Hardly a month to go for the election in Tamilnadu and how I cannot talk about it.
I'm not voting for both AIADMK/ BJP and DMK/ Congress combination.
With that bias out of the way, I'm rooting for interesting candidates, parties and ideas.
Please feel free to unfollow.
A critical skill that's not spoken about very often in the context of levelling up at work - shock absorption.
The higher you go, the more heat you face. If you can't absorb that and you end up passing on the stress downstream, you're going to have a very unhappy team.
Last January, I noticed something peculiar in my 2yo’s bedroom that - after a year of obsessive reporting - led me to a profound cosmic revelation about what’s even possible in our universe. A 🧵.
After sitting with our legal team to parse through the fine print of Apple's DMA announcement (that took a while), which is, at best vague and misleading, I wanted to share my thoughts.
While Apple has behaved badly for years, what they did yesterday represents a new low, even for them. See more info here: https://t.co/2lznqwYujY
In your career, the most valuable currency is not how much you know. It's how well you learn.
In a stable world, success depended on building expertise. In a changing world, it hinges on evolving expertise.
Potential is no longer defined by ability. It's a function of agility.
Super cool hack... if you hail a #Uber ride 🚘, and for some reason can't get or give the 4 digit pin to start the ride, try the last 4 digits of your phone #
#SOS#antifragile#product#UX
In my recent visit to Erode (TN), I had the opportunity to chat with Mr Pradeep, a friend of dad's who has been running a saree shop in the town for the last 5 generations.
He shared his story about how he recently started selling sarees online via Instagram reels 👇
(Thread)
Hypothesis:
Buying a house or a flat is a very sensitive, high impact decision
My family now owns a flat which is an illiquid asset because we are unable to sell it for last couple of years in a tier 2 city
we poured in years of EMI into that thing from 2000s to 2020
the market paper price of that asset is similar to lifetime retirement savings of PSU clerk (like my parents)
imagine if we had put that EMI into an SIP in 2000s, at-least it would have had some liquidity even if it would have compounded slower
so everyone who blindly suggests buying a house or a flat to young people:
you can cause a lot of real-damage to their financial well-being & mental-health with your generic-evangelism which makes you feel smart about yourself
that flat is now sitting there as a drag on us
even if we sell it, we will have to reinvest the money again in some real-estate asset in 3 years to avoid higher taxation
buy a house or a flat advice is high-risk advice because
- the ticket size is huge, like really huge- often comparable to lifetime retirement savings of a PSU clerk
- the liability is a 20 year journey
- the liquidity is often not predictable so you cannot undo your decision easily (there is no buyer in the market)
basically a high impact decision which is almost irreversible
you cannot undo it
I have seen multiple cases of people causing long term damage to their financial-health via this decision
- many default
- many pay for years but are unable to live at that place due to location constraints
- many cannot find a buyer to sell to
- many sell at a discount because they need the cash
key highlights:
- understanding liquidity of assets you invest in is underrated
- ticket size of your investment decisions is very important, larger the ticket size higher the stress
- home loan is a leveraged instrument, and leverage works both ways, either can give you a big win or a big loss, because your input is artificially amplified (read about leverage)
life generally has 2 kinds of bets and 4 types of outcomes
2 types of bets:
- small bet
- large bets
4 types of outcomes:
- small loss
- small win
- large loss
- large win
your main job is to avoid the large losses in life, and in aggregation with enough number of attempts you will end up with a big win and an aggregate net positive
to repeat, in order to achieve a large cumulative net positive:
- avoid large losses (point 3)
- keep playing
pause on this
buying a house can create a large loss outcome, which can create a headache which will last for years
it can significantly affect your stress levels & mental health
buying a house on loan EMI feels like a small bet because EMI feels small - but since it is a leveraged bet - the outcome is really big
often worth people's lifetime savings
pause on this idea
many people don't get the scale of this, especially when they are doing well
so be slow, when thinking of buying a house or a flat, be rigorous and buy a house/flat after enough analysis
consult a fee only registered investment advisor for such a high ticket item:
it is probably worth paying them some money for due diligence on such a high-impact decision in context of your overall financial well-being
caveats:
- I am not a RIA
- not a recommendation
- context is everything
- no silver bullet
- your mileage may vary
i have made peace with the fact that i've picked a career that'll give me an existential crisis at least once a week & i will just have to deal with that every week till i die