Originally posted July 26, 2018. The Efficient Frontier, created by Harry Markowitz in 1952, measures the efficient diversification of investments that delivers the highest level of return at the lowest possible risk. Investors must consider the trade-offs between risk and reward in their portfolios. You can see on the chart below an efficient frontier line […]

You hear it all the time today. “I’m getting an incredible rate on my money,” or “I can get you this on your money.” And so on and so forth. Yes, Your Survival Guy can see it, too, especially with rates at levels we haven’t seen in around 22 years. Opportunities are everywhere for the […]

Dear Fairly Wealthy Investor, You might be better off staying in bed. It’s that bad. One morning, you wake up, and there’s a full-page spread in the Wall Street Journal on the perils of a balanced portfolio. It reports how owning stocks and bonds in a 60-40 mix is dead. Nonsense. And it’s not just […]

There’s a tremendous amount of concern out there about the future of the dollar. I know this because you tell me in my conversations with you. And that’s why we talk. I want to know your concerns. And believe me, I know today’s concerns are different than yesterday’s. Welcome to current times. “Survival Guy, what’s […]

Not to bore you with math, but investing is math. Hoping for a stock to get to some price is just that, a hope. It’s qualitative, not quantitative. Collecting income from all areas of your portfolio—even that money your nephew owes you—is quantitative. You can actually see it hit your portfolio, your bank account, or […]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but investing is math. Sure, prices are fun to watch, but they aren’t the math of collecting income from your stocks, bonds, or that nephew who owes you. That’s math. You can see the money, rent, dividends, income, and even crumpled dollars coming into your possession. That’s investing. Look at […]

When I was a kid, we took a lot of trips to Disney World, and when we were there, we stayed at Fort Wilderness. One day, a day off from the parks, my dad and I rented a canoe. Floating near the shore, we noticed these little animals digging in the dirt with what looked […]

When you look at the long-term advance of stocks over the past four decades, an observation worth noting: It was good to be 24 in 84. Meaning if you were young and hungry and happened to work on Wall Street, the world was your oyster. Until it wasn’t. Risk was rewarded, and a fair amount […]