All is not lost in a downward moving market, especially as interest rates rise. One way to think about your portfolio is to look at it over a period of, say, 15 years. What’s your 15-year plan? Can you survive another three years like this one? How about the last three years? They weren’t too bad. Thinking over a 15-year period might not be as hard as you think. The last 15 included a real bruising time during the financial crisis (I hope you didn’t sell). Prices go up, and prices go down—dividends and interest rates do too, especially in times like these, and that’s a good thing. Today … [Read more...]

When most investors are simply scurrying for some peace of mind, that's the time for you to think long-term. What’s your cash situation like? Can you make it through the next few years? Are there areas where you see opportunities? I know some of you with second homes are thinking about cashing in, for example. The next question is, where do you put the proceeds? It’s not a simple answer. I want you to think about how long it took you to save your money. Think about how many hours, days, weeks, months, and years you worked to get to where you are. This is not a trivial exercise. For most, … [Read more...]

In a recent presentation, Vincent Mortier, chief investment officer of Amundi Asset Management, raised the alarm over certain parts of the private equity market, calling them a Ponzi scheme. Katie Martin reports for the Financial Times: Europe’s largest asset manager has likened parts of the private equity industry to a “Ponzi scheme” that will face a reckoning in the coming years. “Some parts of private equity look like a pyramid scheme in a way,” Amundi Asset Management’s chief investment officer Vincent Mortier said in a presentation on Wednesday. “You know you can sell [assets] to … [Read more...]

Looking to get away? As Your Survival Guy, I want you to try to be invisible while traveling abroad. Don’t be the one creating a scene in customs. As Covid rears its ugly head, make sure you’re up to speed on the requirements to enter a country and to return to the U.S. They’re not the same if, for example, you’re going to France and back. Cash is king. Make sure you have travel cash on hand. Don’t rely purely on traveler’s checks. Have a mix of small and large bills and know the exchange rate before and during your trip. Make sure you pack some patience. Missed trips because of Covid … [Read more...]

Your life is a work in progress. You spend it gathering different skills like a Swiss Army knife. When I was at Babson College, one of the courses we all took was Operations Management. In it, we studied the manufacturing process of how stuff’s made. We looked at raw materials, for example, and the factory floor. It was like Breaking Bad but legal. At the time, a tectonic shift was underway. Globalization was picking up steam. Our manufacturing base was being offshored to China. (Turns out, that wasn’t the best practice in terms of U.S. survival. Now look at where we are with our supply … [Read more...]

You may be wondering, “Buy the dips?” Well, are you good with knives? Because trying to catch a bottom can be painful. And yet, that’s what seems to be happening. Ginsu investors flailing at falling knives with cuts and scrapes like Allstate’s creepy “Mayhem” guy. Bad stuff happens. Deal with it. Markets can be brutal for a long, long time. I’ve yet to speak with anyone who likes losing money. And yet investors make bets they can’t afford to live with on a regular basis. All of a sudden, they realize it was wrong. And I’m not talking about wrong for a few months. I’m talking years or a … [Read more...]

Thoughts from Your Survival Guy: “Sell in May, buy after Labor Day?” Not me. The volatility is what separates the good investors from the great. You don’t need to be a hero, just “Survive and Thrive.” How do you think ESG looks when the lead proponent says it’s OK to change mid-course because of the problems in Ukraine? Isn’t ESG yet another climate change money grab? If you’re stuck in mutual funds and ETFs, the mothership is voting your shares. Don’t let the “woke” vote their politics with your money. Take a look at the top ten holdings of ESG funds. You might be surprised how … [Read more...]

As pensions loaded up on real estate as a “sure thing, can’t miss” investment, office buildings are drowning from a wave of sublease space. Konrad Putzier reports on the glut of office space in The Wall Street Journal, writing: The amount of space listed for sublease surged in the first year of the pandemic to the highest level in decades in some cities. But it fell in the second half of 2021 as offices leased up and some companies took listings off the market. Now it is rising again. Sublease availability across the U.S. increased 3.6% in the first quarter to 159 million square feet, … [Read more...]

Update 5.2.22: Just when you thought robo-advisers couldn't get worse, they're marrying up with ESG investing, which you know from here, here, and here that you should avoid. The target of these two investing fads? Young people, of course. The Wall Street Journal reports: More young adults are looking to invest in ESG, but many don’t know where to start and can’t meet the investment minimum to work with a full-service financial adviser. Money-management firms are adding options to attract these customers, for whom investing even small amounts with an environmental, social or governance … [Read more...]

Does your advisor look at you like a source of revenue or as a valued customer who needs to be treated with the white-glove service you deserve? It’s worth asking, and I’ll get back to that in a minute, but first: What should you do if you’re thinking about retirement or just starting out in the workforce? America’s cities, especially its big blue cities, are a disaster, and that’s a travesty for the country. And I’m not just talking about New York, Chicago, and La La Land—you can add Austin, TX to my list. The one-time beacon of Texas’s economic freedom today resembles any old progressive … [Read more...]