Just thought I’d let you know this gave me a laugh and found it interesting.

I’d be a left-brainer. I think I handled financial matters fine while I was single. Not brilliantly–I had no long term savings, etc–but I was able to marry debt-free. So I was quite happy to hand all things financial and numbery to my husband, an engineer who likes doing analyses.

I tend to come here every few days and skim through things, getting the gist, and reading what I find interesting. I like the principles, but generally can’t bear the details. When I point something out to my husband, I notice he gets sidetracked and moves on to the the articles I tend to skim over faster, and I go find something else to do besides looking over his shoulder.

I think you do a pretty good job of writing to both types.

I should have worded it differently – many people your age may *think* they know what they want to be doing, or indeed may be absolutely sure of it, but in reality what your life will be like 30 or 40 years down the road – or even just 10, for that matter – is likely be far different from what you now envision. Which is fine, of course – who’d want to know exactly how everything will turn out? The mystery of it all, and the journey getting there, is what it’s all about. Again, though, like I said, I do applaud you for having a vision and using that to motivate yourself.

As Langston Hughes said:

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

I agree with Wanda and Brian in comment #21 a lot of this left/brain stuff is just people rationalizing their own short comings.

Most people are a blend of right and left brain behavior, there are not many “free spirits” and even less natural nerds, most people have these sides of themselves nurtured over a life time, but we’re all capable of adjusting a bit to take the burden off of others.

I find a lot of the numbers, spreadsheets and such just as boring as the next guy, but in order to make cool things happen as an engineer I had to get on the stick and learn how,so it is possible to do both.

The 25 year in the article just sounded lazy and some teacher in a beret in art class told him that it was okay to avoid challenging things because he was so “free”. But retirement is a part of life and planning for it is part of being an adult.

I hope to never be “balanced out” by someone who thinks that their whole purpose in life is to chase rainbows and for me to figure out a way to get us there.

“Here’s the plan, I go outside an play while you pay the bills.” no thanks.

There are some areas in life where I like to run concrete numbers and have a concrete plan. I can do this with budgeting, etc. However, investments just make me glaze over.

I know I tend to want to rebel with my money. I felt pressured when I opened my IRA, and I made bad choices. Read here:
http://sally-unraveled.livejournal.com/76576.html

Fortunately, our company switched to 401Ks less than 6 months later. The 401K rep explained things in plan English and didn’t pressure me. I signed up for the program where they manage it for you with moderate growth.

@guinness416 and !wanda
I can see the right brainer and the left brainer at work in you both! Like Carrie said, Some people need to see where they are going before they start putting energy into getting there, whereas some need to know how to get, they don’t know where yet.

@DB
Ahhhhh… right brainers!

I can really identify with the left brain personnality. Don’t know yet exactly where I’m going, but I’m getting ready for anything!

On the other hand, his reaction is fairly indicative of the type of laziness I am used to interacting with in my peer group (I am roughly this guy’s age). I feel You didn’t empower him. I feel you enabled him.

Perhaps a better solution would have been to tell him that HE should really start learning to figure this stuff out himself. Maybe assisted in giving him some light reading or whatever.

Maybe some introspection on the light reading or discussing basic investing advice might be helpful to share. I find I know more about investing than some of my (older) co workers.

@DB I am 24 now (soon to be 25), and have a basic visualized Idea of what I wish to be doing during my retirement. It involves consulting part time writing stories and enough land for 2 – 3 dogs to be comfortable in.

Besides, the people who use this type of language use it because it sounds “science-y.” People react differently and often more positively and credulously to “science-y” terms than to common ones. You know that, and that’s why you used “left-brain” and “right-brain” in your post. That’s not a problem when discussing verified science, but it’s a problem when discussing pseudoscience.

He said he wants to be either a fireman, doctor, or an astronaut :-)

I agree. For a lot of folks in their 20s the answer lies beyond their reach and is likely influenced, no matter how intelligent they are, by their experiences along the way.

That said, I think people see even short-term goals (a series of steps or just backing themselves into the big picture) differently than others and will approach them in diverse ways.

Ahh…youth!

I’m currently struggling with trying to get a mix of investment types in my 401(k). I’ve looked at the Web site of my investment firm about three times now, and have yet to make any headway. There’s a lot of information, and none of it makes *sense*.

This is why I’m going to sign up with a financial advisor. I just need someone to listen to my goals and tell me what to do. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can manage my day-to-day finances pretty well. It’s just the investment stuff that I have issues with.