Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Disclosure

  • Home
  • Your Survival
    • EMP Threat
    • Tucker Explains
    • Newport Gas Outage
    • Water
      • Emergency Water Storage
      • Let There Be Water
    • Get Your Gun and Your Training Now
    • Satellite Phones
    • Navy SEAL Survival Kit
  • Your Money
    • Coronavirus Infects Stock Market
    • Looking for a Better America
    • You Invest, They Win
    • Where to Keep Your Cash
    • Paris
    • How to Buy a Boat
    • Dead or Alive? The Future of Long-Term Investing
    • Is Vanguard too Big?
    • Cryptocosm and Life After Google
    • The Last Intelligence Report
    • The Truth Behind the S&P 500
    • RAGE Gauge
    • How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?
    • Your Retirement Life
    • You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life
  • Weapons
    • Self Defense
    • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • About Me
    • Preparing for Times Like These
    • My Videos/Pics
    • Music
      • RIP Neil Peart: You Will Always Be Remembered as a “Modern-Day Warrior”
  • You
    • Our Cabin on Kodiak, Alaska
    • If You Are in Pain, this May Help. It Helped Me.
    • How to Save for a Grandchild
    • FIRE! Financial Independence, Retire Early
    • Compound Interest
    • Arithmetic of Portfolio Losses
    • Maximum Portfolio Withdrawal Rate
    • An Efficient Frontier
    • Retirement Compounders
    • Counterbalanced Total Returns
  • Survive & Thrive
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • Welcome

“I Never Saw My Kids,” He Said. “Now, I See Them All the Time”

November 13, 2020 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

By Foxy burrow @ Shutterstock.com

A few thoughts as we await the recounts and the lawsuits.

  • Game on.
  • I was talking with a client this week who used to commute to Boston every day. It was an hour and a half each way. It was a soul-sucking endeavor. “I never saw my kids,” he said. “Now, I see them all the time.” (for better or worse, ha! My comment). He’s working from home and is as productive as ever. He emphatically stated, “I’m never commuting back to the city AGAIN. I don’t care what I have to do.”
  • I’ve been thinking about this a lot.
  • We aren’t going back to pre-COVID America—vaccine or no vaccine.
  • You know from these posts, here, here, and here, I’ve touched on the affordability, or lack thereof, from the city exodus. Pre-COVID, service industry workers ie: waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc., were being priced out of the tourist destinations like Newport where they serve.
  • Lockdowns have accelerated the lack of affordable real estate in tourist towns, and in the suburbs. If you want to buy a home, it’s a cash deal, or you miss the boat.
  • It cannot go on like this because those providing the services can’t afford it. They’re driving an hour each way in the middle of the night after a long shift and can barely pay rent at that.
  • What’s the takeaway?
  • Two counter-trends, megatrends, in my opinion, are taking hold, and I see them picking up steam.
  • FIRE and tiny home communities.
  • FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), in thinking about my client above, is all about doing MORE with less. It’s a thing. Check it out.
  • I love small homes.
  • Tiny home communities remove the affordability issue for those with SKILLS (the service industry is loaded with skillful Americans). It’s an Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged type of deal where talent goes to LIVE and work, not just work and die a little bit each day. You’ll want to live in places like this because it’s where champions of the individual— not government—are the heroes.
  • The power of the individual is laid out in the first ten amendments. It’s crystal clear. It’s working for Americans. For evidence, take a look at the record gun sales this year, and it’s not even over yet.
  • Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—all three are up to you.
  • All men are created equal—NOT guaranteed equal outcomes.
  • The second wave of lockdowns is coming. Keep one of my favorite quotes, handy. “The most beautiful trips I took were through books, on my couch, in my living room,” Yves Saint Laurent. I can’t wait to get back to Paris.
  • Thank you for reading.

Action Line: Pass it on.

I wrote this for you on April 10, 2020:

You’re doing what you can in these eerie times. This Easter will certainly not be the same as those in the past. It feels like a 180 turn from this time last year when our family celebrated Easter in Paris.

A few years ago, in Paris, we discovered the home of Yves Saint Laurent, which is open to the public as a museum. A quote on the wall of his office explains a lot about how Saint Laurent was able to create year after year after year. It’s simple yet sophisticated, a philosophy that is most helpful in times like these. It gives us hope when we’re all stuck at home. It reads:

“The most beautiful trips I took were through books, on my couch, in my living room.”

