Travels throughout the world have given investor and author Jim Rogers a unique perspective on the business of life

By David Adams, Poder 360 - Famed investor Jim Rogers retired in 1980 at age 37 and set off to discover the world on his motorbike.

A quixotic quest, perhaps. But Rogers has a well-rehearsed answer to that. “It makes you a better investor if you know the world,” he says.

Offbeat as his style may be, it’s hard to argue with Rogers’ record. Just as the Motorcycle Diaries of Argentine-born guerrilla icon Che Guevara became a bible for leftists, Rogers’ biker wisdom is legendary among investors.

“He’s completely unorthodox. He’s a globetrotter, gonzo-financier who always tries to stay ahead of the curve,” says Ian McCluskey, veteran Latin America analyst and president of Thought Leadership International.

Together with George Soros, Rogers founded the Quantum Fund, the top performing mutual fund of its time. He later created the Rogers International Commodities Index, and famously predicted the South American commodities boom in the early 1990s, as well as the subsequent Argentine financial meltdown a decade later.

Now Rogers is using his instinct to bet again—this time against the United States economy. In 2007 he moved his family to Singapore, and advises investors that the U.S.’s best days are done. “The 19th century was the century of the UK. The 20th century was the century of the U.S.,” he says. “The 21st century is going to be the century of China, and I think that the best skill which I can give to my children [born in 2003 and 2008] is to speak Mandarin.”