We can’t predict the future, we can only decide how to spend in the present.
In the book Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman talks about optimizing for the future despite it’s inaccessibility in the present moment. Not to get too into the book, (which you should definitely read) but it’s something even Jesus spoke about (“sufficient to the day is the evil thereof…”).
The Point Is: You can’t plan (fully) for everything that can happen to you in between now and retirement, so the best thing to do is to stop worrying too much about it.
I used to believe that retirement planning was an exponential curve: the more time I spent worrying about how to invest, the better my rate of return (and therefore) the more money I might receive in the future. However, it is more like a logarithmic curve. The more time and effort you put into perfecting investment choice, the less benefit you receive.
The best solution to this problem (‘how can I invest AND not worry about it?!?’) is broad based index funds, IMO. If you want to follow this route, I believe the best book to read (and not worry about it too much) is “The Simple Path to Wealth” by JL Collins.
This is part one of a series that I’m writing on “Four Thousand Weeks”. I’m also trying out a new format – let me know if you like it.
