Investments for a Better Life

As I told you in earlier blogs, people do not like to see other people do anything positive. Usually, when a person hears about something for the first time, they are against it. It does not matter if it is something that can help that person. It takes one or two generations later for the people to hear and start to do what has been presented earlier. With me and “investments for a better life” it is no different.

I can remember growing up; it was taught that if you want something, you save for it. Then you go buy it. “Layaway” at stores for Christmas was a big thing. No one talked about taking a credit card and going to borrow money to buy items for gift giving. People thought you would be crazy to borrow money to go on vacation. Today, this is a common practice. The banks and other financial institutions with the help of the government changed society over the past 40 years from a saving nation to a borrowing nation. All you have to do is look around and see the product of this national policy. I am one of the people trying to change the nation back from a borrowing nation to a saving nation. That is why I write this blog.

As I sit here doing my analysis of my client’s portfolios because it is the last working day of July, I see that my clients and I are still outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average. “Year to Date” my portfolio is up 17.82% while the Dow is up .38%. I reorganized my portfolio on January 31, 2009 and started tracking my investments against the Dow. From that date, I am up 66.69% and the Dow is up 30.83%. (At Publishing time today, my portfolio is up "Year to Date" 19.02% and since January 31, 2009, 68.39%.)

These results speak for themselves. A junk bond portfolio is safer and can produce better results in economically troubled times, when cash is king and debt is destructive. This is what I am trying to get across to the public. That means saving for big ticket items is better in such times as this.