You would enjoy a recent podcast by the Freakonomics people, in the Economics of Everyday Things series, on "Campgrounds". It partly features a guy who owns a campground just outside St. Joe and Benton Harbor.
Some financial moves are fundamental and hugely important. IMHO, once you have selected a place or places to hold your money, set your goals, accepted your level of risk, chosen your desired allocation, and chosen the investments you trust to deliver value for you, only periodic maintenance is needed. You can really do all that yourself. I have found that most financial reporting in magazines and newspapers deals mostly with counting angels on the head of a pin - the issues being written about are going to have minimal impact on your portfolio, if any. You can take more than the RMD minimum without the sky falling, for example, and there are lots or reasons why one might take Social Security before reaching the maximum payout age. But financial advisors exist to "advise", and so they will seize upon even the smallest of small changes to prove to investors why their advice is valuable. An educated and curious investor with a head on his or her shoulders can usually do a pretty good job of ferreting out what is important to them and acting on it if necessary.
IMHO, the real waterfront dream is really "getting up in the morning, drinking your coffee while looking out at the view, and appreciating its ever-changing beauty, every single day." You don't need to be by the ocean. But any waterfront property comes with special risks - erosion, pollution, invasive animals and insects, higher maintenance, noisy or inconsiderate neighbors, higher insurance, and usually some distance from stores and services you need. And one pays a premium for that "dream" anyway. For some, it is worth it. I live about a quarter mile from that view, and I can walk down to a park and appreciate the water. Nevertheless, I might still one day get a condo where I can drink my coffee and look out at that view every single morning.
I've been an accredited investor in real estate, but it was with people I knew and who had good reputations. Even then, there were a couple of surprises, though the investment was ultimately profitable. However, you will never see me put money into today's private equity offerings. I've always looked at public company financials as reflecting "the best that a company could justify". The finance people in these companies have to be willing to prove that their numbers are supported by real money and good decisionmaking. But sometimes even that decisionmaking can be suspect or wrong, or just over-optimistic, and thus the actual financial status of these companies might actually be worse than reported. Private equity doesn't have even that "governor" required by the securities laws. And, like it or not, that old Willie Sutton saying "I rob banks because that's where the money is", sometimes applies to investing, too. "I rob individual investors because that's where the money is." Dishonesty can be well hidden until the damage is done.
I have both Fidelity and Vanguard accounts. I've had issues with each one on occasion, and each one does a couple of things better than the other or has a couple of system idiosyncrasies that work better or worse than the other. On balance, I'm satisfied with each of them. I have noticed recently that Vanguard seems to have lost a bit of its customer intimacy and has kept trying to get me to give it more of my portfolio or to use some services that I believe would be far more profitable for it. Fidelity is fine for things with a clearly-defined path or structure, but has failed me on a couple of one-offs related to my kids' trusts, mainly through human errors. But I still value both relationships, and each helps me keep the other one honest and helps me choose the better of the two options for certain things.
I have no idea about whether the market is overvalued, but I am paying attention to four things: (1) huge investments in AI infrastructure and applications that may or may not pay off, (2) the expansion of cryptocurrencies, (3) the creation of lots of new financial products with their own "hook" but that don't seem to me to have a particularly solid foundation, and (4) institutional endorsements of private equity over public market investments. All of these seem to have the potential to operate like a Jenga tower - they might look great from afar, but they can topple easily.
What made me a humble index investor? I considered myself an expert in one industry, telecommunications, a few decades ago. That was where my job was, and I had lots of exposure to the public companies in that area, and to their top executives. I thought I knew the opportunities and the dangers, and which companies would prosper. But try as I might, my mistakes still outweighed my successes. If I couldn't do well with stocks in an area I knew, I sure wasn't going to be a good stock picker anywhere else. Thank God for indexes.
