I earn £55k a year. Can I afford private school for my son?

Kannu

Bit early for you to think about this level of details but my attention was caught by the fact that this fellow studied in oxford and has a similar background to you. He's 27 and has done fairly good financial planning but needs more advice. I can well see you facing similar situations in just 7-8 years with being married and possibly a child.

So I began thinking, if I had to advice you on how not to get into this situation or improve it, what can you do? Few things sprang to mind.

Think about getting married. And also see if your wife has the ability to earn some money part time. Whilst I'm fully for the mothers to look after the children full time, having two incomes really really helps. In this particular case, his problem would have been solved by having his wife work.

Second is to think whether you do need private schooling for your children. You two didn't need it but that means you need to stay in a location where there are good schools (comprehensive and grammar) which are free.

Which also means that you need to think about your mortgage. We will, of course, help you with your house or flat but we need to think about it. Earlier the better. I think you need to have a word with Mamma when you're down here so that we can work on your flat/house and location. Let's start looking.

You also need to max out your pension as much as you can buy we also need to think about paying off your uni debt as soon as possible.

And you know what impressed me reading about this chap? He is saving a seriously large amount of his earnings. That's very good. By my accounts he's saving almost 25-30% of his earnings which is most excellent. In the form of pensions and isa's. I learnt to do that well into my 30's but he's doing it since he's 25! You can start doing this even earlier if you can.

Lessons learnt son. Lessons learnt.

Love

Baba

I earn £55k a year. Can I afford private school for my son? - Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/11408559/I-earn-55k-a-year.-Can-I-afford-private-school-for-my-son.html
(via Instapaper)

---

Money Makeover: Rik Thomas earns £55,000 and wants his young son to go to private school. Is it feasible? Katie Morley offers expert advice

At 16 months old, Rowan Thomas is only just starting to utter his first words.

But already his parents are thinking about how they are going to pay his private school fees.

His father, Rik Thomas, 27, says giving his son the best education possible is top priority – particularly for primary school – where he believes good teaching makes the biggest difference.

How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world

ee the power of civil society son? This is what the power of individuals and groups can do. I love cycling and hope you are also enjoying yourself in oxford on the bike.

We will need to do more cycling. This car and oil based economy and human  civilisation cannot last. It will require improvements. And it's getting much much better now. More to be done son. Hoping to go riding this weekend :) go make peace while the legs are pumping and the wind is in my hair and face. Extraordinary feeling of peace and quiet.

Love

Baba

How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord
(via Instapaper)

---

Anyone who has ever tried to make their way through the centre of Amsterdamin a car knows it: the city is owned by cyclists. They hurry in swarms through the streets, unbothered by traffic rules, taking precedence whenever they want, rendering motorists powerless by their sheer numbers.

Cyclists rule in Amsterdam and great pains have been taken to accommodate them: the city is equipped with an elaborate network of cycle-paths and lanes, so safe and comfortable that even toddlers and elderly people use bikes as the easiest mode of transport. It’s not only Amsterdam which boasts a network of cycle-paths, of course; you’ll find them in all Dutch cities.

The Dutch take this for granted; they even tend to believe these cycle-paths have existed since the beginning of time. But that is certainly not the case. There was a time, in the 1950s and 60s, when cyclists were under severe threat of being expelled from Dutch cities by the growing number of cars. Only thanks to fierce activism and a number of decisive events would Amsterdam succeed in becoming what it is, unquestionably, now: the bicycle capital of the world.

At the start of the 20th century, bikes far outnumbered cars in Dutch cities and the bicycle was considered a respectable mode of transport for men and women. But when the Dutch economy began to boom in the post-war era, more and more people were able to afford cars, and urban policymakers came to view the car as the travel mode of the future. Entire Amsterdam neighbourhoods were destroyed to make way for motorised traffic. The use of bikes decreased by 6% every year, and the general idea was that bicycles would eventually disappear altogether.

The streets no longer belonged to the people who lived there, but to huge traffic flows

Maartje van Putten, former MEP

Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects!

Kids

This was a nice course. A friend of mine recommended it highly.  Learning about learning. This was very interesting and opened my eyes on so many things. I think I've collected so many bad habits over the past few decades so this course managed to clear my head on several things on how to fix the learning process and do better. 

