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 be absolutely sure you love where you will live. You'd be surprised how much you can learn about a city or town by actually living there for a year or so as a renter. … [Read more...]

It has been my experience that publicly managed funds, such as pensions, tend to be backward looking. They embody a rear-view mirror way of investing that is, often times, easier to defend to a committee to save one’s job, but not necessarily the best investment strategy, as I explain here and here. In another example of group-think, pensions are trying to “protect” against losses with a “crisis risk offset.” Sounds pretty serious. In reality, it’s a 20-year Treasury bond ETF that is almost guaranteed to lose money in an all but guaranteed rising interest rate environment. Remember, when … [Read more...]

In Part I, I wrote to: You may want to pay attention to what public pensions are buying and, more often than not, do the exact opposite. Case in point, a few years ago this group loaded up on “alt-investments” and hedge funds. Don’t look now, but hedge funds, which charge an exorbitant 2-and-20 (2% per year on your assets under management and 20% of your investment gains), are going out of business left and right. And then, as reported yesterday in The WSJ, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS) spent more than $2 billion on Southern timberland and harvested the trees … [Read more...]

You may want to pay attention to what public pensions are buying and, more often than not, do the exact opposite. Case in point, a few years ago this group loaded up on “alt-investments” and hedge funds. Don’t look now, but hedge funds, which charge an exorbitant 2-and-20 (2% per year on your assets under management and 20% of your investment gains), are going out of business left and right. And then, as reported yesterday in The WSJ, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS) spent more than $2 billion on Southern timberland and harvested the trees at depressed prices to … [Read more...]

Early October is a wonderful time to visit Newport, Rhode Island especially Columbus Day weekend. Discover Newport is a great place to find out what's happening each week. Here's what Brittany Lauro wrote about Columbus Day weekend: Columbus Day weekend on the Classic Coast brings with it all the fall feels as festival season kicks into full gear with seven (yup, seven!) fairs, festivals and major events taking over. Stroll cobblestone byways and enjoy special deals at the annual Columbus Day sidewalk sale on Bowen's Wharf where you'll find great deals on unique items from area shops; … [Read more...]

If you like the idea of seeing the country with your spouse, paid leave, matching 401(k) contributions and a joint income of $100,000 per year, then you might like this story about team driving gigs. Simply put, freight companies love team drivers because they deliver loads twice as fast. There’s a lot to like about living part-time on the road. I remember as a kid when we drove across the country in our Winnebago, how cool it was to talk to the truck drivers using our CB radio and also just listening to the chatter. It was Waze before there was Waze, and it was like a game, especially when … [Read more...]

Tom, a friend of mine, recently sent me an email about what he called the four pillars of health: "Sleep, eating, movement and stress management." The email was in response to my post on the importance of exercise, Your Retirement Life: Do Something. Tom attached to the email an article from The New York Times about how exercise is the closest thing there is to a wonder drug. What struck me most of all was when he called a pair of shoes and regular walking "the cheapest health insurance there is." Earlier this year Fidelity estimated that the average retired couple would spend … [Read more...]

Take a look back at this post from April 25, 2018 for a view into the power of the Right to Work.  A recent study by the Jefferson City-based Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) estimates the average annual cost of living in 2017 for all 50 states. The National Institute for Labor Relations Research used MERIC’s data to calculate the average annual cost of living in Right to Work States and forced-unionism states. As of last year, 28 states are Right to Work—protecting employees from federal labor law provisions authorizing forced union dues and fees. Here are the … [Read more...]

Activity, you know, trading in and out of stocks or bonds isn’t good for your financial health. I’ve always liked Vanguard founder Jack Bogle’s quote on the matter: “Don’t just do something, stand there!” But, when it comes to your overall health doing something may be the trick to your happiness. Deborah Gage reports in The Wall Street Journal about the "cascade of positive effects" exercise can have on your body. She writes: Exercise has been shown to protect against diabetes, stroke and several other diseases and to improve our moods. But does it also make us more likely to engage in … [Read more...]