Do you feel like you’re sipping from a firehose? Well, the next big thing coming for you is private equity as big players head for the exits. Isn’t that nice?
Americans’ 401(k)s will be stuffed with this crap as BlackRock and others lead the charge. You really can’t make it up. Remember how ESG was the next best thing? And guess what—now that the tides have changed, BlackRock is opening a fund dedicated to investing in Texas. Yes, that’s oil and gas-rich Texas. What kind of message does that send to clients stuck in ESG?
Remember, at the end of the day, the game is about gathering money. Your money. It’s why my father-in-law, Richard C. Young, would write to you about how investment products are aggressively sold to the individual investor. The individual doesn’t want to hassle with research.
It’s why variable annuities, ESG crap, and private equity hogs are perfect examples of big financial firms sending out armies of salesmen to prey on the trust of Mom and Pop. No, thank you. It’s why, first and foremost, I want you to work with a fiduciary. Period.
When you look at the lay of the land today, it is not an easy time to “live the American Dream” when your paycheck or dividend check funds it all.
Not to be too obvious, but the New York City Democratic primary for mayor is an outright socialist movement. And their nominee may even run for president. Pick up The Boston Globe and you can’t believe what you’re reading. Simply stated, you’re seeing big blue blob cities turn against the successful.
News flash to the editors: Money will travel to where it’s respected. That’s not hard. What will be hard is when the government runs New York City grocery stores that are ransacked every day of the week. It’s just a matter of who pays. The Feds?
How about interest rates? I’m all in for keeping the North Star at a reasonable level. I’m in no rush to reduce rates, seeing how that will further inflate illiquid assets that have no right being described as “assets.” Have we not learned anything from zero percent interest rates that penalized the saving class for a generation for the private equity pigs?
How about gold? I view it as an insurance policy for your portfolio and nothing more. I do not speculate in gold. I do own plenty of it, and if it goes down, that’s usually a good sign for other assets.
How about bitcoin? Not buying it. It trades more like a spec stock, not a currency. I do like the stablecoin concept. We’ll see how that plays out, though. It’s early, but that’s what I see as the benefit of cryptocurrency. Stable, decentralized, affordable transactions. I’m not giving up my American Express card quite yet, though.
We live in a world where Jeff Bezos’s wedding is big news. When owning a yacht is the only way to separate the rich from the really rich, it becomes a battle between the haves and the have-yachts. Get ready for the revolts to continue. Sounds a bit like ancient Rome. How did that end?
Action Line: Focus on your income, don’t reach for yield, live within your means. Simple to say. Hard to do. When you want to talk about your plan with a fiduciary, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com. And click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
