Saturday, 8 August 2015

2015 Country Stock Market Returns

Below is a look at the YTD performance through July for the main stock market indices of 74 countries around the world. The average YTD change for the countries listed below is 6.75%. Hungary and Denmark have posted the strongest gains at 35%+. Italy is up the most of the G7 countries with a gain of 23.8%, followed by France (18.95%) and Japan (17.96%). The U.S., Britain and Canada have performed the worst of the G7 in 2015. Both the U.S. and Britain have posted marginal gains, while Canada is one of the few countries that’s in the red.

Looking at the BRICs, you may find it hard to believe given its recent crash that China is up the most with a YTD gain of 13%. Russia is up 8.6%, while India and Brazil are up roughly 2%.

On the downside, Kenya, Colombia and Nigeria are down the most with losses of 13%. Overall, performance across the globe has been strong when looking at full-year returns, even though we’ve seen a lot of weakness recently. We’ll post these results again at the end of the third quarter to see where things stand heading into the final three months of the year.


22 Dos and Don’ts of Rich People

Rich people are controversial and interesting to talk about. Not necessarily because of the money they earn, but the fact that they are able to create a dream lifestyle achieving more freedom and time for their family, passions, and dreams.

Getting rich doesn't happen by accident. There are some external factors that influence the process; however, the dos and don't s in everyday life play a significant role.

Wealthy individuals tend to have many things in common. Here are 20 of them.

1. They set achievable and specific goals.

More than 60% of rich people who took part in a research agreed that they focus on their goals on a daily basis. What’s more, the goals they set themselves are achievable through specific physical actions, so they know exactly what separates them from achieving it.

2. They create to-do lists and review them daily.

To come closer to their goals, rich people spend time creating to-do lists and maintaining them every day. Whatever you want to accomplish, there’s a certain amount of tasks you need to do in order to get there. This is what a rich person makes sure to determine. With that knowledge, they commit to work on it day after day, with no excuses.

3. They take care of their bodies.

To fully focus on their ambitions, they need functional and efficient bodies. Through a healthy diet, regular exercises and treating the body as a temple, they accelerate the progress, stay in shape, avoid laziness and separate themselves from the crowd.

4. They read daily and they love it.

Rich people don’t only feed themselves with healthy food, but they also feed their minds with wisdom and information. Almost 90% of rich questionnaires agreed they love reading. Mostly, it’s self-improvement books and non fiction, which serve as a great source of inspiration and knowledge.

5. They listen to audiobooks while commuting.

Instead of blasting pop music while being on the road, rich people listen to audiobooks so the mind is always in the mood for achieving extraordinary results. Let’s say you spend an hour a day in traffic. If you devote it to audiobooks or podcasts, that’s 365 extra hours of self-improvement time in a year.

6. They are the hardest workers in the room.

When asked for the secrets of success, Dwayne Johnson, a man who went from poverty to Hollywood, said there’s no secret sauce. It’s always being the hardest worker in the room which brings you one step closer to making your dreams a reality.

7. They make family life a priority.

A rich person knows best what money can and cannot buy. That’s why they give so much value to the family time, something which they consider priceless. They realize whereas money can always be made, there’s a limited amount of time they can spend with their families. That’s why they make it a priority.

8. They respect their time and spend it wisely.

In a world full of distractions, it’s easy to lose track of your time. It’s something rich people never let happen. They realize, once wasted, the time is gone forever; that’s why it’s such a precious resource for them.

9. They surround themselves with like-minded people.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” - Jim Rohn

Letting naysayers influence your thoughts, actions and bring you down is out of the question for a wealthy person. To protect themselves from negative people, they make sure their surroundings motivate them to further growth.

10. They pay attention to their habits.

Your habits form who you become. If you eat junk, practice negative talking and spend your time mindlessly, there’s likely no bright future ahead of you. Wealthy individuals select their habits carefully so that they only practice ones that contribute value to their lives.

11. They learn how the world of finances functions.

Nowadays, the right financial knowledge is the key to survive without getting lost in debt and other financial commitments. Rich people devote time to become the financial experts, so in the end, their money works for them and not vice versa.

To radically improve your personal finances, check out this 14-day plan.

12. They don’t believe in financial luck.

Money is made through hard work combined with creativity, market-research, and other factors, but pure lack is definitely not among the most important ones. That’s why wealthy person avoids lotteries and gambling. They still take financial risks, but they are calculated.

13. They don’t spend more than they earn.

If you make $1,000,000 and you spend the same amount, you are still broke. Poor people tend to spend more than they make which is caused by short-term thinking. Wealthy people can extend the gratification in order to stay financially stable and make the future safe.

14. They don’t watch TV.

Television is a huge time-sucker with almost no value added to your life. It leads to a sedentary lifestyle, obesity and increases your chances of type 2 diabetes. Since rich people eliminate bad habits; they make sure to replace TV with more creative sources of entertainment like books.

15. They don’t give anyone responsibility for their lives.

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” - George Bernard

People who can’t achieve anything significant in their lives tend to avoid the responsibility for their future. There’s always some external factor to blame. On the contrary are achievers, who always take the blame and learn from their mistakes.

16. They don’t follow the flow.
Thinking differently is mandatory. There’s no way to achieve extraordinary results through regular actions and ordinary thinking. Rich people aren't afraid to dream big and break the rules and dogmas to accomplish something.

17. They don’t miss opportunities.

To ensure they squeeze as much as possible from what life throws at them, rich people put themselves in the right place at the right time. They realize some chances are game-changing experiences.

18. They don’t rely on formal education.

Wealthy individuals are life-long learners. They treat self-growth as a never-ending process and they fully enjoy it. Cultivating the mind is achieved through a broad variety of experiences in contrast to relying completely on the schooling system.

19. They don’t let negative thoughts influence their actions.

Negative thinking is especially dangerous when you decide to believe in the excuses and rationalizations. Your brain wants you to stay in the comfort zone, so it will spare no effort to convince you that you can’t. The key to success is to let these thoughts fade away and replace them with powerful reasons to believe in yourself.

20. They don’t say yes all the time.

Saying no at the right moment is a powerful skill which brings health, wealth and happiness. One the other hand, if you practice saying yes way too often, you are more likely to get off the track and waste your time on unnecessary commitments.

Rich people know there are plenty of things you don’t need to say yes to.

21. They don’t focus entirely on the money.

Oppose to misconceptions, money isn't what matters the most one the road to getting rich. Using their capital and influence, wealthy individuals want to change the world for better, contribute to the society and simply experience the life like most people can’t.

Bill Gates is once again the wealthiest person on the planet. But he’s also one of the most generous people. He gives back a lot of his money and he decided to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes when he dies.

22. They don't give up.

Getting rich isn't an overnight process. It takes a lot of time and effort to go through the path full of obstacles and failures to finally meet your goals. The key is to stay persistent, practice self-belief and never give up.

Quote for the day

“Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you. If you don't learn to control it, it'll destroy you and everything around you.” - Cus D'Amato