Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Being wealthy means your assets grow larger, and their value increases too. The purpose of all economic activity is to secure assets. The more assets you have, the more opportunities you create. Assets represent the total of what one owns and borrows from others. In other words, it is the complete amount of resources available for earning time. Resources serve as the foundation for acquiring additional resources. It’s like using small earthworms as bait to catch fish. Thus, it is said that money makes money. This is referred to as financial income. Income is primarily categorized into earned income and financial income. If you have a substantial earned income but lack financial income, you are more likely to face poverty in the future. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Although it is not possible to draw a conclusion due to insufficient study, scholars are examining “Is it really fair that humans are rewarded according to their abilities?” and the results suggest that luck and community support are decisive for success. Of course, one cannot ignore or disparage an individual’s abilities. However, it is more accurate to say that they have a limited impact on success. In humans, parental influence—namely, genetic and environmental factors—emerges as the most important aspect according to the study results. The issue is that no one can choose their parents. This is the fundamental reason we must remain humble. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Management is the activity of transforming uncertainty into certainty to create predictability. For example, investing in stocks when you don’t know when or how much you’ll make is a gamble, but finding a way to achieve an average return of 15% per month is management. Bank loans have a fixed schedule for when and how much principal and interest must be repaid. It is not the banking business where you can repay or request repayment at any time when you have funds. Nevertheless, we gamble or engage in a ritual for rain, mistakenly believing that it is management. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Little money makes people rich, while big money can make people poor. It’s about our attitude towards money. Money should neither be overlooked nor be ostentatious. However, what is certain is that if you ignore small amounts of money, high-quality money will not follow, and if you pursue only big money, there is a strong possibility of losing everything in an instant. A person’s attitude determines the nature of money, and the legitimacy of the way they make money affects the quality of that money. Not all money earned is equal; it varies in quality depending on how people treat it. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

It doesn’t exist until it’s connected. In the era of widespread use of social media, everyone has a voice, but that voice does not always have a social repercussion. An unaffected voice becomes a monologue. Why am I sharing my voice and my message with the world, other than to shout for self-satisfaction? Now more than ever, we live in an age where individuals feel a greater sense of alienation if they are not connected to the community or the media. ‘Connection’ has become a very important issue, and the current generation often wonders about how to connect and what the right connection is. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

When individuals perform tasks that money typically does, they become enslaved to money. Even when these means come to an end, they remain bound to money. Therefore, it is not the abundance or lack of money that enslaves humans, but rather ignorance and greed—qualities that fail to recognize the purpose and utility of money—that lead to this enslavement. Ultimately, it is a philosophical issue. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Time is wiser and smarter than humans. The reason a regular income is necessary for escaping poverty is to fully utilize time’s value. If a person without a regular income invests, they must invest with money that cannot afford to wait, which forces them to spend the investment funds while waiting for the right opportunity. This may lead to missing a good investment. If the person has already invested, they might not be able to wait to recoup their investment, resulting in debt to others. Individuals who struggle to use their time effectively due to insufficient assets must generate a regular income unconditionally. The reason for having ample assets is to buy time. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

To prevent the boat from overturning when a large wave approaches, the bow should face the front of the wave. If you confront a big wave from the side, there is a high probability that the boat will capsize. Navigating life’s crises is akin to a ship facing the waves. One should confront them rather than dodge or avoid. Of course, even the ship’s direction is ineffective when dealing with waves that are too large. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

All businesses ultimately converge in real estate and finance. This is an unavoidable fate. Real estate is the smallest unit and foundation of production activities, with a price calculated in real terms. Volatile assets that have a real price and whose prices fluctuate frequently must generate interest or dividends. Rental fees for an office or store are typically sufficient for the business operator to pay the interest on the loan owed by the lessor, the real estate owner, to the bank, akin to the real estate owner holding a particular share of the lessee’s business. Therefore, a lessee capable of paying interest on a property as a rental fee is the strongest candidate to own that property. This fact serves as strong evidence that business is closely linked to real estate. After all, most businesses grow in size and have two asset structures: their basic operating sales and real estate revenue. Without an efficient connection between these two structures, a business will never expand...

