opportunity costs

3 September 2023
Why would an entrepreneur seek external finance when they have the funds themselves?

Even if you could fund a business venture yourself, that doesn't mean you should. I explore why seeking external funding can make sense even when you have the means — touching on expected value, utili…
17 December 2021
Kids and money – building financial literacy and investing on their behalf

If you're actively thinking about your children's financial literacy, they're already lucky — that you care is more important than any specific tactic. I'm sceptical of both the Barefoot-style jam-jar…
28 May 2021
Active investment is great! Just pick the right domain

Investing actively is great. By this, I'm talking about putting your time, energy, talents, knowledge, and expertise into how you invest. On the other hand, investing passively is great too. It really…
1 January 2021
Read some of these non-fiction books in 2021

Starting the year with non-fiction recommendations. My filter: books most people won't already have seen on the usual lists — so nothing from Lee Child or Malcolm Gladwell, just good books. Richard Me…
4 December 2020
It’s trade-offs all the way down

The word "decide" traces back to Latin — "to cut", or to kill. Every decision kills other options you could have taken. Time is scarce. Money is scarce. Even Bill Gates makes trade-offs. It's trade-of…
25 September 2020
What I think about when I think about buying something expensive

I'm not naturally frugal. I love spending money and buying stuff. I've never gone overboard with spending. Initially that was because it wasn't really an option. But as time has gone on, I've found my…
14 April 2020
Capex and Opex for personal finance

When we look at our expenditure, it's easy to mix up day-to-day costs with capital expenses. It's common to make this distinction in business (Opex versus Capex) but it's valuable when it comes to our…
13 December 2019
What price a dream

A personal allegory. On the surface it's about my long-running desire to own a Porsche Cayman. Underneath it's about having a clear-eyed perspective on your goals — the real, annualised cost of the th…
6 September 2019
Baches (or: some terrible financial decisions can be great life decisions, and vice versa)

File under: some terrible financial decisions can be great life decisions, and vice versa. Owning a bach is almost always the wrong call if you run the numbers — the opportunity cost on half a million…
31 August 2018
Why Fairhaven Wealth’s fees are increasing

I'm raising my fees substantially — from $879 to $1,800 including GST. Writing this is a way of being transparent with readers and clients, and getting my head (and my feels) around the decision. $879…
29 October 2017
How to get better-than-market returns

For most people, I recommend low-cost, index-based funds — don't try to beat the market, just make sure the market doesn't beat you. But the honest answer is that you can get better-than-market return…
18 June 2016
When you spend money or use your time, you make trade offs. Hopefully the trade offs you make reflect your priorities

Whenever you spend money, there are opportunity costs. You're using money you could have saved or spent on something else. The same goes for time. When you spend time on one thing, there are many othe…

opportunity costs

Why would an entrepreneur seek external finance when they have the funds themselves?

Kids and money – building financial literacy and investing on their behalf

Active investment is great! Just pick the right domain

Read some of these non-fiction books in 2021

It’s trade-offs all the way down

What I think about when I think about buying something expensive

Capex and Opex for personal finance

What price a dream

Baches (or: some terrible financial decisions can be great life decisions, and vice versa)

Why Fairhaven Wealth’s fees are increasing

How to get better-than-market returns

When you spend money or use your time, you make trade offs. Hopefully the trade offs you make reflect your priorities

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