Welcome to The Wealthy Accountant
Less Tax — More Wealth
LATEST BLOG POSTS
Miss the newest posts? Here are the last six!
Hidden Treasure in Altria*
I don’t know if Warren Buffett could actually deliver on his promise of 50% annual gains. I do know that arbitrage is an excellent way to spike your investment returns.
A Peter Lynch style review of Altria reveals massive unrealized value. It is easy to forget Altria is more than cigarettes. There is a dash of wine in the portfolio, non-combustible tobacco products, Juul, Anheuser Busch inbev NV (BUD), Cronos (CRON) and on! Nicotine Pouches in the product line as well.
Let’s take an impossibly negative approach to Altria and see if the company survives or is loaded with large hidden treasures.
For starters, let’s value Juul at zero. I know, I know. It is worth at least something, but we take no prisoners around here when we tally up a business’s valuation under a worst case scenario.
Should You Have a Financial Planner?
In 1968 Nick Murray had to sell investments the hard way. He met most clients in their home. The tool of choice was the mutual fund. Most people he sat with were hard working people, but unsophisticated investors. Fee-based advisors were rare in those days for the small accounts families had. Fees were high and people were risk adverse. To top it off, the market was having bouts of volatility, suffering a noticeable decline even to those who didn’t follow the market on a regular basis.
It was in this environment Nick Murray had to convince his clients and potential clients the best course of action for them. Investing in mutual funds came at a steep cost. Loads (aka sales fees) were as high as 8.75%. 91.25% of your money went to work right out of the gate trying to get back to the even water mark.
Young families had to consider equities for at least a portion of their portfolio if they were ever to have enough money for a comfortable retirement, and Nick Murray knew it. The high fees were one issue; the market another. The question was always the same:
“Do you think the market will go up?”
High Interest Savings Account for Rednecks
The landing page says PayPal pays 1% cash back, but PayPal gave me a $100 cash back reward for spending $1,000 in December and $25 for every $1,000 of spending on my debit card. This means with a small amount of planning I can get close to 2.5% cash back on normal spending (no crazy spending for a reward, as if I have to mention this) on my debit card before the bonus reward.
As Seen On