Some of the underlying theory helped to nail the process down more. Specially about the memory and procrastination. That's one of my biggest failings. I tend to put off things. Not good. In my list of projects, there are at least 60 projects. In my list of places to visit are about 400 places. Not to mention the books I've got to read. People to meet. And and and. And then I procrastinate sitting on the couch and watch storage wars or pawn stars. Well I suppose that appeals to my hoarder problem :) do you think I need some psychological help or a course to address that hoarding problem? :) 

But the advice was very good. To avoid procrastination, work on the process. Not the product. As it's the product which causes the pain. So yes. I need to work on this problem I have, specially if I'm going to dip my toes in the field of history. Totally new subject. 

Son, if you get a chance do finish the course. It will help you directly with your current studies. It's worth it son. About 4 hours in total. Huge benefit. 

And Diya you might be a bit too young to do this but I have this sneaky feeling that you're smart enough to make a bash at it. And Diya, I loved discussing politics with you yesterday :) I was very impressed by your grasp of the current political environment and your questions. 

Happy learning kids

Baba

Begin forwarded message:

From: Coursera <noreply@coursera.org>
Date: 11 May 2015 20:32:19 BST
To: Bhaskar Dasgupta <bdasgupta@gmail.com>
Subject: Congratulations on completing Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

Bhaskar Dasgupta, congratulations on completing Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects!

Showcase your new knowledge with a co-branded certificate on your resume and LinkedIn profile.

Thomas Sowell | Favorite Quotations

He's a famous economist. Does some very thought provoking work. I can remember one book that we have on affirmative action. It's a classic. I frequently quote him son. But then I came across his favourite quotations. Some of them are thought provoking.

I was looking through the sharps catalogue yesterday. And thinking. Sharps are very good and do very long lasting work. The book cases, the two desks downstairs. Brilliant work. It's been what 15 years now? And still going very strong. I see no reason to replace of fix them for the next 30 years.

So was thinking about your room. What kind of structure would we need for your room for the next 10-20-30 years? You will need the room as an undergraduate student. Maybe live with us for a few months or years while you start work. And then you'll have your own place but you and your girlfriend will come and stay with us over weekends or holidays if you're abroad. And then you'll have kids. I know I know your baba has strange ideas. So what kind of decor will we need?

You need loads of shelving and hanging space. Space for a double bed. Maybe not such a big desk as people don't use pc's any more and use laptops or tablets . Place for a good armchair. A sort of dressing table with a large mirror (makeup) and a full length mirror. Maybe a foldaway desk/table top to save space.

Just some thoughts son. We will speak more before the interior designer comes on Saturday. I'm conscious that you have very particular tastes and preferences and you will be using the room for the next few decades :)

Love and missing you

Baba

Thomas Sowell |  Quotations
http://www.tsowell.com/quotes.html
(via Instapaper)

---

...I wish that I may never think the smiles of the great and powerful a sufficient inducement to turn aside from the straight path of honesty and the convictions of my own mind.

--David Ricardo¹

The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false. 

--Paul Johnson²

Rusting anchor: The creation & mutation of a national ideology

Son

We just came through a rather bruising election. I was supporting Nicola Sturgeon heavily. For couple of reasons. First I firmly believe that people have the right to craft out their own identity. Form their groups. And that's why I strongly support them. Second is that the country is too centralised in Westminster and it requires this kind of a shakeup to really focus minds on what exactly is the United Kingdom for?

It was very instructive during the Scottish referendum as to what the Scots were saying they wanted. They actually wanted to pretty much everything to remain the same. Queen. Taxation. History. BBC. Education. Ideology. International membership. But they wanted to be ruled by themselves.

But there is a problem with this Scottish nationalism. It's defined as opposed to Westminster. Not so much as what's Scottish. See above. There is no difference son. So ultimately when push comes to shove, there is no hard core reason to separate. Think about Wales or Northern Ireland. Same with Pakistan below. It keeps on having existential debates.

Every country which bases itself on religion first of all is run by idiots. Frankly morons. Secondly they are incoherent. And finally religion is a hugely pathetic way of organising a modern country which is why most religiously oriented countries like Israel, most Muslim countries keep on having functions. There's academic research backing this up as well. The Buddhist nations also learnt it the hard way.

