 Minimalism - Quality Versus Buying Cheap
One of the things I have had people say negatively about the minimalism movement is that they don’t want to buy the cheapest thing out there. While I believe in being frugal, there certainly is a line were buying the cheapest thing and buying something of quality. Buying just because it is cheap is never a good idea. The Lord has commanded his children to be good stewards of their money. That means we need to not be wasteful, but it does not mean buying the cheapest thing on the shelf. Even when buying groceries, we must check out the quality of the store brands. Some are excellent and just good buys. However, some just are not up to the standards of the name brands. So personally, I think we should look for ‘quality’ first, and price second. I buy most of my clothing in inexpensive stores, but when I get ready to buy some blue jeans, I buy Wrangler Cowboy Cut jeans. Do I have to have those? Of course not, but I buy them at Walmart for under $25 a pair (at least last time I bought some), and they last and last. I could get by with the store brands, but I doubt they would last near as long. So in this case, I stick with what I know and like. And having the money to buy what you like is part of the reward for being good stewards of our money. When it comes to groceries, I personally have found most store brands are good. If you must have Folgers coffee and it does not cramp your budget, I think that is fine to buy the name brand. The main thing is to think about what we buy and be sure it is needful. Just a few dollars saved each month might allow us to help a missionary obtain a new vehicle or feed some orphans in places like India or Africa. We need to think out purchases carefully. Buying just the cheapest thing out there does not make us a minimalist. We can be a minimalist and not be a cheapskate. Let's make good sensible decisions and stay the course and save a few dollars every month. Here is a great video from my favorite minimalist Joshua Becker. This is an excellent way to get to know him as he speaks about owning less. It was Joshua that inspired me to start living more carefully and with less. Check out this YouTube video: Owning Less is Better than Thinking About Owning Less | Becoming Minimalist on YouTube List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of all Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops
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 DISCLAIMER - I am not a Financial Advisor and do not work for any Brokerage Firm. The opinions given are of my own and are not to be used as professional advice. These are my findings and can hopefully help you to make informed decisions on investing. Consult a Broker or Lawyer before making any investment. What I Love About Vanguard Investments There are several really good investment brokerage houses. I have used about 10 over my 30 years of investing, and am now using just 3 where I actively manage my investments. This week we will discuss what I love about Vanguard Investments. We did a review on one of the best investments books which is the Little Book of Common Sense Investing by Vanguard founder Jack Bogle. You can read about that book here: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/book-review-the-little-book-of-common-sense-investing-jack-c-bogle This book clearly points out that it is very difficult to beat the average of the stock market consistently. So using that information, I have concentrated a lot of my investments on ETFs that make up the full market indexes which are listed in that article. Vanguard Investments Group has been around for a lot of years. They may be the premier brokerage from the standpoint of offering so many good mutual funds and ETFs. Remember though, that you can buy those ETFs at other brokers also. I review my investments on a bi-weekly schedule, and the thing that stands out is that my Vanguard investments rarely lose any money. They have an excellent group of managers over their funds and ETFs, and while most ETFs are not managed, some are. I will admit that more of my speculative investments (which are never more than 5% of my total portfolio) are invested at Schwab and Fidelity. So I want to clarify that if all things were equal (same exact investments in each brokerage), there would be little variance in one or the other. I think what we can learn from this is that Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs are excellent. If you are unfamiliar with the varying types of investments, read my articles on the definitions of the main 4. (Stocks, ETF (Exchange Traded Funds, Mutual funds and bonds.) First 3 are in article one, bonds are in a separate article. https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/investment-categories https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/what-is-a-bond Advantages of Vanguard Group:
Investing recommendation: (Never buy mutual funds with Load fees.) Disadvantages of Vanguard Group:
So in conclusion, overall Vanguard is a good company. My wife has a Roth IRA there and we intend to keep it. Advantages / Differences in IRAs: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/differences-in-roth-and-traditional-iras We will cover Schwab Investments and Fidelity Investments next week and show their pros and cons. See Vanguard Website www.vanguard.com  List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of all Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  DISCLAIMER - I am not a Financial Advisor and do not work for any Brokerage Firm. The opinions given are of my own and are not to be used as professional advice. These are my findings and can hopefully help you to make informed decisions on investing. Consult a Broker or Lawyer before making any investment.
