The invisible vibe
Businesses are people and people have an invisible vibe
Every Sunday I share what I learn about health, money and business. Here is what I learnt last week:
Does your business have the right invisible vibe?
How much money do you really need for yourself?
Does consuming olive oil make you live longer?
You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!
(1) Does your business have the right invisible vibe?
Businesses are people.
Last month I was taking an Emirates flight. The guy who checked me in was cranky. He forced me to check-in my stroller; the same stroller I had flown in the cabin with for the last 20 flights. That meant I had to carry 5 kilos on my shoulder. I didn't like his energy.
The hostess who was sitting in front of me during the flight however was full of life. She was unlike any of the other hostesses. I loved her energy and told her so. Emirates is a better airline because of her.
Energy sounds like woodoo shit. You may say - "What rubbish are you talking about Harsh?" And I would respond with "buddy, energy is the invisible vibe that makes all the difference."
I don't know why I am so attuned to people's energy. I can feel it from across the room. I can read it in messages. I can sense it in someones tone of voice. It's really weird. But it is part of what makes me, me. It's in my DNA. I feed of it.
But before I judge other people's energy, I judge my own. How am I feeling? Do I feel rested or tired? Is the internal chatter in my mind positive or negative? Are my words optimistic or pessimistic? Are my actions pushing me forward? Did I give it my all today? I have learnt to be my own best friend because these are levers that I can fully control.
I try to surround myself with people who increase my average. They improve my energy. Sometimes I don't even know them but I like them because of this "invisible vibe" I am ranting about. They may be dead or alive. They are relatives like my beautiful wife Ishi who is an everlasting dose of positivity and chirpiness. Or my parents who make all kinds of gestures to express their love to me. They are entrepreneurs like Nithin Kamath and Saurabh Mukherjee who educate and inspire. They are legends like Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett who invest and teach. They are authors like Alex Hormozi and Ryan Holiday who motivate you to do the hard work and act morally right.
Businesses are people.
And people have a vibe.
Surround yourself with the ones who believe in you, love you and make you better.
(2) How much money do you actually need for yourself?
Monika Halan was the first personal finance journalist of India and has been an advisor to SEBI on investor protection. She has been writing and talking about personal finance since 1997, nearing almost 20 years. So it is fair to say that she knows a thing or two about what she is talking about. Here is what she thinks about retirement, financial independence, work, children, money and more:
Retirement is one of the toughest problems to solve because you don't know what the inflation levels will be, what the economy will be like, or how long you will work. There are so many moving parts that you can only get a ballpark figure.
One way is to look at your spending at age 60. There are two steps to get to this figure.
First, take your current spends per year and then extrapolate it to age 60. In order to do this you need to first use an inflation multiplier. For example, if you are 30 years old and spend 10 lacs per year, then at age 60 you will need 76 lacs to maintain your current spending levels. This is assuming a 7% inflation rate.
You can calculate this number -> here.
Once you know the number you need to maintain your current spending levels at age 60, you need to use a multiplier. Here are three scenarios of how much capital you need based on your goals:
- Use a multiplier of 18 if you want the entire corpus for yourself. For the above example that means that you need 76 lacs x 18 = 13.68 crores at age 60.
- Use a multiplier of 35 if you want to leave the entire corpus for your family. For the above example that means that you need 76 lacs x 35 = 26.60 crores at age 60.
- Use a multiplier of 26 if you want to spend on yourself and leave something behind. For the above example that means you need 76 lacs x 26 = 19.76 crores at age 60.
Another way of getting to this number is to do it based on how much money you make. You create milestones according to your age.
- Age 40: you should have 3x of your annual income
- Age 50: you should have 6x of your annual income
- Age 60: you should have 8x of your annual income
There is a difference in the annual income and the annual spending numbers. Those are the figures you need to look at to see whether you are well prepared or not for your retirement. If you do the math, these two numbers should be within a ballpark of each other.
But being financially independent does not mean that you stop working. What will you do for the remaining 30 years after you become independent is just as important as achieving financial independence. Life is long.
If you are a parent then Monika has some tips for you too. She says that:
Kids will do as you do. They won't do as you say.
They will look at your spending habits. They will observe your investing habits. If you want your children to not spend foolishly then you have to stop spending foolishly. You must teach them the impact of choices. Teach them that choices have consequences. For example, Monika had given her daughter the choice between buying 1 new book or 3 old books. She gave her the choice without making any moral judgment. She said that “there is merit to having a shiny new book. There is also merit to having 3 books.” Her daughter chose the 3 books. These are the kind of choices that you can help them make at a very early age.
I also loved that she has a "If i die before you" file where she lists all her financial relationships, the name of the planner, the name of the lawyer, the platforms through which she invests and more. It is a roadmap for her family if and when she passes away.
Money is good. Earn it in a manner which gives you and others dignity. And spend it in a manner which helps you.
How you earn it is a reflection of who you are. How you spend it is also a reflection on who you are. The way that we spend reflects on deep feelings within ourselves. If you feel insecure about something, the crutch of that branded product might help you feel better. It is important for us to decipher why we want to buy.
Monika also talks about how women should protect their financial interests in the below talk which I highly recommend you watch:
(3) Does consuming olive oil make you live longer?
In this study 22,892 adults were studied to determine whether consuming a high amount of olive oil reduces the risk of all-cause mortality, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The group which had more than 35 grams of olive oil per day over a median period of 13.1 years had 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality, 23% lower risk of cancer mortality and 25% lower risk of CVD mortality.
What’s the lesson? Olive oil is good for you! And if it replaces other oils which are high in poly-unsaturated and saturated fats then the impact on your health is likely to be significant because it will help reduce your LDL cholesterol levels. Incorporate three table spoons of olive oil per day to your diet; it’ll help!
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)
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