"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, is poor" - Seneca

1. The art is not in making money, but keeping it.

2. Jesse Livermore, probably the greatest wall street trader who ever lived died with $340,000 in debt.

3. Many look at his life to learn the secrets of his extraordinary trading success. However, a lot can be learnt by looking at his personal life.

4. Jesse Livermore made $100mn during the stock market crash of 1929. He was supposedly in the top 10 richest men in the world.



5. However, things went horrifically bad for Livermore in the next decade.

6. Perhaps, most agree that wealth and happiness is made by
- having a plan
- saving in a disciplined manner
- controlling expenditures
- avoid making crushing financial errors

7. None of wealth creation will work
- if investors spend more than they make
- if they have bad habits
- make bad choices regarding people they associate with, both professionally and importantly personally

8. Jesse Livermore is a case study in what bad personal choices can lead to.

9. While Livermore was a master trader, his dysfunctional personal life proved to be his undoing:

Avoid Comparing with Others: 

Keeping up with the Jonses will make you paycheck slave.

Livermore not only wanted to keep up with this rich friends, he wanted to be richer than them several times over.

In 1922, Livermore purchased a estate in Great Neck, NY for 250,000. He put $1mn for upgrades and $500,000 for ornaments.

Marry Well:

The choice of right spouse is an integral part to wealth creation.

It's pretty hard to create wealth, if your spouse walks away with 50% or more of your wealth.

Jesse Livermore was married thrice.

Find the right friends: 

Good friends can keep you grounded and focused.

Livermore's acquaintances often had opposite affect. He liked to roll with movie stars, show girls and corporate titans.

Finding healthy habits:

Jesse was gambling or drinking when he was not trading.

Livermore committed suicide. His son committed suicide (to avoid life imprisonment for attempting to murder a policeman). His grandson committed suicide.

Jesse made wrong marriages and bought stuff he thought would make everyone happy.

"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, is poor" - Seneca

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