WoV stock portfolio

Quote: billryan

You might want to look into high-interest checking accounts. The only caveat is that they want you to use their debit cards a few times a month.
link to original post

Usually the high interest savings pay a little higher than the checking accounts. I use one called Bask Bank out of Texas. I am not endorsing them but they have been good to me. I transferred my I-Bonds to them a couple of years ago.

Yada yada yada! As I type this now at ATH of +245%. Likely to go to +246 after TWCUX gets revalued.

Reason given is the tired ‘many see the Iran War ending’ despite my reading the newest threat from you know who.

I can’t predict when it will go up! I can’t predict when it will go down!

Edit. TWCUX went up over 2% today!

So overall made it to +247%.

Will help me fill up the tank…..

Another new ATH. A few pounds short of +248%.

TSLA big gainer today. SOOPOO up 4 figures. Elon Musk up around $8,000,000,000 TODAY!

I wonder if we get an even bigger bump when Iran/USA is World Cup talk and not Straight of Hormuz talk?

For those of us who like to get in on trends.....

Japanese trading companies are businesses without a US equivalent. They invest across a wide spectrum and reflect Japan's economy. Berkshire Hathaway began investing in them as Warren Buffett was winding down his role in the business. Under his agreement with the JTCs, Berkshire would keep its investments in each company below 10%, but recent filings show that the company now owns over 10% in each. Berkshire Hathaway is betting big on Japan's economy.
When Berkshire Hathaway speaks, smart people tend to listen. While US companies and the stock market is obsessed with A.I., these Japanese mega-companies have concentrated on the other 99% of businesses and have done a remarkable job of buying up undervalued companies and industries.
Should you invest in Berkshire Hathaway or buy into the Japanese mega-companies yourself?

Quote: billryan

For those of us who like to get in on trends.....

Japanese trading companies are businesses that don't have a US equivalent. They invest across a wide spectrum and reflect Japan's economy. Berkshire Hathaway began investing in them as Warren Buffett was winding down his role in the business. His agreement with the JTCs was that Berkshire would keep its investments under 10% in each company, but recent filings show that the company now owns over ten percent in each. Berkshire Hathaway is betting big on Japan's economy.
When Berkshire Hathaway speaks, smart people tend to listen.
link to original post

Agree. I own Berkshire in multiple accounts. And around half dozen individual Japanese stocks. One drawback is when they pay dividends a chunk gets taken immediately to pay some foreign tax.

New ATH. +248%. Market up a few farthings today. I like when it goes up a little. Seems more ‘real’ than the larger up and down swings.

Driving 1000 miles soon. 40 gallons of gas? That extra $50 or so I’ll be paying will seem like a lot, but it’s a two second swing in the portfolio value.

One benefit of higher prices is that people are driving less. Mount Lemmon is about an hour north of Tucson and is a spectacular drive. It's a haven from the Tucson heat. Yesterday afternoon, it was 82 while Tucson was at or around 100. The usual weekend rubberneckers were missing, and the drive was much smoother. The tiny cookie stand on top of the mountain had lines only a few people deep, whereas last May, the line often stretched for an hour or more. Camping reservations are much easier now than last season.

Quote: billryan

One benefit of higher prices is that people are driving less. Mount Lemmon is about an hour north of Tucson and is a spectacular drive. It's a haven from the Tucson heat. Yesterday afternoon, it was 82 while Tucson was at or around 100. The usual weekend rubberneckers were missing, and the drive was much smoother. The tiny cookie stand on top of the mountain had lines only a few people deep, whereas last May, the line often stretched for an hour or more. Camping reservations are much easier now than last season.
link to original post

Less pollution. Less global warming. Less wasted time in lines. Easier to get tee times. Won’t hit as much traffic on long drive home.

Remind me of the bad parts?

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: billryan

For those of us who like to get in on trends.....

