Boating conditions off Newport can be a nasty mix. Rolling ocean swells, an opposing current, mixed with 25-knot gusts, can create a challenging chop. Nevermind the reefs hiding under the surface like a school of sharks the size of Jaws waiting for you to get too close. Over the Fourth of July weekend, we traveled by boat from Newport, RI to my parents' house in Mattapoisett. Talking with my dad, coming ashore, motoring to his slip in his dinghy, he told me about the engine problems he’d been having and how he and his boatyard guy came up with a fix. After a long weekend of social distance … [Read more...]
You’re Telling Me about 8% and Pickleball
If you’re thinking about retirement or investing in some high yield real estate deal, don’t. Because as soon as you run a few scenarios grounded in reality and not “pie in the sky” dreams, you quickly realize losing income and principle are grave mistakes you don’t recover from, ever. In my conversations with investors, I hear it all. You wouldn’t believe some of the dividend yields I’m told are out there, ranging from eight to twenty percent. Good luck with that. When the government offers ten-year treasuries with an annual yield of 0.66%, it’s time for a reality check. “But,” you … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: On the Road Again, Part II
In the summer of 1984, we traveled across the country in our 21 foot Winnebago Brave (yes we were) and can relate to this article as a new swath of RV drivers hit the roads to dodge COVID restrictions. Joe Barrett writes in The Wall Street Journal: Brad Swenson, who lives in his RV, was at a stoplight in the Black Hills of South Dakota last month when he saw a rental RV trying to use a fast-food drive-through—a typical rookie mistake. “It was like I was about to see a dog get hit by a car. I wanted to help, but there was nothing I could do,” said Mr. Swenson, 50, a Seattle property … [Read more...]
American’s Don’t Have Any Money for Retirement, Now This…
You don’t have to look too hard to realize the fix is in to put toxic annuities into retirement plans. First, the Secure Act passes at the eleventh hour last year to allow annuities in 401(k)s (a terrible idea to begin with). Now, states want to require savings plans and you know the next step will be the annuity adoption. What a racket. Bailey McCann reports for The Wall Street Journal: According to data from the National Institute on Retirement Security, 59% of working-age people in America don’t have any money in a retirement account—whether an employer-sponsored 401(k) or an … [Read more...]
Avoid the Pelosi Plan, Do Phase 4 the Right Way, Here’s How
In the Wall Street Journal, Casey Mulligan, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Moore, a member of President Trump's Economic Recovery Task Force, put forward a positive plan for reopening America. Their plan would stimulate the economy, and avoid the terrible side effects of the plan offered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They write: The White House will soon begin negotiating with congressional Democrats on a “Phase 4” economic revival plan. President Trump has repeatedly expressed his support for suspending the payroll tax through the end of the year as a … [Read more...]
Every Stock You Own Deserves a Decision
There’s never been a better time to get your financial house in order. Don’t let inertia beat you down. It’s time to get up, put pen to paper, and make sure everything you own deserves a place in your portfolio or decide if it has served its time. Treat your portfolio with the love and care you have for your home and garden and, believe me, good things will happen for you and your family. Make it a good day. Life is Good: You’re Ready to Protect Your Turf Your Retirement Life: Investment Planning in One Chart Your Retirement Life: Parents, do You have an Investment … [Read more...]
Life is Good: You’re Ready to Protect Your Turf
You’re telling me your life is good and, in times like these, it is so great to hear. You’re telling me, especially if you’re retired, that your life hasn’t changed all that much. No, you don’t see family as much (you’re looking forward to the 4th when you might), but you’re keeping busy. Here are a few items we spoke about this week: You’re golfing a lot. But not as well as you’d like to. At your recent doctor’s appointment, you asked for a prescription to get you straighter off the tee. You’re building a deck. That is, if you can find pressure-treated wood. I spoke with two … [Read more...]
The Fed Is Dealing Massive Doses of Monetary Drugs to the Market
In a sweeping piece in The Wall Street Journal, Jim Grant likens the actions of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to those of a drug dealer, feeding highly addictive monetary drugs to the market, with no regard for the side effects. In the piece, Grant notes that like the portfolio managers of CalPERS who are California Dreamin', Powell explains his actions as necessary. But is that really true? Grant writes: If Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell were selling a prescription drug instead of a monetary policy, the Food and Drug Administration would likely want a word with him. “What we’re … [Read more...]
Life Changes Fast: Need a Boost? Here’s Why I Did
Coronavirus Infects Stock Market: Part LXI You know, as Your Survival Guy, I'm the guy who gets into tough situations only to discover how ill-prepared I am. You know, like when my backyard almost burned down when a tree landed on telephone wires, breaking the pole at the top, sending the distribution transformer, aka "pole pig" (filled with coils and oil ) crashing to the ground right next to one of our prehistoric trees about the size of King Kong that was ready to burn like the torch on the Statue of Liberty. As the fire department descended upon our property, Your Survival Guy quickly … [Read more...]
COVID-19, Riots, Accelerate the Escape from the City to Small Town, USA
Americans living in big cities in states where governors have gone wild with shutdowns, but allowed riots to rule the streets are trying to escape. The COVID-19 pandemic and the rioting that has followed it have accelerated the exodus from many of the big tax cities Americans were already trying to flee the big city blues. They're seeking some shelter away from it all. Many of them are heading to the suburbs or the exurbs, but many of them are also heading to the lower cost, smaller cities in the South, and West that were already popular destinations for escapees before chaos … [Read more...]