Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

  • Home
  • How We Are Different
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • Your Survival Guy
  • The Great Reset
  • COVID-19
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • The Swiss Way
  • Dick Young
  • Debbie Young
  • Key West
  • Paris
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Work to Make Money/Invest to Save Money
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

ESG Funds: You Invest, They Win—Here’s Why

November 17, 2020 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

By Elnur @ Shutterstock.com

You work too hard to have your savings messed with. You have enough on your plate as it is. Between keeping track of the rules for Roths, IRAs, RMDs, it all adds up. You read about ESG funds that are supposed to be “good” for the environment and wonder, “But, are they good for me?” In my series for you, “You invest, they win,” you wonder.

You may also wonder about my concerns with Vanguard being too big. “How do you know if it’s too big?” you ask. “Well, it might be too big,” I respond, “if your phone rep is greener than a recycling bin and working in a room the size of a football field.” If you’re looking for seasoned guidance by counsel, think about a small private family office, not a 1(800) call center with phones worked by kids fresh out of college.

You know about my concerns with low-cost index funds and ETFs. So-called advisers stuff your portfolio with them. You pay upwards of two percent, and then they try to sell you the latest environmental or ESG fund.

The “low-cost” ETFs and mutual funds get you in the door. Then they force-feed you higher cost “active” management products. The next thing you know, your portfolio is saving the world with ESG. You just wanted to save enough to retire.

It all happens fast. One of the risks of a GOP Senate loss is the unraveling of President Trump’s deregulation program. A GOP Senate can block Democrats from using the Congressional Review Act to overturn rules. The GOP can protect the wall.

“Last month DOL finalized a rule underlining that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (Erisa) requires plan fiduciaries to act ‘solely in the interest’ of plan participants ‘for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits’ and defraying reasonable expenses,” explains the WSJ. “In other words, managers can’t prioritize their own pecuniary or political interest.”

We can thank Labor Secretary Gene Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia for this.

Oftentimes, ESG dreams get put in front of your goals when it belongs in the recycling bin.

Action Line: Is your investment counsel investing in ESG funds for you, or for them? You don’t want to find out you’ve been investing in someone else’s pet project to save the world when all you wanted to do was save enough to retire comfortably.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.

Related Posts

  • How to Invest Today
  • Hedge Funds Limping Along
  • This is Why Vanguard is Too Big
  • Invest in Texas
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998.

E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention.

E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris.

Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com

Click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)
  • CATO: Global Freedom Is in Sharp Decline - January 27, 2023
  • TIME FOR A GONDOLA? Little Cottonwood Canyon Jammed with Traffic - January 27, 2023
  • Biden Administration Destroying Retiree Fiduciary Protections - January 27, 2023

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • The Problem in America
  • Vermont Abandoned, Dairy Farm Economy Devastated
  • Americans Fleeing High Tax States for Growth Corridors
  • Sen. Hawley Makes the Case Against U.S.-China Relationship
  • The Masters of the Universe Align Themselves with CHINA Using YOUR Money?
  • CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY: Alabama Becomes 22nd Permitless Carry State
  • My Battle-Hardened Stock Market Strategy for the Worst of Times
  • Escape From the City: You’re Going to Like What You See
  • Your Sheriff Can Thwart Federal Gun Control Efforts
  • Your Odds with Statins: 500 to 1?

Our Most Popular Posts

  • Pfizer CEO Terrified of Real Questions About His Vaccines
  • America's Super States and Stocks that Respect YOU
  • Give Me Clean, Efficient Gas
  • How the Biden Administration Is Destroying Our Energy Infrastructure
  • The Rich Seek More from Bank Accounts
  • Artificial Intelligence Is Coming, But It's Not Quite There
  • Is Kevin McCarthy’s GOP Willing to Do What It Takes on Debt?
  • Strengthen Your Defenses Against Stroke
  • The Sound of Silence
  • Forty Years Ago, Jogging a Mile a Day and Still Going

Disclosure

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • CATO: Global Freedom Is in Sharp Decline
  • Biden Administration Destroying Retiree Fiduciary Protections
  • 4 Life Changing Words for Your Survival Guy: “You Should Try This”
  • Suddenly, Holding Cash Looks Good Again to Many
  • Anti-Carbon Crusaders in Davos Talk ESG and OPM
  • Is Passive Investing Already Passé?
  • Welcome to Hotel California, Where You Can Never Leave
  • What You’re Telling Me Matters
  • Can Banks Compete with Apple Pay and PayPal?
  • America’s Super States and Stocks that Respect YOU

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • CATO: Global Freedom Is in Sharp Decline
  • TIME FOR A GONDOLA? Little Cottonwood Canyon Jammed with Traffic
  • Biden Administration Destroying Retiree Fiduciary Protections
  • 4 Life Changing Words for Your Survival Guy: “You Should Try This”
  • Anti-Carbon Crusaders in Davos Talk ESG and OPM
  • Welcome to Hotel California, Where You Can Never Leave
  • What You’re Telling Me Matters
  • The Rich Seek More from Bank Accounts
  • California’s Wealth Tax Will Drive Out Remaining Rich Residents
  • Political Establishment Irate over Conservative Challenges to ESG

Don’t Believe ’em. They’re Coming for Your Gas Stove

NH Republicans Favor DeSantis Over Trump By a Big Margin

CATO: Global Freedom Is in Sharp Decline

The Telling Depth of Media Propaganda and Censorship

MEDIA BLACKOUT: No One Will Cover Pharma Exec’s Virus Confession

TIME FOR A GONDOLA? Little Cottonwood Canyon Jammed with Traffic

Copyright © 2023 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives