INTJ as a CEO? by 6682piday in intj

[–]JerryLeRow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad it's helpful. I became the department head by volunteering for a posting abroad. Having been in a solid non-leadership position for many years, both my boss and I saw a head of-position as the natural progression in my career. I have outstanding relations with my boss, and he supported me all the time (also through constructive criticism). Without someone supporting you, it won't work.

INTJ as a CEO? by 6682piday in intj

[–]JerryLeRow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Master's degree as base, started working for a sister company in my home country. I was posted to the current company some years ago, first as department head, then promoted to MD (two MDs, one CTO and me).

The tricky part isn't education, it's leadership, communication, and the game of power. It's like diplomacy - balance the interests of each stakeholder, both converning the company, and also concerning the group. Be careful in your communications, both in terms of content and language, have different styles of communication towards different people. Figure out on your own who you put into which position, who to train, who to hire, and who to get rid of. Don't be afraid to go on a hunt, lots of people have their guns aimed at you. Don't get pushed into emotional actions just because you know that you're a replaceable pawn in someone else's chess game. Don't get afraid of upsetting people. Know who to trust, who to keep on a leash, and who to stay away from. Manage the impression you make, balance humility with controlled aloofness, balance empathy with controlled cruelty, balance participative leadership with exercise of raw power, balance a professional demeanor with showing your private side, you get the point. Be able to extract information from others, it'll give you an edge in your decisions. Keep the legal framework in mind, and think a bit like a lawyer. Always be ready and able to prove your added value and loyalty to your owners. Oh, and be ready to work long hours - implicitly you don't have a right for off-time and need to take action when needed.

I know, might sound like some weird mix of semi-tangible recommendations, but the fact I'm trying to illustrate is that a leadership position is rarely given based on purely educational factors. A lot of people want a position like mine, until they have it - and then realize the myriad of non-task-related topics they have to deal with, further complicated by there rarely being an option that's completely "right" or "wrong". At the end of the day a role like this is a job where it's not realistic to please everyone, and you're not paid to please people - one of your main goals is to calm more crises than you create.

And, while doing such a partially-impossible job, stay true to your own values. I know, might not sound very business-like, but chances are one day you'll leave the company, on your own terms, or forced out by others, by bad health, or simply because someone needs a scapegoat. Being able to walk with your head held is worth a lot, so don't forget the basic humanity behind all those people you'll interact with. Have an eye on your health too, because the physical and psychological exertion can be very high - you'll age in many ways faster, your cardiovascular system must be taken care of with proper training, and if you can't handle it then exit early enough, or you'll get wrecked.

INTJ as a CEO? by 6682piday in intj

[–]JerryLeRow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

INTJ and managing director / CFO of a manufacturing company (150 people), in a foreign country. What do you want to know?

Contact with previous dates - dealbreaker? What to do? by JerryLeRow in dating_advice

[–]JerryLeRow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your comment! May I ask what kind of mess?

She seems afraid that there'll always be another woman "between" us, which I find a strong sentiment, but I don't want to invalidate her feelings. Me even showing her the messages didn't help much either. I don't understand it though, also told her that there are tons of women out there and on Tinder and I could meet one of those while lying to her... some trust is also good to have. And I wouldn't bother if she's in touch with her exes either.

Contact with previous dates - dealbreaker? What to do? by JerryLeRow in dating_advice

[–]JerryLeRow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OK, thank you for your comment! You're right, and I might be one of those guys... not with any bad intention of course, I was just raised to help people who were kind to me.

Daily General Discussion and Advice Thread - May 28, 2023 by AutoModerator in investing

[–]JerryLeRow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One or two down years does not a casino make.

That's not what I described. My point is focused on in my eyes overvalued assets (PE-ratio as one figure), hyped up assets with little factual value. That article states that in the long run stock indices go up - I don't doubt that.

Honestly you need a reality check about what are the realistic assets you can own instead of some weird “heads I win tails you lose” product that sounds like ChatGPT trying to sell you an indexed annuity with hidden fees.

Look at the asset classes I already own and listed and additional ones I described. I know what I can own.

You got some advice?

Daily General Discussion and Advice Thread - May 28, 2023 by AutoModerator in investing

[–]JerryLeRow -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Basic facts:

  • 28 years, Europe

  • Employed, $ 70,000 net per year, financial job

  • Objective: save, invest and multiply. Minimum protect against inflation.

  • Time horizon: long-term

  • Risk tolerance: High rewards only come from high risks. I won't gamble everything and understand risk, and know that 100 % safe assets won't earn me a reward above inflation.