I am trying to review the top 5 books that have shaped my investment philosophies. After Jack Bogle’s book on Common Sense Investing, I believe these first 3 books by Robert T. Kiyosaki are definitely "my" life changers. I read the first book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, but failed to take notes as I read it. I skipped book 2 and went straight to his guide to investing. I intend to go back and read book 2 now. I suggest you read them in order. Eventually, there will be reviews on all these books. if you have not read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, start there. Buy here: Amazon.com: Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! eBook : Kiyosaki, Robert T.: Kindle Store Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing makes a lot of sense. Buy Here: Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!: Kiyosaki, Robert T.: 8601404412257: Books (amazon.com) What is super about these Rich Dad Poor Dad books is that he challenges you to rethink what you have been taught your entire life. If you are like me, you were taught the best way to save money is to go to college, go to work for a good company, and put away 5 to 10% of your savings into a 401K and then retire at age 65. While that sounds pretty solid, it truly is not a good formula for life. Mr. Kioysaki, had two dads. One was his poor dad who was highly educated. His other dad, his Rich Dad, was not highly trained in college. I read half of book one before I realized that the highly educated dad was the one that was poor. Rich Dad had street smarts like crazy. He trained him to think outside the box and figure out how to make huge amounts of money, mainly by owning the company and using company assets to purchase the investments. By forming corporations, you can use some of the taxes you are paying to actually buy the assets. Study this book carefully as well as the first two. It will challenge your thinking in a big big way. After just reading 2 of the 3 my whole concept of “how to invest” has changed. Mr. Kiyosaki begins explaining that he is not a best-writing author, but a ‘bestselling” author. He points out that he flunked out of high school twice because he could not write and was very shy. Robert’s rich dad had a thorough grasp on global investments. He told Robert that “Unsuccessful people find their strengths and spend their lives making their strengths stronger, often ignoring their weaknesses, until one day their weaknesses can not be ignored. Successful people find their weaknesses and make them strengths. My learnings from the Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: 1. Don’t trust all that you have been taught. There are MANY ways to make money, and you normally are not taught them in formal schooling. Open your mind and learn about investments and how to read financial statements which are your blueprint for knowing what a good investment truly is. 2. To be effective in business, you must identify a need, provide a solution, and address your customer’s question “What’s in it for me?” Five building blocks are essential to building a successful business. Cash Flow, communication, systems, legal, and product. 3. Rich Dad taught Robert the ultimate formula for wealth: to print your own money legally. In his first book, he explained that the “Rich invent money by using real estate and small companies." Having the technical skill to pull this off makes you one of the ultimate investors. 4. Every good investor learns to have their money work hard for them by knowing the 3 E’s
Without all 3, it will not work. 5. School smarts are important but street smarts can make you rich. 6. You must continue to learn about finances. Being financial smart allows a person to understand the B & I Quadrants covered in book 2 “Cashflow Quadrants.” To be successful requires you to understand finances and purchase your businesses with ‘pre-tax dollars.’ 7. Poor Dad believed you could become rich by being cheap, but that is not true. Rich Dad believed living poor and dying poor is a tragedy. Money is meant to be enjoyed, so work hard and make your money work hard so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. 8. Mr. Kiyosaki gives the example of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s who said “My business is not hamburgers. My business is real estate.” Ray Kroc understood the purpose of business is to buy assets. Following his Poor Dad’s example would allow you to have security, but unlikely to have riches. The power of corporations allows a person to grow rich by buying assets. 9. Rich Dad gave 3 reasons to build a business. One is to provide excess cash flow. Secondly to buy it to sell, and thirdly, to take the business public. Always remember that business is a team sport, and investing is a team sport. 