You know emotions can wreak havoc on investors. Feeling good or bad about investments shouldn’t be a month-to-month roller coaster. But in my conversations with you, I know you’re reading that the so-called experts are calling for more doom and gloom. They’ve been making this call for years now. Even a broken clock is right—you know the phrase. Prices Are Like Adult Kids: You Don’t Have Much Control Over Them Look, I’m Your Survival Guy, not a meteorologist. Bad stuff happens. Predicting when and where is almost impossible. How bad it really will be is subjective. Sure, there are … [Read more...]

Compounding money can be boring. It takes time. But then suddenly it becomes fun. Stick with me. I’m in this for the long haul. Action Line: If you want to talk to me about building wealth with compounding, click here. … [Read more...]

What can we learn from hurricane season? For one it always seems to come as a surprise. And once again we’re in the thick of a major one. When it comes to investing, I’m always taken aback by how much risk investors take and how they’re surprised when markets go down. Hurricane Prep: Can You Answer These Three Questions about Your Own Preparation? Then you have investors who used borrowed money to leverage returns. But again, they are surprised when the margin calls come in and forced selling occurs at less than ideal prices. Who’s advising these people? Trying to Reason with … [Read more...]

Prices. They’re like adult kids. We don’t have much control over ‘em. What do we do with them? I’ll tell you. Tough love hurts. Spend less, save more. Become an independent inflation fighter. Because inflation means different things to different people. A new iPhone isn’t as important to me as, say, it is to someone else. Simple and to the point. Like an aged fine wine, you’ll be amazed at how smart your adult kids think you’ve become—so I’m told. All I remember right now is, “Dad I want to be a garbage man.” For me, time stands still on a long dirt road not far from our log cabin in … [Read more...]

“Do you see the waves crashing over that rock dead ahead?” my dad said loud enough for me to hear over the 25-knot winds and 7-foot waves crashing over our bow. “Yes, got it,” I said. “We’re good on this heading. We can round that red can up about a quarter mile ahead.” “It’s at one O’clock,” he said. “I’ve got eyes on it.” That’s where Your Survival Guy and his dad were on Sunday delivering the boat from Mattapoisett back to Newport. There was a small craft advisory that felt like it could have been for large craft. Our trip started out in calm waters, like many do, as we motored … [Read more...]