October 09, 2007

If you need a hole, dig it now!

Sir James Altucher in his high spirited writing about someone else’s “The end of life – but not as we know it”, October 9, in reference to the future of the baby-boomers mentions “the golden years where they begin to cash in the chips they’ve accumulated and figure out how to enjoy the rest of their lives” it seems that is his gently skipping over the question of whether they will in fact be able to cash in the chips. Will there be a market for their big mansions far away from the nearest city or health facility and who will buy their immensely valuable complete collection of the Beatles vinyl records? Will Altucher be a buyer at decent prices?

He point out though some creative hedging strategies for the baby-boomers such as investing in funeral related activities but, given that market conditions at that moment might lead to an severe increase in counterparty risks, perhaps a more solid strategy is to buy the casket and dig a hole at current prices, and then have a Blackwater guard it so that no other less fortunate boomers jump in.

I myself know that I am a baby-boomer but I can’t seem to be able to relate to anyone of them, although I have been told this is a general condition of the current lot of elderly.