Thu 17 Apr 2008
Riddle of the Sphinx and Personal Finance
Posted by RichSlick under Misc
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Do you remember the Riddle of the Sphinx? “What journeys on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?” Depending on the context, a person’s frame of reference and personal experiences the answer could become very elusive as I had difficulty answering the Sphinx when I first learned about the riddle as a kid years ago. The answer of course, is man as man crawls during infancy, walks on two legs shortly after and utilizes a cane in old age.
In the tradition of the Sphinx, I have a riddle of my own. What tastes bitter in the morning, sweet and delicious in the afternoon but poisonous & fatal in the evening? Hint: In American society, this will ALWAYS be with you regardless of what anyone tells you and it relates to personal finance of course.
Tomorrow, I’ll post the answer and the reason for this post…
April 17th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I’ll take a stab at it.
Frugality.
It is bitter at first because it is a hard pill for most Americans to swallow, especially if they are accustomed to living beyond their means.
It is “delicious” during the bulk of your working years because you will have a less stressful life. No creditors will be calling you. More of your money will go into your own pocket instead of the banks. You have confidence that you are doing all the right things (401K, Roth IRA, index funds, etc) and can look forward to a comfortable retirement.
It is poison when retirement actually comes, when you realize that, for a number of reasons, (inflation, stagnant wages, poor returns) your retirement income is less than you had anticipated.
DuO
April 18th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Very good answer with good logic but the incorrect one (or at least not the same one I will post later).