At what point does focusing on your finances/ER become counter-productive?

[Dawg52]

I believe we have all done what you have at some point in our lives. I followed my investments more closely the last 5 years prior to retirement. It's kind of like waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney. Fortunately, Santa finally made it down the chimney.

[saluki9]

I work with other people's money all day (and some nights) I don't have the mental energy to worry too much about my own.

I just set up my monthly DCAs and look at it maybe once a quarter.

[bosco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire You poor, deprived person! RPG's are Role Playing Games. They are computer games similar to Dungeons and Dragons. In these games you choose the characters' attributes, names, appearance, and often even clothing. Then you fight monsters and when they die, you get their weapons, armor, money, and other loot. You can go to stores and buy fancier weapons and armor, wands, spells, potions, and such (love the shopping!), and then you can fight stronger monsters. Usually there is a lot of magic and lore associated with the game, and the fantasy lands in which you fight have an entire history that is woven throughout the game. There are often books that your character might find, that explain the history and lore and reading them is fascinating and helpful in figuring out what you need to know in order to reach the ultimate goal. Your characters are good, evil, lawful, chaotic, or whatever, and the way in which you approach problems usually reflects that. A good mage can cast spells that do more for you than the strongest longsword. All of this is on the computer.

sounds like working for the state governnment....

seriously, I like Icewind Dale, but BGII is my favourite!

[CuppaJoe]

Dear TheFed, I feel like I’ve just been pulled over by a cop, you nailed me, that’s me to a tee, obsessive. I came here to cure my obsession with an on-line class that just ended; can still remember some of my posts for the class. I too have always gone in cycles for this, its partly not having much going on at work (or put better, I’m so good at my job, it frees up a lot of my time). Why, I remember back in ‘85 finding my job so interesting I would pause and think I’m not obsessing on my net worth.

So far, and for this reason, I’ve resisted the urge to have the InterNet at home and figure after R, I’ll use the system at the library. I know August is the slowest time of year so I’m taking some vacation time then.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosco sounds like working for the state governnment.... seriously, I like Icewind Dale, but BGII is my favourite!

AHA!! Another RPG fan. I adore BG. These are terrific games.

[MasterBlaster]

In some circles RPG's are armor-piercing anti-tank weapons

[kcowan]

I do a monthly tally of how we are doing in our long term pinancial plan. Once a quarter, I reassess our holdings to see whether any action needs to be taken. Every day, my Yahoo home page tells me what is happening with our 25 individual stock holdings. When travelling, I leave it alone.

[queeneev]

"Hello my name is queeneev and I am an obsessor." About retirement. I check my budget spreadsheet at least 4 times a week, and I log in to my brokerage account at least 4 times a day. When I travel or don't have access to the computer, I have to go through a certain amount of temporary withdrawal. My budget spreadsheet, which was born the day I started my first post-college job and has become my best friend , was created with one purpose - to clue me in to when i could quit. Oh, and I log in here to sooth my soul and remind myself, "soon enough my dear, soon enough".

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed I seem to go in cycles. Does anyone else struggle with this?

Yes. But you don't have to take it seriously. Auto deduct/invest during the accumulation phase and - for me balanced index aka lifecycle now Target Retirement funds in retirement(14th yr).

For the hormones a few 'legend in my own mind' individual stocks. Overwatched all the time 1966 till this afternoon. Probably should go mow the lawn, kayak or something.

I watch, hurry up and do nothing - mostly.

heh heh heh - .

[arandomwalk07]

I've been saving for quite a few years, and I still would glance at the spreadsheet perhaps once a day. I know it is slightly obsessive, but it is almost a tangible way for me to reach out and touch FIRE - which gives me a boost to get through days that could be otherwise tough.

It's the new way to relax - work getting you down, reach out and touch retirement

[ESRBob]

Maybe we should start a 12-step program here for financial obsessives?

I think many of us go through cycles where we 'focus on financial matters rather more keenly than the average person'. I think by automating things -- getting all the finances to flow into one online account so you can easily get a total, and having a few simple spreadsheets to tell you where you stand vis a vis your goal can help. Using a diversified, low-fee buy-and-hold index strategy with periodic rebalancing also helps, as it keeps you from having to make investment decisions all the time, or even research securities.

If you have these things in place, you'll be able to pretty much distill all the info into a few numbers within a few minutes each day. A little sensitivity analysis, tweak the numbers, see them change -- another minute or two. Any more time than 4 minutes a day and all you'll do is get really really bored.

Best cure for obsession I know.

[Milton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed I'm on the internet, often at this site, all day and night... usually until 3 in the morning.

