Insanity
and Madness in the Market A
person can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary
days To
know how to grow old is the master-work of wisdom, Day in and day out, we are bombarded with massive amounts of information about what it means to grow old. On the one hand, we hear almost miraculous stores people living longer and longer. At the same time, we have nightmarish tales of older people existing (not really living) in nursing homes as they wait and wish for death. It is said that one of the foremost pioneers of the study of death and dying sits daily in a rocking chair, cigarette in hand, praying to die. How do we reconcile images of 80 year old athletes competing in the Iron Man Triathlon with those of their counterparts withering up and dying from degenerative diseases? The meaning of longevity, specifically, the quality of life as perpetuated by advances in modern medicine, will be the basis for future articles in this series. It is a core focus for us, as we are well aware of the absolute importance of quality of life as it pertains to investments and money. Of course, the ramifications of quality of life are much greater than investments and money, but this is our topic for now. Without a doubt, there exist real discrepancies between people of the same chronological age. Some are robust, active and brimming with life. Others are marking time until death, growing more inactive and despondent with every passing day. I
enjoy talking with very old people. They have gone before us
on a road The average life expectancy is 74.4 for men and for women 79.8. Now let's look at this. Let's assume most us had part time jobs while we were in college and lets assume we started college at 20, while 18 is really closer to the truth. So we work 45 years or so of our lives to contribute money to our Golden Years. Now subtract 65 from the average life expectancy age. We get 9.4 years for men and women get 14.8 year. So work like a dog during the best of years of life and save money for the worst years of your life. Now isn't that special? If you could live as long as you worked it would be okay. No you only have approx 9.4 and 14.8 years (women will be alone during these 5 extra years that they are lucky to have, because in all likelihood their husbands will be dead). Does it still make sense? Or do you now clearly see one of the biggest hoaxes perpetrated on mankind in action? This topic is made more timely by the cover of Barron's (March 22, 2004) which says "Planning Your Glorious Retirement" and in which various suggestions are made regarding investments "for the long haul," staying involved by going to college and a discussion of long term care insurance. The Barron's article gives investment suggestions which will "rack up handsome, sometimes giant gains while minimizing brokerage commissions and help clear the way for a glorious retirement" which they project to be 30 years. With all due respect to Barron's, who do they think they are kidding? It boggles the mind to think about the amount of money that would be necessary to fund a 30-year retirement, especially if the bulk of these years is spent paying for doctors, prescriptions or nursing care. Let's hope that the Barron's investments (or others) do an outstanding job of creating usable wealth, since Social Security and Medicare will, most likely, not be adequate to meet major or catastrophic health needs. People fail to learn and realize that happiness is not the same as constantly seeking to eat in expensive restaurants, taking exotic vacations or driving expensive cars. These can all be wonderful and fun and enjoyable, but they do not bring anything remotely similar to serenity or happiness. In fact, they may be considered diversions and escapes from the reality of dealing with who you are as a person, what you have made of yourself and your life, and what you truly believe about yourself. The tragic truth is that most of us don't have a clue how to be happy, don't know who we are, what we truly want and where we are going. I
enjoy talking with very old people. They have gone before us
on a road We are told that we should save everything for our Golden Years. Golden Years-- what a concept! For the majority, these are more like Iron Years, where everything is slowly, but surely, falling apart and rusting! The golden years are, in fact, the years we sacrificed to get to retirement. Then, when we finally reach retirement, we are more concerned about spending money on our children and grandchildren, choosing to live simply and frugally so that we can give it away to our loved ones. Moreover, we are usually too tired or ill or demoralized to do the things we envisioned we would while they were saving for these so-called Golden Years. The ones that really seem to have a great time as they age are the ones who had fun along the way and also were prudent enough to tuck away some money for their so-called Golden Years. For these individuals nothing much has changed, they always enjoyed life, so it’s not a new experience to them. It is those individuals who slogged away, worrying about their retirement all the time that have forgotten to have fun and enjoy life. So when the time finally arrives, they are unable to really enjoy their money. They spent too much time worrying and have forgotten the art of having simple fun and being happy. The end result is they end up spending on their extended families or trying to find ways on how to enjoy life. Enjoying life should be something none of us has to ever learn, it should be ingrained. Little children don’t need to be taught how to have fun, but, sadly many adults have to relearn this simple concept. Some individuals, unfortunately, can never quite get the full grasp of it again. A lifetime of work and seriousness and intensity and sacrifice has destroyed the simple concept of being joyful. Instead, people find themselves angry, frustrated, anxious and fearful that they will die before they experience happiness. Unfortunately, many of them will. You can look at statistics about the causes of death and dying until you are swimming in data. The reality is that the majority of illness are stress-related. Obesity has just taken second place in terms of deaths that are caused by preventable diseases. 