Senior tip.
Go back to school.
Get another degree.
Start a new career.
Become a teacher, mentor, anywhere.
Pass along wisdom and hope.
It is a great legacy.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
The secret to wealth accumulation is earn more, spend less, save the rest.
Senior planning advice. Open an excel spreadsheet and fill in the blanks with cash in and cash out. Fill in enough monthly columns to get you to 90.
I am inundated by offers of financial advice. Usually, they offer a free lunch or dinner to listen to their pitch.
Typically, there are numerous offers to show me clever ways to pay off my mortgage fast. In the end, the advice is simply pay more and your mortgage will be paid off faster than if you paid less. And for this they wish to charge me.
I receive numerous offers on how to save for retirement. In the end, the advice is spend less than you earn and save the rest. And for this they wish to charge me.
Of course, then there are the financial planners, with multiple letters after their name, who proclaim to have identified the holy grail in investing. They explain in excruciating detail that if you make 1% interest on your money, you will accumulate less than if you earn 5%. And for this they charge me. Of course I have respect for some financial planners, but an excel spreadsheet with a reasonable forecast of earning, saving and investing is effective. Every great financial plan begins with a forecast assumption of how long you expect to live, the one assumption that is indisputably unknown and makes the accuracy of precise arithmetic hopelessly speculative.
Then there is the absolute, indisputable, guarantee of wealth, if you will just follow the suggested plan, the world will be yours.
My advice is take the free dinner, walk out with a smile and file the advice, which often is a bit insulting to a person's intelligence. If you have been smart enough to accumulate a few million dollars for your final years, you do not need a financial planner, they need you to show them how you did it.
I am inundated by offers of financial advice. Usually, they offer a free lunch or dinner to listen to their pitch.
Typically, there are numerous offers to show me clever ways to pay off my mortgage fast. In the end, the advice is simply pay more and your mortgage will be paid off faster than if you paid less. And for this they wish to charge me.
I receive numerous offers on how to save for retirement. In the end, the advice is spend less than you earn and save the rest. And for this they wish to charge me.
Of course, then there are the financial planners, with multiple letters after their name, who proclaim to have identified the holy grail in investing. They explain in excruciating detail that if you make 1% interest on your money, you will accumulate less than if you earn 5%. And for this they charge me. Of course I have respect for some financial planners, but an excel spreadsheet with a reasonable forecast of earning, saving and investing is effective. Every great financial plan begins with a forecast assumption of how long you expect to live, the one assumption that is indisputably unknown and makes the accuracy of precise arithmetic hopelessly speculative.
Then there is the absolute, indisputable, guarantee of wealth, if you will just follow the suggested plan, the world will be yours.
My advice is take the free dinner, walk out with a smile and file the advice, which often is a bit insulting to a person's intelligence. If you have been smart enough to accumulate a few million dollars for your final years, you do not need a financial planner, they need you to show them how you did it.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Reunions are restoring, refreshing and motivating. Start your own.
Senior Tip - Go to your reunions.
I attended a reunion last week of my fraternity brothers from circa 1964. The bikers and swimmers seemed to be in the best physical shape with the tennis and avid walkers a close second. We had one brother who ran marathons and he looked genuinely healthy. Exercise works.
Alcohol consumption was controlled. It was not like the uncontrolled, reckless, wild drinking of 50 years ago. Moderation works too.
I am not a reunion enthusiast. However, I found the reunion to be absolutely inspirational. My fraternity brothers had traveled the world, were still active in tennis, swimming and biking, and were all doing interesting projects from restoring classic cars to learning new skills. They motivated me to up my pace, just like many of them did for me in college.
I came home ready to conquer a new mountain. It is never too late to start climbing.
By the way, if you do not have a reunion to attend, contact 20 of your old friends and have one.
I attended a reunion last week of my fraternity brothers from circa 1964. The bikers and swimmers seemed to be in the best physical shape with the tennis and avid walkers a close second. We had one brother who ran marathons and he looked genuinely healthy. Exercise works.
Alcohol consumption was controlled. It was not like the uncontrolled, reckless, wild drinking of 50 years ago. Moderation works too.
I am not a reunion enthusiast. However, I found the reunion to be absolutely inspirational. My fraternity brothers had traveled the world, were still active in tennis, swimming and biking, and were all doing interesting projects from restoring classic cars to learning new skills. They motivated me to up my pace, just like many of them did for me in college.
