Turns out, members of California’s public pension don’t like it when the C-suite are activists with other people’s money. The workers expressed their dissatisfaction with pension-fund-activism by firing CEO Priya Mathur and replacing her with Jason Perez. New CEO Perez's main point of criticism against Mathur's approach was her focus on "environmental, social and governance investing," which is a euphemism for using the pension fund's money to play politics. Perez ran on a platform of refocusing the pension fund on "the agency’s fiduciary duty to maximize investor returns." Sound … [Read more...]
Don’t Stop Believing
Imagine sitting on the board of your favorite company, attending the next meeting, clearing your throat, and asking “How much are we going to increase the dividend this quarter?” Welcome to the company! Because that’s what it’s like to be an investor in a stock that cherishes its shareholders, its owners if you will, showing appreciation through regular dividends and dividend increases. It’s nice to be appreciated, especially when stocks are a little shaky. Getting paid to be in them helps. A lot. Which is why dividends are so important to every investor no matter their age or net … [Read more...]
Librarian Leaves $4 Million to UNH
If you want some inspiration for your savings, read this post I wrote back on September 2, 2016. It tells the story of Robert Morin and the power of saving. "Robert Morin worked nearly 50 years at the University of New Hampshire library and never seemed to spend any money,” writes Brian MacQuarrie of the Boston Globe. He ate fritos and coke for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch and frozen dinners for dinner. I’m not saying this is the life for you. But I do think it’s pretty amazing how being frugal can impact one’s finances. At the core of Mr. Morin’s financial success is the fact … [Read more...]
U.S. is #1: World’s Most Competitive Economy
For the first time in a decade the U.S. is the world’s most competitive economy. That according to the World Economic Forum rankings. Thank you President Trump. And the good news is, there’s room for improvement. I can tell you from my conversations with investors that Trump has brought a new level of energy, an energy that was missing in the Obama years. And, finally, the misguided zero percent interest rate policy—a brutal time for savers as their life savings earned nothing as it was given away for free to Wall Street—may be behind us. Which leads me to believe that this is a … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Is Owning a Second Home a Good Idea?
One of the sticky parts about owning a second home is property taxes. You can't escape them. Even my favored "live free or die," New Hampshire, by example, has the third highest property taxes in the country. California, perhaps surprisingly, has a much lower rate, coming in at #34. But, the median price of a home in California far exceeds that of New Hampshire. My advice to anyone considering a second home is to rent first or to be absolutely sure you love where you will live. You'd be surprised how much you can learn about a city or town by actually living there for a year or so as a renter. … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: A Dire Warning Part III
It has been my experience that publicly managed funds, such as pensions, tend to be backward looking. They embody a rear-view mirror way of investing that is, often times, easier to defend to a committee to save one’s job, but not necessarily the best investment strategy, as I explain here and here. In another example of group-think, pensions are trying to “protect” against losses with a “crisis risk offset.” Sounds pretty serious. In reality, it’s a 20-year Treasury bond ETF that is almost guaranteed to lose money in an all but guaranteed rising interest rate environment. Remember, when … [Read more...]
This Harvard Professor Thinks a Recession Might Be Coming
Harvard economics professor, Martin Feldstein, who presciently said the U.S. may be in recession back in March of 2008, is again warning that a recession may be looming. He writes at The Wall Street Journal: The principal risk now is that a stock-market slowdown could shrink consumer spending enough to push the economy into recession. Share prices are high today because long-term interest rates are extremely low. Today the interest rate on 10-year Treasury notes is less than 3%, meaning the inflation-adjusted yield on those bonds is close to zero. The hunt for higher yields drives investors … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: A Dire Warning Part II
In Part I, I wrote to: You may want to pay attention to what public pensions are buying and, more often than not, do the exact opposite. Case in point, a few years ago this group loaded up on “alt-investments” and hedge funds. Don’t look now, but hedge funds, which charge an exorbitant 2-and-20 (2% per year on your assets under management and 20% of your investment gains), are going out of business left and right. And then, as reported yesterday in The WSJ, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS) spent more than $2 billion on Southern timberland and harvested the trees … [Read more...]
Stocks Crater 831 Points
On a day where the Dow shed 831 points and tech heavy Nasdaq lost over four percent, many bonds made money. It’s a simple, yet important, reminder of how counterbalancing works. Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com. … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: A Dire Warning
You may want to pay attention to what public pensions are buying and, more often than not, do the exact opposite. Case in point, a few years ago this group loaded up on “alt-investments” and hedge funds. Don’t look now, but hedge funds, which charge an exorbitant 2-and-20 (2% per year on your assets under management and 20% of your investment gains), are going out of business left and right. And then, as reported yesterday in The WSJ, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS) spent more than $2 billion on Southern timberland and harvested the trees at depressed prices to … [Read more...]
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