Warren Buffett's Principles NOT Taught in Business School?

I'm a graduate of a business school. I felt ashamed (to a certain extent) that I wasn't accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) course. I decided to pursue business school instead as planned after my first year in my Associate in Computer Science (ACS) course. I decided to take a master's degree to impress others or to convince them I'm not a fool. Later on, while taking my Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree--I fell into a scam by a family friend and later didn't even know what Cash 2 Go in the Metrobank credit card was. After a heated argument with someone questioning my course, I was finally told the hard truth I needed to hear, "That proves the Filipino education system really sucks!" I finally had my MBA. Later, I discovered a lot of stuff that I was never taught. One of them was actually the best investment to put into even in the finance classes! Sure, finance classes are needed but shouldn't we teach business students not just how to compute the profit but to also properly invest the profit?

Right now, I even forgot why it's not the ideal time to invest in bonds. When interest is up--the values of bonds will go lower. Bonds are rather restrictive and can't be pulled out anytime. Meanwhile, when interest rates are up--the stock market may go down. It's a very inverse effect. I didn't even know when was the best time to enter bonds except if the financial adviser said so. Isn't that really embarrassing that as a business graduate student I didn't know that? I ought to know that.

We did have a financial seminar at the University of San Carlos (USC). We were taught some basics such as examining financial companies. The basic principle is, "If it's too good to be true then don't take it." However, I feel what was truly missing from the financial seminar was to teach the basics of stocks or other ways to invest in them. One reason why I avoided stocks (until 2018 with AXA Chinese Tychoon Fund which uses cost averaging) was because of the risks associated with them. What I never realized was that day trading was called a speculative orgy by Charlie Munger (read here). Using the word "orgy" might truly describe my feelings. I even tried to use a day-trading simulator (which had USD 10,000.00 virtual currency). The results were a real gamble. I made more losses than I had with my gains.

What I never spotted five years ago was Buffett on college and graduate school. I've been to both. I almost expected stuff like learning to do proper stock investment. Instead, I ended up learning about cost averaging from Buffett himself. Buffett recommends cost-averaging into an index fund for a specified period of time. What was interesting was that Buffett didn't want to go to college and do business immediately. As Buffett says that success doesn't always require a college degree. Some people can have prestigious degrees from prestigious schools. All the while, such people can be supporting really stupid economic policies (read here).

Instead, I decided to think that my MBA degree is never going to be the end of it. I tend to believe that I'm "invincible" because of my MBA degree. There are times a degree is just a degree. That's unless of course if you're seeking to become an engineer, a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, an economist, an accountant, or any profession needing at least a basic college education. What I soon realized is that none of Buffett's children graduated college. Buffett even said college may not be for everyone. That's why I'm in favor of K+12 over K+10.

Instead, Buffett said to invest in yourself. Buffett's advice is spelled out as, "Address whatever you feel your weaknesses are, and do it now." I think one of my weaknesses can be my attention deficit disorder (ADD) which causes me to be impulsive. I made a bad financial decision based on being impulsive. I nearly made a deal with a con service because of impulsivity. I invested in the AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund before I learned about cost averaging. During the crash, I did some Googling and found value cost averaging. I opened a GCash account to pay for food deliveries and found GInvest. I ended up finding out that investing in stock funds is long-term. I ask myself, "Why didn't I learn this in school?" I even bought the late Lee Kuan Yew's famous book From Third World to First. I even wonder why isn't it even a recommended reading? I feel so dumb that I only discovered some things later in life.

Right now, I think it's time to rethink how business schools do what they do. I think we need to learn more than just marketing techniques, business analysis using different types of math (and calculus happens to be my favorite approach), accounting, and finance. Sure, I did benefit from very strict teachers that kept my impulsive behavior in check during my undergraduate days. However, I feel like it's never enough for a business school to teach just how to run a company, be an executive, or be an accountant. It's sad how I even screwed up during my MBA days with practical applications. I really feel stupid (until now) as to why I allowed such a bad deal to happen. It's no use crying over spilled milk. Instead, I should continue to invest in myself instead of relying too much on school.

That's why I decided to write this blog sometime after Odette. I really felt the need to reinvest in myself. I did learn a few stuff such as cost averaging and why I should continue my AXA fund. Meanwhile, I could use GCash's GInvest feature for other stuff. I've invested in an index fund. I've invested in two feeder funds. Right now, my aim is truly to buy more during this bear market and sell during the bull market. I really ended up saying, "Why didn't I learn that in school?" This is a challenge to finally change the way business schools think. We can start by talking about Buffett's principles for a start.

