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Our Race to Retirement
Our Race to Retirement
BLOGGER: DEBORAH HEISER
I’ve always had a fear of finance. Just the word scares me. I’m okay with balancing my checkbook and doing that kind of stuff, but when I hear about 401k plans, annuity funds, IRAs, and mutual funds, it all sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher ‘s muffled “moia moia moia moia”. So, over the years, when people brought up the topic of retirement accounts, investing, and all that stuff, my eyes would glaze over, drool would form at the corner of my mouth, and I’d start to think about anything else. Laundry. Dinner, Vanilla. Well, I figured that now that I’m in my 40’s I’d best conquer my fear of finance. Take the bull by the horns (hehe). So, when my sister-in-law Jackie told me her best friend Judy was invited to a Financial Fluency course at her alma mater, Barnard, I decided it was worth it to pay 250 dollars to learn how to save money. Jackie, Judy and I all enrolled and took the two day course. Here’s what went down…
We all arrived, ate everything possible at the breakfast, guzzled enormous amounts of coffee, took about 7 free pens from the registration desk and went to our room to learn. The course had about 15 women in it, and the instructor that started it off was great. She made it seem perfectly easy for us all to achieve financial fluency – and beyond. This, however, was told to us after we learned that if we didn’t do anything about our finances, we could all end up eating cat food by the time we are in our 80s. Eeekkk…Fear and panic was an understatement. I made a note to myself. 1. Suck up to the kids so they’ll take care of me. 2. Tell husband he is never allowed to retire.
Jackie and I cowered as we learned we might have to learn to love Fancy Feast. Judy was more worried about keeping what she has (I don’t need to spell it out – but she’s the smart one of the three of us). Note to self. 1. Suck up to Judy. 2. Tell Jackie to suck up to Judy.
At the end of the first day, we felt empowered that we’d be able to learn about stocks, bonds, mutual funds and all the stuff you need to know about in order to be able to retire like the shop-aholic, vacation-loving ladies we are. I went home to my family to begin sucking up to my 4 and 5 year-olds and to tell my husband his working days were never going to end. Jackie and Judy, on the other hand, partied the night away. We all, however, were deeply inspired and ready to learn on the second day. We asked questions, we learned words and jargon, and we left at the end of day two with a mission.
The three of us felt so empowered, that we decided to each independently invest 1,000, beginning May 1st. We also decided to make it a competition to see who could do the best with their thousand dollars. So, we three novices are going to compete to see who can become the best investor after having a two day course on Financial Fluency. We are going to each open an account, put 1,000 in it and invest it. We’re going to track our progress each month. So follow along with us! We’ll keep you posted with our progress.
Here’s a little background on each of us:
Jackie is a single 40-something. Never invested anything but she can shop better than anyone I know.
Judy is a newly single 40-something with two children in college. She’s the smart one. She graduated from Barnard. She hasn’t invested before but knows people who do.
Debbie is a married 40-something with two young children and a husband who is never allowed to retire. Hasn’t invested and isn’t as good at shopping as Jackie.
If you have any tips or suggestions for us, please let us know. And…
Who do you think will win this competition?
Are you for Team Jackie, Team Judy or Team Debbie? Leave your pick in the comment box below and it will be posted!
To read the bio for Deborah Heiser, click here.
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Tags: 40, 401k, account, boomers, compete, competition, Finances, forty, funds, imagineage, IRA, money, Mutual Fund, race, retirement, retirement account, Roth
Regardless of who ends up with the most dollars whenever your competition ends, the fact is that all three of you are winners for taking this step. I work with a variety of clients in my financial planning practice and I always encourage them to be more financially literate. Even though they are hiring me, it is easier if the clients are active participants in the financial decision making process.
My money’s on Judy.
GO DEBBIE!!!! Grandpa needs a new pair of shoes!