You're changing your oil too often!

The old "rule" about changing your oil every three months or 3,000 miles is just that ... OLD. Most cars and light trucks can easily go 7,500 to 10,000 miles on an oil change. The state of California just completed a two-year, three-million-mile study on Oil Change Intervals which proves that. You can read about it at The 3000 mile myth site.

If you're lucky, you're driving a vehicle which has an oil life monitor. These devices are available on most newer GM vehicles, many Chrysler products and some imports. They calculate the oil life based on the actual use of the vehicle. It's not necessary to change the oil until a message appears on your dashboard that it's time. On the two vehicles I own which are so equipped, the oil change intervals run 12,000 to 15,000 miles!

The simple truth is that both engines and oil have improved dramatically in the last forty years. Changing oil too often is expensive, unnecessary, and (perhaps worst) really, really bad for our environment.

(Please consult your vehicle's documentation for recommended oil change intervals. Some particularly harsh environments or rough uses will require more frequent changes, but 75-90 percent of drivers will fit into the recommendations for normal use.)

The Unretired

Business Week magazine, in the December 15, 2008 issue (page 46), has an article on The Unretired. These are people who retired, but due to the economic downturn are now hurting financially, and in many cases going back to work.

A couple of quotes, just a few paragraphs apart, stood out to me:

These aren't just the spendthrifts or sloppy planners you would expect to run into trouble in retirement ... many are people who did everything they were supposed to do -- working for decades and regularly socking money away.

Peter Fay, like many of The Unretired, feels angry and betrayed. The 63-year-old built up a $1 million retirement account as an executive at companies including Chiquita Brands International and then at his own high-end flooring company in Scottsdale, Ariz. But with all his money in stocks, he's lost 50% of that this year, at the same time that his house has tumbled in value. He's drawing down his savings and applying for jobs at Lowe's, Home Depot, and Costco. "All the systems we grew up trusting during all those years of work -- you save your money, you trust in the government -- are no longer valid," he says.

Did you catch that? "all his money in stocks" This is doing "what they were supposed to do?" I know of NO reputable financial planner or advisor who would recommend a retiree (or near-retiree) have all his money in stocks, even in the heady days of the market of the last few years.

Quite the opposite. He (and/or his financial advisors) were apparently driven by pure greed. If history can't teach people that greed is ultimately bad for them, nothing will, I suppose.