{"id":34468,"date":"2016-12-03T02:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=34468"},"modified":"2016-12-08T03:31:44","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T11:31:44","slug":"stop-gain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/03\/stop-gain\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stop gain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

In stocks and trading, there is something called a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop loss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d where you pre-determine that you will exit a position (if the value of a stock drops below a certain point).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In reality, nobody ever does \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop losses\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. We become married to our stocks and our positions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"0contact-suit-ricoh\"For example, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say you bought a stock for $100. If you were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153rational\u00e2\u20ac\u009d you might create a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop-loss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for $80. That means if your stock drops below $80, you take the loss of $20.<\/p>\n

But most people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do this. Their stock might drop to $70, $60, $50, or even become $0. We become \u00e2\u20ac\u0153married\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to our stock, and we make these rationalizations why<\/em> the stock will increase.<\/p>\n

I think in stocks and investing, stop-losses are the best way to prevent ourselves from going bust.<\/p>\n

But I had another thought \u00e2\u20ac\u201d what if we took this concept of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop loss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and reversed it\u00e2\u20ac\u201d brought up the concept of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop gain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

Stop gain<\/h2>\n
\"Tokyo,
Tokyo, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think there is also a certain concept of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop gain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say if your stock raises from $100 to $120 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d then you cash out the profit of $20.<\/p>\n

But in life, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know when to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop gain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. We are bloodthirsty. We want more and more and more.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame yourself. It is human nature. It is what has helped us survive across the millennia \u00e2\u20ac\u201d we constantly are in fear of dying, so we continue to stockpile our food, money, and resources, in fear of famine.<\/p>\n

Yet in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world we live in a world of super-abundance. Rarely anyone in the developed world dies from starvation. In-fact, the bigger problem is that we are dying from abundance\u00e2\u20ac\u201d think of all the deaths from heart disease, obesity, diabetes\u00e2\u20ac\u201d from all the sugar and crap in our diets.<\/p>\n

A limit to our gains?<\/h2>\n

\"eric-kim-street-photography-tokyo-0000615\"<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been thinking a lot about my personal finances lately. How much do I really need in life to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153comfortable\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

Is that $40,000 a year? $60,000 a year? $80,000 a year? $100,000 a year? $200,000 a year? $500,000 a year? $1,000,000 a year? Is there a point where \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is truly \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

Living in Vietnam<\/h2>\n
\"Hanoi,
Hanoi, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m currently writing these words while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in Vietnam. By conservative approaches, my expenses don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exceed around $1000 a month. I can use that to pay rent, my coffee, and food. What else do I need?<\/p>\n

Effectively I feel like a millionaire living here in Vietnam. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve achieved a point in my life where I literally don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stress out about money anymore. And now that Haptic Industries has been doing well, my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153passive income\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can cover my monthly expenses in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m at a strange impasse or road in my life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d what do I do with my life, when I no longer worry about paying the rent, feeding myself, and when I no longer feel anxiety about money?<\/p>\n

Helping others<\/h2>\n

\"0\"<\/p>\n

Cindy and I have been talking a lot more about philantrophy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d donating some of our extra money for causes we believe in. To empower the arts and other things we believe in \u00e2\u20ac\u201d like the local photo scene in Hanoi, and also some local poetry and art scenes.<\/p>\n

But above all \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I see philantrophy not as just giving away a bunch of money. Rather, for us to use our mental resources, energy, and brains to help empower others with information.<\/p>\n

\"1-istanbul-metro-contact\"<\/p>\n

This is the biggest impetus for me at the moment\u00e2\u20ac\u201d to use all of my life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resources to come up with ideas, and blog.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the happiest when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m helping others. Once my basic needs are met, I can devote the rest of my energy on helping others.<\/p>\n

To be human is to be useful to other humans. To love humanity means to care less about your own needs, and to focus on the needs of others.<\/p>\n

Of course you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help others if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re barely paying rent, and starving. So I encourage you \u00e2\u20ac\u201d hustle as hard as you can, to earn more money, to earn more freedom. But know that you need to find a point where you know that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need any more money.<\/p>\n

If you already have a Honda Civic, live in a modest apartment, and can pay your phone bill \u00e2\u20ac\u201d do you really need to work more to buy a BMW, live in a more fancy apartment, and always upgrade your smartphone?<\/p>\n

The quickest way to become rich<\/h2>\n
\"Tokyo,
Tokyo, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To wrap-up this essay, I think one of the best ways to accumulate \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wealth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in life is to prevent<\/em> going broke. To prevent<\/em> yourself from wasting money on superfluous things. I think it is easier to subtract from your expenses, rather than to add to your income.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, it is easier to downgrade<\/em> your lifestyle (in terms of eating out, buying organic food, always having the newest gadgets) as a way to become more wealthy.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo by Tanja Houwerzijl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wealthy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to have a bunch of money. To be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wealthy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is to be satisfied with what you have. And to have no desire besides what you already<\/em> own.<\/p>\n

Poverty is simply wanting something you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have. If you are content, you are wealthy. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still craving for other things\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you are poor (a billionaire can be living in \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpoverty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122).<\/p>\n

How much is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for you, really? Is there anything else you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153need\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or is it something you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153want\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

Know that you already have all the tools at your disposal to become great.<\/p>\n

Once you liberate yourself from need, devote the rest of your life empowering others.<\/p>\n

Always,
\nEric<\/p>\n

Learn more: Entrepreneurship ><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In stocks and trading, there is something called a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop loss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d where you pre-determine that you will exit a position (if the value of a stock drops below a certain point).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/0-eric-kim-suit-tie-1-1.jpg?fit=1400%2C928&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}