This morning I received a call from a wise octogenarian client. Is it time to buy? he asked. What was he thinking? He described his experience of 1987. In October that year, the S&P 500 index dropped by 30 percent, over 20 percent on that one Monday, October 19. (Sounds [...]
In all areas of life, there are principles to be learned and applied. Finance is no exception. Many bedrock fundamentals found in the Bible have proven their worth over the past two thousand years or more. One is diversification. Spelled out in Ecclesiastes 11, verse 2, Solomon counsels, Divide your [...]
Last week I opined concerning the dangers of the supposedly conservative strategy du jour, that of having only guaranteed, fixed income investments such as bonds, CD’s, or fixed annuities. Today we will look back at relative performance of different assets during the Teens decade to see if, even during the [...]
Perhaps there have always been preachers of one solitary investment asset class. I remember Howard Ruff with his Ruff Times touting gold, silver and survival tips. He was correct about inflation in the later 1970s. (According to Dr. Mark Skousen, millions of dollars went through his hands in the 1970s [...]
In the past year or more, we have met with a growing number of folks, ultraconservative in their current investment philosophy. They explain that they jerked their money from any stock or diversified investment portfolio years ago, some before and some after the sub-prime mortgage fiasco of 2008-09. They have [...]
(The following is obviously my personal opinion from my Christian worldview. If it offends you, then I apologize for the disturbance, but not for my content.) If you have ever been on a mission trip to a lesser developed country, you probably witnessed that native people, especially children, seem to [...]
Last Wednesday I discussed the Medicare Advantage programs and today we finish with the Part B Supplemental (or Medigap) coverage. By the way, Open Enrollment began yesterday and you have until December 7 to apply for a change of plan. If you have not, I suggest you set up your [...]
I love October in the Midwest. In my opinion, it has the best weather of the entire year. The air is drier and the evenings are great for sweaters or sweatshirts. After some hard frosts, our allergies may be less intense. We experienced Americans, 65 and older, also have another [...]
One of the most interesting aspects of investing comes from the continuously changing tides between types of investments over time. For years now, the largest growth companies like FAANG (FaceBook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) have been dragging along the rest of the companies among the largest 500 in the [...]
Yesterday it appeared that Hurricane Dorian was weakening somewhat and its probable path this week would spare our Atlantic coast from the worst possible destruction. As it slides slowly northward, the damage may come from storm surges and torrential rain. I have watched some coverage of the preparations. Even Floridians [...]
