Warren Buffett Says This Is How You Stay Financially Healthy In The Pandemic
.Warren Buffett Says This Is How You Stay Financially Healthy In The Pandemic
Doug Whiteman Tue, March 2, 2021
Warren Buffett isn't letting the pandemic get in his way.
The 90-year-old investing legend has gotten both his COVID shots, and so has his longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, according to a report by Bloomberg. Though Buffett wasn't able to immunize his company from the coronavirus economy, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has been making a strong recovery. Profits were down 48% last year at the massive conglomerate, but earnings during the final quarter of 2020 jumped 23% from a year earlier.
So, all in all, the billionaire businessman would seem to be weathering the crisis just fine. You can, too — if you follow his lead. Here are six lessons from Buffett on how to protect your money as the pandemic hangs on.
A Healthy Obsession with Money
.A Healthy Obsession with Money
By Retire Before Dad
I’m obsessed with money.
I think about earning, saving, and growing money most of the day. I’ve written about money for more than seven years. Saying someone is obsessed with money might conjure to mind words like greed, fame, power, influence, and opulence. Picture a celebrity flashing fancy clothes and jewelry on Instagram and their millions of envious followers. Or a hedge fund manager posing in front of a Hamptons mansion for a Fortune Magazine feature. How much is enough?
Money and politics? Barf. But money is a powerful tool for good. Sites like GoFundMe help us support families in our communities when they suffer a trauma. International charities such as Doctors Without Borders and World Central Kitchen can’t operate without generous financial donations.
Buyer’s vs. Seller’s Market: What Do They Mean?
Buyer’s vs. Seller’s Market: What Do They Mean?
Lauren Ward Contributing Writer Last Updated: March 2, 2021
When you’re buying a house, it’s important to know what type of market you’re in: a buyers market or a sellers market. Each type of housing market offers its own set of unique opportunities and drawbacks depending on what side of the equation you’re on.
In a buyers market, the market is more favorable toward buyers due to an abundance of inventory, a low demand for housing or other factors that cause home sales to be slower than normal. This type of market works in the buyer’s favor because they can ask for extra concessions, lowball the offer or generally push the purchase to be more favorable to them. A sellers market, on the other hand, means that you’ll be competing with other buyers for the homes on the market. In this case, the seller calls the shots due to high demand for homes.
Warren Buffett: “Retirees Face A Bleak Future”
.Warren Buffett: “Retirees Face A Bleak Future”
Notes From The Field By Simon Black
March 2, 2021 Cancun, Mexico
Warren Buffett minced no words in his most recent annual shareholder letter (which came out over the weekend) when he told investors that “retirees face a bleak future.” Buffett was referring to the pitifully low interest rates that dominate fixed income investments (like bonds and annuities).
In September 1981, he writes, investors could buy a 10-year US government bond yielding nearly 16%. Now, inflation was a lot higher in the 1980s than it is today. But even after adjusting for inflation, the average annual yield for any investor who held that 1981 bond to maturity over the next decade would have been 5.7% per year. Today, that same 10 year bond yields just 1.4%. But the official inflation rate in the United States is also 1.4%. This means that, after adjusting for inflation, your net yield today is ZERO.
When Everyone’s a Genius (A Few Thoughts on Speculation)
.When Everyone’s a Genius (A Few Thoughts on Speculation)
Feb 24, 2021 by Morgan Housel
The end of a speculative boom can be inevitable but not predictable. Unsustainable things can last a long time. Identifying something that can’t go on forever doesn’t mean that thing can’t keep going for years. Years and years and years. Part of it is emotion. During the Vietnam War Ho Chi Minh said, “You will kill ten of us, and we will kill one of you, but it is you who will tire first.” Emotional trends aren’t beholden to logic, which can keep them going far past any point of reason.
Part is storytelling. Unsustainable trends have life support if enough people think they’re true, and once people believe something’s true it gets hard to convince them it’s not. Or put differently: If enough people believe it’s true it’s just as powerful as actually being true.
Every investor is making bets on the future. It’s only called speculation when you disagree with someone else’s bet.
About the Kids
.About the Kids
Richard Quinn February 27, 2021
Should leaving money to our children be a formal part of our financial strategy—or should we focus on our own wants and needs, and let the chips fall where they may?
My wife and I have four children ages 45 to 50. They’re all married and, between them, have 13 children ages five to 17. They’re also all college graduates, with almost the entire cost paid by my wife and me. Three have master’s degrees. Arguably, we did our job when it comes to our children. They were given every opportunity.