I feel that money in bonds is like sand on the beach gradually eroding into the sea. The return on bonds usually trails inflation, especially after taxes. And even when you are standing still in today's world, it seems like you are falling behind where you should be. I understand the need for some short term safety in the event of a major downturn, and that drives my allocations more than anything else. But my presumption is that I should be in stocks as much as I can bear it.
I pay attention to a couple of things on an ongoing basis, but without usually putting pencil to paper. They include: (1) my basic feel for the ongoing flow from my spending, the core of my discipline; (2) my anticipation of one-time (for example, a vacation, a reunion gift to my college or buying a new car) or known periodic (for example quarterly income tax payments, property taxes, insurance costs and Christmas spending) spending events; (3) atypical increases in basic costs (like groceries, gasoline or cable television); and (4) my occasional spending weaknesses (buying something I like but don't need, like a piece of art, or an unusually expensive dinner with my significant other). I also pay attention to unusual receipts, like a devise from a will or a long-awaited tax refund, though those are fewer and farther between. My gut usually tells me when I'm a little out of balance and that I need to be thrifty. I throttle down my spending appropriately to balance out the expected deficit. I don't do a detailed calculation. I do it by feel. It works for me. But I do engage in periodic detailed assessments of spending, too, to make sure I am not deluding myself. Perhaps twice a year, I go through my spending more carefully, so I can catch anything odd or unusual that slipped through without my notice earlier. And at the same time, I carefully balance my checkbook and calculate the changes in my investment portfolio. The gains in investments over the past few years have been significant, and I think that is partly why I don't micromanage my finances as much as I used to.
Best of luck to you. You have big shoes to fill, but your past work gives me confidence that Jonathan's legacy is secure and will continue as a valuable resource for individual investors and others seeking useful financial information.
Comments
You would enjoy a recent podcast by the Freakonomics people, in the Economics of Everyday Things series, on "Campgrounds". It partly features a guy who owns a campground just outside St. Joe and Benton Harbor.
Post: Coastal Retirement? Have You Considered These Costs?
Link to comment from November 3, 2025
Some financial moves are fundamental and hugely important. IMHO, once you have selected a place or places to hold your money, set your goals, accepted your level of risk, chosen your desired allocation, and chosen the investments you trust to deliver value for you, only periodic maintenance is needed. You can really do all that yourself. I have found that most financial reporting in magazines and newspapers deals mostly with counting angels on the head of a pin - the issues being written about are going to have minimal impact on your portfolio, if any. You can take more than the RMD minimum without the sky falling, for example, and there are lots or reasons why one might take Social Security before reaching the maximum payout age. But financial advisors exist to "advise", and so they will seize upon even the smallest of small changes to prove to investors why their advice is valuable. An educated and curious investor with a head on his or her shoulders can usually do a pretty good job of ferreting out what is important to them and acting on it if necessary.
Post: Optimizer or Satisficer?
Link to comment from November 1, 2025
IMHO, the real waterfront dream is really "getting up in the morning, drinking your coffee while looking out at the view, and appreciating its ever-changing beauty, every single day." You don't need to be by the ocean. But any waterfront property comes with special risks - erosion, pollution, invasive animals and insects, higher maintenance, noisy or inconsiderate neighbors, higher insurance, and usually some distance from stores and services you need. And one pays a premium for that "dream" anyway. For some, it is worth it. I live about a quarter mile from that view, and I can walk down to a park and appreciate the water. Nevertheless, I might still one day get a condo where I can drink my coffee and look out at that view every single morning.
Post: Coastal Retirement? Have You Considered These Costs?
Link to comment from November 1, 2025
I've been an accredited investor in real estate, but it was with people I knew and who had good reputations. Even then, there were a couple of surprises, though the investment was ultimately profitable. However, you will never see me put money into today's private equity offerings. I've always looked at public company financials as reflecting "the best that a company could justify". The finance people in these companies have to be willing to prove that their numbers are supported by real money and good decisionmaking. But sometimes even that decisionmaking can be suspect or wrong, or just over-optimistic, and thus the actual financial status of these companies might actually be worse than reported. Private equity doesn't have even that "governor" required by the securities laws. And, like it or not, that old Willie Sutton saying "I rob banks because that's where the money is", sometimes applies to investing, too. "I rob individual investors because that's where the money is." Dishonesty can be well hidden until the damage is done.
