Retirement Watch Weekly
A New Contradictory Study on Cholesterol
People have been told that increasing their HDL (good cholesterol) levels will increase the risk of heart disease. A new study says that’s not the case. The new study indicates HDL doesn’t counteract bad cholesterol. Instead, it doesn’t seem to do much, though low levels of HDL could be indicators of bad overall health or […]
An Argument Against Annuities
There are two broad categories of annuities. There are the simple annuities. These are immediate annuities, longevity annuities, and fixed deferred annuities. These classic, old-fashioned annuities are straightforward, easy to understand, and pay low commissions to agents and brokers. These usually are the ones I recommend in certain situations, especially to generate guaranteed income for […]
Index Funds Causing the Death of Stock Picking?
The Wall Street Journal had a series of articles on its web site on October 17 with headlines such as “The Dying Business of Picking Stocks” and “Index Funds are Taking Over the S&P 500.” The articles detailed the now well-known increase in the number of dollars being invested in stock indexes instead of active […]
Central Bankers Pushing on a String
October 27, 2016 Central Bankers Pushing on a String Investors are becoming complacent just at the time when they shouldn’t. As bankers ramped up quantitative easing (QE) after 2008, many investors remained cautious. Surveys showed investors holding large allocations to cash as QE pushed the prices of stocks, bonds, and other assets higher. Now, it […]
The Dogs of the Dow are Back
A simple investment strategy that works well over the long term is to buy the five stocks listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the highest dividend yields. Readjust the portfolio annually to hold the newest highest-yielders. The strategy doesn’t work well every year, but it’s doing very well in 2016. To be sure, […]
The Stealth Interest Rate Increase
I’m going to be busy at the MoneyShow Dallas this week, so I prepared this week’s update a day early, on Wednesday morning. Next week we’ll be on the regular schedule. People are focusing too much on the Federal Reserve and when it might raise interest rates. That’s caused them to miss the rate increases […]
Finding the Short-Term Tailwinds
The long-term economic and market picture still isn’t an attractive one. Many shorter-term trends, however, are positive. Too many investors and analysts are missing opportunities because they are worried about the long-term, how the presidential election might affect markets and other noise. The things that really matter to markets are pointing to several opportunities. The […]
How Even Sophisticated People Are Scammed
People who never expected to be victims of scams and frauds often are victimized. The stereotype is that older people with reduced cognitive abilities are the most likely to be scammed. But many other people are vulnerable, and those who don’t fit the stereotype need to stay alert for potential scams. Self-confidence is one factor […]