Japanese trading companies are businesses that don't have a US equivalent. They invest across a wide spectrum and reflect Japan's economy. Berkshire Hathaway began investing in them as Warren Buffett was winding down his role in the business. His agreement with the JTCs was that Berkshire would keep its investments under 10% in each company, but recent filings show that the company now owns over ten percent in each. Berkshire Hathaway is betting big on Japan's economy.
When Berkshire Hathaway speaks, smart people tend to listen.
link to original post

Agree. I own Berkshire in multiple accounts. And around half dozen individual Japanese stocks. One drawback is when they pay dividends a chunk gets taken immediately to pay some foreign tax.

New ATH. +248%. Market up a few farthings today. I like when it goes up a little. Seems more ‘real’ than the larger up and down swings.

Driving 1000 miles soon. 40 gallons of gas? That extra $50 or so I’ll be paying will seem like a lot, but it’s a two second swing in the portfolio value.
link to original post

Now at +249%! Possible I hit the new milestone of +250% after TWCUX gets valued today.

No, I have no idea why….

Gravity.
The world has turned upside down, but most people are too numb to notice.

Quote: billryan

Gravity.
The world has turned upside down, but most people are too numb to notice.
link to original post

What does it mean to a sphere, to turn upside down?

Perhaps it is turning right side up instead.

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: billryan

For those of us who like to get in on trends.....

Japanese trading companies are businesses that don't have a US equivalent. They invest across a wide spectrum and reflect Japan's economy. Berkshire Hathaway began investing in them as Warren Buffett was winding down his role in the business. His agreement with the JTCs was that Berkshire would keep its investments under 10% in each company, but recent filings show that the company now owns over ten percent in each. Berkshire Hathaway is betting big on Japan's economy.
When Berkshire Hathaway speaks, smart people tend to listen.
link to original post

Agree. I own Berkshire in multiple accounts. And around half dozen individual Japanese stocks. One drawback is when they pay dividends a chunk gets taken immediately to pay some foreign tax.

New ATH. +248%. Market up a few farthings today. I like when it goes up a little. Seems more ‘real’ than the larger up and down swings.

Driving 1000 miles soon. 40 gallons of gas? That extra $50 or so I’ll be paying will seem like a lot, but it’s a two second swing in the portfolio value.
link to original post

Now at +249%! Possible I hit the new milestone of +250% after TWCUX gets valued today.

No, I have no idea why….
link to original post

Cha Ching. +250%. My AI assistant estimates I’ll be buying 40 gallons of gas next week to drive up north. As best I can tell no shortages anywhere. At $5 a gallon that’s $200. I’ll use my annual dividend from 30 shares of CVX to buy the gas….

Can someone tell me why the stock market keeps soaring?

Define soaring? The S&P is up 8.5 percent for the year, and the Dow is up a little more than 3 percent. A good couple of weeks doesn't mean much.
Grandma used to say, "Sell in May and stay away." It's not the worst advice I've ever gotten.

Quote: billryan

Define soaring? The S&P is up 8.5 percent for the year, and the Dow is up a little more than 3 percent. A good couple of weeks doesn't mean much.
Grandma used to say, "Sell in May and stay away." It's not the worst advice I've ever gotten.
link to original post

It’s (S and P ) up 30% since a certain someone was declared the election winner. That’s in a little over a year and a half. That’s certainly ‘soaring’ enough for me.

I am skittish now, however. Dividends and interest being plowed into MMA, not stocks.

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: billryan

Define soaring? The S&P is up 8.5 percent for the year, and the Dow is up a little more than 3 percent. A good couple of weeks doesn't mean much.
Grandma used to say, "Sell in May and stay away." It's not the worst advice I've ever gotten.
link to original post

It’s (S and P ) up 30% since a certain someone was declared the election winner. That’s in a little over a year and a half. That’s certainly ‘soaring’ enough for me.

I am skittish now, however. Dividends and interest being plowed into MMA, not stocks.
link to original post

That's not a bad plan. MMA is very practical for self-defense. Whether your physical skills and attitudes are that of a boxer, wrestler, jiu jitsuka or whatever else, you can find a mix of techniques from the various disciplines that are a good fit for your abilities and needs. A mix of a striking style and a grappling style is always good, because you will usually be spending part of your fight standing and another part on the ground.

