I have two comments. We are about the same age as you. 20-25 years ago I began helping my parents to make sure they had plans in order. I encouraged them to be a bit more liberal in their spending and charitable giving. I said that they had raised 4 kids who were all doing well and had no need for an inheritance. My Dad said, “Proverbs says that a good man remembers the 3rd and 4th generation.” Who was I to dispute the “good book”? As farmers, we had purchased the family farm from ur parents. When I saw their finances, I realized that they could have forgiven all or part of the mortgage. We are glad they did not. As someone who can become obsessed with debt, very few things in our financial lives gave us more satisfaction than making the last mortgage payment. That satisfaction was priceless.
I remember those columns. The first thing I looked for in the Sunday paper was the Sunday Wall Street Journal pages to get the latest Getting Going column. I have a number of those columns in my “financial bible” that I still find helpful. Some things never change. Now the first thing I look for in the morning is the latest article on Humble Dollar.
In the 1970’s when IRA’s were first introduced, I selected 3 funds from Money magazines recommendation list. After a few years, 2 did great, 1 did not. I realized that there were many things I did not understand. The one thing I did understand was a low expense ratio, which lead me to Vanguard. In the mid 1990’s, I put $100,000 in a Smith Barney wrap account with a 2.25% aum fee. In a few years, it went to $225,000, which seemed great. Of course, it crashed with everything else in the dot com crash. One thing that I learned is that anything can be made to look good. My Smith Barney rep gave me a glowing report showing how my investment was exceeding the “modified benchmark”. (I have become suspicious when anyone uses a modified benchmark.) I said, “Peter, the report looks great but the bottom line is that since I been with you, my account has increased from $100,000 to $124,000. Your fees over that time have been $25,000. I don’t think that this is the way it should work. Your making more than I am. I’m transferring everything back to Vanguard”. We have been 100% Vanguard since then.
Thanks so much for your work and that of the contributing writers. This has become my "first go-to site" every morning. There is always something to learn. My "financial notebook" has five columns from your Sunday Wall Street Journal days in 2004-2006.I still find them relevant and enjoy reading them from time to time so I have appreciated your work for many years.
As a 77 year old I can relate to the feeling. A few weeks ago at the grocery store check out, my wife and I realized neither of us had a credit card. As we were deciding what to do, a young lady behind us stepped up and said “Let me take care of that” and she paid our bill. After expressing our appreciation, our thought was, “Do we really look needy or that we don’t have money to pay?” Although she refused to allow any repayment we assured her that a contribution would be made our local food bank in appreciation of her thoughtfulness.
Comments
I have two comments. We are about the same age as you. 20-25 years ago I began helping my parents to make sure they had plans in order. I encouraged them to be a bit more liberal in their spending and charitable giving. I said that they had raised 4 kids who were all doing well and had no need for an inheritance. My Dad said, “Proverbs says that a good man remembers the 3rd and 4th generation.” Who was I to dispute the “good book”? As farmers, we had purchased the family farm from ur parents. When I saw their finances, I realized that they could have forgiven all or part of the mortgage. We are glad they did not. As someone who can become obsessed with debt, very few things in our financial lives gave us more satisfaction than making the last mortgage payment. That satisfaction was priceless.
Post: Good for Them?
Link to comment from March 28, 2024
I remember those columns. The first thing I looked for in the Sunday paper was the Sunday Wall Street Journal pages to get the latest Getting Going column. I have a number of those columns in my “financial bible” that I still find helpful. Some things never change. Now the first thing I look for in the morning is the latest article on Humble Dollar.
Post: News You Can’t Use
Link to comment from October 29, 2022
In the 1970’s when IRA’s were first introduced, I selected 3 funds from Money magazines recommendation list. After a few years, 2 did great, 1 did not. I realized that there were many things I did not understand. The one thing I did understand was a low expense ratio, which lead me to Vanguard. In the mid 1990’s, I put $100,000 in a Smith Barney wrap account with a 2.25% aum fee. In a few years, it went to $225,000, which seemed great. Of course, it crashed with everything else in the dot com crash. One thing that I learned is that anything can be made to look good. My Smith Barney rep gave me a glowing report showing how my investment was exceeding the “modified benchmark”. (I have become suspicious when anyone uses a modified benchmark.) I said, “Peter, the report looks great but the bottom line is that since I been with you, my account has increased from $100,000 to $124,000. Your fees over that time have been $25,000. I don’t think that this is the way it should work. Your making more than I am. I’m transferring everything back to Vanguard”. We have been 100% Vanguard since then.
Post: How did you get started as an investor?
Link to comment from April 1, 2022
Thanks so much for your work and that of the contributing writers. This has become my "first go-to site" every morning. There is always something to learn. My "financial notebook" has five columns from your Sunday Wall Street Journal days in 2004-2006.I still find them relevant and enjoy reading them from time to time so I have appreciated your work for many years.
Post: How We’re Doing
Link to comment from January 1, 2022
As a 77 year old I can relate to the feeling. A few weeks ago at the grocery store check out, my wife and I realized neither of us had a credit card. As we were deciding what to do, a young lady behind us stepped up and said “Let me take care of that” and she paid our bill. After expressing our appreciation, our thought was, “Do we really look needy or that we don’t have money to pay?” Although she refused to allow any repayment we assured her that a contribution would be made our local food bank in appreciation of her thoughtfulness.
Post: Elderly as Insult
Link to comment from December 28, 2021