400,000 Americans die a year from obesity. The number one preventable cause is still smoking which stands at 430,000. Together these two preventable diseases kill 830,000 Americans. More people die a year from these two preventable diseases then have died in the Iraqi war the world trade center, the Vietnam War etc. All the deaths in these events pale in comparison to the number of people dying in the US from just preventable diseases imagine we add all the diseases and mishaps. What does this have to do with investing and retirement? Allow me to explain. Stress is the number cause of disease. So if you let your stress levels go out of control, it is inevitable that you will end up getting sick, and the chances of you getting one of the above diseases increases significantly. Cancer and heart attacks will be the two main ones that you will be most susceptible to. Also when one has high levels of stress one tends to pay less attention to their personal appearance, diet and exercise routine there by contributing to the obesity problem. How about doctors prescribing the wrong medication or performing the wrong procedure on you. Each time you get seriously ill your chances of falling into the two above mentioned categories increase. We are working harder and longer and worrying more to make more money to buy more stuff to impress people so that we can make more money and buy more stuff. Everywhere it is like a constant treadmill and an ocean of adrenalin. Everyone has a cell phone to the ear. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere or do something. Insomnia is a national disease. Workaholism is the most under-identified addiction because it is the one, which is the most acceptable, particularly in the U.S. culture. So we work longer and harder so that we can have more when we reach the Golden Years and can have more to leave to our children after we die. Heart disease, obesity, addiction, homicide, suicide, infectious disease, and even cancer, have all been correlated with high levels of stress. We are, particularly in the United States, a culture of adrenalin junkies. We want to do more, move faster, accomplish more, make more money and keep working until we collapse. WHY? So that we can make enough money, move up higher on the corporate ladder, break through an even higher glass ceiling, be rich and famous and respected. THEN, after we get all of this done, we can retire to a remote desert island or some idyllic setting and live out the rest of our lives in peace and luxury. What is wrong with this picture? How many people do you know who have done this successfully? Most of us who push and shove and work like there is no tomorrow don't make it to the Golden Years. We are struck down with incapacitating illness and either have to go on disability or die. So what is it all about? What is the point of this? Part of the point of this is that people are unable to live in the moment. They are much too busy living in the past or in the future. If I just do this NOW, then LATER it will be so and so. Excuse me? What is this about later? How do you know anything about later? What if you get sick or die before you get to later? Then what? Then nothing. That's it, over and done. And what about the past? How many of you are simply stuck in the past and can't get through it? How many of you are burdened with thoughts of how your parents or siblings or schoolmates treated you? How many of you carry the scars from past hurts and allow these to stand in the way of your present happiness and personal evolution. I can assure you that the answer is " very many." In fact, the level of being "stuck in the past" is at the magnitude of a national tragedy. Vanity License Plate seen in Phoenix, Arizona March 2004: VICTIM So you allow the past to damage you and keep you damaged. Then you work hard to get to the future and find that, if you get there, you are too damaged from working to get there , then it becomes meaningless. And so, you ask yourself: What's it all about? Where did my life go? What did I really accomplish? Why am I too sick to enjoy the fruits of my labor? Is this all there is? Why isn't my money buying me happiness and health? Where did I go wrong? What happened? Who did this to me? ...and the questions are endless. The questions are always the same. It is the answers that are different. In time, you will come to know that the answers lie inside of you. Everything is right there inside of you. BUT- you are too busy becoming to stop and listen for the answers within. You are too busy working to make money to buy things. You are too busy thinking about how to make more money to buy more things. You are focused on getting enough money to leave enough money to your children so that they will remember you and respect you and love you. You have become a Human Doing and have ceased to be a Human Being. Stop and look around you and think about where you are right now in your life. Be in the moment. Cherish it, as it is all that is real for you. The past is a memory, the future is a mystery. The present is all you have and is the only thing that is real for you. That's why the present is called a gift. Cherish it. Nurture it. Be with it and be of it. Allow yourself to be sustained in the present, for you have knowledge of nothing else, and the present is your life. Take control of yourself in the here and now, and use money as a tool, rather than holding it up as being the be all and end all of your life. Part of the point of this is that people are unable to live in the moment. They are much too busy living in the past or in the future. If I just do this NOW, then LATER it will be so and so. Excuse me? What is this about later? How do you know anything about later? What if you get sick or die before you get to later? Then what? Then nothing. Stop and look around you and think about where you are right now in your life. Be in the moment. Cherish it, as it is all that is real for you. The past is a memory, the future is a mystery. The present is all you have and is the only thing that is real for you. That's why the present is called a gift. Cherish it. Nurture it. Be with it and be of it. Allow yourself to be sustained in the present. Always remember that money is just a tool and like a tool it can only be useful provided its master knows how to use it. Therefore make sure you are the master of money and not vice versa. CONCLUSION If you get sick and lose your health or are now told you have a terminal illness, what is all the money in the world going to do for you? The answer is absolutely nothing. Once again we want to stress investing is a way of life and not just a means to obtain riches. Be careful your greatest investments--your body, your mind, your spirit and your soul. Never allow them to fall into decay as you pursue the delusions of paper money. Do not simply chase one and ignore the other. The best approach is to invest in both areas. Bring balance to your life in the present and the future will evolve for you in a gracious and seamless manner. Take time to live one or two levels below your means, pay of your debts, take on less new debt and put some money into precious metals, such as Silver, Gold and Palladium. With any luck, you will, at least, learn to be in the moment and sing your own song.
