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On... Not All Gambles are Created Equal

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Some people called investing in stocks as gambling. Some people say everything is a gamble. Perhaps we’re getting too deep into the weeds. Does the definition really matter? It all actually sits on a spectrum. On one end, business can be considered a gamble but less risky with more predictable outcomes. On the other end is probably lottery or slot machines, where it is riskier and the outcomes more random. A good way in my opinion to look at it is through the EMV (Estimated Monetary Value). This is because whether it is business or the stock market, it can be quite similar to buying the lottery. Some people may choose to ignore it, but in investing or business, a lot of luck is involved. I used Grok for a very quick look at some scenarios and it calculated a bunch of EMV’s based on some very loose assumptions and historical data. You can compare the results below. The actual EMV values are not as important as they’re not normalized for invested amount. The core comparison is whether it...
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On... Personal Finance Golden Rules

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On... 2025

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The bad news is I am not able to beat the market in 2025 (ROI since Inception ASX200: +44%, Me: +4.7 %). The good news is my net worth still increased despite poor investing performance this year, but this is due to increasing my savings by lowering expenses (see below Figure). For annual updates, see Portfolio Update. This year is marked by ATH’s in precious metal and stocks but pretty bad for crypto. With crypto being a large part of my portfolio, that has hampered my performance. ASX200 reached an all time high in October 2025 but has since retraced a little bit. Precious metals like gold and silver has kept its momentum going even going into 2026. $BTC on the other hand was doing pretty well, reaching ATH on 6/10/26. But shortly after, a big liquidation even happened on the 10th of October. Over $19 billion of leveraged positions were wiped out! This is the biggest ever liquidation event in crypto dwarfing the FTX collapse and COVID crash. Up until today, there is no clear reason a...
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On... Desperate Housewives

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I like the series Desperate Housewives. But no.. this has nothing to do with the series other than the fact that I am kind of one. Not a housewife but a househusband. Depending on the measure that you use, I think I may be considered by others that I am doing a poor job. I clean and I take care of the kids. Spending a lot of time on the road chauffeuring my kids from one activity to the next. My house is not sparkling clean but clean enough. And when it comes to cooking, my standards are very poor. Definitely not up to the standard of a regular housewife. Having said that, I will still mark myself with a distinction with a 5 out of 5 star rating. Now, I can sort of guess what other housewives excel as compared to me. Mostly it will be in the kitchen department. I have tried but I have no love of cooking. Most of my meals are a fail. In that case, why do I rate myself a success? I consider myself a star because I excel where most housewives fail to act. This is of course a very big assu...
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On... Being Unemployable

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Recently I was hired for an admin/marketing job at a local renovation company. I tried it but quit within two weeks. It is safe to say that I am currently unemployable. It was work that was offered by a friend. He kind of 'needed' my help, which is why I chose to give it a try. My gut feeling said no, but my heart said yes. Lo and behold my gut feeling turned out to be right. First, I have to say that it is a job that I have no experience with. So, there is no way that I can add value to my friend's business. However, I thought that if I use AI to teach me, I can learn anything. Secondly, I have to consider my personal worth per hour of work. If I put those two points together, it is actually very clear that I should turn down the job offer. Like I told my wife ( the day I quit ), it is a lose-lose situation. My personal worth is about 100 to 200 AUD per hour. There is no way that I can ask for 100 AUD per hour for a job that I am not qualified to do. In the end, we agreed ...
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On... Income Benchmark 2025

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Last year, I hit my first 6 digit growth. In my business, I assume portfolio growth as salary/income. There's no reason to believe that I will continue to get those returns but I am hopeful. So where do I stand with such returns? I made a quick check on Grok. And of course, we know that data that comes out of AI is far from perfect but for a quick and dirty comparison, I feel that it is adequate. I asked Grok to estimate the salary and/or income for the following ( assuming 10 years experience in the field ):- Doctor, Dentist, Lawyer, Geologist, Massage Business, Cafe Business and a Food truck Business. Refer to the chart below for the estimation ( Mine in Orange ). As you can see, I stand somewhere in the middle of the pack with almost 7 years of investing ( started in 2018 ). When I finally complete 10 years of investing, will I move further up the pack? I would think that it is possible, putting on my optimistic hat. It would be nice to repeat this exercise when I have completed...
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On... Printing Money

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I'm building a Money Printing Machine. When that is completed, I won't have to work anymore. I'm not sure where I came across this story about a Fisherman. It tells the story of a group of Fishermen who works very hard. Each time, they would gather more fishes than they would need and store the extra in freezers to be consumed on another day. But there is one Fisherman, who fishes just enough for the day. He then retreats into his shack, and tinkers with his machine - day in and day out. Now, the other Fishermen wonders what he is doing. "He is a lazy fisherman", they said. Not working hard like other Fishermen in their village. Little did they know, the Lazy Fisherman is building a machine. This machine when completed will help him catch fishes, and he would need to work another day. This Lazy Fisherman, appears lazy from the outside, but he is actually building his future, with brains instead of brawn. I am like that Lazy Fisherman. Not building a Fishing Machin...
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