Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

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Investing Habits of the Fairly Wealthy: #10 Powerball

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Your Survival Guy knows a lot about highly successful, fairly wealthy people because I talk to them. On the flip side, I know plenty about those who’ve won and lost a fortune. I know about the guy who can’t hold onto his money. He just spends every penny, afraid it might be gone tomorrow. And sure enough, it is. I also know all about the billionaires thanks to the real estate sections, the virtual tours of their homes, the shows on Netflix and HBO, and the books by Walter Isaacson. Plenty of drama to go around. Entertaining. Maybe not the best family life. That’s why when I say I’m … [Read more...]

Your Survival Guy: “Life on Main Street Hasn’t Been This Hard in a While”

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Are you up to speed with Your Survival Guy? Do you check in daily at www.yoursurvivalguy.com? I’m E.J. Smith, Your Survival Guy. I created www.yoursurvivalguy.com to give Main Street Americans a boots-on-the-ground look at how to protect their most valued assets from natural and manmade disasters. My focus at www.yoursurvivalguy.com is: Retirement investing and planning Fixed income/bond strategies Your Survival Guy’s Super States Living a Liberty Retirement Constitutional Carry States and Freedom Generational wealth strategies for families Disaster prep and … [Read more...]

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

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Your Survival Guy has a client whose grandfather left him some money. That was nice. But the real gift was how his grandfather would teach him about money when they were together. How to roll pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters sitting on the floor and talking. Adding up the pile and feeling the weight in their hands. The boy was taught what interest was, how it was paid, and the miracle of interest on interest. Compounding small amounts into larger ones. The small talk never felt like big life lessons. But they were. As they got older, the money did too—a dollar wasn’t worth a dime—but … [Read more...]

How Joe Biden Raised Oil Prices

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You saw Joe Biden demonize fracking and the oil industry throughout his campaign until the debates when Donald Trump cornered him on it, at which point he denied it all. Then, once he moved into the White House, Biden began his war on oil and helped to drive up prices on everything Americans need. At UnHerd, Ashley Rindsberg explains Biden's war on oil and the mistakes he made that led to Americans paying so much for fuel. Rindsberg writes: One of the many ironies of the Just Stop Oil movement is that, for the past year, their protests have been positively correlated with the price of oil. If … [Read more...]

Is the Philadelphia Looting Spree the Wake-up Call America Needs?

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Crime has ravaged businesses across America since 2020, when radical politicians gave looters the green light to turn America into a warzone. Since then, the nation has watched with horror as roving gangs have cleaned out popular locations like Nordstroms and Apple Stores and even little gas stations. For two days now, America has watched as looting in Philadelphia has gone to a new level. Are the shocking scenes of criminality in Philadelphia the wake-up call America needs to do something about this behavior? Or will this simply slip into the news cycle and become another missed opportunity … [Read more...]

“No Way I’m Spending That Much on Those”

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Your Survival Guy and Gal were in Boston this weekend, visiting our daughter and son. If you want to know what stagflation feels like, have two kids in college at the same time. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Take, for instance, after breakfast, strolling down Newbury Street window shopping. The next thing you know, Your Survival Guy’s in a store bombarded with loud thumping music and glowing displays of sneakers. “Oh, I remember those from the 70s,” I thought to myself, “Those are Chuck Taylors.” Flipping them over to look at the price was a shock. “No way I’m spending … [Read more...]

What Trade Policy Serves America’s National Interest Best?

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In The American Conservative, Micah Meadowcroft examines the words of one of Your Survival Guy's favorite presidents, "Silent Cal" Coolidge, who is known for saying, "The business of America is business," but who actually said, "After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world." Meadowcroft then gets into the current state of the debate over free trade and protectionism in America and within the Republican Party itself. He concludes: There has been much renewed discussion of … [Read more...]

California Wants to Make the 2nd Amendment Unaffordable

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California, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is doubling the tax it demands from law-abiding gun owners on sales of ammunition and guns. It appears Newsom and the California legislature have settled on a strategy of simply pricing the poor out of their Constitutional rights as enumerated in the Second Amendment. Adam Beam reports for the Associated Press: California will ban people from carrying firearms in most public places while doubling the taxes on guns and ammunition sold in the state under two new laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday that will test the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s new … [Read more...]

“You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”

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As Your Survival Guy, I understand the immense pressure you’re under to “do something.” Everyone’s got a plan of what to do with your money. I know this not because you tell me what they’re telling you, but just from experience. I know, for example, when you’re asking me, “Why are we holding this position?” It’s usually the one that’s down the most. That’s human nature. But instead of looking for the exit, sometimes it’s positions selling at a deep discount that deserve additional money. I know you’re being tempted. I see the attractive teaser rates, annuities that promise a lifetime … [Read more...]