Life Hacks for Polymaths

Wisdom, Knowledge, Adventure, hacks for polymaths ... Life

Welcome polymaths !

Ever get the feeling that you seem to don't know what to do with your life because there are just so many things that you want to do ? I know, I've been there, so welcome to the club.

My name is Zigfred Diaz and I am a polymath. After more than 6 years of bloging about almost anything under the sun and having sort of a "blogging identity crisis." I've finally embraced who I am and decided to turn my main blog into some sort of guide for people with so much interest. Feel free to poke around.

Recommended reading materials for the value investor

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This question often pops up more often than any other question I am asked. I’ve been blogging about investing in the stock market more specifically being a value investor for almost 2 years now and I’ve frequently been asked on what are books and reading materials that are recommended for the value investor. Before you read any further take note that this recommendation is most especially useful for those who are interested in investing in the stock market (most especially the Philippine stock market) and those who are interested on being a value investor. It’s a good thing that readers of this blog are asking what they should read. It shows that they are interested in becoming a value investor. When asked how he became so successful in investing, Buffett answered: “We read hundreds and hundreds of annual reports every year.” If Buffett who is already a genius in investing reads  hundreds and hundreds of annual reports every year, we mere mortals should reads thousands if not … [Read more...]

Are you on your way to financial freedom ?

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Today’s post is a quite unique as I will not be discussing the detailed quirks of stock market investments but will be focusing on a broader topic of finance, more specifically personal finance or what personal finance writers call as “financial freedom.” What compelled me to write about this subject is that a reader of this blog sent me this interesting email. Since the message he sent is a bit long, I have only presented parts of the email just to let you understand what his current situation is and how this relates to his questions. Here is his email in relation to his question regarding financial freedom. “ . . . I've been working here in Bahrain for two years now but I must confess that I dont have any idea of what savings and investments are all about. For two years, my financial cash flow is this: all I have to do is to wait for payday then "remit" then whatever is left is to be expended until the preceding payday comes. This was my routine. . . . . . Until I … [Read more...]

More newbie questions to investing in the Philippine stock market

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Last June 2, 2009 I wrote a post entitled “Newbie’s questions to investing in the Philippine stock market” wherein I answered several questions on the investing in the Philippine stock market from a reader of this blog. After several days, she emailed me back and gave some follow up questions. I enjoy answering questions from my readers as it forces me to write on a topic and to know exactly what my readers want. Here is my response to her email: Dear Ashley, Sorry it took me a long time to response as I had been very busy with other matters I have tried to break down your questions into 5 parts and have done my best to present it just the way it is, unedited. I hope by answering this questions and posting it in my blog, others with similar questions might find the answers that they are looking for. In a way you are helping others who might have similar questions but are to shy or too busy to ask. Anyway, here are my answers to your questions: 1.) “ . . . I just wanted … [Read more...]

Trying out the latest Boracay hotels for our 8th wedding anniversary

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To celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary, my wife and I together with our son and two household helps Londer and Lalay spent 4 days and 3 nights in the beautiful island of Boracay. It is not our first time to visit this lovely place. This is the third time that my wife has visited here, while it is my second time. For both my household helps and my son, this is their first time. The first time I was here was in 2007. Right after taking my lawyer’s oath, my wife and I went here to celebrate. My parents have never been to this place so when they heard that we were going, the decided to join us. However since they booked their tickets late, we flew in several hours earlier. What’s interesting about this visit is that we also tried the latest hotel here which is the Crown Regency  located in Station 3. We used our free coupons (courtesy of Club Ultima) for our stay here. Crown Regency is putting up several Boracay hotels here. I’ve heard that they are planning to put one in … [Read more...]

Upcoming seminars on how to invest in the Philippine stock market

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I’ve been ranting about stock market investments since the inception of this blog. I know there are a lot of you who are very interested on how to invest in the Philippine stock market. Many of you are in fact wishing that investing in the stock market was made part in our high school or college curriculum. (Although there are moves now by the Philippine stock exchange to include the subject matter as part of high school curriculum. Investing in the stock market does not only seem fun exciting and sophisticated, it also gives you real return on your money that is IF YOU KNOW EXACLTY WHAT YOU ARE DOING. You might want to read my post on the advantages of investing in the Philippine stock market. Stories of fortunes and failures abound in the stock market. To prove my point that you can make money in the stock market you might want to read my post “Applying value investing in the Philippine stock market” Anyway if you want both an introductory and comprehensive course on how to … [Read more...]