Are you in control of Your Retirement Life? In my conversations with you, you tell me you are in control and then some. You tell me you’re looking forward to getting away to places far and wide, from Disney to New Zealand and on cruises in between. Nice. You know Your Survival Guy’s a big […]
Clean Up Your Bond Clutter, Contact Your Survival Guy
You know from recent posts how Your Survival Guy feels about too much power in too few hands. What I’m talking about is when the big three fund companies, BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, with their immense size, vote your shares with their politics. There was a time when indexing in stocks made sense. But […]
“I Can’t Afford to Lose Any More Money,” They Say
As you know from here, here, and here, your investment success may hinge more on how you invest rather than what you invest in. My efficient frontier (EF) series gets to the heart of this. It’s a tool for looking back at the risk/reward relationship between stocks and bonds. What it helps to illustrate is […]
Your Investment Success or Failure May Come…
Your investment success or failure may come from how you invest, not necessarily what you invest in. As you know, the pangs of pain from losing money far outweigh the euphoria of making it. We are human. We like to win. We hate to lose. Why, then, do we tend to invest in areas that […]
Index Investing: Losing Your Vote in America’s Business
Are you losing your sense of place in America? Specifically, are you in touch with how you’re investing and not simply on autopilot? Because what we’re seeing with firms like BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard (collectively managing $23 trillion), is their views are being voted with other people’s money. You, the investor, are the one […]
Holiday Gatherings Are Tough on The Prudent Man
Holiday gatherings are tough on The Prudent Man. Because while everyone is happy to tell you how well they’re doing in the stock market, it’s The Prudent Man who knows how fleeting temporary gains can be. The Prudent Man knows his course, his path. He’s not quiet about it. Hardly. He locks eyes with the […]
Survive and Thrive March 2024: How You Livin’? Crossing on the Queen Mary 2
Dear Survivor, As my nephew asked me the other day, home from college and all the stuff one learns: “Uncle E, how you livin’?” “How I’m livin’?” I thought to myself. I haven’t thought about it. But it gets right to the point, doesn’t it? Which brings me to my conversations with you. I know […]
Happy Easter: A Family Hunt for Dow 80,000
As you prepare for the quarter’s end, let’s reflect on where we’ve been. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average temporarily crossed 40,000 were you reminded of how far we’ve come? Because in my conversations with you, you tell me you remember when it was Dow 10,000, 6,000, or lower. The older we get, the higher […]
Key West Insider’s Guide: UVA Wine Shoppe
I hope you’re looking forward to being with family and friends this Easter. If you’re in Key West, stop by and see our friend Mark Gambuzza at UVA Wine Shoppe. Originally posted on December 28, 2023. Your Survival Guy wants you to get away from it all this winter. A tropical break, if you will, […]
Investors Are Fat, Dumb, and Stupid
Let’s imagine it’s 1999. You’re about to retire. You had a good career. And like anyone else invested in stocks, you’ve had a good run. Then, some time goes by, you’re on a European riverboat cruise, and boom, the tech bust hits. That was the exact moment many investors realized their risk tolerance was, in […]