Advice for 21st Century Graduates (and whoever else)
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Again, the powers that be ignored me as a commencement address speaker. If I had made the cut, it would have gone something like this.
Congratulations, Class of 2010. You have likely heard the ancient curse ?may you live in interesting times.? Y?all are walking the walk and talking the talk.
The first thing a graduate should be aware of is the importance of learning Spanish. Deal with it. If you want a job in the 21st century, being multilingual moves you closer to the front of the line. In my lifetime, knowing a few dialects of English was sufficient, but not anymore. Our daughter was not hired by the Houston Independent School District. Now if she had listened to el padre and taken Spanish in high school and college, things may have worked out differently.
Fund an IRA. Unless your company offers a matching contribution, an IRA is a better option. The earlier you start saving, the more choices you have throughout your life.
Even though it was decades ago, I remember vividly an older gentleman encouraging three rather dense young adults to open IRAs. The rural Georgia funeral protocol, now abandoned, was for designated drivers to ferry family members of the dearly departed to the church then to the graveyard and back to the hacienda. The elderly man, before we could exit, told us, ?There are these new things called IRAs. Y?all need to start saving. You can put up to $2,000, etc.? We shouted him down like Birthers at a town hall meeting. He looked at me patronizingly said, ?Son, how much money do you throw away?? His daughterin-law had enlightened him as to my numbskull ways.
Hell hath no fury.
Stop surfing the Web and read books. Start with ?The Richest Man in Babylon.? Next in line would be ?A Random Walk Down Wall Street? and ?Common Sense on Mutual Funds.? For a quick easy read, check out Dr. William Bernstein?s latest, ?The Investor?s Manifesto? (and everything else he writes). Buy those books, and keep them on your shelf. Alternatively, keep them inside your Kindle. In any case, develop a habit of reading; it will make you think. Lord knows we need more of that.
In closing, I would like to apologize. I am truly sorry for the financial encumbrance my generation and the one before mine dumped on you. We did not intend to pick your pocket. Politicians knew they could use Social Security to buy votes, and the reality is that old folks are three times more likely to vote than young ones. Your elders, in the beginning, had little information how entitlement programs were placing a lien on your future. Remind grandpa, should he dare to lament your generation.
Then, we were deluded by the siren song of ?supplyside economics? which promised lower tax rates would generate more economic growth and, in turn, higher revenues. The tax cuts did not produce the promised revenue. Spending continued to rise, and your generation gets to clean up the mess.
The last president who asked what people can do for their country was John Kennedy. Perhaps your generation can show that particular American virtue has not been forgotten. Peter Peterson writes that we should ?stop obsessing over the tax cut that outrages us or the benefit cut that shocks us? and imagine what we could become if Americans made a sincere effort to come to terms with our fiscal future.
Buz Livingston is a certified financial planner. He operates Livingston Financial Planning Inc. focusing on hourly financial planning and investment management. Contact him directly at 850-267-1068 or at buz@LivingstonFinancial? . net.
BUZ LIVINGSTON
Just Plain Talk
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