Living Your Best Life Dear Survivor, Are you familiar with the FIRE movement? You should be, and you will be shortly. And I’m not talking about a fire where, for example, a tree falls in your backyard onto power lines, ripping them down along with a transformer and nearly burning down your house on a […]
What the Presidential Election Cycle Tells Us about Stocks
As you can see below, the years prior to a presidential election, and the election year itself, tend to be good for stocks as candidates make promises for a new tomorrow. Then, after the honeymoon is over, reality sets in and the bills come due. But twice this century, in 2000 and 2008, stock market […]
Your Survival Guy Escapes a Heat Wave on the Tom Sawyer
You may have experienced a heat wave this summer. Ours was this weekend, all over New England with temps in the 90s and the “real feel” reaching the low 100s. It was a scorcher. There’s no beating the heat, but going out on the boat is a nice break. In the first video I’ll show […]
The Donald of Sports Radio Fired and Tucker Carlson Speaks
If you haven’t heard about the firing of The Donald Trump of Sports Radio, you can read about it here. I wrote about the firing of Gerry Callahan from WEEI earlier this week: On Friday, New England sports radio station WEEI fired its long-time morning co-host Gerry Callahan. What a shame. If you wanted a dose […]
Are You Fully Invested?
Do you remember how you felt about your portfolio in December? It wasn’t a happy time for stock investors as they watched values crater. Some investors got out of the market all together and felt much better. But they probably missed this incredible stock market of the first half of 2019. Feeling good about investment […]
Part II: The IRS is Coming for Your IRA
As you know from my recent post on the SECURE Act, Congress is pulling a fast one on the savers of America. If passed, the “Stretch IRA” will be eliminated for children, grandchildren and other non-spousal heirs. It will require IRAs to be fully distributed (fully taxed) within ten years—no longer over a lifetime. A […]
The Donald Trump of Sports Radio is Gone
On Friday, New England sports radio station WEEI fired its long-time morning co-host Gerry Callahan. What a shame. If you wanted a dose of sports and a dependable conservative take on politics, you found a home with Gerry Callahan. He wasn’t an in-your-face personality like Donald Trump, but it’s hard to think of anyone in […]
Beat the IRS: Roth IRAs for Your Kids and Grandkids
If you have a child or grandchild who is working this summer, you might be able to help them catch FIRE: Financial Independence Retire Early. Help them establish a Roth IRA, and if they’re under age 18 or 21 (depending on your state) set-up a custodial account Roth IRA. They can contribute $6,000 or the […]
The FIRE Movement by the Numbers
The financial industry is full of anecdotes and stories by writers (myself included) providing their own perspective on events. The FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement is blessed with many blogs and podcasts discussing the early retirement journeys. But anecdotes never tell the whole story, so I want to give you some numbers on the […]
When the Lights Go Down in the City
Recent power outages in Manhattan served to remind everyone of what losing electricity in a high-density city means. The NY Post reported: Power outages struck much of Manhattan for five hours Saturday evening, plunging subway stations, Broadway theaters and skyscrapers in the heart of the Big Apple into darkness on the 42nd anniversary — nearly […]
Captain’s Log from Your Survival Guy’s Fourth of July Weekend
Here are some observations from Your Survival Guy’s Fourth of July weekend, when my family and I took our boat—the Tom Sawyer—to Mattapoisett to visit my parents, and on the way home got stuck in the fog (more on that shortly). Family trips are a little different now than they were a few years ago […]