In my last article, I looked at Bitcoin’s potential as a long-term investment in a retirement portfolio. This time, I want to explore a related question: Could Bitcoin serve as a hedge against a future financial crisis brought on by our nation’s growing federal debt? I don’t like to sound alarmist—and I’m not a doomsayer—but … Read more
Note: I first wrote about cryptocurrency a couple of years ago. This is the first of two new articles I’m going to publish about Bitcoin. In this one, I address Bitcoin as a long-term investment. In the second, I’ll discuss what role Bitcoin might play in the event of a “fiscal crisis” precipitated by the … Read more
Trump’s tariffs are very much in the news right now. While the downsides of tariffs often get more attention, rightly so due to their broad and frequently unintended consequences, there are potential benefits, at least in theory. That said, lots of questions and uncertainty remain. We have to deal with that as well. What is … Read more
Well, it’s baaaaack…and you know what: stock market volatility. And it came back with a vengeance a few weeks ago, moderating some in recent days. Presidential administration transitions ordinarily create uncertainty and instability, but wars, tariffs, and deportations are stirring the pot a little more than usual. I occasionally get asked how I think a … Read more
First and foremost, thank you for subscribing to this blog. I’ve had quite a few new subscribers this year and really appreciate the kind comments I received from readers. If you have a topic you’d like me to explore next year, just a question that you and perhaps others would like me to respond to, … Read more
A family friend recently asked me to look at her retirement investment portfolio. It’s advisor-managed and has an allocation one-third S&P 500-indexed annuity, one-third stock and bond ETFs, and one-third cash (government money market). Our friend is a recent retiree with a long planning horizon, so at first glance, I wondered why her portfolio had … Read more
Many financial planners, advisors, and especially retirees are wary of annuities. They cite cost, complexity, loss of liquidity, under-performance, and other factors as their primary concerns. In many cases, their concerns are warranted. Yet many retirement planning professionals, academics, actuaries, and economists—i.e., a bunch of really smart people—regularly encourage consumers to consider a particular type … Read more
The last three articles discussed why retirees might want to own bonds and possibly individual bonds instead of investing in a bond fund. Bonds come from many sources: governments, government agencies, blue chip corporations, and risky smaller companies (junk bonds). Municipalities also issue bonds (they’re called “munis”). Something is common to them all: the more … Read more
Originally published January 4, 2023 | Updated December 2025 An important preliminary note: Given what took place in both the stock and bond markets in 2022, I started 2023 with a series of articles about “safe” retirement income and the roles that bonds and other instruments may play in providing it. Now, nearly three years … Read more
