"Are you calling to tell me you bought a Treasury yielding five percent?" my client asked. "I wish," I responded. "I remember when they were yielding ten percent," he said. "But then again, inflation was that high too." "Do you guys handle taxable accounts?" He asked. "Yes, we're not picky." "I've got a lot of money in CDs. When they mature, it's just sitting in cash doing nothing." From there, we started talking about quality stocks and bonds and how a combination of the two could work as a long-term source of income. Maybe we don't get all of the income we want and dip into principal. … [Read more...]
Richard C. Young Helped ME Get Re-Centered
I had a great talk yesterday with a prospective client who is ready to come aboard. He's a successful entrepreneur and triathlete coach. He said he doesn't just stand on the side and coach. He's in the pool, figuring things out with his athletes. I like that. For example, if he sees a problem with an athlete's swim stroke, he gets in the pool to copy the problem, and then he works on drills to correct it. It's a hands-on approach that puts him in the shoes of his customers. "I miss Richard C. Young's Intelligence Report," he said. "It's the reason I have the savings that I do." "I … [Read more...]
What if You Don’t Have to Cut the Cord to Pay Less?
When you look at your monthly statement, do you feel like you have a good handle on what’s going on? You punch in an ETF or mutual fund symbol, but it doesn’t tell you much. It’s like trying to pick a show on Netflix—let’s see what this is about—only to realize five episodes in that it was a waste of time. Your time is valuable. You deserve to know what’s going on from day one. Today you have advisors selling you blueprints that sound good, but then you realize they’re stuffing your portfolio with ETFs and mutual funds that charge you a fee on top of what you’re paying the advisor. A lot of … [Read more...]
Rich Man, Poor Man and the Greatest Generation
Happy Election Day. It’s nice to know one candidate isn’t in it for the money. Originally posted December 4, 2018. You may have read Rich Man, Poor Man—one of my favorite pieces ever written by the late great investment writer Richard Russell. It’s one of those timeless pieces that makes me feel like he’s still with us. And with the passing of President George H.W. Bush, I’m reminded of the sacrifices of the “Greatest Generation” and their unique perspective on life. You see, Richard Russell served in World War II, like President Bush, and knew what it felt like to worry about … [Read more...]
Trapped by Low Liquidity
Investors in private real estate funds are finding out what liquidity risk means. High redemption requests are forcing big real estate funds to delay redemptions. Peter Grant and Esther Fung report for the Wall Street Journal: Overall, more than 15 of the 25 open ended core funds tracked by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries have investors waiting to redeem tens of billions of dollars worth of investments, according to industry participants. The Council said it doesn’t tabulate redemptions. Those 25 funds had a total of $267.1 billion gross real-estate assets at the … [Read more...]
Why You Should Listen to These Wise Men in Times Like These
I recently received this message from a client: EJ, it was great talking to you yesterday. While doing a little reading last night I came across a quote I thought you might like. The Old Testament book of Proverbs was compiled by King Solomon who many consider to be the wisest person ever. So I looked this up and I think Ben Graham and Warren Buffet and Dick Young are in good company, at least philosophically. The quote is from the book of Proverbs chapter 21 verse 5. “Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty .“ Sounds like Solomon would have made a great financial … [Read more...]
The Value Opportunity: Darkest Before Dawn?
Cliff Asness, Mario Gabelli, and Josef Lakonishok encourage investors not to give up on value. Instead, they say, if you can, double down on it. Bloomberg's Justina Lee reports: What do you get when three superstar value managers jump on a Zoom call? Self-deprecation, mutual flattery and an impassioned case for why the stock market is in a bubble. During a webinar for clients on Wednesday, AQR Capital Management founder Cliff Asness joined Gamco Investors Inc.’s Mario Gabelli and LSV Asset Management’s Josef Lakonishok in making a plea: Don’t give up on value, and if you can, double down … [Read more...]
New Update! Why Vanguard is Too Big: Part IX: It’s NOT Different this Time
Your Survival Guy’s boiler room is stacked with buckets of 30-day survival food sprinkled with Spam and other canned delicacies. My son tells me he can’t wait to try some of it. Other members of my family tell me they’d rather starve. Your Survival Guy also has a weakness in the canned goods aisle. Cans of BOGO tuna and sardines magically jump into my cart like fish out of water. “We’re good on the canned fish,” I’m told. Who knew the term “value” could be so subjective. Last month investors believed Apple was worth eight percent of the market. (They’ve since re-thought that). As I’ve … [Read more...]
Why Vanguard is too Big: Part VIII: You Can’t Know What You Don’t Know
Let’s clear something up real quick. If you’re invested with Vanguard and it’s a major undertaking to shift your portfolio to Fidelity Investments—there are worse places to be stuck. In an industry littered with terrible, high-cost products, you’re lucky to be at low cost, no front or back-end load Vanguard. But what you might own at Vanguard and seeing how its assets continue to expand is concerning. As an aside, Vanguard has had some great managers retire such as the GNMA fund’s Michael Garret, from sub-advisor Wellington Management. You never hear about his retirement party. It makes it … [Read more...]
How Low Rates Can Be a Killer
Investors have a short-term memory—they forget what losing money feels like. Do you remember how everyone was reaching for yield leading up to the real estate crash? I do. A lot of wealthy investors lost big time money trying to lock in a few measly points more than what the risk free treasury was (not) paying. Then the crash hit, and they not only didn’t get those extra points, they lost all of their principal. I’m talking big money. Then, like clockwork, came the Monday morning lawsuits. Investors cried that they should have been made more aware of the risks they were taking. Some … [Read more...]
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