Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

SUPER STATE: Utah’s Silicon Slopes

By

You can't blame Silicon Valley tech workers who are fleeing California to states like Utah, where there families are safe, the air is clean, and they're not forced to pay punitive taxation to a state government that cares more about its own political agenda than serving its residents. Jessica Flint explains in The Wall Street Journal why so many tech workers are flocking to Utah's newly dubbed "Silicon Slopes," writing: The U.S.’s hottest job market in 2023 was Utah’s tech sector, nicknamed Silicon Slopes for its proximity to the Wasatch Mountain Range. Heavily concentrated in the state’s … [Read more...]

Taxpayers Continue to Flee Blue States

By

Annual IRS data from 2022 has been released, and it was more bad news for high-tax blue states like California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Those states combined lost $57 billion in adjusted gross income. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board reports: The pandemic lockdowns accelerated flight from Democratic-run states with onerous taxes and a high cost of living. The latest data from the Internal Revenue Service shows that the exodus has continued after life got back to quasi-normal. The IRS last week published its annual data on the migration of taxpayers and … [Read more...]

Money, Money, Money: Why A Vanguard Special Report?

By

There isn’t a soul on the planet who did more for Vanguard than my father-in-law, Richard C. Young. Through his financial newsletter Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report, Dick advised tens of thousands monthly to consider joining Vanguard. As founder Jack Bogle told him, no one has done more for Vanguard than you. It was simple. In Young’s opinion, he and Bogle were on a crusade to help the individual investor, the Main Street investor, get a fair shake. For starters, this meant low expense ratios, no front or back-end loads, and no 12B-1 fees. Today the landscape has changed as Vanguard, … [Read more...]

Are We Safe? A Word on the Debate

By

When I speak with my non-political contacts about politics, the running theme is “Are we safe?” Yes, it’s a boots-on-the-ground barometer and anecdotal, but it’s what matters since it’s their sons and daughters and/or grandchildren who fight wars. And they’re honored to do it but will not be disrespected. Which brings me to the botched Biden Afghanistan withdrawal. The debate served as a good reminder of Biden’s horrible mismanagement of the withdrawal that left billions of dollars of equipment to the Taliban, and worse, resulted in the deaths of 13 American servicemembers. That point … [Read more...]

California Is Killing Fast Food

By

In April, California raised the minimum wage for restaurant employees to $20 an hour. That's 276% of the federally mandated minimum wage used by many other states. In what seems like a predictable outcome, California's fast-food franchisees are closing locations. California franchise owners and consumers are feeling the brunt of higher costs. After 30 years in business, McDonald's franchisee and Rodrick Foods CEO Scott Rodrick had to make the difficult decision to not renew his lease at one of his McDonald's (MCD) locations at a mall in San Francisco. "The unprecedented changes to the … [Read more...]

Consumers Are Turning on Bidenomics as Election Nears

By

You can feel election season heating up as the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2024 election cycle will take place tomorrow. The NY Post reports that consumer confidence is being hit as Americans worry about the economy under Joe Biden. The paper reports: US consumer confidence eased in June amid worries about the economic outlook, but households remained upbeat about the labor market and expected inflation to moderate over the next year. The mixed survey from the Conference Board on Tuesday also showed consumers’ perceived likelihood of a recession over the next 12 … [Read more...]

Switzerland’s Foreign Policy

By

As America heads toward another circus-like presidential election, and the EU looks to be headed for a season of electoral chaos of its own, it pays to look back at something Richard Rahn wrote at the Cato Institute back in 2015 about the presidential election happening then. He wrote: Being surrounded by countries that are jealous of its success (i.e., many of the current members of the European Union), without much in the way of natural resources and without access to the sea has caused the Swiss to be much more practical and serious when it comes to public policy. They have a national … [Read more...]

Your Survival Guy: Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

By

One of the risks of living on the water and owning a boat is hurricane season. The water is warming up and may soon feel like a boil. Make sure you're prepared to help your family deal with what may come. FEMA suggests you think of hurricane prep in stages, as in, what do you need to do before, during, and after a hurricane. Here are some basic guidelines from Ready.gov: Before/Now: Sign up for local alerts and warnings. Monitor local news and weather reports. Prepare to evacuate by testing your emergency communication plan(s), learning evacuation routes, having a place to stay, … [Read more...]

Water (Bottles) Everywhere, But Not a Sip Taken

By

Your Survival Guy has his limits. I will not be washing water bottles all summer. I may not see my kids as often as when they were in grade school, but the telltale sign they’re home from college are the water bottles amassed by the sink. I’ve had it. Everyone washes their own from now on. In The Wall Street Journal, Joanne Kaufman details her own daughter's collection of water bottles and how often they leave the house full and come back the same way. I can feel her pain. She writes: My daughter came home from her final semester of graduate school with a diploma, three job offers—and 11 … [Read more...]