Dear Survivor, OK, Your Survival Guy just got back from a two- and half-week research trip in Paris. The six-hour head start in Paris-time compared to the east coast gave me plenty of time to gather my thoughts over a café crème and croissant. In a word, Paris is busy. But it’s not too crazy yet with the demanding Chinese customer still in lockdown. It feels like a soft open. Staffing shortages are rampant while customer demands are as high as ever, understandably acting like they’ve been locked up for a couple of years. But it’s all relative. Because when you spend nine of your nights … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, Are you up to speed with Your Survival Guy? Do you check in daily at www.yoursurvivalguy.com? I’m E.J. Smith, Your Survival Guy. I created www.yoursurvivalguy.com to give Main Street Americans a boots-on-the-ground look at how to protect their most valued assets from natural and manmade disasters. My focus at www.yoursurvivalguy.com is: Retirement investing and planning Fixed income/bond strategies Your Survival Guy’s Super States Living a Liberty Retirement Constitutional Carry States and Freedom Generational wealth strategies for … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, You read in last month's Survive & Thrive about my recent trip to Key West. One night, after dinner with friends, sitting around the outdoor dining room table, they shared stories about their COVID trip pulling an RV trailer from Key West to Colorado to Disney—specifically Fort Wilderness—and back. They made incredible memories, despite some scary hairpin turns driving up and around the Rockies. Afterward, I told them about our trip to Fort Wilderness as a kid. “I remember one time we pulled in around midnight in our Winnebago,” I told them. “Parked at the … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, “Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after,” wrote Henry David Thoreau. But if it’s fish you’re after, then get yourself aboard the Double Down out of charter boat row in Key West and go fishing with captain Bryce Barr and first mate Shawn. You can tell them Your Survival Guy sent you, and you can thank me later. I promise. Aboard the Double Down is exactly where you could find us in mid-March at what I refer to as Summer Camp in Key West for our second trip in two years. We caught sailfish and an assortment of pelagic on both … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, It was pitch black on a recent morning outside Your Survival Guy’s home office. It was blowin’ a gale, and felt like a tree could come down at any moment, and it was raining sideways, with rapid-fire drops rat-a-tat-tatting against my bay windows. Louis was tucked into himself on his dog bed beside my desk. It was a balmy 56 degrees outside—in February for cryin’ out loud—and get this, by nightfall, it was 21 with a chance of snow. Crazy times. Speaking of crazy, Your Survival Guy hears the craziest investing stories on any given day. Here’s one I received recently from a … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, Last year I brought you the first installment of my Super States. The fundamental characteristic of a Super State is one that treats its citizens with respect, as though they were the state's best customers. Businesses and citizens in Super States are encouraged and aided by state policies, not encumbered and held back by restrictions and regulations. Now, Your Survival Guy is pleased to present the Super States of 2022. This year my focus is on promoting the states where your freedom is a top priority. Here on the map, you see my Super States in green. States showing … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, When Boise, Idaho leads the list as “The Least Affordable Housing Market in the U.S.,” something’s not quite right. Don’t get me wrong—Boise has access to it all. But least affordable in the U.S.? Hear that sucking sound? It’s Boise, and places like it, pulling all the monied “residents” from San Fran, Portland, Seattle, and Rte. 128 (outside of Boston) into the community. They’re looking to places of freedom like New Hampshire, Texas, and Florida, to name a few. They’re looking for a big backyard and a playground for the weekend or for six months and a day. But what is … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, Your Survival Guy loves the holidays. But let’s get something out of the way. Your survival food prep should not be considered “free game” for one and all. You’re not running a convenience store; you’re trying to plan for the unexpected. But that’s what it feels like sometimes, like I’m a stock boy. Case in point. Before heading out for a small family celebration on Saturday night, someone asked if “we” have any peanuts, knowing I have a stack of ‘em in the basement. “Do I look like Mr. Peanut?” I thought to myself. “I don’t have any that are easy to get to,” I said, … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, Tired of mandates and government overreach? Want to get away? Well, here’s some news to ruin your 401(k). The Biden administration is pushing its radical agenda through retirement account regulation. In this case, it’s a proposed Labor Department rule that was not heavily reported—shocker. The change is to the Erisa Act, which governs your 401(k), and forces plan sponsors (your company or retirement plan provider) to offer funds focused on ESG—environmental, social, and governance. The Wall Street Journal editors explain the rule here: Asset managers like BlackRock are … [Read more...]

Dear Survivor, OK, you know how I feel about your lazy cash sitting on its butt on your couch all day long. It’s time to get it up and moving. Time to get it working for you. Because summer’s over and chances are your cash is doing the same thing today as it was on the Fourth of July. Nothing. Not good. Don’t let inertia beat you down. This is your house. But how do you get your cash working when it doesn’t listen to you? Easy. Remember, I’m Your Survival Guy not your “let’s throw some money at this and see how it plays out” guy. Your cash is as precious as ever, even though it drives … [Read more...]