Gyroscopic Investing

MachineGhost wrote: This one hits right in the gut...

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MarySB wrote: Never fear.

Taxes on the RMDs of boomers should start to flood the coffers when they reach 75.5 years old beginning in 2016...

Couple that with a 55% death/estate tax, including tax on the surviving spouse, on estates valued at over one million...

moda0306 wrote: I have a bone to pick with that.   I get warm and fuzzy feelings inside when I think of strategizing out Roth conversions to avoid RMD's and higher tax rates.  I don't know why you have ruin the party for us who want to game the system .

Pointedstick wrote: CNN recently profiled a bunch of independent voters and I found their profile of a Millenial to be right on the money.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/10/ ... nnial.html

Pointedstick wrote: I sort of think something different will happen. I see Millenials embarking on lives of fundamentally more minimalism than the baby boomers. ...a lot of my age-peers seem to live very different lives from the ones the boomers are living and in many cases urging them to adopt...

BearBones wrote:

Pointedstick wrote: I sort of think something different will happen. I see Millenials embarking on lives of fundamentally more minimalism than the baby boomers. ...a lot of my age-peers seem to live very different lives from the ones the boomers are living and in many cases urging them to adopt...

Could be true, PS. But also may be biased by your age. Idealism tends to fade with time, unfortunately. I remember the values of my oldest siblings in the 60's-70's. Very close to the earth, minimalistic, green, and socially/politically active. Now they all live lives much closer to that of their parental generation: 2+ kids, 2 cars, suburban homes, and a decent carbon footprint (although still way < average).

I also don't see the kids around where I live going minimalistic. To the contrary, they have been raised in a disposable world. "What do you mean that I can't get a new phone, Dad? I have a free upgrade!" "Mom, when can we go shopping? No, I can't wear those! Hollister jeans are SOOO yesterday."

MediumTex wrote: As I have grown older, many mental frameworks that I thought would always be with me have gradually been worn away by experience.  Many of the "missions" I thought I would always be on have gradually lost their meaning, until one day the message from headquarters simply reads: "There is no headquarters; there is no mission."

Gosso wrote:

MediumTex wrote: As I have grown older, many mental frameworks that I thought would always be with me have gradually been worn away by experience.  Many of the "missions" I thought I would always be on have gradually lost their meaning, until one day the message from headquarters simply reads: "There is no headquarters; there is no mission."

What about the "call to adventure"?  Or are you referring to the demands of society, rather than the demands of the psyche?

MediumTex wrote: I think this has happened, for example, with the Dalai Lama in recent years.  He has become a brand, and you consume this brand by listening to him speak and buying his books.

flyingpylon wrote:

MediumTex wrote: I think this has happened, for example, with the Dalai Lama in recent years.  He has become a brand, and you consume this brand by listening to him speak and buying his books.

Or (case in point)... following him on Twitter!  https://twitter.com/DalaiLama

MediumTex wrote:

Gosso wrote:

MediumTex wrote: As I have grown older, many mental frameworks that I thought would always be with me have gradually been worn away by experience.  Many of the "missions" I thought I would always be on have gradually lost their meaning, until one day the message from headquarters simply reads: "There is no headquarters; there is no mission."

What about the "call to adventure"?  Or are you referring to the demands of society, rather than the demands of the psyche?

The call to adventure is a wonderful example.  The essence of this call will probably always be with me.  What sometimes happens along the way, though, is the "call to adventure" can gradually turn into the "call for more gear", the "call for expensive trips and luxury accommodations", the "call for changing the people who don't understand your vision of adventure", and the "call to change the nature of the society in which your adventure is unfolding."

I should have clarified that I meant there are certain "pure" impulses like joy, love, excitement and mystery that can find themselves weighed down with ideological and consumption-oriented baggage, and that is what I am suggesting should fall away as one moves through life (though it often doesn't).

The baggage begins to attach itself to the "pure" impulses at an early age when you see the lives people lead in commercials and you develop the subtle but persistent belief that the world depicted in the commercial actually exists somewhere and the only ticket to access that world is through the consumption of certain products and services (this is the central lie of advertising that people have a hard time completely resisting). 

Over time, a mind conditioned to view the world in this way can develop the tendency to view all meaningful experiences in terms of the consumption that is associated with them.  Even something presumably considered transcendent like religious beliefs can get tangled up with brand associations around certain religious organizations and religious leaders.  I think this has happened, for example, with the Dalai Lama in recent years.  He has become a brand, and you consume this brand by listening to him speak and buying his books.  Any truth that may be present in his message stands behind a large billboard advertising his appearances, pronouncements and publications.

flyingpylon wrote:

MediumTex wrote: I think this has happened, for example, with the Dalai Lama in recent years.  He has become a brand, and you consume this brand by listening to him speak and buying his books.

Or (case in point)... following him on Twitter!  https://twitter.com/DalaiLama

MediumTex wrote: As I have grown older, many mental frameworks that I thought would always be with me have gradually been worn away by experience.  Many of the "missions" I thought I would always be on have gradually lost their meaning, until one day the message from headquarters simply reads: "There is no headquarters; there is no mission."

The path of clear thinking is constantly in danger of being obstructed and trivialized in countless ways.

MediumTex wrote: Take exercise, for example, which is certainly a good thing for all of us.  Look at how exercise clothing, exercise facilities, and exercise gurus have turned the purity of the concept of exercise into a complicated mess of social standing, self-worth, and consumption.