Pay attention here. When you beat inertia and get on the track to retirement savings, a lot of opportunities tend to come your way. One of those opportunities is having time to focus on other members of your family. When it comes to investing, you and I know the most powerful tool to wealth is compound interest. But it requires time—a commodity in abundance when you're young—and money. That’s where you come in (sorry). You know the path to my rich grandchild, poor grandchild. You have the knowledge and the money (you don’t need a truck load) to teach them in real dollars about compound … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: “My life Has Always Been One of Very Good Fortune”
When Fred Cox retired from the NFL in 1977, the placekicker had scored 1,365 points. But his most famous score happened when he was approached by an entrepreneur named John Mattox in 1971, explains The Week. Entrepreneur Mattox wanted Cox to help create a backyard field goal kicking game. In response to Mattox’s prototype (a heavy football), Cox responded, “You’re gonna have a bunch of sore-legged kids.” “Cox asked a friend in the injection molding business to create a prototype,” explains The Week, “the resulting foam pigskin was light, aerodynamic, and a hit with neighborhood … [Read more...]
Banks Are Selling Your Private Info to Strangers
Most Americans have become accustomed to the idea that when they use Google or Facebook, information on their Internet habits is being sold to advertisers who want to target them with ads. But until now that phenomenon has been mostly confined to cyberspace, and there are ways to avoid them. That's all beginning to change though. Now industries that were around even before the Internet are attempting to make profits from your private information. The most dangerous of these is your bank. The Associated Press has reported that banks are selling information on customers' spending habits to … [Read more...]
Here’s Why You Should Treat Your Disaster Cash like Gold
In a true catastrophe, the value of your dollars may plummet to zero, and all you'll be left with is your gold, canned goods, and ammo for bartering. That would be a terrifying scenario for sure. That said, most disasters you'll face in life won't impact the value of your cash, but they could very well impact your access to your bank account. I've been writing to you recently about how the wealthy are moving their money out of bank accounts and into more traditional safety deposit boxes. For large amounts of cash you wouldn't want unattended at home, safety deposit boxes are a great idea. … [Read more...]
Save Yourself! 92% of Wealthy Danes Want to Pull Their Money from Banks
In Denmark, the central bank began setting negative rates in 2012, and for wealthy Danes, it's been a chore to avoid giving money to the banks ever since. There are 178,000 Danes with more than 750,000 crowns in the bank, and they have been moving money to separate accounts, or simply taking it out of the bank altogether ever since negative rates were instituted. Who wants to pay the bank to hold their money? No one, of course. Last week I detailed for you the growing trend of wealthy individuals using safety deposit boxes. A safety deposit box has many benefits besides moving your money … [Read more...]
Rich Grandchild, Poor Grandchild
This is one of my favorite investment pieces by the late Richard Russell: Rich Man, Poor Man By Richard Russell The most popular piece I’ve published in 40 years of writing these Letters was entitled, “Rich Man, Poor Man.” I have had dozens of requests to run this piece again or for permission to reprint it for various business organizations. Making money entails a lot more than predicting which way the stock or bond markets are heading or trying to figure which stock or fund will double over the next few years. For the great majority of investors, making money requires a plan, … [Read more...]
Potential Index Fund Component Loses 98%
If you want to get an inside look at how the sausage is made with certain index funds, take a look at this story by Jacky Wong in The Wall Street Journal: The giants of passive investment need to get more active. Marble mining company ArtGo’s 3313 117.86% Hong Kong-listed shares fell 98% Thursday after index compiler MSCI, MSCI +1.24% in a rare U-turn, dropped its plan to add the company to its indexes. MSCI said the decision followed further analysis and feedback from market participants about the stock, which had soared 3,800% this year. A Heard on the Street column Wednesday may have … [Read more...]
Is Your Cash Safe? Probably not This Safe
How well are you securing your cash and valuables? Do you have a safe at home? A safe is an obvious choice for convenience, but unless you have serious security, you wouldn't want to leave major wealth sitting unattended while you're at the office or on vacation. You need a better option. The most obvious choice for most is a safe deposit box. That is the route an increasing number of the world's wealthiest are taking. Disasters like the wildfires and hurricanes that have hit the United States in recent years have made securing wealth an urgent endeavor in the minds of many. Benjamin … [Read more...]
RIP Jake Burton
In high school in the late 80s, my friends and I were part of the snowboarding revolution that Jake Burton was pioneering. I remember in my ski club taking a van full of skis, snowboards, and classmates to Canada. A 10-to-12-hour slog from Marion, MA to Quebec, a brutal drive. But it was all worth it once we were snowboarding from morning to late afternoon for the long weekend. It was such a great feeling because while most were skiing—we were snowboarding. It just wasn’t that common to see a lot of snowboarders at the time. Those were special memories from high school. Snowboarding on … [Read more...]
Phone Scams are Getting Better: Here’s How to Protect Yourself
Just this week alone, two investors told me they have recently received calls that were believable scams. The robocall scams that regularly target your phone are evolving. As criminals learn what works and what doesn't, they make adjustments and adapt. Falling victim to a phone scam can change your life, for the worse. Here's the story of one victim as told by Sarah Krouse at The Wall Street Journal: The FBI agent sounded official on the phone. He gave Nina Belis his badge number and a story about how her identity had been compromised. She gave him her life’s savings. For most … [Read more...]