I came home ready to conquer a new mountain. It is never too late to start climbing.
By the way, if you do not have a reunion to attend, contact 20 of your old friends and have one.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
How many of us plan for the one event that all of us will attend, even if we will not know that we are there?
A few years ago, a relative died suddenly. He had been sick for awhile, but death, no matter how long the illness, is still sudden. The next day we were all gathered around a table at the funeral home planning the funeral and bereavement details. Who would do what? Flowers. Music. Announcements. What would the children do? What would the grandchildren do? If you have had a death in the family, then you have been to such a gathering for the final plans. It is no picnic.
Most of us have a will and a "pull the plug" conditional authorization. However, I have never seen a person plan all the excruciating details of a bereavement gathering, that is, until earlier this week. But when I saw the plan, I knew it was a thoughtful thing to do.
I will just review only the primary elements and you can imagine the rest. He prepared an estimate of the cost. His estimate was based on a menu of 12 cases of beer, ample peanuts and a modest amount of cheese. He called a local hall and and determined the cost of a 2 hour party. Jack, the fictionalized person, estimated his celebration party would cost $3,800. He gave that money in cash to his son. Jack assembled all the forms to rent the hall, to file his pre-written obituary with his pre-selected photo, and to donate his body to the local medical center. There would be no bereavement greeting lines. Everyone would be seated at tables for 8 people and the beer and food would be placed on the table. He planned all the details like a celebration party.
Then, and this is the part that impressed me the most, Jack meticulously assigned everyone a job. One son was assigned to buy the beer. One grandson was assigned to distribute the beer to the tables and so on, and so on, until all the children, grandchildren and relatives had a specific role to play in the final celebration. Everyone had a job including assignments to clean the hall after the celebration. Each person was told to go to the son with the cash to make the purchases. And yes, he preassigned speakers and gave each of them only 3 minutes each to talk. He picked the music and how it should be played. Jack showed me the print-out of the plan. I was impressed in that it allowed all the family members to participate in a way designated by Jack, relieving the burden of "What shall I do?" from others.
I hope that I have explained this in away that, with a little thought, illustrates the thoughtfulness of Jack. Unlike Jack, few of us plan for the one event that all of us will attend, even if we will not know that we are there.
What is your plan?
Webtalkwithbob@gmail.com
Most of us have a will and a "pull the plug" conditional authorization. However, I have never seen a person plan all the excruciating details of a bereavement gathering, that is, until earlier this week. But when I saw the plan, I knew it was a thoughtful thing to do.
I will just review only the primary elements and you can imagine the rest. He prepared an estimate of the cost. His estimate was based on a menu of 12 cases of beer, ample peanuts and a modest amount of cheese. He called a local hall and and determined the cost of a 2 hour party. Jack, the fictionalized person, estimated his celebration party would cost $3,800. He gave that money in cash to his son. Jack assembled all the forms to rent the hall, to file his pre-written obituary with his pre-selected photo, and to donate his body to the local medical center. There would be no bereavement greeting lines. Everyone would be seated at tables for 8 people and the beer and food would be placed on the table. He planned all the details like a celebration party.
Then, and this is the part that impressed me the most, Jack meticulously assigned everyone a job. One son was assigned to buy the beer. One grandson was assigned to distribute the beer to the tables and so on, and so on, until all the children, grandchildren and relatives had a specific role to play in the final celebration. Everyone had a job including assignments to clean the hall after the celebration. Each person was told to go to the son with the cash to make the purchases. And yes, he preassigned speakers and gave each of them only 3 minutes each to talk. He picked the music and how it should be played. Jack showed me the print-out of the plan. I was impressed in that it allowed all the family members to participate in a way designated by Jack, relieving the burden of "What shall I do?" from others.
I hope that I have explained this in away that, with a little thought, illustrates the thoughtfulness of Jack. Unlike Jack, few of us plan for the one event that all of us will attend, even if we will not know that we are there.
What is your plan?
Webtalkwithbob@gmail.com
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Just when you think you have accomplished a lot, you meet someone who shames your ego.
Senior Tip - Look for others that still have a zest for life.
