You know Your Survival Guy loves dividends and values his fiduciary duty to clients. But Richard Vanderford writes in The Wall Street Journal that this year companies will be voting on issues like "abortion, guns and climate change." What does any of that have to do with your dividend? Vanderford continues: A backlash against companies taking on issues ranging from climate change to abortion rights is helping to push shareholder proposals to record numbers this year. More advocacy groups are using these resolutions to try to inject their voices into the corporate agenda, questioning … [Read more...]

Your Survival Guy is focused on you, the millionaire next door, who wants to enjoy travel and family in retirement. You may even be the type of saver who doesn't want to stop working completely because you enjoy the skills you've developed over decades of working hard and saving til it hurts. When you invest your hard-earned money in a company, it's because you expect the managers of that company to work just as hard as you do to return your money and then some. But not everyone thinks like you. There are shareholders who want to weaponize corporations to pursue their political agendas. They … [Read more...]

Dear Chairman, Millionaires next door have questions—lots of them. But we’re not getting answers. Something earth-shattering is going on. And it seems no one in power is giving it much thought. Please review the chart series below. It looks like a bullwhip. A cliff. A ski slope. It’s dramatic, to say the least. How will this end? Your thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thank you. Warm regards, Your Survival Guy P.S. Tomorrow, read about American investors' last line of defense. … [Read more...]

In my conversations with you, you tell me when you became serious about money. If it didn’t happen when your dad, grandad, or friend showed you Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report, it happened when you yourself became a subscriber. You needed to make good investment decisions for your retirement. Also, when you subscribed to Dick’s letter, you signed up for a handful of others too. Over time you let the other subscriptions lapse, you tell me. But you kept subscribing to Dick’s letter. His was the one you liked most because you felt he enjoyed writing to you and cared about your success. … [Read more...]

It was a sad end. He sent a thoughtful note. The window had closed. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. The timing wasn’t right anymore. They weren’t going to become clients. Like all relationships, we spent a considerable amount of time getting to know each other. We talked about his savings accumulated over close to eight decades of living. He’s the millionaire next door. But no one in the neighborhood would know it. “I came from nothing,” he said. “I mean nothing. We had a roof over our heads. Sure. But that was about it.” When you grow up like that, it’s something you never forget. The … [Read more...]

Charles Schwab has been under intense scrutiny in 2023 as volatility has roiled the banking sector. Now Schwab has been forced to enter the debt market to borrow $2.5 billion. Justin Lahart reports in The Wall Street Journal: Charles Schwab is selling $2.5 billion in long-term debt, people familiar with the matter said. The brokerage giant said Wednesday in a regulatory filing that it would offer senior notes due in 2029 and 2034. Schwab issued $1.2 billion of bonds due in 2029 and $1.3 billion of bonds due in 2034, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bonds due in 2029 … [Read more...]

Don’t look now, but you’re the millionaire next door. You’re the one they’re talking about. “How do they do it? They’re off on another trip,” neighbors wonder. But you don’t think like that—like a millionaire—you’ve always lived this way. It’s your way of life. You’ve saved ‘til it hurts, paid taxes, and spent what you needed—but never too extravagantly. You wondered, a long time ago, how the other guys “afforded” the new trucks and toys. “I haven’t seen them in years,” you say to yourself now. “Wonder what they’re doing.” Chances are, if you’re reading Your Survival Guy, you know what I’m … [Read more...]

Starving for fixed income? Looking for a stream of cash you can live with and live on? I hear you. When rates are this high, I pay attention. Because with this generational opportunity come lots of decisions. You have a chance to get your lazy cash out of the bank. You have an opportunity to park it in my favored Fidelity Treasury Money Market, yielding around 4.5% today. When you move your lazy cash from the bank and invest it, you get paid a handsome rate for your efforts. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work? You turn the tables. You invest. You win. I like that. What about … [Read more...]