How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio

Chapter 19Do Not Start Even Thinking about Any of This until the Absolutely Last Moment

That is, don’t even start to think about planning for retirement until retirement is almost upon you. Don’t plan ahead. Do not start laying money aside when you are young. Yes, it’s true that if you start at age 21 putting away money regularly year by year, month by month, by the time you are 65, if you get any interest or capital gain at all, you will be sitting pretty at that retirement party. Think about it: Put up $1,000 a year from age 21 to age 65, and if you can earn 8 percent a year, you will have $327,000 at the end of that time. If you put up $10,000 a year, you will have $3,270,000.

On the other hand, if you spend that money, you can have a lot of fun. You can buy a great car, go on trips to Nassau, buy nice clothes, go on dates, and buy drinks all around at your local bar. You can seem to be—and be—a big wheel and a rich guy even though you are really digging yourself into a deep hole.

But you will have those shining moments when all eyes at the bar are on you, and they are big, admiring eyes, big admiring blue eyes. And isn’t that worth a lot more than having money sitting around in a worthless retirement account not doing anything but laughing at you from the printed page?

So maybe, when you are 60 or 61, start putting money aside for your retirement, but not a moment before. How will you get the amount of money you need? Who cares? You are a free spirit, not an accountant. ...