Retiree launches investment blog to speak to his peers

Like a lot of his friends, Warren Flick first got interested in investing after he retired and had more time to devote to his finances. And like most people, going it alone meant working through a lot of uncertainty. “The biggest issue is ignorance,” Mr. Flick said of other retirees with whom he has spoken who are managing their investments in retirement. “They might have a couple of mutual funds that they watch over time. Most of the fund selections were made through 401(k) selections in the workplace.” Working through the questions he and his friends had, and arriving at his own conclusions, led him to launch his blog, Later Living. Mr. Flick spent his working years as a professor of forestry. Trees grown commercially are harvested gradually and seen as a long-term investment, he said — a concept that gave him a long-term view of investing. Seeking to help readers 50 and older “discover and own” their retirement, his blog covers financial and other issues that come up in later years. Although his blog is just a hobby, Mr. Flick hopes to build a business out of it eventually, perhaps by taking advertising. If he does, he will be following in the footsteps of retired physics teacher and blogger Lowell Herr, who launched his own investment blog about five years ago. Some content on that site, ITA Wealth Management, is free, but he charges a $5 monthly fee for access to his model investment portfolios and a proprietary spreadsheet that tracks investment performance. He donates any excess money after expenses to charity. Like Mr. Flick, Mr. Herr is driven to help others get more comfortable with investing. “The teacher in me wants to share the mistakes I made and what I went through in the "70s, "80s and "90s. People who come to sites like mine want to do it themselves, but they want a little bit of hand-holding,” Mr. Herr said.