Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

Investing

Setting Your Course for 2014

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What I’m about to share with you is something I’d like you to share with or teach to your spouse. In 2008 some of the smartest guys in the room sat and watched as their mutual funds lost close to 50%. Meanwhile boring old Vanguard GNMA made money. That’s all the proof I need to […]

Retired Bus Drivers Lose $25 Million

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Here’s another disgraceful example of public trust being kicked to the curb. In this case we have the former head of the MBTA pension fund Karl E. White. He left his job running the pension to work for a New York hedge fund. At his new post he was able to persuade his old friends […]

Bitcoin Worth $524,000?

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Bitcoin is a speculative corner of the market. To get a better understanding of it read this article by Brian Wesbury in the WSJ: Right now, total cash and deposits in the U.S. banking system (the M2 money supply), is roughly $11 trillion. Assuming 21 million Bitcoins are mined and they become an accepted currency, […]

Your Greatest Investment

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Lucky you. I get to speak with successful businessmen on a regular basis. Their greatest investment tends to be in their business not the stock market. It’s never too late to invest in yourself. I speak regularly with Paul Ewing. He could easily be retired and then some, but instead he and friend David Halley, […]

Bitcoin Plunges!

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Chinese authorities quashed Bitcoin in their country today. The New York Times reports: China moved on Thursday to restrict its banks from using Bitcoin as currency, citing concerns about money laundering and a threat to financial stability. The action comes as monetary authorities around the world have begun to confront the issue of Bitcoin, a […]

How Warren Buffett’s Business Started

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It’s hard to believe that legendary investor Warren Buffett got his start in New Bedford, MA. I grew up a couple of towns over in Mattapoisett. His Berkshire Hathaway deal didn’t turn out the way he had planned it would, but he obviously learned a thing or two from that experience. The Mayor of New […]

A Guaranteed Investment

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You know there aren’t many guaranteed investments out there today. But If you are a participant in a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), you may have access to one of my favorites. It’s called the company match. The company match is when your employer matches your contribution up to a certain percent. For […]

Counterbalancing for the Crushing Market Declines

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A counterbalanced portfolio is your key to investment success. For an example of how counterbalancing works I’ll point you to the Vanguard Wellesley fund. For my taste, a “one size fits all” fund simply does not exist today. But this one comes pretty close. Take a look at the years where stocks were destroyed. When […]

Who’s Stealing Your Kid’s Lunch Money?

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“We have seen meaningful progress in the labor market,” Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen said last week during her testimony. “What the [Fed] is looking for is signs that we will have growth that’s strong enough to promote continued progress.” That could be a while. Take a look at the special unemployment rate U-6—those […]

The Shocking Reality for the Average Duration of Unemployment

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How does this chart of the Average Duration of Unemployment look to you? The beard scratchers at the Fed can’t be thrilled about their $85 billion-a-month boondoggle. The Wall Street Journal details the ugly news: The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said on Friday, much higher than the 120,000 expected […]