After meeting monthly strategy report deadlines since 1978, I have decided it’s time to switch gears. The name Intelligence Report will survive, but with no contribution from Richard C. Young. Instead, I am transitioning aggressively to full-time research on behalf of private clients of our family investment management firm, Richard C. Young & Co. Ltd. In this expanded venture, I will completely shift away from common stock mutual funds. I will concentrate laser like on “Dividends Around the World” from domestic and foreign common stocks with track records of increasing dividends … [Read more...]
As Bankruptcies Rise, What’s Your Best Asset?
The NY Post reports that while bankruptcies are still nowhere near Great Recession levels, they are rising noticeably. John Aidan Byrne writes: New York state’s bankruptcy filings, for instance, have risen steadily the past three years, hitting 34,711 in 2018, up from 30,112 in 2016, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), based on data from Epiq Systems. More consumers nationwide are falling behind on their payments and filing for bankruptcy to resolve overwhelming debt loads. And low unemployment, an uptick in average wages and the latest Fed interest rate cut have not … [Read more...]
Retirees Still Cannot Afford a Walloping
With securities markets in a heightened state of volatility, it’s a great time to ask yourself how exposed your portfolio is to risk. Most investors, if asked, would be able to provide little detail about the risks to their portfolio. If you find yourself unable to answer, that’s ok. It’s Not Too Late, Yet Now is the time to begin assessing the risk in your investment portfolio. If your holdings are not balanced to help you achieve your goals, you should begin shifting them as soon as possible, because, as I wrote in April 2017, retirees cannot afford a walloping. Retirees Cannot Afford a … [Read more...]
Most Investors Fail to Learn This One Thing
Through more than half a century of guiding investors in their efforts, the greatest failure I have seen is an inability to learn from history. Repeatedly market participants set unrealistic goals, use overly complex strategies in an attempt to achieve those goals, and inevitably fail. In February of 2013 I explained this phenomenon, writing: The Needy Investor Most investors, I’m sorry to say, are greedy, lack perspective and even a modicum of patience, and simply will not embrace the ultimate power of compound interest. I have found that too many investors fail to learn from history and … [Read more...]
My Answers to Two of the Most Common Investment Questions
During my 55 years in the investment business, two of the questions I have received most often while talking clients and customers, are “Should I get out of the market?” and “How should I weight my portfolio?” The answer to the first question is easy, no. Stay invested. Jumping in and out of markets will only make you miss days you’ll wish you hadn’t. The answer to the second question is straightforward but might take more discipline on the part of the investor to implement. It is balance. You should always aim for a portfolio that works to counterbalance risk. Here’s how I explained … [Read more...]
Are You Fully Invested?
Do you remember how you felt about your portfolio in December? It wasn’t a happy time for stock investors as they watched values crater. Some investors got out of the market all together and felt much better. But they probably missed this incredible stock market of the first half of 2019. Feeling good about investment decisions is oftentimes not good for your portfolio. Everyone wants to be a contrarian. Everyone wants to be the guy that swims against the tide. The one who chooses her own path. But when you know what hits the fan they look for comfort and sell, sell, … [Read more...]
The Simple, Elegant Power of the Retirement Compounders
Long time readers have surely heard about my Retirement Compounders® portfolio (as well as the Dynamic Maximizers®). I don’t publicize the securities included in these strategies anymore, but they are both still integral parts of my family run investment counsel’s planning toolkit. Here’s what I wrote about the simple elegance of the Retirement Compounders® strategy in December of 2010: Durability, Ease of Use, and Reliability I t was minus 5 centigrade on December first, my 72nd birthday, as we departed Kabul, Afghanistan to be joined by Special Forces ODA 594 in the 2001 hunt for bin … [Read more...]
How Can You Save Money for Your Grandchild?
The short answer is, early. The earlier you can start saving for your grandchild, the greater the impact you'll have on their life. Take a trip with me. Let’s say you help a grandchild get into the savings game when they’re born by contributing $525 per year to an account you establish for them. (I favor UGMAs for this purpose). You diligently save each year for her first 21 years. Then when she turns 22, she continues along the same path, saving $525 on her own each year until she’s 64. Look at my table below to compare her success to someone who begins his investment savings at age … [Read more...]
These Americans Are Never Going to Retire
A poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 23% of Americans don't expect to stop working during their lives. Andrew Soergel writes in The Washington Times : “The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn’t gone up that much,” says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. “So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement.” When asked how financially comfortable … [Read more...]
In Investing, Be Brave When Others Are Scared
When others are scared in investing, it pays to be brave. So says analysis from Jan Dehn anyway. His work examining bad news cycles and emerging market returns shows that buying when others are afraid of EM markets can increase returns by 10 percent a year. The FT's Steve Johnson reports: Number-crunching by Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore, the British investment manager, suggests the best time to buy EM assets is during media blitzes — all driven by bad news — while the worst is when the EM world is so tranquil it barely garners a column inch. Mr Dehn analysed mentions of “emerging … [Read more...]
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