By Alec Hogg
ELECTION 2024 – DATES ANNOUNCED
SA’s Independent Electoral Commission yesterday launched its programme for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections which are set to introduce the concept of coalition governments to South Africa.
The IEC said according to legislation the election must be held between mid-May and mid-August next year. This means the Election is now only between seven and 10 months away. Selecting the actual date is the prerogative of the President.
For some years now, I’ve been receiving occasional missives from Vitaliy Katsenelson (above), an investment professional, author and educator known for contributions to the field of value investing. He is the CEO and chief investment officer of Colorado-based asset management company Investment Management Associates.
Katsenelson’s superpower is an ability to break down complex investment topics into simpler terms, making them easier to understand by retail investors. Like one of his heroes Warren Buffett, Katsenelson also loves one liners like this one: ‘President Harry Truman once said ‘Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.’
His contributions have attracted a significant online presence (25k followers each on LinkedIn and Twitter) but it’s his longer-form writing that provides most pleasure for his fans. This week he offers comment to five bits of advice from Buffett’s lifetime business partner Charlie Munger, who turns 100 this year and is still going strong.
Apply them, says Katsenelson, and they’ll change your life. Couldn’t agree more.
1. Never stop learning.
Charlie Munger is almost 100 years old.
He still reads like he has a whole life ahead of him.
His curiosity and willingness to learn is critical.
This insatiable curiosity allows him to create mental models that have changed the lives of millions (including yours truly).
2. Power of mental models.
Charlie Munger reads widely, which allows him to take things he learns from various fields and turn them into mental models.
This allows him to see the world differently and summarise complex ideas.
Warren Buffett can talk for 10 minutes at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting.
While Charlie summarises his point in less than a minute.
That’s the power of mental models.
3. Stay true to yourself.
Charlie Munger tells you what he thinks.
It’s refreshing to see him be honest.
When we stop being ourselves, is when we become unhappy.
This is a critical lesson from Charlie.
Don’t stop being yourself.
4. Envy is stupid.
Charlie Munger tells the story of Mozart to illustrate this point.
Mozart was the greatest musical talent that ever lived.
What was his life like?
He was bitterly unhappy, and he died young.
That’s the life of Mozart.
What the hell did Mozart do to screw it up?
He did two things that guaranteed misery:
1. He overspent his income.
2.He was full of jealousy and resentment.
If you overspend your income and are jealous and resentful, you will have a lousy, unhappy life and die young.
5. The power of incentives.
Charlie has taught me the most about incentives.
Incentives drive our behaviour.
When you invest in companies, you want to understand how management is incentivised.
When I was growing up in the Soviet Union one of the foundations of Communism was that people would evolve to put the interest of the masses ahead of their self-interest.
This is not how humans think.
Which is why understanding incentives is critical.
Brilliant né?
Sterkte.
Alec
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