Friday, July 20, 2018

Successful investing with just 3 funds


Vanguard’s biggest fans have made investing successful by using 3 funds
Since the chance of your advisor providing a successful strategy for over 20 years is almost ZERO, fans have put their long-term strategy in writing. You can ‘play’ the market with some money but the bulk of your retirement and legacy is more likely to succeed in low-cost broad market funds. No stock or sector lasts more than 10 years. Vanguard happens to know since they are the leading provider of ‘spend less; keep more.’ With this strategy, you own all the stocks and bonds you will ever need in your life—input and output. Actually the better strategy is to just buy the Target Date fund when you wish to retire. For instance, Target 2055 has produced 11% over the last 10 years. Most advisors fail that one. It has the bonus of rebalancing your portfolio as you get closer to output time. ‘Play money’ is fine but this strategy works best for your serious investments. You do NOTHING after you buy for 0.15%. Target Date funds are not perfect but they are as perfect as most investors can get to reaching their goal.

New ways the wealthy avoid taxes that we have to pay for them
This is actually an old strategy with an update: private placement life insurance. It allows policy holders to combine volitile investment products, like hedge funds or other alternatives, with the tax-free benefits of life insurance. Benefits are for high-income earners. They have tax-inefficient investments in a tax-efficient structure. They create a huge tax-FREE legacy without the cost of surrender charges. PPLI hides assets with large taxable returns. The wealthy can take out funds as needed as a refund or a loan—no income or capital gains taxes ever. Perfect for the person who has special assets but does not need the income now. We pay the taxes for their use of our courts, police, military, roads, airports, and other costs of the nation.

Is a robo-advisor right for you?
If you are beginning or near the end of investing, a robo might be best for you since they cost less and Buffett’s non-trading strategy for all investors seems to win over time. Unless you believe that your advisor can beat the averages over time against all odds, you are overpaying for advice. Study after study shows it is not possible, unless your advisor does not charge for the service or you have insider information. Perhaps you obtain advice for free from your company. Otherwise, think hard about Morningstar’s conclusion: “In every single time period and data point tested, low-cost funds beat high-cost funds.” Most analysts are rated by 1 year performance so you really have no idea what happens to your cash next year. Unless your person picked Google, Apple, Facebook, etc long ago and you bet the ranch on the stock, you are faced with throwing darts each year or paying more for less. The average equity investor earns just 3.79% over time vs the 500 Index at 11%. Humans don’t touch your money. Act dead.


Which car dealer fees are legit: buying a car for less
Why do you need dealer prep? Washing your car should not cost $229. Delivery should be the dealer cost, not yours. Over $700 for his guy to drive from his bulk lot to you is crazy? No. Doc fees are BS—I don’t charge for paperwork in my business—why should they? Negotiation is a matter of having the facts. Most fees are pure profit since people like you are not going to pay them and yet the dealer stays in business. If the seller does not negotiate, walk away. There are other dealers and cars. In fact, most Working Millionaires don’t buy new—they see the price drop 40% when they wait. They have purchased from the dealer before and they each know a bargain works both ways. The dealer avoids selling them a lemon and millionaires are business people too. 

Amazon hits new heights
AMZN stock costs $1822 up from $11 in 2001. Did your broker get you in to this 25,000% increase? How about the 39,800% increase in Patrick furniture or 17,500% increase in MGP distiller or 14,800% increase in Sleep Number beds? Don’t feel bad, very few outside the companies guessed right on these at the beginning of the climb. That is the problem with picking a stock to bet the ranch—even one horse—on. No one can foresee the winners in a bull market. And yet investors continue to pay 1-3% of their nest egg each year in hopes of finding the ‘needle in the haystack.’ What can investors who are not company insiders do? Play the averages—bet on par—think about the winners as a group. If the top stocks earn 11% a year on average and you pay 2% to the house, you get 9%. Over time we give away 63% of our possible total by NOT using The Disruptors.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AS WE AGE
Taking Control of Your Future: A Legal Checkup helps us plan for our future by providing a comprehensive list of topics and areas of concern. There are certain legal issues that every one needs to deal with—what happens at the end without a will; how to maximize benefits; who decides about health if you can’t; should you let your kids share your bank accounts; your legal assumptions may be wrong.


