Hi from Minnesota

[Solid_A]

Great board - good discussions, and interesting personalities. I'm a teacher in my mid 40's, and my husband of 1 month is a minister who is 50. Good thing we like the simple (read: inexpensive) things in life, or we'd never even get to contemplate retiring

He hasn't saved much (mostly gave it all away - never been married before) but he is a frugal person, so we've figured out that we've got 10 years left of the "rat race" (that's when my pension and 403B will be enough to sustain our lifestyle and our house will be paid off).

I wish I could get my twenty-something year old son to read some of these posts - so many of you are doing just the right things - and that will give you so many more choices in life. Way to go!!!

[haha]

HI Solid-

Welcome aboard. You have probably already seen that there is an active Minnesota group here.

Ten more years won't be so bad. After all, a good part of it will be honeymoon!

Mikey

Welcome my friend. I'm fairly new here too but have already learned that there are many different personalities on the board. Mostly good responses though. I'm here looking for new friends.

If you are "looking for new friends", you need
to change your forum name IMHO.

JG

Quote:

If you are "looking for new friends", you need to change your forum name IMHO. * JG

Ugh.....it was a joke. As you know, Clinton made one too many friends in the White House.

[BUM]

Yo Bill,

Anything you can do to get Hill out of NY would be greatly appreciated.

BUM :P

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Even I as a long time republican didnt mind Bill too much. He paid down the deficit, didnt spend too much, had the economy going fairly well and kept us out of being the worlds traffic cop. Gee, Bill was actually a better conservative than his replacements been so far...

There are damn few conservatives to be found anywhere these days. Both major parties are pretty
much devoid. This is one reason why I continue to predict a relentless swing leftward for this country.
I take no pleasure if this turns out to be true.
However, contrary to what some may think, it is not the
least bit monotonous being right all the time.

JG

After marrying a stauch republican, this moderate republican finds this thread interesting - and, after growing up in a liberal democratic family, it is nice to be 'right' once in a while.

Have any of you done any good investment or retirement reading lately?? I've read a ton on the subject (I teach English (and math), so reading follows naturally) but am always looking for new ideas and insights. Are there any good websites that you are aware of that you could share?

After reading many of the threads posted on this site, new husband and I have decided to try and get the retirement date down to less than 10 years - so I'm open to suggestions on how we can make that happen!

[brewer12345]

Quote:

After Have any of you done any good investment or retirement reading lately?? *I've read a ton on the subject (I teach English (and math), so reading follows naturally) but am always looking for new ideas and insights. *Are there any good websites that you are aware of that you could share? After reading many of the threads posted on this site, new husband and I have decided to try and get the retirement date down to less than 10 years - so I'm open to suggestions on how we can make that happen!

I could recommend a lot of stuff, but since I spend a fair amount of time reading finance textbooks and journals, I don't know if it would be too dry or obscure for you. What in particular are you looking for? For general investing, I like Kiplinger's.

You are a teacher, right? I think that the most likely way for you to speed up RE is a side business. Could be something that takes advantage of your professional abilities, like tutoring or SAT drill on the side. Or it could be something seasonal, taking advantage of summers off. On the Motley Fool, there is a poster who recently retired from teaching and for many years he ran an ice cream stand mostly in the summer for some extra shekels. Given all the favorable tax advantages you can get out of runing a side business, its not a bad way to go.

[Solid_A]

Thanks for the advice - I usually do teach summer school for part of the summer, but have thought about a small business on the side... I appreciate your taking the time to respond to my questions. (Hmm.. I love ice cream!).

I am open to all reading, dry or not - sometimes although the book is not an easy read, it actually contains the information one needs - so I'd love to see your recommendations. Bring 'em on!!!!

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Thanks for the advice - I usually do teach summer school for part of the summer, but have thought about a small business on the side... *I appreciate your taking the time to respond to my questions. *(Hmm.. I love ice cream!). I am open to all reading, dry or not - sometimes although the book is not an easy read, it actually contains the information one needs - so I'd love to see your recommendations. *Bring 'em on!!!!

Just a start, but I think that if you really want to understand how corporations appraoch financing decisions (which helps explain how rates, volatility, etc. affect stock prices), you can't do worse that "Principles of Corporate Finance" by Brealey & Myers.

[Solid_A]

Thanks, Brewer!! I will try to order it from my public library this afternoon. Understanding principles and concepts is more than half the battle, in my humble opinion.

[Hyperborea]

Quote:

I am open to all reading, dry or not - sometimes although the book is not an easy read, it actually contains the information one needs - so I'd love to see your recommendations. *Bring 'em on!!!!

If you've got the basics of investing down (Random Walk Down Wall Street, Intelligent Asset Allocator, etc.) then I would suggest reading the books that provide a broader understanding and some historical scope. Once you get the basics of asset allocation there is only so much tweeking that you can do (and in fact more can be dangerous).

Some possibilities:

Peter Bernstein - Against the Gods; Capital Ideas; The Power of Gold (or even his Portable MBA in Investing though not a "broad picture" type book)

William Bernstein - The Birth of Plenty

John Kay - Culture and Prosperity

Edward Chancellor - Devil Take the Hindmost

"Adam Smith" - The Money Game (witty and sarcastic look at Wall Street during a previous bubble - the "Tronics" boom of the 60's)

Doug Henwood - Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom

T.R. Reid - The United States of Europe (just starting this one and I think the recommendation came from this board)

[cute fuzzy bunny]

For lighter reading you might try Gillette Edmunds "How to retire early on less than a million dollars", then read as much of "The Millionaire next door" and "The four pillars of investing" as you can. The latter two books forced me into 'skim' mode about halfway through. The information and ultimate points are crucial, but I can only be beaten to death with proof source data by PhD's for so long before my eyes start rolling up into my head and I want to scream "Ok, ok, I believe you...just tell me your point...I promise I wont dissent!"

If you do a search on here for "book report" several of these were put into very short synopsis form and that synopsis discussed. You'll need the 'number of days to search' to be a lot as I think some of these are a year old.

After that, dont read another goldang thing about investing, because quite simply nobody knows but everyone thinks they do...and some can be fairly convincing.

In fact, in the 'four pillars', the author basically tells you of particular asset allocations and the rudiments of long term investing mean that you dont really need to learn or know much of anything else, and that in fact such learning and "acting" can be very counterproductive. In the "millionaire", the key is to simply maximize your income and minimize your unnecessary spending.

You can also find information at www.efficientfrontier.com and vanguards web site to read John Bogles ponderings is also another good and easy start.

All of these books should be available, perhaps on special request, from your local library.

[Solid_A]

Thanks, everyone!! I am making a trip to the library this afternoon, so will check on these. I just borrowed the cd's of "4 Pillars" from the library yesterday, and started listening this morning. Not too far into it yet (a 15 minute commute), but seems on the ball so far.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Oh god...please dont read that while driving a car. We cant afford to lose any more new members to narcolepsy behind the wheel.

Get in a nice reclined position on a soft chair, turn off all the major appliances, and try it that way...

[sgeeeee]

Quote:

Oh god...please dont read that while driving a car. *We cant afford to lose any more new members to narcolepsy behind the wheel. Get in a nice reclined position on a soft chair, turn off all the major appliances, and try it that way...

I have to agree with this advice, but a lot of our posters believe Bernstein is a god . . . or at least a saint, and they are likely to think otherwise.

[rapoole]

While you are at the library, also pick up Bogle on Mutual Funds. Read it and you will never buy a fund with loads or high fees.