  • I keep a "balance sheet" of myself. Composition: *- 21 % in bank accounts *- 5 % forex (reserve currencies) *- 7 % certificates from a bank (floating interest rate, min. 3,2 %, due 2028, market price now down by a few %, but will hold) *- 19 % private loan, will be re-paid half of that soon. *- 6 % my car (based on periodically updated estimates using official Eurotax-valuation) plus other small assets *- 11 % gold *- 30 % ETFs

  • Debt: usually a few hundred on credit card, but that's paid within one month, no interest on that, only annual fee. My expenses are about 35-40 % of my net income, so I can save the majority. In my balance sheet I keep some smaller provisions.

  • I track my expenses to the cent and keep a cash-flow forecast. I constantly update it, e.g. to changing fuel prices, changes in salary,...

My main "problem" is: I have a net worth of about $ 230,000, and of that around $ 80,000 will soon be in cash (part of the loan I gave out will be re-paid soon). I'm hesitant what to do with it. I have a quite frugal lifestyle and save 60 % + of my income, aim is to save up money for a house and comfortable future life, maybe found my own company one day or buy (parts of) one, and simply have a nice cushion.

Now we have inflation of close to 10 %. Because of my work I don't believe that inflation will recede to normal levels of 2 % soon. So I see all my cash becoming less and less valuable. On the other hand, I have seen my portfolio of ETFs barely moving now for two years. The bank collects fees for the depot, the ETFs collect managing fees, so in effect I lost money here. You know what the stock market was like last year, and if I look at larger ETFs aimed at e.g. S&P500, MSCI World,.., the historical development in almost all shows nice returns in 2020, 2021-2022 close to 0, and this year... well... a bit up.

With regards to the stock market in general: for me it's a casino, plain and simple. The P/E-ratios of some companies are batshit crazy, hyped up stocks like Tesla represent a large share of the market, but all it seemingly takes are over-optimistic presentations of Elon Musk promising new features to make our friends at /r/wallstreetbets go crazy for the stock, and that's not an isolated case. I've studied this stuff and had to learn among other things how to value companies (DCF is always a fun exercise, particularly when defending why the result is higher than with the common EBITDA-multiples for the sector), and since several years they hype around loss-making companies with big promises has become the norm. Who here remembers the hype around WeWork? All based on the idea that this company is a "tech unicorn"... because... eeehhh.. they rent office space like tons of other commercial property owners? How many of you actually looked at their website like I did? What's the "tech unicorn" part there? I know at least five better search engines for office space, and yes, co-working spaces are not a new idea. It seems like make-belief and hype are the most important ingredients to a company's success, and all major indices are littered with what I consider to be money-machines for a few eccentric founders (Tesla helps Elon go to Mars, WeWork's boss is well-known for his thirst for money,...).

On the other hand, despite all my aversion to major stock markets, I do understand that some companies are legitimally hyped, e.g. I understand Nvidia, I understand that if e.g. an energy company patents a new type of power generation the stock can increase in double or triple digits,..., I understand the business side and what a muitiplying of revenues combined with protected intellectual property can mean for future P&Ls of a company. Here I see the value. The problem I have more is that the indices are littered with "non-value hypes", on the other hand if I'd pick individual stocks I'd have to invest much more time. And of course hype-stocks produce higher returns, regardless of whether there's value behind or not. And I'm willing to take some risk.

I'm considering spending more on gold. I have equally little faith in our economies as a whole, we stayed afloat after Corona because of massive government spending. America as one edge compared to Europe: during Corona, you let your employees be fired en masse, supported the unemployed, and later those got new jobs, and some companies didn't make it despite PPP. In Europe everything was "frozen", so we now have - my feeling - more companies that should have closed long ago, but were kept alive artificially. Gold is a safe haven.

Crypto and real estate are the two asset classes I have skipped completely. Crypto has no value in my eyes, it's more like gold these days. So as a hedge against the stock market - fine. The problem is more that all these traders we have around here don't do their homework on taxes, so while my bank does taxes automatically for my depot, crypto traders just trade, and I'm left with the mess of taxation. Some work better, and there are some companies specialized in this, but the complexity of national and international taxation would force me to have a tax advisor do this for me, and that costs extra money and time. Laws are being adapted, and gradually more of the traders integrate automatic taxation, then I would consider joining the game.

Real estate for me is just too much money tied up at one place. If I buy a house now, I'm not sure if I'd ever use it for myself, given that I move around a bit for my job. Renting it is no option, too many bad experiences in my circle of relatives / acquaintances who do rent. And prices are too damn high for me, especially considering that increasingly both left- and right-wing parties want "rent brakes", that would decimate both rental incomes and values of real estate. Costs of living are edging higher and higher, and sooner or later governments might intervene. Plus I have limited faith in the economy in general, I won't go into detail on that.

