the Smartest People I Know
August 3, 2010
Lesson Six: The quality of your life is shaped by the quality of the people in your life.
The happiest people I know seem to have many favorite people in their lives – including some who are younger than they are. At the end, life can sweep our dignity and money away, but if we have friends with whom we can share joy, pain and respect, we are blessed.
Lesson Seven: We older folks could learn some common sense from high school students.
That may surprise you, but it should not. Every year I speak to high school students. I ask them if they had money to invest, would they invest like millionaires or like poor people. They never get this wrong, but I’m continually amazed why so many of their parents continue to invest like poor people. In a nutshell, here’s the difference:
If you invest like a millionaire, you carefully choose an advisor who has no conflict of interest with you. You invest in hundreds or even thousands of stocks. You take a long-term view, and you keep your costs low and your expectations realistic.
There are many ways to invest like a poor person. One popular route is going to a broker and buying some “hot” individual stocks, hoping to get rich by exploiting insight and knowledge that you believe you or your broker have, and everybody else on Wall Street is too dumb to recognize. Yeah, right!
Lesson Eight: Active trumps lazy, every time.
Smart people of all ages keep themselves active mentally as well as physically. People who regularly challenge their brains live longer than those who get intellectually lazy. Do you want to have a long, happy retirement? Then do stimulating things like reading, crossword puzzles, taking a class or teaching one. If you can, travel to unfamiliar places and try new things.
Lesson Nine: Smart people do not wait around for “real life” to start.
The happiest people I know, whether retired or still working, would have no trouble making a list of 100 things they would love to do if they had the time. Places to go. People to see. Books to read. Golf courses to master. Smart people know that all the tomorrows we assume are ours can be snatched away in an instant. They identify their passions, their dreams and their goals, and then find ways to make those dreams reality, starting now.
Lesson Ten: The very best investment you can ever make does not cost a dime.
This is not news to the smartest people I know. Every person who reads this article has something valuable to give which they have not given, yet. It might be money. It might be time or volunteer work. It might be a helping hand. It might be as simple as the gift of listening.
If you take the time to discover what this gift is for you, and you give it generously, two things will happen: Your life will be richer and more satisfying, and you will make the world a little better place. You might be surprised by how few people purposely and consciously live their lives this way.
Those who do are the smartest people I know.
Paul Merriman is the founder and CEO of Merriman, a Seattle, WA-based Registered Investment Advisor with approximately $1.5 billion under management. This article was originally published in 2005.
Display article as PDF for printing.
Would you like to send this article to a friend?
Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to .
