Dear Survivor, Your Survival Guy and Gal were in Key West recently to confirm for New England that the sun still exists. It does. But as you snowbirds know, Florida hasn't exactly felt like Margaritaville. Which brings us to one night during our trip, where we were able to find two seats for Mac McAnally's fourth and final sold-out show at the Key West Theater. Mac, as many of you Parrotheads know, was Jimmy Buffett's right-hand man on stage as a member of his Coral Reefer Band. Mac's two-man shows, with fellow Reefer and percussionist Eric Darken, have been a healing tour mixing in … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive January 2024: Your Investing Success in 2024 May Rely on This
Dear Survivor, Your success as an investor has much to do with your temperament. It’s more art than science. That’s not coming from me. That’s from years of reading my father-in-law’s newsletter, Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report. He’s pulled me aside many a time to remind me: “Survival Guy, listen to me, investing is more about art than science. Yes, you’ve got to have the chops, but it’s the art that makes the music.” And here we are at the national anthem stage of 2024. And yes, it’s been a wild couple of years for the S&P 500. Sort of reminds me of the Daytona 500, with … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive December 2023: A Stock Market Boom or Bust for 2024?
Dear Survivor, Your Survival Guy received some Christmas emails asking about a certain economist’s stock market prediction that the bubble’s about to burst. My take? Why ruin Christmas? Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong. What I know for sure is he’s in the business of selling books and making headlines. That’s not acting like a fiduciary. I remember back in 1998 when this same economist wrote a book calling for the roaring 2000s. The roar turned out to be the sound from investors pummeled by the tech bust a few years later. Then he called for, in 2004, another boom to come, taking … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive November 2023: A Word or Two about Your Survival Guy’s Money
Dear Survivor, Your Survival Guy wants to share a word or two about my money. For one, I eat my own cooking. I don’t hope for my money to do something for me. I don’t bet on markets. I don’t gamble. I don’t use leverage. I don’t look at prices. I basically look at my account here and there, see the income coming in, and that’s it. Sometimes, my portfolio is higher than the last time I looked, and sometimes, it’s not. I have a consistent investment plan in place, one I’ve had my entire adult life. It’s simple. I save a third, spend a third, and pay taxes with a third. I don’t have any … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive October 2023: Storming the Magic Kingdom: Wall Street and the Raiders…
Dear Survivor, When you look at the long-term advance of stocks over the past four decades, an observation worth noting: It was good to be 24 in 84. Meaning if you were young and hungry and happened to work on Wall Street, the world was your oyster. Until it wasn’t. Risk was rewarded, and a fair amount of luck was involved, disguised as skill. Not that these weren’t wicked smart people like Mike Milken, for example, the father of junk bonds. Because it was Milken who showed corporate raider Saul Steinberg how to storm Walt Disney’s castle with high-yield debt. Steinberg, like Captain … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive September 2023: “I Want to Be a Farmer, a Garbageman, or Tom Brady”
Dear Survivor, Life is full of pressures, and they don’t lessen over time. Life doesn’t get easier. Getting older isn’t for the faint of heart. In high school or college, we’re asked what we want to do. Not an easy question to answer. The only time it’s easy to answer that question is when you’re a kid. “A Farmer, a garbageman, Mrs. Smith, my first-grade teacher, a fireman, Tom Brady…” They just roll off the tongue with conviction when you’re a child. In my conversation with you, we were laughing, “I’m still trying to figure it out,” you said. Which got me thinking, “What kind of … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive August 2023: Time Is Money: Are You Over 40?
Dear Survivor, You, my fairly wealthy, highly successful reader, learned a long time ago how to harness a most powerful force: t-i-m-e. You saved ‘til it hurt and put money away with the faith that you might be in a better spot down the road. And now, when you look back on it all, you think, “No way I want to do that again. Not sure how I even did it. Can we change the subject?” Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But saving ‘til it hurts does something magical. It puts the most powerful force into action. You put time on your side. You become a compounding machine, and without even … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive July 2023: When Should You Take Social Security?
Dear Survivor, When should you take Social Security? It depends. That’s a question Your Survival Guy is asked frequently. The answer is personal. It’s been my experience that talking with a local Social Security Administration representative is helpful (you can find your local SSA office here). You are the best advocate for what your income needs are and will be. But, yes, it’s nice to defer it for as long as possible. When you need help with your private retirement savings, let’s talk. Your Survival Guy and Gal Cruising Buzzards Bay Your Survival Guy and Gal left Newport, RI, for a … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive July 2023: HELP: Your Survival Guy is Under Immense Pressure
Dear Survivor, Your Survival Guy’s under immense pressure. (I thought you’d enjoy reading that). But it’s real. I can feel it. And I’m not talking about investing. I can handle that kind of pressure. No, I’m talking about planning for holiday weekends and special anniversaries. One evening this week, Your Survival Guy was in the kitchen sipping a glass of white, listening to music, and washing vegetables when Your Survival Gal asked, “Have you thought about our anniversary?” I looked up for a moment, staring into space, wondering how one might respond. “Yes,” I said, hoping someone … [Read more...]
Survive and Thrive June 2023: Your Survival Guy in Rome 30-Years A.B. (After Babson)
Dear Survivor, Back in 1994, Your Survival Guy, a recent Babson College graduate, decided to put his diploma to work, and hopped on a plane to Greece to spend some time with a fraternity brother who summered on one of the Greek Isles. “When else are you going to get an opportunity to do this again?” my dad said. And with that, I coordinated with my high school friend, a recent Duke grad, to meet up in Rome and tour Western Europe for a month or so. “Meet you in Rome,” I said. “I’ll figure out how to get there from Athens,” I said. This was not a quick boat ride to Martha’s Vineyard. … [Read more...]
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