Would you bare all ( financially ) in a magazine ??

[Moemg]

I must admit I love to read all those Money magazine articles where people reveal all but I'd never do it .I'm much to private a person to want the world to know my net worth .It would probably shock a few people and I'd probably have old friends coming out of the woodwork.Would you do It ??

 

[HFWR]

Uh, no...

 

[Sam]

I don't think I would, but no one has asked me yet

However, I think most people get paid for being interviewed and have their story published. So, for the couple who live BEYOND their means, it's a good way to generate some income to pay for the monthly credit card finance charge!

 

[mathjak107]

aboslutely , we did it in last marches money magazine and novembers fidelity magazine. at first we were nervous about it but then we said heck why not....

we tell total strangers about our marital problems, our sex lives and our darkest secrets but for some reason finances are taboo.

i think some people shy away because they are really embarressed by their financial situations or they live lifestyles they really cant support

i can tell you first hand, not one sales phone call not 1 piece of junk mail and not 1 long lost relative ever happened from either article

 

[REWahoo]

I made the mistake of volunteering to be interviewed for an article on how boomer retirements could shrink the labor force and either reduce growth or increase inflation. I agreed to do it only because it was for a business-related publication and I expected few if any people who knew us would see it. DW hates having her photo taken and only agreed after I convinced her the information would probably only be shown on a business website and no one in our part of the world would see it.

Unfortunately the article was released on a very slow news day and the local paper picked it up and printed it, including a three column wide by 8 inch photo of us. DW was not amused.

Thankfully I revealed no financial information beyond the fact we had retired "early" (age 58) and were living off our savings and investments. Nothing bad came of it - no 'friends' or relatives contacted me wanting money, but I didn't really enjoy my 15 minutes of fame and would never do it again.

 

[REWahoo]

we tell total strangers about our marital problems, our sex lives and our darkest secrets...

Please tell us in what magazine your information appears - could be interesting reading. Did you & your spouse do a photo shoot for this as well?

 

[mathjak107]

Please tell us in what magazine your information appears - could be interesting reading. Did you & your spouse do a photo shoot for this as well?

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2006/03/01/8370203/index.htm

 

[REWahoo]

mathjack, I've seen your 'financial porn', I was asking about the other porn you said you revealed:

we tell total strangers about our marital problems, our sex lives and our darkest secrets...

Where is it published?

 

[MooreBonds]

If I had made my net worth from a non-family source (currently work for a relative's construction company), and it didn't involve very short-sighted union construction workers, then I would probably consider it.

However, if I had my details published, all of those generously compensated union workers making $32/hr + fairly good retirement package + outrageously generous health insurance package would fail to see how they waste away thousands of $ a year in their expenditures, and not see how I lived at home from 22-30, spent less than someone in poverty while I maximized my nest egg, and invested wisely only look at the end result and grow jealous...and subsequently, their 8 hours of pay 6 1/2 hours of productive work would shrink to even less.

 

[Nords]

The information is already on this board if an investigative reporter cared to dig through the posts...

 

[unclemick]

The information is already on this board if an investigative reporter cared to dig through the posts...

Oh yeah! - I'll never share the second and third decimal place!

heh heh heh - :

 

[Sam]

The information is already on this board if an investigative reporter cared to dig through the posts...

True, but they can not put a face or name to those numbers.

 

[bssc]

Given that $5000 in an estate led to a eight month battle among family members and a 30K job is considered great money, the idea that anyone in the family has saved more that $100K would be mindblowing. And they would want "their share." And they would spend it on trips to Disneyland rather than paying their medical bills, just like last time.

 

[Eagle43]

Not no, but h*ll no. I don't even put specifics here. Moochers and the debt-ridden are hard enough to avoid. Why send them a map? Money? I ain't got no stinkin' money.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i have an incredibly talented writer-composer-singer-musician friend who badly wants to be famous. if fame is deserved then it should be hers. she asks me to pray for her but i can not offer up such prayers. the best i can hope for my friend is that her life will go well.

having worked for about 20 years in publishing, knowing what great fame did to my family, having had a best friend who was famous and having seen what fame did to him and his family (his own sisters were afraid of him--one in reverence and the other in jealousy), i wouldn't want even my 15 minutes of it. no thank you.

i have no further comment at this time and you may not quote me on that.

