Ben Stein’s Day in the Sun
Ben Stein explains how to enjoy retirement, by making sure you have one!
If you found this post helpful, consider donating to my coffee fund!A Day in the Sun
by Ben Stein
It was a perfect sunny summer day in Malibu. I spent a large part of it gardening (which I’m very bad at but enjoy), some of it filing financial statements, and about two hours of it lying in the sun with my dog while listening to Mozart on my headphones.
If I had to, I could, at 61, retire and live quietly for the rest of my life at my little home in Malibu doing what I did today. I don’t want to, because I travel around preaching retirement readiness, and I love doing that. But I could if I wanted to.
Why can I? Because my parents were thrifty, and good planners. And because they bought low-cost variable annuities that paid off like winning the lottery, and bequeathed them to my sister and me.
Also because I’ve been a saver (although not as good of one as I should’ve been) all my life; because I took the trouble to learn at least the basics of investing and then some; because I have two great financial advisers named Phil DeMuth and Kevin Hanley; and because I’m lucky enough to have had a career that paid the bills.
All of that — and, most of all, the greatest of gifts: being an American — allowed me to enjoy this glorious summer’s day.
Plan, Invest, and Save
Here’s how you can get to a similar place in your life (if you’re not already there):
* See a financial planner that you’ve chosen with a microscope. Tell him or her everything.
* Make a plan, and make sure you understand every word of it.
* Have widely diversified investments.
I recommend devoting one-third to a very diversified international fund; one-third to a total stock market index for the U.S.; and one-third to a highly diversified bond fund that tracks the Lehman bond index.
* Put at least 15 percent of your wages into these investments every month, before you buy a plasma-screen TV or a cruise or even your child’s education.Keep doing it even when the commentators are telling you that the markets are collapsing and the sky is falling.
* Make and keep habits of thrift. Unless you have an income of $1 million or more a year, don’t spend any money you don’t have to.* Keep in mind that you’re your future, older self’s only dependable and indispensable friend. You’re your own indispensable counselor, too. So you’re the pillar on which your old self will rest — behave respectfully to that older self.
* Carefully consider variable annuities in addition to your investment portfolio, but only when you understand them and know what each fee is for. In your really advanced years, when you no longer have the strength to keep track of things, that automatic check will be a lifesaver.
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
- All Intelligent Investing Is Value Investing Today's post is courtesy of Wealth Building Lessons. This past year, the stock market has seen incredibly volatile swings. My non-retirement portfolio has been up 20% and then down to 0%. Twice. Of course, my portfolio doesn't have a direct correlation with any of the indices but it just as......
- Ben Stein Long On Financials I was in Los Angeles for the past several days. While spending several hours parked on the 405 freeway I heard Ben Stein on the radio. He thinks financial stocks have been beaten up and are great values right now (as of November 13th 2007). He recommended buying a financial......
- Tax Benefits Of Passive Income Since this is tax season and this site is dedicated to earning passive income, I thought I should post something about the taxation of passive income. From the IRS's point of view passive income is any income that you get without having to to materially participate in. Examples of passive......
Related Websites
- Don't Worry About Your Credit Score (It Doesn't -really- Matter) I was listening to the Dave Ramsey Show on a local radio station the other day and a woman had called and told the host that she had her credit card bill paid and was current with all of her debt payments, but she had not eaten in two days!......
- There's one constant: things rarely go as planned If there's one constant in life, it's that things rarely go as planned. Take our current economy, for example. I can pretty much guarantee that no one planned on things being in the state they are currently in. But things going awry (or just differently) happens on a personal level......
- Is "Simple Living" Just Another Term for "Giving Up?" While browsing the WiseBread Forums today, I came across an interesting thread in which a member asks: Is "Simple Living" Just Another Term for "Giving Up"? Several members responded with various opinions: There is a difference between simple living and forced poverty. Not everyone enjoys the rat race. It's......
[All content is copyright of Living Off Dividends & Passive Income]
September 23rd, 2006 at 7:12 am
Great post. I always like reading what Ben Stein has to say.
It is rare that anyone could poke holes in his logic.
-Grant
TheCornerOfficeBlog.com