Anyway one to read. Also read Seymour Hersh's report on Osama's death in the London review of books published yesterday. It's shocking to read the way the Americans and Pakistanis went about this. This will have long term repercussions. Not good.

Love

Baba

Rusting anchor: The creation & mutation of a national ideology
http://www.dawn.com/news/1160202
(via Instapaper)

---

For decades certain sections of the Pakistani intelligentsia have been insisting on the importance of changing the country’s national narrative (to better fight the social aspects of Pakistan’s war against religious extremism).

They are correct in suggesting that the more militant ogres now at war with the state of Pakistan are armed expressions and projections of a rather myopic national narrative.

This narrative, to them, is the result of whatever that was concocted in the name of a national ideology many years ago and then proliferated through school text books and the state-owned media until it began to inform the political, constitutional and social mind-set of the Pakistani polity as a whole.

Today, it is largely being blamed for popularising a peculiar idea of nationhood engineered through the state’s many experiments that seeded a non-organic ideology - a dogma that has contributed the most in whatever that has gone down in this country in terms of faith-based violence and the ever-increasing episodes of bigotry.

So what was this idea? And why today even the military and political establishments of the country are finally looking to tweak it, if not outright replace it?

The paradox

Pakistan had come into being in 1947 on the back of what its founders called the Two Nation Theory.

The Theory was culled from the 19th Century writings of modernist Muslim reformers in India who, after the collapse of the Muslim Empire in South Asia, began to explain the region’s Muslims as a separate political and cultural entity (especially compared to the Hindu majority of India).

This scholarly nuance gradually evolved into becoming a pursuit to prepare a well-educated and resourceful Muslim middle-class in the region.

Eventually, with the help from sections of the Muslim landed elite in India, the emerging Muslim middle-classes turned the idea into a movement for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia comprised of those areas where the Muslims were in a majority.

This is what we today understand to be the Pakistan Movement.

50 reasons a Bong girl will not marry you

Kids

You two are just part bong. So these might not apply to you. You'll also miss a very large amount of cultural references. But given that you have a Bengali family name will mean that you've got to be prepared for potential questions and behavioural expectations emerging from you being a bong. I didn't marry a bong either but I can see the sense in several points given below :)

Some funnies for the morning read.

Love

Baba

50 reasons a Bong girl will not marry you
https://globeslother.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/50-reasons-a-bong-girl-will-not-marry-you/
(via Instapaper)

---

I have been asked times and again if marrying a bong girl is a good idea. Yet Others have declared they are genuinely scared of marrying one given how fiery they are. The implication always has been that the choice of whether or not you should marry a bong girl is yours. It isn’t really. Bong girls don’t make anyone make choices for them and gives as much importance to your opinion as to her pet cat maybe less. So before you ask a bong girl’s hand in marriage, know all the reasons why she will not marry you

1. She is too hot for you – all that kancha lanka and the sorsher tel. She is hot and fiery and most men pale in comparison
1. You don’t compare to her father – Know the father was one of the rare men who could convince a bong woman to marry him. So he is a dude. And you may not just measure up
2. You think slower than she speaks – A bong girl beats any Chennai express hollow. You will be left fishing for words or thoughts
3. You failed the fish market test – Every bong girl or atleast your bong in laws will make you undergo the fish market test. Stand an hour in a fish market without fainting. Did you survive? No? Side please
4. You have the musical talent of a WWF wrestler – Your musical talent is almost close to zero. You cannot even feign playing a guitar. No you cannot get tied to her strings.
5. You look like a WWF wrestler – beefy and muscular? The bong girl will conclude you have muscles in your head. Hide the muscles if you have to impress her

Writing in the boustrophedon way

I remember this. I saw this manuscript in Rome. Kannu, you would be too young to remember this but I got so excited about this. What a great way to write. Much more efficient eh?
Absolutely fascinating. I wonder if we can have an app which does this for us? It would increase my efficiency at least 20-30%!
Very interesting

In the original Sleeping Beauty tale – the Princess is raped by the Prince

I came across this bald statement, “in the original Sleeping Beauty Tale, the princess is raped by the prince”. This was totally gobsmacking to me, so I went looking for the original. And found it. It was originally written by a gentleman called as Giambattista Basile in Italy way back in the 16th century.

