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Archives for August 2019

Does it Matter if You’re a Lion or a Gazelle? No, but Here’s What Does

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Last week I told you about Babson College's 100th anniversary, and the reception for it Becky and I attended in Newport, RI. Babson's president, Stephen Spinelli, himself a great entrepreneur, spoke about the culture of entrepreneurialism Babson instills in its students. In Babson's Thought & Action online magazine, Jackie Villaci picks up that conversation of the entrepreneurial culture at the college and discusses it with some famous Babson alumni. She writes: The world’s most famous entrepreneurs didn’t just change the game in their respective industry, they disrupted the norm. While … [Read more...]

Banks are Fleeing Munis. What are They Leaving Behind?

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With fewer tax advantages offered by municipal bonds after the 2017 Tax reform, banks are leaving the market for the fixed income securities. What is that leaving in their wake? The market for munis is likely to become more volatile as fewer big players are available to create liquidity. Michelle Kaske reports at Bloomberg: Big banks cut their holdings of state and local-government bonds during the last three months of 2018 as the corporate tax cut reduced the benefit of owning the securities, signaling the industry’s biggest annual pullback from the market on record and its first in more … [Read more...]

U.S. Japan Trade Deal Said to be Great for Corn Farmers

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While over twenty Democratic candidates travel Iowa, eating corn dogs and delivering stump speeches to voters, President Trump has used the power of incumbency to do something none of them is capable of. Trump has inked an in-principle trade deal with Japan in which all of America's corn surplus would be bought up. The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump said Sunday the U.S. and Japan had reached a trade deal “in principle” that would pave the way for more U.S. farm exports to Japan, while dropping the threat of increased U.S. tariffs on Japanese cars. “We’ve been working on a … [Read more...]

The Three Best Retirement Decisions I Ever Made

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In April of 2004, I explained to readers three decisions about retirement that I was very happy to pass on. I wrote: Long ago, I made three decisions that I am happy to pass on to you regarding retirement: (1) Don’t. (2) Live in a warm weather state. (3) Live in a warm weather state without a state income tax and with a homestead exemption. My clear choice for #2 and #3 was and is Florida. We’ve been homestead exemption Key West residents since 1992. Debbie and I have traversed the complete 360 degrees of Florida. We don’t travel inland much. After all, if the choice is being near the … [Read more...]

As Our Family Celebrates Babson’s 100th, a Reminder on How to Make Money

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Last night Becky and I had the pleasure of attending Babson’s Summer Reception in Newport. Hosted by Mary and Thomas Gilbane, Jr., it was an opportunity for the entire Babson community in Rhode Island to get together and speak with Babson’s new President Stephen Spinelli MBA ‘92. Spinelli as President makes this year for Babson—it’s 100th--even more special. As you may know, Babson has played a special role in our family with Becky’s dad Richard Young ’63 (a former trustee), brother Matthew Young ’92, Becky ’94, and me ’94 all graduates of the college. Seeing and hearing Spinelli … [Read more...]

Shouldn’t Your Money Be Treated Well?

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If you choose to do business with a firm, shouldn't you be treated well? Fidelity has chosen to automatically sweep customers' cash into higher-yielding accounts, rather than stick it in low yielding bank accounts like most of the company's competitors. Advantages like this are why I do business with Fidelity. Earlier this month Fidelity explained its decision to offer its customers accounts that earn up to 47 times those of its competitors', writing: Customers Opening Brokerage & Retirement Accounts Automatically Directed to Higher Yielding Cash Options, While Retaining Choice … [Read more...]

Danger, Deception, and Deals on Amazon

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In a major investigation, The Wall Street Journal has turned up major safety issues on Amazon. The investigation focused on products offered by third-party sellers via Amazon's website. According to the Journal, many products were found that were either deceptively described to get around bans or were products that put customers in danger. Alexandra Berzon, Shane Shifflett and Justin Scheck report: Many of the millions of people who shop on Amazon.com see it as if it were an American big-box store, a retailer with goods deemed safe enough for customers. In practice, Amazon has increasingly … [Read more...]

196,000 Millionaires Agree That This Is the Place to Keep Your 401(k)

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At Fidelity, 196,000 401(k) accounts are worth at least $1 million. It turns out, I'm not the only one who likes working with Fidelity. In the past, I have written to you about my positive experience with Fidelity's services. You can read more about Fidelity here: Fidelity Investments: Why it’s #1 My Personal View on Fidelity Investments for You This Money Market Fund is Paying 47 Times More than its Competition Identity Fraud on the Rise: Here’s Fidelity’s Customer Protection Guarantee Now, Fox Business reports that the number of millionaires at Fidelity is rising. Ken Martin … [Read more...]

Stores Remake Retail to Fight Amazon’s “Transactional” Experience

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If you know exactly what you want to buy, is there any better way than to pull it up on the internet, and have it shipped directly to your home in as little as a day? Sometimes you can even get your products in hours. It's hard to beat that type of transaction. But what if you're looking to try new things, and want to experience a variety of products before choosing which is right for you? The internet is not so well adapted for that sort of shopping. That's where a number of smaller companies are working to beat Amazon and other e-commerce companies. Creating a better buying experience is … [Read more...]

Can You Rely on the Experts to Protect Your Privacy?

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Unfortunately, the short answer to my headline question is, no. You cannot rely on cybersecurity experts to protect your personal financial information, as evidenced by the numerous breaches of personal information at companies employing large staffs of such experts. Marriot, Equifax, J.P. Morgan, Yahoo (twice), and now Capital One, among many others, have all fallen prey to serious breaches of their customers' information. The Wall Street Journal reports of Capital One's recent breach: The cybersecurity unit—responsible for ensuring Capital One’s firewalls were properly configured and … [Read more...]