What we have is a crisis in confidence. It’s not such a small world anymore. When countries retreat, look inward instead of outward, tension builds, and fingers are pointed. Look at what’s going on at home in the U.S., for example. The big blue blob cities continue operating as usual as unsustainable deficits and pension […]
Your Survival Guy’s Best Insider’s Guide to Rome
In recent conversations, you’ve told me about your trips to Rome and beyond. In one conversation, we discussed the favorite piece of pizza you enjoyed after an insider in your group walked you all through the streets of the city on a mission. When you got there, the line was out the door, and the […]
What Is a Fiduciary Duty? Are You Working with a Fiduciary?
Are you working with a fiduciary? What is a fiduciary? If you aren’t sure your advisor is a fiduciary by law, you should find out. It can make a difference in what happens in your portfolio. In his 2009 article “The Fiduciary Principle: No Man Can Serve Two Masters,” the founder of The Vanguard Group, […]
Survive and Thrive June 2023: Your Survival Guy in Rome 30-Years A.B. (After Babson)
Dear Survivor, Back in 1994, Your Survival Guy, a recent Babson College graduate, decided to put his diploma to work, and hopped on a plane to Greece to spend some time with a fraternity brother who summered on one of the Greek Isles. “When else are you going to get an opportunity to do this […]
Birth Rates in France Worst Since Post-WWII Era
You know Your Survival Guy is worried about Italy’s low birth rates. But just as worrying is France, which is witnessing its lowest birthrates since just after WWII. Can you imagine? Fertility rates in France have fallen to 1.8. Hélène de Lauzun reports in The European Conservative: After Spain and Italy, it is now France’s turn to publish alarming […]
Your Survival Guy Felt Like a U.N. Worker in Rome
OK, if you’re a regular to www.yoursurvivalguy.com, then you know about surviving and thriving. Much to my chagrin, so much can be learned from my mistakes or mishaps. Is there anything more enjoyable? In this installment, I want to draw your attention to Your Survival Guy’s best insider’s guide to Rome. This is a tricky […]
Social Security: Declining Italy Needs a Bambino Boom
Your Survival Guy just got back from Rome, and it’s a wonderful city. But something is missing. The “bambinos.” Italy is facing a crisis in its birthrates that aren’t nearly high enough to replace those Italians who are dying or migrating out of the country. CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau, Valentina Di Donato, and ANtonia Mortensen […]
ATTACK ON THE IVAN KHURS: Unmanned Vessels Changing Naval Warfare
This week, dramatic videos emerged from both Russian and Ukrainian sources of an attack by unmanned kamikaze boats on the Russian surveillance vessel, the Ivan Khurs. Unmanned drone boats are rapidly changing the dynamics of naval warfare. Recently the U.S. Marine Corps showed off its Metal Shark-built long-range unmanned surface vessel (LRUSV) carrying Hero-120 loitering […]
The Future of the American City is This…
Your Survival Guy, on the heels of a three-week trip to Rome and Paris, can tell you the core of both cities are alive and well. I like the future survivability of American cities where they’re places for people to live and connect not just vacant canyons of office buildings. From The WSJ: While office […]
Happy Memorial Day: Your Survival Guy: Proud To Be an American
“If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life And I had to start again With just my children and my wife I’d thank my lucky stars To be living here today ‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom And they can’t take that away And I’m proud to be an […]
Your Survival Guy in Rome 30-Years A.B. (After Babson)
Back in 1994, Your Survival Guy, a recent Babson College graduate, decided to put his diploma to work, and hopped on a plane to Greece to spend some time with a fraternity brother who summered on one of the Greek Isles. “When else are you going to get an opportunity to do this again?” my […]
Insurers Now Fleeing the Net Zero Insurance Alliance
A number of European insurers are fleeing the Net Zero Insurance Alliance, which pushes firms to use their financial muscle to enforce the E—environmental—activism of the ESG trifecta. Two French firms, AXA and SCOR, along with Allianz from Germany, have decided to leave the UN-backed group focused on pushing the climate change agenda. Reuters reports: […]
A Three-Week International Research Trip to Paris via Rome
Happy Thursday. Your Survival Guy’s been up for hours, having returned yesterday from a three-week international research trip to Paris via Rome. I’ll have plenty to share with you in the weeks ahead. Don’t be a stranger. Beat the Friday email rush by checking in with me daily right here at www.yoursurvivalguy.com OK then, here’s […]
Will Biden Repeat Obama with US Debt Downgrade?
In 2011, after years of unhindered stimulus spending by the Obama administration, Standard & Poor’s downgraded America’s AAA credit rating. Now, Fitch is poised to do the same in response to Joe Biden’s refusal to negotiate a deal to cut spending in return for an increase in the debt ceiling. Ruth Carson reports in Bloomberg […]
What Does That Have to Do with Your Dividend?
You know Your Survival Guy loves dividends and values his fiduciary duty to clients. But Richard Vanderford writes in The Wall Street Journal that this year companies will be voting on issues like “abortion, guns and climate change.” What does any of that have to do with your dividend? Vanderford continues: A backlash against companies […]
The ESG Cartel
In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall exposes the behavior of big financial institutions that have created what could be described as an ESG cartel. He writes: Proponents of ESG—environmental, social and governance—investing are posing as champions of the free market. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and I testified earlier […]