Happy Easter to you and yours. Here’s something I wrote for you, something to look forward to, when we are free to move about the country, France, that is:

Standing on the steps of the Madeleine church in the 8th arrondissement, looking down Rue Royale, you can see the Place de la Concorde. Where Rue Royale meets Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, across the street from Gucci, you’ll see the mint green awnings of maison Ladurée, home to the macaron (pronounced mah-kuh-ron)—meringue like cookies, the color of Easter eggs, sandwiched with an emulsified filling.

Groupe Holder is the private baking—not banking—conglomerate owned, founded and controlled by 77-year-old Francis Holder. The company is comprised of Ladurée’s 85 shops in 50 countries, the artisanal bakery-café chain Paul with 740 stores in 43 countries, and an industrial arm known as Chateau Blanc. “Long obsessed with America’s industrial food processes, Holder embraces smooth mass production, and that has propelled his rise,” explains Chloe Sorvino in “The Artisanal Industrialist,” her piece in Forbes: The World’s Billionaires. “But he balances affordability and speed with a distinctly French attitude about the best ingredients and product quality—still using fresh yellow butter in mass-produced loaves and pastries.”

Holder is responsible for France’s top three macaron sellers. The first two logically being Ladurée and Paul. The third may surprise you: McDonalds. McCafe macarons are not only popular in France, but also in Spain, Italy, Belgium and Japan. “Some were surprised about McDonald’s being third,” Holder says. “We said, ‘That’s obvious. We are the one who delivers them.’ Because McDonald’s is really loyal, this baker has factories throughout the world.”

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
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 Zilldjians. 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 and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

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

  • COVID Chaos: New York and California vs. Florida and South Dakota - February 24, 2021
  • How One Man and His Family Survived the Texas Deep Freeze - February 24, 2021
  • UPDATE: Your Gun Rights and Freedom Are Under Assault - February 22, 2021
  • Deep Survival, Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why - February 22, 2021
  • Permitless Carry Corridor Expands: Red States Trouncing Blue States on Freedom - February 19, 2021

If you enjoyed this post, email it to a friend:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp

Related Posts

Trending

  • Update: H.R. 127 Hostile to Law Abiding Gun Owners
  • Permitless Carry Corridor Expands: Red States Trouncing Blue States on Freedom
  • Long Live Rush Limbaugh: Our Walk in the Woods
  • America’s Growth Corridors as Written in 2013 by Joel Kotkin
  • Warning! Your Survival Guy’s on a Boil Water Advisory
  • The Election RESET of EPIC Proportions is UnMasked
  • Do You Know Fidelity’s Best Kept Secret Weapon?
  • Tucker Carlson: Big Tech Censors COVID-19 Vaccine Dissent
  • New Assault Helicopter Design to Revolutionize U.S. Army Capabilities
  • Your Retirement Life: Meet Larry the Car Wash Guy

YOUR SURVIVAL GUY MUST READS

  • What Living in Two Americas Looks Like Today
  • Biden Seeking to Turn 401(k)s Into a Wealth Redistribution Scheme
  • Survive and Thrive December: Disaster Prep in Our Newport Bunker and Your Survival
  • It’s the COVID Stupid: Don’t Stop BELIEVIN’
  • “Five Decades Later Writing to You from Old Town, Key West”-Dick Young
  • 2020: College Is not What You Signed up For
  • Tucker Explains: Chinese Intel Op Targeted Democratic Politicians Including Eric Swalwell
  • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • New Update! Why Vanguard is Too Big: Part IX: It’s NOT Different this Time
  • Californians Desperate to Escape: Look for the Island Life
Only if You’re Serious
50 + Years
Only if You’re Serious
Only if You’re Serious
Only if You’re Serious
Only if You’re Serious
Escape the City
Smith Family Robinson
The Best States for Survival
Only if You’re Serious
Why Vanguard is Too Big for YOU
See Who's Missing the Boat
You Invest, They Win
Emergency Water Storage
Emergency Water Storage
Emergency Water Storage
Why Fidelity is Number One

Copyright © 2021 | Terms & Conditions

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.