In this episode I start covering matters money. In Episode 3, I talked of the need to start covering the money subject due to the rapidly changing state of the global economy. The speed at which technology is changing is rapid and this brings along new opportunities for wealth creation.

PS: In this episode I alluded that it was Ronald Regan who took the US dollar off the gold standard in 1971. Correction, it was Richard Nixon who took the US dollar off the gold standard in 1971.

1. I begin the episode with an analogy of life as provided by the philosopher, Alan Watts. He talks of society molding us into a life that shows a destination instead of a process/journey. Just as the donkey with a carrot dangling in-front of it, we always seem to have something that we're reaching for that seems elusive. "No use in planning for a future which when you get to it and it becomes the present, you won't be there because you'll be living in another future that hasn't yet arrived." Alan Watts.                                                                                                         
2. Per my observation, over the last 10 years, there has emerged a crop of wealthy young people in their mid-late 20s, 30s and 40s. A good amount of these people either never went to college or dropped out and yet are earning in the upper six figures yearly. How do they do it? How is it that a young person is able to but a house in cash when their parents and grandparents took 30 year mortgages?
   • They changed/adapted. What worked before is no longer the only way that works today. If you follow the crowd you'll only end up as far as the crowd. Go where there is no path and you'll find yourself in places you've never been.
3. Types of income:
   • Earned income. Income received from a job or self-employment.
   • Portfolio income. Income from investments, dividends, interest and capital gains.
   • Passive income. Income that needs little to no effort to maintain ie. rental income.
4. The triple constraint according to me (each to be covered in successive episodes)
   • Save frequently.
   • Spend wisely.
   • Invest prudently.