I am a fan of Derek Sivers’s writings because he gets me thinking. His post on Happy, Smart, and Useful is one such example;

• Happy is the easiest to understand – does it make you happy doing it.
• Smart is defined as to whether it benefits you long term, usually financially.
• Useful basically means you are providing value to the others.

For maximum satisfaction, you’ll need to check all three. In fact, more often than not, if we find ourselves feeling unsatisfied for doing something, it is likely to have checked only two of the three attributes above. In this article, I explore the possible scenarios and how they may affect your perspective as an investor.

1 – Happy and Smart (but not Useful)

Investors or folks looking for passive income tend to fall under this category. Think about it, investing is a very selfish endeavour. The main reason for investing is to make yourself richer and not about making the world a better place....