When you retire, the feeling that you need to always be doing something will be there. It’s important to remember you’ve earned the luxury to “Take it Easy.” David Ekerdt writes: Instead, I believe that the mantra should be: Let retirement be retirement. Studies of people who pass from work to retirement consistently find that they prize sovereignty over time—freedom—as the great gift of their new stage of life. This should include the freedom to shrug off any pressure to conform to a busy standard. Our society has a sufficient number of retirees who feel driven to pass their later years … [Read more...]
Cryptocurrencies: The Kolion
“Mr. Shlyapnikov has launched a cryptocurrency, the kolion, named after his hamlet some 80 miles southeast of Moscow, buoyed by an initial investment of a half-million dollars from investors in Russia and abroad,” writes Thomas Grove in the WSJ. It is an example of a crypto doing what it’s supposed to do: offer a trading network where money and trust are scarce. Grove continues: “Banks don’t want to lend to small farmers,” said Mr. Shlyapnikov. “So we created our own currency.” He said he wasn’t personally profiting, and appeared to live frugally. The tactic is popular in a part of … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Enjoy Monet like a Rockefeller
“In 1883, Monet and his family settled at Giverny, northwest of Paris. Three years later he acquired an adjacent piece of land and applied for permission to dig a pond, which he hoped would be a source of artistic inspiration,” writes Rebecca Wei, President of Christie’s Asia. “In his petition to the local authorities, Monet specified that the pond would serve ‘for the pleasure of the eyes and also for the purpose of having subjects to paint.” One of Claude Monet’s (1840-1926) “Water Lilies” or Nympheas en fleur, painted circa 1914-1917 will be offered to bidders in “The Collection of David … [Read more...]
$50 Lobster Roll?
A $50 lobster roll? Talk about sticker shock. But that’s the reality in Boston. “A combination of lousy weather, international demand, and iced-over Canadian fisheries has created a shortage that has driven whole hard-shell lobster prices to as high as $15 a pound this spring, up from about $8 a pound last year,” reports Janelle Nanos in the Boston Globe. “For chefs buying pre-shucked lobster meat for their rolls, the price has been hovering at $40 a pound, or about $8 more than a year ago, several said.” Nanos continues: Typical pricing for a lobster roll at North Square Oyster in the … [Read more...]
Your Pre-Retirement Years: A Straightforward Way to Earn Over 9% with Vanguard Wellesley
Over the past year, the total return for Vanguard Wellesley has been just over five and half percent. “Five and a half percent? What’s so great about that,” you might think. Well, it can be great if you’re a patient investor and you allow the miracle of compound interest, what Albert Einstein is said to have referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, to work its magic for you. Father Time can be your friend, as I will explain in a moment. Yesterday, I was speaking with a client whom I’ve been working with since his mid-50s. He’s in his early 70s now but it hardly feels like close to … [Read more...]
Meet a Long-Time Friend and Advisor: The Stissing, Mountain Man
You Might be a Mountain Man if… If you live on a mountain and regularly send pictures of nosy black bears sniffing around your front door and casually note in your email: “Had some visitors last night,” then, you might be a mountain man. Meet Tim Jones. He is: “The Stissing Mountain Man.” Tim Jones lives on Stissing Mountain, located in the Hudson Valley in Pine Plains, New York. I met Tim when his son, also Tim, began working with us 11 years ago. I’ll refer to them as Tim Sr. and Tim Jr. for this piece. You know when you meet someone and there’s a genuineness where you know they … [Read more...]
Yes, Vanguard is too Big: Part II
Has there ever been a bigger supporter of Vanguard than Dick Young whom, unlike other promoters and hucksters out there today, never had a horse in the race? And could there be a better triple play combo than Wellington Management, Vanguard, and Dick Young’s approval? Vanguard’s low-cost expense ratios, no 12b-1 fees, and its history with Wellington Management were, among other valuable investor tenets, enough to recommend Vanguard to you. Buying Vanguard Wellington and Wellesley was simple. Owning them gave you a balanced portfolio with a stock to bond mix of 60/40 or 40/60. There … [Read more...]
Bitcoin Diehards are HODL
"After bitcoin’s frenzied rally last year, prices have lost about two-thirds of their value from a December high. The cryptocurrency had been trading around $7,000 in recent days, although a sharp jump Thursday morning briefly lifted the price above $7,900, according to CoinDesk,” writes Steven Russolillo in the WSJ. “Nonetheless,” he continues, “in the past few months, bitcoin has faded off the front pages of newspapers and it no longer dominates people’s social-media feeds. Global internet searches for the word “bitcoin” have fallen by over 80% from December, according to Google … [Read more...]
Emergency Cash: Bitcoin or Dollars?
Originally posted on December 1, 2017. Bitcoin is being considered by some as their emergency stash. For me, when the power goes out, I prefer having dollars on hand. ATMs will be out of commission, and depending on road conditions, even if my bank is open, I’m not sure I’ll be hitting the streets to make a withdrawal. One of the many hurdles bitcoin faces is frictionless exchange. It doesn’t have the general acceptance by society yet like the dollar, and to achieve that acceptance will be a monumental task. In an emergency situation, I want to be able to have cold hard cash on hand … [Read more...]
Vanguard GNMA and Your Retirement Years
When the financial crisis destroyed the stock market in 2008, guess which fund weathered the storm? You guessed it Vanguard GNMA. When the tech bust destroyed the stock market at the beginning of this century, guess which fund weathered the storm? Right again, Vanguard GNMA. That’s two huge busts in the stock market so far this century. Many mutual funds focus on 10-year performance. As 2018 moves forward into 2019, the brutal losses of 2008 will be rolled off, and investors may not see the risk inherent in stock funds as they make their allocation decisions. But a retirement lasts … [Read more...]
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