January 30, 2007
Both Wanda and mOOm have touched on an article and a subject near and dear to my heart: Could you and I possibly be saving too much for retirement?
You’ll have to let me know what your situation is, but I would NOT make this generalization about anyone, even PF bloggers, and most especially not for myself. Why? Because of SingleMa’s appropriately timed question today about Bailing Out Family Members in Financial Trouble.
Call me a pessimist but when I’m considering the future I’ll probably have more dependents rather than fewer, I don’t consider Social Security a viable source of retirement income and I imagine that healthcare will only remain a high expense. On top of that, there’s always the X factor of family members in need. For that category, I’d really only consider my parents eligible for support because unless there’s a true emergency, I am determined not to become the Bank of Ducky. I can guarantee that my parents, while not terribly spendthrifty, haven’t got anything put away specifically for retirement.
So personally, I can’t see where I could possibly be making a responsible decision by saving LESS than what I’m saving now. I think that’s the core of the issue for me: I anticipate heavier financial burdens
to come in the future and it would not make any sense for me to back off. The examples given in this NY Times article of those who are more than well-prepared for retirement implies that there are numerous people who are entirely prepared for retirement. Look around you, does that seem to be the case in your life? I can think of a few exceptions, Moom’s mom, TBH’s parents and “in-laws”, probably BoyDucky’s parents, and a couple of very wealthy friends who were born into money. That’s the sum of it for my friends and acquaintances, blogging community and all.
It’s really best to evaluate the statements that all these “experts” are spouting and decide for yourself what really truly applies to your own wallet and how you might want to act on the newly issued advice of the month. After all, you’re the one who has to live on that retirement money!
And for the record, I don’t think I’m squandering my youth if I miss out on a few unfinanced adventures, I’m saving my middle aged years from stress!
January 26, 2007
This is going to be me ALL weekend. Except when I’m eating. And taking walks with BoyDucky, because I have to get back in shape. But the rest of the weekend? That’s ME:
Oh, but I’ll be hanging out with BoyDucky, so it’ll be more like:
(the Steve Winwood version)
I wandered into a conversation that a train friend was having with another rider about retirement accounts and ways to make up time for late starters in the retirement game. IRAs, real estate deals, and pensions were being bandied about as though they would be funded just by talking about them. But I felt distinctly uncomfortable about the fact that a budget and the necessity of learning how to control your money instead of letting it control you were never discussed. Granted, the advisor didn’t necessarily know his advisee well enough to discuss her budget, so maybe that’s why he didn’t touch on that subject [yes, I note the irony of a PF blogger saying that budgets are too personal to discuss with strangers ….] but I feel that creating wealth and income is only half of the strategy. No retirement planning can ever be complete without addressing the other half of the money equation: how, how much, and when is the money spent?
How: Who’s the spender, and why? Are the purchases necessities with the occasional splurge? Are they “wants” with the occasional bill thrown in? You need to know why you’re spending, before you can modify the behavior that makes the spending ok. Maybe it’s just as simple as “I want.” If that’s all it is, how do you replace “I want” with “I want this, but I don’t need it right now”?
How much: Are you spending beyond your means right now? Are you spending at your means now? Are you spending below your means? This determines how much you need to retire AND how much you can have by then.
When: When do you want to retire? Do you know how much you can save before then? Have you considered your life events between now and then?
It may sound pretty complicated, but it can also become a very simple conversation to have with yourself. I have it every so often to remind myself that I have bigger things to worry about than how the new girls are so stylish it makes my teeth hurt.
It especially helps to repeat the mantra “You don’t NEED another purse. You just WANT one!!!!” when I get emails from one of them, touting her friend the handbag designer in New York and her faaaaaabulous purses. And how her purses are pricey because they’re made in the US, but she has defective, or imperfect purses that she’ll sell at a discount [I’m not sure how much “for cheap” is]. *sigh* I never thought of myself as an accessories girl, but there’s something so deliciously satisfying about the perfectly sized purse that holds my wallet, keys, book, planner and a water bottle and every so often the 17 year-old dog who refuses to walk anywhere he can be carried. It just panders to my need to have everything at my side at ALL times.
January 23, 2007
I wish I could link to the full articles but I haven’t ever tried to access the WSJ online, it’s usually my train read. I’ll try to link to them later but meanwhile, these items caught my eye today:
Drugs in Testing Show Promise for Lupus
The last time a new drug was approved to treat lupus, a serious autoimmune disorder that afflicts an estimated 1.5 million Americans, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. But after a 50-year stretch without a major advance, there are finally some promising treatments on the horizon.
Several drug makers are in advanced-stage trials for lupus drugs. Human Genome Sciences Inc. will begin enrolling patients in the next two weeks in the largest ever late-stage lupus trial, following positive results in earlier testing; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is conducting lupus trials on Orencia, its rheumatoid arthritis drug; and Genentech Inc. and ….
