Sorry DT-waw... couldn't see your picture. Homer's something though isn't he? I haven't seen the Simpsons in a couple of years. Is that program still running, or is it just re-runs?
When i was kid, I figured out that I would be 53 when the millenium happened. I couldn't imagine ever being that old. Well for those of you "looking forward" to "middle age" here is my observation. Sports: Not as fast, but endurance still good. I always played stickball. Still do. I can't pitch for as long, and know I shouldn't throw as hard, so I don't. Hitting is still good. I ski, but with more style and less effort. Sex: Still great. No difference other than "recycle time". But I think after about 25 or so, no noticeable difference even there. I think 19 is about peak age. Better to be older and have it than younger and just want it. Also, making love with someone you love is far better than having sex with someone you can. Money: Easier to come by. Start saving as early as possible. I know it's hard, but if you are in your 20's, if you can put aside $20 a week, you will be very well set by the time you are 60. Seems like an eternity. It isn't. Ask anyone. Trading: Less stressful (usually). Discipline easier to stick to. Social life: More about family and loving than about friends and "hanging out". May sound dull when you are 25, but it is truly better. Maybe just a life cycle thing. Best times now are alone with wife. Best friend and lover. Great combination. Being a parent: All stages of it are good. Parenting babies is fun, seeing them grow is fun, seeing them going out on their own is great too. Having your time back as your own is a well deserved achievement Retirement: Never think about it. Health: I guess it's hereditary. So far so good for me. Excercise and diet count more each year. I know a lot of guys I work with are my age and in better shape now than when they were 30. Much better shape. Arnold Schwartzenegger and Sylvestor Stalone are Chuck Norris are all older than me. 56 is not old. I go to fundraising events (my wife's life), and we are the babies there. Some of these 80+ people are pretty cool. The rich ones play golf and tennis every day. And they still have sex (I have asked). Maybe there really is proof there is a God. Because it would take a godlike act to make an 85 year old sexually attractive to another 85 year old. But it happens apparently
This confirms to me what I have always thought. That many of us didn't start trading because we are interested in buying an expensive car or house, but because we are interested in buying the free time that will allow us to think. Having a regular job is like resigning from thinking for the rest of your life. If someone has done it throughout his life, as a child, and later on as a student, as soon as he gets employed and he realizes he has to give up his thinking, he feels wronged. And, immediately, he starts looking for a way to avoid that. And often trading looks like the only way. Even as a student, the trader-philosopher got discouraged by people in his pursuit. "What major is philosophy? Philosophy is not a job..." said my father. "Psychology? Psychology is not a job...". "Movie director? That's not a job. How do you plan to support yourself?". So I ended up working at a bank. And then, when I began trading, they all told me once again "Trading? That's not a job". When we refuse to give up our mind, and our ideas, life is harder, and the only way to beat the stupid crowd, is to rise above them in some way, maybe by getting their money through the stock market. Then, once you are successful, and you'll say to them something they don't understand, they won't reply "he's weird", but "he's a genius". They still won't understand you, and you'll keep on despising them like you did before, but now you got them by the balls.