[quote=temeculaguy]Scardey, no need to apologize, I only used the example as a historical reference. Everything happens for a reason. Had I lucked into a windfall I would have squandered it. Keep in mind I was a 40 year old divorced guy, I wouldn’t have paid off my house I would have bought some exotic car, found a gold digger for wife #2 and been on these boards looking to make up for poor decisions once again. Because I pussed out, I found a wonderful, reasonable, low maintenance wife who insisted on a pre-nup so my kids would not resent her as an inheritance thief. A decade later, my wife is still the same person I met and I’ll never have to donate real estate again or find another wife. So you did me a favor, because I do not believe I was mentally equipped to handle that money at the time. Once again, everything happens for a reason, and I chose to take that advice so it’s on me and any regrets are in jest, I’m grateful for how life turned out. I did like your self actualization on your wife and how her strategy is likely better. Even Brian admitted others are better at this, thus his endorsement of mutual funds. I like these new admissions.

FLU, spot on once again. Leaving alone retirement funds is fantastic advice, my experience in the investments I’ve left passive have been the most successful, furthering my understanding as I age that my emotions are my greatest enemy. When I enter a casino and play 3 card poker, I win more at 3 card poker when I play “blind.” Furthering my theory that emotion and money should be kept separate, not that casinos are a good investment. I only say this because I have to attend a wedding in vegas soon and I’ve decided I’m not playing any games of skill while there, especially given my proclivity to partake in the free beverages on offer there. It took 50 years to learn my faults, but at least I learned them.[/quote]
i cannot agree that everything happens for a reason, but I can compromise perhaps with we can find a reason after the fact for everything that happens, and maybe that ends us up in the same place.

In spite of all the general worrying about things that are largely out of my control, not one thing bad has ever really happened. The 2nd kid is gearing up to graduate college and all of my financial worst case scenarios have ended in basically no debt and plenty of money for whatever we would want to do. I’m not sure things could’ve turned out better for me in life.

I think I learned from my parents the fallacious reasoning that if you worry, then it will tend to make things come out all right, and people who don’t worry are fools, so the reason you must worry is to avert disaster.. Sometimes I think, “I made it!”, as if the outcome is still uncertain and I need to remind myself that I’m doing great… I’m not sure where I made it to, but I definitely seem to be doing good, and I don’t really worry about money. Nowadays, it’s more of a sense of time running out and the feeling like maybe I have wasted big chunks of time.

It seems like a recession has to come at some point, but the market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent, as they say. In the meantime, I will continue to scrimp and save, regardless of recessions or booms, I’ll iron my own shirts and do my own yardwork…a not inconsequential economic gain for me, as there is probably $2-3000 worth of weed removal I do every year. So much weedwhacking. Not sure what the reason is for all these weeds; to test my resolve? To keep me working? So tall this year, with the rains.