Speaking of fighting, the reason for the tremendous market performance may be a peace dividend. You may have noticed that all of the fighting in the Middle East these days involves Iran or one of their terrorist proxies. With Iranian offensive forces ausbombed, and their money shut off so they can't pay their terrorists, we are now looking at some minor, insignificant accomplishment like... peace in the Middle East? That will be as historically big as the fall of Rome, the Battle of Hastings, or American independence. Just imagine what the world will look like with peace in the Middle East. I think the investors are.

Quote: SOOPOO

I am skittish now, however. Dividends and interest being plowed into MMA, not stocks.

I've been skittish a great many times in the past but I've never moved out of stocks
and I'm glad I didn't
the S&P has gone up in 20 of the last 25 years
of course there is a great deal of negative chatter about stocks at this time
and I think there is that in almost every year
I would acknowledge that maybe there is more of it now
I'm of the "I don't know" school of investing
I know I can't predict the short term - so I can't know when to sell out
but I have confidence that the long term will be positive

.

Quote: lilredrooster

Quote: SOOPOO

I am skittish now, however. Dividends and interest being plowed into MMA, not stocks.

I've been skittish a great many times in the past but I've never moved out of stocks
and I'm glad I didn't
the S&P has gone up in 20 of the last 25 years
of course there is a great deal of negative chatter about stocks at this time
and I think there is that in almost every year
I would acknowledge that maybe there is more of it now
I'm of the "I don't know" school of investing
I know I can't predict the short term - so I can't know when to sell out
but I have confidence that the long term will be positive

.
link to original post

Agree. But even with me putting the $$ into MMA, my asset allocation really isn’t changing with the remaining stock portion just going up and up.

Anyway, now at least+251% and if no changes the rest of the day would easily make +252% after TWCUX revalued as it’s top heavy in NVDA.

CSCO announced laying off 4K workers. Stock took a beating…. NOT! Up almost 15% today because they can get the same work done using AI without those 4000 salary/benefits/vacation using people.

I own a lot of CSCO in one of my other accounts which this is vastly outperforming the WoV portfolio today.

Cisco is attracting a lot of "dumb money" from retail investors flocking to A.I., and institutions are investing because the company is promising to do more with fewer expenses. It's a good time to be a long-term owner.
I've started putting 15% of my dividends back into my portfolio and donating 10%, but using the rest of the income to pay my expenses usually leaves a small surplus.

Quote: SOOPOO

after TWCUX revalued

that fund has done amazingly well - and gets you diversification
great pick

I own a fund that has done about the same
VGT - Vanguard's tech index fund
about half my stuff is in that one
I wish now I had put everything in it
whatever
you can't see the future so you can't guess 100% correctly every time


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TWCUX/performance/

.

Once one has achieved a comfortable level of wealth it is sometimes better to protect it because growth can become diminishing returns.

Quote: DRich

Once one has achieved a comfortable level of wealth it is sometimes better to protect it because growth can become diminishing returns.
link to original post

Not the best use of the English language, but I get the gist.

If the market pulls back it would have been better if I ‘protected’ the value. If the market continues on what seems like an inexorable upward path it would have been better if I didn’t ‘protect’ the value.

As mentioned, I’m at least doing some ‘protection’ recently.

Soared today. Again. Just a few Lira short of +253%.

Quote: DRich

Once one has achieved a comfortable level of wealth it is sometimes better to protect it because growth can become diminishing returns.
link to original post

assuming your wealth is great enough that you could sustain a drawdown and still have considerable assets -
you can't know if and/or when the market will rise and/or fall
nobody can
you can only know that it rises much more often than it falls
if you make moves to protect your assets what will most likely happen is this:
you will reduce the amount you can leave to your heirs

.

Quote: DRich

Once one has achieved a comfortable level of wealth it is sometimes better to protect it because growth can become diminishing returns.
link to original post

That falls under the bears and bulls make money, pigs get slaughtered. At some point, it makes sense to forego potential gain in return for asset protection. Everyone should have a number, but everyone's number is different.

