Fatherhood came to American investment guru Jim Rogers late in life and now he is a total convert.
'I thought that children were a terrible waste of time, energy and money and I used to feel sorry for people who had children. I was totally, totally, totally wrong. In fact, you should tell all of your readers, if they haven't done it, they should get home and get on with it,' he jokes.

The 66-year-old and his wife Paige Parker, 40, have two daughters, five-year-old Hilton Augusta, nicknamed Happy, and one-year-old Beeland Anderson, nicknamed Baby Bee. They moved to Singapore in 2007 as Rogers wanted Happy to learn Chinese in a Mandarin-speaking environment.

His children inspired his new book, A Gift To My Children: A Father's Lessons For Life And Investing.

At his bungalow in Bukit Timah, he says: 'It started with a Japanese reporter who used to ask me questions about what I would tell my daughter and it grew. I started thinking of things I should tell them and would tell them.'

What are the three most important pieces of advice? He says: 'Think for yourself, question everything and beware of boys. Boys need you more than you need them. I know that having been a boy.'

The book is an open letter to his daughters and is divided into chapters with titles such as Common Sense? Not So Common and Your Education, Part IV: Learn Languages (And Make Sure That Mandarin Is One of Them!).

His homilies have been distilled from his life experiences which have led him to the conclusion that 'most people don't think for themselves, most people don't question what they are told and that's not good for anybody'.

At what point does he think his daughters will be ready to absorb these lessons?

'They don't have a clue right now but we try to imbue them as much as we can, teach them that they have to earn their own money.'

For example, he adds, Happy is rewarded with money, or sometimes candy, when she does chores such as cleaning her room and making her bed.

'We don't want her to grow up thinking that everything is free. There are plenty of spoilt people out there who get into the real world and get a shock because they have no work ethic and savings instinct,' says Rogers.

In the book, he writes: 'Happy, you already have five piggy banks, and you love putting money into them. Please continue to save.'

Fiscal advice from the man who co-founded the Quantum Fund in 1970 with billionaire investor George Soros and then retired at the age of 37 is certainly worth heeding.

He also counsels them to 'not get married until you are at least 28'.

This is because, he tells LifeStyle: 'Most people get married too soon and more than half of all marriages, in the West anyway, end in divorce and probably most of the other half should. Most people get married before they know much about themselves, much about the world and much about life.'

For the present though, marriage prospects are a long way off as Happy, the older child, is only attending Nanyang Kindergarten and hoping to enter the non-affiliated Nanyang Primary School next year.

Asked who is likely to scold her when she does something wrong, Happy points to her mother with a smile. She adds in Mandarin: 'But Dad scolds me sometimes as well.'

Rogers is contented with his family and has no plans to have more children.

'Both of them are fantastic little girls and we don't want to press our luck. I've learnt in life that being greedy nearly always causes problems.'

He thinks for a moment and adds: 'Should have put that in the book.'


A Gift To My Children: A Father's Lessons For Life And Investing will be released in the United States on Tuesday. It is available for pre-order on www.amazon.com for US$10.88 (S$16.40) and will be available in bookshops here at a later date.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.