Learning Mandarin Chinese Through Melons

Hanlin Language Center In pursuit of encouraging people ot learn Mandarin Chinese, here's a chart teaching the different types of melons in Chinese. Learning how to speak Chinese with these melons would be a productive exercise. Aside from using what was often called bon toi in the Chinese schools, it might be good to help people memorize these types of sentences, with the translation: Chinese: "天气热，想吃西瓜." (Tiānqì rè, xiǎng chī xīguā.) Translation: "It's hot, I want to eat watermelon." Chinese: "你想喝冬瓜茶吗?" (Nǐ xiǎng hē dōngguā chá ma?) Translation: "Do you want to drink winter melon tea?" Chinese: "我要做南瓜派." (Wǒ yào zuò nánguā pài.) Translation: "I'm going to cook pumpkin pie." Chinese: "用黄瓜去眼袋." (Yòng huángguā qù yǎndài) Translation: "Use cucumber on your eye bags." Chinese: "苦瓜对你的健康有益." (Kǔguā duì nǐ de jiànkāng yǒuyì) Translation: "Bitter gourd is good for your health." Chin...

A Consequence of Adobe's Subscription Model?!

As I look at this video, I don't regret not opening an Adobe account. I used Adobe Photoshop back in college--back when I could borrow someone's CD and install it on my computer. However, paying thousands of PHP monthly is ridiculous for a casual user! Why would I pay thousands of PHP just to produce artwork that I'm not even selling? Back then, I used Photoshop mostly to relax during semestral breaks in college. What happened to the good old days? As I listened to this video, I was disgusted at how Adobe could be a "Get Rich Quick Scheme" against its customers. Instead of selling Adobe Photoshop (or any service) outright (that's until the newer version arrives), they decide to use the subscription model. I could understand if Adobe offers a subscription model for intensive work that requires intensive power. Meanwhile, Adobe could offer a one-time purchase of any of its software for non-professional use. This reminds me why relying on past successes isn...

The Malaysian-Filipino Sweet Tooth Demographic

As a Filipino, I've observed the Filipino diet tends to lean on a sweet tooth. What causes this probable genetic disposition of the Filipino to crave sweets? That trait might be traced to one's ancestors. Newsweek also mentions it might be with the DNA . The Malaysians and the Filipinos have close genetics. The Britannica also cites this about Filipinos: The ethnically diverse people of the Philippines collectively are called Filipinos. The ancestors of the vast majority of the population were of Malay descent and came from the Southeast Asian mainland as well as from what is now Indonesia . Contemporary Filipino society consists of nearly 100 culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups. Of these, the largest are the Tagalog of Luzon and the Cebuano of the Visayan Islands, each of which constitutes about one-fifth of the country’s total population. Other prominent groups include the Ilocano of northern Luzon and the Hiligaynon (Ilongo) of the Visayan islands of Panay...

Getting Nuts About Standard Chinese, By Learning About the Chinese Names of Nuts

Hanbridge Mandarin In pursuing the need to teach Mandarin Chinese, it's important to deviate from the old-fashioned Chinese language education (read here ). Instead, we need to get people interested in basic vocabulary. This would be a good exercise to learn from basic sentence making and conversations. Here's an example of what's called bon toi back in my day. Let's think of learning Chinese through nuts. Question: 你想要巴西坚果、核桃、杏仁还是腰果? (Nǐ xiǎng yào bāxī jiānguǒ, hétáo, xìngrén háishì yāoguǒ) Translation: Do you want brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, or cashews? Answer: 我想要杏仁，非常感谢. (Wǒ xiǎng yào xìngrén, fēicháng gǎnxiè.) Translation: I want to have almonds, please, thank you very much. However, there's a mistake in the chart because the coconut isn't a nut. Instead, it's a coconut fruit of the coconut tree, of the coconut palm family. The song was written by Filipino musician Ryan Cayabyab. Now, it's time to enjoy learning Chinese through learning about n...

When the Education Cares TOO MUCH About Grades, Schools Produce Idiots Instead of Intellectuals

During the pandemic, I was left in limbo thinking about my poor performance under K+10. It was something to think about that a classmate of mine who was both a summa cum laude and an honor student, ended up posting on his wall, "Students cheat because the education system cares more about grades instead of learning." The class salutatorian of our batch even commented about the good old days. I always had that feeling of insecurity and envy towards people better than me. But as Warren Edward Buffet would say, "Don't hate successful people. Learn from them instead." One of them is currently a teacher and the other is in Canada. I thought about my insecurities especially when I used to believe I was descended from a fine scholar and my family was a family of scholars. I remembered the time I was taking MBA and got conned. I was asked, "Is that what MBA taught you?" I got touchy and ended up admitting, eventually, that I was only taking MBA for the presti...

