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"Typical" ER forum member profile
02-21-2015, 11:46 AM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,892
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"Typical" ER forum member profile
What would you say are typical ER forum member profile/attributes ?
I'll start by adding a few of my own thoughts;
1. Financial DIYer and more than a bit skeptical about the role/benefit of FAs.
2. Uses index funds for the majority of his/her investments.
3. Somewhere between the ages of 50-70 and debt free.
4. Dislikes annuities for various and sundry reasons.
5. Retired in their 50s.
6. Have analytical type personalities.
How far am I off and what else might you add ?
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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02-21-2015, 11:51 AM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,345
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All would fit for me other than debt-free. We refinanced just prior to retiring and our investments have far exceeded the 3.375% interest that we pay on our mortgage since then.
An important addition would be LBYM/fiscally conservative.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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02-21-2015, 11:55 AM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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7. Spends too much time online (oh wait, that's just me)
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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02-21-2015, 11:56 AM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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5 out of 6 in my case - and I agree with pb4's suggested addition.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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02-21-2015, 11:56 AM
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#5
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,340
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski
All would fit for me other than debt-free. We refinanced just prior to retiring and our investments have far exceeded the 3.375% interest that we pay on our mortgage since then.
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My thought too, so perhaps modify it to "substantially debt free" meaning if there is any debt it is small compared to NW and an amount larger than the debt is invested elsewhere at a higher rate of return than the interest on the debt.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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02-21-2015, 11:59 AM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,085
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski
An important addition would be LBYM/fiscally conservative.
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+2
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02-21-2015, 12:04 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,892
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Agreed, substantially debt free and LBYM are two I should have had in my first pass.
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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02-21-2015, 12:05 PM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12,651
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Extremely strong views on personal responsibility; also, on what to eat and not eat.
I have *never* seen people get so caught up in the molecular content of their food, as on this forum.
Amethyst
__________________
If you understood everything I say, you'd be me ~ Miles Davis
'There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.’ Christopher Morley.
Even a blind clock finds an acorn twice a day.
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02-21-2015, 12:07 PM
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#9
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Villa Grande
Posts: 275
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I agree with these characterizations and would add "Choose an asset allocation and 'stay the course' approach to market volatility"
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02-21-2015, 12:09 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amethyst
Extremely strong views on ... what to eat and not eat.
I have *never* seen people get so caught up in the molecular content of their food, as on this forum.
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That does appear to be the case but I'm of the opinion that particular trait is shared only by a highly vocal minority. Might be worth a poll to confirm if you're really curious...
__________________
Numbers is hard
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02-21-2015, 12:09 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 9,958
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I would add less likely to be worried about "keeping up with the Joneses" then the average person. Also, fairly self-confident and not as worried about what other people think of you.
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02-21-2015, 12:12 PM
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#12
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Portland
Posts: 4,946
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amethyst
Extremely strong views on personal responsibility; also, on what to eat and not eat.
I have *never* seen people get so caught up in the molecular content of their food, as on this forum.
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Heh...
"What will you DO all day?"
I think we have the answer.
Attachment 21160
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02-21-2015, 12:14 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,233
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I am going to modify the debt part...
If they have debt, it is due to the low interest rates that are available....
We just bought a car and I got 1.99% for 5 years... my mortgage is 3.125%... I do not plan on paying off either of these since I can probably get a higher return on my investments...
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02-21-2015, 12:20 PM
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#14
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Islands
Posts: 363
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frayne
What would you say are typical ER forum member profile/attributes ?
I'll start by adding a few of my own thoughts;
1. Financial DIYer and more than a bit skeptical about the role/benefit of FAs.
2. Uses index funds for the majority of his/her investments.
3. Somewhere between the ages of 50-70 and debt free.
4. Dislikes annuities for various and sundry reasons.
5. Retired in their 50s.
6. Have analytical type personalities.
How far am I off and what else might you add ?
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Judging by the posts most of us tend to be very independent and have the ability to think outside the box. We don't just dream of independence, we make a plan to achieve it.
I know the typical age is 50+ but I think there is at least 5% <50 yrs. 
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02-21-2015, 12:24 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,139
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Even though the majority here are DIY investors, I don't think item 2 holds. There is a wide variety of investment techniques and vehicles used by investors here to accomplish their goals.
4 of 7 here.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
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02-21-2015, 12:47 PM
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#16
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,343
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Don't forget "Incredibly good looking and hugely talented."
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02-21-2015, 12:58 PM
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#17
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 640
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I'd suggest this addition...
As previous polls here have shown, we're almost all introverts. I've come to believe that makes a huge difference. The extroverts I know dread the idea of ER.
__________________
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"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."
--Epictetus
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02-21-2015, 01:08 PM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 4,337
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Focus
I'd suggest this addition...
As previous polls here have shown, we're almost all introverts. I've come to believe that makes a huge difference. The extroverts I know dread the idea of ER.
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And you use the Myers-Briggs definitions which isn't necessarily what many people assume by the terms. An introvert will be happy knowing that they did something well and be satisfied with that. An extrovert needs other people to recognize the accomplishment.
I'm definitely an introvert. I only care about other people's noticing my accomplishment if it got me a benefit - raise, better assignments, etc.
__________________
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane -- Marcus Aurelius
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02-21-2015, 01:21 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
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1-4 and 6...
Also an introvert, don't know or care about the Joneses, and debt-free 'cept for the mortgage.
Sent from my iCouch using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire
...not doing anything of true substance...
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02-21-2015, 01:27 PM
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#20
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 681
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TimSF
I agree with these characterizations and would add "Choose an asset allocation and 'stay the course' approach to market volatility"
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In my view, this is a common but mostly likely minority view on this forum. My first impression of ER.org was that almost everybody was committed to a buy and hold with periodic rebalancing approach to investing. After seeing a couple of years worth of threads, I'm not so sure. It is startling how many posters seem to panic at the slightest hint of a downturn in the stock market. Add in the ones who have moved bonds into cash or shorter duration bonds because of fear of higher interest rates ahead and those who advocate things like PE10 based market timing, and I suspect buy and hold investors might shrink into a sub-50% plurality.
I think you can make a case for virtually all of the approaches I see on this forum, but I wouldn't characterize them as "stay the course".
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