10. You do not have to be young to start a business. Colonel Sanders was 66 when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken. 11. Robert created the B - I triangle. It represents a strong system of systems supported by a team with a leader, working towards a common mission. A business with a defined mission, a determined leader, and a qualified and unified team begins to take shape as the sections of the B-I triangle. To learn the B-I Triangle well, Rich Dad recommends starting a small business. You learn and make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. Learning from your mistakes can transform you into a sophisticated investor. 12. Remember this saying from the book: If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t. Either way, you're right. 13. Those who do not risk failing will ultimately fail. Poor Dad looked upon failure as a thing, and rich dad looked upon failure as an action. That single difference makes a big difference over a lifetime. In this fast-changing world, past successes mean nothing. 14. Reading this book is a good start to becoming successful. Understanding all the requirements needed to run a business and investing is crucial. We must continue to study and learn to be on the top of our game. 15. Rich Dad said you can choose to live in a world of not enough money or a world of too much money. The choice is up to you. Don’t be average. You must decide what your goals are and make a plan to reach that goal (and then stick to your plan.) Continue to study, as your financial education and investor knowledge are very important. I encourage you to read all 3 of these first Rich Dad Poor Dad books. There are others, but these give you a good basis to begin effective wealth building. I attended one of Mr. Kiyosaki’s free online seminars about real estate a few weeks ago, and he is one smart individual. We must continue to learn as life and tax laws continue to change. List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of all Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  DISCLAIMER - I am not a Financial Advisor and do not work for any Brokerage Firm. The opinions given are of my own and are not to be used as professional advice. These are my findings and can hopefully help you to make informed decisions on investing. Consult a Broker or Lawyer before making any investment. Three Quality Fidelity Mutual Funds The stock market is full of varying types of investments. One of the first articles I ever wrote explained some of the varying types of investments a person can make. https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/investment-categories In that article, I explained that the real advantage to mutual funds is that a manager is making decisions on what to buy and normally they have good returns. I just bought a new Fidelity Mutual Fund this week, so I thought I would go over 3 of the Fidelity Funds that I own that have had good returns over the past few years. Up front let me say that none are going to look very good on the one year percentages as we are approaching a bear market in 2022 if we are not already in one. But I buy for the long-term, and try to use dollar cost averaging to keep invested so that when the market turns up, I will share in the quick rise. My newest Fidelity Fund purchased this week is FXAIX - The Fidelity 500 Index. The last two articles have been about full market indexes and how I believe they are excellent investment vehicles. The Fidelity 500 Index mutual fund is one of the cheapest (in regards to costs for the service), and is well diversified with low-turnover exposure to US Large-cap stocks. Morningstar analyst Rating is Gold. The fund tracks the S&P 500 which represents the US Large-cap opportunity set in a cost-efficient way. It measures the strength of the underlying companies, and they make exceptions and remove some of the stocks when they feel they do not meet their risk profile. So they basically cover about 80% of the total U.S. Market capitalization. Current returns are: 1-Yr : -.03 %' 3-Yr : 16.42% 5-Yr: 13.37% Another Fidelity fund that I have held for several years is: FEQTX which is the Fidelity Equity Dividend Fund. Objective Seeks reasonable income. The fund will also consider the potential for capital appreciation. The fund looks for a yield that exceeds the composite yield on the securities comprising the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Strategy Normally investing at least 80% of assets in equity securities. Normally investing primarily in income-producing equity securities that pay current dividends and show potential for capital appreciation, which tends to lead to investments in large cap "value" stocks. Current returns are: 1-Yr : -3.3 % 3-Yr : 14.08% 5-Yr: 9.98% Another Fidelity fund that I have held for several years is: FBGRX which is the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund. Objective Seeks growth of capital over the long term. Strategy Normally investing at least 80% of assets in blue chip companies* (companies that, in FMR's view, are well-known, well-established and well-capitalized), which generally have large or medium market capitalizations. Investing