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The following article substantiated something that I had long suspected about myself, in that I was born an investor. I know I intermingled the terms 'saver' and 'investor' in the title, and while I believe they are actually two different mentalities, the article make no such distinction.
What I didn't see coming was the fact that my lifelong habit of eating properly and exercising regularly were predictable extensions of the same personality traits that caused me to save some of my paper route money when I was 11 years old.
Are some people born to save and others not? Is it nature or is it nurture? Well, a new study on this age-old debate suggests that—at least when it comes to saving for retirement—it’s more nature than nurture. You are either hard wired to save or not.
Now this isn’t to say that those who aren’t born to save are doomed to a life of only instant gratification and long-term poverty. It’s just that those folks are the ones for whom—though there are some repercussions—automatic enrollment and automatic escalation plans were designed. More on that in a bit (if you can defer gratification) and more about the study, which was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, right now.
[RIGHT]
Terrence Horan/MarketWatch [/RIGHT]
Are you a born saver?
“The idea of the paper is that we know the most important moment that predicts retirement success is when an employee first gets a job,” said Michael Finke, a professor at Texas Tech University and co-author of the paper. “That’s because they tend to either opt in or opt out of 401(k) savings at the benefits office.” .....................
Last edited by Listener2307; 04-07-2013 at 08:29 AM..
Must admit...I am a Investasaver! My father drummed it in my head as a child and I continued that venue as an adult.
(I fixed the link)
Couple of things pop into my head:
1) I was raised by a single mother in the 50's. She was terrible with money. Still is. So no one taught me what I know.
2) I drummed it into my daughter's head, too. But it didn't take! She and her husband are holding a yard sale so that they can go to Jamaica - for the 4th time! No savings. No plan. TWO kids in college! Underwater in home equity. New cars. Did I raise this "child"!? Hard to believe.
My parents were divorced, my mother never saved a dime either. She just kept marrying others who would support her. I have a half brother, he is just like my mother, doesn't save a dime, I have given up on talking to him about it.
Not convinced the researcher proved much of a correlation between people who exercise making good savers. He should then explain why so many pro athletes end up broke. Also, it looks like the author of this article isn't much on board with this exercise and good nutrition thing, based on that photo.
Not convinced the researcher proved much of a correlation between people who exercise making good savers. He should then explain why so many pro athletes end up broke. Also, it looks like the author of this article isn't much on board with this exercise and good nutrition thing, based on that photo.
Unfair! maybe the guy who wrote it is a lot older than you. He may be in pretty good shape for a 65 year old.
Having an Adonis fascination does not make you a saver. He's just saying that born savers will have a certain wiring already built in.
I guess that I am the exception to the rule. I flunked gym class in high school and have to be led kicking and screaming to the gym occasionally by the DW. In fact, the only things that the DW wants for her birthday is for me to come to the gym with her 3x a week. I would rather buy her diamonds.
I have always been a great saver and a decent investor.
I would argue that the two behaviors are diametrically opposed:
In exercise, you are supposed to EXPEND more than you needs.
In personal finance, you are supposed to SAVE more than you SPEND.
I think it my case it was more of a learned behavior, not inbred. After being close to homeless when I was in my 20s, I vowed never to be close to that again when I finally started making some money. Now I squirrel away a lot to assure a more comfortable landing if disaster strikes.
Um.
My trainer, many crossfit junkies, and tons of other people I can think of who exercise not only for health but as an obsession are TERRIBLE with money.
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Hard to believe.
