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...]
YOU DESERVE FREEDOM: Your Hard Work Will Make It Happen
In my conversations with you, you tell me how you hiked all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000 footers. You were a lot younger, but it feels like yesterday. You and I know one of the secrets to life is simply putting one foot in front of the other. It’s putting food on the table, the kids through college, and retirement checks in the bank. You tell me how much you learned from your dad. How he could build anything and how your kids feel the same about you because you’re always at their house working on something. I remember like it was yesterday a conversation we had where you said, “Dad helped me … [Read more...]
The Least Affordable Housing Market in the U.S.
When Boise, Idaho leads the list as “The Least Affordable Housing Market in the U.S.,” something’s not quite right. Don’t get me wrong—Boise has access to it all. But least affordable in the U.S.? Hear that sucking sound? It’s Boise, and places like it, pulling all the monied “residents” from San Fran, Portland, Seattle, and Rte. 128 (outside of Boston) into the community. They’re looking to places of freedom like New Hampshire, Texas, and Florida, to name a few. They’re looking for a big backyard and a playground for the weekend or for six months and a day. But what is affordable? I … [Read more...]
Your Best State on Guns, Plus the 8th Wonder of the World
Happy Friday. What a week. Are you feeling the whiplash from the market? Look at this chart below and share it with a loved one. This is how you begin teaching the next generation how to invest. It speaks the truth to investing: TIME. The key ingredient to compounding money is TIME. Without TIME you’re blowin’ in the wind, not sure which way is up. Like a child, your investments need TIME to grow. It’s said that Albert Einstein referred to compound interest as the 8th Wonder of the World. Take it from the guy who knew a thing or two about TIME. Put time on your side. How else do … [Read more...]
Remembrance: When A Loved One Gets Sick and Survives
Life comes at you fast. One minute you’re drinking your morning coffee, and the next, you’re in the emergency room after a major medical event. That was the basis of my conversation with a client yesterday, as he told me this weekend was a special birthday for him. He turned 51. This birthday was different than the others. Last year they were worried sick on his 50th, as he was just diagnosed with cancer. Every birthday after that will be different. I asked him how his wife Melissa was doing. “She was my rock,” he said. A few years ago, he and Melissa visited me in Newport, and they both … [Read more...]
Markets Can Be BRUTAL: Time to Get Serious
How did you feel about your investments while talkin’ turkey this Thanksgiving? Did the story about the cryptocurrency millionaires get under your skin? Did the 900-point drop in the Dow on Black Friday cause indigestion? Because these are the times to understand why you’re reacting the way you are to the events of the day. In a time when people discuss their money with the same breeziness they do the weather, it’s important to remember just how much is at stake. Don’t forget how brutal markets can be, even for investors who are “in the know.” Action Line: A trusted advisor will help … [Read more...]
Cost of Retirement Income Soars
The cost of retirement income, also known as the amount of money you need to retire, is soaring. According to Morningstar, people who are retiring today and want "a high degree of certainty their money will last" should take no more than a 3.3% draw on their portfolio. Compared to the 4% draw that is commonly used as a benchmark to gauge retirement readiness, a 3.3% draw means that in order to generate $80,000 in retirement income, you must have $2.42 million instead of the $2 million required under the 4% rule. That's a 21% increase. A decade of misguided zero percent interest rate policy … [Read more...]
GAME ON! Lessons from Street Hockey on Baker Lane
When I was a kid, I grew up on a dead-end lane, Baker Lane, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. The street hockey games were epic. I remember playing with the bigger kids when they’d have games at one end of the Lane or with my friends at the other end in front of my house. It’d get heated at times, especially when the bigger kids would get into wrestling fights after a play rolling around in a neighbor’s front yard. A little scary to see when you’re little. Why am I writing this to you? Well, I read an article yesterday about how millennials are taking the task of investing into their own … [Read more...]
HELLO: “How’s It Going? I Don’t Know Anything”
“How’s it going?” I ask. “Good,” he replies. “I don’t know anything.” And with that, I know he’s good because he’s been telling me that for twenty years now. Now, I can assure you when he says he “don’t know anything,” he knows quite a bit. Because you see, he quit a lucrative job in his 30s to go to medical school simply to try his hand at being a doctor. He, we’ll call him Doc now, is still working part-time as a doctor in his 70s. When telling me the story, his brother-in-law, also a client, tells me Doc’s the smartest guy he’s ever met. Another client, the brother-in-law’s best … [Read more...]
Can We Still Afford the Riverboat Cruise?
Are you falling for the oldest trick in the book? Here’s how it reads. Managers today draw you in with low-cost index funds and past performance—not necessarily in that order. Then, once you’re in the door, they sell you on other stuff, like toxic variable annuities, until you’re blue in the face. It’s hard not to fall for the sales pitch. I get it. Here’s what happens. It’s Sunday morning. You don’t have a care in the world. Frank Sinatra is playing in the background. Life is good. Then you peel open the quarterly funds report in the Journal and look at the performance like a box score … [Read more...]
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