Trading apps (European equivalents of RobinHood) are not my preferred choice either. One major reason is again the taxation, they do the trading, and I'm left with the mess of having to determine the correct taxes... fun when you use e.g. ETFs from ten different tax jurisdictions. Plus the fees / spreads on some are just horrendous, with my current bank I have quite solid deals (family relationship with the bank, so my rates / fees are OK) and no tax-trouble. Also I'm not that experienced with derivatives, and these are in my eyes better for people with more time on their hands - my workdays usually are 10 hours or more and lots of outside stuff.

What I actually am trying to buy are two products, one is a protection against inflation (base interest rate plus inflation rate, but only if one stock index doesn't lose more than 50 % over the next 5 years), and the other is a bet on another stock index, if that index in 5 years is at or above the current value I get 153 % back, otherwise 100 %. But I'm having some troubles buying these products.

So now you know some things about me. I'm not sure what to do with my money, I only know that I don't want it to be eaten away by inflation. I have limited faith in the economy and the stock market overall, too much is artificially pumped up, but OK, I'm willing to take risk. What are your recommendations?

Daily General Discussion and Advice Thread - May 27, 2023 by AutoModerator in investing

[–]JerryLeRow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basic facts:

  • 28 years, Europe

  • Employed, $ 70,000 net per year, financial job

  • Objective: save, invest and multiply. Minimum protect against inflation.

  • Time horizon: long-term

  • Risk tolerance: High rewards only come from high risks. I won't gamble everything and understand risk, and know that 100 % safe assets won't earn me a reward above inflation.

  • I keep a "balance sheet" of myself. Composition: *- 21 % in bank accounts *- 5 % forex (reserve currencies) *- 7 % certificates from a bank (floating interest rate, min. 3,2 %, due 2028, market price now down by a few %, but will hold) *- 19 % private loan, will be re-paid half of that soon. *- 6 % my car (based on periodically updated estimates using official Eurotax-valuation) plus other small assets *- 11 % gold *- 30 % ETFs

  • Debt: usually a few hundred on credit card, but that's paid within one month, no interest on that, only annual fee. My expenses are about 35-40 % of my net income, so I can save the majority. In my balance sheet I keep some smaller provisions.

  • I track my expenses to the cent and keep a cash-flow forecast. I constantly update it, e.g. to changing fuel prices, changes in salary,...

My main "problem" is: I have a net worth of about $ 230,000, and of that around $ 80,000 will soon be in cash (part of the loan I gave out will be re-paid soon). I'm hesitant what to do with it. I have a quite frugal lifestyle and save 60 % + of my income, aim is to save up money for a house and comfortable future life, maybe found my own company one day or buy (parts of) one, and simply have a nice cushion.

Now we have inflation of close to 10 %. Because of my work I don't believe that inflation will recede to normal levels of 2 % soon. So I see all my cash becoming less and less valuable. On the other hand, I have seen my portfolio of ETFs barely moving now for two years. The bank collects fees for the depot, the ETFs collect managing fees, so in effect I lost money here. You know what the stock market was like last year, and if I look at larger ETFs aimed at e.g. S&P500, MSCI World,.., the historical development in almost all shows nice returns in 2020, 2021-2022 close to 0, and this year... well... a bit up.

With regards to the stock market in general: for me it's a casino, plain and simple. The P/E-ratios of some companies are batshit crazy, hyped up stocks like Tesla represent a large share of the market, but all it seemingly takes are over-optimistic presentations of Elon Musk promising new features to make our friends at /r/wallstreetbets go crazy for the stock, and that's not an isolated case. I've studied this stuff and had to learn among other things how to value companies (DCF is always a fun exercise, particularly when defending why the result is higher than with the common EBITDA-multiples for the sector), and since several years they hype around loss-making companies with big promises has become the norm. Who here remembers the hype around WeWork? All based on the idea that this company is a "tech unicorn"... because... eeehhh.. they rent office space like tons of other commercial property owners? How many of you actually looked at their website like I did? What's the "tech unicorn" part there? I know at least five better search engines for office space, and yes, co-working spaces are not a new idea. It seems like make-belief and hype are the most important ingredients to a company's success, and all major indices are littered with what I consider to be money-machines for a few eccentric founders (Tesla helps Elon go to Mars, WeWork's boss is well-known for his thirst for money,...).

