I denna blogg ”Pengar är energi” skriver jag om hur du blir mer effektiv med dina pengar och snabbare kan nå din ekonomiska frihet. Jag som skriver har själv gjort en ekonomisk resa: från vaktmäster i en bank till finansdirektör i ett globalt företag. Jag har även varit ordförande i en av världens mest framgångsrika hedgefonder som handlar i valutor. Jag har också privat förlorat större delen av min förmögenhet men kommit tillbaka och är sedan några år ekonomisk fri (det är vad jag kallar en äventyrlig resa). Nu gör jag det jag alltid velat göra: ge gemene man motivation och kunskap att hantera sina pengar och förverkliga sina drömmar. Jag skrivit boken The HenHouse (www.HenHouseworld.com) och håller föredrag om pengar och motivation.

Här kommer jag dela med mig av mina erfarenheter av att arbeta med finans, och av min personliga resa till ett liv i ekonomisk frihet. Med denna blogg hoppas jag att kunna inspirera fler till att skapa sig end god relation till sin ekonomi, och att nå större ekonomisk frihet.

Tillsammans med kognitionsvetaren Elin Helander, som skriver bloggen ”hjärnkoll på ditt sparande” på Nordnetbloggen kommer vi göra en dykning in i vad som krävs för att nå ekonomisk frihet – jag utifrån mina egna erfarenheter av en sådan resa, och hon från ett kognitionsvetenskapligt perspektiv, alltså hur vårt betende och tankar påverkar oss och hur vi kan samarbeta med vår hjärna för att lättare lyckas.

Blogg 1,

Välkomna till första inlägget i bloggen ”Pengar är energi”

Varför har vi vanor?

Svaret är enkelt. Genom att ha vanor så spar vi på energi. Här berättar Elin Helander om att goda vanor är vägen till en större ekonomisk frihet och hur du gör för att skapa dig de vanor du vill ha.
Jag kommer i detta inlägg dela med mig av 3 goda vanor som har tagit mig i rätt riktning till det liv jag lever idag.

3 vanor som leder till ekonomisk frihet

Jag vill dela med mig till dig 3 vanor som har gjort min resa till ekonomiska frihet möjlig. Dessa vanor är så enkla att du sparar pengar utan att egentligen behöva tänka så mycket på det. Och jag lovar dig att det kommer hjälpa dig att sova gott om nätterna.

1. Betala till dig själv först. Månaden ska börja med att ditt sparbelopp dras automatisk från bankkontot. Detta gör att du fokuserar på hur du ska kunna betala dina räkningar (istället för att fokusera på hur du ska kunna spara). Om pengarna inte räcker till räkningarna så blir din uppgift att ta reda på hur du kan minska utläggen eller öka inkomsten. Du får inte nagga på ditt sparande. Det är ju du som ska komma först.

2. Skriv ned alla dina utgifter på ett papper eller i datorn under 6 månader. Lägg de sedan månadsvis i olika kategorier som boende, el, mobil, mat, kläder, nöjen, etc. Då vet du vart pengarna verkligen går. Först när du har gjort detta kan du sätta upp mål för var du kan minska dina utlägg. Följ sedan upp och om du gör detta till en vana.

3. Mitt sista tips handlar om inköp. Sätt 30 % lägre budget än du har råd med på stora inköp. Här kan du spara många sömnlösa nätter (och mycket pengar). Ta det största och viktigaste köpet av alla i livet – bostaden. Denna kostnad är den största du har och som du är mest känslig för vid förändringar som långvarig sjukdom, arbetslöshet eller brusten prisbubbla. Om du t.ex. har råd med 1.500.000 kr för ett husköp, säg då till dig själv och mäklaren att huset får kosta max 1.000.000 kr. Du kommer med all sannolik att betala mer än du hade tänkt dig. Fråga någon som har köpt bostad.

Lycka till/Ulf

But can you trust the bank after what’s happened in recent years? To answer this question, we need to understand what it is that banks do today.

Since the 70s, the financial market has become a market place, where banks and financial institutions buy and sell financial risks from and to each other.

As for example the trade in so-called RMBS’s (Residential mortgage-backed securities) pooled mortgages or CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligations) other pooled loans that are not mortgages, with each other.

Your bank sells financial products to you that can be bought and sold in the financial market.

The bank employee is thus a seller of bank products. It means you as a buyer have to be informed about what it is you are buying from them.