Most
men live lives of quiet desperation, and die with their song
still inside of them... Dr Janice Dorn and Sol Palha wrote the above article jointly. Alan
Lunt From the ANZAC prayer Age
shall not weary them, nor the years condemn For those of us that get out of school and embark on a life into the unknown, we have a plan. Or should I say we have a "want" list. This list is probably our downfall. The average plan is finish the education if it is not as complete as we want it, get a job or a profession, get a car, get a partner, get a house and get as much money as we can. Once we have achieved all that we want a better car a better house a better partner and a better job. The thing was we never revised the original plan. We are never content to just be happy with what we have, we add stress to our lives out of proportion to the rewards. I know, I have been there. I worked myself into the ground trying to achieve "better". My health suffered. Now I go fishing whenever the tide is right and to devil goes all the things that "should" be done today. I am more relaxed, more productive and a lot happier. But I carry the scars of the abuse I put my body through. I have 14 years until I hit retirement age, the thing now is I never want to retire. I enjoy doing what I do and as long as I have a computer and my family I will be happy. Sure there are things in life I still want to achieve and I will always have targets, but I will not become obsessed if I never reach them, if I do I will loose the enjoyment of the simple things that life has to offer. Keeping up with the Jones' does not interest me any more. In many cases I know how much they owe the bank and exceeding the debt target does not appeal one bit. Our education has tricked us into a mindset, for example we must be seen to be achieving. What a heap of codswallop. The people who perceive themselves to have failed escape into the bottle, or drugs, or suicide, or some other method achieving their own destruction. It is everyday living beyond those things of which we are capable. I looked at the quoted statistics in Sol's article and in nearly every instance stress can be nailed as the cause of bad health or premature death. It is a mega political condition. Humans are remarkable for being able to adapt to new situations, but we all carry the genes of our ancestors. We are not all that far removed from the "hunter - gatherer" and they only worked for a couple of hours a day. The rest of the time was spent lazing around and playing with the other members of the group. Education has conditioned us to become workers. I'm not saying work is bad, or that productivity should be scorned, what I am saying is that we must incorporate fun into our lives. We need to pander to some of our basic needs. Believe me, I'm a past master at being "responsible". We need to teach ourselves how to relax. Presently the TV is used by many as the escape mechanism, but that is only exacerbating the problem, all those hidden messages and advertisements directed straight into our psyche, making us feel guilty for not having this or that, or being like this person or that person. There is a whole industry out there telling us what we need and want, when really if we look hard we already know the answer. I believe that very stressful times are nearly upon us and the time to re-evaluate what is important is here. By that I mean downsize the house and give the SUV back, clear the credit card if possible and buy some precious metal. The name of the game will be what our ancestors were good at... survival. Being solvent is going to be more important than having things. A Kondratiev winter is about the purging of debt, there is going to be a lot of stress out there, it would be best to try and avoid it. While there are many factors in the ability to save, it is government that has withdrawn the incentive to do so. The "from the cradle to the grave” protection that has been put in place has cost us more than the benefits we have ever gained or will gain. We have done it to ourselves through greed and fear. There is a good chance that we will not receive the benefits we have paid for and all transfer payments will then come under scrutiny. The responsibility for our old age rests ultimately with ourselves, if we take some pressure off, relax and pander to our basic wants and needs we will all be healthier and more capable of enjoying our later years. Maybe we will even want to continue being productive, all be it at a lesser scale. It is better to be alive than it is to be remembered. Alan Lunt © 2004 Alan
Lunt Contact Information Sol |
