I’m a big believer that knowing your time horizon for investments is very important. Unfortunately, many investors, and definitely the media, live in the short term when in fact your needs are middle to long term.
I read this interesting blog (link below) that really sums things up. The only important thing is the probability of reaching your goals over the time frame specific to you.
A time frame super long (over 100 years) like some stock market charts is really irrelevant, as is a super short time frame, except to the degree it forces us off our personalized investment plan.
Anyway, interested article about time lengths and investing.
I’m 46 years old, which means I grew up in the 1980s. One thing popular at that time was to make a “mix tape” with a dual cassette player/recorder. You could then give that tape to a friend. We thought we were so COOL! Today, we have iTunes, Spotify, satellite radio, etc. and no one makes mixed tapes anymore. Boo hoo! Well, I’ve got you covered. Now you can buy a USB drive that looks like a cassette so you can make that mix tape for your friend or loved one (or for yourself).
The probability of getting audited is much lower today than it was 30 years ago, but is up since the year 2000. It is definitely income dependent.
If you made more than $200,000, you had a 3.26 % probability of being audited in 2013, but a less than 1% probability if you made less than that. Over $1mm in income? You’ve got a 1 in 10 chance.
I saw the below in a blog by Seth Godin (who I absolutely love), and it really struck home to me. They’re definitely words of wisdom that I try to put into my practice as I’m working with clients and living my life
“Most of the time, people don’t want a refund or a bonus. What they really want is for you to hear them and to do the right thing. What if every manager and every customer contact in your organization bought into that?
Here are some things you can do that don’t cost any money (but they certainly require effort):
