have picked out some of the more life reflecting articles of the CAREYOURPRESENT series. Do read them:

You can read more about my articles on Careyourpresent via the Category “Careyourpresent” or simply click “Careyourpresent” via the main menu bar.

REMEMBER:

Love your life daily.

You have one less day with your spouse, parents, children and yourself.

Time is ticking away.

For each passing day,

Enjoy and Treasure your Life!

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