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 Best Investment You Can Make Ever

By

The best investment you can ever make is your work.

Steve Jobs said “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

I like that quote. But come on Steve, work can be a pain. No one loves getting up at 4:30am.

But after years and years of doing your work you wake up one day and realize, “hey, I might not have to work.” And that’s when you know you’ve found great work.

Steve Jobs was tough. He was a pain to work for. He was one of the hardest-driving CEOs of our time. He was a fighter.

Is current Apple CEO Tim Cook like his predecessor? Maybe. But there was only one Steve Jobs.

But there’s a lot of money riding on Mr. Cook today.

When I look at the Vanguard 500 Index or the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, one company shows up as the top holding: Apple.

The 500 Index sounds like things are spread out pretty good. But the reality is that the top ten names for both funds are the same companies. And both indices have a huge dependency on their top ten names which comprise close to one fifth of each index.

In 2008, the Total Stock Market Index and 500 Index where down 37.04% and 37.02% respectively. Where’s the safety in that?

If you’re going to gamble on one investment, make it YOURSELF. And don’t ever think investing is a matter of the heart. It’s far from it.

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.

Recent Posts from YourSurvivalGuy.com

“Wow, That Was an Obvious Buying Opportunity”

Bond investors pay attention. The loud sucking noise you hear is impatient investors selling for pennies on the dollar. We may look back on today in a few years and say, “Wow, that was an obvious buying opportunity.” It’s funny (not that funny) that when investors see lower prices in their portfolio, their instinct is […]

“Doctor, What Are You Doing?” “Nothing,” He Said

“The weather’s been crazy up here,” he said. “The crosswinds on the landing strip are the worst I’ve ever seen.” This was part of a conversation I had with a client yesterday. He spends weeks at a time fishing the big country of Alaska. He said the winds were so bad, guys he knows crashed […]

Bidenflation Making It Harder to Retire

In the NY Post, E.J. Antoni explains how the inflation of the Biden era is making it harder for Americans to retire. He writes: When he [Biden] took office, the economy was growing at a $1.5 trillion annualized rate and recovering an average of a half- million jobs per month. Inflation was a mere 1.4%, […]

Will Illinois Gun Owners Register Their Firearms?

Illinois has banned so-called “assault weapons” but grandfathered in those already owned by residents. Now, the window is open to register the guns, and it will be interesting to see how Illinois gun owners respond. The common refrain from many gun owners is that “registration is the first step to confiscation.” They are understandably wary […]

“Oh, This Is Prime Real Estate,” They Say

Are you hearing about the real estate debt you can buy and get ten percent on your money? I am. No, thank you. I hear it all. I’m Your Survival Guy. I get the offers, too. I don’t like risk. I’m fine collecting the interest on the full faith credits in treasuries. It’s funny (not […]

Tucker and O’Reilly Discuss the Three People Everyone Needs

Enjoyed Tucker’s interview with Bill O’Reilly, especially the part near the end where O’Reilly talks about the three people everyone needs: a doctor, a lawyer, and your trusted financial advisor. Ep. 26 The Bill O’Reilly Interview pic.twitter.com/yHabD7W9NO — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 28, 2023 Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday […]

Investing Habits of the Fairly Wealthy: #10 Powerball

Your Survival Guy knows a lot about highly successful, fairly wealthy people because I talk to them. On the flip side, I know plenty about those who’ve won and lost a fortune. I know about the guy who can’t hold onto his money. He just spends every penny, afraid it might be gone tomorrow. And […]

Your Survival Guy: “Life on Main Street Hasn’t Been This Hard in a While”

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. Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with […]

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

Your Survival Guy has a client whose grandfather left him some money. That was nice. But the real gift was how his grandfather would teach him about money when they were together. How to roll pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters sitting on the floor and talking. Adding up the pile and feeling the weight in […]

How Joe Biden Raised Oil Prices

You saw Joe Biden demonize fracking and the oil industry throughout his campaign until the debates when Donald Trump cornered him on it, at which point he denied it all. Then, once he moved into the White House, Biden began his war on oil and helped to drive up prices on everything Americans need. At […]

Is the Philadelphia Looting Spree the Wake-up Call America Needs?

Crime has ravaged businesses across America since 2020, when radical politicians gave looters the green light to turn America into a warzone. Since then, the nation has watched with horror as roving gangs have cleaned out popular locations like Nordstroms and Apple Stores and even little gas stations. For two days now, America has watched […]

“No Way I’m Spending That Much on Those”

Your Survival Guy and Gal were in Boston this weekend, visiting our daughter and son. If you want to know what stagflation feels like, have two kids in college at the same time. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Take, for instance, after breakfast, strolling down Newbury Street window shopping. The next […]

What Trade Policy Serves America’s National Interest Best?

In The American Conservative, Micah Meadowcroft examines the words of one of Your Survival Guy’s favorite presidents, “Silent Cal” Coolidge, who is known for saying, “The business of America is business,” but who actually said, “After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing […]