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On the Horizon

Thoughts, musings, and a little bit of entertainment from the world of personal finance.

What is Wealth?

10/10/2020

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How much money do you need to be wealthy?  According to a poll conducted by Schwab last year, it's about $2.3 million.  Unsurprisingly, that number varies depending on the age of the respondent.  Gen Z-ers think $1.5 million is wealthy.  Millennials think it's $2M, and Gen X and Boomers think it's up over $2.5 million.  Interesting that all those numbers are pretty solid anchor points: one-and-a-half, two, two-and-a-half...psychologically speaking, it feels like the survey respondents just picked a random number out of thin air.  The pre-k demographic wasn't surveyed, but one can assume their response would be along the lines of "one thousand thousand million hundred thousand and nine".  Our answer: it depends.

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Portfolio Renourishment

1/10/2020

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It’s beach renourishment time again!  The dredges and pipes and bulldozers are all hard at work this offseason fighting with mother nature to try and keep those free-spirited sand grains in one place.  Or at least temporarily reset them, I suppose. The more cynical among us might argue that it’s a bit of a losing battle...but man does that new beach look good.

From time to time, it’s a good idea to give your portfolio a little renourishment as well.  We’re not talking about selling everything and starting over - after all, you don’t scrape the beach away down to bedrock and then rebuild it.  You just need to move some things around a little bit.

There are all kinds of pithy sayings out there about how to renourish your portfolio: “cut your losers and let your winners run”, “if you liked it before, you should like it even more now that it’s cheaper”, etc.  Gag.  All you really need to do is a simple rebalance.
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Magic 8-ball Forecasting

12/10/2019

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Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.  Unfortunately, since my benevolent overlords editors here at Beachcomber have these things called “deadlines”, there is absolutely zero hindsight available for this first Rogue Waves of 2020, as it is, in fact, still 2019 as I write this.  Which must mean it’s Magic 8-Ball time!

What’s that?  You think we meant to say “crystal ball”?  Ah, yes, that is to be expected given all the punny ways you can put “vision” and “2020” together for economic forecasting.  But from time to time we like to refrain from beating a dead horse. And also, economic forecasts are useless.


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Do It Yourself

11/26/2019

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‘Tis the season for reflection and giving thanks, so here are three things in the investment world we are thankful for:


  • Thankful that we weren’t onstage for that Tesla electric truck/ATV reveal.  Tesla glass? More like Elijah Price from Glass.
  • Thankful that we’re not part of Softbank and their “Vision” Fund.  In case you missed it, Softbank’s Vision Fund invested $10.65B into WeWork at the height of its hype, valuing the company at $47B.  And then after the IP-NO disaster, Softbank was forced into a bailout of WeWork for an additional $8B or so combined debt/equity investment, which means the company would be valued for about $16B or so.  Of which the “Vision” Fund will have invested about $18B. Huh. Well, it turns out that now Softbank is having some issues coming up with the money for that bailout because even that valuation is looking absurd to the other Japanese syndicate banks.
  • Thankful that I’m not an employee, investor, or even user of WeWork.  What a dumpster fire. Have you seen their new commercials? Where apparently they’re trying to rebrand as...we’re not quite sure, but it seems like they’re going for “interior designers”.  And now Adam Neumann is under investigation by the SEC for self-dealing. Ya think? Ya think??  The guy trademarked the word “We” and then sold the trademark to his company for $6M.  Did you know Adam Neumann’s wife is Gwyneth Paltrow’s cousin? Gwyneth Paltrow, whose lifestyle brand Goop is selling $34 toilet paper for the holidays (for 24 rolls, but still).  I wonder what’s in the WeWork bathrooms. 

In the midst of our holiday travel this past weekend, we happened to tune in to some financial talk radio station, and this commercial came on - an ad for something that provided outsourced small business accounting.  It was a pretty classic ad format that tries to induce a fear response:

  1. WORST-CASE SCENARIO
  2. What causes worst-case scenario
  3. How to avoid worst-case scenario (conveniently enough by buying this amazing product!)

Sound familiar?  Well, this one went on to add “whatever you do, don’t try to do it yourself.”

In response, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, let us be the first to say: get stuffed, radio commercial man.  Of course you can do it yourself. In fact, we’re willing to make a blanket statement that if something is being advertised - especially on the radio - you either don’t need it or absolutely can do it yourself.


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The Year in Review

11/10/2019

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Fare thee well, 2019!  It’s that time of year when we’re inclined to look back on the year that was and reflect on how to make the next year even better - and yes, you can do that with personal finance as well.  So here’s a look back at everything Rogue Waves sent your way in 2019:


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Is It Too Early to Start Investing?

6/12/2019

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Too Soon to Start Investing?  Financial Experts Weigh In.
By Claire Shaner.

Young adults face financial complexities such as student loans, new mortgages, or car debt, coupled with low-paying entry-level jobs. With so much on their plate, those in their early twenties might feel overwhelmed by the words “saving,” “retirement,” or “investing.” If you’re in this situation, is it too early for you to start investing?

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March

2/10/2019

 
Maaaaaarghch.  We got nothin’.  Monosyllabic. Not punny.  The only thing mildly related is “March of Dimes”, and that has been well taken already.  So without further ado, let’s continue our 2019 series in content, if not title.

  1. You’re paying yourself first
  2. Your emergency fund has three months’ expenses in it
  3. You are now here.

“Here” looks like different things to different people.  For some people, “here” might be increasing that emergency fund to 6 or even 12 months’ expenses.  Nothing wrong with that, but you know what you’re doing now, so keep at it and revisit this article when you’re happy with your emergency fund.

