Have you been following the amazing story that’s been unfolding with the Gamestop / Reddit / Hedge Fund short squeeze story? I betcha! Let’s look at what a short squeeze is. … What is a short squeeze?Read More » The post What is a short squeeze? appeared first on actuary on FIRE ..read more

2020 was exhausting – right? Combining a global pandemic with gut wrenching market movements, social unrest and an election was a pretty potent cocktail. I published a few articles in 2020 , but were any of them actually any good? Let’s crunch the numbers! … Would You Have Made Money From Reading My Blog in 2020?Read More » The post Would You Have Made Money From Reading My Blog in 2020? appeared first on actuary on FIRE ..read more

What’s your retirement target?  Are you targeting a set amount at retirement? Or are you targeting a certain monthly income? Either way you probably need to be able to convert from one to the other.  So how do you convert a lump sum to a regular income and vice versa? … Lifetime Income Illustrations – or Withdrawal Rates from the DoLRead More » The post Lifetime Income Illustrations – or Withdrawal Rates from the DoL appeared first on actuary on FIRE ..read more

The stock market has been a wild ride lately.  Amazon was up 8% in a day this week and the NASDAQ 100 ($QQQ) has been a star performer year-to-date.  But things have been up and down and I bet you have been eagle-eyed and watching for any dips. Wanna get those bargains – right? … Are you buying the dips?Read More » The post Are you buying the dips? appeared first on actuary on FIRE ..read more

Have you recently been hearing about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)?  It’s everywhere! And rightly so – it raises some serious and pertinent issues.  … Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) In Under Two MinutesRead More » The post Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) In Under Two Minutes appeared first on actuary on FIRE ..read more

In the current time money is starting to lose its meaning. A massive $3Tn spending bill has been passed by the House in addition to the trillions of dollars of stimulus that have been authorized to-date.  Where is this money coming from?  Does this money need to be “raised” in any sense? What are the implications of this spending; if any? These are important questions that any educated person needs to be able to answer. However I’ve found that the main difficulty of arriving at a cogent view is cutting through the partisan noise surrounding these issues.  … Review of Money ..read more

How are you bearing up? We are living history here – aren’t we? It’s crazy and unprecedented. I’m sure like me you’re stuck at home and trying to work. But there have been some bright spots – my wife and daughter running a Girl Scouts meeting on Zoom! That was funny when all the girls disappeared and came back with their pets to show everyone! But inbetween the fun I’ve been stressing about the stock market.  But you don’t want more stress – right? You want solutions. So let’s dig into an idea I have been investigating.  … Looking for value in the current marketRead More » The post Looki ..read more

Whoah! The market has been crazy – right? Not the stock market – I mean the bond market! The 10 year Treasury yield almost dipped below 1% at the time of writing and I fully expect it to go below at some point this year.  Bonds are up, up, up. And I don’t mean any kind of bonds, I mean the purest gold-plated bond in the universe – the Treasury STRIP.  A promise from Uncle Sam to pay you the bearer a single payment at a future date in exchange for a loan today. When the market goes nuts that’s where investors flock.  But should you be flocking or fleeing the STRIPs market right now? … The ..read more

You’ve heard of sequence of returns (SOR) right? That fascinating phenomenon where in retirement you can experience good investment performance on average, but due to an unlucky sequence of those returns you go bust in retirement and end up living on cat food! SOR can be ugly. But we all know what it looks like right? Just steer clear of a big market crash when you retire.   But this leads me to so many questions – many, many questions on SOR. So sit tight as I try to answer them.  … The Sequence of Returns ScoreRead More » The post The Sequence of Returns Score appeared first on actuary ..read more

Have you been standing on the sidelines watching the WeWork debacle? It’s been an unbelievable meltdown; going from a privately valued company of more than $47BN in January to capitulating on its August IPO, subsequently removing it’s charismatic founder and CEO Adam Neumann and now announcing deep lay-offs of staff.  … Can you Distinguish Between WeWork and a Cult? – Take My Quiz!Read More » The post Can you Distinguish Between WeWork and a Cult? – Take My Quiz! appeared first on actuary on FIRE ..read more