One of the more common trends Your Survival Guy sees in investment portfolios is a lack of diversification. Through the years, investors add more money to the winners while the losers are shoved to the side like misfit toys. Over time, portfolios look less like a toy box and more like a mantle of six or seven trophy stocks. That’s dangerous. If you look at the S&P 500 today, it reminds me of that mantle or trophy case. It looks nice. Who doesn’t like a shiny trophy? But will the winning continue? Yesterday, in a conversation with my father-in-law Dick Young we talked about … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy’s Not a Psychologist, But…
Your Survival Guy’s not a psychologist, but I do know a thing or two about the emotions of investing. You hear plenty about not drawing more than a certain percentage of your money each year. You hear plenty about getting to a certain number where you’ll feel comfortable calling it quits from your job. You also hear about getting the right amount of sleep. Is it eight hours, or can some get by with less? It’s all pretty stressful. You all know that life’s bad events are stressful. But you also know that even life’s so-called “good” events can be hard (having just rounded the … [Read more...]
Is Your Cash Flow Prepped for 2024 and Beyond?
Just when you feel like you can take a break after the busy holidays, now is when you realize how much you still need to do. Things you need to do for you. Is your portfolio in the right mix, balance, or allocation? How about cash flow? When it comes to your investment income and requirements, this is a busy time, if not the busiest time of year. Many of you, because we work together, have already satisfied this year’s RMD or have adjusted your income stream. Simple stuff, yet a matter of survival, so you can take that trip with your family to the beach this summer or a European river … [Read more...]
Still Have Some Lazy Cash After the Holidays?
Do you still have some lazy cash sitting around after the holidays? It’s time to get it up and moving, especially with interest rates and dividend yields you can sink your teeth into. And this has nothing to do with predictions for 2024. I’m simply looking at the lay of the land and like what I see in both bonds and stocks. Your key to retirement success is coming up with a plan you can live with. Remember all those years ago when you purchased your first home and wondered how you’d make the payments? I know you don’t want to have to do that again. But what you did then was develop a plan … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Talking Money with His Daughter
Your Survival Guy was talking about money with his daughter over the holidays. And it wasn’t exactly the conversation I was expecting to have. You see when I logged into my accounts, I didn’t see what I was expecting to see. Usually, I have access to both of my kids’ UGMA accounts. I’ve been managing them for years. When I attempted to pull hers up, a caption box appeared instructing me to contact my representative. “That’s not good,” I thought to myself. “Have we been hacked?” thinking the worst. Your Survival Guy called, and then it hit me. “Sir, your daughter is of age. She’s … [Read more...]
Your Investing Success in 2024 May Rely on This
Your success as an investor has much to do with your temperament. It’s more art than science. That’s not coming from me. That’s from years of reading my father-in-law’s newsletter, Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report. He’s pulled me aside many a time to remind me: “Survival Guy, listen to me, investing is more about art than science. Yes, you’ve got to have the chops, but it’s the art that makes the music.” And here we are at the national anthem stage of 2024. And yes, it’s been a wild couple of years for the S&P 500. Sort of reminds me of the Daytona 500, with investors circling … [Read more...]
Read: Your Lesson About Investment Planning for 2024
Investors have a short-term memory. They forget about the disasters. Because they read, and read, and read in search of the next big thing. And they think they have found it. And then, poof, the black swan swoops in, and those gains are washed away with the tide. Luckily for you, you have Your Survival Guy to remind you of how brutal markets can be. Take last year, for example. Everyone’s talking stocks again. But dig a little deeper, and we have an important lesson playing out in real-time. I’m talking about the arithmetic of losses. Lose 50%, and you need a 100% gain to get back to where … [Read more...]
You May Recall the Death of Balanced Investing
You may recall the death of balanced investing. It was all over the place as interest rates were reset to a more palatable level. Did Your Survival Guy recommend selling out? Of course not. The balanced approach never goes out of style for me, a patient, well-tempered investor. Let’s not forget how far we’ve come with interest rates. And let’s not forget how much debt we’re looking at now as a country. Even if stocks continue their climb, isn’t it reasonable to believe this can’t go on forever? Which leads to the question: Survival Guy what do we do? It’s hard to just stand … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy’s Money for 2024 and Beyond
When it comes to money, my money, Your Survival Guy’s habit is to focus first and foremost on the return of assets and then, and only then, look at the return on them. No one I know likes losing money. And if you don’t have money to compound—in other words, you lost money—the magic of compounding can’t do its work. I’ve been compounding money for most of my life, starting young with a paper route and scooping ice cream. Both taught me to appreciate a dollar earned and to be careful with my savings. Using the rule of 72, I want you to divide it by your rate of return and see more or less how … [Read more...]
In Our Minds, We’re Always about 30 or So
Five years is a long time when thinking about where we’ve been since 2018. But over a lifetime, time flies. Because in our minds, we’re always about 30 or so, even when our bodies beg to differ. With all our living, we don’t know what next year will bring. Yes, I know; there are plenty of predictions out there. Here’s a reminder of how those making them are “often wrong, but never in doubt.” Roll the footage (WSJ article Nov. 2018): U.S. public pension funds are taking on more real estate, and at times some of the riskiest types of property investments, as they try to close their funding … [Read more...]
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