Happy Monday. Thinking about retirement? Think again. Seriously. Because it’s one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. Sure, Your Survival Guy is probably younger than most of you and has decades of work ahead of him. But I know this from speaking with you: You don’t know what retirement feels like until you’re in it. Period. In my conversations with you and from my observations, some retirees jump headfirst into their golden years and love it. Others figure out what works for them and adjust, while others choose to go back to work. But here’s the deal. It’s downright … [Read more...]
“Oh, That Wasn’t So Bad”
Your Survival Guy continues to favor a steady, balanced approach in times like these. You’re seeing yields on bonds you can sink your teeth into, and I like dividend-paying stocks. I want you to be paid to be invested in this market. Prices on the S&P 500 come and go. Look at last year, for example. And this market is shallow or an alligator market. When investors focus on prices, they live and die by the big ups and downs. It’s the investors who aren’t paying much attention when they realize after ten or fifteen years, “Oh, that wasn’t so bad.” But some retirement investors don’t … [Read more...]
The Case for Individual Stocks: Now More than Ever
UPDATE 11.18.2020: Has there been a company better positioned for the pandemic than the Home Depot? If your fire pit is more like your new outdoor living room, you know exactly what I'm saying. It's almost impossible to find those neat outdoor heaters. The same goes for pressure-treated wood. We're all trying to make our involuntary staycation one worth remembering. During a talk with Dick Young yesterday, he recalled graduating from Babson in 1963. Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank also graduated from Babson that year. Their class has, as a whole, been most active in giving back to the … [Read more...]
June Is Retirement Compounders Month
I designed the Retirement Compounders (RCs) using the dividend and interest model explained in Ben Graham's books while still a student at Babson College. The RCs went on to form the basis of my two decades long Young's World Money Forecast and Richard C. Young's Intelligence Report. Using my research, I spoke around the country at investment management conferences. In 1978, in Newport, RI, I started what became the award-winning Richard C. Young & Co. Ltd. (Barron’s (2012-2022) and CNBC (2019-2022) (Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. has never paid a fee to be considered for any rankings, … [Read more...]
When Did You Become Serious about Your Money?
In my conversations with you, you tell me when you became serious about money. If it didn’t happen when your dad, grandad, or friend showed you Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report, it happened when you yourself became a subscriber. You needed to make good investment decisions for your retirement. Also, when you subscribed to Dick’s letter, you signed up for a handful of others too. Over time you let the other subscriptions lapse, you tell me. But you kept subscribing to Dick’s letter. His was the one you liked most because you felt he enjoyed writing to you and cared about your success. … [Read more...]
“Tell Me,” How Are You the Millionaire Next Door?
Don’t look now, but you’re the millionaire next door. You’re the one they’re talking about. “How do they do it? They’re off on another trip,” neighbors wonder. But you don’t think like that—like a millionaire—you’ve always lived this way. It’s your way of life. You’ve saved ‘til it hurts, paid taxes, and spent what you needed—but never too extravagantly. You wondered, a long time ago, how the other guys “afforded” the new trucks and toys. “I haven’t seen them in years,” you say to yourself now. “Wonder what they’re doing.” Chances are, if you’re reading Your Survival Guy, you know what I’m … [Read more...]
You’re Ready to “Make It a Good Month”
You miss Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report, especially the Monster Master List and the monthly introductions you couldn’t wait to read. I know this because you tell me. Here’s the intro from Dick’s last letter: My Last Issue Last Call! After nearly four decades of meeting monthly publishing deadlines, it’s time for me to shift gears. I am stepping away from writing IR to spend full time researching global investing strategies, compounding, and dividend-paying stocks on behalf of our management clients at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. Eagle Financial Publications will become the … [Read more...]
Why You Miss Richard C. Young’s Monster Master List
Happy Monday. Is your advisor a bank? If so, is it lending out your money for a song and paying you peanuts? Fidelity is not a bank. Fidelity is not a publicly traded company. In comparison, Charles Schwab has a banking division and is publicly traded. How about Vanguard? When was the last time you spoke with a phone rep? Are you stuck only in Vanguard funds and ETFs? Are you being penalized by investors in the same fund as you who sell at any sign of trouble? Where Vanguard’s fund managers are forced to sell positions to raise cash, often at the worst times? I want you at the private … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy’s Quick Top 10 Checklist
Your Survival Guy’s quick Top 10 checklist to help keep you on track this spring. Get your lazy cash off the couch. If it’s earning peanuts at your bank, move it to Fidelity’s Treasury Money Market (FZFXX), paying close to 4.5%. Think about moving away from mutual funds and ETFs. I want you to be an owner and in control of your stocks and bonds. I want you at the private spa, not the public pool. But it needs to make sense for your situation. We can talk. If you’re working, work for as long as you can. If you’re being pressured by your spouse to retire, then figure out a way to have … [Read more...]
“You Just Have to Be Willing to Move Defensively”
Happy Monday. A perfect day for some tough love. Your Survival Guy read an article over the weekend showing the savings and investments of some retirees. Here are their annual spend rates based on my back-of-a-napkin math: 12.6%, 15.8%, 10.5%, and 2.5%. The first three are terrifying. The fourth one’s OK. When Dick Young’s North Star (the 3-month T-bill rate) is at 4.652%, where do they think the returns are coming from? If you’re a highly successful person, you’ve developed Your Survival Guy’s favorite habit: Saving. Right there, in one word. You’ve learned to do without, to save ‘til it … [Read more...]
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