Saturday, October 18, 2014

The Jewish Contrarian

Save more. Just save more; if you’re still working, you probably need to save more because you almost certainly aren’t saving enough. If you do the calculations based on having X when you get to retirement, you can begin to understand what X can do for you given all the uncertainties that come with later life. I’ll bet most investors would say, “I wish I had saved more, even though I had to give something up.” I just suspect that’s the case. So my guess is that you can pretty well predict somebody will wish they’d saved more.
 
Maybe when someone is making the saving decision, you can try to help them think more about their future self. Though there are many people who say “I’m not going to live long,” the evidence is that if you’re middle-class you are going to live a long time. You personally may not, but the odds are that you will.

-William "Bill" Sharpe, STANCO 25 Professor of Finance, Emeritus, Stanford University and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, in an interview entitled "Don't Over-Rely on Historical Data to Forecast Future Returns," in the October 2014 issue of the AAII Journal, published by the American Association of Individual Investors, in answer to the question "What advice you would have for investors given your years of experience?"

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 -Jesus of Nazareth, from his "Sermon on the Mount,"  Matthew 6: 19-21Sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

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