Investing and Money: Financial Security the Boring Way — A Few Cents at a Time!

These days, it seems like we spend a lot of time poring over graphs and charts, trying to figure out the secret sauce needed to amass that amazing fortune we want, so we can retire to the beach at 40 and live the alleged "good life." Alas, the result of these desires seems to be that the "shiny" opportunities we pursue tend to be those that would allow us to turn $100 into $50,000 in the matter of a few months.

Sad truth is, I know a lot of people who've been pursuing that approach for years and years and they are still looking for that "secret sauce," while their investment portfolios — while perhaps "exciting" — really haven't returned much because every potential "big winner" seems get offset by a few "100% losers."

Meeting The Judge...

Many years ago, while I was going through a phase of being very "invested" in self-exploration and spirituality, I found myself at a week-long spiritual retreat/workshop, as part of my ongoing quest to "find meaning and purpose."

There, I met an interesting man who simply went by the nickname "The Judge." He was sitting in the classes, but was actually a friend of the workshop facilitator, and had been asked to attend as a living "example" of what this elusive finding meaning might look like.

The Judge was rounding 50 and lived on his 50-foot sailboat on the Texas Gulf Coast... and in spite of having spent part of his life in the fairly high-stress position of being a US Circuit Court Judge, he was one of the most content, laid back, genuinely caring and low-key people imaginable.

Perhaps he was somewhat unique in having grown up in a financially struggling household, yet put himself through college and law school without incurring significant student debt. Mind you, when The Judge passed the Bar Exam around 1970, a Law degree would set people back about $12,000; today it costs an estimated $145,000, a rate of increase that BY FAR exceeds inflation.

Anyway, whenever workshop attendees would ask him questions about how he accomplished this thing or the other in his life, and particularly how he could semi-retire to live on a yacht at 50, his answer was always Slowly, a little bit at a time!"

Security and Contentment

As it turned out, The Judge's "secret sauce" was that he started around age 12 to religiously save and invest all his pocket change, no exceptions. If he made $5.50 mowing lawns in the hot Texas sun, 50c went in the change jar. If he bought something for $1.73, 27 cents went in the change jar.

In time, he started slowly buying stocks, and would always re-invest any dividends and stock splits, regardless of whether the stock market was going up or down. He never tried to "play the markets," but was a big fan of DRIPs (Dividend Re-Investment Plans) that allowed individual investors to buy small amounts of stocks directly from companies, typically at very low — or no — transaction fees.

No, he didn't manage to retire and buy a 50-foor yacht on pocket change alone, but the point he did make was that he could not recall a single time when he'd added more than $500 to his investments at one time, except when his dad died and left him $10,000...

The thing about The Judge, though, was that he was deeply content and happy with his life. He had financial security, but without "stressing" over money. No, that sailboat wasn't a "shiny new toy" fresh from a factory... it was 30 years old at the time, and he'd bought it at a repo auction. Although he had been a somewhat prominent judge, he and his wife never lived in a swank showy house. He'd arrived at the workshop in his 15-year old Toyota.

"But what fun is THAT?" you might be asking...

The point he eventually made to the workshop attendees was that "shiny toys" and material things can be FUN and EXCITING, but they don't create lasting contentment. They give you a fleeting high and then it's gone, leaving you wanting more and not actually making your life better. Financial security can contribute to peace of mind and contentment, but if the only reason you're trying to build a fortune is so you can "blow it on cars, casinos, coke and hookers" you will also not find contentment.

Sailing away, into the sunset...

Whenever I think about The Judge, I think about what we're "doing" here; on LeoFinance, on Hive: We create content and interact, and (in most cases) earn a little "pocket change."

This can so easily be the foundation for a "Long Term Savings and Investment" program, a few cents at a time. We create, comment and curate and are rewarded a few cents or dollars, here and there. If we just commit to letting it accumulate and grow... where could we be, by 2025? By 2030? By 2050?

That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it! Anyone else?

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

How about YOU? What are your feelings about "slow" — but relentless — investing, as a path to building financial security? Do you HAVE a truly "long term" investing plan? Or are you mostly concerned with what is happening, right NOW? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20210206 13:43 PST
0176/1419

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