Your Unbiased Advisor: Scams and Spins to delude us

Readers: Happy Holiday days spread by your cheer and good will.

Jan 2024

How Govt wastes our money:

20% of us want a vengeful autocrat as president: "sweeping raids, mass deportations" too

Texas Can Ban Certain Emergency Abortions: raise ER patients/hospitalize risking death

NASA wastes $ to have energy produced on Mars colony: humans get sick living there

NASA to send astronauts on a lunar fly-by mission $$ travel deeper into the solar system

NASA wastes money on 6 expensive missions in anticipated further giant $B tax spend

SCAMS/SPINS:

Chase having problems: account balances, access and declined debit cards AGAIN.

Drugmakers set to raise prices on 500 drugs in January: Biden price cuts failed

Policy gaps in Medigap, Medicare, Advantage, and Part D plans: read cover carefully

COVID-19 still kills about 1,500 Americans each week: most don’t take Paxlovid?

US Bank caught: froze access to prepaid debit cards used to distribute unemployment

Half of Americans left FSA health care money on the table: gone this year but next year

Your flight: check the bolts on your Boeing plane before you walk the plank.

Ford is recalling more than 112,000 pickup trucks due to a roll-away risk

38% of us believe Biden’s election was illegitimate

74% of us can’t tell what’s real or fake online anymore: we are being mislead daily

25% of us say: “probably” or “definitely” true FBI instigated Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack

Who is to blame for the more than four-hour delay in deploying the National Guard

Plum Recall "Plum Queen" Dried ‘Life-Threatening' Reactions: sulfites

40% student loan borrowers first Oct deadline failed payments by mid-November

Blue Ridge Beef pet food recalls additional “lot numbers": Salmonella and Listeria

Annuity Rule Proposal Helps Guard Against Conflicts: sellers hide downsides

Catholic values group to launch 401(k) plan that is compliant with the church’s teachings.

Will Trump have to make deals with foreign gov who gave him $8 million for election?

Jobs

New Free Application for Federal Student Aid is finally here: updates done at random

jobs.interestingengineering.com/

Factory construction spending booms: Job openings increased by 43,000 last month

Who owns your account now?

25 States Raising Their Minimum Wage in 2024: some to $15/hour

‘24 EV credit: dealers can knock off up to $7,500 off the car price: no tax deduction

Retirement Laws Just Changed: check if you have a change of income

New entertainment on Amazon Prime

Do You Know the Latest Trusts and Estate Planning Developments?

Miracles:

Happiness isn’t something to be found; it’s something to attract.

This year was among the worst for climate disasters

Siberia’s ice is melting, revealing its past and endangering its future

Snow in Death Valley is extremely rare

Eli Lilly to sell medicine directly to consumers: obesity market widespread

New way for removal of Alzheimer’s trademark brain-clogging plaque by 32%

Graphene’s tenfold speed advantage over silicon: transistor electronics revolution

New Zealand fisherman rescued after treading water for 23 hours

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

How did your money do in 2023?

Some readers use the Vanguard Top 10 funds. Here is how they did in 2023.

2023 Total Return Vanguard Fund Long-term Return Longevity

26.21% 500 Index VFINX 11.02% since 1976

8.73% Energy VGENX 9.31% since 1984

26.48% Extended Market VEXMX 10.09% since 1987

5.50% Health VGHCX 15.17% since 1984

14.81% International Growth VWIGX 10.04% since 1981

28.32% PRIMECAP VPMCX 13.42% since 1984

19.23% Small Cap Index NAESX 10.6% since 1960

7.17% Wellesley Income VWINX 9.16% since 1970

15.24% Windsor VWNDX 11.22% since 1958

21.27% Windsor II VWNFX 10.68% since 1985

17.30% Average 11.1% *

*Average Annual Returns as of 12/28/23

https://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X/

Do you really need to pay an advisor’s costs to reach your goal?

