《Eastern Economic Online》 Column now published — When you acquire investing skills, retirement becomes enjoyable!
Good morning, this is Matsushita.
In the schools and seminars I host,
a large number of elderly people participate.
Compared to stock investing and FX,
the average age of stock participants tends to be higher,
with many people in their 60s and 70s taking part.
Among them, there are many who are over 80 and still lively,
enjoying investing.
When you talk with these people,
you realize that learning to invest makes old age more enjoyable.
Let's explain why investing makes old age more enjoyable.
1. You can increase your funds,
and money-related anxiety recedes.
The main purpose of investing is to grow funds,
and by steadily mastering investing, even if not flashy,
you can increase funds reliably, and in daily life
anxiety decreases and you gain some leeway.
Often I hear stories of grandfathers and grandmothers who say they bought something for their grandchildren with profits.
This is their heroic tale.
If you think about it, it’s amazing, isn’t it?
Sometimes people earn substantial sums,
and it would be incredibly enjoyable even in retirement or while still working.
There are people like that.
2. There are times when you can focus for a fixed amount of time every day
For example, for men, after retirement,
they drift away from work, and the routine of daily focus
that used to exist disappears too suddenly, leaving a gap.
When you include commuting, you suddenly have about 10 hours of free time each day.
At first, you rest from your previous job,
thinking it's a break, but after a few months you start to feel bored day after day.
If you had a special hobby, you could spend time meaningfully,
but many Japanese men are dedicated to work and don’t have a hobby that fills each day.
Moreover, while it sounds nice to have daily enjoyment from a hobby,
it inevitably costs money, and you can’t enjoy it every day forever.
In that respect, if you develop a habit of enjoying investing,
you can spend several hours each day checking stocks, prices, and charts,
sometimes placing orders, gathering information,
reading books, and spending several hours a day meaningfully.
In other words, you have something to do every day.
And it’s enjoyable.
3. Because it exercises the brain, you don’t go senile and stay energetic
This is not my opinion alone,
but the positive feedback from many participants in schools and seminars,
the seniors tell us with vitality.
Talking with older attendees at seminars, they say,
“Sir, investing keeps me from going senile, you know,”
and they laugh as they tell us.
Hearing this, you think, yes, that makes sense.
Investing carries a certain amount of stress and uses your brain.
Our bodies are stimulated and strive to maintain and grow function in proportion to how much they are used,
so by constantly using your brain with focus, you don’t go senile.
Seeing people who laugh and speak energetically makes me think,
I want to age with that same energy and health,
sincerely from my heart.
In summary,
1) you can increase funds and reduce money worries
2) there are times you can concentrate a certain amount daily
3) you exercise your brain, stay lively
From these three points, I believe investing well makes old age more enjoyable.
I think so.
There may be more to it.
However, what you should note is that
this is not about merely investing, but
“learning to invest.”
Simply investing without mastering it means that
about 70-80% of people end up losing money,
and cannot become healthier or wealthier, so please be careful.
With that in mind, as younger generations grow older toward retirement,
I would like to take time to learn investing thoroughly.
If you do so, when you’re 70 or 80 years old,
every day will be completely different—vibrant and enjoyable.
Let’s work hard, okay!
To the senior generations who are reading this life’s journey,
investors, please enjoy every day and earn profits with vitality.
I am sincerely rooting for you.
