Holding a stock and bond index: pros & cons
In times of unknowns and unknowables, trust the common
basket of securities to see you through. Hey, you never know what will happen
so your low-cost index funds will provide the ONLY sure thing: low
costs beat high costs in every survey and period. Remember, with a broad
index fund like the Vanguard Total Stock and Total Bond, you own a bit of
everything—Apple, Amazon, new drugs, new tech, toilet paper, etc. All your
costs and expenses can rob
you of 63% of your total accumulations. In times of trouble, it is best to
stay with the group. Yes, the leader or scout may be the hero but often they
just fall by the side. Unless you have insider
information like those in Congress, you should follow Warren Buffett’s
advice.
Use the Buffett strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963
How 5 one-liners offered by financial
advisors work
There are tricks of the trade by
financial sales people who need to keep selling without you knowing you are
being sold. There are no actual get-rich-quick advisors out there. Sales people
are natural confidence people because without your confidence in them, they
would go hungry. There is an art to getting you involved so they
can build confidence. The goal is to create a congregation of followers
much like a mega-church. Think of Madoff’s Ponzi followers.
They
sought his financial ‘genius’ con thru his followers. To get you on board, sellers
use soft sell: “if things change, call me.” Low teaser rate: “3% interest” gets
attention. The “unbiased problem-solver.” The stock market “problem fixer.” The
“self-helper” similar situation. No sales person can survive by waiting in the
shop for buyers to buy. Sellers must evangelize to build a congregation so they
can receive your ‘gifts’ quarter after quarter.
Does ‘free’ trading platform
really help you?
For those seeking high rewards
from fast trading of securities—gambling—broker-dealers have opened the gates
to ‘free’ trades. Because people, usually young men, believe they are “masters
of the universe,” B-Ds now have blood on their hands. Alexander Kearns, 20,
killed himself after his Robinhood account showed a negative balance of more
than $700,000. He used ‘borrowed’ money on options trading. Robinhood reacted
by claiming they will now change how money is ‘displayed.’ They
will NOT be guiding young users. They want to “innovate, lead, and go
beyond the status quo.” Meaning: “where
everything is seen as one big casino.” Action, whether vid games or online
trading or online
casino betting, is now entrepreneur heaven. There is no reason to learn a
trade or play amateur sports, when the action is inside your wallet. There can
be electronic cautions built into every ‘blood’ sport before your family learns
the hard way.
Investor not gambler: https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Mutual-Funds-Save-taxes/dp/1534939490
Taxes in retirement: a necessary evil?
The virus has made some reconsider retirement now or later.
Some will not be back to work since work needs fewer people—at least for a
while. Others know now that they need to work a few more years since the virus
has disrupted their plans. Perhaps the virus struck hard in your family and a
big change is necessary. Most people are not better off as a result of the Trump
tax changes. And now with the $3-4 Trillion spending increase, we all have
to consider that taxes must go up. Wealthy folks have already found ways to pay
less and have found ways to move
their income overseas. Most working
people have not seen an increase in inflation-adjusted wages for decades. There
is greater
concern for taxes now than before the virus recession. Luckily we don’t need
offshore tax shelters or high-cost accountants to shield our future income from
taxes.
Use your IRS tax shelter: https://www.amazon.com/Pay-No-Taxes-Retirement-legally/dp/1507527977
Why costs matter
When your favorite securities are yielding record lows,
costs—trading and annual fees—can kill your investment portfolio. Thus Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) pulled
in more than $16 billion in the first six months to push its asset base above
$140 billion. Some of the new money likely stemmed from outflows from SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). SPY had
$21 billion of redemptions, as investors
sought a cheaper alternative to SPY’s 0.09% expense ratio. VOO’s 0.03%
expense ratio generates more interest from cost-conscious retail investors for
asset allocation purposes, while the high liquidity that stems from SPY’s daily
volume of approximately 100 million shares appeals to institutional investors.
