How are you? Are you thinking about where we are in life right now? Wondering if it will ever go back to “normal?” I know I am. It can get pretty upsetting thinking of how easily they take things away. As if they know what’s best for you and me. They don’t. In thinking about survival, one theme that rings true is our attitude. Do we believe we’ll make it? Do we believe in ourselves? I know I believe in you. When you read about survival stories, oftentimes there’s not a heroic act that separates those who make it from those who don’t. It’s an important reminder to keep in your back pocket. … [Read more...]
The Biggest Part of Successful Stock Investing Is This
You and I are in uncharted waters as we look ahead. The next sixteen years are unknown—but those years will make up a good chunk of your pre-retirement savings or retirement years. Let’s look at the past, in sixteen-year groupings, shall we? (Note: Chart four is only halfway there). As you can see, if you had your choice, you’d want to retire in 1981. But since you can’t do that, there’s plenty to worry about—especially when you start socking away serious money. Why risk it on an all-stocks strategy in your 50s? Your 50s are when you need to be dead serious about smoothing out your … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy’s Survival Stock/Blockchain & Bitcoin
Your Survival Guy's survival stock for you today is a company using blockchain technology to help bring you a better product. You may have heard of it: McDonald’s. Want to know how those two sizzling Big Mac patties get to you? Well, one supplier, Golden State Foods, uses blockchain through IBM’s Food Trust (see below). But before we dig into this feast, what you and I need to know is: does it pay a dividend? And the answer is a big YES—since 1976. Like hot french fries dipped in ketchup—one, after another, after another. And one year before that dividend began, some clever operator in … [Read more...]
Fidelity Escaped: Now Young Professionals Are Following
Opportunistic, fresh out of college, young Americans moved to big cities for decades until the COVID-19 pandemic and the BLM/Antifa riots and looting hit in 2020. For a new generation whose college educations couldn't be put to use in their suburban or rural home towns, city living was the best path to success. Now, with the rise of remote working, governors gone wild, and America's big blue cities in chaos, young people are finding their way back home in what one professor calls a rethinking of the "balance of our lives." Here's the story of one couple who came back to Rhode Island, … [Read more...]
Warren Buffett’s Advice for Investors Today
At the recent Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, Warren Buffett shared some of his knowledge on investments. Taylor Locke of CNBC reports: Buffett warned against investing in individual stocks, as “I do not think the average person can pick stocks,” he said. “I would like particularly new entrants to the stock market to ponder just a bit before they try and do 30 or 40 trades a day in order to profit from what looks like a very easy game,” Buffett said. To illustrate the difficulty of achieving success when stock-picking, Buffett first shared a list of 20 stocks with the largest … [Read more...]
Stocks: S&P 500 Hit 25 Records this Year
You may have noticed the food and beverage industry needs workers. Like, right now. You can expand that out to most businesses in the service industry. Your Survival Guy will place the blame on big government unemployment checks and on the lockdowns freaking people out. Case in point, we escaped to the city this weekend to meet friends, and when the sun went down, it turned into a ghost town. No taxis, no Uber, which is basically operating with on-and-off strikes. Why? Because the governor isn’t allowing them to charge higher prices when demand surges. According to him, the city’s still in a … [Read more...]
Charlie Munger: Stupid States Drive Out the Rich
When he was asked at Berkshire Hathaway's recent shareholder meeting what he thinks about people leaving California because of taxes and a high cost of living, Charlie Munger, Berkshire's Vice Chairman told the audience that it was a mistake for state governments to lose residents to competition from other states. He continued “I do think it is stupid for states to drive out their wealthiest citizens. The old people don’t commit any crimes, they donate to the local charity. Who in the hell in their right mind would drive out the rich people? Florida and places like that are very shrewd, and … [Read more...]
WARNING: Near Record Confidence Among America’s Retirees
Confidence among workers about retirement is nearing record highs, with 72% confident they will be able to retire comfortably. That's close to the record set in 1993 when 74% of the workforce was confident in retirement. Anne Tergesen writes in The Wall Street Journal: About three-quarters of U.S. workers and retirees believe they will have enough money for retirement, an increase from a year ago, according to a survey released Thursday. The survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute provides a snapshot of how Americans feel about their retirement prospects. Among workers, … [Read more...]
Sell in May?/911 Emergencies/Fidelity #1/Cryptos/Stocks
Who's got your back in the world of finance when the going gets tough? And some other thoughts. When Georgia changed its voting laws, and over 100 CEOs and business leaders signed a letter in protest, did they even read the law? File this under my "You Invest, They Win." Are you surprised to see BlackRock CEO Larry Fink or Vanguard? You can check out the list below. Sell in May go away? Has there been a better time to be a seller of real estate? 2006 comes to mind. If you're a buyer, stay off the beaten path. Here's Your Survival Guy's tip of the day. Keep a chunk of your stock … [Read more...]
Junk Bond King Predicted This About Real Estate
The rise and fall of junk bond king Michael Milken was well documented in the book, Den of Thieves. Years later, I remember him saying in an interview that the next “big thing” would be the securitization of residential real estate. In other words, you could look up the price of your neighbor’s house and trade it much like a stock. Today, that’s pretty close to reality. You can buy stocks that own thousands of single-family homes or visit Zillow to see your neighbor’s “Zestimate.” As I wrote to you here, when we were in Key West in March, we took a random house tour simply out of curiosity. … [Read more...]