My Thoughts on the NOT So Surprising Downfall of "Axie Infinity"

llustration: Daniel Guerrero Fernandez for Bloomberg Businessweek I remembered some time ago when I wrote about Axie Infinity . One article I wrote about why I never bothered to enter the Axie Infinity arena was the poor security . I compared it to a cockfighting game--a game where so few win and so many lose. A previous article I wrote was all about why play-to-earn games are too good to be true . What's not too surprising is the collapse of Axie Infinity . It's pretty much too good to be true. A casual gamer can testify that they buy online passes not to earn but to play . It's like buying a Playstation Plus card to play online for an entire year. You buy games out of the money you earn. You don't earn money out of gaming. What truly never surprised me was how Axie Infinity crashed. It promised riches but onoy resulted to disaster. I even wrote that there could be an ironic moment somebody says that AXA is a scam while playing Axie Infinity thinking that it's an...

Piracy is Almost Impossible to Defeat Thanks to the Filipino First Policy

Disney Let's face it piracy is hard to combat, right? For Filipinos, it's time to be honest that people have been engaged in piracy in some form. It may be pirated video games, CDs, VCDs, DVDs, etc. There are laws passed against piracy. However, one must ask why piracy is so hard to combat. Piracy bypasses through legalities. It's a common practice to have a pirated version of this and that application, because of the price . Installing MS Office and Windows 11 can be costly. It can cost PHP 7,000.00 for Windows 11 Home and PHP 5,400.00 for MS Office. Back in college, people would do anything to get the MS Office and Windows 11 because they needed it for their projects . It doesn't help that some well-to-do boomer are stingy instead of thrifty. It doesn't help either that some people just can't afford to buy the original software--given their income bracket . It's easy to raise the Filipino First Policy by saying, "Tangkilikin ang sariling atin!" ...

Bacolod Sugarcane's Industry and Its Massive Business Opportunity with Japanese and Taiwanese Investors

Trying the delicious Okinawa Milk Tea from ITealicious makes me think of the delicious Okinawa brown sugar. I thought about researching Okiwana brown sugar on how it's made. Certain details reveal why the Japanese product is used by certain milk tea establishments around the world. The method of making the Japanese brown sugar is described by Dore by LeTao as follows: Can you guess the origin of this Brown Sugar? Yes of course it is from Okinawa! It is from sugarcane that is grown in Okinawa. Okinawa is famous for their beautiful place, beach, and their longevity. It is well-known that Okinawa’s climate is perfect for sugar cane. W ith strong southern-island sunlight and minerals delivered by the ocean spray, make Okinawa perfect for growing healthy sugar cane ! Production begins with a healthy sugarcane crop then continues to a slow cooking technique to process the sugar cane juice (this method is referred to as kokuto). This method makes them healthier than the usual brown...

The Lesson of "Bad Genius" is More Than Just "Cheating Never Pays Off"

Sometimes, much truth can be told in fiction, right? Talk about how the great Jose Rizal revealed much truth in his fictional novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo . The digital age today would create more entertaining media. I may encourage book reading over movie watching. However, some movies may do more than entertain. They can also address a real issue. It was said that a cheating scandal in China inspired the producers Jira Maligool and Vanridee Pongsittisak to create the film Bad Genius . Right now, there's even a TV series presumably because a movie can't always deliver the message one wants. How does the whole thing go? I was inspired to watch this film because of comments from a Facebook friend's post. The post also talked about how students cheat because the system cares more about grades than learning. As the world becomes more global, exposure to Thai cinema is definitely not surprising. Sure, one can talk about the South Korean wave or the increasin...

My Experience with Pyramid Scams in College Up to Present

Often, a pyramid is often confused with a Ponzi scheme. Both are illegal schemes but there's the difference. A pyramid scam emphasizes on recruitment and selling of products. A Ponzi scheme guarantees high returns for short periods. Both operate similarly but scam people differently. Both should be shunned and be considered defective baskets. I remembered my college days at the University of San Carlos-Main Campus (USC-Main) when I was still a newbie with money. It sucks really when high school didn't teach us financial literacy and people seemingly need to take commerce to do so. One of the biggest scams that hit even graduate school students was the pyramid scam. Even worse, some of those who got suckered with ongoing financial scams were graduate school students of the School of Business and Economics! The Investor.gov website from the United States of America (USA) would tell us these are the hallmarks of a pyramid scam: These are some of the hallmarks of a pyram...

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