in companies that FMR believes have above-average growth potential (stocks of these companies are often called "growth" stocks). Current year returns are horrible on this one: 1-Yr : -18.44 % 3-Yr : 19.09% 5-Yr: 16.76% During turbulent markets, you appreciate the managers of these funds and how difficult their job is. It is good to always have a portion of your investments in managed professional hands. So as I mention in most recent articles, this may not be a good time to be in the market. Buying I-Bonds looks smarter every day. But whether this bear market goes on for 2 more months or two more years, I believe we will ultimately see another good market. Seek professional advice before making any decisions on purchases. These are a list of one newly purchased fund and two other of my holdings that have done well in prior years. Another article I wrote about four mutual funds to buy is: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/may-10th-2022 I recommended the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth fund in that article also. See funds at www.Fidelity.com  List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of all Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  JOMO VERSUS FOMO
A new little 4 letter word is popping up on Social Media nowadays. Remember the WWJD acronym that we had about 20 years ago that asked What Would Jesus Do? Some of that was valid, and I think we should question when we do things or react to situations if that is truly how the Lord would have us act. But this new JOMO word surprised me as I wanted to find the book I had been reading about it, and found that there were literally dozens of books on Amazon on JOMO. So what is JOMO? It is the opposite of FOMO. JOMO means the JOY OF MISSING OUT FOMO is the FEAR OF MISSING OUT I read Joshua King’s book “JOMO” and found it quite interesting. You can buy it here: JOMO Book In his book "JOMO", Joshua King said: Getting older has its perks, and one of them is being able to make your own decisions. As we get older, we have the chance to participate in everything everyone else is doing. We do this because of FOMO, the fear of missing out. Or we have the opportunity to experience the JOMO, the Joy of Missing Out. You would think after high school, we would not fall for peer pressure, but sadly you are mistaken. If anything, there is more peer pressure in your 40’s than in your 20’s. You have more options available and more money to buy things. We need to stop living like this and think more about the long-term. Can you relate to these acronyms? JOMO and FOMO? I sure remember as a teenager how I wanted to be accepted. Back when I was in high school, the cool car to have was a ’57 Chevy. I guess that goes to show my age. But this was in the years 66 thru 69 when I graduated. That was 1969 in case any of you young people who can’t relate to how long ago it was. Boy if you didn’t have a ’57 Chevy, you were missing out. When I turned 16, I talked my dad into letting me buy a car in 1967, and with the financing of my grandmother, we went down to Seymour and I bought myself a pretty turquoise ‘57 Chevy for $325. I should have kept it. Probably worth $40,000 nowadays. The FOMO was real to me back then. I had a great fear of missing out. One day when I was a senior there in Munday, Texas, I counted 53 cars in the parking lot around Munday High School that were ’57 Chevys. That is probably out of a total of like 100 cars. I had 51 kids in my graduating class, so there were more of the ‘in’ cars than kids in my class. So having the popular car was cool, but back then having the fastest one in the drag races was even more important. One rich dad bought his son a beautiful one here in Wichita Falls from an air force captain with a Corvette motor, a 4-speed, and 375 horsepower 327 motor. He reigned as the fastest 57 Chevy in Knox County for 3 years. I worked as a mechanic through high school and learned a lot. I kept after it and finally rebuilt the motor in my car. I added a 4:56 low geared rear end, put on a 4-barrel Holley, and a Corvette solid lifter cam in my ’57. It would only top out at 105mph, but it would do it in the quarter mile. So finally SOMEONE (me) defeated that super fast ’57 twice in two races before I headed off to college. I wanted to be cool and respected by all the other kids. For a few weeks, I was the talk of the town. Fastest of the fifty three ’57 Chevys in Munday, Texas. Guess what I found out when I went to college? None of my professors were impressed that I had the fastest 57 Chevy in Knox County. Not a single employer ever cared about any of that. But the Fear Of Missing Out really controlled me in those high school years. And I didn’t grow out of it in my 20’s either. It was in my middle 40’s before the light came on that I didn’t need to fear what other people thought, but I needed to live a simpler life and fear what God thought. And that is when I discovered the JOY OF MISSING OUT. Man, you are so much happier when you can let this old world go. Don’t be concerned about keeping up with Jones, but worry about living a simple consistent Christian life. If you have a lot, be happy. If you have a minimal existence, be happy. How we live and how we treat others is way more important than things or FOMO. Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. When we get the JOMO, we truly have it all. We will be satisfied in whatever lot our part is in this life. We can look to God and know it is He that holds our tomorrow. And then with His grace, we can do whatever we set out to do the very best we can. Life can be simple when we forget about what others are thinking. Let us all strive for more JOMO (The JOY of Missing Out) and not have the FOMO (The Fear of Missing Out). List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of All Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  DISCLAIMER - I am not a Financial Advisor and do not work for any Brokerage Firm. The opinions given are of my own and are not to be used as professional advice. These are my findings and can hopefully help you to make informed decisions on investing. Consult a Broker or Lawyer before making any investment. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - Jack C. Bogle About 12 years ago, I read the book “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by the late Jack C. Bogle. Jack C. Bogle was one of the great minds in the investment world and his Vanguard group of investments is still one of the best. Mr. Bogle died in 2019, but his legacy lives on. He was the first person to create a full index Mutual Fund using the full stock market as its basis. Today many ETFs try to mimic his designs. Three great ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that I have owned for years are the I-Shares ITOT, the Vanguard full stock market index VTI, and the Schwab Full Market Index SCHB. Another great one that is not the whole market but is the S&P 500 that is doing great is the Vanguard VOO. I read this week that renowned investor Warren Buffett has instructed his estate to invest his money into VOO giving you an idea of how much Warren Buffett regards this Vanguard ETF. No investment book has ever affected me as much as The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. I have used full stock market ETFs for the past 12 years in at least 25% of my portfolio. Probably the years that I used them for 50% were the years I had the best returns, so don’t discount the importance of reading this book. Here are some of the insights I gained from The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. 1. In his book, he explained that only 2% of the people making marketing decisions on Mutual Funds can outperform the full stock market index. And if you invest your money with one of those in the top 2, next year they will not be in the top 2% slot. One exception to that rule was Peter Lynch and his fantastic Fidelity Magellan fund. He consistently outperformed the market for many years. But the truth of the matter is that no matter how smart you are, you are hard-pressed to beat the ‘average’ of the whole stock market. I really took this to heart and over the past 12 years, the full stock market ETFs in my portfolio have outperformed all my other investments. 2. Successful investing is all about common sense. Coming up with a completely concise solid plan and sticking to it is a theory for success. A person moving money in and out of the market does not normally make as much as the person who has a fully diversified plan and sticks to it. Simple arithmetic suggests and history confirms that the winning strategy is to own all of the nation’s publicly held businesses at a very low cost. This way you receive all their dividends and share in earnings growth. 3. Over the past century, corporations have earned a return on their capital of 9.5% per year. If you compound that over a decade, each $1 invested goes to $2.48, in 20 years $5.14, 30 years $15.22, and 50 years: $93.48. Think of what compounding does for you. $1 invested in the average in fifty-years grows over 90 times its initial value. Capitalism works and creates wealth. 4. Scattered throughout the book are little boxes with the heading “Don’t Take my Word for It” and Mr. Bogle has industry leaders speak out on their opinion of the full stock market index. It would take a 20-page review to list them all, so I will just pick a few. Jack R. Meyer, former President of Harvard Manage Company said this. (He took the Harvard Endowment Fund from $8 billion to $27 billion during his management.) The investment business is a giant scam. Most people think they can find managers who can outperform, but most people are wrong. I would say 85 to 90% of managers fail to match their benchmarks. Get diversified. Come up with a portfolio that covers a lot of asset classes. And keep your fees low. 5. Princeton professor Burton G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street expressed his view: Index funds have regularly produced rates of return exceeding those of active managers by close to 2 percentage points. 