Nick’s Note: With the holidays upon us, we’re deviating from our normal beat of uncovering money-making opportunities. So I called PBRG guru Teeka Tiwari to talk about his holiday traditions.

In today’s interview, Teeka tells me about his Thanksgiving hunt, how he celebrates Christmas (for instance, he plans to reread PBRG co-founder Mark Ford’s best-selling book on wealth-building), and how he unplugs from the markets.

As Teeka says, it’s important to take a break from the markets to enjoy the little moments in life—and reflect on why we all put in the work in the first place…


By Nick Rokke, analyst, The Palm Beach Daily

Nick: T, I want to hear about your Christmas plans… But before we get to that, I know you’re an avid hunter. How did your Thanksgiving hunt go?

Teeka: For the past couple of years, I’ve hunted over an apple orchard owned by a friend of mine in Pennsylvania. But this year, I was invited to hunt on another friend’s land in central Pennsylvania.

I felt very lucky to get the invitation. He and his three brothers own the property. They built a beautiful cabin on the land that they use as a family retreat. And I got the opportunity to meet all three brothers and their respective families—they’re wonderful people.

I was hunting near a powerline on the farm and didn’t see anything until the last day. Five does walked through the clearing, but I passed on them… I thought if there were five does, a buck wouldn’t be far behind.

My persistence paid off… After a short time, a buck walked out by himself. I figured if a buck was on five does, it had to be a monster. But he was a spiker!

For those who don’t hunt, a “spiker” is an immature male deer with straight antlers. It hasn’t developed tines yet and isn’t legal to shoot.

While I didn’t get a monster buck this year, it was wonderful to be in nature and spend time with good friends.

Nick: And did you recover from your bout of bronchitis? You sounded pretty rough on the last couple of Palm Beach Confidential video updates…

Teeka: Thanks for asking, Nick. I’m doing much better. I think my immune system was just beaten down from all the traveling I’ve done this year.

However, having bronchitis didn’t get me out of cooking duties for Thanksgiving. It’s been a long tradition that Dad—yours truly—handles all the cooking on Thanksgiving.

Most years, I make 10 deserts for everyone to choose from. I call it the “Dessert Decathlon.” This year, I only had three dishes. It was my worst showing ever. But I made apple pie, pecan pie, and cherry pie. And everyone was happy with that.

Nick: I’m glad you’re feeling better. So what goes on in the Tiwari household during Christmas?

Teeka: We don’t do anything too elaborate for Christmas. It’s all about cooking and family. We just relax. Every year, we vote on watching either the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy or the original Star Wars trilogy. That’s always a good time.

Last year, we ended up watching a few Harry Potter movies. Those have grown on my girls. They love Harry Potter.

And even though my girls are all grown up, they won’t hear: “Santa isn’t coming this year.” So they get a stocking from him every year still.

Nick: I’m a huge sci-fi fan, so I love the idea of watching those types of movies on Christmas. Are you planning to do anything else?

Teeka: I just started rereading Mark Ford’s book, Automatic Wealth: The Six Steps to Financial Independence. I constantly reread Mark’s books. As I grow, I always get something new out of reading his books. So I’m going to finish that.

For my money, Mark is the best guy I know of who writes practical advice on creating wealth. I don’t think people realize how generous he’s been in writing his books.

He doesn’t give you any BS. He tells you what’s worked for him and how you can do it for yourself.

He also busts some myths—like the myth that if you think positively and accept abundance, wealth will come to you. Mark says all the positive thinking in the world won’t do anything for you. He knows tons of curmudgeons who are multimillionaires.

You have to go through the right steps to become wealthy. It doesn’t matter what your outlook on life is, but what you do.

Now, I’d rather have a positive attitude than a bad one. I enjoy life more that way. But it’s not a prerequisite to being wealthy that some would have you believe.

Nick: That’s interesting… but true. I hear a lot of people say that if you’re ready to accept abundance, you’ll receive it. It always sounded kind of hokey to me.

So will you follow the crypto or stock markets during the holidays?

Teeka: Well, I probably will do a little of that because I enjoy reading and studying the markets. It’s my life’s passion. But I’m not going to let that get in the way of my traditions.

It’s important for everyone to step back and remember why they’re doing all this work in the first place. At the end of the day, when you’re on your death bed, it’s the quality of your relationships with family and friends that define you. It won’t be the money you made.

Don’t get me wrong… Money is important. Life is a lot better with more of it than with less. But it’s the relationships that matter. So I’m going to take the opportunity to spend time with my family and enjoy our relationships.

I hope all of our readers can do so as well. We should be able to unplug and ignore the markets for a little while. If you can’t, I think you should look at your asset allocation.

Your investments should never be so concentrated that they affect your personal life or your interactions with the people you love most.

If they do, please sell some and reallocate, or just hold it in cash—whatever helps you enjoy life and not worry.

Nick: You’re right. Get out and enjoy life. That’s great advice that I’m about to follow. Merry Christmas, T.

Teeka: Merry Christmas to you, too.


Nick’s Note: If you’d like to share your holiday traditions with us, send them right here

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