Most trees do not grow alone; they grow alongside other trees. If a tree does not thrive, it cannot develop further because it is overshadowed by its neighboring trees, making it difficult to bear fruit. If it does not bear fruit, it cannot prosper and may eventually die or decline. To bear fruit signifies survival. A tree or a person can gauge health and future development based on its fruit. The fruit of a person is represented by their work and achievements. The track record reflects aspects of luck, effort, ability, humanity, capital, and time. Each element contributes differently to performance, but the variation does not shame the individual. Success or failure is secondary; the true shame lies in having no achievements. Trees and people are evaluated by their fruit. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Debt is not inherently bad; it belongs to someone else. The goodness or badness of debt depends on the circumstances, terms, and conditions of borrowing, and it is not necessarily negative. Debt should be acquired when I have a stable income or additional profits to invest, rather than for consumption. However, you should avoid using it for highly volatile investments, such as cryptocurrencies or stocks. You need to control the debt; it is considered good when you can manage it under conditions that allow you to repay both the principal and interest. The advantage of debt is that it provides the opportunity to grow faster than others in a competitive environment. Debt belongs to someone else. This is the key. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Both a life in which money is the goal and a life that ignores money while focusing on the limitations of existence are enslaved to money. People are wary of greed for money but feel pity for a life constrained by its lack and filled with excuses. However, these two are essentially the same phenomenon, stemming from a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge about the essence of money. Both conditions prevent individuals from achieving the freedom that money can provide. That is why money becomes a source of unhappiness when it is viewed either as a purpose or merely as a means. There is nothing more precious than the freedom to exercise sovereignty over my life independently. The world divides into those who seek wealth for freedom and those who earn money to become slaves to it. There is no neutrality. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

To build wealth, you must live on your current income, not your future income. Using a credit card allows you to live in the present relying on future income, whereas using a debit card or cash enables you to live in the present with current income. To achieve prosperity, you need to have compound interest working in your favor. Living in the present with future income means depending on the compound interest of others, while living in the present with current income allows you to benefit from compound interest yourself. Don’t live in the present by discounting the future. Don’t discount your time; give it a premium. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Wise people don’t need managing, foolish people are unnecessary to manage, those who love you don’t require managing, and those who don’t love you aren’t worth managing. This is why I need to be more of ‘me’ rather than trying to conform to others; it also explains why the world is more likely to function properly if I take good care of myself. It doesn’t mean you have to live selfishly, but it does mean you’d better accept altruistic selfishness. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

In any business, a lessee who can pay the rent on real estate with the profits from that business is the most qualified to own the property. Businesses that generate profits based on real estate, such as stores, enhance the value of the real estate by creating local commercial areas with their sales profits. For the lessee’s contribution, the landowner can pay off the bank loan taken to purchase the property. Proceeds from business sales go to the business owner; however, as a result of the lessee’s business, the owner of the building effortlessly earns real estate revenue. Due to a lack of funds, even a hardworking lessee may find themselves donating the profits earned from their arduous efforts to unreasonable others. Although it’s not easy, it is wise to allow the entrepreneur to enjoy the potential profits from their challenging business if they can pay off the bank loan and interest with the original rent paid in exchange for owning the property. Because no one, regardless of thei...

The most common excuse for people who can’t save money is that they don’t have enough to spend. This is true, but it is also unacceptable. You don’t have enough to spend because you’ve pulled your future income into the present and spent it in advance. Taking a loan, getting an investment, and using a credit card all share one thing in common: they move future time into the present. There can be no investment that ignores the effect of time and no money management that does not consider time. Discounting the future means that there is no present income; instead, future income is drawn into the present and used. There is only one way out of this trap. Currently, the only way to reduce expenditure is through frugality. After that, you can only increase your income. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

The most important aspect of investing is managing risk. However, in most cases, risk management is interpreted and assessed in relation to past patterns. When asset prices fall, the perceived risk appears significant. That doesn’t imply there weren’t risks; investors simply didn’t recognize the risks that originally existed. The level of risk is almost identical whether the price of an asset goes up or down, but when prices decline, they tend to drop further because fear prevents us from purchasing more assets, leading us to retreat. It’s not that the risk has escalated. It is unwise to link risk with past patterns. There have been numerous exceptions in the world, and many beings on this planet have disappeared because they could not adapt. Did dinosaurs not become extinct on Earth? Exceptions are exceptions because they are unpredictable. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Talented individuals are more likely to earn significant money in a short period than to generate regular, routine income. However, if they can’t establish a steady income from the substantial earnings they’ve made at once, they risk facing financial difficulties. This is why individuals who earn a large sum quickly need investment knowledge and experience. Understanding how to manage risks rather than just focusing on profit is the most crucial aspect of investing. The best way to mitigate or control risk is to anticipate the future; a steady income facilitates predictions, making risk management easier than in other scenarios. Therefore, a business should prioritize generating a stable income. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

When farming, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t rain, but if it rains just twice a year, it ruins the farm. If it rains heavily, it causes a flood; if it doesn’t rain for a long time, it leads to drought. Regularity is a crucial habit that enriches our lives. So is money. Money that comes in regularly every month is more valuable than money that arrives all at once. A small but consistent action taken every day can radically change your life. However, the reason this is hard for us is that the effect must accumulate over a certain period before you can feel a significant difference. Patience accomplishes very valuable things that money cannot achieve. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Psychologist Robert Epstein published a paper in 2002 that found that many couples who do not marry, due to affection being the main cause, such as in arranged marriages, develop romantic relationships with greater affection over time than couples who marry for love. In other words, love doesn’t change us; rather, when we change our behavior, greater love emerges. If you change your mind, your behavior will change, but in fact, if you change your behavior, it seems more reasonable to change your mind. Actions influence the mind. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”