* Being too optimistic about business ventures
* Relying on any one idea or concept in your investments
*Relying on borrowed money you use for your ventures and assuming that you won’t have to pay it back
John Templeton, who passed away today in the Bahamas, was one of the world’s most successful investors and the three dangers he listed ought to have been nailed on the door of the Federal Reserve. Think about it. His trifecta of over optimism, single-concept thinking, and eternal borrowing just about sums up the mess the US economy is in: how better could you sum up the following:
1. The ‘new economy’ paradigm
2. The wholesale adoption of derivatives
3. The credit-and-leverage bubble.
Sir John had broader interests than finance, of course, which was what made him such a great financial thinker.
As this article in the Wall Street Journal points out, he “forged a union between his progressive investment philosophy and his equally open-minded religious thought.”
He was tolerant.
“I am still an enthusiastic Christian,” Sir John once said. “But why shouldn’t I try to learn more? Why shouldn’t I go to Hindu services? Why shouldn’t I go to Muslim services? If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more.”
In 1972, he established the Templeton Prize, the largest annual award given to an individual. Mother Teresa received the first award in 1973. The prize, which in 2009 will be valued at 1 million pounds, or about $2 million, recognizes achievement in work that relates to science, philosophy and spirituality. Its monetary value is always more than the Nobel Prizes — Sir John’s way of demonstrating that spiritual work should not be discounted.
Sir John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987 for his philanthropic achievements. That same year he created the foundation, which today has an endowment of about $1.5 billion and awards around $70 million in annual grants. The foundation supports research into fields of science and theology, in keeping with Sir John’s religious values and beliefs.”