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Make America, “The Don” Great Again






Two Americas: A Banana Republic? Do we really want an infant king? Daddy Putin!

  

            Treason in Constitution: ‘adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort’
  
In Banana Republics there are only owners and wage earners: tiny middle class
Middle class shrinking: wages for ‘nonsupervisory’ jobs falling even in great market
            Wages gains are eaten by higher prices: All gains go to corporate owners

            Men are no longer in the workforce31% vs 14% in 1950 are not contributing.
            Automation making life grim for working class: robots learning many jobs
            Number of products NOT made in America is growing: cheap labor, automation
           
            Europeans will NOT have to pay tariff on Harleys: Trump sends Europe our jobs
            Workers worse off than in other developed countries except Greece, Spain.
            Workers borrowing more to live on: personal loans up 18%; 23% rate is common.
           
           
           
            Putin gets Trump to call allies foes: indictments of USSR agents for hack ignored
            Trump calls US stupid: “U.S. foolishness and stupidity” both sides to blame
Senate resolution bans Trump from giving ambassador to Putin for 3rd degree.


Trump blamed the US for bad relations. Russia said 'We agree.' Trump Traitor? Idiot?
            Trump asks for another meeting with his boss. How do we fix this mess?

Trump wants to use military to invade Venezuela like Panama, Grenada. For Oil?



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$10,000 for a plane latrine cover: 3-D printer makes them for $100. $1.3 Trillion +10K

Trump’s new planes cost us $3.9 Billion—he wants different colors. Old ones work fine.

SCAMS/SPINS:
National Credit Adjusters, Bradley Hochstein caught threatening debtors: No jail time!
Car theft centered in NM, AK, CA: AK and CA towns jump to No 2 and 4. HOT
Vegas hotel Mandalay suing the victims of massacre on their property. Lawyers win.

Drug firms use patent office scams and “gaming tactics” fool FDA keeps generics away.
SS number scams on rise: don’t respond—wait for the letter from SSA.
InventHelp sued by users for not providing benefits and costing too much

George L. Taylor, CT caught overcharging and gives bad advise; scamming seniors.

Trump’s FCC charging us $225 to file complaint against consumer abusers. Not a joke
Trump is right. We are stupid. We elected this Benedict Arnold to lead a democracy.

Trump EPA allows pollution from coal ash: stop monitor water: buy bottled water!

Cornelius Peterson, Boston, MorganStanley, caught stealing $450,000; self-dealing.


When we all have guns for ‘protection,’ who will police shoot first? Don’t need police?

Jobs:
This is how The Don makes his money (laundry). Six bankruptcies teaches Debt 101!
US top foreign-cyber-war fights left FBI at the time we need them the most: Putin attacks

Your old employer needs you back – on your terms. Experience counts.
Trump tariffs kill jobs at MO nail maker – Trump picks firms to fail/grow: nat’l socialism
Counties with the highest wage increases 2017: San Mateo CA leads the way at 11%.

Who owns your account now?
Driver texting makes us SIX times more likely to crash—phone, makeup, radio,
Edit photos for FREE: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/
Vets can use the best banks for special needs: USAA, Fed Saving, Navy Fed CU.

Can we trust Ari Melber to explain the legal case against POTUS? Steele?

Miracle:
3-year-old saves Dad convulsing on floor with Dad’s phone

Vet donates marrow to save 4 year old cancer victim

New job but no transport so walk 6 hours; Americans help; gets car; how I was raised!

Texting addiction caused record fatalities in US even with kids in car; model for them?

IAN
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