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Christmas Present Tips for Guys

Christmas Shopping Tips for Guys

giftgreen1Most of us guys are useless at Christmas shopping. Here's a few tips I've picked up over the years.

Ladies, you might want to share this with the men in your family to avoid getting an undesirable and badly wrapped present this Christmas.

  1. Buying your Christmas presents at a petrol station or dairy on Christmas morning really isn't the done thing - apparently not everyone wants a funnel, box of biscuits or a car care kit. Don't do it.
  2. Get started early, no not on Christmas Eve, yesterday was already too late.
  3. First thing in the morning is the best time to Christmas shop, and I mean first thing, teenagers are still in bed.
  4. It's not the thought that counts, it's how MUCH thought that counts.
  5. Cash is a GREAT present for teenagers - and me.
  6. If you must give gift vouchers make sure they are from a shop the recipient actually shops in and try and avoid those with an expiry date.
  7. Wrapping and cards are important, you and I know it's just paper but for some reason they are important.
  8. Before you start browsing in a shop check that it does gift wrapping and accept the service - wait if necessary. If the shop doesn't do gift wrapping move on to the next. Unless you are an expert present wrapper - Yeah Right!
  9. Even if every present you buy is gift wrapped, buy plenty of wrapping paper and sellotape. You are going to need it because dairy's and petrol stations don't gift wrap and being a bloke you'll probably ignore number 1.

Guys ignore the above at your peril and have a wonderful Christmas.

Posted in Commentary on the Investment Environment.

Driving whilst concentrating on the rear view mirror

No point betting after the race is run…

A graphic that gets looked at quite a bit in the investment world is sometimes referred to as the “asset allocation quilt” – obviously because it looks like a quilt.

Asset Allocation Quilt

To make sense of this all you have to know is that each different asset class is given a colour, and then ranked year by year from best performer at the top down to worst performer at the bottom. The fact that this map of asset class returns looks like a quilted bedspread tells us everything we need to know about chasing last years best performer: Don’t.

It is like trying to bet on a horse after the race has been run….

What we can learn from this sort of analysis (without even having to look at the numbers in detail) is two things:

  1. it is virtually impossible to pick the winning investment asset class in any particular year
  2. it is almost always a bad bet chasing last years high flyer

With this knowledge in mind the strategy of building a diversified portfolio with a stronger emphasis upon getting the balance of asset classes right (after taking into account your own preferred level of risk and the investing timeframe you are working with) becomes the safer path to good returns.

It is a lot better chance of being a winner than putting it on the horse that has already run its race.

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