I happen to have a particular interest in this right now, but regardless of personal interest, the fact that it’s been FIFTY years since the last major drug was developed is fairly incredible. I hope these late stage trials go well!
Rapid Flu Tests Found to Reduce Antibiotic Use in Adult Patients
The use of tests that can quickly determine whether people have influenza moderately cut down on antibiotic use in hospitalized adults, according to researchers at Rochester General Hospital in New York.
Many hospitals and doctors are trying to reduce the widespread use of antibiotics to curtail the development of bacteria that is resistant to the drugs.
While many doctors still prescribe antibiotics to patients diagnosed with the flu to guard against developing a secondary bacterial infection such as bronchitis or pneumonia …
Reduced usage of unnecessary antibiotics is always a good thing!
Bush’s Focus on Health Care Draws Criticism, New Hope
President Bush’s new focus on shrinking the ranks of the uninsured is appealing to Democrats and others who have long hoped for a renewed debate over how to extend health insurance – but Mr. Bush’s specific plans still face criticism.
“While the administration’s current proposal is deeply flawed, the attention that the president is devoting to the issue could signal real progress in addressing the health-care crisis,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass), who has worked many years on health …
I’m still a little confused about how these proposals are supposed to reform the system, I’m looking forward to seeing more, clearer, information than what I’ve read so far!
Has anyone NOT seen this video? It’s SO CUTE!
January 22, 2007
Gosh, I was alternately amused, taken aback, and immensely proud of a friend who mentioned to me [knowing nothing about this blog, or the depth of my deep dark love for all things financial] that she wanted to learn about investing and planning for her future because she’s got a real job and her papa is making her do her own taxes this year. ~ I preface by saying that I love my friends dearly. That doesn’t mean I don’t know how very different we are! I still love them, despite any blood pressure spikes on certain topics. ~
She’s the youngest of our group and has always worked to some extent, in fact she and I worked together at a temp job in high school, but her papa is a doctah and her parents have always been well able to support her through school and afterwards. All in all, her primary relationship with money has been to set it free. You know, REALLY free. When she wasn’t working, she ran up debt, and her parents would pay it off. And that’s always been a point of concern to me because I worried that she’d suffer a major shock when it was time for her to truly be financially independent. I have every confidence that she’s capable of learning how to manage money, I just didn’t know what would motivate her to do so.
It turns out that she’s reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad and this has sparked an interest in learning how to invest. I guess as a gateway drug it’s alright, but I hope she understood the concepts more than jumped to the conclusion that she should throw her money at a risky investment and expect huge returns.
Ironically, she failed to remember that I was the one who had initially wanted to start financial discussion gatherings among our friends to help each other learn how to do investment research and generally support one another. Even more ironically, their complete disinterest was what led me to blogging instead and now I find myself in the awkward position of wanting to show her all sorts of blogging resources but not wanting to be “outed” because I obviously comment on a lot of my favorite blogs. As Wanda had contemplated, I wonder who and if this blog would be safe to share with since it can be much more personal and revealing than I am in real life, and this conversation with her nearly prompted me to reveal it. Luckily, I caught myself in time, I’m not ready to be outta the closet just yet!
In any case, this odd mix of worry and pride must be how mama ducks feel when their ducklings start venturing into the world?
January 21, 2007
Cost: $27
I woke up last week in the middle of the night thinking it was Thursday when it was really Tuesday, and royally screwed up. Like a idjit, I rolled over and paid a bill that I thought was due. Paying the bill wasn’t the problem. The problem was *disclaimer* I don’t know what possessed me *end disclaimer* instead of paying from the account I’d specifically deposited that money into for this purpose, I used the other checking account. Without the money.
This is what I usually do:
Step One: Transfer necessary funds from Citi savings to Citi checking. [within Citi, this is an instant transfer.]
Step Two: Transfer funds from Citi checking to credit card. [again, instant transfer.]
Five days later, I was completely confused as to why on earth Wamu would charge me a non-sufficient funds fee. “What the heck were they talking about??” I wondered. I had the biggest cash cushion in there, so it couldn’t be a random check that I somehow forgot about. [This happens when someone doesn’t cash a check for SIX MONTHS. Only a little annoying.]
Instead I had:
Step One: Check.
Step Two: **digression from norm** Left the Citibank site. Proceeded to the Citicards site. Set up a payment.
Step Three: Failed to notice that the checking account number in the dropdown box was for the Wamu account. Processed payment.
Step Four: Fell back asleep.
A phone call to Wamu cleared it up for me. Well, the call cleared up the technical details, I still don’t know why on earth I thought it was a good idea to pay a bill mostly asleep, in the dark, at 3 am. Be that as it may … I found that lo and behold, I was paying off my BT card to the tune of >$5000 and paid it from the WRONG checking account.
Good job, Ms. Mini. I can’t even argue that fee. I have no grounds for argument. Tschahhh! Oh well, live and learn.
