Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

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

The Prudent Man: The Wisest Action is Sometimes No Action

By

justice-samuel-putnamWhat is the key to achieving the financial success you and your family deserve? Well, for one it’s about keeping it simple—Simple is Sophisticated. Another key is to stop spinning your wheels. In portfolio management terms, spinning wheels or, how long a position is held over the course of a year is called the turnover rate. In other words, if your holdings at the beginning of the year were sold and replaced by new positions, then the turnover rate would be 100%. Here’s a wonderful example, one of my favorite, that Dick Young explains to his readers:

Mr. 3.5% Turnover

In 1992, Forbes profiled David L. Stone of the tiny Beacon Hill mutual fund. “The curmudgeonly manager of the little Beacon Hill mutual fund has some old-fashioned advice for nervous investors: The wisest action is sometimes no action.” Forbes told readers that Stone “…arrives early at his Federal Street office in Boston every day. He reads the newspapers, opens his mail, and waits for a call from State Street Bank, the fund’s custodian, with the previous day’s closing price and cash position. He scribbles those down. Then he reads some more. Then he packs his briefcase and leaves.” And he noted, “People ask me what I do all day. Well, a decision to do nothing is still a decision. It takes effort.” The perfect response for a “standpatter” fund with a 10-year turnover rate of just 3.5%. Like I’ve said, keep it real simple. Practice the ultimate in patience.

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)

Recent Posts from YourSurvivalGuy.com

Don’t Invite Problems into Your Portfolio

When you’re looking at dividend-paying stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, you want to be selective because, historically, it’s not the highest payers that have performed the best. And when investors reach for yield and buy those highest payers, they tend to invite avoidable problems into their portfolio. There’s a difference between the dividend-centric investor who […]

The Stock Market Woodchipper

There’s a lot of slicing and dicing going on in today’s markets. When you have more ETFs than stocks to buy, that’s a problem. In The Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig wonders if there’s any asset left to make an ETF out of. He writes that “Good new investing ideas are getting harder to come […]

To the Media, Some Lives Matter More than Others

Once again, over the weekend, President Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt. This time, the President was playing golf and was shot at by a man named Ryan Wesley Routh. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board explains: One question is how Mr. Routh knew Mr. Trump would be golfing on Sunday at […]

529 to Roth IRA

If you have a 529 plan that exceeds what was needed for education costs, there may be a way to roll it over into a Roth IRA. Laura Saunders explains in The Wall Street Journal: It happens more than you think, given the spiraling costs of college: People who save money for a child’s education […]

Do You Look Marvelous? See My Friend Marc

Your Survival Guy visited my friend Marc Streisand this week, owner/proprietor of Marc Allen Fine Clothiers, Custom Suits, and Imported Sportswear, to pick up my handmade, bespoke cashmere sport coat. It’s such a beautiful piece, I can’t wait to put it on when we hit Paris for three weeks in October. Every time I leave […]

Kitten Update This Week

Well, Fred (gray) and Phantom (black) haven’t settled down yet, especially at nap time.  What’s funny is how much Fred outweighs his little sister Phantom and how she’s ruling the roost. He’s definitely bigger and stronger, but she leads the way.  Investment Concerns? Save Money. Get My Friday Email. It’s Free Read more […]

Dershowitz Decries “Hard Left” Hijacking of Democratic Party

In The New York Sun, longtime Democrat Alan Dershowitz decries the party’s hijacking by the “hard left” and explains his reasons for leaving it after so many decades. He writes: I have been a loyal Democrat since the mid-1950s when I worked for local Democratic candidates at Brooklyn. Since 1960 I have voted for every […]

September RAGE Gauge: Win Friends and Influence People

Well, that was an interesting debate, wasn’t it? Not exactly a seminar on how to win friends and influence people. When I talk with you, you tell me it didn’t sway you one bit. And you feel the same way about the undecided voters—they weren’t compelled either way. When I think of Dale Carnegie’s classic […]

Stay Diversified My Friends

Investors are getting nervous about the stock market and are making moves to more traditionally defensive sectors of the market. Remember to stay diversified because it’s not what you invest in but how you invest that stirs the drink. Hardika Singh reports in The Wall Street Journal: Investors are playing defense ahead of the Federal […]

Microsoft Puts Shareholders Ahead of Gamers

Video game workers. Now, that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one. What’s noteworthy is the continued softening of sales post-pandemic. I like Microsoft’s positioning to reduce its video game workforce in the face of what might be a slowdown in demand. Sarah E. Needleman reports for The Wall Street Journal: Microsoft is laying off […]

A Word on the Trump/Harris Dystopian Debate

We knew going in that former President Donald Trump would not get a fair shake from ABC, but it felt like we were watching a trial from The Hunger Games without the costumes. Vice President Kamala Harris was treated like the incumbent and heir to the throne by the moderators. The primetime show was borderline […]

The Trump Tax Reforms and Biden/Harris Inflation

Americans miss the days when their wages were rising in real (inflation-adjusted) terms powered by the Trump tax cuts. For the last three years, they’ve been burdened by higher spending from the Biden-Harris administration, with the outcome being more Americans on the government dole for things like healthcare, rather than being able to afford it […]

Businesses Eager to Invest in Sunbelt

America’s sunbelt is attracting businesses eager to invest in the usually low-tax, low-regulatory states. Will Parker reports for The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. is experiencing a manufacturing revival. More property investors are eager to capitalize on it. American and overseas companies have committed nearly half a trillion dollars to build new factories for electric […]

You’re Ignorant, Learn to Know the Answers

When you invest in a passive index, is it passive? The idea behind “passive” is that the stock market is “efficient,” and that there are no real values to be had because of the wisdom of crowds. Tell that to Warren Buffett, who’s made a decent living for decades on investing against the ignorance and […]

“Revitalized” Oracle Reaps an AI Dividend

In The Wall Street Journal, Tom Dotan discusses the revitalization of Oracle, which “missed the tech industry’s move to cloud computing last decade and ended up an also-ran.” Dotan explains that the AI boom has given Oracle another shot, writing: The 47-year-old company that made its name on relational database software has emerged as an […]