March 21, 2019

I’ve Made a Huge Mistake

You’ve screwed up:

“Too late now, I’m screwed.”

You are NOT screwed. There is a way out. The only way you are screwed is if you are at retirement age already—then it is kind of too late.

But if there is any time on the clock at all, you can fix this. You can make it right.

I know many people who got to age 50 and didn’t have a dime saved for retirement. And then they staged the greatest comeback of all time, and retired comfortably.

You can do it. But there is only one solution for this. There are no shortcuts. There are no ways around it. You have to do it.

The answer is:

Austerity.

Austerity

Austerity is defined as “conditions characterized by severity, sternness, or asceticism.”

“Asceticism” is an even better word. If you want to retire comfortably, you will have to live like an ascetic. By choice. Or else you will be in your 80s, living like an ascetic, not by choice.

As I’ve said before, I know people who have partied it up well into middle age, then said, “oh crap, I don’t have anything saved for retirement.”

This is super common. The people who start at age 23 (like me) are actually not very common. In 1997, I was buying issues of Money magazine out of the bookstore and picking out mutual funds.

Most people screw around into their 30s and 40s and don’t figure it out until they are already well behind schedule. Some people don’t figure it out until their 50s.

So what does this austerity look like?

You will have to start saving 50% or more of your paycheck every year.

Sound bad? Hey look—if you started when you were 23, you could get by with saving 10-20% of your paycheck. Now you have to double up to catch up.

But the point here is that it can be done. So many people get to this point and they just say “screw it” and give up, and figure they’ll live off social security, or that their kids will take care of them. That is not a very good plan.

I know someone currently in this position. His mom ran out of resources in her late 70s and the kids have to pitch in to bail her out. It is embarrassing and awkward for everyone—especially because it was preventable.

Look on the bright side. Saving money can be fun, too. I derive satisfaction out of socking money away. Most of the time, investing is fun. It has been pretty easy the last 10 years.

Let me insert a PSA here for taking Social Security later, rather than earlier. 50% of the population takes Social Security at age 62. Only 2% takes it at age 70. Your monthly checks are literally twice as big if you wait until age 70. Plus, you will have worked an extra 8 years, so you’ll have more money kicking around.

62 is not very old. You can, and should, keep working.

Being poor sucks. But there are few things worse than being completely destitute in old age. That was the whole motivation for Social Security, which has turned out not to be enough. This is real! People suffer!

Time to get serious.

It Fixes Everything

Austerity fixes all your problems:

This is probably the first issue of The 10th Man where I transition from public intellectual to motivational speaker. Quoting Rob Schneider from The Waterboy, “You can do it.” I have seen it done.

When properly motivated, people are capable of saving and investing. Almost nobody is motivated to do it at age 23. Pretty much everyone, at some point in their life, will end up in catch-up mode.

When I said there are no shortcuts, there are no shortcuts. If you reach for more risk in the stock market, there is a very good chance that you will only compound your error.

If you make $100,000 a year, you can save $50,000 of it.1

If you start at age 45 or 50, you can make up for lost time with a little bit of compounding. You obviously won’t do as well as if you had started earlier, but it’s better than doing nothing.

I spend more money than I used to, but I have spent most of my life in some state of austerity.

Austerity has enabled me to do a few really good things:

Wouldn’t it be nice to deal from a position of strength, rather than a position of weakness?

Yes, yes it would.

Dealing from a Position of Strength

As I said earlier, people are capable of saving and investing when properly motivated. I sincerely hope that this issue has helped you look at your situation a bit differently, whether you’re 23 or 43 or 63.

And if you already have the austerity thing taken care of, and want to take care of the “investing” part of the equation a bit more… great!

In that case, you might want to take a look at what I’m excited about right now. We’re close to the start of the uptrend in an asset class and I haven’t been this bullish about it since 2009—but it’s a bit of an embarrassing trade.

If you’re interested, check this out.
____________
1 Half the people reading this said “no you can’t.” Actually, yes you can.

Jared Dillian
Editor, The 10th Man

Share Your Thoughts on This Article

Was this email forwarded to you?
Click here to get your own free subscription to The 10th Man.

Use of this content, the Mauldin Economics website, and related sites and applications is provided under the Mauldin Economics Terms & Conditions of Use.

Unauthorized Disclosure Prohibited

The information provided in this publication is private, privileged, and confidential information, licensed for your sole individual use as a subscriber. Mauldin Economics reserves all rights to the content of this publication and related materials. Forwarding, copying, disseminating, or distributing this report in whole or in part, including substantial quotation of any portion the publication or any release of specific investment recommendations, is strictly prohibited.
Participation in such activity is grounds for immediate termination of all subscriptions of registered subscribers deemed to be involved at Mauldin Economics’ sole discretion, may violate the copyright laws of the United States, and may subject the violator to legal prosecution. Mauldin Economics reserves the right to monitor the use of this publication without disclosure by any electronic means it deems necessary and may change those means without notice at any time. If you have received this publication and are not the intended subscriber, please contact service@mauldineconomics.com.

Disclaimers

The Mauldin Economics website, Thoughts from the Frontline, The Weekly Profit, The 10th Man, Connecting the Dots, Transformational Technology Digest, Over My Shoulder, Yield Shark, Transformational Technology Alert, Rational Bear, Street Freak, ETF 20/20, In the Money, and Mauldin Economics VIP are published by Mauldin Economics, LLC Information contained in such publications is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The information contained in such publications is not intended to constitute individual investment advice and is not designed to meet your personal financial situation. The opinions expressed in such publications are those of the publisher and are subject to change without notice. The information in such publications may become outdated and there is no obligation to update any such information. You are advised to discuss with your financial advisers your investment options and whether any investment is suitable for your specific needs prior to making any investments.
John Mauldin, Mauldin Economics, LLC and other entities in which he has an interest, employees, officers, family, and associates may from time to time have positions in the securities or commodities covered in these publications or web site. Corporate policies are in effect that attempt to avoid potential conflicts of interest and resolve conflicts of interest that do arise in a timely fashion.
Mauldin Economics, LLC reserves the right to cancel any subscription at any time, and if it does so it will promptly refund to the subscriber the amount of the subscription payment previously received relating to the remaining subscription period. Cancellation of a subscription may result from any unauthorized use or reproduction or rebroadcast of any Mauldin Economics publication or website, any infringement or misappropriation of Mauldin Economics, LLC’s proprietary rights, or any other reason determined in the sole discretion of Mauldin Economics, LLC.

Affiliate Notice

© Copyright 2019 Mauldin Economics