Personal Blog
This is a slightly different sort of blog. My life is currently in turmoil as I am trying to navigate a mega change in the way I live, which is one of the reasons this blog entry is a day late.
I am not only in the process of selling my home here in Portugal, which is causing major disruptions, but I am trying to choose an intermediary home in Spain before heading to South-East Asia, and I am also trying to sort out precisely where I shall be settling over in the east.
On top of that I am also trying to wind up my affairs in the UK, and trying to facilitate a major change in the way I manage my finances.
Oh yes, and my family has descended upon me. Very nice to have them around, but what a disruption to my usual calm but busy life.
It’s quite traumatic doing these changes, but essential for maintaining a proper functioning life. I retired from my investment business, but found that I missed the buzz, and I realised that I was deliberately cutting myself off from the things I loved, and that kept my brain alert. I also looked around me at fellow investors. They too aren’t retiring. They dont need the money. And Charley (Munger) must be 100 by now, or damn close, and he still looks pretty good. Successful investors never retire, we just cant resist playing the game.
And that’s another thing; I’m also a musician, and I love the language. We play instruments: PLAY. that fits it perfectly. Most people dont like going to work, and long for holidays. We play, so we dont need holidays. How often have I stood at the edge of a stage waiting for the warm-up band to pack up and get off so we can get onstage and play?
I am busier now than I was ten or even twenty years ago.
Real estate is heading downhill so it’s time to get out of that particular investment. I’m transferring the profits into things that are safe and/or cheap. That means I am invested in gold, but not the solid stuff, rather the process of refining the metal. That combines the qualities I am looking for. The underlying product is safe, and it also pays quite well. I like the idea of a safe income.
I’m also investing in future technologies, which means I am gradually building up a rather large portfolio of blockchain-based companies. Some are not doing very well, but most are motoring ahead quite nicely.
On the financial front I am selling last year’s investments at a high and buying next year’s investments at a low.
On a lifestyle level I am seeking to move from a sinking part of the world to a rising part of the world. I find it depressing living in a place where the news is generally bad, hence I want out of Western Europe. I may even spend the next few years just wandering from place to place being looked after in hotels, and writing blogs about my wanderings.
In one sense it is all very disturbing and somewhat fraught, but on another level it is rather nice having new adventures to look forward to.
I’ll keep you posted, but the next three months may well be somewhat chaotic and also rather fraught.
john