My financial resolutions for 2009, #7 in a series[SIZE=-1]Editor?s note: We asked our resident money experts to share their financial resolutions for the year ahead. Here, the seventh in our series:
I didn?t make any New Year?s resolutions for 2009. Reason: I still have all the noble resolutions I made last year and the years before?pristine, untouched. You know, the usual: lose weight, read more good books, keep up with old friends, seduce Nicole Kidman.
Okay, I?m lying. (That was one of my resolutions, too?to tell the truth more often.) The chief financial resolution I made?well, that I will admit making?was being mindful of my heirs. I?ll (1) clear out the dispensable personal stuff I?ve accumulated over the years, (2) simplify my investment portfolio, and (3) leave a last letter.
Yes, this month I will reach the advanced age of [illegible], and I really must start facing up to the prospect of my own mortality.
Regarding (1), I should give many of the books I own to publiclibraries. Some libraries no longer want surplus books; they?reinundated. So what I will do is drive over at maybe 2:30 a.m. andsneakily drop off a box of books. I?ve also accumulated maybe 20 or sobig plastic boxes containing the thousands of newspaper and magazinearticles I?ve written since I began my journalistic career in 1957. Imean, as wonderfully written and insightful as those articles remain,do I really need to keep ?How to Invest in 1997?? and ?Best Mutual FundManagers of 2001?? And all 16 of the articles I?ve written ondollar-cost averaging?
(2) My investment portfolio is close to resembling an enormous mess,yet I relentlessly keep buying stuff. AT&T, ExxonMobil, TFS MarketNeutral. My rules: Sell securities in taxable accounts that have lostmoney. Sell small positions in whatever. Beef up stuff I haveconfidence in (e.g., Johnson & Johnson stock, Vanguard fixed-incomefunds).
(3) Leave a last letter with the names, phone numbers, and addressesof my fee-only CFP, accountant, estate lawyer, and so forth; remindfamily members where my will and other important papersare; and suggest what should be said at my funeral. Namely, what WarrenBuffett once suggested be said at his own funeral: ?My God, he?smoving!??Warren Boroson, guest contributor
Warren Borosonis the author of more than 20 books, including ?How to Pick Stocks LikeWarren Buffett? (J.K. Lasser) and ?The Reverse Mortgage Advantage?(McGraw-Hill). He also teaches courses on great singers of the past,like Elisabeth Rethberg, Cochita Supervia, and Titta Ruffo.
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