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Archives for May 2022

Some Lessons You Just Can’t Get from a Textbook

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Is office work dead? For those who just graduated from high school or college, some of the best work experiences you can get are from being in the office, or restaurant—face to face with your coworkers and customers. You get lessons you can’t learn from a textbook. What I learned at Fidelity Investments in Boston, MA was how the back office worked. That’s an essential understanding for me today as we use Fidelity as our custodian for clients. But what I also learned was how to live on my own, get to work on time, see how a large team works (not always together), get my car fixed, … [Read more...]

A Private Equity Warning

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In the Financial Times, Mohamed El-Erian explains the lagged reporting process of private equity investments, and how that may reveal an unhappy surprise for investors who currently feel isolated from market turmoil. He writes: Such optimism about the robustness of the asset class may, however, be excessive. Private equity valuations are updated much less regularly than for public investments. Indeed, historically, revaluations have tended to lag behind public markets by a minimum of six to nine months. Moreover, several of the factors that have recently undermined the public markets are also … [Read more...]

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

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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. My focus at www.yoursurvivalguy.com is: Retirement investing and planning Fixed income/bond strategies Your Survival Guy’s Super States Living a Liberty Retirement Constitutional Carry States and Freedom Generational wealth strategies for families Disaster prep and … [Read more...]

China Builds an Anti-Quad Coalition

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China is not happy with the United States and its ever-closer ties with Australia, Japan, and India. The four countries are deepening the ties between them formalized in a group known as the Quad. The Quad's mission, as seen by China, is to deter Chinese progress in the region. Kathrin Hille reports for the Financial Times: Beijing could not have made its displeasure with Joe Biden any clearer. As the US president met leaders of the Quad security grouping in Tokyo, Chinese and Russian nuclear bombers flew over the Sea of Japan. But China is also employing less crude tactics to counter the … [Read more...]

If You Have a Plan, I Believe You’ll Get to Where You Want to Go

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When Your Survival Guy was 12-years old, my family traveled across the country in a 21-foot Winnebago Brave. Winnebago was on to something with the name because we saw the country all right, including the major national and state parks. But we also saw a lot of gas stations and even a few friends for an unexpected, extended stay in Cincinnati, OH. But that’s what’s great about RVing. You remember stuff you never planned on seeing. When we were “stuck” in Cincinnati, we went on a riverboat, played Wiffle ball, went to the club pool, and to the Kings Island amusement park where we rode “The … [Read more...]

There Are Tech Companies “Still Dreaming of Boundless Growth”

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Lately, the prices of many tech stocks have fallen dramatically, but while some tech companies have admitted that there are problems in their businesses, some are, as Laura Forman reports in The Wall Street Journal, "still dreaming of boundless growth." She writes: The biggest stories in tech recently have been of reckonings. Netflix said last month that it would introduce ads—something Co-Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings has long eschewed and even referred to as a form of exploitation. The once aspirational Peloton Interactive ousted its founder, lowered the price of its hardware and … [Read more...]

Nowadays, Everyone Is Getting Some Dividend Religion

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Do you have dividend religion? Do you need some? Stock trends come and go, but dividends meet the test of time. Put father time on your side and put the miracle of compound interest to work for you. Karen Langley and Gunjan Banerji report in The Wall Street Journal on the market’s big boost for dividend stocks, writing: Cash is king right now. The latest evidence: the market’s embrace of dividend-paying stocks over another longtime favorite, firms that do buybacks. Investors are rushing to companies promising regular payouts to shareholders, a sign of Wall Street’s hunger for cash in … [Read more...]

How Can the Fed Prevent Stagflation?

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In the Financial Times, economics commentator Martin Wolf suggests "the Fed must act now to ward off the threat of stagflation." He writes: Is there going to be a recession in the US and other leading economies? This question has naturally arisen among participants at this year’s meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. This is, however, the wrong question, at least for the US. The right one is whether we are moving into a new era of higher inflation and weak growth, similar to the stagflation of the 1970s. If so, what might this mean? The similarities are evident between the present … [Read more...]

How to Avoid the Restrictions of a Target Date Fund

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Your Survival Guy’s never been a big fan of target date funds, where you rely on fund managers to adjust your allocation like a robot based on when you plan to retire. But, unfortunately, these target date funds litter many of America’s 401(k)s (and other defined contribution plans). Many investors just can’t get away from them. Want another option? “Sorry,” they say. Plans that depend on target date funds are like going to Kentucky Fried Chicken and asking for filet mignon. It’s not going to happen. Sure, you can manipulate the allocation by being clever with the target dates. Your … [Read more...]