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What should seniors consider when they invest
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In the past 100 years, the stock market has beaten other asset classes, and the writer expects that it will do so again.
PHOTO: AFP
Jeff Sommer
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Over short periods, financial markets can be treacherous. So I usually recommend spreading your risks with low-cost investments in the entire stock and bond markets, and hanging in for decades. But an e-mail from a reader brought me up short.
“This 92-year-old just read your column,” she wrote, adding, “Wish me luck.” I did wish her luck in an e-mail, and I apologised for failing to be sensitive to her needs. Later, we spoke at length on the phone. Her financial accounts had been hacked, she said, so I agreed to conceal her identity to shield her from further problems. Her first name is Jane.
