The blog post of March 23 implies that a “steady-as-you-go” approach to investing during these times is a good idea. Think long term, attend to your asset allocation, rebalance on schedule, and provide for some cash. The post two days later (March 25) advised us to be generous if we can—many people don’t have portfolios and the economic disruptions are severe. But neither discusses why we should have faith.
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Monday we mentioned that now is a time for generosity. If you have a portfolio, you’re fortunate. Millions of people don’t, and they may need your help. How do you handle that in a compassionate and reasonable way?
To begin, you must know how your portfolio functions in your life: do you depend on it for year-to-year living? Or is it for extras like travel, gifts, or luxuries? That distinction is important because if you help by selling investments and giving the proceeds, you reduce future investment income. That’s not the case with income from work—giving part of a month’s income to a relative in need doesn’t reduce next month’s income. Continue reading
Fear can paralyze us. We fear the Coronavirus, getting sick, and long waits for treatment. We fear the reactions to the virus, including those of business and government. We are shutting down normal life under the edicts of common sense and government proclamation. Retirees, we’re told, are especially vulnerable because of our age, and we seem psychologically vulnerable as well. Gyrating asset markets add to the stress, and many retirees depend on portfolios for their livelihood. Several people I’ve spoken with wonder whether they’ll be able to sustain themselves through and after this crisis. What should we do? Continue reading
While young people are usually healthy and full of life, old people experience increasing pain, disease and death. That’s a conventional wisdom, and it’s not wholly wrong. Yet research claims that older people are happier than most age groups, with happiness peaking in our 60s or 70s. We often see people in their 80s and beyond who still live happy lives. Continue reading
Over a year ago I purchased hearing aids.
Several months ago I fell down the bottom three stairs in our house and landed with my back against the wall, chipping the plaster. No injury.
In early October, 2019, my wife and I drove to Maine for vacation. Barbara planned to meet three high school friends in Bar Harbor, and I was hoping to explore Down East Maine, that part of the coast northeast of Bar Harbor. As we entered Maine, I began to shake uncontrollably. After dropping Barbara and reaching Lubec, at the New Brunswick border, I holed up in a motel, alternating between periods of cold shakes and fevers. A few days later when I picked up Barbara, we headed directly home, calling ahead for a doctor’s appointment and postponing a side trip to western New York to visit my oldest brother, Wayne. Continue reading
Destiny: when I was in high school, I dreamed of becoming a hunting guide in Alaska, and now, at 75, I just took my first trip to our 49th state, after a career as a forestry professor. Did you also miss your life?
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For several months I woke each day thinking about what to include in six courses on investing for members of our local OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute). OLLI is sometimes called kindergarten (or college) for retirees. We have classes, social events, and after school activites, all for people over 50. It’s become an important part of the lives of retirees here in Athens, Georgia.
Over the last 15 years I’ve met several new retirees who are waking up to the poor condition of their portfolios. They saved and invested for years, often choosing mutual funds or annuities offered by employers, then changing jobs, picking new funds, and so on. At retirement they own a collection of high-cost accounts and an unplanned, hard to discern asset allocation. To fix things—plan an asset allocation and convert to low-cost investments—they have to sell old assets and buy new ones. They ask whether it’s better to do it all at once or string it out over weeks, months, or years? Continue reading
Half Dome, on a cloudy day in late April 2018
Not too far south of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains lies Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite is one of our oldest and most spectacular parks, established in 1890 after a lobbying campaign led in part by John Muir. The magnificent granite formations have inspired millions through the years, and they’ve been immortalized in the photography of Ansel Adams. It’s a huge park—almost the size of Rhode Island. For younger people, the Park offers many backcountry experiences, including climbing El Capitan and Half Dome. Continue reading
Goldfield joins the modern era.
Although the International Car Forest (last post) may be a highlight of Goldfield, NV, the town also boasts about it’s history. “From 1906 to 1910, Goldfield was the largest city in Nevada,” says the Goldfield Historical Society, claiming a population of over 20,000. Wyatt and Virgil Earp moved to Goldfield in 1904, and Virgil became a deputy sheriff for Esmeralda County in 1905. Virgil died of pneumonia later in 1905, and Wyatt moved on. Continue reading