Hi. How much time do you spend in general a week, taking care of financial business? I have about 120 rows in a spreadsheet of investments (think various kinds of accounts at various financial institutions, cds, ibonds, savings, checkings, insurances, etc. to keep track of and make decisions about. I am old (let's just for the sake of simplicity call over 65 years as old, so over the years all this has added up to a big spreadsheet. Now, to a certain extent I enjoy it, like a hobby, or a skill/craft). But I spend quite a bit more than 8 hours a week on it. I usually start on a Tuesday, looking at statements and things that came in the mail during the week. Now naturally, some of those are going to require research and problem solving, and decision making, and action takings; I tackle those throughout the week until the next tuesday. Lots of times, the problem solving/decision part takes 8 hours. Lots of time seems to go into uneducated staff, bug- full computer platforms, etc. So anyway, how much time do you spend and are you a senior (over 65) yet? Am I the only one spending this kind of time taking care of finances and related stuff? Thank you all.
Answers
I have an elderly aunt that had many many CDs all over town, some at not real good rates. When I went to Fidelity I started to buy Brokered CDs for her account, and now I don’t need to worry about monthly interest checks or keeping track of the various places they are. I have been a personal Fidelity customer for over 30 years and am happy with the service.
Great idea if you want monthly checks and do not compound and also if you check to make sure she is 100% insured all the time.
As far as the issue with lack of interest compounding about the monthly checks, we have the interest amounts put into her Money Market mutual fund, so do get some compounding, although some Banks do pay interest quarterly or semi-annually, so I do see your point.
My aunt is very elderly, so convenience for me is what it’s all about, along with her getting a fair interest rate.
I too am retired -,assumed you are too. Short answer I also spend slightly more than 8 hours a week doing or thinking about my family’s financial well being but my categories are shifted in where I focus my time.
I too approach it as you do in that I do most of the effort. Partially as a hobby and partially driven by distrust for so called fiduciary co. So the level of work goes with the territory. I think an individuals self evaluation of their aptitude and capabilities and willingness are key and should be considered until they don’t want to or can’t do it anymore. I don’t put an age specific to it. Then a plan to trust others ( could be family or professionals) needs to be in place. For now I enjoy it and see it as a challenge based on my comfort zone but I share with select core family members spouse children to teach and share responsibilities in prep for when I can’t do it anymore. I feel comfortable with the Risk and my expertise. I also know my limitations. I was a financial professional in my career and education. I will call upon an expert for input as necessary. But rarely.
As it relates to the effort I bucket it into various categories.
1) Maintenance (filing/stmt review/reconciliations/spreadsheet updates etc), 2) operations (performing transactions including bill payment),
3) Strategy (investment allocation/tax/estate/decision) and
4) research on potential upcoming decisions.
The maintenance is actually small on average about 2 hr per week.
Operations is even smaller maybe an hour on average per week. I don’t actively trade.
Research and strategy takes up the majority of the time. This includes tax season and updating quarterly estimates in my tax liabilities which can be several full days of effort but concentrated to only 1 or 2 x per year. I frequently read articles, listen to the news on economic trends, investigate topics and contemplate strategies to maximize. I find myself thinking about this at various times throughout the day and not at a computer. This is not that cumbersome as I do it at my leisure not taking away from family or me time.
I wouldn’t have the patience with computer bugs. Shouldn’t be a focus of your time. Might want to get that taken care of so it doesn’t consume you.
Hope this helps.
I'm single and can live just fine with my low income but if I had a gf/wife/kids, etc than that would add more cost to my lifestyle.
After a creative career, all of this numbers strategy work keeps me sharp--after all it's our money and not theirs. I have accounts at about a dozen banks / credit unions, plus another four brokerage accounts. Several times each week, I ACH funds out of accounts that earn no or lesser interest into accounts earning 5.35% and higher. This has become a highly focused hobby / pseudo job for for me but do balance the time with charity work each week, too.
In this high interest rate environment, we are fortunate to earn the equivalent of my former salary back through bank interest and stock dividends. We stay about 15-20% liquid and wish to avoid long term capital gains on our tech heavy portfolio. Regarding retirement accounts, I am also avoiding RMDs as long as possible which with current rules will mean until I turn 73.
I just opened a CD account but luckily only have one that one CD. I'm always researchin on what kind of investments I want. It's a lot, the dormant account is the one I worry about a lot.