Investment

It should be on your mind for quite some time. Being an ardent believer in the monetary systems created by the wise and overpowered by the simple notion of "Money is next to God",it has to be the burning question on your mind. Especially when the entire world is being dragged down the streets of the likes of Wall Street, this question has gained significant urgency and importance in our lives. So, here are few of the most likely and wisely chosen investment options for you:

1. Invest in Gold
2. Invest in value stocks like Apple/Google/IBM/Tata etc. etc. and the list is huge
3. Invest in real estate properties
4. Invest in long term Government bonds

OR

1. Invest in the people you love, the dreams you have, and living a life that matters

The choice is yours and yours alone, after all everybody has been granted the wonderful gift of being able to choose, isn't it. Having said that, I would just try to add perspectives and do nothing more to influence your choice by any means. So, here are my few cents.

If we all invest in gold then the gold prices will skyrocket. If we all invest in value stocks, we will share an equity in the ever increasing profits of the orthodox corporations. If we all invest in real estate properties, we will collect paper chits with exponentially rising market values. If we all invest in long term government bonds, then we will secure our highly unpredictable and uncertain future in a highly volatile economy. True, that these investment might turn you into a millionare by the next decade. True, these investments will help you accumulate hedonic wealth - the wealth that can be used to buy dismal, rapidly depreciating, worthless by next month commodities lined up across the shelves of huge fluorescent-lighted supermarkets spread across the urban and semi-urban globe. But, is it the best investment choice of all? Especially when looked through the lens of statistical analysis at the effectiveness of hedonistic utilitarianism in human life enrichment.

What about the other choice? What if we all invest in the dreams we have, the people we love and the life that matters.

If we all invest in what really moves us and keep investing in those dreams with the sole aim of being the best in the world at our dream and then motivate a few others to invest in their dreams and so on and so forth; we might just end up rebuilding the growth engine of our economy by creating incentives for the people who helped us meaningfully accomplish our dreams. The economy would be more predictable and the growth would be more sustainable with everyone moving towards his dream and society collaborating as a whole to realize its hidden potential.

If we all invest in the people we love: spending our resources to spark their hidden talents or to create meaningful life experiences with them rather then just accumulating useless paper chits for them, the rewards would be truely enriching. The same is true if we all invested in a life that matters - working not just for the immediate paycheck but for the purpose of making a difference in the life of others, creating social organizations instead of orthodox corporations, living meaningfully well by investing in the endlessly powerful human potential.

By making a smart investment, you can accumulate true wealth - stuff that you can't buy but have to earn; you can put an end to never ending crisis and bubble burts. After all, authentic prosperity isn't about collecting paper chits that you can sell to the next guy before the house of cards collapses on itself. Authentic prosperity is watching the people you love grow and flourish and living a life that matters long after you're gone.