You have a responsibility and obligation towards yourself, your family and society on how your money is invested and managed. You can’t blame anyone else if something goes wrong. It is your future, your responsibility and above all your money.

To fulfill this obligation, you need to build a Trust Pyramid. Trust is the tip of the pyramid, and Understanding and Awareness make up the base. Understanding has to do with business and finance agreements, what they are and how they work. Awareness concerns human behavior, how people function.

Without understanding and awareness you have no basis for your trust, because trust begins with you.

Start by asking (again and again if necessary) until you understand. Ask the bank sales person to use words and examples you are familiar with. Do not accept words and acronyms like residential mortgage-backed securities or CDO’s if you do not know what they mean and stand for.

Ask until unmasked.

You can trust the bank. It does what it should do, which is sell financial products.

The question is: Can you trust yourself? / Ulf Egestrand

James Bond, the agent, does what he does in a fast-paced, thrilling and sexy way. And this is just the way we like it. But what happens if that agent happens to be your financial advisor?

The financial world today is run and managed by agents (banks, funds and CEOs) that we as principals (depositors, shareholders and unit holders) do not understand or question often enough.

Our agents did things that we did not fully understand and did not bother to check on or limit in the run up to 2008. So clearly we should be questioning what it is they are doing.

In the movies, M gives Mr. Bond a clear view of the mission, what are the sensitive points, what is the objective and what tools he may need to use.

Agent 007 simply has to follow the mission.

M keeps a close eye on Mr. Bond and (rightfully) has a nasty habit of knowing what he’s up to, and when he’s trying to bend the rules.

And as we know too well, Mr. Bond is very easily distracted by the bonuses of his line of work. So too are our financial advisors. And it’s up to us to rein them in.

Your money is your responsibility and no matter what your agent does, at the end of the day it’s your agent, and they will do as much or as little as you allow them to.

In the movie we get pretty excited and want to see 007 solve the mission in his daring and explosive way without any limitations from M.

Back home in the real world, if we receive a letter from our insurance company about our retirement savings and we find something amiss, how often do we just leave it and hope that it will work out in the end?

For too many, the answer is too often. When it comes to your retirement savings, the last thing you want is a fast-paced, thrilling, and sexy experience.

After all, there is nothing less sexy than an underfunded pension.

/Ulf Egestrand

In this weekend’s Financial Times it says that food production must increase by 70% to feed the expected population of 9 billion people in 2050.

Therefore, as it says in the article, MacDonald’s and other food companies are creating alliances with small farmers around the world to ensure the delivery of basic products for their businesses, everything from meats to Cocoa, while providing tips on how to increase production for farmers.

Hans Jöhr, Nestle’s head of Agriculture, asks. “Who will grow our crops in the future?” As he mention; in Japan the average age of the farmer 68 years, in the UK it is 60, in Ghana 59. When he asks a farmer in China, he told that his daughter should certainly not follow in his footsteps.

But the solution may be found in another article in this weekend’s Financial Times. In an interview with the actress and former model Isabella Rossellini, we learn that she purchased land on Long Island outside New York to start a farm.

When this became publicly known, she was to her surprise contacted by young educated people who thought it was interesting.

Isabella says. “In my generation if you had an education wanted to go to the city, you didn’t want to be a farmer, but this generation is very interested in the environment and food, and for them, being a farmer is a lifestyle choice.”

It’s more of farmer Isabella Rossellini’s entrepreneurial spirit that is needed in today’s society.

Or how are we to solve the need of framers? / Ulf Egestrand

The FT articles the 18th of August referred to:

A shift from subsistence: http://on.ft.com/PxvAjL

Isabella Rossellini: http://on.ft.com/NVarws

In China it is said that consumption would increase if interest rates were higher. How can this be if the established idea is that one consumes more if the interest rate is low. The reason being, with lower interest rates money has a lower value and should start burning in your pocket.

This does not apply if the consumer feels insecure about the future. Here are two such cases.

Firstly, if you think that the mortgage you have is too large in relation to your earnings then this can lead to a decrease in consumption, as is   probably the case in the West. Secondly, if the interest on saved capital is not enough for future consumption needs, then this also can decrease consumption.

At the moment the latter seems to apply to Chinese consumers. They save half their income for future needs, health care, education and housing etc.. If the savings rate however would be higher, then the Chinese would dare to consume more. On the other hand, a higher interest rate means the saved capital automatically increases faster and creates room for an increase in consumption.

Zero interest rates will not help the consumption of a Chinese buyer is uncertain about the future. / Ulf Egestrand