Why invest? And how do you do it?

THE unexamined life is not worth living, Socrates famously declared before he was sentenced to death. These words, recounted by his student Plato, were spoken at a trial where he was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens.

As we head into the new year, it is worth reflecting, in a Socratic spirit, on two fundamental issues around investing: the "why" and the "how".

People often say they want to make some money, or that they want to get some passive income so they can be financially free.