Before you answer, remember that at least 50% of gunfighters end up dead. Are you the type of person who will dutifully grow your investment portfolio over the years by shepherding it in the right direction? Or will you risk it all in one high risk gunfight after another until your number is called? Consider what I wrote here, thirty years ago in December of 1988. It’s a comparison of some high-level shepherding vs. some inexperienced gun slinging. Do you know the two most powerful words in investing? If you’ve been with me through the years, you know the answer. But for all of my … [Read more...]
Are You About to Retire Broke?
Most Americans are simply not saving enough. GOBankingRates released a survey this week showing that 42% of Americans will retire broke. Hopefully, that doesn’t include you, but even if you have been saving, it’s a good bet you could do more. In July 2014, I explained to readers why they should boost savings. Boost Your Savings The strategy implication of a low-return environment is that savings must play a greater role in your investment plan. The stock and bond markets aren’t going to bail you out. To secure a prosperous financial future, today’s low-return environment demands that … [Read more...]
Here’s How You Should Approach Investing in China
The China Household Finance Survey run by Gan Li at Chengdu’s Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, recently found that one fifth–that’s 20%–of Chinese homes do not have occupants. Instead these homes are owned as investments in what could be one of the world’s most distorted markets ever. Back in February of 2012, I wrote about China’s “ghost cities,” and the dangers of investing in a command economy. Government subsidies, capital controls, and excessive regulations distort the Chinese economy, making analysis of normal economic signals difficult. With Chinese shares … [Read more...]
Are You as Comfortable with Your Stocks as You Are Your Home?
The DJIA was up 545 points the day after midterms. The takeaway is that you should be comfortable with your portfolio on good days and bad. Think about where you live for example. Your home. Do you call your real estate broker when prices drop (see Zillow) for the month? Probably not. If you do, perhaps it’s a spec investment rather than a home to raise your family in. Consider your portfolio as you would your home or your family—it's something you nurture and allow to grow over your lifetime. Investing takes strength and conviction as do parenting and home-ownership. They're not for the … [Read more...]
The Best Investment Strategy is Simple, Like Analog Music
Four years ago, I told readers the story of David L. Stone, the manager of Beacon Hill Fund. The point of my story then, as it is now, was to encourage investors like you to avoid speculation, and instead to be patient with your money. Use simple strategies you can stick to in good times and in bad. Here’s what I wrote then: As I write to you, I am listening to 1960s “Soul Station” by Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey. It is an excellent remastered LP edition of the original on a stereo system that includes a Denon quartz lock turntable from the mid-’80s, a real basic … [Read more...]
How Does Your Retirement Portfolio Look?
How does your retirement portfolio look? Do you actually have any idea what you are doing? Do you feel like you are over your head and investing with a crap-shoot mentality? Are you subsisting on outmoded, far-too-big mutual funds or, worse yet, those ghastly oversized index funds? Are you a total neophyte on bond investing and pretty much devoid of understanding the miracle of interest, patience, and compounding? If your answer is yes to any of these questions, you may require a whole new battle plan to strengthen your investment strategy. Since 1978 Young Research has … [Read more...]
The 3 Components of Investor Success You Should Care About
On Wall Street, traders and speculators are closing their doors. The Wall Street Journal’s Rachael Levy recently reported: Boston-based hedge fund Frontlight Capital LP is shutting after fewer than three years in operation, people familiar with the matter said. Four other hedge funds earlier this month announced they were closing, as investors re-evaluate a once-highflying industry plagued by weak returns. Through September of this year, Frontlight’s fund, Frontlight Enhanced Macro Master Fund I, LP, lost 4.17%, according to a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The fund lost … [Read more...]
The Right Attitude for Winning Investing
Investing is all about attitude. Are you too eager to take on risk in good times? Too ready to cut and run in bad? Can’t commit to an investing plan? Don’t have the resolve to stick to a sustainable withdrawal rate? In early 1999 I talked with the former American League MVP, Boog Powell about attitude. I wrote this that May: I was talking to Baltimore Oriole baseball legend Boog Powell recently. During the baseball season, Boog runs Boog’s Barbecue at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Off-season, he is in Key West occasionally as “guest” barbecue celeb at his high-school buddy’s local spot. Boog … [Read more...]
Retirement Benefits: They’re not all in Dollars
You may have noticed stocks are acting a little funny lately. Whether it’s scary October, midterms, or earnings, there’s always something to worry about. I’ll tell you, the phones here have been pretty quiet from clients. Many are packing up for Florida, travelling in Paris, or enjoying the outdoors. For example, I received a picture emailed from my client at his fishing cabin in Alaska enjoying some freshly caught crabs, writing: “All retirement benefits are not in dollars. Thanks for the help making this happen. I’m the one holding the pot.” He’s retired. Stays off the grid three weeks at … [Read more...]
Get Rich Slow with This Strategy
Most “get rich quick” schemes end up turning into “get poor quick” schemes. Reach too deep into the risk pool and you’re likely to fall in. I knew that 30 years ago, and in 1988 I wrote: I’m an ultra-conservative investor at heart…and by intent. I know my reputation in the industry puts me in the most cautious camp possible, and that’s just swell with me. My motto has always been, “Get rich slowly with compound interest.” At even a 7% rate of return, money doubles in about ten years. In IRA, Keogh and other retirement accounts, over half of total return should come from dividends and … [Read more...]
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