Low-cost bond index funds had inflows too. If the yield on your intermediate-term
bond fund is 1.73% and you are paying 0.70%, you net less than if paying 0.20%.
40% of your earnings are going to your advisor. Over time, that cuts your total
income in half due to the “the
tyranny of compounding costs.” For fixed income investors, costs matter
more than equities since historically, equities provide inflation-beating
returns. Unfortunately, 70% of savers are not aware that they were paying any
fees at all.
**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************
Like 1776, this period
is a test
of democracy—do we really want ‘low-IQ’
Mobster?
how
democracy dies in the 21st century: death by a thousand cuts
'I
made Juneteenth very famous' I.. I.. I..
Trump’s 200th lifetime
federal judge: Make
America WHITE Again
I
pay no taxes Trump sent virus checks to 1
million dead people
How Govt wastes our money: Congress
gives 3.7 Trillion to the wealthy!
Trump tells ‘joke’: ‘slow
the testing/reporting’ more cases coming from opening early
Trump to end federal support for testing sites even TX: no
tests = no cases but hosp full
Trump
to start new virus and forest fire on Mt Rushmore July 3 despite warnings.
Trump
tariffs putting Maine lobster fishers out of business: more bailouts: Socialism
SCAMS/SPINS:
Gov
mandated “free C-19 testing” may not be free after all: insurers read law
in reverse.
DC July Fourth
celebration: Trump
to feature himself not America despite virus
Much hype about
nothing: Bolton
book is bust: House’s “impeachment malpractice”
Ivanka’s
6,200 no-mask rally a bust: 6
staff catch hoax: hundreds get it in days: Jared no show
GOP suppresses vote in KY: 3700
polling sites to 200 for whole state. ‘Poll tax’: my pay.
Mail-in
voting saved KY from melt down at polls: Nov answer to GOP vote suppression
Former GOP officials
support Biden: Party
regulars have no place in Trump cult.
GOP will NOT reform
policy: GOP
limits ‘reforms’ to more body cams; killings
OK
TX
gov reverses reopening ‘happy talk’: “hospitalizations were at an all-time
high”
Trump tells Supremes
to end ObamaCare in midst of pandemic: voters seek health care
Toxic hand sanitizers:
9 banned by FDA: Methanol can be dangerous
NY, NJ, CT set 14
day quarantine
for ‘visitors’ from high case states except Trump
mob
RoundUp
cancer victim heirs get money: no jail time for killer Monsanto/Bayer execs
Thomas Becker and
John Thomas caught
stealing $30 million; promised high returns
Charles Liu Xin Wang
caught
$27 million deal but Supremes say they keep “expenses”
Felon Jack Abramoff caught
making false/misleading statements to sell cryptocurrency
Harbour Portfolio caught
misleading, deceptive acts on borrowers re: ‘deed’
flipping
Advisors running
private equity funds caught
overcharging: expenses plus 2% plus 20%
Advisor exam
cheating investigated by regulators: your
advisor maybe pulling con
Mary Trump: World’s
Most Dangerous Man: cut off medical assistance to Fred III’s son
Jobs
Navy reversed and fires
captain of aircraft carrier who warned about the spread of virus
New rules: raiding
your pension or IRAs due to virus job loss. Giving up compounding!
Who owns your account now?
Trump
forced to show who got bailout money: legal names hide real recipients: private
jets, donors
July 1: Pell Grant higher; new
federal loans will have much lower fixed interest rates
Miracle:
Where/how
you live helps living to age 100: walkability, socioeconomic, working
neighbors.
Warming
record: Russian town located within the Arctic
Circle reached 100 degrees already
DEMs best for prez?
Joe Biden is, by his own admission, a “gaffe
machine.”
Cancer drug: New treatment
halts tumor growth: drug stops cancer cell repair
Mortgage and refi rates at
lowest: Get best
rate--3.42 percent.
IAN
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