Quote: billryan

pigs get slaughtered.

At some point, it makes sense to forego potential gain in return for asset protection.

my definition of "pigs" is those who try for extremely high gains - such as doubling their money very quickly with speculation
although there are a very few talented stock pickers who accomplish this but the vast majority who try it will fail

"pigs" imo does not apply to those who stick thru thick and thin with solid mutual funds knowing that they cannot predict the short term but that the long term is solidly positive
they have no reason to fear if their wealth is great enough that they can easily accept a drawdown

again, they will most likely leave more to their heirs than those who pull out due to fear and their heirs will appreciate that

.

If your only reason for investing is to leave your heirs more money, you should buy life insurance. Leaving your heirs two million in life insurance is a lot cheaper than saving two million to leave them when you die.

Quote: billryan

If your only reason for investing is to leave your heirs more money, you should buy life insurance. Leaving your heirs two million in life insurance is a lot cheaper than saving two million to leave them when you die.
link to original post

They also get to keep it all, there will be no argument as to who gets it, and there's no way you can lose it due to an unexpected liability, criminal fraud, fraudulent claim on your estate etc.

.
life insurance is often a bad deal
unless you know you are going to die soon and even then there may be restrictions
obviously it's set up so that most will pay much more to the insurer then their heirs would ever be able to collect
you would have to pay a very high premium at an advanced age
no thanks

and there are other reasons to invest confidently other than leaving $ to heirs

a person may need a large amount of $ to maintain comfortable living arrangements at an advanced age

and besides that it's just plain fun to see my portfolio go up and up an up while I have no fear

if I take a large drawdown I won't cry

Soopoo's posts show it's fun for him too - not a small thing

investing is fun - life insurance is no fun at all

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Life Insurance? Worst investment advice ever

Term insurance is the basis for life insurance. Once you get old, it gets expensive as hell, and everybody drops it. So they don't like losing customers, and sell you Whole Life instead. This evens out the payments so you don't drop out because of that, but the portion that goes to building an estate for heirs earns a terrible return

Unless you know you are going to die young, and can keep that from the insurance co., forget life insurance for 'leaving it to heirs'

Quote: googlebot

Whole life insurance is generally considered a poor primary investment compared to traditional options like stocks or ETFs, offering lower returns (\(1\%\)-\(3.5\%\)) in exchange for high fees, guaranteed cash value growth, and tax-deferred benefits. While it acts as a low-risk, tax-advantaged savings vehicle and provides permanent protection, it is usually expensive and not recommended as a primary wealth-building tool for most investors.

Quote: odiousgambit

Life Insurance? Worst investment advice ever

Term insurance is the basis for life insurance. Once you get old, it gets expensive as hell, and everybody drops it. So they don't like losing customers, and sell you Whole Life instead. This evens out the payments so you don't drop out because of that, but the portion that goes to building an estate for heirs earns a terrible return

Unless you know you are going to die young, and can keep that from the insurance co., forget life insurance for 'leaving it to heirs'

Quote: googlebot

Whole life insurance is generally considered a poor primary investment compared to traditional options like stocks or ETFs, offering lower returns (\(1\%\)-\(3.5\%\)) in exchange for high fees, guaranteed cash value growth, and tax-deferred benefits. While it acts as a low-risk, tax-advantaged savings vehicle and provides permanent protection, it is usually expensive and not recommended as a primary wealth-building tool for most investors.

link to original post

Life insurance isn't for building wealth, in most cases. It's not investment advice. However, if your only reason for investing is to leave your heirs a lot of money, life insurance is much cheaper than a portfolio.
You are confusing building wealth through a policy and a policy that leaves your heirs money.
A 30 year old male can buy a million dollars in whole life insurance for well under $1,000 a month. Term insurance is a fraction of that.

