輕舟已過萬重山
How to Reach Financial Nirvana
丘中仁
An analogy with whitewater rafting
- Skill, Effort, Balance, Serenity in chaos, Delight
- The journey is its own reward
What is Wealth?
What brings well being.
- Health
- Mental wealth
- Social wealth (family & friends)
- Material wealth (money & stuff)
What is Money?
- 一切法如幻如化 - 般若經
- Money is not real - Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
- Because it is not real, it can be created. It's not a zero-sum game.
e.g. Intel 點石成金
- Money is a medium of exchange.
Money in a Market Economy
- Supply/demand determines price. Whatever people want most with low
supply will have higher price.
Wealth Creation
- 我論因說因 - 雜阿含經
- 此有故彼有, 此生故彼生; 此無故彼無, 此滅故彼滅 - 雜阿含經
- 諸法意先導 - 法句經
- The mind that visualize and realize a way to benefit people creates
(mental, social, or material) wealth.
Common Attitudes toward Money
- I don't care (really?)
- I want lots of money to spend (consumption oriented)
- I want to accumulate as much money as possible (for safety, power,
etc. accumulation oriented)
- Money is an indicator of my success, and I want to be very successful
(creation oriented)
Buddhist Attitude toward Money
- 人生以服務(因)為目的-孫中山 (and wealth(果) will follow)
- 心為法本, 心尊心使, 中心念善, 即言即行, 福樂自追, 如影隨形-法句譬喻經雙要品
- 莊嚴淨土, 成就眾生 (and money will never be a problem when you give people
what they truly want.)
Buddhist Ideal - Nirvana
- Nirvana is the cessation of all defilements and worries.
- Nirvana is the ultimate bliss.
- The Buddha also developed perfect ability to benefit others.
Financial Nirvana
Free from money worries, and use the power of
money (among other powers) to improve the well being of all.
- Life is not about what happens to you(果), but how you see, think,
and act(因).
- Your relationship with money affects your well being.
- More money will not make you less worried about money.
The 5 Powers (五力) for Financial Nirvana
- Faith(信心的力量):
- Faith is necessary for energy, focus, and inner peace.
- Buddhist faith comes from wisdom validated by experience.
- Living the Truth(佛法) will set you free.
- Buddhist believe in cause and effect (因果); if I provide service
beneficial to people, there will be more than enough
for me to live on.
- e.g. 佛陀三月食馬麥; 孔子在陳絕糧
- 如法求財不以非法; You can benefit only when others benefit
- The customer is always right?
- Effort, Energy, Perseverance (精進力)
- doing what’s beneficial; do more, better
- stopping what’s harmful; at least do less
- Be decisive when making investment decisions. No buyer/seller's
remorse.
- Don't rehash history - learn your lessons and move on.
- Awareness(念力)
- 正念 - 心念安定明白; 不分散, 不昏沈
- 心常念利人善法
- Be aware of defilement such as greed, fear and laziness etc.
that colors your judgment.
- Greed is bad (for your wealth.) Bulls make money, and
bears make money, but hogs get killed (in the stock market.)
- Concentration/focus(專注力)
- 定 - 專注一境
- Prioritize and focus on major factors that influence the result.
- Focus on activities that create long term value.
- Wisdom(慧力)
- 知錢集, 知錢散, 知錢味, 知錢患, 於錢不執著
- 佛法智慧在知四聖諦((苦集滅道)
- 或生而知之, 或學而知之, 或困而知之
- Knowledge of how money works give you power over money.
- Focus to know what matters very well.
- You can make better (financial and otherwise) decisions by
- Get all relevant facts as much as possible.
- Avoid distractions. Concentrate to let your awareness know the
truth clearly.
財富的處理
- Operating expense 資用：
把一分財物，用作經常的生活費用，包括兒女教育費等。在財力可能時，每人應有適當的生活水準，不可奢侈，卻要足夠。
- Emergency reserve 積蓄：
人事無常 ，我們收入應保存一分，作臨時支出。積存，雖是少少的數目, 也是極有意思的，不但可避免臨時的困窘求人，也可養成不浪費的習慣。
- Investment 經營：
無論從事那一職業，都應在每年的收入中，分出一分來投資。增加資本也好， 投資養老也好， 充實學力及工作技能也好。這樣才會增加收入，使財富增長累積起來
- Charity 作福：
人不能專 為自己，專為現世，應顧到社會利益，以及自己的後生福樂。 所以對社會公益 ── 文化、慈濟事業，三寶法益──護持,
都要分一分收入來作福。 這不但是自己積福德，也是為人群謀幸福。
Cf: Rich people buy assets (positive cash flow, capital
appreciation) which benefits people day in, day out.
Additional Considerations
- Insurance: health, term life, disability, car, home, liability, etc.
- Estate planning: revocable living trust, charitable remainder trust.
- Tax planning: use tax-advantaged retire plan
Considerations for Investment
- How long can you invest the money?
- How much time do you want to spend on investment?
- What's your area of interest? Can you create unique advantage?
- Will you lose sleep over it?
Conclusion
- Cessation of all suffering (nirvana) is the ultimate bliss.
- Money is not the cause for ultimate bliss.
- Developing the 5 powers(信力, 精進力, 念力, 專注力, 慧力) leads to bliss.
Appendix: Statistics about American Millionaires
- 2/3 own their business; however, they encourage their children to
be professionals, not business owners.
- Their net worth is 17x their annual income on average.
- Only 1/5 inherits significant wealth.
- 2/3 of luxury car buyers are not millionaires.
- They spend 8.5 hours per month on average to manage investment, evenly
split between current and potential investments. Twice national
average.
References