Your Unbiased Advisor: Lessons from Warren Buffett

How Govt wastes our money:

Senate: private placement insurance 'booming tax dodge' for the wealthy

Army is slashing thousands of posts in major revamp to prepare for future wars

NASA wasted taxes: toppled moon lander sends back more images before it dies

Congress avoids duty: another stopgap funding bill ahead of shutdown Mar 22

Social Security, Veterans, Disabled, SNAP children at risk of missed payments

McConnell Surrenders to Trump: gives up GOP leadership to Trump John puppet

Deficit grows: Trump gave many corporations tax breaks so some pay $0 taxes

SCAMS/SPINS:

FL surgeon general defies science ignores vaccinations amid measles outbreak

17 Hazardous Products That Were Recalled

“You shot at a car full of people, you didn’t care what would happen”: man gets 25 yrs

Trump, again to delay paying $83 million judgment: above the law?

Trump’s Supremes delay his trials: will he be considered a King who can do no wrong

Scam: delivery notices claim the post office, UPS, or FedEx couldn't deliver a package.

David Tall CA defrocked after selling unapproved securities

Kristi Margaret Berge MN stole $1.6 million for her own real estate biz

Recall: 380,000 Toyota Tacoma pickups recalled because axles could loosen

Recall: 330,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees steering wheel falls outward—losing control

Moving: home insurance costs in Florida have increased by 102%

Multilevel marketing firms use deceptive income claims to promote their businesses.

AI phone lets users ‘drive’ car with only their eyes

Crypto fraud on the rise: State securities regulators investigated 8,538 cases

IRS: it is going after high-income taxpayers who have failed to file tax returns in years

Jobs

The economy is roaring. Immigration is a key reason

Average annual return S&P 500, including dividends, from 1928 to 2023 is 11.66%

50 % of labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers

Bricklaying robots are not looking to steal jobs but fill a labor shortage

jobs.interestingengineering.com/

Who owns your account now?

CR: Best Cars of the Year: 10 Top Picks of 2024: hybrids: Subaru and Toyota

Tesla Model Y, Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia earn highest safety rating in 2024

Best White Wines Under $20

51 Companies With Lifetime Warranties: If It Breaks, They’ll Fix It

Kids are using phones in class. Should schools ban them all day?

We’re Hacked: hacking tools that Chinese use or sell: phones, track, passwords, 2-factor.

irs.gov/wheres-my-refund: Average refund $3,207, up from $3,140 in 2023.

Miracles:

Ashwath Kaushik 8, youngest player to beat chess grandmaster in a classical tournament

An Asthma Drug Can Drastically Reduce Food Allergies

Judge hallucinates: Alabama judge says God opposes IVF.

Pancreatic cancer turns vitamin B6 against patients, study reveals

best-remedies-for-anxiety

Lessons from successful investors

Is portfolio ‘rebalancing’ necessary: just say ‘NO’

The financial industry is keen to do this buying and selling strategy periodically. Advocates claim this keeps your overall risk/reward exposure in good form. However, this strategy also increases your costs and may deprive your account of a favorable profit run. Advisors just don’t know whether you will be losing or gaining in the long run. If you have experienced the 27% increase in the last year, you may feel this advice is just wrong. Some analysts have shown that this buying and selling and extra cost (commissions and taxes) is definitely NOT worth it. John Bogle founder Vanguard has said you should ‘never rebalance’ your portfolio. Of course you need to be able to ignore the possible higher risk overall. Over time if your portfolio grows from higher returns because you have not given up some stocks, you will appreciate the higher balance. This means you are not watching your account every week, month, or quarter. Some folks ignore their balance since they will not need the funds for 20-30 years. These folks are not interested in making investing more complicated by different ‘rebalancing’ strategies. Most of these folks own several asset classes that operate as a balancing mechanism without the need to time the buying and selling of any asset. As Bogle and others emphasize, it is the choice of ALLOCATION that will determine our overall long-term account balance. Holding 10 different asset classes will automatically ‘rebalance’ risks.

Pick 10 funds for life: https://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X

Lessons from Warren Buffett’s Latest Annual Letter

Ignore “anyone predicting the direction of the stock market.” When a crisis occurs and the market falls, “stay the course.” “Reap the benefits of ‘the American tailwind and the power of compound interest.’” Buffett’s advice when dealing with someone with a new deal/idea: be careful to look beyond the ‘friendly face.’ Buffett writes that “America has been a terrific country for investors.” In speeches and interviews, he has consistently insisted that the country’s best days are yet to come. Remember, the average annual return of the S&P 500, including dividends, from 1928 to 2023 is 11.66%. That can mean you can double your money every 6.3 years on average. That is the Power of Compounding Buffett relies on to achieve his firm’s return of 19.8% a year.

Buffett’s investing advice: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592/

Is a Contingent Deferred Annuity right for you?

This expensive insurance product is mainly to make sure your portfolio provides enough income for your lifetime. Some sales people consider CDAs to be the Holy Grail of fee-based annuities. It is helpful for those using a riskier set of assets since there are no benefits paid if your portfolio income does NOT fall below the pre-set level. Thus if you spend all your asset income, you will start receiving the designated annuity benefits. Like other longevity annuities, CDAs provide you with an alternative way to access a guaranteed lifetime income. Of course there are costs for this possible guaranteed income. If you don’t trigger the pre-set level, you may not receive the annuity benefit. CDAs are complicated products, making their fee structure equally complex. As a result, the benefits and drawbacks of the product may not be fully transparent to the owner. However, due to the potential advantages, you can expect the cost to be high. Since you own and control the portfolio assets, the market may not be your friend at times. CDAs are an expensive way to cover longevity risk. There are others that may be more cost effective for you. Make sure you accurately measure all the alternatives.

https://www.amazon.com/NO-Cost-Annuity-Years-Income/dp/1508487308/

********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