Over the past few weeks, a number of readers emailed me wondering what happened to the Retirement Digest and if I was still doing it? Truthfully, I just fell behind, so I’ll try to do a better job of being more consistent with it.
These are the financial and non-financial articles I think are worth reading if you’re so inclined this week. I will also start linking to good podcast episodes and books as I get to them in case you’re interested in that as well.
Read what you like, skip what you don’t. Enjoy the weekend!
Editor’s Pick:
Today vs. Tomorrowland (calibratingcapital.com)
“A right balance is somewhere in between – enjoying Today while planning for Tomorrow. And there’s no magical, universal formula, spreadsheet, or ratio to figure this out. It’s entirely subjective to each person and family.”
Financial Articles:
3D Printing the Human Heart (engineering.cmu.edu)
Advancements in medicine fascinate me. This may not seem like a financial article, but I can assure you it is because of how it might impact how long you are likely to be retired. If you aren’t already optimistic on these types of medical advancements, this research from Carnegie Mellon may be all you need.
Dividend Yield > 10-Year U.S. Treasury (Wall Street Journal)
Hard to believe the dividend yield on the S&P 500 is above the 10-Year U.S. Treasury. At the moment, you can get a higher income AND potential long-term growth.
CFP Board omits thousands of regulatory, criminal problems of its certificants on consumer site: WSJ (investmentnews.com)
Unfortunately, the CFP Board has, apparently, not done a great job looking out for the end consumer as almost 10% of the planners featured on the letsmakeaplan.org site have some sort of FINRA disclosure (not good) on their record. As this is coming to light, the CFP Board is vowing to right the ship.
Life Articles:
Walking, the Easy Superpower (kottke.org)
“…it looks like walking might even be good against one of the great problems of our time, stress and anxiety, while at the same time fostering some of the skills we need in many fields of work; learning constantly, memory, and an ability to think on our feet (pun intended) and come up with solutions.”
What Swimming Taught Me About Happiness (nytimes.com)
“Speed is not the goal; it is the result of perfect beautiful technique.”
What really mattered to Igor was excellence — the efficient stroke. Once you mastered that, he argued, speed would follow naturally. Speed was simply the welcome side effect of swimming well.
Favorite Podcast This Week:
Essentialism (on the Noah Kagan Presents Podcast)
“If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”
Greg McKeown
You can buy the book here on Amazon - I highly recommend it as I’ve read it before but the podcast is a great primer if you’re short on time (which ironically may be the very reason you need to take the time to read it).
Disclosure: This article is not advice. Please see additional disclaimers.