When words fail the task of describing it, you know you are in the presence of genuine talent. Yesterday, I was in just such a presence of talent. Awesome. Extraordinary. Inspirational. Fascinating. Motivational. None of these words adequately describe the talent of this 72 year old retired teacher.
He took a painting class. I saw a dozen world class ink painting he had done. He took a sculpturing class. I saw a dozen or more world class sculptured objects out of stone and wood. He took a class in welding and made several remarkable outdoor metal welding figures. His paintings, his sculptures and his welding objects are suitable for display in any art exhibit I have ever seen, and I have seen many from California, to New York to Australia. His name is Victor Druten and he attended the same high School that I did, however, he was a year behind me and light years ahead of me.
You can Google Victor Druten. Do it now. You will not be disappointed.
The image is a poor photo I took of his ink painting of Clint. I forgot to eliminate the camera reflection. My error.
After my visit with Vic, I am stoked.
He took a painting class. I saw a dozen world class ink painting he had done. He took a sculpturing class. I saw a dozen or more world class sculptured objects out of stone and wood. He took a class in welding and made several remarkable outdoor metal welding figures. His paintings, his sculptures and his welding objects are suitable for display in any art exhibit I have ever seen, and I have seen many from California, to New York to Australia. His name is Victor Druten and he attended the same high School that I did, however, he was a year behind me and light years ahead of me.
You can Google Victor Druten. Do it now. You will not be disappointed.
The image is a poor photo I took of his ink painting of Clint. I forgot to eliminate the camera reflection. My error.
After my visit with Vic, I am stoked.
Friday, September 25, 2015
If you can talk to the Lord, so can I.
Senior Tip - Humor is never quite dead, so I will beat it up once more..
There were several submittals for the shortest joke, which I will post next week. For now, here is a submittal for the longest joke. The originator of the story is Kansas Governor John Anderson Jr. He died a few years ago at 97. He was also Attorney General in Kansas, owned a large farm in Kansas and was known as a marvelous litigator. He used the other person's claims to make his own case. The following story is an illustration of this technique in a humorous way,
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There were several submittals for the shortest joke, which I will post next week. For now, here is a submittal for the longest joke. The originator of the story is Kansas Governor John Anderson Jr. He died a few years ago at 97. He was also Attorney General in Kansas, owned a large farm in Kansas and was known as a marvelous litigator. He used the other person's claims to make his own case. The following story is an illustration of this technique in a humorous way,
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Farmer John hired a new man to help him on his farm as he had many times in the past. As part of his pay, the hired man and his family were allowed to live in the house behind the main house. As farmers are prone to do, especially in the busy time of the year, they work 7 days a week. Come Sunday, Farmer John was in the barnyard tending to things while waiting for Tom, the new hired man, to come out and begin the work day. After waiting quite a while, John went to the house out back where the hired man and his family were living. John knocked on the door to the house and Ethel, Tom’s wife, answered and the conversation went like this:
John: Good morning, Ethel. Where’s Tom ? Time to go to work.
Ethel: Oh, Tom’s not coming to work today.
John: What’s the matter ? He sick ?
Ethel: No. In a conversation with the Lord this morning, God told Tom not to go to work because it was the Lord’s Day.
John: Oh. What time did he talk with the Lord ?
Ethel: About 45 minutes ago.
John: Well, that explains that.
Ethel: What do you mean?
John: Well, not 15 minutes ago, and after you and Tom already had talked with the Lord, I too had a conversation with the Lord. Do you
believe that ?
Ethel: Oh, Yes, the Lord will speak to anyone who speaks to Him.
John: Well, anyway, I was having a conversation with the Lord and He said: “John, looks like rain, better go get Tom and get that hay up before it rains.”
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Clever?
webtalkwithbob@gmail.com
Thursday, September 24, 2015
What is the shortest joke you know?
Three brief jokes submitted by a Senior Tip reader that I market tested for humor.
A dyslexic man walks into a “bra”.
A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender says: “ Is this some kind of joke ?”
A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “That’s the ugliest baby I ever saw. “ The woman, fuming, goes to sit down and says to a fellow passenger: “ That bus driver just insulted me. “ The passenger says: “ You go on up there and tell him off. I’ll hold your monkey for you. “
Submit yours for our editors to review. Image is your blogger and wife in Japan.
webtalkwithbob@gmail.com
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