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A very veggie x-mas; Pushing sales; 7 habits of highly successful investors; Questioning risk aversion among women; The good, bad and overlooked

Personal Finance
A very veggie x-mas; Pushing sales; 7 habits of highly successful investors; Questioning risk aversion among women; The good, bad and overlooked

By Amanda Morrall

1) Pass the tofu

Ham could be off the menu this Christmas for all but the most prepared, New Zealand pork producers are warning. Cheap imports into NZ and rising feed prices have driven a 10% decline in the size of domestic breeding herds, the New Zealand Herald reports. Ham lovers are being told to order early to avoid disappointment. Pass the tofu I say. I can't believe the cost of meat in the supermarket. 

2) Soft sales

On a rare trip to the shopping mall recently, I was accosted by a very smooth talking sales agent who captured my hand (literally). Before I knew it, said gentleman was buffing my fingernails, staring into my eyes and casting charm spells like nobody's business. Of course seconds later, he waltzed me over to the cash register and practically withdrew my wallet out of my purse to lock down a sale. He instantly lost it. Consumers can be manipulated but most of us don't like to be bullied into a buy.

Here's 7 paradoxical sales principles from Jill Konrath to help grow your small business. HT to Tony Vidler.

3) 7 habit of successful private investors

U.K. investment blogger Monevator reviews one of his favourite books, Free Capital by Guy Thomas. The book profiles 12 everyday investors, their backgrounds, and techniques for investing. From this Monevator teases out 7 habits of successful private investors. Apparently, having kids and a spouse who doesn't work is a bit of a hindrance to achieving financial freedom at an early age. 

4) Women and risk

New York journalist Helaine Olen, in this piece for The Atlantic challenges the idea that women are inherently more conservative investors because of biology. The argument is that their reported risk aversion has more to do with a disparity in wealth between the genders. Relative to men, women have less to invest and are less confident about future earnings as a way to compensate for potential investment losses. Now this is something I can square with my own observations of women and money because the one's I know earning the big bucks don't bat an eyelash at equities.  

5) Good, bad and overlooked

Regional editors from investment research house Morningstar offer their views on what's ahead for Europe and where investors might find value. The take home message? Judge the individual company on its own merits and valuations, not the region from which it hails. 

To read other Take Fives by Amanda Morrall click here. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamorrall

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12 Comments

No one's told the shops in Dunedin about a pork shortage. $9.95/kg for a leg roast sounds reasonable to me.

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ham and pork have been off my xmas menu for years owing to the fact that it just don't taste the same.

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Yes, we women are naturally more risk averse and yes, the origin is in nature. I will wager that the majority of women who have had children will recall, especially when children were very young, that they did indeed find their risk-o-meter, if not turned up to full was at least on a higher level than prior.

This is nature's way of making sure we don't off ourselves doing some dare-devil thing, thereby ensuring that we are there to raise the kids.

I remember the effect well when I had my first child, but it took a while before I realised what had happened, it wasn't just that I'd suddenly got old.

There may be a few men out there, succeeding wonderfully in the world, who owe their mere existence to their mother's caution at some point in their young lives

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Oh yeah.  Thanks to Mum.

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aparently I owe my mere existence to mum getting a bit tiddly one night and hey-ho "a happy accident" arrived 9 months later.

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Welcome to the 75% Stan!:)

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#1 yes it pays to either have a chunk of land (the good old kiwi lifestyle block) or know someone who has one, in order to scrounge cheap meat. There are so many wild pigs in the bush block behind mine that they often wander onto the farmland in plain sight. Not only did I often get the odd bit of wild pork thrown at me as a thanks for letting hunters use my drive as a right-of-way, or for helping out a neighbour with some IT work, but as ngakonui gold pointed out above - you aint tasted pork until you've had some that was recently grubbing around naturally in the bush.

Bacon isn't real bacon unless there is still pig-hair stubble in the rind...

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How was the holiday?

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cracking thanks Ralph. about 10 of us watched the eclipse from a small sand caye in the middle of the reef, and it was one of the most outstanding things I've ever seen.

I also met some interesting people, including one guy whose first 4 startups failed to make the big time but the 5th sold for $7 billion. And a women who took over her husbands business when he died 5 years ago and now has a big contract to clean and service US military jets, with all the top level security etc that goes with it. Plus the owners of the cruise boat were on with us and they had a rather inspirational story of starting a cruise business from scratch to now having 3 boats and the lease on an island etc.

Left the boat feeling the urge to start a business!

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:)  Persistence is a key.

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Funny enough Ralph...that is the stalkers motto.

My girlfriend is convinced she's being stalked at the moment..!, well, um, she doesn't know she's my girlfrien yet......

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well according to Wayne whose startup eventually sold for 7 billion - the single determining factor that separates success from failure is simply lucky timing.

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