Week of 8/27/2020

A few weeks ago, our friend Joni Youngwirth gave a presentation about mindful retirement. For those of you who were able to participate, and those who could not, we’ve attached a template related to her discussion. Joni presented 6 concepts to consider when thinking about life in retirement. In each of the 6 sections of this template there are a few trigger words that engage one to think about what they want their life to look like. While our short session didn’t cover all of these, they spark contemplation about how prepared you are, as well as some changes you may want to put in place for smoother sailing before and during retirement. We think even people further away from retirement will benefit from this examination. You can identify, on a scale of 1-10, your satisfaction with each of these areas and use it to identify areas that need more attention. We hope it is helpful!

We learned: about the Greenland Shark. Recently, a photo of the fish has been circulating on social media with some inaccurate (a shock!) details, specifically its age. We do know that they live a long time. We like: this advice from Tyler Cowen, especially if you are ever confronted by a slick presentation of some kind. Ask them to write out a half-page explanation of their plan to see if it holds up. A reasonable request whenever your resources are on the line. We read: about how FDA clearance of a Covid-19 saliva test should help address the significant need for more and faster screening. We were: impressed by the misperception of risk held by many about Covid-19. This research from Franklin Templeton demonstrates the disconnect. We continue to think that basic practices like physical distancing, mask-wearing, and good hygiene are very important, but understanding the actual risk will help us better manage the stress caused by uncertain times. We recommend: this brief review of the state of the US dollar. It echoes some of our thoughts from the July 30 Ask the Joes.

Q: You’ve talked about risks and the possibility of more volatility in the next few months. What positive factors are out there? A: An obvious one is the housing market. As this post explains, economic reopening has led to significant improvement in housing starts and home sales. For years the pace of building has been below what is required for population growth. As a result, we can expect that housing will continue to be a positive for the economy for some time. In the same way that the energy sector provided unexpected growth for the economy following the financial crisis, housing may provide support while the leisure, hospitality and related sectors slowly recover.

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