Ways to simplify life as we get older.....
 

Perhaps turning 70 this year has given me a different perspective on life but what I am attempting to do is simplify things.

First off I want to amalgamate my investments so I am giving the boot to one financial adviser and put the investments with another we are already with. Why? He is giving me a hard time about moving money out of mutual funds into ETF's. I want to pay less taxes and I have to liquidate some mutual funds to pay for taxes on the capital gains. Plus high management fees. I find mutual funds can be highly tax inefficient as they do their buying and selling(presumably to pay for redemptions etc?).

Take more road trips. I find it more leisurely than flying.

Be selective about who we visit. Tired of people who don't listen. Maybe they have a hearing problem! However I must be kinder to people. Wifey is more subtle than I am.

I really must get rid of stuff in the house. That is easier said than done.

Any ideas from you to simplify life as we get older?

Spot on - No sense holding mutual funds in taxable accounts as they don't perform any better than the etf's. It's unfortunately all evolving into fees on assets, so watch out as they all will soon follow Merrill's lead.

step 1. Stop buying crap.

Seems obvious but is completely lost on so, so many.

I'm 51 and I'm already thinking about this. I like my house but I'm thinking about buying something in the country.
We have a lots of wineries and great country towns not that far from Adelaide.

But I really don't want to sell my tools although as I get older I don't look forward to DIYs like I used to.

Fire your "adviser"
Your move to ETfs os the right one.
He has his interests in mind, not you.

Great timing Guy.

I'm 65. The the past year:

Went from 3 homes to 2
15 Motorcycles to just 12
4 Snowmobiles to 2
3 John Deere to 4 (Oops)

It's a work in progress...........Have to do something with the 1969 911T Coupe project this next year.....Either get going to restore or sell? Keep the 73.5 Targa and 1960 190SL as long as I can drive them. As long as we have our health, we have EVERYTHING.

I have just one comment Bob. That is a lot of motorcycles. This could possibly be a record number for a PP member. :)

I think you are right....

Find out if some of that mgmt annual fee still good to the broker

The one mutual fund I have most of has a man. fee of 2.3%. I believe that Canada has some of the highest fees in the world. There is supposed to be more disclosure about how much the adviser gets per year but I have not seen it yet. I am guessing about 1%.
Capital gains last year came to 5.6% of the market value even though I did not sell any of that mutual fund. There is no efficiency anymore in this fund although it has given an average rate of return of about 8% per year since I got it 7 years ago. There is no deferred sales charge on this fund as I paid up front.

Get rid of the TV.

I have ten; want more.

Bob is correct, health is wealth.

Nahhh....

;)

JR

OK in fairness how many of them are actually running?

How many you have Java? 22 was my all time high. The number started dropping after that wonderful 9 years between marriages........How many running? I ride 5.....Would have another 4 or 5 running with a battery and fresh fuel. All complete and together except the 1962 R27 basket case project......Includes maybe the oldest Honda Scrambler in the world....Serial #15 of the 1962 CL72.

Moved my Mom in with me to help take care of a brother with MS and she brought a LOT of her stuff. Then she got Alzheimer's and I kept her stuff around for familiarity, and it helped her to see her stuff. She has passed and now I've got LOTS of stuff to get rid of. My sisters were trying to get rid of a lot of it while Mom was still alive, and that is so curel on an Alzheimer's sufferer. Of course my siblings still took anything of value when I wasn't looking. Hated to have Mom go thru looking for something that wasn't there any more yet she just can't quit put her finger on exactly what it was. Don't understand why they couldn't wait until she passed.

Also unjoined the PCA to removed people that don't listen from my life. Remained friends with the good people and don't have to deal with the head aches.

Wife and I both start RMDs on our IRAs next year so have been consolidating and simplifying them this past year. All but one IRA are in Vanguard IRA and Roth IRA accounts now.

Have recently updated wills, powers of attorney, health directives etc. and got all financial info together so my daughter will have access to it if necessary. This includes all account information, passwords, etc. all printed out and in a safe deposit box which she has a key to. I update this list several times a year as things change.

Trying to get rid of "stuff" and am having some success although a long way to go. My tools are the main issue, hate to part with them.

On the other hand, wife doesn't want to get rid of much of anything. If she has an emotional attachment to something she just doesn't want to get rid of it. Unfortunately as they case may be we have LOTS of storage space so I can't use that as a reason to get rid of it... i.e. we have a 50's coke machine in very good condition sitting in my workshop. We don't use it anymore (it's a pain and uses the 6 oz bottles) but she does not want to sell it ? just one example.

My SIL several year ago started labeling their stuff. Put the date it was last used on it. If they used something they updated the date. She gets rid of everything that hasn't been used in a year.

Never counted them but I've thinned the herd 90% in recent years. Way too many.

Back to the original query...

Spend the rest of your life doing what you like and not doing what you don't. I've found that I spend far too much time doing things I'd rather not do. Routine cleaning, yardwork, etc. A smaller house with fewer needs and fewer demands on the bank account is in my future.

I'm going to start doing all those things that used to fall into the "someday" category. Don't want someday to become yesterday.

Travel. Drink and eat well. Get enough rest.

I plan to spend time with people I like, not people I feel obligated to be with. Probably won't go to any more Thanksgiving dinners at the mom-in-laws house. After 30 years, I'm going to have my own dinner. I'm a better cook, anyway.

JR

If you can improve your health (exercise, diet, etc) DO IT.