REDES SOCIALES

Some people want to accumulate wealth to impress other people. But for me, the reason for accumulating wealth is freedom (not to work for others) and security. I know better than to flaunt it. Now that I am older and wiser, the feeling of security I get from having good investments (yielding spendable cash) is worth more to me than memories of costly parties or a lot of now out of fashion, worthless designer clothes, shoes or handbags. Yachts, airplanes and condo-apartments are not investments, they are high-maintenance things that cost you money to own. Of course if you buy to lease out such things at a profit, that's OK.

A PT does not rely upon any Big Brother government to support him in ill health or old age. Thus it is important to accumulate reserves to take care of yourself.

I have never felt deprived by having mostly portable personal items (office equipment for example). My stuff is either portable (like a laptop computer) or it is readily saleable and replaceable, anywhere in the world.

Once you become emotionally attached to 'things' like a collection of you name it - animals or antique cannons, for example - they will control your life. Having your freedom of movement curtailed by your possessions may be just as limiting as having your life hemmed in by bureaucrats! If you want to collect, fine. A PT should collect numismatic coins, rare postage stamps or diamonds - not large heavy things.

Expensive, non-portable material possessions are not good for most PTs. Looking back over my life, spending my money on good food, lively women, and beautiful rented homes has brought me far more pleasure than owning status symbols. My serious assets were always deployed in money making deals.

THE TOOLS OF YOUR TRADE

Some people have professional skills that require tools or equipment in order to practice their trade. Most independent medical specialists and dentists, furniture makers and potters all need bulky, heavy tools or equipment which cannot easily be carried along on their travels.

Does that mean they cannot be PTs? Unfortunately it usually does. If you want a portable trade, the tools of that trade must either be portable, or easily rented at your destination. Yes, it is possible for someone who is an expert in a trade or profession that involves heavy equipment to get a foreign job. However, working for an employer in that sort of job (running a steel mill for instance) usually involves a degree of commitment (and a giving up of freedom) that would not be characteristic of a PT.

Generally speaking it is nearly impossible to be a PT if your trade or profession requires either a local license to practice, or if it involves using non-portable equipment.

Exception: we know a man who drifted into a portable trade by becoming an international sales representative for hospital equipment. He travels to hospitals all over the world, demonstrates the equipment, and earns big commissions. He also works online or travels to consult with local physicians who are already using this equipment.

You can be a PT selling tanks, Boeing 747s, or ocean-going yachts. They are big and heavy, but you can travel light.

We will discuss in later chapters how you can create your own portable trade or profession. But of course, if you have sufficient financial assets to live on, being an 'investor' is just about the best portable trade there is.

Nothing is more portable than liquid assets: Cash deposits or securities can be acquired, sold or converted to local money anywhere, anytime. A good PT regards his money as a tool for security and survival - not as something to blow on booze, gambling, possessions, toys, or consumer goods.

Chapter 25: ESSENTIAL PT READING: TWO NOVELS

Ayn Rand was probably one of the most important authors and philosophers of the twentieth century. A great number of the original PT theories and morality were inspired by her work. Her most famous and influential novel was Atlas Shrugged. We dedicate this chapter to Ayn Rand and her successor, the anonymous author of A Lodging of Wayfaring Men.

Ayn Rand observed that governments make many innocent people suffer whenever they introduce most new laws and regulations. They know that in our modern world, due to an over-abundance of conflicting laws, anyone who achieves success must become a lawbreaker along the way. Under this arrangement, Big Brother can prosecute and jail anyone at any time.

The fact that most of the laws broken today involve victimless crimes does not mitigate the severe consequences of a criminal conviction. Just as George Orwell demonstrated Big Brother's need to invent an enemy, Ayn Rand clearly showed that transforming an entire population into criminals benefits the government.

As a Russian expatriate who fled to the United States from Soviet Russia in the 1920s, Ayn Rand's success is based largely on the public acclaim she received for her novels. Her outlook on life was unique.

In her view, life belongs exclusively to the individual. Individuals (in her view) should be free to do whatever they please, as long as the rights of others are not transgressed.