Having been a reader of personal finance and financial independence for a long time, much longer than this blog has been in existence, I’ve come across various beliefs that masquerade as self-evident truths, when in reality they couldn’t be farther from the truth.

This post is a list of those postulates.

 

No, we don’t: Confuse Assets and Investments

The terms Assets and Investments are often used interchangeably, but there are distinct distinctions between them.

An asset is an item of value, that

a) a large section of the population agree holds its value, over time

b) a smaller sub-section of the population hopes increases in value, over time

An asset has no intrinsic value, other than what you paid for it, and what someone will pay for it when you sell it.

An investment, on the other hand, has some intrinsic, underlying value.

When you make an investment in stocks, you are essentially giving the firm capital to use in some endeavors that will potentially generate more value than the capital itself. They could be using that capital for R&D to make a new product; they could be using the capital to build more plants to produce more goods; they could be using the capital to hire and train more professionals to tackle a complex problem. You, the investor, gains when the firm does well, in terms of stock appreciation and/or dividends.

There is something called the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis to determine the Enterprise Value (EV) of the company. From the EV if you take away the debt owed and the cash in hand, you arrive at the equity value of the company. This equity value of the company divided by the number of outstanding shares, leads to the “correct” stock price. Check out this video by Aswath Damodaran, professor at NYU Stern, one of the foremost minds on Valuation.

Similarly you could be investing in rental properties. These will generate cash flows from the rent you receive. You will invest money (capital investment) when you buy the properties and then when have to replace the big ticket appliances. Over time, the steady cash flows will far out score the investments you made and you pocket nice profits.

Keep in mind the fluctuations of the markets and the seasonal changes in renting units are temporary. If you have a simple, robust, and well thought out investment plan or  business plan, over the long run you will succeed.

At least theoretically. There’s a saying that the markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent!

Now contrast that with buying an asset such as gold. The value of gold depends on supply and demand. Gold, in and of itself, is not adding value to the money you spent in buying the bullion.

So, gold is not an investment. It is an asset.

Similarly, the home that you live in is not an investment. It is an asset, probably the biggest asset you own. You hope the price of your home goes up. In most of modern US history, the values of homes have gone up. Supply, demand, the condition of your immediate neighborhood, the broader national economy, demographic changes – all play a part in determining the value at any given time. Your home is not adding value by itself. If anything, you are spending more money to beautify your home by a kitchen remodel or by sprucing up the backyard!

No, we don’t: Call our personal vehicles Assets

Personal vehicle don’t count as Assets. The reason for this is simple. A car depreciates over time, that is, lose value as time passes. This defies the first tenet we’ve talked about Assets above. Now, not everything that depreciates over time can have the label asset removed from them. If vehicles are used for business purposes they fall under assets. They can be depreciated on the useful life value. In business accounting there is something called PPE – Plant, Property, Equipment, and they are treated as Assets. Here we are talking about personal assets.

No, we don’t: Strategize to beat the market

We are happy to get the return of the overall market. There could potentially be an investment that will generate a return greater than the market, but to correctly 1) Identify them, 2) Time the entry, 3) Time the exit – all these 3 events happening successfully on a regular basis ….well, that’s more along the lines of speculation for us. We follow the simple and sage advice of investing in broad market based, passive funds.

We actually do own some shares for a few individual stocks. First, they constitute about 2% of our overall investment portfolio, and second, we acknowledge them as speculative bets.

 

Readers: Any other BS that pass off as sage advice we might have missed?

 

In the FIRE community – and by FIRE we include fat, lean, medium, or any-other-category-that-will-crop-up-next – there seems to be a curious case of antipathy to organized team sports. Maybe antipathy is a strong word. Apathy perhaps paints a better picture.

The chosen form of exercise in the FIRE community seems to be going to the gym, running, walking, cycling, and skiing.

Notice a common them among these pursuits of physical exertion?

They are mostly done alone. Sometimes with a trainer or a friend or two.

Here is one such example, from the master, MMM himself.

Here is another example, from one of my favorite blogger, Mr. Cubert.

These are all great avenues to enjoy the outdoors, burn calories, stay in shape, experience positive effects of endorphins being released.

Teams sports are conspicuous by their absence.

What about the almost-40-year old who still wants to compete?

Compete with others, as opposed to oneself, which these individual sportsmen such as a cyclist or a runner does.  To “prove” they they still got it while scoring a goal or hauling in a TD catch. The adrenaline rush of going for a 50-50 puck and beating the other skater. The camaraderie of a bunch of like minded people playing for a common purpose – some similar age, some older, others younger. The backslapping and high fives after a win. The drowning of collective misery in beer after a sound thrashing at the hands of a team featuring 20-somethings. The “glory” of being crowned *Champions* (of a recreational league, which one one but your team cares about!)

These are noble intentions to aspire for!

Could it be a financial choice? It could be. If you think about the equipment costs for football or hockey, that could be prohibitive. The question then arises, what about sports such as soccer and basketball. You only need a pair of shoes/cleats, a ball, and a field/court. Less expensive than biking or skiing.

Could it be a factor of age? Certainly. But only if you’re edging closer to 40. Age can very well determine if you’re up for that stinging spike you were known for in high school.  There are tons of bloggers in the 20- and 30-year old range.

Could the stage of your life be playing a role? Absolutely. A thriving career, family with kids, and blogging as a side hustle, can handily take care of the 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week. But if you’re able to take time off to go for a run, you should be able to go a game of touch football.

That got me thinking. Are people who actively seek out a course different from the mainstream in terms of finance, and lifestyle made by those financial choices, inherently a bit reclusive in real life.

Pedaling away miles after miles, the wind swishing by the ears, whispering ideas about composing the next 3,000 word epic on the travesty of not taking advantage of geographical arbitrage …

Conquering the powder of the black diamond with a laser focus, the focus only matched by the resolve to eliminate all extraneous costs from the monthly budget …

I know, I know. The online community is thriving. I’ve made many an e-friend. Though I’m yet to meet a fellow blogger in person, I’m fairly certain they would be great people to hang out with. I’m thinking if in real life a lot of the bloggers are introverts.

Personally, I love team sports. I play them, watch them, follow them. I got introduced to soccer when I was very young. The love for the game has only grown as I’ve grown older. I try to play at least one game during the week, every week, throughout the year. I coach kids in the local soccer club. I have held elected office in the soccer club of the last city we lived in. I follow international clubs and the national teams of powerhouse countries. I cannot imagine a life where I’m not involved with soccer.

Readers: Would love to know what you think about the idea that most bloggers in the FIRE space are not interested in playing team sports? What about you, do you play team sport?