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As a professional investment advisor it is easy to get bogged down in finding more and more complicated ways of minimising risk and maximising returns. However, sometimes the best lessons are the simplest ones and here are a few everyone should take to heart.

Imagine you are offered a job for a month by a wealthy but eccentric uncle. He offers you the choice of taking $1 million on the first day, to cover the month's work, or taking payment on the last day of the month based on an extremely modest payment of 1c on the first day, doubling every day.

Imagine what would happen if people stopped borrowing. As ludicrous as it sounds, this can happen at times of economic or social stress and leads to recession or even deflation.

The excitement of day-today value fluctuations can divert our attention from the long term performance we want to achieve. The fear of losing our capital or watching it go down in value can make us avoid making wealth enhancing decisions.

Switzerland is famous for its wealth. Much of this has been accumulated by generations of patient and canny investors. What makes the Swiss so special?