It's a hard thought to swallow, but could your home security system be turned against you? What about your web-connected baby monitor? Have you changed the passwords on these devices since you purchased them? If not, Hannah Kuchler writes for the Financial Times that you may be leaving yourself open to cyber spying, or having your devices hijacked, and used against others in what are known as Directed Denial of Service attacks. Make sure you change default passwords on all your internet connected devices. October is Cyber Security awareness month, and there's no better time than now to check … [Read more...]
Monday 6:30am: It’s A Brand New Day
You’ll get your first view of U.S. third-quarter economic growth this week. The U.S. economy advanced at a pathetic 1.1% rate through the first half of the year. The Atlanta Fed cut its estimate to 2.4% from 2.8%. In any event, looking at an eighth straight quarter of growth below 3% is not very exciting. I like to think about GDP at the basic level, as though it’s a paycheck. Imagine two workers, A and B over their 40-year careers. If A can increase his salary by 4%, then after 40-years he will have increased it five times vs worker B’s doubling it after growing at only 2%. Time, and a … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Survival is Your Friend
“I was married for thirty years, with three children and a house to manage and doing lots of charity work. Then came the divorce…” a reader wrote to me. I called her up this week and we talked. Our conversation wasn’t about her divorce. In fact it only came up once. We talked more about the success of her family and the financial independence they have achieved. But as she tells it, when she talks with them about their childhood they tell her it wasn’t always the best. I asked her what she meant by that. She said, "We didn’t have a lot of extra money for expensive vacations.” She explained, … [Read more...]
There is Only One Vanguard
We are often asked why we like Vanguard and Fidelity. Below is an excerpt from the February 2014 issue of Richard C. Young's Intelligence Report in which Dick Young explains his history with Jack Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group. As we all know, there is only one Vanguard. P.P.S. In 2014, investors poured $216 billion into the Vanguard Group, which today is #1 in index-tracking products. I have been with Vanguard from the start. Vanguard founder Jack Bogle was at Wellington Management back in the early seventies in Boston. Wellington was an institutional account of mine in the years I was … [Read more...]
Cyber Attacks: Are You Safe with Vanguard?
October is Cyber Security awareness month. There's probably no online account more important for you to protect than your retirement nest egg. It's your life's savings, and everything you've been working toward for decades. See here how Vanguard protects clients' data and accounts from cyber attack. … [Read more...]
October is Cyber Security Month: Advice from Fidelity
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which I discovered logging in to my account this morning at Fidelity Investments. I thought you’d like to read their recommendations. The easiest part of protecting yourself is choosing a rugged, unique password. By rugged I mean a password that isn't something easily guessed by a hacker's word-list. Examples of easily guessed passwords that are used often are things like "password," "1234," "default," or "1111." Read more below from Fidelity about protecting your accounts with a strong password. Do not reuse passwords Make sure you use … [Read more...]
Is Your Bank Vulnerable to ATM Cyberattacks?
Your investment success/survival is a series of smart decisions. For example, using a chip-enabled ATM and/or credit card bolsters your line of defense against cyber attacks. On our recent trip to Paris I was reminded how far ahead Europe is when it comes to chip readers. They are the norm—as you insert your card into the portable reader that they bring to your table. But that’s not the case here in the U.S. where waiters take your card from you (possibly copying it) and it’s swiped without you being present. Chip tech in the U.S. is becoming more prevalent, but can still be a slow process. … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Sage Advice on How to Get Ahead
You don’t have to start your own business to be an entrepreneur. That was some key advice I recall from the late Tom Stemberg, founder of Staples, when he spoke at Babson College—known for its entrepreneurship programs. Stemberg felt that the best way to continue a business education was by working for a company that was already established—a leader in their field. His idea was to absorb as much as possible, and then, after seeing how the sausage was made, determine if you had the stomach to really do something on your own. I was reminded of this sage advice from Stemberg during a recent … [Read more...]
You’ll be Astonished by the Epic Number of Billionaires in China!
The BBC reports that China has surpassed the number of billionaires in America. The Middle Kingdom recorded a list of 594 of the ultra-wealthy citizens, to America's 535. BBC writes: The annual list is compiled by Shanghai publishers Hurun and often compared to the Forbes list in the US. The Hurun Report's rich list is one of the most closely-watched and accurate assessments of wealth in China. The annual report has been published for the past 18 years. Earlier this year, the publisher released a separate, global list, showing that the number of billionaires in China outnumbered those … [Read more...]
Is Your Governor Making the Grade? Part II
My friend Chris Edwards has done an exhaustive analysis of the trends in state spending, and the performance of the governors of each state. Apart from his ranking of the governors, what struck me in his report "FISCAL POLICY REPORT CARD ON AMERICA’S GOVERNORS 2016," was the frightening trend of increased spending in state budgets. Edwards writes: Figure 1 shows state general fund spending since 2000, based on data from the National Association of State Budget Officers.2 Spending soared between 2002 and 2008, and then it fell during the recession as states trimmed their budgets.3 Spending has … [Read more...]
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