For others, “here” is about making your money work for you, which usually boils down to a question of which takes priority: saving/investing or paying down debt?  The answer is, like so many other things, it depends on your personal predilections.

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Febru-WHERE-y

1/10/2019

 
Ha!  See what we did with the title?  That’s clever. It’s like we’ve got a little series going to start 2019: first it was Jan-YOU-ary, and now Febru-WHERE-y.  (Looking ahead, “March” doesn’t quite fit the pattern, but that’s a problem for future me.) Staying in the present, hopefully you’ve started paying yourself first - that was what Jan-YOU-ary was all about, after all.  Those of you who happened to miss that particular article or perhaps would just like a little refresher (shameless plug coming), you can read past Beachcomber issues online!  Go ahead, we’ll give you time to get caught up...

Alright.  So you’ve started (or will start) paying yourself first every time you get that paycheck.  Where’s the best place to put that money? Bank account? Stocks? Under the mattress?

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Jan-YOU-ary

12/10/2018

 

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Savings Rundown

11/28/2018

 
Whew!  Nothing like waiting until the very last possible minute for a November newsletter, huh?  We don’t care what science says these days, we still blame the tryptophan.

It feels like we have been writing about benefits elections ad nauseum recently, but after a quick glance back through the last few months’ newsletters, apparently that’s not true.  So with a couple weeks left to make or change your elections (at least for the Healthcare exchange and likely for your own workplace benefits platform as well), let’s go through a Rundown of different places you can put your money.  Just don’t eat the Konlobos, it’s worse than tryptophan.


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What's in a Year

11/10/2018

 
Calendars are pretty arbitrary, especially when it comes to investing.  I mean, sure, the development of the calendar as a means of tracking the passage of time makes sense, especially when it is based on observable patterns like, say, phases of the moon or positioning of the sun.  But to use January 1st as the starting point for measuring investment performance is meaningless.  I could just as well tell you about your portfolio’s performance since the first new moon after the vernal equinox - you’d probably look at me like I was crazy, but really there’s no difference between the two.  They’re both arbitrary points in the flow of time that are equally irrelevant to you as an investor unless you actually invested your money on that particular day. And since the market is closed on January 1st, that is exactly nobody.  Ever.

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Dos and Don'ts

10/10/2018

 
Emptier beaches and more waves mean that winter is coming.  And winter means holidays, food comas, and a nostalgic look back at the year mixed with excitement and planning for the year that comes.  Speaking of planning, this is also the time for employer benefit elections and open enrollment for healthcare exchanges! (And yes, that certainly does warrant the exclamation point of excitement.)   So let’s take a little stroll through some dos and don'ts to make sure your financial self gets the same kind of care and attention the rest of you is getting.

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Running of the Bulls

9/5/2018

 
This summer, like every summer for the last 600 years, saw the annual Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain.  This summer, like every other summer for the last 10 years, saw the continuation of this current bull market for stocks (“current” assuming no unmitigated disaster between writing and press time).  In point of fact, August marked the longest ever bull market in the US - our very own running of the bulls.

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The Importance of Saving

7/24/2018

 
What a World Cup!  I hope you all enjoyed that month of magic and drama.  Sometimes literally with the drama - did you see that Neymar spent 14 full minutes lying down?  That’s ⅙ of an entire match. On his back.

As for the real drama, Croatia, a country with a total population less than our very own Atlanta metro area, nearly pulled off a crazy upset by winning the World Cup over the likes of heavily favored Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, and Spain.  And they did it through two shootouts and an extra time win in the knockout rounds. In the end, however, it was like something out of a Hanson song, with France finally capturing the title that was just a Zinedine Zidane headbutt away 12 years ago.  In fact, France only conceded 6 goals the entire World Cup. Croatia gave up 9, England 8, and Belgium 6. The importance of saving, indeed!

After the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo got transferred to Juventus for roughly £105M (or £500,000-ish per week) and, to bring it back to things that matter in American sports, LeBron James moved to the LA Lakers for $154M ($740,000-ish per week for a four-year contract).

These guys are all set for life now, right?  Who needs four years, give us $740,000-ish per week for six weeks and we’ll be set.*  Unfortunately, more often than not that’s not how it works out.


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Pot o' Gold

3/15/2018

 
T-minus 1 month!  To what, you may ask?  Why, Tax Day of course!  For the most part, we feel that “tax” is shorthand for “government theft” (sure, we agree with the principle of a certain level of taxation in order to fund certain iterations of social benefit programs, but without getting real deep down a policy and government bloat rabbit hole, let’s just agree that taxes are a pain and move on), and yet Tax Day fills us with a giddy sort of joy.  Why, you may ask again? Freebies!

Great American Cookies is giving away a free birthday cake cookie.  Schlotzsky's is apparently giving away a sandwich with the purchase of a drink and a bag of chips.  And we have no idea what a HydroMassage from Planet Fitness is or if we would even want one, but evidently those will be free too.

In the “not free, but I see what you did there” department, Bruegger’s is selling a baker’s dozen bagels and two tubs of cream cheese for $10.40.  Or $10.47, if you want to include the sales tax that will be applied. A little bit ironic, don’t you think?

Most people are thrilled to receive a tax refund in April.  It feels kind of like free money, right? Consider the flip side of that coin for a second though - a tax refund really means that you loaned your money to the government last year at a zero percent interest rate.  Actually zero, too, not the 0.01% “zero” that your checking account is getting you. If you owe taxes, on the other hand, you essentially got an interest-free loan from the government.  Mmmhm.  Morty’s Mind Blowers has nothing on us.

So.  In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, let’s take a look at how to keep a little more green in your pockets and out of the clutches of the vampire squid of government.


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