You pay attention when the founder of the Vanguard Group, Jack Bogle speaks. As the father of the index fund it would be hard not to include Mr. Bogle’s bust on the Mount Rushmore of financial legends. Therefore, when Bogle speaks, I listen. As do thousands of his groupies known as "Bogleheads." “There no longer can be any doubt that the creation of the first index mutual fund was the most successful innovation—especially for investors—in modern financial history,” writes Bogle here, “The question we need to ask ourselves now is: What happens if it becomes too successful for its own … [Read more...]
Maximize Your Retirement by Leaving Income Taxes Behind, Part II
You may recall this piece I wrote to you, Maximize Your Retirement by Leaving Income Taxes Behind. A reader friend of mine wrote and asked why our favored state of New Hampshire didn’t make the cut. After all, he noted, what’s not to like about no sales or ordinary income taxes? Agreed. But unfortunately, NH does levy a five percent tax on dividends and interest—a form of income especially in retirement. There’s always room for improvement. New Hampshire legislators introduced SB 404 on March 15, 2018, which would have phased out the five percent tax over a five-year period and ultimately … [Read more...]
Top Gun: The Fed’s Powell in a Danger Zone
“When we were first starting out our mortgage rate was ten percent, not a two percent adjustable.” --says any parent who bought a home in the 1970s Remember when you understood how the banking system worked? They lent you money, you bought a home, paid them back for what felt like the rest of your life and dreamed of a mortgage burning party. The bank was happy, you had a roof over your head and they spread more money around town. In other words, the fractional banking system worked. Today? Sure, houses are being bought and sold. But who’s really … [Read more...]
Cryptocosm and Life After Google Part IV
You’re witnessing what happens when markets dry-up as shown here with bitcoin (see chart below). I've been warning readers about what George Gilder calls the "cryptocosm." (Read Parts I, II and III). If you have been hitching your wagon to cryptocurrencies, you might have been enduring a rude awakening this week. Steven Russolillo, writing at The Wall Street Journal, calls it bitcoin's "Week from Hell." He explains Now, another worry has emerged: Cryptocurrency miners, the outfits that solve complex equations to generate new digital coins, seem to be losing interest. The amount of … [Read more...]
Maximize Your Retirement by Leaving Income Taxes Behind
If you have a solid retirement portfolio, chances are you are paying federal taxes on the income it generates. If you're unlucky enough to live in a state with its own income taxes, you could be paying even more. There is one foolproof way to get more from your retirement revenue streams, and that is to move to a state which doesn't force you to pay taxes on your income. I have written a number of posts on how you can determine where best to live in retirement. Here's a sample: Your Retirement Life: Looking for Tax Freedom? Here’s Where to Find It Your Retirement Life: How Do You … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: You Can Keep Working
I've discussed before the threat of working in "retirement" involuntarily because you haven't saved enough, and must rejoin the workforce to make ends meet. (Read Part I, II, III, and IV of my series on How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?). Working through your golden years because you can't afford to stop is an unfortunate reality for too many Americans, but there are some people who, for reasons beyond finances, may find working past retirement age beneficial. Some people enjoy the routine and the social interaction of their jobs. For them, living 30 years of retirement with no plans … [Read more...]
Stock Markets Scaring Gun-shy Retirees
The common theme I espouse to you here at Your Survival Guy is the elimination of risk and a focus on your margin of safety. Whether the risk be to your personal safety or to your financial portfolio, I want you to focus on preventing negative events from affecting you and your family. After 2008, some retirees and those who were planning to retire understood the dangers of market risk, and began insulating their portfolios against future shocks. They spread out their investments among different asset classes, buying counterbalancers to smooth any market swings. They also began focusing … [Read more...]
Fidelity Investments: Why it’s #1
You don’t build a company such as Fidelity Investments, with more than $2 trillion in assets, overnight. It takes constant focus and improvement, day by day, or kaizen—a Japanese philosophy of daily improvement espoused by former chairman Edward C. “Ned” Johnson III. When I worked at Fidelity, back in the mid-90s, Mr. Johnson encouraged us, through his memos, to apply the philosophy of kaizen to all aspects of our lives. Mr. Johnson paid particular attention to kaizen as it related to the firm’s investment in technology. He wanted to make sure Fidelity was second to none. That … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Is Owning a Second Home a Good Idea?
Should you buy a second home? Take a look back at this piece I wrote on October 17, 2018 for some insight into whether or not you should invest in another house. One of the sticky parts about owning a second home is property taxes. You can't escape them. Even my favored "live free or die," New Hampshire, by example, has the third highest property taxes in the country. California, perhaps surprisingly, has a much lower rate, coming in at #34. But, the median price of a home in California far exceeds that of New Hampshire. My advice to anyone considering a second home is to rent first or to … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: College Towns
In isolated rural areas, college towns can be an oasis of culture. Restaurants, food, events, and more come to college towns thanks to the concentration of young people willing to spend their money on such fare. College towns can be a boon for more than students, though. Retirees can often find themselves comfortably at home in college towns located in states where their money is treated well. In areas with low taxes and low costs of living, a great retirement can be had with access to the sports events, entertainment, and cultural amenities offered by college towns. At US News & … [Read more...]
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