A Rich Life

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

“The Greater the Advance, the Stronger the Opposition From Those Who Saw Success Under the Old, Discredited System.”

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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:

You are right about everything, Rob.  That is why you have tens of millions sitting in your account right now, thousands of followers flocking to your website everyday making thousands of posts in support and your wife begging to come back.

The reason why I am banned is that, once the transition is achieved, everyone posting honestly re the research will have those things. The greater the advance, the stronger the opposition from those who saw success under the old, discredited system. Going by that rule, I think it would be fair to say that the move from Buy-and-Hold to Valuation-Informed Indexing is the biggest advance in the history of personal finance.

I can live with that.

Rob

“I Didn’t Create the Humans the Way They Are. I Observe It. I Report on It. The Peer-Reviewed Research Reveals it. I Just Say That We Should Acknowledge It”

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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:

It is never your fault that you are broke and divorced.  It is somebody else:  the goons, the nation, the investment community, board owners, Wade Pfau, Robert Shiller (pulling his punches), Jack Bogle (the man you called a big con-man), etc.

And Rob Bennett. I was afraid to speak up for three years. We’re all born with that Get Rich Quick impulse that makes us want to believe that it’s all going to be different this time and Buy-and-Hold is actually going to work out okay for one or two long-term investors.

I didn’t create the humans the way they are. I observe it. I report on it. The peer-reviewed research reveals it. I just say that we should acknowledge it, at the bare minimum let people who acknowledge it talk about it so that they can protect themselves from irrational exuberance if they are inclined to do so.

If Buy-and-Hold was a real thing, hat wouldn’t upset you.

Rob

“We Got It Wrong As a Nation of People in the Days Before Shiller’s Research Was Available to Us. Because There Is so Much Riding on Us Getting it Right, We Have Had a Very Hard Time Acknowledging the Error. We Are in the Process of Coming to Terms with It.”

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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:

So you are not broke. So you are not divorced? So all the experts are wrong and you are right, despite your lack of education?

I guess so as we see all these millions of people supporting you in the comments section on this board (which you control).

Great job, Rob!

We got it wrong as a nation of people in the days before Shiller’s research was available to us. Because there is so much riding on us getting it right, we have had a very hard time acknowledging the error. We are in the process of coming to terms with it.

The job of a journalist is to help us get to a better place.

Rob

“We Don’t Trust or Believe YOUR Interpretations of Research”

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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:

But we don’t trust  or believe YOUR interpretations of research and that is a good thing.  Otherwise, we would all be broke and our spouses would be asking for a divorce.

Okay, Anonymous.

I naturally wish you all the best that this life has to offer a person, in any event.

Rob

“You’re Saying That It Is the Numbers in an Account That Are the Ultimate Reality. I’m Saying That the Peer-Reviewed Research Is a Higher Reality. The Peer-Reviewed Research Tells Us Whether We Can Trust the Numbers in the Account.”

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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:

I have millions of dollars and they are real. They are in my account and I can spend it at any time. Your dollars are not real. They are not in your account and only exist in your head. You won’t see one cent of your fantasy $500 million windfall. How do you know? Because you have nothing to spend.

These are important facts as it determines WHO has the problem. If I had a major issue come up (medical, repair to home, etc) I have the money to pay for it right now? Can you say the same? Of course not. You don’t have any money as you have admitted many times.

You’re saying that it is the numbers in an account that are the ultimate reality. I’m saying that the peer-reviewed research is a higher reality. The peer-reviewed research tells us whether we can trust the numbers in the account.

Shiller did something. I say that he showed us when we can trust the numbers in the account and when we cannot. You have never said what you believe Shiller showed that was so important that it merited a Nobel prize.

If it is so that we cannot trust the numbers in our account, that’s a big deal. I believe that it is so. So I believe that we need to come to terms with that. That’s why I advocate that we open every site on the internet to honest posting re the peer-reviewed research. I don’t see this as being optional. I see it as being imperative. It’s not possible to have intelligent discussions about stock investing for so long as we don’t even know whether the amounts in our accounts are real or not.

We’ve got a tiger by the tale re this one!

Rob

“I Agree That You Can Today Spend the Portion of Your Retirement Account That Is Just Irrational Exuberance. I Do Not Agree That That Portion Should Be Viewed as Being the Same as the Portion That Is Not Irrational Exuberance.”

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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:

I have millions of dollars and they are real. They are in my account and I can spend it at any time. Your dollars are not real. They are not in your account and only exist in your head. You won’t see one cent of your fantasy $500 million windfall. How do you know? Because you have nothing to spend.

These are important facts as it determines WHO has the problem. If I had a major issue come up (medical, repair to home, etc) I have the money to pay for it right now? Can you say the same? Of course not. You don’t have any money as you have admitted many times.

I agree that you can today spend the portion of your retirement account that is just irrational exuberance. I do not agree that that portion should be viewed as being the same as the portion that is not irrational exuberance.. The research shows that the irrational exuberance amounts will disappear in time and cannot be relied on.

Rob

“My “Fantasy” Is That Someday the Same Laws That Apply in Every Field Other Than the Investment Advice Field Will Apply in the Investment Advice Field as Well.”

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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:

My money is a lot more real vs your money. I actually have it in my accounts. Your money is part of some fantasy that you are someday going to get a wild windfall.

No, Rob. We are not on your side. Fix your own problems.

My “fantasy” is that someday the same laws that apply in every field other than the investment advice field will apply in the investment advice field as well. I view that as an entirely realistic belief. I believe that the arc of history in the personal finance realm bends toward rationality.

Rob

 

“How Much of the Money You Have Is Real and How Much of It Is Pretend? Do You Even Care to Know?”

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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:

How hard is it to understand.  We have money.  You don’t.  That means we don’t have to do anything and you do.  Fix your own problems because we are not lifting a finger for you.

How much of the money you have is real and how much of it is pretend?

Do you even care to know?

That’s not my problem. That’s your problem. Fixing that problem would not be lifting a finger for me, it would be lifting a finger for you.

That’s what I believe, Anonymous. There are no two sides here. We are all on the same side.

Rob

“When a Nation of People Suffers a Buy-and-Hold Crisis, No One Is Entirely Spared.”

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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:

That market timing strategy of making you go broke is working out so great for you, Rob.  Way to go.  I guess I will have to just be miserable with having millions of dollars.

Today’s CAPE value signals an economic collapse that will cause an ocean of misery for millions of people. You certainly should be sad about that and about your role in making it a reality. And your millions won’t entirely protect you. When a nation of people suffers a Buy-and-Hold Crisis, no one is entirely spared.

I’d like to see us move beyond all that. I believe that we will get on a better path in days to come. We’ll see.

My best wishes to you.

Rob