You know emotions can wreak havoc on investors. Feeling good or bad about investments shouldn’t be a month-to-month roller coaster. But in my conversations with you, I know you’re reading that the so-called experts are calling for more doom and gloom. They’ve been making this call for years now. Even a broken clock is right—you know the phrase. Prices Are Like Adult Kids: You Don’t Have Much Control Over Them Look, I’m Your Survival Guy, not a meteorologist. Bad stuff happens. Predicting when and where is almost impossible. How bad it really will be is subjective. Sure, there are … [Read more...]

“Do you see the waves crashing over that rock dead ahead?” my dad said loud enough for me to hear over the 25-knot winds and 7-foot waves crashing over our bow. “Yes, got it,” I said. “We’re good on this heading. We can round that red can up about a quarter mile ahead.” “It’s at one O’clock,” he said. “I’ve got eyes on it.” That’s where Your Survival Guy and his dad were on Sunday delivering the boat from Mattapoisett back to Newport. There was a small craft advisory that felt like it could have been for large craft. Our trip started out in calm waters, like many do, as we motored … [Read more...]

Last night, Becky and I watched episode four, season 1 of The Crown on Netflix as we honor the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. During the episode, a blanket of fog covers the streets of London, overwhelming hospital beds with residents gasping for air. Prime Minister Winston Churchill is under immense pressure to “do something,” but he holds firm with his belief that the fog is an act of nature, and an act of God, and that it will lift. Your Survival Guy: Long Live Queen Elizabeth II When Churchill’s young secretary is fatally struck by a bus, he arrives at a busy hospital where someone … [Read more...]

UPDATE 9.6.22: Lori Ioannou of The Wall Street Journal calls dividend stocks the "new darling on Wall Street." She writes: These securities are considered a good buffer during times of market volatility. They also are seen as an inflation hedge, considering that S&P 500 dividend growth has outpaced inflation since 2000. Below you can read one of my favorite pieces of investment advice, Rich Man, Poor Man, written by Richard Russell in his Dow Theory Letters on September 22, 1982. Russell explains four key points in investing, beginning with the benefits of compounding. Compounding, … [Read more...]

Your Survival Guy’s favorite number is 72. Why? Because it’s fun to think about growth—the annual growth rate it will take to double whatever it is you’re looking to double. And the key ingredient to all that growth is TIME. The beauty in compounding is the incredible changes it can produce with even a low rate of growth—if you have time that is. Not many out there have the patience to let Father Time do his magic. We live in a “what have you done for me lately?” world. Patience and immediate expectation seem to be a birthright. But think about your life’s work and how long it took you … [Read more...]

Your Survival Guy wants you to be a compounding machine. Think about the rule of 72—the time that compounding takes to double whatever it is your looking to grow. This isn’t about money. It’s about you. Your personal growth. Easy to understand. Hard to do. Your Survival Guy’s Favorite Number is 72: Here’s Why On the flip side, reverse compounding is also easy to understand but unfortunately, it is also easy to do. It’s a killer. Your Survival Guy was golfing last week in New Hampshire, for example, and was reminded of how hard it is to recover from a hole when losing a ball. It’s … [Read more...]

OK, let’s get right into this. I’m not a huge fan of goals when it comes to money. I don’t like the pressure a goal can have on investors trying to reach a certain “number.” “Well, if we can make it to $2 million, we’ll be all set. That’s our goal,” says a 55-year-old with less than a million in savings. That type of goal, in his most important earnings years—the last ten before retirement—is a loaded gun. The pressure to push, push, push and reach, reach, reach for the “goal” borders on reckless. It’s why Your Survival Guy eschews financial engines where you plug in your financial … [Read more...]

Years ago, Your Survival Guy was at a cocktail party in Newport. (Yes, it happens. I don’t live in a cave.) This was at a time when markets were in freefall. A fellow guest asked me about the markets and how busy I must be talking with clients. My response, like it always is, was “My phone doesn’t ring,” Time and again, investors are surprised when markets fall. My phone doesn’t ring because I’m already in touch with my clients on a regular basis. And because you know me from Your Survival Guy, you know that I work to help you keep what you make. I don’t need to sell you on how to become … [Read more...]