On Nov. 28, Phil Carret will celebrate his 99th birthday — though, for the eighth time now, he is calling it his 100th. Worried that he would miss the big party, he had his first centennial bash when he was 92, and now he feels ahead of the game. “Phil Carret Turns 100 — Again!” read the headline of a fake newspaper last year.
This is a life so full that friends in his industry joke that when Mr. Carret (rhymes with beret) reaches 100, he’ll split the stock. This is a man whose grandfather was born in the 18th century, who flew a Sopwith Camel in World War I, met President Coolidge (“Any President who takes afternoon naps can’t be all bad”), helped give birth to the mutual fund industry by founding the awesomely successful Pioneer Fund back when the Dow Jones industrial average was at 197, works more than 40 hours a week and cooks most of his own meals.
And it is a life that is still in flux. He is writing his fourth book, “The Patient Investor,” by hand on yellow legal pads. Two weeks ago, he returned from Borneo, where he viewed his 19th total eclipse of the sun, his passion since 1925. His career is hardly over: each week, he heads a meeting of investment advisers, often picking apart theories and demanding more information.
It seems like yesterday, but it was a half century ago that Mr. Carret stopped in Omaha to meet Howard Buffett, a broker who recommended a few stocks.
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