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Musings Report 2018-36 9-8-18 On Turning 60
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For those who are new to the Musings reports: they are basically a glimpse into my notebook, the unfiltered swamp where I organize future themes, sort through the dozens of stories and links submitted by readers, refine my own research and start connecting dots which appear later in the blog or in my books. As always, I hope the Musings spark new appraisals and insights. Thank you for supporting the site and for inviting me into your circle of correspondents.
On Turning 60
In response to last week's Musings on the brevity of life, I received an email from long-time correspondent, Kevin M. who writes the Out Of Your Rut blog. (Here's one of his recent posts: Is 75 the New 65? There May Be No Choice)
I found myself nodding in recognition of Kevin's observations on turning 60. Many readers may feel they speak to turning 50 or even 40.
Here is Kevin's commentary:
Excellent report. I turned 60 this year, and share many of your observations. It’s good to see you articulate what many are feeling, but few discuss.
Here are some of my own random thoughts on turning 60:
I’m at what I feel is the best time in my life, an outcome my younger self would never have anticipated. Life really is strange.
I spend more time being thankful for the things I’ve done in my life, and think increasingly less on the ones I haven’t. I attribute this in part to making major life changes in my 50s.
Taking the above point a step further, I remain open to future changes. Flexibility is one of our best allies as we age, but one so many abandon as they get older.
A point you made so clearly, life goes by much faster than we can imagine in what used to be the endless days of youth. That’s painfully obvious now.
Life is not as "clean" as I once thought it could be. It’s downright messy, and that doesn’t change when you reach some theoretical golden years.
Like you, many of my best ideas lay waste in the graveyard. But at this point I reckon I was never that passionate about bringing them to reality, otherwise I’d have tried harder. Not all ideas and dreams are meant to become our destiny. I’ve let go of the ones I didn’t pursue.
We’re imperfect people, surrounded by imperfect people, living imperfect lives in an imperfect world. I’ve come to terms with that, and I’m happier as a result.
Energy is the biggest casualty. I don’t have as much of if as I did 10 years ago. I have to limit what I do each day, but the slowdown – and the reduction in pressure – seem to be making me more efficient and productive.
To offset the loss of energy (and physical strength), we learn to make better use of our time and the energy we do have. We also use creativity, flexibility, and better leverage (of time and resources) to accomplish what we once did with brute strength.
I find I have to "push" myself – to be very intentional about what I need to do. Automatic pilot stopped working years ago, and it’s been replaced by to-do lists that are much shorter but more focused than they were in my younger days.
I feel totally blessed to do the work that I do (blogging/freelance writing), especially when I see the many people over 60 working in retail, hotels, and delivery services. I did many of those jobs when I was younger, and can’t imagine doing them now.
I’m also blessed to be a corporate "outsider". The less system dependent we are, the better life seems to go as we age. As you embrace outsider status, you realize you have more options in life. It’s a pattern I’ve noticed in other outsiders. I like it. You’ve inspired me on that path over the years.
Family, friends and faith have become much more important. They’re important throughout life, but they become virtually life sustaining as we age.
Being thankful and celebrating each day has become a life skill. We can either live a life of being thankful for what we do have, or be miserable for what we don’t.
I’ve come to accept that my life will end one day, and that there are many goals I won’t achieve. But I’ll focus on the few I do accomplish and ring the victory bell with each.
My biggest fear is a health crisis that will degrade my life, or that of a member of my family. Our society doesn't have much of a safety net to help us deal with that, especially considering that the potential extent of such a disaster is virtually without limit (medical costs, ongoing care, etc). The bankruptcy among older Americans article included in your Musings gave some examples of this.
Thank you, Kevin, for the "food for thought" on aging. What we think about ourselves and our life, consciously and subconsciously, does shape the course of our life. We're not mechanisms or computers.
Highlights of the Blog This Past Week
After 10 Years of "Recovery," What Are Central Banks So Afraid Of? 9/6/19
The Global Financial System Is Unraveling, And No, the U.S. Is Not immune 9/4/18
When You're in Real Trouble, Call The Consulting Philosopher 9/2/18
Best Thing That Happened To Me This Week
Snuck out for a rough-water swim in the lagoon before the county could put up the "park closed" signs due to high surf. As the only one in the water, I had the lagoon to myself.
Musings on the Economy
I recently referenced the Federal Reserve's Household Balance Sheet, which lists the assets and liabilities of all U.S. households in very big buckets (real estate: $25 trillion).
(Make sure to click on the "make full screen" link at the upper right of the spreadsheet; otherwise, the scrolling function doesn't seem to work.)
For reasons unknown, the Fed lumps non-profit assets and liabilities with households, but these are a small part of the picture.
Part of my job, as it were, is to pore over statistics like this, not just to understand the big picture of the economy better but to parse out changes and valuations that don't tell the whole story.
I find this kind of analysis endlessly fascinating, as you really start questioning aspects that you might have taken as "fact" that couldn't be questioned.
For example, households hold $11.6 trillion in cash (deposits). That's unambiguous. So is the $29.3 trillion in stocks (owned directly and indirectly, i.e. retirement funds, etc.).
But what about the $16 trillion in "other financial assets"? This isn't cash, stocks, bonds, retirement funds or noncorporate businesses--then what is it? Offshore banking? I haven't yet found the answer.
That $16 trillion is equal to all homeowners' equity (real estate minus mortgages). It's a non-trivial chunk of the $100 trillion in net assets everyone is crowing about.
I also wonder about the valuation of noncorporate businesses--small family businesses, LLCs, sole proprietorships, etc.-- $11.9 trillion. How do you value a business that's hanging on by a thread? Or one that's a tax shelter?
We know from other sources that roughly 85% of all this wealth is held by the top 10% of households. This isn't included in this balance sheet, but without those statistics, these numbers lack critical context: if household wealth is soaring, that sounds wonderful. But what if 95% the gains are flowing to the top 5%, and within the top 5%, mostly to the top .1%?
That changes our perspective on ever-expanding household wealth.
From Left Field
The 2018 Friendliest Cities in the World -- several in Ireland...
Rural America Faces A Crisis In 'Adequate Housing' -- not all housing is habitable....
Unsurvivable heatwaves could strike heart of China by end of century -- it's already pretty hot in the "Furnace cities"... and I do love "unsurvivable"....
China has an online lending crisis and people are furious about it -- losing a ton of money does tend to make one angry....
The legacy of 4,500 years of polyculture agroforestry in the eastern Amazon -- the Amazon was densely populated by farming communities the size of cities before "discovery"....
The Big, Dangerous Bubble in Corporate Debt -- ho hum, nobody cares...
If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef -- yup, animals we raise to eat consume a lot of grain, soybeans, etc.
How 3D Printing is Revolutionizing Housing
China’s Empire of Money Is Reshaping Global Trade -- so what happens when the Chinese credit bubble pops?
It wasn’t just hate. Fascism offered robust social welfare
The Indiana Jones of collapsed cultures: Our Western civilization itself is a bubble Demarest has written 20 books, including "Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization and Region and Empire."
Dietetic Capitalism -- why are we killing ourselves with what we eat?
"The path out of darkness begins with those exasperatingly persistent individuals who are constitutionally incapable of capitulation." Winston Churchill
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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