Warren Buffett says “NO”. When it comes to helping you reach your financial goal, the high costs over the many years may surprise you. If you pay their costs each quarter, you may not realize what the total will be. If you are earning 6% gross on your portfolio, the 1% to 1.5% has reduced your true earnings per year to 4.5%. In a 40-year-advisor relationship, you could have earned $500,362 without your salesperson. But you only accrued $336,545 contributing $3000 a year to your account. You lost $163,817 or 48.6% of your contributions. That means retirement income of only $19,771 per year or $1647 a month vs. $2.449 a month or $29,395 a year. That is a big difference if this monthly income (plus Social Security) is all you have to live on. Think about what Buffett recommends: two Vanguard funds—one will provide cash for the coming year and the other will provide a sound future. He says all you need is the low-cost Vanguard 500 Index fund and the Vanguard Fed Funds fund. That is income and growth without a salesperson. You hire a fee-only planner when you need unbiased advice.

https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592

Why is it so important to start investing early?

Use the example above. Over the 40 year illustration, you would have accumulated over $500,000 from a monthly contribution of $250. If you had started later and contributed for only 30 years, you would have gained only about $252,000. If you only have 20 years to invest, you end up with about 115,000. Some folks think they can just add more money later to make up for the lack of time. But even if you double your contributions to $6,000 per year, you still may not have enough for retirement income. $232,000 is not even HALF of what you would have had if you had started early. Some folks put their investment dollars into a larger proportion of stocks because the average annual return over time is 11%. That certainly helps give them a greater nest egg (about $435,000) but they are taking on more risk at a time closer to their retirement (20 years). You can see that the most important factor in investing is time. Time allows our dollars to double and even quadruple due to the Miracle of Compounding.

https://www.amazon.com/Time-is-Money-ways-maximize-savings/dp/1499692358/

How much to save for retirement

You have to decide when to leave work, where to live, how to spend your days—and what it all will cost. Since we can never know the answers to those questions, we must start investing early—and not in a bank savings account. Over time, a low-cost stock-market index has provided 11% per year. That rate can double your money every 6-7 years. It would take 22 years in a 3% bank account. Some folks think they must accumulate enough to provide 80% of their preretirement income. Other people shoot for an amount that is 10 times their salary at age 67. There is the 4% rule: accumulate enough so that you can take 4% of the total to live on. Some people figure to work until they reach their goal—a $ million or two. Reality: how much do we save on our average incomes? The Feds track this stat and more. $600,000 is the average retirement saving among 65 to 74 year olds. The median is only $200,000 so the wealthy savers are skewing the average big time. If you earn average wages, you probably will end up with the lower figure. If you add your SS benefit of about $1,844.76 a month, you know your later income. Add any other income and decide if you can live on that amount. If not, now is the time to increase your contributions. It is TIME and compounding that creates wealth. And grow your account tax-FREE.

https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Afford-Retirement-FEE-FREE/dp/1517738253

Are convertible bonds right for you?

2024 favorite broker product to sell may be the convertible bond. Convertible notes that provide steady income can be turned into shares at pre-agreed prices. Convertible bonds are most often issued by companies with a low credit rating and high growth potential. Some folks buy the bonds and sell short the underlying equity. If the stock falls, the bond’s downside is protected, while the short reaps a profit. If the price goes up, the bond’s will too, flipping the result. These swings supply the core of the profit. There are many types of convertibles. Vanilla convertible bonds are the most plain convertible structures. Be sure you understand the terms of your bond deal. Convertibles may have other features, such as: Call features—the ability of the issuer (on some bonds) to call a bond early for redemption. Convertible bonds are mainly issued by start-up or small companies. The chance of default or large movement in either direction is much higher than well-established firms. Investors should have a keen awareness of significant credit risk and price swing behavior associated with convertible bonds. Folks buy convertibles for higher yields. They are safer than preferred or common shares for the investor. Know what you are buying don’t just take someone’s word.

https://www.amazon.com/Buy-Value-financial-services-groceries/dp/1489513078

********ACCOUNTABILITY**************?

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

The Path to Dictatorship: 2010-2030

Parallels of this era in the past may hint at our future: democracy breaks apart legally

Jan 21 2010 Corporations’ election-spending unlimited

Billionaires paid $881 million for votes in 2022 midterm elections

Nov 2020 Wealthy discredit election process

Nov 21 2020 Trump’s Plans for a Coup: criminal

Nov 21 2020: Trump plan: US Marshals seize voting machines

Jan 6 2021 Direct govt overthrow failed: guns & bombs were ready

Trump engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" to stop Biden