Uncertainty and Market Crashes Are the prices of my major holdings at pre-covid levels? Not yet but it is close. This post is about my thinking on this market crash today, June 10th, 2022 Since the pandemic started 2.5 years ago, I have had my ear to the so-called stock and bond market outlook on …
Market is Crashing. Time to Allocate Cash Into Stocks Index Funds Read More »
This blog post is long. I have a lot to discuss and share because there is a lot to share and discuss. So, I have broken it up in pieces for your reading comprehension and comfort. In the end, I hope you will take from this crisis to plan for anything life could throw at us.
First, allow me to pontificate on this worldwide epidemic for the 10,000-foot level.
A few radical individualists strongly feel that we don’t need a civilization to survive. Fortunately, most people would agree their extreme view is way over the top politically and a dangerous delusion sponsored by hyperactive anti-government crusaders.
In the middle of this unprecedented attack by an unseen enemy, people around the world need a strong central government. The government can respond to emergencies when the country needs devices, money, research for a vaccine and cure.
But a strong government is not just for short term emergencies. It is the bedrock for our modern and advanced civil society which stands on the shoulders of local, state, and federal governments, public protection institutions, and a justice system paid for by the public known as taxes. Civilization itself depends on it.
We are not retreating to a time in human history in which humans had so much freedom, they killed one another for something to eat. This current virus is a great equalizer. COVID-19 knows no gender, race, faith, politics, geographies, country, income, or wealth. We are in this together–the sure way to fix this mess is to work together. We need all the help we can muster, all hands-on-deck!
Second. In this stage of my life, I want to share with you how I planned and learned from my mistakes about previous health scares, national and international crises, and especially financial crises. This is a big topic requiring a lengthy blog post as I have lived, breathed, suffered personal and financial losses, and experienced many national and international crises in my lifetime.
Outside of the Great Depression of the 1930s and WWII, I have lived through those previous crises. My health crisis was personal, but I have discovered that my cancer survivor status and getting wounded in “Nam” also helps and protects me today with COVID-19. I am happy to be alive and want to live a little longer so I will wear a mask to protect myself and my neighbors.
We will get through this current worldwide epidemic. But how will we be at the other end? Many things will change—where and how we work, shop, entertain and socialize has already been changing long before this current epidemic. But this virus and the aftermath will speed up these changes by a milestone.
What I am hoping to offer is a way to exploit and take advantage of the current serious drama. Doesn’t it almost always come suddenly, unpredicted, and uninvited? Isn’t always how we respond to unwelcome events rather than the event itself?
But how we respond, whether positive or negative, does come with a price. I have sometimes painfully learned that crisis, challenges, and upheavals both personal and socially are opportunities to discover and learn new skills and knowledge to evolve to be a better person. Who doesn’t want to improve on ourselves, our families, our community, and our world? Is this worth the uncomfortableness and sometimes pain? I believe so.
What I have learned in my seven decades of living is that extremely negative and painful times don’t last forever, but neither does those wonderful euphoric days. One of the most painful times of my life was losing Dan, the love of my life for 40 years, but I have lived to experience one of the most wonderful days of my life, getting married to Georgiana just 4 weeks ago on March 21st, 2020. Still, I have always been grateful for the many more just ordinary and peaceful days that are amazing about life—the simple things—such as enjoying a beautiful flower growing in my back yard or listening to the birds chirping as spring brings new life, and nature starts all over again.
This blog post is a result of my sincerest opportunity to lift our hearts and our minds based on my experience with previous episodes as one ordinary citizen, who lived in memorable and historic times.
This crisis is not much different than previous in that it is not about just you or just me. It is about all of us, caring for each other.
I hope you will enjoy my post.
What does Jack Bogle founder of Vanguard, Elon Musk CEO of Tesla Motors, and Lee Iaccoca former CEO of Chrysler Corporation have in common? My book review of Lee Iaccoca Autobiography explains the ideas and values that I share with these incredible leaders.
Why would a voter write to a state insurance commissioner? The Commissioner is an elected position, and he or she may not know that one of the most prolonged standing insurance codes is doing more harm and good. Insurance Commissioner Office does great things for consumers regulating auto, home, business insurance coverage to make sure people get paid for losses. I am happy to pay hefty insurance premiums for my house, automobiles, umbrella, and earthquake protection. But there is one code which led to my story in my book Fighting Powerful Interests that not only did not protect me, this particular code ensures that I got ripped off. The insurance agent and the insurance company are not only allowed but protected by this insurance code in question–770.3.
770.3 regulates the 403(b) because annuities are insurance products so these terrible products are regulated in the most obscene manner that very few people know. What in the world is so hideous about 770.3? 770.3 is ruthless, outdated and obscure from the hearts and minds of everyday teachers. 770.3 has been the target for reforming the 403(b) with k12 school districts for 15 long years. We failed, but it’s still fixable. If a handful of teachers started writing letters like the letter I wrote here to school boards, legal counsel, unions and their state representatives, the 403(b) retirement planning vehicle would improve immediately. Yeah, it’s a lot, but the appalling manner in which the current 403(b) system is carried out would make many salespeople in the 401(k) go to jail. We would simply like the 403(b) world with K12 to simulate the 401(k) world in the private sector in which fiduciary advice is required (fiduciary standards are binding by professionals to look after their clients best interests over their own). Insurance companies and their agents have no such requirements. They can say anything to get a sale.
There have been two efforts to update the insurance code that regulates insurance products that are overwhelmingly sold to our states K-12 Public school teachers. Both attempts were beaten back by a combination of the insurance industry which is expected, and California Teachers Association, which was not expected! Yeah, CTA thinks they can do a better job than CalSTRS Pension2. There will be more efforts in the future, but it’s going to take a lot of organizing and information to understand the problem that we 403(b) advocates are trying to do. This letter explains the problem in detail and lets the commissioner know that some of us are appalled at how the insurance code 770.3 is carried out in the classroom where insurance retirement products are sold. It is one of the most self-conflicted laws that ever was created which is so one-sided in the insurance industry advantage that it turns the storybook legend of David vs. Goliath upside down and glorifies Goliath.