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MY PARENTS WERE financially comfortable but not rich. Some of their friends, though, were rich. The men always seemed to die before their wives, resulting in a few wealthy widows in my parents’ social circle.
I recall glancing at the annual report of a company for which my dad had done some work. One of the widows was listed as a board member and her occupation was stated as “investor.” I asked my dad what that meant and he replied that it meant she had enough money that simply managing it was a part-time job.
Through my working career, that intriguing idea stuck in my mind. I think I was forming an unconscious goal that, in retirement, I’d actually have a new job—as an “investor.” I’m retired now, and our net worth doesn’t come close to that of those wealthy widows I remember, and yet managing our financial affairs really does amount to a part-time job.
We have investment accounts at Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab, including taxable accounts, Roth IRAs and a SIMPLE IRA from my working days. We also have accounts at Chase, our brick-and-mortar bank, as well as a handful of savings accounts and no-penalty certificates of deposit at various online banks.
My wife and I each have a health savings account, with linked brokerage accounts at TD Ameritrade. Recently, we each opened a TreasuryDirect account and made our first Series I savings bond purchases. There’s an old Lincoln Financial variable annuity from back when I didn’t know any better. There’s also a modest trust from my long-deceased grandmother that still requires some attention and oversight.
In addition, my old law-firm partner and I own a piece of investment real estate, which has always been complicated but which we hope we can finally sell in our lifetimes. On top of all that, I help my wife with her duties as executor of her dad’s estate, which consists of some rental properties in south Texas.
My daily routine: After walking the dogs and working out, I grab some coffee, sit down at the computer and dive in. Am I now an “investor”? Not even close to the widows from my youth, but maybe “pee-wee grade.” Is it a dream come true? Not really. My main goal is to start simplifying all of this. But in the meantime, it sure beats working for a living.
I consolidated all our past 401k accounts and IRAs at multiple institutions under the Fidelity umbrella about 8 years ago. It’s so much easier to track our financials now. That was step one in simplification.
I expect to take step 2 about the time we retire, and that will involve simplifying our portfolios into 3(4) fund portfolios. The 4th fund is a stable value fund in my current employer, which will replace some of the Total Bond fund. If I pass, I want the remainder of our investments to be as simple as possible for my wife and heirs.
I share the goal of making things simple for my wife and kids. An obstacle is the tax hit from selling assets with unrealized capital gains.
Good article and it stimulates thinking about how we all approach this topic. I never did save enough to let dividends pay my way in retirement. I can remember when CDs paid nice interest, but that joy is long gone. And just investing, no matter how well I did it, would not cover my monthly expenses. Quitting work at a young age also did not help me get set up, so that I now trade some options to make up the shortfalls each month. It is a real job, maybe 2 or 3 hours a day, and most of that time is spent reading and researching. Works well for me.
Thanks for your comments. And you’ve figured out an interesting way to supplement your retirement income.