A Rich Life

The Old Ideas on Saving & Investing Don't Work -- Here's What Does

“I Didn’t Know That Anything Was Going On On the Morning of May 13, 2002. So Everything Written in the Book will Be Things That I LEARNED By Having the Courage to Say What I Believe and Then Watch the Reactions.”

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Set forth below is the text of a comment that I recently posted to the discussion thread for another blog entry at this site:

“ And where would today’s CAPE value be? Probably precisely where it is.”

Which means you wasted your time.

What was that phrase that President Carter had when the helicopters went down in the desert? It’s been “an incomplete success.”

One person can only do so much, Anonymous. A year from now, I will have a printed book in my hands with my name on it that describes everything going on in great depth and detail. I didn’t know that anything was going on on the morning of May 13, 2002. So everthing written in the book will be things that I LEARNED by having the courage to say what I believe and then watch the reactions.

I think there’s great value in learning. We’ll see, you know? But that’s what I believe. I wouldn’t have made a decision as a young man to devote my life to journalism if I didn’t see value in it.

My best wishes to you.

Rob

Comments

  1. Because everything is about YOU and what YOU believe and you don’t care what anyone else says or believes and truth just goes out the window.

  2. I believe that, when I advance a post, it should state my sincere beliefs. If I sincerely believed that the Greaney retirement study contained a valuation adjustment, I would say that. My sincere belief is that the Greaney retirement study LACKS a valuation adjustment. So that’s what I say when the subject of safe withdrawal rates turns up in discussions held on the internet.

    None of that would inspire even a tiny bit of controversy in any field other than the investment advice field. The problem is that in the investment advice field the Buy-and-Holders have promoted the “idea” that market timing (price discipline!) is not always 100 percent required for every investor at all times. I would like to see the same laws and social norms that apply in every field other than the investment advice field applied in the investment advice field as well. I see it as a win.win.win for all concerned, without even the slightest possibility of any downside.

    My best wishes to you.

    Rob

  3. In your mind, only your opinion counts and you ignore what anyone else has to say, unless you can tie it to your narrative. That is why the rest of the community has rejected you. That is why your wife divorced you. It makes me think that you were likely getting forced out of your job versus your story about quitting.

  4. Okay, Anonymous.

    I still believe to this day that the retirement study posted at John Greaney’s web site lacks an adjustment for the valuation level that applies on the day the retirement begins.

    My best and warmest wishes to you and yours.

    Rob

  5. Like I said, it is all about YOU and what YOU think. You ignored what others in the financial community said, so they banned you. You ignored what Wade said about the harm you caused him, so stopped talking to you. You ignored what your wife said, so she divorced you. The world does not revolve around you. Your results (or lack thereof) are reflective of your actions and inactions. No one else is responsible for what has happened to you.

  6. Okay, Anonymous.

    I do wish you all the best that this life has to offer a person, regradless of what investment strategy you elect to follow, in any event.

    Hang in there, old friend.

    Rob

  7. Hang in there? What? I am not broke. I am not divorced. I didn’t lose my home. What do you mean by “hang in there” as if I am facing some kind of desperate situation?

  8. The comments that you advance definitely suggest that you are feeling desperate. If you’re not feeling desperate, then let the safe withdrawal rate thing go and live a happy life, you know?

    Rob

  9. Having $7 million is desperate? Meanwhile, someone that is broke, unemployed, homeless and divorced acts like they are sitting good? Do you think your ex-wife is desperate when she felt the need to take on 6 jobs because her former husband let them go broke and wouldn’t get a job?

  10. The guy with the $7 million sounds desperate, yes.

    You need to chill, Anonymous. Like 17,000 notches.

    Rob

  11. Desperate people block posts. Desperate people tell lies. Desperate people blame other people for their own problems.

    When desperate people do these things, everyone else rejects them, include their own family members. Want to find this desperate person, Rob? Look in the mirror.