6. Peter Lynch, legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund said in Barron’s Magazine “The S&P is up 343.8 for the last 10 years. General equity funds are up an average of 283 percent. So it’s getting worse and the deterioration by professionals is getting worse. “The public would be better off in an index fund.” 7. Tyler Mathisen, then executive editor of Money Magazine, conceded the point. “For nearly two decades, Jack Bogle, the tart-tongued chairman of the Vanguard Group, has preached the virtues of index funds—those boring portfolios that aim to match their performance of the market barometer. Well, Jack, we were wrong. You win. Settling for the average is good enough for a substantial portion of most investors’ stock and bond portfolios. So what can we conclude from this book? I believe that the average is the way to go using full stock market indexes. I have proven it in my portfolio for the last 12 years. Over the past 15 years, the stock market has consistently put out average yields above 12%. If you still feel hesitant, I will say again that for the next year, probably no other investment is better than the I-Bond on Treasury Direct. It yields a guaranteed 9.62% for this current 6-month period, and when it resets, it will be based on inflation. I doubt it will rise above 10% on the next reset, but even if it lowers to 7%, that is 7 times the normal one-year CD rate currently. Complete links with information on I-Bonds below: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/safe-place-to-invest-50-today Get a plan of action, and then hold the market portfolio forever. That is what the index fund does. The investment philosophy is not only simple but elegant. The arithmetic on which it is based is irrefutable, but it takes discipline to stick with even a simple plan. Consider the full stock market indexes in your investment plans. I try to keep at least 25% of my investments in full stock market indexes and have had great success with them over the past 12 years. Right now in these days when we have these massive losses on the market, it is a good time to consider buying in on some of the full stock market indexes or buying in on some mutual funds based on full stock market indexes. All this information is for your reading enjoyment. No one can predict the future, but if history repeats itself (and many times it does), then a good long-term bull market may be around the corner. Link to Vangard Investments: www.vanguard.com  List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of all Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  DISCLAIMER - I am not a Financial Advisor and do not work for any Brokerage Firm. The opinions given are of my own and are not to be used as professional advice. These are my findings and can hopefully help you to make informed decisions on investing. Consult a Broker or Lawyer before making any investment. The Power of Full Market Indexes The stock market is full of varying types of investments. Few make more money in the long haul than the Full Stock Market Indexes. About 12 years ago, I read the book “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by the late Jack Bogle. Jack Bogle was one of the great minds in the investment world and his Vanguard group of investments is still one of the best. In his book, he explained that only 2% of the people making marketing decisions on Mutual Funds can outperform the full stock market index. And if you invest your money with one of those in the top 2, next year they will not be in the top 2% slot. One exception to that rule was Peter Lynch and his fantastic Magellean fund. He consistently outperformed the market for many years. But the truth of the matter is that no matter how smart you are, you are hard-pressed to beat the ‘average’ of the whole stock market. I took this to heart and over the past 12 years, the full stock market ETFs in my portfolio has outperformed all other investments. Over the past 15 years, the stock market has consistently put out average yields above 12%. Years like 2022 are a misnomer in that we have so many things wrong in our world that there is no consistency in the market. Schwab investments printed an article two weeks ago about the 2022 phenomena where both the stock market and the bond market lost money. This has only happened twice in the history of the stock market.  Here is a portion of the Three Bears Market letter put out 3 weeks ago by Schwab Investments.
THE THREE BEARS Stocks, bonds, and cash are all in a bear market or teetering on the edge of one—a very rare event. Over the past 72 years, there have only been two prior periods with a triple bear. Stocks, bonds, and cash are all in a bear market or teetering on the edge of one—a very rare event. Over the past 72 years, there have only been two periods with a triple bear—both took place in the 1970s.