Investing can be fun. So can taking the grandkids on cruises and spoiling your family while you can enjoy it. I wonder if my family would rather have a week in Alaska with me or a few more dollars after I die. You quote life insurance as a primary investment tool, even though no one has mentioned it.
The world has changed, the stock market has changed. Investing strategies should change with them.

Quote: billryan

if you're only reason for investing is to leave your heirs a lot of money -

Investing strategies should change

of course, leaving money for your heirs is not the only reason for investing
it's just one of the reasons
many drawdowns will be taken over the course of many years for personal reasons


this strategy should never change:

buy and hold quality and diversify thru mutual funds

.

Quote: billryan

Quote: odiousgambit

Life Insurance? Worst investment advice ever

Term insurance is the basis for life insurance. Once you get old, it gets expensive as hell, and everybody drops it. So they don't like losing customers, and sell you Whole Life instead. This evens out the payments so you don't drop out because of that, but the portion that goes to building an estate for heirs earns a terrible return

Unless you know you are going to die young, and can keep that from the insurance co., forget life insurance for 'leaving it to heirs'

Quote: googlebot

Whole life insurance is generally considered a poor primary investment compared to traditional options like stocks or ETFs, offering lower returns (\(1\%\)-\(3.5\%\)) in exchange for high fees, guaranteed cash value growth, and tax-deferred benefits. While it acts as a low-risk, tax-advantaged savings vehicle and provides permanent protection, it is usually expensive and not recommended as a primary wealth-building tool for most investors.

link to original post

Life insurance isn't for building wealth, in most cases. It's not investment advice. However, if your only reason for investing is to leave your heirs a lot of money, life insurance is much cheaper than a portfolio.
You are confusing building wealth through a policy and a policy that leaves your heirs money.
A 30 year old male can buy a million dollars in whole life insurance for well under $1,000 a month. Term insurance is a fraction of that.

Investing can be fun. So can taking the grandkids on cruises and spoiling your family while you can enjoy it. I wonder if my family would rather have a week in Alaska with me or a few more dollars after I die. You quote life insurance as a primary investment tool, even though no one has mentioned it.
The world has changed, the stock market has changed. Investing strategies should change with them.
link to original post

you're piling a lot of things together there including cruises. Certainly if you have a family depending on you, get life insurance. Much cheaper than a portfolio? Oh boy. Well Whole Life works out well for a certain type of person, perhaps competing ok with someone who only puts money in bank accounts anyway

Quote: lilredrooster

Quote: billryan

if you're only reason for investing is to leave your heirs a lot of money -

Investing strategies should change

of course, leaving money for your heirs is not the only reason for investing
it's just one of the reasons
many drawdowns will be taken over the course of many years for personal reasons


this strategy should never change:

buy and hold quality and diversify thru mutual funds

.
link to original post

Just addressing MUTUAL FUNDS. Why on earth would you think a MF is better than an ETF? As a rule, ETFs have substantially lower internal fees.

I think you should diversify via the WoV portfolio concept. Ask for picks of your individual stocks from dozens of random people on the internet. It’s worked for me. And it eliminates the fees. I’ve save tens of thousands of real dollars using my diversification plan compared to MFs and their fees.

Quote: odiousgambit

Quote: billryan

Quote: odiousgambit

Life Insurance? Worst investment advice ever

Term insurance is the basis for life insurance. Once you get old, it gets expensive as hell, and everybody drops it. So they don't like losing customers, and sell you Whole Life instead. This evens out the payments so you don't drop out because of that, but the portion that goes to building an estate for heirs earns a terrible return

Unless you know you are going to die young, and can keep that from the insurance co., forget life insurance for 'leaving it to heirs'

Quote: googlebot

Whole life insurance is generally considered a poor primary investment compared to traditional options like stocks or ETFs, offering lower returns (\(1\%\)-\(3.5\%\)) in exchange for high fees, guaranteed cash value growth, and tax-deferred benefits. While it acts as a low-risk, tax-advantaged savings vehicle and provides permanent protection, it is usually expensive and not recommended as a primary wealth-building tool for most investors.

link to original post

Life insurance isn't for building wealth, in most cases. It's not investment advice. However, if your only reason for investing is to leave your heirs a lot of money, life insurance is much cheaper than a portfolio.
You are confusing building wealth through a policy and a policy that leaves your heirs money.
A 30 year old male can buy a million dollars in whole life insurance for well under $1,000 a month. Term insurance is a fraction of that.

