CHAPTER 1

KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND WHY

‘Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.’

Hyman Schachtel, US rabbi

Many people go about planning and managing their wealth in a haphazard and random manner. They have a vague idea of what they want, gain some information and go from one financial solution to the other, without any real plan or context. Over the years I’ve answered many readers’ questions for the Financial Times and other weekend newspapers and a common question is: ‘How should I invest my capital?’ This is the same as asking: ‘How long is a piece of string?’ The answer is: ‘It depends.’

Viktor Frankl, in his classic book Man’s Search for Meaning,1 wrote about his observations of human motivation when he ...

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