You know I’m a fan of Joel Kotkin. His work on America’s Growth Corridors is top-notch. His writing on demography is also enlightening. Now, Kotkin exposes the hypocrisy that underlies Joe Biden’s career as a politician. Despite advertising himself as “working-class” Joe, Biden is constantly looking out for his corporate backers. Kotkin writes: Joe Biden may present himself as a ‘working-class hero’, a claim reiterated recently in the leftist American Prospect, but increasingly America’s workers are showing signs not of common cause but disquiet. Hollywood workers just announced … [Read more...]
Quarters in My Loafers Trying to Beat Inflation
You can’t put a price tag on freedom, or maybe you can. Because, if you know what you’re paying your bank every month to live in the house they own, you know exactly the price. Yesterday, I received an email from a married couple. They’re clients. And it just so happens they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary the day before and have decided to pay off their mortgage. Do you remember when you paid off yours? I do. It felt great. And the only reason it happened was because Becky and I were motivated to get it done. Why? Because we never forgot the arrogance of the mortgage lender … [Read more...]
MAYDAY: Black Smoke Rising from Your Survival Guy’s Boat
You don’t mess around with smoke on a boat. Which is where Your Survival Guy found himself last Saturday preparing to bring our boat, Tom Sawyer, back to Newport after a two-week stay on a mooring I keep in Mattapoisett. (You can read here about how my yard went up in smoke). Turning the engines over, they just wouldn’t catch. I checked the safety kill switch. It was connected. Made sure I wasn’t in gear (Read here about that one from last summer.) Check. Tried the engines again. No go. But this time, I saw smoke rising through the console from down below, along with the smell of burning … [Read more...]
HELLO: “How’s It Going? I Don’t Know Anything”
“How’s it going?” I ask. “Good,” he replies. “I don’t know anything.” And with that, I know he’s good because he’s been telling me that for twenty years now. Now, I can assure you when he says he “don’t know anything,” he knows quite a bit. Because you see, he quit a lucrative job in his 30s to go to medical school simply to try his hand at being a doctor. He, we’ll call him Doc now, is still working part-time as a doctor in his 70s. When telling me the story, his brother-in-law, also a client, tells me Doc’s the smartest guy he’s ever met. Another client, the brother-in-law’s best … [Read more...]
Why You Can’t Afford to Miss the Boat
You can’t afford to miss the boat, especially when it comes to making money. But it happens all the time with investors. They let inertia slow them down, arriving at the docks too late or deciding not to take the voyage at all. They end up doing nothing for years on end. That’s not investing. Countless studies show that simply missing the best handful of days in stocks in any given year can be detrimental to one’s portfolio. Sure, you might feel good missing the latest slide in stocks, but we’ve been in this bull market run for a long time. It’s not a bad thing for stocks to take a breather … [Read more...]
Why Bond Mutual Funds and ETFs No Longer Work
OK, third-quarter report cards are in, and investors want to know how they did. But perhaps just as important, they want to know the WHY behind the performance. When it comes to mutual funds and ETFs, there’s a better way to go, especially when it comes to choppy markets, which have been tough as of late. Why are bond prices down? Because interest rates have risen just a tiny bit, and bond prices move in the opposite direction of rates. Over the quarter, especially the last few weeks or so, interest rates have risen enough to lower prices for bonds this quarter. But we’re talking about a … [Read more...]
OUT OF OFFICE: Big Accounting Firm Tells 40,000 Employees to Stay Home
More companies are recognizing the benefits of having employees remain at home. Accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers has told 40,000 of its staff that they can continue to work remotely, forever if they choose. Moves like this by big companies will undoubtedly be a boon for "Zoom towns" across America. Daily Mail reports: Working from home is about to become permanent option for 40,000 client services employees at accounting and consulting firm PwC. The company will become one of the biggest employers in America to embrace permanent remote work. PwC employees who choose to work … [Read more...]
Why Mutual Funds and ETFs No Longer Work
Look, I know a lot of you own Mutual Funds and ETFs, especially if you’re wrapped up with an advisor where you invest, he wins. Today, there’re maybe a handful of funds I’d put my own money into, and the same probably applies to yours. The problem is, once you set sail, it’s hard to change course. I get it. But don’t be fooled by past voyages. Mutual Funds and ETFs are sold to you based on past performance. That’s like loading up the boat before a hurricane thinking, “well, the last trip went just fine.” Looking through the rearview mirror isn’t how you drive. But it’s absolutely how funds … [Read more...]
Is This a Buying Opportunity? Of Course, It Is
If you’re a serious investor and you’re wondering what to do with your lazy cash, then stop what you’re doing and listen. Contrary to what you might believe, no one’s going to force you to do anything about that good for nothing lazy cash sitting in your favorite chair. Your lazy cash may tell you all the news of the day, but what does it really know about earning a living, never mind investing? Well, Your Survival Guy is here to help because we all need someone who will do the dirty work like a Hollywood fixer. Why get your hands dirty? As if it’s not annoying enough to listen to the … [Read more...]
Run Away: Fleeing Big Blue Cities and States
Is it any wonder Americans are fleeing big blue cities and states? Look no further than sitting Governor of New York Kathy Hochul’s come to Jesus moment, asking New Yorkers to be her vaccine Apostles. You can imagine how this is going to go for those who refuse. Actually, it’s scary how many Americans are compliant and seem just fine being told how to live their lives. Well, Hochul and the like aren’t stopping with the vaccine and will carry this beyond the point of telling you how to run your family. That’s why Americans are fleeing states and cities where politicians want to tell them … [Read more...]