I suspect that you would just love role-playing games.

[megacorp-firee]

As part of FIRE as a journey and not a destination, I think that we all go into different phases or steps.
One of the steps is to get comfortable with you ability to FIRE.
a) doing an inventory of what you have
b) doing an assessment of what you need
c) mapping the two
d) making any corrections
This is the step that people seem to go over and over again (obsess upon).
Until you are comfortable, you will run and re-run the numbers and think that you are not ready.

We (on this board) seem to thirst for that additional grain of knowledge. That's ok ... if you don't let it paralyze you into inaction. Continue to read on, but if you have a good plan in place, then go ahead and work your plan.

IMO you plan for the general case and handle all else as exceptions. Depending upon the real possibilities of the exceptions happening, you either put additional (contingency) plans in place or you just 'chalk it up' to another bridge to cross if/when you get there.

[ESRBob]

Good point -- there are risks and unknowable unknowns in the future. No amount of running and re-running the numbers is going to change that. Once you have a good plan in place, you're better off developing emotional resilience, risk-tolerance, Plan B or Plan Cs, and a semi-retirement friendly skill that can earn a bit of $ if times get tough etc etc than spending another night running financials and spreadsheets.

(For the semi-retirement-friendly skill, how about becoming a financial planner and obsessing over other people's retirement finances for a fee? ;-) I believe if you get paid for it, then obsession is known as 'conscientiousness' and 'quality workmanship'.

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ESRBob and a semi-retirement friendly skill that can earn a bit of $ if times get tough etc etc

Like practicing saying ... apple pie with that order sir ...or welcome to WalMart ...

[kumquat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee As part of FIRE as a journey and not a destination, I think that we all go into different phases or steps. One of the steps is to get comfortable with you ability to FIRE. a) doing an inventory of what you have b) doing an assessment of what you need c) mapping the two d) making any corrections

My problem is that I have about 35% of NW in a single stock. I obsess over it it, the rest of my index funds, bonds etc.don't matter. The really stupid part is that if I just sold it all and bought indexes FIRECALC puts my SWR at ~3.5%. No worrys. Yet I want the max from this one, check prices several times daily, ignore all other assets. Is there a 12 step program to sell it?

[Letj]

Thefed, you've described me exactly. I think that most people who are focused on financial independence and security (like us) would not rest until we've achieved our goal and maybe not even then. I hope I can relax a little better when that occurs. I am always amazed when I see people spending as if there's no tomorrow and seeming to be totally unconcerned about the future. I don't recall any period in my life where I was not obsessed and or anxious about money. This has propelled me to lay down a good plan for FIRE.

[Olav23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kumquat My problem is that I have about 35% of NW in a single stock. I obsess over it it, the rest of my index funds, bonds etc.don't matter. The really stupid part is that if I just sold it all and bought indexes FIRECALC puts my SWR at ~3.5%. No worrys. Yet I want the max from this one, check prices several times daily, ignore all other assets. Is there a 12 step program to sell it?

You might want to consider a long-term put option (as an insurance premium) if you are that nervous about it! I certainly would be.

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kumquat My problem is that I have about 35% of NW in a single stock. I obsess over it it, the rest of my index funds, bonds etc.don't matter. The really stupid part is that if I just sold it all and bought indexes FIRECALC puts my SWR at ~3.5%. No worrys. Yet I want the max from this one, check prices several times daily, ignore all other assets. Is there a 12 step program to sell it?

Geez kumquat, all this time, I thought you were one of the kool-aid drinking, buy and hold, indexers...

Quote:

IMO you plan for the general case and handle all else as exceptions. Depending upon the real possibilities of the exceptions happening, you either put additional (contingency) plans in place or you just 'chalk it up' to another bridge to cross if/when you get there.

A few months ago, I sold all of my last individual stocks (about 15% of my portfolio) and put it in DVY to keep my AA at 60/40 and provide a little income from dividends.

My 'general case' plan is to buy and hold index mutual funds, hold some preferreds for additional income and adjust allocations when appropriate.

If I get a hormone rush, I will take 5-10% out and either go to vegas and put it on black, or play the market with it.
I have found religion, so I don't think that is going to happen. I will be too busy figuring out what I am going to do all day.
You may want to consider the same. You are at critical mass, why mess around?

[aenlighten]

Tracking a portfolio doesn't take much time. Considering rebalancing not much more. Where the time really begins is when you have an idea to check out. Then it can take some serious time to analyze and investigate. Has the question been asked before? What are its implications on my planning? Should I make any changes? What other questions should I be asking? This is the fun part. It gives one something to think about.