Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
Elizabeth Bramwell, Ex-Gabelli Growth Fund Manager, Dies At 74
Remember her well. All the more reasons why some of us old timers need to start spending and enjoying what we have accumulated over the years. Life is short!
@JunksterExactly! And I wish we didn't get reminders every single day, if we're willing to look and take it in (e.g. yesterday, reported that Joni Mitchell, age 71, found unconscious at her home; resting comfortable in the local ICU and "in good spirits." )
Junkster said "... All the more reasons why some of us old timers need to start spending and enjoying what we have accumulated over the years. Life is short!".
AMEN. -
Assuming the age of a great many here to be 65 or over, I'm a little puzzled there isn't greater discussion about withdrawing money and putting proceeds to good use. How often are we as investors faced with a crucial investment decision? Rarely I'd say. By contrast, we make decisions about spending nearly every day of the week. Yet, nary a mention.
I have some possible explanations. First, the average age of participants may be much lower than envisioned (I'd love to see whatever demographic data David has). If the average age is closer to 35 or 45, than it makes sense so much of the discussion revolves around buying/selling mutual funds, stocks, bonds or other investments. Another possibility is that many older folks who come here may fear they haven't saved enough to meet anticipated retirement needs - and are struggling to play catch-up at a late stage. The third (most likely) explanation is that it just isn't considered appropriate to mention spending on a forum devoted to investing.
I'd never argue that one should stop investing - not at any age. Even late in retirement folks should be seeking to outperform the measly returns cash and many bonds now offer. And since retirement may well last 30 years or longer, younger retirees still need to be acute to growing the nest-egg. Also, some older investors are focused primarily on growing their assets for the benefit of posterity.
Thanks Junkster and heezsafe for pointing this out in your recent posts. Just some rambling over coffee this morning.
We have no demographic data on you folks. On adamant principle, we've disabled the tracking functions of Google Analytics. We know aggregate onsite behavior (for example, how long the average visit is and how many folks are on-site) and some tech stuff (how many folks access us via smartphone, which operating systems and browsers folks use, and what city the router's in). And what we do have can't distinguish folks participating on the discussion board from casual readers or browsers.
Hmmm... readership has drifted down a tad (23,700 in the past month), we're seeing vigorous traffic from Akershus, Norway (Hilsener! to our 94 Akershusian friends), time-on-site remains high at 5:21, 61.6% of visitors are using Windows, 0.33% of you visit using the Silk browser while only 0.07% use SeaMonkey, the most frequent outbound click was on Charles's table on funds ranked by Bear Market Deviation ... but ages? Nada.
One of my retired colleagues spent an awful lot of time on campus during retirement. When I asked him why, he said it was simple: "I want to be somewhere that people talk about something other than their health."
We put on two additions during the first decade after retirement along with substantial remodeling. Chose mostly to finance at around 3% and let our savings run.
Both projects lasted about 6 months. For the first, I volunteered to be the "grunt" for the contractor. Spent a miserable summer ripping out walls and ceilings, painting, picking up the old shingles they pitched on the ground and running pickup loads of rubbish to the dump. (Managed to step on more than a few sharp nails in the process.)
For the second, I was wiser, volunteering to be "electrician" and obtaining the necessary local permit. Got tons of expert advice online. Spent a summer climbing ladders, boring holes through studs, stringing wire, and crawling around under the house in cold dark places. However, it was preferable to the earlier "grunt" work.
We could use and afford another addition. But, not willing to put up with the pain again. That's why I had a favorable reaction to JohnC's recent suggestion in another thread that retirement money go to traveling.
Well, I just spent almost 16 hours on the planes. Can't say aluminum tube since the first one was a Dreamliner. Food was good, service was excellent, the last four hours was a cacophony of crying babies. Thank God for noise canceling headphones. Even security was quick and simple using that Rota Scanner or whatever they call it.
Flying can be a pain but the reward is on the other end.
Comments
AMEN.
-
Assuming the age of a great many here to be 65 or over, I'm a little puzzled there isn't greater discussion about withdrawing money and putting proceeds to good use. How often are we as investors faced with a crucial investment decision? Rarely I'd say. By contrast, we make decisions about spending nearly every day of the week. Yet, nary a mention.
I have some possible explanations. First, the average age of participants may be much lower than envisioned (I'd love to see whatever demographic data David has). If the average age is closer to 35 or 45, than it makes sense so much of the discussion revolves around buying/selling mutual funds, stocks, bonds or other investments. Another possibility is that many older folks who come here may fear they haven't saved enough to meet anticipated retirement needs - and are struggling to play catch-up at a late stage. The third (most likely) explanation is that it just isn't considered appropriate to mention spending on a forum devoted to investing.
I'd never argue that one should stop investing - not at any age. Even late in retirement folks should be seeking to outperform the measly returns cash and many bonds now offer. And since retirement may well last 30 years or longer, younger retirees still need to be acute to growing the nest-egg. Also, some older investors are focused primarily on growing their assets for the benefit of posterity.
Thanks Junkster and heezsafe for pointing this out in your recent posts. Just some rambling over coffee this morning.
We have no demographic data on you folks. On adamant principle, we've disabled the tracking functions of Google Analytics. We know aggregate onsite behavior (for example, how long the average visit is and how many folks are on-site) and some tech stuff (how many folks access us via smartphone, which operating systems and browsers folks use, and what city the router's in). And what we do have can't distinguish folks participating on the discussion board from casual readers or browsers.
Hmmm... readership has drifted down a tad (23,700 in the past month), we're seeing vigorous traffic from Akershus, Norway (Hilsener! to our 94 Akershusian friends), time-on-site remains high at 5:21, 61.6% of visitors are using Windows, 0.33% of you visit using the Silk browser while only 0.07% use SeaMonkey, the most frequent outbound click was on Charles's table on funds ranked by Bear Market Deviation ... but ages? Nada.
One of my retired colleagues spent an awful lot of time on campus during retirement. When I asked him why, he said it was simple: "I want to be somewhere that people talk about something other than their health."
David
We put on two additions during the first decade after retirement along with substantial remodeling. Chose mostly to finance at around 3% and let our savings run.
Both projects lasted about 6 months. For the first, I volunteered to be the "grunt" for the contractor. Spent a miserable summer ripping out walls and ceilings, painting, picking up the old shingles they pitched on the ground and running pickup loads of rubbish to the dump. (Managed to step on more than a few sharp nails in the process.)
For the second, I was wiser, volunteering to be "electrician" and obtaining the necessary local permit. Got tons of expert advice online. Spent a summer climbing ladders, boring holes through studs, stringing wire, and crawling around under the house in cold dark places. However, it was preferable to the earlier "grunt" work.
We could use and afford another addition. But, not willing to put up with the pain again. That's why I had a favorable reaction to JohnC's recent suggestion in another thread that retirement money go to traveling.
Good luck on your project.
Flying can be a pain but the reward is on the other end.