Do you have a plan? Are you my mother? Because when I hear about planning, that’s who immediately comes to mind. As I wrote to you yesterday, my mom’s a planner. When asked how she was able to take certain trips or go to space camp as a teacher, she would respond, “Prior planning.” As a teacher, she taught her students to believe in themselves, and if they wanted something in life, they could get it with some simple prior planning. Easy to say. Hard to do—much more exciting than arithmetic. That’s the beauty of her teaching. Prior planning. Isn’t that what successful retirement investing is … [Read more...]

You know about my recent trip to Key West here, here, and here. One night, after dinner with friends, sitting around the outdoor dining room table, they shared stories about their COVID trip pulling an RV trailer from Key West to Colorado to Disney—specifically Fort Wilderness—and back. They made incredible memories, despite some scary hairpin turns driving up and around the Rockies. Afterward, I told them about our trip to Fort Wilderness as a kid. “I remember one time we pulled in around midnight in our Winnebago,” I told them. “Parked at the reservation building, we ran inside with my … [Read more...]

“Do you do financial planning?” “How much income can I expect to draw?” “Do you consider taxes?” “Will I receive checks?” These are just some of the questions I receive from investors. If you’re with me, you know these items are part of our regular conversations. If you’re not with me, then I hope you have someone you can depend on for the answers you need. But for today, let’s tackle some of these and get into this. As I’ve said before, investing is more of an art than a science. As we all know, you can’t always follow “the science.” In other words, glossy financial plans or … [Read more...]

You know that Your Survival Guy thinks you should keep working if you still can. For most Americans, the years just before retirement are the most lucrative. You've reached the top of your field, and are paid well for your experience and deep knowledge. Why give that up if you still love your work? Now, Tom Brady, who claimed to retire earlier this year has already decided to come back to football for another year. He obviously loves his work, and feels like he can contribute more to his field. The Wall Street Journal reports: Six weeks, basically. The life cycle of a hardy mayfly. A brief … [Read more...]

You want to see Your Survival Guy’s Super States on a buck a day? In my conversation with you yesterday, you said, “Hang on Survival Guy, we just arrived at the RV manufacturing plant in Iowa.” There’s a brief pause, I’m put on speaker, and I hear my client say “OK hon, you can drive. I have him on speaker.” Not knowing their travel plans just yet but knowing they would be available at this specific time, I was curious. “What’s up? Where are you guys?” I asked. “We just picked up an RV,” they said. “We flew into Minneapolis last night, we’re in Iowa now, and just left the lot. For a dollar … [Read more...]

It’s pitch black outside Your Survival Guy’s home office this morning. It’s blowin’ a gale, feels like a tree could come down at any moment, and it’s raining sideways, with rapid-fire drops rat-a-tat-tatting against my bay windows. Louis is tucked into himself on his dog bed beside my desk. It’s a balmy 56 degrees outside—it’s February for cryin’ out loud—and get this, by tonight, it will be 21 with a chance of snow tomorrow. Crazy times. Speaking of crazy, Your Survival Guy hears the craziest investing stories on any given day. Here’s one I received this week from a husband and wife. It … [Read more...]

Happy Friday. Have you improved your personal safety and financial situation this week? Have you taken actionable steps to improve your self-reliance and financial independence? Where would your family be without you? It’s sad to think about, but it’s deadly serious business. It’s why your focus on personal safety and finance is so crucial. As Your Survival Guy, much of my day is spent talking with successful Americans like you about their lives and investments. They trust me as a partner in their financial well-being. But a huge part of our talks is how they’re living right now and the … [Read more...]

Happy Thursday. Your Survival Guy and coastal New England are prepping for a “bomb cyclone” that could dump over a foot of snow on Saturday. Bring it on. I don’t mean to sound like a parent, but, when I was a kid, we didn’t plan four days ahead for a snowstorm. It would snow. We’d help clear the driveway, and then we’d play outside to the point of exhaustion. If we went inside for hot chocolate, and wanted to go back outside, we’d put our feet in sandwich bags and stuff them into our boots and go back outside. Not a big deal. Your Survival Guy’s boots on the ground experience on Monday: … [Read more...]