Since graduating college, however, all four have had more employers than I did in 50 years. None has a pension. Only two have a 401(k), one with the employer match suspended. Raises have been scarce. One son works on commission.
The First Rule Of A Happy Life
.'The First Rule Of A Happy Life,’ according to 97-year-old Charlie Munger
Adriana Belmonte· Senior Editor Fri, February 26, 2021, 9:16 AM
What makes for a happy life?
Well-managed expectations, according to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) Vice Chairman Charlie Munger.
“A happy life is very simple,” the 97-year-old Munger said during the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Daily Journal Corporation (DJCO). “The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. That’s one you can easily arrange. And if you have unrealistic expectations, you’re going to be miserable all your life."
Munger, who is the chairman of the Daily Journal's board, added that "I was good at having low expectations and that helped me. And also, when you [experience] reversals, if you just suck it in and cope, that helps if you don't just stew yourself into a lot of misery."
Cryptos versus Precious Metals
.Cryptos versus Precious Metals
The Final Wake Up Call By Peter B Meyer 2-25 21
Cryptocurrency
Look at bitcoin. In the early stages, people thought of it as a bet on a new money system, in which the cryptocurrency, despite having no physical existence, but limited by mathematical wizardry, would prove superior to gold. That could still turn out to be true, or, it could turn out that the price action in bitcoin is really just another of the many manipulation tricks coming out the box of the Central Bank controllers. As a result, when the central bank money system blows up, bitcoin and all other cryptos could go with it.
Bitcoin is not backed by gold or any other valuable asset, it relies on the continued existence of a worldwide electronic Internet, and never can reach a stable monetary value necessary to substitutes currencies. In the event of war, the Internet will go down instantly, every bitcoin owner loose control for immediate use. As Bitcoin is quoted hourly, and its price does not suffer from constant manipulative attacks, as Gold and Silver do.
“Nobody Owes More Than The Law Demands.”
.“Nobody Owes More Than The Law Demands.”
Notes From The Field BY Simon Black February 24, 2021 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
There used to be a show from the 90s called America’s Funniest Home Videos, where host Bog Saget would show silly home movies that people sent in from across the country. The videos typically featured people doing stupid things. And if the video was funny enough, someone could have won the $100,000 grand prize. All of that was pre-Internet, of course. Now there are people amassing fortunes on YouTube with audiences that rival hit TV shows.
Today, a nine year old boy named Ryan Koji is the highest earning YouTuber. Last year he raked an estimated $30 million from about 12 billion views, all from videos of him opening and playing with toys on camera for his 42 million subscribers.
Gold Is One Of The Few Assets That’s NOT At A Record High
.Gold Is One Of The Few Assets That’s NOT At A Record High
Notes From The field By Simon Black
February 23, 2021 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
On December 24, 1943, in the midst of World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower formally took command of all Allied forces in Europe. This was a big deal after such a pivotal year. 1943 saw Hitler suffer a devastating loss in Stalingrad; and by the end of the year, he had nearly lost Italy. The Allies could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Victory was within reach, and they were already working on a plan codenamed Operation Overlord-- the invasion of Normandy-- that would begin the final push against Hitler in the summer of 1944.
Eisenhower’s appointment was the ultimate admission of US military supremacy; as Supreme allied Commander, he outranked everyone, including British and French generals. But the US was the natural choice to take charge. At the time the US government was pumping everything into the war effort. Military spending was already at a record high in 1942, the first full year that the US was involved in World War II.
But by the end of 1943, military spending had tripled.
Currency Trading: Is It Right For Me?
.Currency Trading: Is It Right For Me?
Janice Friedman - July 20, 2020
How to Invest Money, Make Money Online, Personal Finance -
Are you looking for your next significant investment? Maybe you’ve recently come into some extra money and want to make it grow. Currency trading could be the right move for you to make. Currency trading on the world’s foreign exchange market is one of the simplest ways for individuals to break into the world of investments. It’s relatively easy to learn, has less risk than many other forms of investment, and practically anyone can do it successfully.
What Exactly Is Currency Trading and How Does It Work?
Currency trading by individuals takes place 24-hours a day online at the foreign exchange market. Also, currency trading takes place at financial centers around the world, so the market is always open for traders. New York, Tokyo, Sydney, and London are a few of the main hubs. If you’re in search of a form of investment that you can micromanage on your own time, in between work and sleeping, trading currency may be right for you.