Here is the original tale’s synopsis.

In Giambattista Basile's version of Sleeping Beauty, the sleeping beauty is named Talia. By asking wise men and astrologers to predict her future after her birth, her father (who is a great lord) learns that Talia will be in danger from a splinter of flax. The splinter later causes what appears to be Talia's death; however, it is later learned that it is a long, deep sleep. Unlike the version of Sleeping Beauty known today, Basile's version consists of a more gruesome plot. After Talia (Sleeping Beauty) falls into deep sleep, she is seated on a velvet throne and her father, to forget his misery of what he thinks is her death, closes the doors and abandons the house forever. One day, while a king is walking by, one of his falcons flies into the house. The king knocks, hoping to be let in by someone, but no one answers and he decides to climb in with a ladder. He finds Talia alive but unconscious, and after crying aloud that he is unable to wake her, he carries her to a bed and rapes her. Afterwards, he leaves her in the bed and goes back to his kingdom. Though Talia is unconscious, she gives birth to twins — one of whom keeps sucking her fingers. Talia awakens because the twin has sucked out the flax that was stuck deep in Talia's finger. When she wakes up, she discovers that she is a mother and has no idea what happened to her. One day, the king decides he wants to go see Talia again. He goes back to the palace to find her awake and a mother to his twins. He informs her of who he is, what has happened, and they end up bonding. After a few days, the king has to leave to go back to his realm, but promises Talia that he will return to take her to his kingdom.

When he arrives back in his kingdom, his wife hears him saying "Talia, Sun, and Moon" in his sleep. She bribes and threatens the king's secretary to tell her what is going on. After the queen learns the truth, she pretends she is the king and writes to Talia asking her to send the twins because he wants to see them. Talia sends her twins to the "king" and the queen tells the cook to kill the twins and make dishes out of them. She wants to feed the king his children; instead, the cook takes the twins to his wife and hides them. He then cooks two lambs and serves them as if they were the twins. Every time the king mentions how good the food is, the queen replies, "Eat, eat, you are eating of your own." Later, the queen invites Talia to the kingdom and is going to burn her alive, but the king appears and finds out what’s going on with his children and Talia. He then orders that his wife be burned along with those who betrayed him. Since the cook actually did not obey the queen, the king thanks the cook for saving his children by giving him rewards. The story ends with the king marrying Talia and living happily ever after.

not something you would want to teach your kids, eh?

Why bankers are intellectually naked

Kannu

Banking is going through one of its periodic gut wrenching rides. Every 10-20 years, there's a banking crisis somewhere in the world and then all hell breaks loose with demands to fix the banking system. They tinker around the edges and then things go along in the similar way. 

Couple of things. I visited the Bank of England museum over the holidays. And it's fascinating to see how that bank evolved. And the number of crises situations it went through. And is still going through. That's the nature of banking son. And that's because it's an intermediary between many stakeholders such as savers, corporates, funds, governments, etc etc. And they change. When they change, the role of banks needs to change as well. Sometimes things break. 

The second aspect to remember is that historically speaking, banking and money lending has always been in the cross fires going back to Jesus overturning the money lenders tables in the Jerusalem temple to how the banias in India and Jews worldwide were and still are spat upon because they do banking and money lending. Religions frown on it, Judaism Christianity and Islam frown on it and ban usury or any kind of interest rates in the case of Islam. 

And you know what? Life goes on and banking goes on. 

Fascinating. 

Love

Baba 

Saving...) (Saving...) Why bankers are intellectually naked - FT.com
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/39c38b74-715d-11e2-9b5c-00144feab49a.html#axzz2NsN8o3gj

---

Why bankers are intellectually naked - FT.com

A definitive explanation of the industry’s economics warns the causes of the financial crisis have not gone away and will return

The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do About It, by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig, Princeton, RRP£19.95, RRP$29.95

The UK’s Independent Commission on Banking, of which I was a member, made a modest proposal: the proportion of the balance sheet of UK retail banks that has to be funded by equity, instead of debt, should be raised to 4 per cent. This would be just a percentage point above the figure suggested by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The government rejected this, because of lobbying by the banks.

Why might even so tiny an increase in the equity-funded proportio

Great idea to deal with being cold