EP #173 - Remo Uherek: The Investing Masterclass

About Remo Uherek

Remo Uherek is a founder, investor and content creator who has been active since the early 2000s. He co-founded the marketing agency Trigami, a pioneer in Swiss influencer marketing, which in 2011 merged with ebuzzing and in 2014 with Teads to create a global network. In 2012 he left this group and became the CEO at the sharing economy marketplace Exsila, one of Trigami's former customers. He has since co-founded the crypto ATM network Vardex Suisse and been active as an investor, blogger and content creator. He invests in stocks, since VC funds, wealth management and being a business angel bring on too much work besides the investments themselves.

Why should you invest?

You can't become wealthy nowadays just with a good salary and longterm savings. You need to make use of compounding interest. Remo explains this term through a gardening analogy: when you plant a tree and get some seeds, you can either eat the seeds or plant them to grow more trees; from the trees that grow you will get more seeds, and can plant even more trees. This is what compounding your assets means. Remo recommends having 25 times your costs in assets.

Why not just "eat the seeds"?

Here Remo introduces the term "hedonic treadmill": whenever you upgrade your lifestyle, it feels great for 6 months or maybe even a year, but then you get used to it and you want the next upgrade, and then the next, and then the next...

Remo himself does not value material things. Stoic philosophy has taught him to be happy with what he already has, by making him imagine losing it (eyesight, two legs, house...). By comparison, what he already has seems a world of wealth.

Before you start investing, make sure you:

1. Spend less than you earn

2. Pay back any debts

3. Build up a cash reserve

4. Leverage unique skills and personality into more income: maybe build a side business.

5. Also, obviously, learn the basics of investing. Only invest in things that you really understand.

How much should you invest?

That depends on your investment strategy and what you want to get out of it. In Remo's case: except for his cash reserve, he basically invests everything, because cash is a really bad store of value. Your cash reserve should be enough to last you  anywhere from 6 to 36 months.

How does Remo budget?

He periodically compiles a personal financial statement, meaning a profit and loss statement for his personal life. This statement should include things like your tax bill, yearly insurance costs, the depreciation and amortization costs for you car, etc... Based on this, you can make informed decisions when budgeting for the near future.

Which broker should you use?

Remo uses interactive brokers, because they are owner-operated. He recommends that you do your own research when it comes to brokers — namely, that you look up negative reviews. You should also set up intentional barriers: for instance, don't receive constant notifications of stock prices — this will send you into a frenzy and you will quickly burn out.

Memorable Quotes:

"I learned a lot about entrepreneurship from being an investor, and vice-versa."

"Only invest in things that you truly understand."

If you'd like to listen to more episodes about investing, check out our conversation with Thomas Dübendorfer.

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