Addicted to Investing

Any number of ways to connect with others that do not involve a traditional work place. Some, but definitely not all, volunteer work would be an example of that.

 

For sure, agree. In reading the posts, I am thinking a theme in how to approach it was simply to look outside the current square and understand what gets you going. Depending on how long you've been in your current rut/work, the bigger the change needed.
Not sure about now, but once upon a time there was a proportion of retirees who died within 6-12 months of retiring as they had lost their purpose and health suffered. - The routine of going to work, having that socialisation pre-determined for you (as you interacted with people just by doing the job), then doing it month after month for decades, was so entrenched that when the person had to work out their own routine and socialising, they couldn't do it.

 

Another meet up is a good idea. More wine needs to be drunk and philosophy to be discussed.

 

I use the meet-ups website to attend sessions on Data Science - they're interesting and relate to my profession. The same website may be a good way to get like-minded FIRE people together to socialise and find interesting and useful things to do.

Find your people | Meetup

You can create your own meet-up or just join other interesting sessions. There's even a bunch of freeloaders who attend meet-ups just to get free food and drinks.

 

I often have a meeting with myself and some red wine.

 

Hey @dunno interesting thread touching on the psychology of it all.
I think the core reason of why you are feeling this way is because at its core investing is about making money and money is not (or should not be perhaps) an end in itself but rather a means to an end. When you have already reached your end, your goal, then it is only natural to question the reason for wanting more money. After all, what for?
If investing resulted in say being healthy, you would not feel this way.

Another aspect is also your style of investing: you go and dig into companies and as such there is the thrill of potentially stumbling on something that could make you some doh. If you just stuck to indexes for instance there just would not be anything to be overlly excited about and not much to analyse really.

You mentioned you have kids, have you thought of building a nest egg for them? That could be a worthy goal.

I think you are putting too much psychological pressure on yourself. You enjoy investing and the research that comes with it, it’s not that bad. Try to introduce some moderation into it if you feel it is overwhelming.

 

Well I finally managed to get a brief answer from the CEO (wife) as requested. I was only given a few high level requirements (bolded) and I’m pretty bruised and battered (see end of post) from when I requested more detail:

1. Safe assets allocation to cover 10 years comfortable living expenses (topped up by 2 & 3).
.... Cash and Term Deposits.
2. Medium risk relatively reliable “income” assets to cover lifestyle extras.
.... LICs (appeal due to dividend smoothing) / Index ETFs.
3. Assets to protect against local Concentration and Sovereign Risk.
.... ASX (active) and International LICs / ETFs.

In a nutshell like me she loves an income driven approach where you can ignore what’s happening with Share “price”. The income just continues to flow into the bank account. Simple, near set and forget, nothing much to do, minimal decisions required.

 

Wow, that's a lot of $$$ to have tucked away - I'm assuming that's not just cash?

 

We’re fortunate to each receive a relatively small inflation protected Gov’t Super pension which covers around 25% of the “Safe” allocation. The remainder being Cash and Term Deposits is still only around 12 - 15% of overall portfolio. So that’s over 85% in Shares which for retires in the mid to later 50’s is considered by many to be agressive risk wise.

For dividend focused investors a 2 - 3 year cash buffer is considered sufficient with 5 years considered conservative. Thornhill would consider 5 years way over the top. We’re content extending the duration further again given it’s still a relatively small proportion of the portfolio. But in reality it’s more for “psychological” comfort than anything.

Also note that for the example in the preceding paragraph the cash buffer is only meant to “top up” dividend shortfall not cover two full years living expenses. Obviously the age old “spend less than you earn” would apply even more so in tough markets. So adjust your spending accordingly. Finally investing in older LICs which hold reserves to smooth dividends in tough times means there’s less need for the investor to hold as much cash.

The articles (including the comments) below are worth reading thoroughly. Despite different investing approaches most don’t exceed 5 years in cash with 2 years considered ideal.

Give me the long-term predictability of shares, at any age - Cuffelinks

Reply to Peter: Why a glide path makes sense, with equities for growth - Cuffelinks

Getting off topic here sorry.

 

I hope @dunno 's doing well. Any insights @dunno ??

 

Doing very well thanks @Mac Fields

Possibly come across as dejected rather than just the navel gazing process that I’m going through. No need to worry about me, but thanks for asking.

Some of the responses and links on this thread have been excellent. PC others asset class forum is not only full of knowledgeable investors but also some very self-aware people.

I’m enjoying the process of scrutinising myself. One of the links I think mentioned that becoming self sufficient removes excuses for how you live your life. That resonates with me.

Probably still a fair bit of reflection to go before I find myself again in a settled mental state. Balance is possibly an aspect of my life I should have paid attention to earlier. But then again being unbalanced and determined got me to the place where I now have the luxury of contemplating what makes me happy.

Maybe there’s a time and place for single mindedness and another for balance. I don’t look back and wish I had been any other way – Its just that now I feel the need to make a change or maybe I just need to accept a level of obsession (addiction?) that’s not goal driven but simply enjoyment driven. How lucky was I that I loved my work so much?

 

All's cool. It is a great discussion. Thanks for checking back.

 

Been thinking some more about this as I have similar personality traits. I’ve come to the conclusion (I think you may be concluding same) that one doesn’t need to find reasons / excuses / goals for doing something they love. So perhaps stop draining energy through guilt, introspection, thinking of it as a job and the like and focus on enjoying what you love to do. The only thing I do is make sure I schedule in important stuff like exercise, chores and spending time with family and friends etc thus maintaining some balance in life.

Besides there’s far worse hobbies. Up here there seem to be a lot of retired blokes who love doing up old cars. They blow most of their savings on a hugely expensive hobby and they’re so obsessive their family never see them day or night. They’re always stuck in the shed down the back.

 

Balance is possibly an aspect of my life I should have paid attention to earlier. But then again being unbalanced and determined got me to the place where I now have the luxury of contemplating what makes me happy.

Maybe there’s a time and place for single mindedness and another for balance. I don’t look back and wish I had been any other way – Its just that now I feel the need to make a change or maybe I just need to accept a level of obsession (addiction?) that’s not goal driven but simply enjoyment driven. How lucky was I that I loved my work so much?[/QUOTE]

Your reflection reasonates with me.

You probably will find another interest other interests as fulfilling if not more than investing and shift your focus and will feel much happier.

Great topic to duscuss

 

This thread is awesome!

Many of us seem to be wired a similar way and having the same thoughts about life and investing.

 

True.
My personal reflection is that I want to learn, (over) analyze and try to make the best decisions in a number of areas of life. When these traits are applied to investing it can mean I spend way to many hours in front of a screen. At the end of the day I sometimes wonder for what purpose and how else could I have spent those hours in a more enjoyable, productive and ultimately more satisfying way. Fortunately I think I am better now at controlling those tendencies with a new approach to investing, although they will always be there as you can't change your underlying personality.

 

Ever thought of mentoring Dunno?
I'm in my mid 50s and trying to get my head around preparing for retirement with my wife.
Currently looking at my small shares holding and converting some to ETFs
Ha I could use some help!!!!