It's weird how retrospective most of these stories are. I expected fewer aetiologies,
and more balancings of future concerns.
I also expected less go-it-alone mass market investments and more cooperative
investments such as the LLPs of Portnoy and Rogers.
While people talked about independence and stability, no one mentioned self-insuring.
Finance people
self-insure whenever possible because 1) you know/control the risks, 2)
you are paying yourself, and
3) you won't be on-hold for hours while possibly grieving.
Likewise, none of the respondents nerd out. None of them have intra-day VaR because
Aaron Brown said the process is educational.
None of them have a tax-research feedback cycle like John Malone showed you should.
And none of them talk about how their tech stack influences their holdings.
Finally, most of these portfolios are simple.
While no one has stated plans for senescence, since all of the respondents are past their neurological
prime and are on the down-slope, most of the setups seem geared correctly for that.
So what do I hold?
Shares in OFS. Every executive and director should hold at least a year's salary in their
workplace, above and beyond any share grants. cf.
A man with savings
10-20pct in currencies and gold. Like Morgan Housel, the future is full of unknowns which require immediate cash, and you do not want to be forced into selling shares when everyone else is doing so.
30pct in a trading account mostly managed by python scripts. Like Christine Benz, identify all the things that you will have to do repeatedly and then automate them.
Rest is in a holding account. Imagine a vault with no door and just a wall that you throw investments over. Barring something horrible happening, I'm never going to climb that wall to get at those securities.
What do I fear that others appear not to?
That the post-Bretton Woods order will end when I am near or in retirement.
That people have forgotten/are-unafraid-of how bad things can get. cf. Rorty's orchids essay.
That the value I save today will be destroyed by the political necessities of tomorrow.
And what would I like to hold?
Land. The mishnah recommended (Bava Metzia 42) equal parts of cash /
business / land seems correct, especially when you 1) periodically rebalance, 2)
pay taxes in the US, and 3) can characterize your work as real-estate related.
