PaulBBrown

A Great Rule of Thumb

As I mentioned a while back, Frank Armstrong—a terrifically smart CPA—and I are working on a book that will be called Rescuing Your Retirement. While talking the other day, Frank came up with this wonderful rule of thumb: More…

It's our fault: We elected them

Did you see this in today's Wall Street Journal? "As President Barack Obama's $825 billion economic-recovery package began making its way through Capitol Hill, congressional budget analysts suggested a key plank of the plan may not provide as big a near-term lift for the economy as expected. "The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected less than half of the $355 billion that House Democrats want to spend on highways, bridges and other job-creating investments is likely to be used before the end of fiscal 2010. The CBO said the balance would likely be spent over the next several years, after the recession is projected to end." More…

Don't try to catch a falling knife

A confession. I sometimes buy individual stocks. Not often. And never with very much money because I really do practice what I preach and believe in having a fully diversified portfolio. (Besides, I have three kids in college. There isn't a whole lot of money to spare.) But, I will from time to time I will buy a stock because I think I have spotted something that most people have missed. So, how do I with my little investing hobby.? Not great. My biggest failing is that I try to identify when I think the price of a good stock has hit bottom. Almost always, I buy too soon. What triggered this thought was the price of Citibank. I thought about buying it when it fell to $10 a share. And again at $8. And I almost placed an order when it dipped below $4. More…

Do as I say?

Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I had a radio talk show where for three hours a day I answered financial questions about such things as the best way to pay for college, and what kind of mortgage to get. Eventually, we arranged it so I could do the program out of my office at Financial World in New York—callers liked that because periodically they would hear police siren in the background—but at first I had to go into the studio. The guy on before me, a charming fellow, did a similar show. He was a legend in the business, someone I grew up listening to. One day, he was arrested for insider trading. More…

A Quick Portfolio Quiz

Here is news that won't stop the presses: The Stock Market Meltdown of 2008 has devasted just about everyone's savings portfolio. But in addition to dramatically reducing the amount of money you have, it may have shifted the percentage of money you have in various asset classes. (For example, the percentage of your holdings in bonds and cash are probably greater than they were, given how far stocks have fallen.) More…

Why customer service is good

Judging by the reaction I received to yesterday's blog, a lot of you have had your own Verizon customer service horror stories. Here's a quick example of how not every company is clueless when it comes to taking care of their customers. While on my just completed vacation, I took a two of kids over to Manatee County (Fl) Golf Course to hit a couple of buckets of balls. The kids were using my clubs and as fate would have it, Sam, the 21-year-old, somehow snapped off the head of my 3 wood. The clubs were a Christmas present, and while it is more than possible the 3 wood was defective, my first thought (which I didn't share with Sam) is that he had probably hit the club against the ground and snapped it off. (Sam has only recently started playing golf.) More…

Gaining Wisdom

In the middle of a very troubling customer experience yesterday, I came to a very pleasant conclusion: I am glad I am not young any more. I was trying to cancel a service I receive from a utility. (I won't name them because Verizon gets enough bad press as it is. Just Goggle "Verizon" and "customer service." You'll see.) Canceling the service took four separate calls and a total of 1 hour and 13 minutes on hold--my phone has a built in timer, and I kept a running tab. Somewhere around the third call, when I finally got through, I mentioned all the time I was spending on hold. The person on the other end said, "oh. You called on Monday. That's our busiest day." Right then I realized no baby boomer designed Verizon's customer service program. More…

Stay the course. Stay the course. Stay the course. Stay the course. Stay the course.

I quote verbatim from today's Wall Street Journal: "Last week's 4.8% swoon was the worst weekly decline since U.S. stocks began their rally on Nov. 21, and now the fear is that the market may be beginning another leg down." Let me see if I have this right. Last week the Journal said, in the article obliquely referenced in the quote above, stocks were due to rise. Today, they are saying they may fall. I am not picking on the Journal. It is a great paper. I am picking on the way people cover investing. They need to write something every day. But that doesn't mean you have to do something every day with your money. Or every month. If you are happy with the way you have allocated your money, then, in the words of the headline "stay the course." More…

Banks: Shooting themselves in the foot?

I have heard this from three of my friends, and I have experienced it myself, so I think it is true: The nation's banks are beginning to alienate their best customers. With interest rates down, a lot of us are trying to refinance. But even if you have terrific credit (and I do, he said humbly and so do the friends I talked to) the banks are forcing you to go through any number of additional hoops. More credential checks. More forms. More phone calls to check on things. Yes, they (finally) are applying higher standards to their lending. But why give people who have the PROVEN ability to pay you back more grief than you have to? It is no way to maintain customers. More…

Example 671 of Why to Think Long Term

It isn't often I get a chance to impress a bunch of 20 year-olds, otherwise known as my kids, but it happened yesterday. We are down in Florida on vacation, and over breakfast--well brunch; they don't get up early--I said with absolutely confidence that I could predict how the stock market would do for the day.I promised it would drop. How did I know? I didn't of course. But I did read a story in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal about how stocks were up 20% from their November lows. The story went on to hint that maybe the carnage on Wall Street was over. Any time a media person says "A," think "Z" and so I predicted the down day and I was correct. The Dow fell 2.7% The point: Ignore day to day gyrations in the market. More…