Let’s imagine it’s 1999. You’re about to retire. You had a good career. And like anyone else invested in stocks, you’ve had a good run. Then, some time goes by, you’re on a European riverboat cruise, and boom, the tech bust hits. That was the exact moment many investors realized their risk tolerance was, in fact, intolerance. Like a food allergy. But it was too late. In my conversations with some investors—not you, of course—expectations today are still through the roof. That’s what a bull market will do. And as you know, the common refrain is “I want preservation of principal and growth.” … [Read more...]
Buffett Calls Out Stock Market “Gamblers”
Many investors today have become fat, dumb, and stupid. They're speculating with the expectation that they'll always win. In his recent letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett called out such gamblers. Business Insider's Theron Mohamed reports: Buffett also criticized speculators in his letter, noting that stock traders are "neither more emotionally stable nor better taught" than when he was a student. He also noted the proliferation of stock-trading apps has made daily buying and selling easier than ever. "Markets now exhibit far more casino-like behavior than they did when I was young," … [Read more...]
How Your Survival Guy Invests in AI and Cryptocurrencies
There will be winners and losers in AI and cryptocurrencies, which is why Your Survival Guy likes utilities. Utilities have been steady dividend payers for years. Why not invest in areas that AI and crypto will depend upon? Katherine Blunt and Jennifer Hiller report in The Wall Street Journal that the main focus of the annual CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston this year was finding enough energy to power AI. They write: Every March, thousands of executives take over a downtown hotel here to reach oil and gas deals and haggle over plans to tackle climate change. This year, the … [Read more...]
Will AI Electricity Demand Resurrect Nuclear Power?
You know that AI and cryptocurrency technologies demand massive amounts of electricity. According to Michał Rogucki, writing in YTech News, nuclear power is a "rising star in data center power solutions." He writes: Amidst the increasing energy demands of data centers, particularly those handling AI workloads, companies are turning to nuclear power as a sustainable and reliable energy source. NE Edge aims to establish AI data centers adjacent to a nuclear power plant in Connecticut, and major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft are also considering nuclear options for their … [Read more...]
YOUR RETIREMENT: Time Isn’t Necessarily on Your Side
In my conversations with you, you tell me how you made your money. You saved ‘til it hurt, had the kitchen table talks, put water in your Cheerios, in some cases lost it all, then made it back and then some. Each story is different, yet as the saying goes, happy families are the same. You all, at some point, got serious about being providers and didn’t rely on someone else because guess what? They never show up. Believe me when I tell you this: There’s a lot of money out there. I’m not talking about the billionaires; I’m talking about the Main Street millionaires. Family first Americans who … [Read more...]
“I Can’t Charge $20 for Happy Meals.”
"I can’t charge $20 for Happy Meals." Those are the words of Scott Rodrick, the owner of eighteen McDonald's in Northern California, where legislators have increased the minimum wage to $20 per hour for fast food workers. So Rodrick and many other franchisees are being forced to make hard decisions regarding employees whom they can no longer afford to employ. Rather than helping fast food workers, California's politicians are putting them out of work or preventing them from getting hired at all. That's what happens when politicians implement price controls. Heather Haddon reports in The Wall … [Read more...]
Save Til It Hurts: Women Face Unique Retirement Challenges
You know that Your Survival Guy is most interested in keeping you happy and well during retirement. The best way to do that is to save til it hurts while you're working so your savings doesn't run out when you need it most. For women, who tend to earn less but also live longer than men, retirement presents a unique challenge. In The Wall Street Journal, Anne Tergesen explains the stories of four single women who are facing retirement. Here's the story of one retiree, Marianne Simpson, who lives in Chicago, retired with $2 million, and spends $132,000 annually. That spending rate is way above … [Read more...]
How You Livin’? Crossing on the Queen Mary 2
Happy Friday. As my nephew asked me the other day, home from college and all the stuff one learns: “Uncle E, how you livin’?” “How I’m livin’?” I thought to myself. I haven’t thought about it. But it gets right to the point, doesn’t it? Which brings me to my conversations with you. I know how you’re livin’—quite well—because you tell me. Here’s what you’re doing. Fly fishing the Keys, catching some rays in St. Somewhere, hitting the powder out West, spending plenty of time relaxing on the beach, paying exorbitant prices for boat drinks, building houses and dreams, planning more trips, … [Read more...]
How ESG Enabled Biden’s Union Allies
You know all about ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing from reading this site regularly. Most of the attention ESG gets is for the E, environmental. But the S and G are just as dangerous. The push for ESG has enriched Biden's union allies and hurt the retirement security of Americans. F. Vincent Vernuccio of the Institute for the American Worker and Sam Adolphsen of the Foundation for Government Accountability explain in the NY Post: In 2022, the Department of Labor rolled out a rule letting private-sector investment managers prioritize ESG, which sacrifices the financial … [Read more...]
“Hmmm, Stocks Have Been Doing Well,” They Think
You’ve seen the debt load we’re gifting the grandkids. As I noted yesterday, one way to tackle it is by making cuts and buckling down, chipping away at it like one manages the family budget. The government? Since it can create its own money out of thin air, it chooses to inflate the debt away. With all that fiscal Covid money running dry, it looks like the Fed wants to come to the rescue with more easy money. As an appointed official, not elected by you and me, Fed Chair Powell must be hearing the footsteps from Main Street voters looking for some monetary discipline. Just when we see … [Read more...]
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