Retirement advice: Tough, straight talk from a retired stock-market analyst

BY WARREN BOROSON

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BOROSON ON MONEY

"Don't sit in front of the TV set. Get the hell out of the house."

"The rule of 100 is sensible." (Subtract your age from 100, put the balance in the stock market.)

"Be wary of long-term bonds."

This wise, down-to-earth advice comes from a retired stock-market analyst, Jack Geraghty, who lives in Ridgewood. He's been retired for seven years — and loves it. One of his keenest pleasures: "Not having to commute to New York City." In fact, if he were ever to return to work, "I'd find a job out here."

But he confesses that he misses "interacting with people, the excitement, the structured life. There's good and bad about working in New York City."

What advice does he have for would-be retirees?

"Don't wait too long to do what you want to do." If you want to travel, do it while you and your spouse are still healthy — and you can still walk normally.

When you invest, "Don't be an Odd-Lot Harold." A character invented by "Adam Smith," Harold is forever buying at the top and selling at the bottom. Why? He mindlessly follows trends — buying hot stocks, selling cold stocks.

"You'll need more money in retirement than you think you need," he warns. Only when you reach your mid-80s, and don't travel much, might you need less.

With mutual funds, "Stick with large established companies with good records — Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, American."
"Stay alert. Strange things happen." He heard a physician praise a company that made robotics for surgery - and promptly bought shares. The stock, Intuitive Surgical, soared from $35 to $350.
If you're short of money, take advantage of whatever is free, like a public library - or whatever isn't expensive, like a gym. Go on walks.
How can one avoid being short of money? "You've got to be careful. Don't try to get rich quick. Before doing anything risky, ask yourself: What could really go wrong?"
"Get involved." Join a social organization (like the Hobbyists Unlimited in Ridgewood), take up woodworking, call someone up and invite him or her out for lunch.

Geraghty himself reads five newspapers a day, reads military books (like "The Coldest Winter" by David Halberstam), plays golf twice a week, and otherwise exercises regularly (he swims a quarter of a mile or does cardio-fitness exercises).

How does he himself invest? He's has all his money in stocks and cash — almost no bonds. "I'd be real careful of long-term bonds now," he warns. "If interest rates go up, there's a good chance existing bonds will get hurt." (Interest rates are inversely correlated with bonds. That means that if interest rates go up, long-term bonds get taken out and shot.)

As for municipal bonds, he favors funds rather than individual bonds: "You can get killed on the commissions." (He likes the T. Rowe Price municipal bond fund.)

What should men (or women) do if their spouse doesn't know much about personal finance? "Get her someone you trust to give her good advice — someone she's comfortable with."

He invests in technology stocks — he was a technology analyst — and he has owned Intel for years and years. Among his current favorites: Teradyne and KLIC. But he isn't down on people (like me), who favor dividend-paying blue-chip stocks.

Geraghty retired as a managing director from Harris Nesbitt's equity research department in 2003. He had been covering the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industries since 1985, previously with CS First Boston and Dean Witter Reynolds.

He received a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. As an analyst, he was regularly quoted in leading newspapers and appeared frequently as a guest on CNN and CNBC.

His naval service included a combat tour in Vietnam in 1969, for which he received a Bronze Star. He served for 20 years as chairman of the service selection committee in the Fifth Congressional District for Congresswoman Marge Roukema. He is a past president of the Ridgewood Republican Club and past chairman of the Ridgewood Municipal Committee. He is also a trustee of Fordham Preparatory School, Bronx, N.Y., as well as a trustee of Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, where he is a member of the finance and human resources committee.

Geraghty has been married to his wife, Marge, for over 37 years. They have one daughter, Elizabeth, a sophomore at the College of the Holy Cross. They have lived in Ridgewood for over 35 years and are members of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.

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