All posts by Michael Drak

A New Attitude (to consumer prices and stock ownership)

Posted By Michael Drak | October 11, 2015

By Michael Drak

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Years ago when I was a child I fondly remember collecting old baseball and hockey cards. The good ones — the “keepers” — were secured by an elastic band and stored in an old dented tin box that occupied a special place on the shelf in my room.

The other cards — the “regulars” — were used in competition with the other kids at school. One of our favourite games was “closies.” Whoever managed to get his card closest to a wall won all the cards. Life sure was a lot simpler and cheaper back then.

These days my card collecting has been replaced by stock collecting. I constantly search out high-quality dividend-paying stocks to add to my portfolio. With everything being electronic I can’t keep anything in the old tin box that I still have but I guess that’s progress, as they like to say.

A New Investing Approach is Born

Sudden Retirement Syndrome (SRS)

Posted By Michael Drak | September 18, 2015

By Michael Drak

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Sudden retirement syndrome is not a real medical condition as far as I’m aware but for me it best describes the shock of withdrawal that occurs when a person leaves their corporate job.

This can occur through either downsizing, formal retirement or can even occur when a person is leaving after many years spent with the Corp to do something else.

The shock from going unprepared from a busy work-life to nothing can be very stressful and in extreme cases can even result in premature death. We all have heard stories of people in retirement who lost their motivation to do much of anything, started drinking heavily, and died within a short time.

I’ve known quite a few people who have suffered from SRS. My father suffered through it, a close friend died because of it, and I even had a taste of it after leaving my corporate job of 36 years — which is crazy in itself because I already had a game plan in place for my next move. I clearly remember the ringing in my ears, the feeling of uncertainty, the feeling of living in a fog for a period of time. It’s hard to break away from something that has become a piece of you over the years.

It’s important to note that not everyone will suffer from SRS. People who are able to detach themselves successfully from work when they walk out the door are usually spared. An example would be an assembly line person who is able to leave their job when the whistle blows and not think about work until the next day. While an assembly line worker may be burned out physically and mentally, as they are not challenged intellectually, the Corp does not own their soul, unlike corporate executives who are linked to their work 24/7 and whose self-identity is tied to the job that just ended.

Retirement shock can be hell

Retirement – Heaven or Hell?

Posted By Michael Drak | August 22, 2015

by Michael Drak

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Recently, while reading an article relating to the risks of boredom in retirement, I was reminded of a TV show that I had seen more than 40 years ago. I’m always amazed at how something can trigger a memory and we can recall it with such clarity as if we just viewed it yesterday.

The show was a Twilight Zone segment entitled “A Nice Place to Visit.” In it, the main character is Rocky Valentine, a small time thief who is shot during a robbery and passes out. He wakes up and at some point he realizes that he’s in fact dead, but by some mistake he’s in heaven and has been assigned a guardian angel by the name of Mr Pip.

Life for Rocky is great for a while as all his wishes are catered to: there are beautiful women, an expensive penthouse, fancy clothes and all the money he desires. In fact every time he goes to the casino, no matter what game he plays he wins: he can’t lose. But eventually Rocky gets bored of the predictability of his life, the excitement is gone and with that all of the fun.

Finally Rocky pleads with Mr Pip to send him to the other place where he belongs and that he doesn’t deserve to be in heaven. At this point Mr Pip’s says “Whatever gave you the idea that you were in heaven? This is the other place!”

I love the punch line and the lesson here is that Rocky goes crazy because there are no challenges in his life, there is no effort required and there’s nothing to hope for because it all exists as soon as he wants it.

The boredom of endless leisure

Always Try to Keep the Odds in Your Favour

Posted By Michael Drak | July 24, 2015

By Michael Drak

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Recently, Globe & Mail personal finance columnist Rob Carrick wrote an article entitled ‘It’s time to get real about retirement planning.” In it he stated that people should not count on working past retirement age because many will not be able to do so due to health issues. Everyone that knows me is aware that I’m a big promoter of continuing to work at something you love, for as long as you can, so this article really caught my attention and got me to do some serious thinking. The following are the conclusions that I came up with:

Always try to put the odds in your favour

Want to increase the odds of extending your work life past the normal retirement age? You need to adopt a healthy lifestyle as early as possible. Most of us know what to do but for whatever reason fail to do it. You need to keep active, work out on a regular basis, eat the right foods, and stay engaged. Odds are you will live enjoy a longer and happier life than your smoking neighbour whose retirement is based on watching tv and drinking lots of beer to help kill the boredom.

Chronic Stress will eventually take its toll

Have advertisers put a spell on you?

Posted By Michael Drak | July 13, 2015

By Michael Drak

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

“Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need.”

— Will Rogers

Recently the Contessa (my wife) and I went to see the Bette Midler show and at the unbelievable age of 69 she put on one heck of a performance. She still has it and had us laughing when she was poking fun at herself singing I Look Good and I Still Have my Health.

This was followed by a standup comedy routine in which she threw her usual zingers into the crowd. “I still look good, but I don’t know what happened to some of you,” she teased. “It’s 50 shades of grey in this section right here. I don’t know whether to sing to you or tell you something about reverse mortgages.”

At one point in the performance she came out dressed as the witch character from her 1993 film Hocus Pocus and sang one of my favourite songs, I Put a Spell on You.

Which brings me back to the subject of this article.

Honey, I think our computer is possessed!

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