What’s listed below is too much – ok we’re being analogue and curating more naturalistic play, but restricting play like this is getting a bit draconian. Kids occasionally need to hit each other. Many great artists sometimes have to “destroy” books to get them into a different form where they can be inspired by them. Musicians smash and otherwise derange their instruments. Asking gross questions, even as a way of challenging rules and boundaries, isn’t going to kill anyone. Basquiat, for example, drew on the walls of a small cupboard in his home, a practice that stretched out onto the walls of the city streets, and then onto canvases that now sell for $150,000,000.
————
The playroom itself, in contrast, has only a couple of rules:
If the playroom gets too messy to the point it is a tripping hazard, everything stops and they have to clean it up (which really only occurs a few times a week since they are pretty good about managing the space).
They cannot destroy or harm their books, they must show them respect,
They cannot mark on the walls or furniture,
They cannot run in the house or jump off of furniture or towers they build,
They cannot hit each other, and
They cannot speak harshly to one another, which includes requiring them to say, “Thank you,” “Please”, etc. Throughout your life, your family should be the one rock you depend upon and that you know will always have your back if times get tough. We support each other, we don’t fight or say things in frustration.
They cannot talk about gross topics at the dinner table. They have to wait until they are finished eating and allowed to get up, then it’s fair game, again. That way, they are being considerate of other people.
P.S. for portfolio sizes between $500,000 and £10,000,000 how is there better advice than “invest in an S&P500 ETF”?
P.P.S. What’s wrong with the emotion of frustration? It’s as valid as any other emotion even if you don’t like the way it might manifest.
I don’t think any of those rules were unreasonable. In fact I’d say they were pretty common in England.
I can’t think of anyone who would be ok with kids drawing on the walls.
And saying “please” and “thank you” is just common decency. If you can’t show your own family that level of respect then how are you going to treat anyone else?
That all said, I don’t agree with the core premise of the article about limiting digital content purely because it’s digital. You can have “analogue” play with kids and still allow them to consume TV, play games on a tablet, etc.
It’s about getting the balance right. Kids need exposure to digital content to learn self control for starters. And they need to understand what content is safe and what is not. If parents are banning digital content wholesale then kids will learn these lessons the hard way in adulthood.
And in my experience, most kids want a balance of analogue and digital play anyway. Younger kids want to spend time riding bikes, plays sports and/or board/card games with their parents. They want experiences with their parents.
I think of myself as relatively laid back, but these rules don’t seem that bad to me, maybe it depends on age? I probably wouldn’t let my <10 year old destroy a book, certainly not from poor impulse control, but I’d probably let me teen due so, particularly for an art project. And hitting people? It may not be totally abnormal to experience a little aggression, but I don’t really think it’s a parents place to let it go either.
Re your investing question, I'm not OP, but gone pretty deep into retirement investing. If you belief is that the US will continue to outperform other countries then S&P500 (VOO) is your best option.
If however you're not sure the US will outperform other countries, then VT (world) is the best option. It'll automatically rebalance as countries have larger/smaller GDP etc. Thus VT is the safer option.
And then there is the question if you'll sleep well being 100% stocks (be it VOO or VT), if you don't then you may need to have a split of stocks and bonds. Bonds will usually "smooth" out the ride, but at the cost of returns. But if you sell your 100% shares when stocks tank, which they will (like now), then you won't get the best return from being 100% shares. (aka, you can't time the market).
Also, there are a bunch of things you can do to maximize your tax efficiency when investing for retirement. Depending on the country your in.
I didn't look into what exactly joshuakennon company does, but appears to be active investing in value companies. But statistically speaking, most companies trying to beat the index (active investing) under perform it long term (and usually charge high fees for the pleasure). Maybe these guys are the exception, nobody will know, till it's too late.
Thus passive/index investing is the safest long term bet. (e.g. VT or VOO being the lowest cost ETFs for those types of investments)
Edit, checked there disclosure PDFs, sounds like you're paying a pretty high on-going fee for financial advice, and for them to buy VOO for you, for example. They seem to offer Passive investments, but also the fee is well above say Vanguard.
They're also not very forthcoming with how well there "value investing" does, compared to others offering the same or an index. Kinda a red flag.
If you want investment advice, see an adviser who charges a flat fee for your meetings with them, this is fine, but don't go with anyone (like these guys) who charge a % portfolio fee, every year. They will be the ones getting rich, not you.
————
The playroom itself, in contrast, has only a couple of rules:
If the playroom gets too messy to the point it is a tripping hazard, everything stops and they have to clean it up (which really only occurs a few times a week since they are pretty good about managing the space). They cannot destroy or harm their books, they must show them respect, They cannot mark on the walls or furniture, They cannot run in the house or jump off of furniture or towers they build, They cannot hit each other, and They cannot speak harshly to one another, which includes requiring them to say, “Thank you,” “Please”, etc. Throughout your life, your family should be the one rock you depend upon and that you know will always have your back if times get tough. We support each other, we don’t fight or say things in frustration. They cannot talk about gross topics at the dinner table. They have to wait until they are finished eating and allowed to get up, then it’s fair game, again. That way, they are being considerate of other people.
P.S. for portfolio sizes between $500,000 and £10,000,000 how is there better advice than “invest in an S&P500 ETF”?
P.P.S. What’s wrong with the emotion of frustration? It’s as valid as any other emotion even if you don’t like the way it might manifest.