First of all, I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year. My premium newsletter, The Daily Paycheck, has now officially welcomed in seven new years. I launched the newsletter in mid-December 2009, with a massive stock market correction still in the rear view mirror. #-ad_banner-#Some people thought I should wait to introduce the new advisory. They argued that market conditions were still too unstable. They were convinced that a newsletter utilizing dividend reinvestment would appeal to only the most conservative investors, who would still be on the sidelines. But I was convinced that The Daily Paycheck was the… Read More

First of all, I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year. My premium newsletter, The Daily Paycheck, has now officially welcomed in seven new years. I launched the newsletter in mid-December 2009, with a massive stock market correction still in the rear view mirror. #-ad_banner-#Some people thought I should wait to introduce the new advisory. They argued that market conditions were still too unstable. They were convinced that a newsletter utilizing dividend reinvestment would appeal to only the most conservative investors, who would still be on the sidelines. But I was convinced that The Daily Paycheck was the perfect advisory for risky markets — because I specifically designed it that way. By design, the system maximizes income, maximizes growth and minimizes risk. An investment system that minimizes risk is likely to come in handy again this year. Barely a few weeks into the new year and we’ve already had our share. It appears that the growth of the Chinese economy is continuing to slow. Iran and Saudi Arabia have severed diplomatic relations following Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. To top it off, North Korea claimed a successful test of a hydrogen bomb recently. Although the… Read More

Two of my joys in life are investing and poker. As it turns out, I’m not alone when it comes to pairing these vocations. The Dallas banker Andy Beal is famous for taking on the best professional poker players in the world, chronicled in the book “The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time.” But he didn’t make his billions playing poker. He ended up on The Forbes 400 list because he wisely invested in distressed assets during the financial crisis. #-ad_banner-#By the same token, David Einhorn has won over $5 million… Read More

Two of my joys in life are investing and poker. As it turns out, I’m not alone when it comes to pairing these vocations. The Dallas banker Andy Beal is famous for taking on the best professional poker players in the world, chronicled in the book “The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time.” But he didn’t make his billions playing poker. He ended up on The Forbes 400 list because he wisely invested in distressed assets during the financial crisis. #-ad_banner-#By the same token, David Einhorn has won over $5 million playing poker. But Einhorn amassed more than a billion dollars as a hedge fund manager. He made headlines when he shorted Lehman Brothers stock before the 158-year-old financial services company went bankrupt. There are a number of important lessons that I learned from poker and have successfully applied to investing. But I credit one lesson in particular for the strategy that has allowed me to nearly double my portfolio’s income in only a few years. Increase Your Bets On A Winning Hand People are generally adept at selecting a good investment, one that has the potential to produce solid… Read More

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Einstein is often portrayed as a lone genius who made his historic scientific breakthrough while working as a patent clerk. But despite his lone genius label, Einstein was smart enough to know that collaboration was the best way to take on a challenge. He frequently discussed his ideas with friends and family. In fact, he referred to his friend and engineer Michele Besso as “the best sounding board in Europe.” #-ad_banner-#As I reflected on all that I was thankful for this… Read More

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Einstein is often portrayed as a lone genius who made his historic scientific breakthrough while working as a patent clerk. But despite his lone genius label, Einstein was smart enough to know that collaboration was the best way to take on a challenge. He frequently discussed his ideas with friends and family. In fact, he referred to his friend and engineer Michele Besso as “the best sounding board in Europe.” #-ad_banner-#As I reflected on all that I was thankful for this year, I thought of all the subscribers to my premium newsletter, The Daily Paycheck. My readers are my sounding board — my touchstone. One of The Daily Paycheck’s primary missions is to help investors achieve a more financially secure retirement. While this is clearly an easier task than solving one of the great scientific mysteries of all time, it is a challenge that is made easier with a group of like-minded investors — and the helpful ideas and suggestions from The Daily Paycheck’s readers. While I can’t respond individually to the… Read More

Today I want to talk about an investing topic that may seem a little dry. But make no mistake: It’s one of the most important determinants of long-term investing success. They say it’s not what you make. It’s what you keep. And understanding the tax implications of different types of investment accounts can help income investors keep more. I get a lot of questions from my Daily Paycheck subscribers about which holdings in my premium newsletter are appropriate for the many different types of brokerage accounts. I’d like to briefly review the different types of accounts… Read More

Today I want to talk about an investing topic that may seem a little dry. But make no mistake: It’s one of the most important determinants of long-term investing success. They say it’s not what you make. It’s what you keep. And understanding the tax implications of different types of investment accounts can help income investors keep more. I get a lot of questions from my Daily Paycheck subscribers about which holdings in my premium newsletter are appropriate for the many different types of brokerage accounts. I’d like to briefly review the different types of accounts and which types of securities are most appropriate for them. Now before I go any further, I know this might seem like an odd time to think about investment-related taxes. But I find this is the best time of year to review your investment accounts. For one thing, it gives you time to minimize your 2015 tax burden. If you had a capital gain or loss in a taxable account during the year, you may want to find an offsetting trade to make before the end of the year. Also, if you have any questions about individual securities and taxation,… Read More