(Don’t forget to get your copy of A Guide to Loving Your Timeshare tomorrow at launch prices.)
Every week I find a few great articles I feel are especially valuable. Following are this week’s best. I hope you find them as useful as I did.
This week’s favorites include what to do since you can’t take it with you, comparison is the thief of joy, is the 4% rule still valid, what happens if you reprogram your spending habits, and wealth is not a zero sum game.
Happy reading!
Once we have saved up a pile of money to last the rest of our life, what next? The reality is if we saved that much, we are very likely to have a big pile of it left over when we die. Was that the goal? Or was the goal to save enough to live a nice life in retirement. Young Money definitely gave me some things to ponder about my stockpile of wealth and how it will be used in the article Can’t Take It With You. Using the money to make great memories with your family is a much better use of the money than leaving it all to them as an inheritance.
Nothing makes my car look worse than seeing a new car in my neighbor’s yard. My car was fine until I saw his. How often do we compare ourselves to others? Rich Frugal Life shares with us that In Money and Life, Comparison is the Thief of Joy. Comparison is not an easy thing to stop. The only thing we should be comparing ourselves to is the person we were yesterday. If we are better than yesterday, we are on the right track.
The FIRE movement is based on the 4% rule, which only looked at a 30 year maximum retirement time. But what if we retire younger and have a 50 year retirement period, would the rule still be valid? Time in the Market took on this question and Tested the 4% Rule Today and Across Longer Withdrawal Periods. The 4% rule was expanded to include 35, 40, 45, and 50 year time spans. As my retirement years tic on, I realized that my withdrawal rate can substantially decrease once I start drawing social security which will improve the odd of success in the chart.
The bulk of the things we do in life come down to our habits. Are your habits good ones? Are your spending habits going to get you to the financial destination you seek? Navit Money addresses this issue in Tackling Spending Habits and Reprograming Your Brain. New habits will take you to new places. Where are your habits taking you?
The wealthy do not usually get wealthy at the expense of others, it usually happens by adding value to society. The Darwinian Doctor explains this in his article Wealth is Not a Zero Sum Game. Understanding that wealth is not a zero sum game changes one’s prospective. If I can become wealthy without hurting you, and you can become wealthy without hurting me, then we can all do it together and not take offense at the other person for becoming wealthy. Add enough value to the world and you are likely to gain wealth.
I hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did. I look forward to updating you again next week with a few more articles I find especially interesting. If you read an especially good article, send me the link so I can share it with others.
