Normally in late autumn lumber prices are falling like the leaves, but it's 2020, and lumber price activity is just as crazy as everything else. Instead of dropping, prices for lumber are climbing. Ryan Dezember reports for The Wall Street Journal: Lumber futures have shot up 24% so far in November, closing Thursday at $616.90 per thousand board feet. That’s a lot lower than the record $1,000 hit this summer during America’s pandemic-induced lumber binge. But it is nearly 90% more than the typical price for boards delivered in January. “By any historical standards, this is just incredibly … [Read more...]
You Invest, They Win
The founder of the largest hedge fund in the universe, Ray Dalio, tweeted this from Burning Man:
Just back from Burning Man. Reminds me of Woodstock with better art (installations) and less good music. What a great vibe and what amazing creativity!
Photo is with my pal and coworker Jeff Taylor at his great music camp Root Society. If you go next year, 1-5am is best.
Are these the guys you want running your money? You invest, they win. But hey, it’s not about the money. It’s about saving the planet man.
Because if it’s about the money (Dalio has a personal net worth of $19 billion) then this hedge fund lost to a boring Vanguard fund that uses a conventional mix of 60% stocks and 40% bonds.
The article doesn’t come out and name the fund, but perhaps you, as a long-time reader of our websites, know the name: Vanguard Wellington.
You might also know what Vanguard founder, the late, great, Jack Bogle, meant when he said: “The grim irony of investing is that we investors as a group not only don’t get what we pay for, we get precisely what we don’t pay for.”
The captains of the investing universe are living their “best life” at whose expense?
Yours, of course. You invest, they win. Read more below.
How Can You Make Money in Your Sleep? Read on…
"Are you calling to tell me you bought a Treasury yielding five percent?" my client asked. "I wish," I responded. "I remember when they were yielding ten percent," he said. "But then again, inflation was that high too." "Do you guys handle taxable accounts?" He asked. "Yes, we're not picky." "I've got a lot of money in CDs. When they mature, it's just sitting in cash doing nothing." From there, we started talking about quality stocks and bonds and how a combination of the two could work as a long-term source of income. Maybe we don't get all of the income we want and dip into principal. … [Read more...]
ESG Funds: You Invest, They Win—Here’s Why
You work too hard to have your savings messed with. You have enough on your plate as it is. Between keeping track of the rules for Roths, IRAs, RMDs, it all adds up. You read about ESG funds that are supposed to be “good” for the environment and wonder, “But, are they good for me?” In my series for you, “You invest, they win,” you wonder. You may also wonder about my concerns with Vanguard being too big. “How do you know if it’s too big?” you ask. “Well, it might be too big,” I respond, “if your phone rep is greener than a recycling bin and working in a room the size of a football field.” If … [Read more...]
Biden Seeking to Turn 401(k)s Into a Wealth Redistribution Scheme
Joe Biden wants to use the 401(k) system to redistribute wealth from wealthy taxpayers to lower-income savers. Daisy Maxey reports for Barron's: President-elect Joe Biden hopes to encourage lower- and middle-income workers to save more by changing the existing tax preferences for savings in retirement accounts. A divided Congress is likely to hinder his plans. Currently, workers contribute pretax dollars to 401(k) or 403(b) retirement savings plans, then pay taxes when they withdraw money in retirement. This upfront tax break is more valuable for richer households because they fall into … [Read more...]
Is Your “Wealth” Manager Lending out Your Cash and Charging You 2%?
Is your broker making money lending out your cash? Because in times like these, banks are making money any which way they can. Thankfully Fidelity is not a bank. You can rest assure they’re not loaning out your cash. What are you sure about today? I’ll tell you what I know. First and foremost, we need to come to grips with low interest rates. This is more troubling than you think. When interest rates are this low, the average investor (not you, I hope) can’t sit still and just earn a couple percent. The average investor needs more. The average investor will think nothing of lending it … [Read more...]
At Age 90, He’s Compounding Some Big Numbers
In speaking with a prospective client over the last couple of weeks, I’m here to tell you, the key to his success is TIME. At 90 years old, he’s compounding big numbers. He’s been doing it for years. He credits my father-in-law’s Richard C. Young Intelligence Report for his success. “It kept me on course,” he said. The reason we’re talking now (we also spoke five years ago) is that he lost his wife. He feels it’s time to make sure the portfolio is in good hands for his kids. “They don’t have a lot of interest in this stuff,” he said. “But they understand the Richard C. Young Intelligence … [Read more...]
Don’t Sweat It When She Asks, “Do We Have Anything to Watch Tonight?”
OK, we all know the real battle in your day begins when one of you asks, “Do we have anything to watch tonight?” Your palms sweat as dinner’s ready, and you have no idea what “you’re” going to watch. The last place you want to be is on the couch, dinner in front of you, toggling around tiles on your TV with not a clue what you’re looking for. I feel your pain. You can only watch the Crown so many times (I’m on our third loop around the empire). Unfortunately, investors get that exact sweaty palm feeling when they start punching in the ETF and mutual fund quotes on their computer to do a … [Read more...]
What if You Don’t Have to Cut the Cord to Pay Less?
When you look at your monthly statement, do you feel like you have a good handle on what’s going on? You punch in an ETF or mutual fund symbol, but it doesn’t tell you much. It’s like trying to pick a show on Netflix—let’s see what this is about—only to realize five episodes in that it was a waste of time. Your time is valuable. You deserve to know what’s going on from day one. Today you have advisors selling you blueprints that sound good, but then you realize they’re stuffing your portfolio with ETFs and mutual funds that charge you a fee on top of what you’re paying the advisor. A lot of … [Read more...]
When Isn’t Money Tight? Read More to Find Out
If you’re like most investors I speak with, you’ve put in your time. You’re in retirement or well along the road to planning for it. You’ve made sacrifices. You’ve put the kids through college or have saved enough to do so, and you feel like you’re over the hump. That’s a great feeling. It’s what you imagined that first time you sent a check in to invest. The idea that someday you’d be able to enjoy it. It’s a special moment. For many others, that moment may never come. That’s because, from my vantage point at least, investment advisers don’t spend enough time understanding why investors do … [Read more...]
Market Down 900 Points and Here’s what YOU Told Me
As the market fell by 900 points midday yesterday, here’s what you and I were talking about: You called to let me know your son and daughter-in-law are interested in becoming clients, and to expect a call. That call came within the hour. We’re setting up the accounts. You were working on new account paperwork, but you had a question about the transfer process and were emailing me a quick question, then it was off to golf. You emailed me income projections on a spreadsheet for us to review in our next call. You are sending me an account statement to transfer your 403b, and then … [Read more...]
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