Investing can be fun. So can taking the grandkids on cruises and spoiling your family while you can enjoy it. I wonder if my family would rather have a week in Alaska with me or a few more dollars after I die. You quote life insurance as a primary investment tool, even though no one has mentioned it.
The world has changed, the stock market has changed. Investing strategies should change with them.
link to original post

you're piling a lot of things together there including cruises. Certainly if you have a family depending on you, get life insurance. Much cheaper than a portfolio? Oh boy. Well Whole Life works out well for a certain type of person, perhaps competing ok with someone who only puts money in bank accounts anyway
link to original post

Funny post! I’m LITERALLY doing both. Taking family on Alaskan cruise next month. And hoping to leave a bunch to all of them as well.

I do own Whole Life. And agree in concept it’s not a good investment. When I was younger and ‘needed’ life insurance I got both a big term policy and smaller whole life policy. Once my net worth hit a certain number I canceled the term policy.
I liked the Whole Life policy as when I was younger I treated the premium more as a ‘bill’ than an investment. So I just paid it once a year. And now it’s a pretty big number, that if for any reason I’d need cash I can cash it in. About 1/3 would be tax free and 2/3 would be taxable. If I kick the bucket it all passes tax free.

No ATH today. Down a bunch and TWCUX will be down A LOT as well.

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: DRich

Once one has achieved a comfortable level of wealth it is sometimes better to protect it because growth can become diminishing returns.
link to original post

Not the best use of the English language, but I get the gist.

If the market pulls back it would have been better if I ‘protected’ the value. If the market continues on what seems like an inexorable upward path it would have been better if I didn’t ‘protect’ the value.

As mentioned, I’m at least doing some ‘protection’ recently.

Soared today. Again. Just a few Lira short of +253%.
link to original post

Sorry about that, I have been drinking a little too much on vacation.

Any insurance is a bad investment until you use it. I might have spent $100,000 on auto insurance since I turned 17, and have had a few windows replaced for all of it. I spent tens of thousands on health insurance with little to show, but it wasn't an investment. I had term life insurance until I could safely set aside a similar sum. As I got older and fewer people depended on me, I dropped it all, maybe twenty years ago.

Quote: SOOPOO

Just addressing MUTUAL FUNDS. Why on earth would you think a MF is better than an ETF? As a rule, ETFs have substantially lower internal fees.

I think you should diversify via the WoV portfolio concept. Ask for picks of your individual stocks from dozens of random people on the internet. It’s worked for me. And it eliminates the fees. I’ve save tens of thousands of real dollars using my diversification plan compared to MFs and their fees.
link to original post

quick question - how have your indivicual stocks from random people performed over time compared to the S&P 500___________thanks

when I said mutual funds I meant etfs or mutual funds whichever suits your needs - my bad
my largest holding which is from Vanguard, VGT, is an etf
Vanguard is known for low cost and is where all of my investments are at
this is what they have to say about costs -

"Vanguard is generally more cost-effective than buying individual stocks due to extremely low management fees (expense ratios) and $0 commission fees on ETFs. While buying individual stocks has no annual management fee, Vanguard offers instant, low-cost diversification, with 83% of their equity ETFs ranking in the lowest-cost decile.

Key Cost Factors:Vanguard Funds & ETFs:

Most Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds have very low expense ratios, often 84% less than the industry average. They also offer $0 trading commissions on stocks and ETFs.

Individual Stocks:

Hidden Costs:

Individual stocks can have higher transaction costs (spreads) if not traded carefully. Vanguard ETFs generally have low, transparent fees, but they may have bid-ask spreads ranging from \(\$0.01\) to \(\$0.25\).

