Act for We Not Only Me

In our relentless quest for happiness, thinking about others and acting for the greater good is probably an essential key. It can make you feel wonderful by giving you an amazing sense of purpose and fulfillment. Yet, having the greater good in mind, as with staying calm when your portfolio goes down, is easier said than done. It may become a challenge in the practical scheme of things as everyone can have a hard time coping with the struggles of every day life.

Some of you may find it odd that a DIY investor aspiring to financial independence and early retirement talks that way. Accumulating money may appear like a very selfish thing but in the end, it can also generate extra free time and give better means to take care and help others.

As with many positive individuals out there, we greatly believe in the evolution of Humanity. Maybe things are a tad slow and sometimes appear to go sideways or even backwards but we are still optimistic about general improvement over time.

In the same sense, we profoundly believe in the power of the collective, working together for the benefit of all, instead of just for you. We think you surely will have more success if you fundamentally have good and pure intentions. And you probably won’t achieve much if you are just trying to make more money.

Let’s have a look at our point of view, unique as always, on how to act well for the collectivity.

Reverse Marketing Scheme to Spend Less, Save More

When it comes to spending money, especially on big ticket items, we personally like to throw our brain a curveball. This twist also works on recurrent expenses. The trick is to convert all your purchases to measure their impact over your lifetime.

For instance, the cool-giant-flat-screen TV on special at only 3K$ can effectively cost you a little more than 49K$ (for 48 years @ 6%) over your lifetime. If you manage to get a 12% long-term portfolio performance like we do, that single purchase could represent more than 690K$! A lot of dough just to enjoy a groovy TV for a few years...

In the same matter, paying an extra 20 bucks each month on your iPhone plan translates into a corresponding amount between 66K$ (48 years @ 6%) and about 615K$ (48 years @ 12%) over your lifespan.

Analyzing expenses that way sure puts things into perspective and should spur up your frugal nature if you happen to have one.

Workout The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on February 12, 2012

Whether you want to lose some weight or be in better shape, a simple solution exists:

Add a 12-Minute Workout to your daily routine!

Taking an extra 12 minutes a day or 1 hour a week to work out can greatly improve your figure and your general health.