Patience - not just a virtue When it comes to building your net worth, patience is not only a virtue; it's essential. In the short term markets can be risky, but over the long term they tend to be much less so. Don't fall in love with an investment, it… full article

What is intelligence? We can probably all remember from school days peers that took academic achievement in their stride, yet in some instances the very same people could barely tie their own shoelaces or deal with social situations easily. An intellectual quotient or 'IQ' is a traditional measure of intelligence… full article

When less is more With the world having been through a tumultuous decade through the global financial crisis & beyond, I've sometimes wondered whether partial ignorance was bliss as many of the gruesome details of the subprime crisis subsequently came to light (the books always seem to follow afterwards). After… full article

Keeping perspective I heard some awfully sad news today, which got me thinking about what really is important in life, and what isn't. On reflection, the list of unimportant things is virtually endless. Trying to win a debate on Twitter with someone you've never met (OK, maybe occasionally I've done… full article

Work in progress About a decade ago I began an annual exercise of setting goals in various areas of my life, & these days I review my progress in detail once a year at a dedicated week's retreat on the Gold Coast, before once again setting targets for the year ahead.… full article

Let it grow! The pursuit of economic growth is widely considered to be important because it allows businesses to create jobs, profit, & prosper, and then in turn expanding tax revenues allow governments to invest in education, welfare, or transport, and living standards improve accordingly over time. At the personal… full article

Agonisingly unproductive I had a disrupted week, in part due to an excruciatingly painful cracked tooth requiring some remedial filling work. I'm not going to lie, the drilling was painful, both orally and to the hip pocket! Feeling that I'd achieved less than I wanted to over a period of… full article

Back into it Like many others I tentatively returned to the gym in recent weeks following the indulgence of the Christmas break. The beautiful Queensland mornings help, though the first trip back to exercise is always a hurdle. I've found that the trick is simply to begin, no matter how… full article

Flat batteries We recently relocated, and shortly after settling in realised that the TV & DVD remote controls had flat & non-existent batteries respectively. With a couple of grouchy toddlers struggling with the Queensland summer heat, this initially caused some consternation. Yet after a few days I came to realise… full article

Wise men say... It's easy to fall in love with one of your investments, especially if it has performed well for you to date. Yet this may also be a trap. After all, if you bought an asset or security because it appeared to offer good value at the time… full article