Verdict:

For most investors, the low management fees and built-in diversification of Vanguard funds provide a cheaper, more efficient, and lower-risk long-term approach compared to managing a portfolio of individual stocks."

although etfs may be generally less costly than mutual funds there is this to consider:

"AI Overview

there is a spread—known as the bid-ask spread—when you buy an ETF. Because ETFs trade on exchanges like stocks, you buy them at the higher "ask" price and sell them at the lower "bid" price. This difference acts as a transaction cost to provide liquidity, which varies depending on the popularity, volume, and underlying liquidity of the ETF.

Why Choose a Mutual Fund

Purchased at Net Asset Value (NAV) without paying the bid-ask spread.


also, this shows the very, very small difference in management fees at Vanguard with etfs and mutual funds - almost nothing - again, from Vanguard


"For example, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX) has an expense ratio of 0.04%, while the corresponding ETF (VTI) is 0.03%.

Vanguard's average ETF and mutual fund expense ratios are very close, sitting around 0.07%. ETFs usually offer the lowest available rates, but Vanguard Admiral Shares often match the ETF rates. "

.

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: odiousgambit

Quote: billryan

Quote: odiousgambit

Life Insurance? Worst investment advice ever

Term insurance is the basis for life insurance. Once you get old, it gets expensive as hell, and everybody drops it. So they don't like losing customers, and sell you Whole Life instead. This evens out the payments so you don't drop out because of that, but the portion that goes to building an estate for heirs earns a terrible return

Unless you know you are going to die young, and can keep that from the insurance co., forget life insurance for 'leaving it to heirs'

Quote: googlebot

Whole life insurance is generally considered a poor primary investment compared to traditional options like stocks or ETFs, offering lower returns (\(1\%\)-\(3.5\%\)) in exchange for high fees, guaranteed cash value growth, and tax-deferred benefits. While it acts as a low-risk, tax-advantaged savings vehicle and provides permanent protection, it is usually expensive and not recommended as a primary wealth-building tool for most investors.

link to original post

Life insurance isn't for building wealth, in most cases. It's not investment advice. However, if your only reason for investing is to leave your heirs a lot of money, life insurance is much cheaper than a portfolio.
You are confusing building wealth through a policy and a policy that leaves your heirs money.
A 30 year old male can buy a million dollars in whole life insurance for well under $1,000 a month. Term insurance is a fraction of that.

Investing can be fun. So can taking the grandkids on cruises and spoiling your family while you can enjoy it. I wonder if my family would rather have a week in Alaska with me or a few more dollars after I die. You quote life insurance as a primary investment tool, even though no one has mentioned it.
The world has changed, the stock market has changed. Investing strategies should change with them.
link to original post

you're piling a lot of things together there including cruises. Certainly if you have a family depending on you, get life insurance. Much cheaper than a portfolio? Oh boy. Well Whole Life works out well for a certain type of person, perhaps competing ok with someone who only puts money in bank accounts anyway
link to original post

Funny post! I’m LITERALLY doing both. Taking family on Alaskan cruise next month. And hoping to leave a bunch to all of them as well.

I do own Whole Life. And agree in concept it’s not a good investment. When I was younger and ‘needed’ life insurance I got both a big term policy and smaller whole life policy. Once my net worth hit a certain number I canceled the term policy.
I liked the Whole Life policy as when I was younger I treated the premium more as a ‘bill’ than an investment. So I just paid it once a year. And now it’s a pretty big number, that if for any reason I’d need cash I can cash it in. About 1/3 would be tax free and 2/3 would be taxable. If I kick the bucket it all passes tax free.

No ATH today. Down a bunch and TWCUX will be down A LOT as well.
link to original post

Most all the comments about whole life ins. are correct. The one factor not discussed in relation to a valuable use of the instrument is, and this may apply to SOOPOO as well especially to MDawg is federal estate taxes. Folks who have large estates beyond the federal estate tax threshold could be liable for a very large lump sum payment to the IRS. A large whole life policy death benefit is tax free as was previoously mentioned and could be used as a perfect tool to meet this significant obligation.

tuttigym