Dear Survivor,
In times like these, it’s good to get your bearings. But sometimes there’s too much going on to do so. It’s why in my regular conversations with you, we talk about what’s going on in the world, but also what’s happening in your neck of the woods.
What you’re telling me is how you want to derive enough cash from your portfolio and maintain purchasing power. This can be done, but remember, there are plenty of firms out there that will make promises that may be hard to keep. It’s why I want you to avoid the hard sales tactics and figure out who you can trust.
It’s important to work with a fiduciary. That’s someone who is legally bound to put your interests ahead of their own.
Get the Investment Counsel You Deserve with a Fiduciary
If you ask the person(s) handling your money one question, it should be this: Are you a fiduciary? Because when you work with a fiduciary, you’re working with someone who, by law, must make financial decisions in your best interest.
Isn’t that obvious, you may wonder? I wish it were. But when you look at the lay of the land and the position investors are put in—pressured to buy—especially in their retirement years, you have to wonder how it got this way.
Too often, investors make decisions based on what they’re told. They don’t read the prospectuses, and they don’t spend time understanding the industry. OK, yes, I know it’s a confusing industry, and it’s that way on purpose. But there are independent-minded advisors out there who will tell you right from wrong.
Looking at past performance tells you nothing about tomorrow—driving through your rearview camera doesn’t tell you what’s ahead—what’s over the horizon.
What draws me most to Fidelity Investments is that it’s still a family business. It is not publicly traded. It isn’t under pressure by Wall Street to “improve” or increase earnings every quarter. Yes, they want growth, but at what cost?
What this allows is for Fidelity to be long-term minded. It’s a more prudent way to run a company. A way to make decisions with the future in mind, not the next quarter. It’s how decisions should be made. Isn’t that a partnership you want instead of being sold new products through email like you’re their next meal?
There’s plenty of old money up here in my neck of the woods. It comes with an attitude, old money, of protecting every penny you have. Old Yankee money is tied to Fidelity Investments, an old Boston-based firm. There’s a lot of history behind how money should be handled.
Seek out independent counsel and demand a fiduciary. But if you need to decide which one comes first, always, always seek out a fiduciary.
Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report from Feb. 1987
You may recall a couple of months ago, Your Survival Guy was close to being caught in the tariff battle with Canada because our house project involves Canadian-made Loewen windows and doors (excellent). Fortunately for us, we dodged a bullet.
The reason I’m telling you this is because we’ve been living down the street in my in-laws’, Dick and Debbie Young’s guest house. My routine is to work on my posts early in the a.m. from the main house, where I talk regularly with Dick about investing. I have a pile of reports to peruse. The one in front of me is Vol. II, Number 5 from February 1987, and if we are to learn one thing from financial history, it repeats.
In this Feb. ‘87 issue Dick begins with an article from The Boston Globe describing a recent raid on commodity futures broker First Commodity, noting that until that year it was the largest retail broker of commodity futures in the nation. That is, until it got tangled up with the FBI, faced fines and suspensions for separating investors from their money with high fees and investment losses. You know the tune.
“Do you get the message?” Dick writes. “A lifetime financial program must be based on concepts of common sense, diversification, conservatism, and specific knowledge. Commodities futures trading should not be part of your game plan, nor should any leverage portfolio investment.”
And do you think investors learn their lessons?
Of course not. Just look at what’s being offered to you today. There’s a hard push for leveraged gold, leveraged ETFs betting on sectors, and the push for you to bail out private equity pigs as they seek an exit strategy from overpriced investments. Financial engineers will always enrich themselves through high-pressure sales tactics, high fees, and, unfortunately, in ways that hurt you. This is nothing new. Invest accordingly.
A Classic Issue from Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
Recently, Your Survival Guy re-read Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report from August of 2015. In this classic issue, he explained how the NASDAQ declined by more than 20% four times so far this century. You can add another to the list from 2022. And that’s not counting some fierce volatility in years when the NASDAQ ended up for the year.
For evidence, need we look beyond this past April? How many friends and family asked you what you were doing with your money? Not that the NASDAQ is out of the woods for the year.
Further along in the issue, Dick concluded that if you are not a patient investor you will be pressured to get out of the market in such instances, especially when you’re in retirement. But if you study the greats like the late great financial editor Richard Russell and his classic Rich Man, Poor Man, you just might learn a thing or two.
In Rich Man, Poor Man, Russell points out how he, the rich man, doesn’t need the markets, and unfortunately, most investors act like the poor man, hanging on to every headline and market close like nervous wrecks. Worrying one’s way through retirement is no way to live.
Beat inertia. Be a rich man. If you need help, get in touch with Your Survival Guy by emailing me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com.
Survive and Thrive this month.
Warm regards,
“Your Survival Guy”
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P.S. A long-time client just finished building a seasonal home in Utah, complete with a car elevator into his man cave. Enjoy!
- Silver / Coral Red 1958 Porsche Speedster manufactured by Intermeccanica International Inc. of Vancouver, Canada, with a custom flat-four boxer engine. (14 yrs)
- Red / Tan 1986 Porsche 930, aka “Widow Maker” with custom flat-six boxer Turbo engine. (39 yrs)
- Silver-Grey / Coral Red, 1972 DeTomaso Pantera w/ Ford Coyote Aluminator V8 engine. (53 yrs)
- Washington Blue / Tan 1936 Ford Cabriolet with modern V8 drivetrain. (5 yrs)
- Red / Grey 1941 Ford Pickup Truck w/ modern V8 drivetrain. (15 yrs)
- White / Red – Black 2015, Lamborghini Huracan w/ V10-All wheel drivetrain. (7 yrs)
P.P.S. Your Survival Guy loves it when you email me from the road, living your best retirement life. Take, for example, recently when you emailed from the road on the homeward leg of a van trip to meet up in Indiana with about 19 other vans at a rally.
“We are currently at Letchworth State Park in New York. Incredible place on the Genesee River. Been on the road since May 31 and will be back on the 13th. Will give you a call when we get back.” -PL
P.P.P.S. Your Survival Guy and Gal went out to Castle Hill recently, overlooking a foggy, windless Narragansett Bay.
If you’re in Newport, go to Castle Hill and visit Your Survival Guy. Email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com.
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