So 2022 has been a really bad year for investors. As I mentioned in an earlier article, consider putting your money in Treasury I – Bonds until we get past this unstable market. They are currently yielding 9.62% for this six-month span. They reset in percentage every six months based on inflation and long-term 30-year treasury bill rate. https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/safe-place-to-invest-50-today Back to the article for the day, why are full market indexes so wonderful? You get the best of it all. You are fully diversified over the entire market. While energy is up 60% this year, the S&P 500 is down a lot. I am estimating -7 to -8%. So overall, the market is down about 4%. So in a good year, you should see a 12 to 14% average if history repeats itself. There is no guarantee that it will, but people who stick with the market in both ups and downs seem to make the most money. Three great ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that I have owned for years are the I-Shares ITOT, the Vanguard full stock market index VTI, and the Schwab Full Market Index SCHB. Another great one that is not the whole market but is the S&P 500 that is doing great is the Vanguard VOO. I read this week that renowned investor Warren Buffett has instructed his estate to invest his money into VOO giving you an idea of how much Warren Buffett regards this ETF. Another good S&P 500 ETF is SPY. Are these locks for profits? Not at all. But over time, I think you will find these to be some of the most steady and consistent investments. I have not been able to prove it yet, but I think that DGI investing may yield a bit more than the full stock market indexes, but only time will tell. DGI stands for Dividend Grow Investments. You are zeroing in on stocks that have long-term market increases of dividends with the ability to grow in value. I did an article on DGI investing: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/dgi-investing Consider the full stock market indexes in your investment plans. I try to keep at least 25% of my investments in full stock market indexes and have had great success with them over the past 20 years. List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of all Minimalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  FOCUS
In the busy times we live, sometimes we have to stop and assess what we are doing and how we are doing it. To accomplish things as easily as possible, we must learn to focus. The dictionary defines focus as:
Notice how all 3 definitions point to the same thing. Get something in your mind and concentrate on that one thing. With all the distractions of life, it is truly not easy. Some people have dinging sounds go off each time an email comes in or their phone beeps as messages come in. Social media updates can keep you distracted all day. These probably need to be minimized or eliminated, particularly when at work. In the book “Limitless”, Jim Kwik talks of how we are covered up in what he calls digital distraction and digital deluge. No one can take in all the information being shoved at us from all directions. I do not have sounds come in each time a new item comes into my email box or a new message comes in. I receive approximately 300 emails a day, and that is after using spam filters are used to forward from one email service over to Gmail which filters it again. If I stopped to look at every email that came into my inbox, I would not accomplish one thing during the day. Do I miss some important emails? Perhaps a few, but I don’t spend time watching emails. I check them in the morning, at noon, and then again between 3:30 and 4:30 in case of any major issues at work. If it is important and I miss a message or email, the phone will ring. So try to turn off many of the distractions and constant advertisements that bombard us from television, web browsers, and social media. Not all of this is bad, but we can be quickly overloaded with all these attempts to distract us. I read recently that the average person who watches 2 hours of tv and browses the internet and social media 1 hour a day is faced with approximately 3,000 advertisements. This includes those on the radio and the billboards you see as you drive down the highway. To get things done, we need to funnel our attention to the thing at hand. Whatever it is, we need to really put our full power and concentration into the thing we are doing. When working, I try to always remember the admonition in scripture to do things the very best we can. Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; To get our full attention on the task at hand, we must learn to shut off distractions and focus on what is important. Work deserves our full attention, but we can’t be doing 5 things at once. The human mind was never designed to multitask. We are not like computers who can switch back and forth and keep up with where we were. Each time you are interrupted, your productivity goes down. I was the data processing manager for a large hospital for 10 years. A lot of people were employed over those years, and many were very disorganized. I particularly remember this one lady who could not be effective at work. All she could do was discuss her family issues with her husband and 3 kids. When she went home at night, she was ineffective there as all she could do was complain about the work and the people at work. One day we discussed her issue and I explained that when she was at work, she needed to focus on work. And when she went home, focus on family and forget work. After our discussion, her productivity increased and she was a much happier person both at work and at home. All of us are tempted to let distractions defeat us. We need to put everything to the side and be in the moment. When with your kids, don’t be texting or watching television. (unless doing it as a family). So if you are out shopping, don’t be concerned with work or other concerns. If you are having time with your kids or grandkids, be in that exact moment. When at church, put your full attention to worshipping the Lord and keep your mind on God, and don’t think about what activities may be going on after church. And when working, concentrate on the task at hand. List out your to-do list, prioritize, and pick out the specific thing that needs to be accomplished. Always keep in mind that most likely you will only accomplish 2 or 3 things in a day. Be sure you are on the important things. And then only focus on the task at hand. By minimizing the distractions, and putting our focus on the one thing at hand, we can accomplish more and have a more successful day. Try cutting off the digital distractions and see if your productivity is not improved. It will settle your mind and you will not be nervous about all the things pending to be done. Perhaps you can turn off your phone during certain hours of the day. Not everyone can, but if possible, it can help you to focus at a high level. What will be the results of minimizing distractions and focusing on the task at hand?