 

[Moemg]

aboslutely , we did it in last marches money magazine and novembers fidelity magazine. at first we were nervous about it but then we said heck why not....

we tell total strangers about our marital problems, our sex lives and our darkest secrets but for some reason finances are taboo.

i think some people shy away because they are really embarressed by their financial situations or they live lifestyles they really cant support

i can tell you first hand, not one sales phone call not 1 piece of junk mail and not 1 long lost relative ever happened from either article

I read your article when it first appeared and I thought it was interesting .I was surprised that you just did not retire then . I don't remember any reference to sex or marital problems .Did I miss a few pages

 

[mickeyd]

I can not help but think that folks that reveal financial details of their life in mags and newspapers are nuts to do so.

Many of the most interesting articles are about negative financial issues (CC debt, too many MFs, high cost advice etc.) so they will not be receiving any info regarding my little financial world (which is pretty boring anyway).

 

[2B]

The information is already on this board if an investigative reporter cared to dig through the posts...

I think I'd only be in real trouble if my in laws died in "suspicious circumstances."

I think I've been fairly careful about releasing financial info but as you say there's probably more there than I intended to reveal.

My brothers and sisters would be shocked at the amount of money DW and I have saved. I think I would then be looked upon as the niece/nephew college scholarship fund if not worse. To really seal the deal, I've got the best paying job of the bunch. My one brother has a good job and a decent pension coming (thank goodness) but he blows his money like the proverbial "drunken sailor."

Even with this skewed comparison, I'm borderline FI and then only if DW and I are happy with a meaningful but not too serious lifestyle reduction. If I could really embrace Bernicke, I am very well off by my current lifestyle. Bernicke adds almost 50% to the not quite as safe SWR. Is this revealing too much?

 

[sgeeeee]

I said, "No". It's not so much that I fear bad things could happen from revealing my financial situation (although that clearly is possible). I just don't see any way that I benefit from it. Why waste the time (for interview and photo shoot) and take the risk?

Also, I am always suspicious that articles about people's personal financial situations are not really very accurate. It seems to me that most people (posters on this board excluded) don't really have a very firm grip on their own financial situation. They leave out important facts, fool themselves, or simply lie to cover up embarasment. Let's face it, most of your friends and neighbors spend too much, are loaded with debt, and do not understand their own portfolio or its performance. The stories they offer are not likely to help me achieve my goals. I'm not anxious to put myself in the same category with them.

 

[REWahoo]

Is this revealing too much?

I'm not sure. Tell us more...

 

[bright eyed]

i certainly wouldn't expose my finances...nor would i let any reality show in my house even if they offered to clean it out, paint and reorganize it! uh, i'm pretty sure....

 

[tryan]

My FIL was interviewed in the mid 90's for a retiree magazine. Theme was supposed to be doom n'gloom for those laid-off in thier late 50's. Only agreed to do the article if it put an upbeat spin on the opportunity being laid-off created.

Writer agreed. But FIL was overly cautious and hid most of his assests to avoid being solicited ... in the end it read like was he was happy to be nearly broke AND unemployed. Not sure who benefited.

Did get some great pictures from the professional photographer. One hangs over our fire place today (he died a few years after the article).

 

[mathjak107]

mathjack, I've seen your 'financial porn', I was asking about the other porn you said you revealed:

Where is it published?

you may be able to see it in the 2006 fidelity magazine on their site. i tried uploading it but it says its to large to upload here as i have to do the entire magazine

 

[mathjak107]

I read your article when it first appeared and I thought it was interesting .I was surprised that you just did not retire then . I don't remember any reference to sex or marital problems .Did I miss a few pages

thankfully this marriage is awesome. but lemee tell you about my first one.

 

[Moemg]

i certainly wouldn't expose my finances...nor would i let any reality show in my house even if they offered to clean it out, paint and reorganize it! uh, i'm pretty sure....

Not me ,any of those home & garden shows are welcome at my house . I'd love to have them redo my pool area .