John Bogle interview; age 53 = smarter investors

[Bestwifeever]

In today's paper:

First, an odd piece about reaching our investing-acumen peak at 53 (odd because it's a story reporting on a WSJ story):

Age 53 golden time for investing -- -- chicagotribune.com

From that article:

[53 is] the age at which consumers are least likely to make financial mistakes, the Journal said. The economists (all quite a bit younger than 53) called this "the age of reason." The apparent secret: Experience. Learning from mistakes. A healthy skepticism about promises that seem too good to be true.

Then, nice interview with Mr. Bogle (probably nothing new to most people here, but I like his emphasis on simply saving first and then his simple investment strategy):

Long-term view can be best asset -- -- chicagotribune.com

From the article:

"We know that rare indeed is the mutual fund whose shareholders earn as much as the fund earns itself," he said.

A man with decades of investing acumen sees negotiating the financial markets as simple enough for those investors who learn to ignore most of the everyday noise.

"I don't even get a quarterly statement. I told them to stop sending me all that stuff."

 

[TeeRuh]

... hmmm. I wonder if I got smart at 53 (year 2003) because of my age or because of the total trashing my 401K took at ages 51/52 due to chasing the tech stock market (2001/2002)? hmmm I guess I did follow the "learning from mistakes route"; big mistakes, huges mistakes, expensive mistakes ...

t.r.

 

[dmpi]

All right! I'm still getting better...

 

[TromboneAl]

It's all downhill from here, huh?

 

[unclemick]

It's all downhill from here, huh?

Yep, age 64, being stupid is fun.

Retirement is Target Retirement.

15% individual stocks is ah medication for my hormone problem.

heh heh heh - it's all under control - yes sir - as long as I don't overmedicate! .

 

[statsman]

Wow, a lot must happen between 49 and 53 because right now I am managing our investments in reverse.

 

[chinaco]

Got another year... But wait a minute.... I am sticking with my same strategy... what does that mean?

I guess one can preserve their investing acumen.

 

[Dawg52]

I have 2 more good months of investing. Guess I better buy an annuity on my 54th b'day to make sure I don't screw up. No wait.........

 

[HFWR]

I have 2 more good months of investing. Guess I better buy an annuity on my 54th b'day to make sure I don't screw up. No wait.........

Yeah, only three months left for me. But I think I'll pull an unclemick: don't do something, just stand there...

 

[Ronstar]

It looks like I need to wait 2 months and then invest.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I believe per the second article Mr. Bogle is now 79, so he too is way past his prime investin' years.

Personally now that I'm back into the stupid years, I'm going to hire some 53-year-old monkeys to toss the darts for me.