List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of All Minmalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.html www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops  DISCLAIMER - I am not a Financial Advisor and do not work for any Brokerage Firm. The opinions given are of my own and are not to be used as professional advice. These are my findings and can hopefully help you to make informed decisions on investing. Consult a Broker or Lawyer before making any investment.
DGI investing – Dividend Growth Investing Probably the most under-used method to acquire great gains in your investment portfolio is DGI Investing. Ever heard of it? It has been around for years, but few people have adopted it. It is Dividend Growth Investing. We have discussed dividend stocks in two previous articles. Dividend Aristocrats: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/what-are-dividend-aristocrats And Dividend Kings: https://lifecanbesimple.net/blog/what-are-dividend-kings The Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings are lists of stocks that may or may not be ideal DGI investing instruments. A Dividend growth stock will not only provide you dividends, but the company will continue to grow and the stock will appreciate. So if a stock pays a 6% dividend and in a year grows 8%, you received a 14% growth in that one year. (Added value of your investment plus the dividend paid.) I code all my Stock Schwab Slices where I purchase most of my DGI stocks to automatically reinvest the dividends by purchasing more stock of the company. Is it possible a company could return in one year more than 14%? Does it sound too phenomenal to be true? It happens all the time. But as I warned you in the earlier articles, don’t chase high dividend percentages only as the company may be paying out more than 50% of earnings to pay that high dividend. A company without sufficient money to reinvest will not continue to grow. So pay attention to the percentage of profits used to pay out the dividends. Some REIT (Real estate) stocks by law return the profits to the investors, so there are a few exceptions to this rule. So you are looking for high-quality companies with the ability to continue to grow. With this and the compounding of interest and growth price (appreciation), this can turn into a fine return. In 2022, I have been putting over ½ of my investment money set aside for ETFs and Stocks into DGI investments. Review those two lists on Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings. They are different lists, and if a company is on both lists, it should be carefully considered as a potential DGI investment. If you continue to buy stocks all through the year with consistent investments, you will gain the average cost on the price throughout the year. That way if you invest $50 each month into say McDonald's stock when it is lower priced you will purchase more shares, and as it gets higher, fewer shares. For example only, if the stock was $10 a share, you would get 5 shares for $50. If it moved up to $20 a share, then you would only get 2.5 shares for the same $50 investment. But your per-share cost would be 100 / 7.5 =$13.33 As time goes on, and the stock goes up and down as the market fluctuates, your average cost will vary. This is what Dollar Cost Averaging is all about. Income investing is much like DGI investing. In both cases, you receive dividends from the company. The big difference is in DGI investing, you have a much greater chance of stock appreciation in value. Finding companies that have good dividend returns and excellent growth potential are sometimes difficult. Many websites offer not only last year's growth rate, but the EPS percentages for next year and sometimes for the next 5 years. EPS stands for earnings per share. If a company has a projected EPS of 3% or more, that is probably a worthy candidate. Also, remember to look at the P/E ratio (Price to earnings ratio.) As I have mentioned in earlier articles, an ideal P/E is 8 or less. Many today are well over 20, so don’t let this deter you if other reasons are compelling to include the company. Some of the best options for DGI investing include REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and Preferred Stocks (possibly via ETFs) and also CEFs. (Closed-End Funds). These are unique mutual funds that can not sell more shares but are fixed at the IPO shares sold. You buy these looking at the Dividend Return and the discount to NAV. (Net asset value) I will get some examples of these and do an article on CEFs in the upcoming month. A few of my DGI favorite investments are O - Realty Income (Reit), CVX – Chevron, WMT – Walmart, ABBV – ABBVIE(an Abbott labs spin-off), PEP – Pepsi, and KO – Coca Cola. These all appear to have good growth potential and are paying dividends of 3% or more. List of All Investment Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/investments.html List of All Minmalism Articles https://lifecanbesimple.net/minimalism.htm www.lifecanbesimple.net www.InternetDirect.us Internet Direct Laptops |
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