I chose this book for two reasons. One, Jim is a billionaire investor who started the Quantum Fund with George Soros and two; he is an older father of two daughters. Jim has traveled the world and was curious to see what advice he would leave for his daughters.
Why is this important to me?
I am not doing this summary to waste your time. My vision is to provide concise action steps you can take right now to improve your life. I am a big believer in OPE (Other People’s Experience). If I can learn one thing to get to my goals faster, it’s worth reading a book.
I want my money to work harder than me. Jim has done this since he retired at age 37. He is a billionaire investor who knows how to maximize his time and doesn’t trade his hours for dollars. One way to truly understand his success is to understand the advice he gives his children.
There is very good advice throughout this book. For reasons of time, I am going to talk about three of the most important.
1. Trust your own intelligence: half of the knowledge we know today will be proven wrong in the future. The way of knowledge is presented like this, one, is ridiculed, two, vehemently opposed and three, understood as pure truth. When someone laughs at your idea, don’t despair because you can find something great.
2. On Investing: Attention to Detail and Getting the Job Done: If you’re going to invest in stocks, read all financial reports and examine the notes carefully. Call the company and talk to management, customers, competitors, and employees. The more you know, the better your chances of success. Getting the job done is critical and this is where 90% of people fail. It’s very easy to just put money into an account and buy mutual funds on the advice of a financial planner. The problem with doing this is the herd mentality. The sheep are slaughtered. As George S. Patton said, if everyone is thinking the same thing, someone is not thinking.
3. Change always happens. One thing that is constant is change. Be a student of history because nothing is really new. It has happened before and you can work out the result being a history student. The Great Tulip Bubble is different from the Internet boom and housing bust. People got caught up in the hysteria and raw emotion/greed took over. This is how all bubbles end. Really study the change and understand that the safer something is, the less profitable it will be.
A gift for my children is a quick read with good advice. Jim Rogers is an interesting person. He has traveled all over the world and usually does his radio interviews on his treadmill. He understands that the most precious asset is time and he does not waste it.
I hope you have found this brief summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is PEO leverage. I stress this in several of my book summaries because it is so vitally important. Jim retired at the age of 37 because he, too, took advantage of the experience. Tony Robins became a billionaire when he was twenty years old because he took advantage of his associations and experience with highly successful people who achieved the goals he desired.