Once you decide you want a boat you need to decide what kind of boat: Power or Sail. I have a ton of memories from sailing as a kid. One that stands out is a re-occurring daydream I’d have. It would often happen while we were sailing out in what felt like the middle of nowhere—not a single boat in sight, a light breeze, barely moving. And I would think: How cool would it be to have a powerboat! Don’t get me wrong. Becky and I love sailing, especially on my parent’s boat Sunset. It’s moored in Mattapoisett—an idyllic location for cruising to the Elizabeth Islands and Martha’s Vineyard. … [Read more...]
Variable Annuity Junked
No surprises here. Firm drops variable-annuity product. Voya Financial Advisors is restricting the sale of variable-annuity sales for retirement planning amid increasing pressure from regulators, InvestmentNews reports. Voya’s 2,200 brokers are no longer allowed to sell a type of variable-annuity contract known as an “L share” if the annuity contract includes riders. The firm says it received Finra “guidance” that such annuities are presumptively unsuitable. “We feel strongly that it is in the best interests of our advisers and their clients to make this change to Voya Financial Advisors’ … [Read more...]
E.J.’s Notes from the Wild, Wild West
You don’t have to spend a ton of money to have fun with your family, but it certainly helps. My family just returned from an incredible trip out west beginning at a ranch in Montana, then to Yellowstone National Park, and down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was an important trip for Becky and me. One of Bec’s fondest memories as a kid was going out west to a dude ranch with her family. Mine was going across the country in a Winnebago in 1984 with mine. Our kids are 14 (Izzy) and 12 (Owen), so this was the summer to head out west before it’s too late. The two best things that … [Read more...]
Cyclical Economic Dysfunction a Brewing Storm?
Two major cyclical indicators, construction (as pictured by housing starts and permits in the first chart below) and industrial production (chart 2 below) are giving very different signals about the direction of the U.S. economy. What is the reality? Numbers of housing starts and permits are climbing rapidly to levels not seen since before the housing bust. Meanwhile industrial production reports indicate flagging demand. The question is, which indicator is the better picture of reality. In any case, caution is the best approach for investors like you and me. … [Read more...]
How to Buy a Boat: Part I
You know the saying: The two best days for a boat owner are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. Well I bought a boat a few years ago and it was the best day. So I thought I'd share with you the process I went through to get there and hopefully help you in your own search for a boat. The first thing you need to do is decide that you want a boat. I grew up in Mattapoisett, MA which is a small town on the water near Cape Cod. To know where Mattapoisett is imagine looking down on Cape Cod from the air—Mattapoisett is the armpit. It's a real pretty town right on Buzzard’s … [Read more...]
Mosquito Apartments
Anyone see a problem here? In Hong Kong apartments the size of a parking spot are selling for $516,000 reports the WSJ. The apartment, in a development called High Place, isn’t much bigger than the standard U.S. parking space. It went into contract in May for almost four million Hong Kong dollars (US$516,000.) Even by Hong Kong’s cramped standards, apartments here are getting tinier and tinier. So small are some of the new developments in Hong Kong that they have been given the moniker “mosquito-sized units.” … [Read more...]
Dividend Religion, Hallelujah!
Do you know what a dividend paying stock that yields 3% today and increases its dividend by 10% per year for 10-years will yield? Answer: 7.78% I don’t need more proof than that to get me some dividend religion. … [Read more...]
My First Drum Set and The Killers
If you're a drummer or a musician then you know--you never forget your first drum set or instrument. I started playing drums in the first grade taking private lessons and practicing on a drum pad. Then I moved up to a snare drum. And I would set up buckets around the snare and bang away as if it were a set. When I was in fifth grade my dad and I drove to New Bedford, MA after reading an ad in the newspaper for a drum set. That was a mistake. The second I saw it, one of us was sold. It was a classic Slingerland five-piece set-up with Zildjian cymbals. Slingerland was the set made famous by … [Read more...]
Financial Disaster Prep
You never know when you're going to be in a bad spot. But when TSHTF, you know it. And it doesn't feel very good. I want you to think about your investments from a survivalist point of view. What do you need to do to make sure you survive? And what's the downside of being prepared? It is clear as day that we have a currency system that will always be untethered from reality. There is no other way around it. That's why you need to have some precious metals in your portfolio and some coins outside of it. When I was a kid scooping ice cream for minimum wage a medium, two scoops, cost … [Read more...]
Has Warren Buffett Lost His Mind?
Leave it to good ole' Warren Buffett to create a stir. In a recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, he calls for an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to help low-income workers. How about a reduction in the size of government instead Mr. Buffett? Let workers keep more of what they make and this economy would be much better off. If government is such a great wealth transmission system, why not donate your money to the Treasury rather than the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? Elite businessmen like Buffett do nothing to help this economy when they forget about the successful … [Read more...]
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