Recently looked through the book Special Forces Survival Guide by Alexander Stilwell published by Marshall Edition, London UK, 2014. The author is a former British SAS and some of the highlights of the book is how to train in the desert, the arctic, mountains, jungle and urban settings. For me the closest I hope to get to any of these environments is a drive in the country towards the cottage, however it is possible the car could have problems. Special Forces are typically placed in one of these terrains with limited resources on them and told to come back in a week or more. They will need to learn to live off the land or learn how aboriginals do it. The theory being if you can live off the land and be able to adapt to living conditions in extreme conditions, you will do much better in any situation. The Boy Scouts motto of Be Prepared along with learning to use what is there or the tools on site, not using what is not there. It seems much depends on being healthy, while you can learn new skills – health is particularly important.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, if you were to do a survival guide for your portfolio in all kinds of markets would it still produce income? In this case, the markets are similar to the weather – it changes and we adapt or we try to adapt. The idea might be to have an adaptable portfolio to start with. If there is a solid foundation, then add in the expected changes, life maybe easier. One method is to start with dividend paying companies for they are profitable and have been through various economic cycles. In this fashion you do not have to worry about survival but also enjoy what life offers.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.