Some of you may remember that less than a year ago, this column has become dark for a while. I had rushed to Sydney after my father was Out of his motorbike By a driver considers the red lights just a suggestion to stop.

He only survived -. However, a few weeks ago, when my phone rang for the second time in the first hours, I knew it was the invitation that we wanted to be terrible for the expatriates for life, but I know one day it should come.

There is not just the formulation of the bumper of the huge stroke. I was on a plane three hours later and on the side of Abi Al -Lawi for six days. No food, no water – just morphine and its favorite albums on repetition.

We felt that he continued to breathe just to embarrass those of us who forgot to send a birthday card for him by mail. In the end, my sister, and I moved away from her. He died five hours after 83.

So I apologize for my absence. This is twice a year, dad – you are a sign of my reading in a great time. As a leather in the game revolves around the investment, what about some of his nuggets of wisdom? It does not usually need a question twice. Or even once.

In honor of my father at the time, here are Andrew Kerk’s eight bases for investment for a happy and prosperous life (and retirement).

First, the study is hard and remained curious. The father’s parents were low aspirations. But he did the night school while his friends had participated, and eventually graduated in the economy at the University of Sydney, then a Master of Business Administration in Chicago.

In his recent passage with my mother, he had dozens of folders indexed accurately spoiled in academic papers and articles on each aspect of investment from diversification to the effectiveness of shares resets.

However, he often read his eyes closed every day, and I am sure that this cheerful message was thanks to the second investment base: never equal to money with contentment.

After the opening of the Sydney for Machinezi in the early 1970s, my father continued to manage farmers in Australia (nuts, yay!), Nestle (chocolate, yay!) And Ciba Geigy (toilet cleaner, BO!). His friends said that a high end.

Then he had a diving feast, or so the story went. What do I do all this for him? He hated long hours and hated people, so he left the company’s game. He moved to hunting head and did not miss dinner with his family again.

My father retired in 50 – younger than me now. And not with piles of money either. How did she last for a long time? Mostly due to the three rule. Protecting as much savings as possible from the tax man.

Whether it means putting a tad more every month in your retirement pension or 401 km, or the maximum effective tax vehicles, such as ISAS here in Britain, the benefits make other investment decisions vulnerable.

My father enjoyed taxes exempt from taxes and profits profits for more than three decades. He also did not pay a cinema to Bozos in Canberra whenever he drew capital.

In fact, the latter is the number four. Certainly, income and capital are often subject to tax differently, but my father has not faced any problem in detonating his children’s inheritance if the last profit and vouchers are not covered by MadCap.

Thus, although its origins grow in high -average individual numbers every year, and come by 3.5 percent, its wallet is the half -size it was 15 years ago. I bet he is now crossing after it has not spent more.

What explains good returns? Luck, mostly – it was a great era for investors. And you will not be surprised that a lecturer from Milton Friedman believes in him Effective markets. Thus, my father was an early defender of cheap index money.

This is in itself – Al -Qaeda No. Five – strengthening its performance against the active funds by about 1 percent annually. More than 30 years have been multiplied by buying a lot of kayak boats in the ocean, motorcycle promotions, and air flights to visit his lost son in England.

Abi’s portfolio also benefited from a much higher allocation of shares from the textbooks that will advise the retired in the 1960s and 1970s. I would like to say that this sixth rule was because of my influence – after I wrote a lot about this topic when I was a asset manager.

But the teachers were the reason. While leaving another wild trip, stock markets surpassed bonds, and thus my father’s weighting has ever – especially for Australian stocks flourishing.

The continuous re -balance would hurt his revenues, as I am Recently In this column. This is also the reason for “staying diversified” is not the base of investment number seven. My dad always grooves no more in the stocks. We are in particular.

I did not participate in my negative view in the shares of the United States. Put “Stewart” as another rule, I can hear a tease. Bugger off, dad, I am writing this. Where I pushed to listen to me, however, staying invested.

This final rule is important, such as reducing the tax. My father did not panic when the shares fell. Not during separation dot.com. Not when the financial crisis turned into half of its savings. Nor when American stocks decreased by 34 percent due to Kofid.

During each of these periods, I have worked to be near work that does not bring any visions at all. The supposed experts told me that the watches will stop, the banks will disappear, and we will never rent a car or go to a cruise again.

Empty noise, I mentioned it. Or I would do if it was not outside the marble sculpture or bombing the morning rolls. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has doubled almost since it reached its highest levels ever before the epidemic.

No one dies, wishing to run his wallet more.

The author is a former wallet manager. Email: Stuart.kirk@ft.com; x: studtkirk__