Investors are recognizing some extra risk in markets and want protection. Gold, and more recently silver, have been a big hit. Amrith Ramkumar writes in The Wall Street Journal of silver's drive to a nearly four-year high: Both gold and silver tend to attract investors when money managers are skittish about the global economy and seeking alternatives to stocks and bonds. They continue to attract investors who expect a bumpy economic recovery in the years ahead. Meanwhile, ultralow bond yields continue to make precious metals more appealing to investors because the metals don’t offer any … [Read more...]
This Open for Business State Reels in More Investment and Jobs for its Citizens
You already have a good idea of which states are open for business, and which states are driving entrepreneurs and small business owners away. But when it comes to the benefits of being a Right to Work state with a pro-business atmosphere, you have probably heard about one state more than any other from Your Survival Guy. That state is, of course, South Carolina. Just look at some of the headlines you've seen here about South Carolina in the past: BMW Breaks Records in Right to Work South Carolina Right to Work South Carolina is Flooded in Jobs You Can Find a Better America in … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Survival Checklist: Move to an Island
In times like these, your safety tops the retirement survival checklist. If you can live on an island (Newport, Key West for example) do it. Islands can be easily defended, period. Your island doesn’t need to be surrounded by water. I like the idea of a cul de sac or some high elevation retreat. You get the point: Easily defendable and easy to shut down access. Making the thugs think twice is the point. They aren’t looking for “hard” targets. It’s why I love the work Lauren Boebert is doing in Rifle, CO (can you think of a better name for a town?) at her Shooters Grill restaurant. If … [Read more...]
Your Country Home and Generational Wealth is up to You
If you own a waterfront home, or a mountain retreat, or some land with a barn not too from the city, then you know their values are going up. I’m seeing it here in coastal Newport at every turn with license plates from NY, NJ, MA, and CT filling the streets—the secret’s out. But most have been dreaming about the “lifestyle” for years. They just needed a push to get in the game. “If you’re on some kind of fence, Covid shoves you off of it,” explains Luke Siegel as he and his wife Johanna bought a home on 30 acres with a barn just north of NYC. (You can read about here). Sitting on the … [Read more...]
Welcome Aboard: How to Put an End to the Virus
You know if you want to put an end to the virus, let Biden win. The silence will be deafening. This is why talk about vaccines and keeping kids (and teachers) safe by staying home is a joke. It’s all political. Vaccines are a crapshoot, especially if they’re rushed to market, because the first incentive for vaccine producers is to make money not to protect you. It reminds me of variable annuities—the toxic waste gumming up many retirement portfolios—they do more harm than good, and make a lot of money for the salesmen. How about the kids? If it’s about the kids, then open up the schools and … [Read more...]
I Would Love to Talk with You
If you’ve been with me during this crisis, then chances are your investments are in good shape. I can’t guarantee it, but I can guarantee you’re smiling inside when someone asks how your portfolio is doing. We all know the guy who tells you he sold at the top and waited out the bottom. That guy, however, still has to figure out when to get back in (if he was ever in, to begin with). As far as I’m concerned, he would have been better off collecting dividends and reinvesting them at lower prices and perhaps picking up some cheap, high-income bonds. It’s because of times like these that you’re … [Read more...]
The Fed Needs More Voices Who Know the Value of Your Dollar
When you measure the value of your dollars, it should be as dependable as the number of inches in a foot. Judy Shelton understands this simple principle better than most. Her nomination to the Federal Reserve Board of governors will be voted on by the Senate Banking Committee on July 21. James Freeman explains in The Wall Street Journal why this has so many people so angry. He writes: This year the Fed’s balance sheet surged to more than $7 trillion from a pre-Covid $4.2 trillion to offset the economic lockdowns. A slight recent decline offers hope that the money-printing festival may be … [Read more...]
Timeless Advice on How Parents Can Help Students Succeed in School
Here’s a wonderful post from my friend Mike Spinrad on how parents can help students succeed in school. Thank you Mike for your timeless advice. Many years ago, as a student teacher in an urban high school, I asked a parent for help in teaching an unengaged and out of control teenager. The parent responded that it was my job and not her's to teach the child. While that unhelpful suggestion may be technically true, parents can do much more to ensure their child's success. Outlining the major concepts of his book, Our Schools and Our Future, Chester Finn wrote in 1991: “…we need to … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Emergency: Engines Won’t Start, We’re Drifting into the Rocks
Boating conditions off Newport can be a nasty mix. Rolling ocean swells, an opposing current, mixed with 25-knot gusts, can create a challenging chop. Nevermind the reefs hiding under the surface like a school of sharks the size of Jaws waiting for you to get too close. Over the Fourth of July weekend, we traveled by boat from Newport, RI to my parents' house in Mattapoisett. Talking with my dad, coming ashore, motoring to his slip in his dinghy, he told me about the engine problems he’d been having and how he and his boatyard guy came up with a fix. After a long weekend of social distance … [Read more...]
You’re Telling Me about 8% and Pickleball
If you’re thinking about retirement or investing in some high yield real estate deal, don’t. Because as soon as you run a few scenarios grounded in reality and not “pie in the sky” dreams, you quickly realize losing income and principle are grave mistakes you don’t recover from, ever. In my conversations with investors, I hear it all. You wouldn’t believe some of the dividend yields I’m told are out there, ranging from eight to twenty percent. Good luck with that. When the government offers ten-year treasuries with an annual yield of 0.66%, it’s time for a reality check. “But,” you … [Read more...]
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