Post: Lessons from First Brands
Link to comment from November 1, 2025
I have both Fidelity and Vanguard accounts. I've had issues with each one on occasion, and each one does a couple of things better than the other or has a couple of system idiosyncrasies that work better or worse than the other. On balance, I'm satisfied with each of them. I have noticed recently that Vanguard seems to have lost a bit of its customer intimacy and has kept trying to get me to give it more of my portfolio or to use some services that I believe would be far more profitable for it. Fidelity is fine for things with a clearly-defined path or structure, but has failed me on a couple of one-offs related to my kids' trusts, mainly through human errors. But I still value both relationships, and each helps me keep the other one honest and helps me choose the better of the two options for certain things.
Post: Disappointed (and annoyed) with Vanguard.
Link to comment from October 27, 2025
I have no idea about whether the market is overvalued, but I am paying attention to four things: (1) huge investments in AI infrastructure and applications that may or may not pay off, (2) the expansion of cryptocurrencies, (3) the creation of lots of new financial products with their own "hook" but that don't seem to me to have a particularly solid foundation, and (4) institutional endorsements of private equity over public market investments. All of these seem to have the potential to operate like a Jenga tower - they might look great from afar, but they can topple easily.
Post: Is The Stock Market Overvalued?
Link to comment from October 18, 2025
What made me a humble index investor? I considered myself an expert in one industry, telecommunications, a few decades ago. That was where my job was, and I had lots of exposure to the public companies in that area, and to their top executives. I thought I knew the opportunities and the dangers, and which companies would prosper. But try as I might, my mistakes still outweighed my successes. If I couldn't do well with stocks in an area I knew, I sure wasn't going to be a good stock picker anywhere else. Thank God for indexes.
Post: How Not To Invest
Link to comment from October 11, 2025
I feel that money in bonds is like sand on the beach gradually eroding into the sea. The return on bonds usually trails inflation, especially after taxes. And even when you are standing still in today's world, it seems like you are falling behind where you should be. I understand the need for some short term safety in the event of a major downturn, and that drives my allocations more than anything else. But my presumption is that I should be in stocks as much as I can bear it.
Post: Not Staying the Course
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
I pay attention to a couple of things on an ongoing basis, but without usually putting pencil to paper. They include: (1) my basic feel for the ongoing flow from my spending, the core of my discipline; (2) my anticipation of one-time (for example, a vacation, a reunion gift to my college or buying a new car) or known periodic (for example quarterly income tax payments, property taxes, insurance costs and Christmas spending) spending events; (3) atypical increases in basic costs (like groceries, gasoline or cable television); and (4) my occasional spending weaknesses (buying something I like but don't need, like a piece of art, or an unusually expensive dinner with my significant other). I also pay attention to unusual receipts, like a devise from a will or a long-awaited tax refund, though those are fewer and farther between. My gut usually tells me when I'm a little out of balance and that I need to be thrifty. I throttle down my spending appropriately to balance out the expected deficit. I don't do a detailed calculation. I do it by feel. It works for me. But I do engage in periodic detailed assessments of spending, too, to make sure I am not deluding myself. Perhaps twice a year, I go through my spending more carefully, so I can catch anything odd or unusual that slipped through without my notice earlier. And at the same time, I carefully balance my checkbook and calculate the changes in my investment portfolio. The gains in investments over the past few years have been significant, and I think that is partly why I don't micromanage my finances as much as I used to.
Post: Budget, What Budget? (Know Thyself)
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
Best of luck to you. You have big shoes to fill, but your past work gives me confidence that Jonathan's legacy is secure and will continue as a valuable resource for individual investors and others seeking useful financial information.
Post: Quick Intro
Link to comment from September 20, 2025