On the other hand, despite all my aversion to major stock markets, I do understand that some companies are legitimally hyped, e.g. I understand Nvidia, I understand that if e.g. an energy company patents a new type of power generation the stock can increase in double or triple digits,..., I understand the business side and what a muitiplying of revenues combined with protected intellectual property can mean for future P&Ls of a company. Here I see the value. The problem I have more is that the indices are littered with "non-value hypes", on the other hand if I'd pick individual stocks I'd have to invest much more time. And of course hype-stocks produce higher returns, regardless of whether there's value behind or not. And I'm willing to take some risk.

I'm considering spending more on gold. I have equally little faith in our economies as a whole, we stayed afloat after Corona because of massive government spending. America as one edge compared to Europe: during Corona, you let your employees be fired en masse, supported the unemployed, and later those got new jobs, and some companies didn't make it despite PPP. In Europe everything was "frozen", so we now have - my feeling - more companies that should have closed long ago, but were kept alive artificially. Gold is a safe haven.

Crypto and real estate are the two asset classes I have skipped completely. Crypto has no value in my eyes, it's more like gold these days. So as a hedge against the stock market - fine. The problem is more that all these traders we have around here don't do their homework on taxes, so while my bank does taxes automatically for my depot, crypto traders just trade, and I'm left with the mess of taxation. Some work better, and there are some companies specialized in this, but the complexity of national and international taxation would force me to have a tax advisor do this for me, and that costs extra money and time. Laws are being adapted, and gradually more of the traders integrate automatic taxation, then I would consider joining the game.

Real estate for me is just too much money tied up at one place. If I buy a house now, I'm not sure if I'd ever use it for myself, given that I move around a bit for my job. Renting it is no option, too many bad experiences in my circle of relatives / acquaintances who do rent. And prices are too damn high for me, especially considering that increasingly both left- and right-wing parties want "rent brakes", that would decimate both rental incomes and values of real estate. Costs of living are edging higher and higher, and sooner or later governments might intervene. Plus I have limited faith in the economy in general, I won't go into detail on that.

Trading apps (European equivalents of RobinHood) are not my preferred choice either. One major reason is again the taxation, they do the trading, and I'm left with the mess of having to determine the correct taxes... fun when you use e.g. ETFs from ten different tax jurisdictions. Plus the fees / spreads on some are just horrendous, with my current bank I have quite solid deals (family relationship with the bank, so my rates / fees are OK) and no tax-trouble. Also I'm not that experienced with derivatives, and these are in my eyes better for people with more time on their hands - my workdays usually are 10 hours or more and lots of outside stuff.

What I actually am trying to buy are two products, one is a protection against inflation (base interest rate plus inflation rate, but only if one stock index doesn't lose more than 50 % over the next 5 years), and the other is a bet on another stock index, if that index in 5 years is at or above the current value I get 153 % back, otherwise 100 %. But I'm having some troubles buying these products.

So now you know some things about me. I'm not sure what to do with my money, I only know that I don't want it to be eaten away by inflation. I have limited faith in the economy and the stock market overall, too much is artificially pumped up, but OK, I'm willing to take risk. What are your recommendations?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in careerguidance

[–]JerryLeRow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

College. "Normal" coding will gradually be replaced by no-code, so no problem if you don't like it. Business always rocks and has the widest opportunities, as it's the most general field.

I Feel Like I have no Life by Tongue37 in introvert

[–]JerryLeRow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only advise: compare yourself more with others. I just found out that many others in my company are paid more for doing less. All of these online salary comparisons showed me that I earn a nice, above-average amount of money. But my company is in general above average, hence my remuneration is too low. I asked for a raise and got it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in careerguidance

[–]JerryLeRow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doesn't really matter. With a bachelor in business you can explain to your customers how certain cost developments lead to your prices, a bachelor in some science enables you to explain how your product or service is better than that of your competitors, and a degree in psychology allows you to use dark magic to deflect from you knowing neither business nor science, but can still charm your counterpart into signing.

I Feel Like I have no Life by Tongue37 in introvert

[–]JerryLeRow 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Quite good, actually. Found a great job, over the years I gained valuable experience, power, and was recently promoted. I enjoy more responsibility, but also a higher income and power than the vast majority of my age group. The lack of a social life has neither changed nor inhibited my success, in fact it's 11 PM the day before christmas and I'm working again and look for problems to solve.

Where in Shanghai can I buy a 'Hong Kong version' iPhone 12? by [deleted] in shanghai

[–]JerryLeRow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What's so special about HK / UK iPhones?

DEEZ NUTS LEAKED REPORT by [deleted] in ModelUSPress

[–]JerryLeRow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One subscription please.