The Simple, Elegant Power of the Retirement Compounders

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Long time readers have surely heard about my Retirement Compounders® portfolio. I don’t publicize the securities included in this strategy anymore, but it is still an integral part of my family-run investment counsel’s planning toolkit.

Here’s what I wrote about the simple elegance of the Retirement Compounders® strategy in December of 2010:

Durability, Ease of Use, and Reliability

I t was minus 5 centigrade on December first, my 72nd birthday, as we departed Kabul, Afghanistan to be joined by Special Forces ODA 594 in the 2001 hunt for bin Laden. My personal gear included one AK-47 and seven magazines of 7.62 ammo. It would be my final combat mission. So recalls Sergeant Major Billy Waugh in Hunting the Jackal. Delta Force Commander Dalton Fury in Kill Bin Laden refers to Billy (a CIA contractor) as His Majesty Sir Billy Waugh. Russian Mikhail Kalashnikov developed the AK-47 that Billy relied on in the mid-forties. To this day, it is the most popular assault rifle in the world. I have fired one and can see how the durability, ease of use, and reliability of a Kalashnikov would be such a winner for America’s most admired and certainly most senior Special Forces/CIA operator.

The Retirement Compounders Model

Ease of use, durability, and reliability, so vital in a basic firearm, have broad applicability for someone like me who specializes in the keep-it-simple school of thought. The Kalashnikov has been used worldwide for over six decades. The durable, easy to use, and reliable formula I advise for you on common stocks has been my working model for nearly five decades. It also has been the basis for Young Research’s specific Retirement Compounders model portfolio since 2003.

Simple Can Be Elegant

My Retirement Compounders model has been in place for nearly eight years. This eight-year period has been hell for investors, as each of us knows all too well. Throughout the carnage, we have not deviated one iota from our reliable dividend approach. Perhaps this is the reason our family-run investment management company has such appeal for seasoned, discerning, conservative investors. Simple can be elegant, as I have found over many decades of doing the same thing year after year.

Find a simple, elegant plan for your own investing. Avoid complex strategies that place too much emphasis on timing and prediction. Remember that any plan worth pursuing should be durable, easy to use, and reliable.

Originally posted on Young’s World Money Forecast.