WEALTHTRACK

Additional discussion about how Social Security rules are changing.  As benefits guru, Mary Beth Franklin told us on a recent WEALTHTRACK, there are nearly 3,000 rules governing this benefit and there are specific advantages for different situations. This week we look at three: Divorce, Retiring Single, and Medicare. WEALTHTRACK #1607 published on August, 16. 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/retirement-benefits/ It’s the start of the summer fund-raising season on Public Television, we'll be back with full episodes in a few weeks.

Paying attention to Social Security benefits pays off and needs to be taken seriously from an earlier age than most people realize.  Many of us underestimate how important this benefit is.  - It is the single largest source of income for the majority of Americans age 65 and older.  - It accounts for half or more of total income for 53% of married couples and 74% of unmarried individuals. - It is one of the only sources of guaranteed income that retirees can count on for the rest of their lives. - Its cost of living adjustments helps maintain buying power over decades of retirement.  Mary Beth Franklin points out that Social Security isn’t static and there have been some major changes in recent years.  In addition to being the author of Maximizing Social Security Benefits and an acknowledged expert on the subject, she is Contributing Editor at InvestmentNews, a leading publication for financial advisors, and an award-winning personal finance journalist.      Order a copy of Maximizing Social Security Retirement Benefits WEALTHTRACK #1606 broadcast on August 09, 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/social-security-the-new-rules-with-benefits-guru-mary-beth-franklin/

Who is carrying on the traditions of today’s great investors? When you are investing in a fund with an impressive track record and distinctive philosophy and approach is there any guarantee that those qualities will continue with the next generation?   We recently launched a new series on “Next Generation Investors” on WEALTHTRACK to introduce the younger portfolio managers sharing management responsibilities with some legendary investors. This week we have another exclusive with Miller with the Co-Portfolio Manager of a very different and younger fund. This fund is a family affair. Miller’s Co-Portfolio Manager is his son, Bill Miller IV, known in the firm as “Bill Four”.  Our premiere episode was an exclusive with Bill Miller and Samantha McLemore, the Co-Portfolio Manager of his flagship Miller Opportunity Trust fund which has beaten the market and its mutual fund competitors since the market bottom in 2009.  You can watch the episode here: https://wealthtrack.com/market-beating-value-investors-the-next-generation/ Finding high income at value prices is a team approach with legendary investor Bill Miller and portfolio manager son, Bill Miller IV. WEALTHTRACK #1506 broadcast on August 02, 2019. Finding high income at value prices is a team approach with legendary investor Bill Miller and portfolio manager son, Bill Miller IV. Premieres Friday on public television (check local listings) and on www.wealthtrack.com

 We have launched a new series on WEALTHTRACK, Next Generation Investors, to introduce ourselves and you to the younger portfolio managers working alongside today’s investment greats.  As part of that series, we are doing one on one podcasts with the less well known, but deserving partners.  Our guest this week is Samantha McLemore, Portfolio Manager at Miller Value Partners who has been working with legendary investor Bill Miller since graduating from college in 2002. WEALTHTRACK #1604 published on July 25, 2019.

Influential investment advisor and author Bill Bernstein shares key insights with Morningstar’s “The Long View” podcast which they are sharing with us on WEALTHTRACK this week. Listen here: https://wealthtrack.com/if-youve-won-the-game-stop-playing/ During this summer public television fundraising week we are revisiting a recent program about the greatest retirement fear – running out of money. Advice from Morningstar’s Christine Benz and Wells Fargo’s Fredrik Axsater on how to avoid it.  https://wealthtrack.com/running-out-of-money-is-the-greatest-retirement-fear-how-to-avoid-it-with-two-retirement-experts/

Seismic shifts in the municipal bond markets and the portfolios of award-winning muni manager Robert DiMella.     The nearly $4 trillion dollar municipal bond market is attracting record amounts of investor money. Year-to-date more than $40 billion has poured into municipal bond funds, one of the highest inflows on record. One key factor for muni’s attractiveness is the higher taxes being paid by many individual taxpayers following the tax reform bill, which was passed in 2017 but took effect in 2018. The combination of higher tax rates and a dearth of income globally are adding to the allure of municipal bonds. On this week’s program, top muni fund manager Robert DiMella says there are other factors at work as well which are causing a seismic shift in the municipal bond market and a significant change in strategy at his firm.  WEALTHTRACK #1602 broadcast on July 12, 2019. More at: https://wealthtrack.com/municipal-bond-m…f-investor-money/

Consuelo Mack WEALTHTRACK launches a new season with its “Next Generation Investors” series featuring an exclusive interview with legendary value investor Bill Miller, and Samantha McLemore, his Co-Portfolio Manager on the Miller Opportunity Trust fund.   We want you to meet the individuals that some top fund managers have chosen to manage money with them, for them and possibly succeed them. The investment horizon, even for people in retirement can stretch into decades. Plus, in this era of passive index investing, a firm’s culture, its independence of thought,  investment discipline, and integrity are going to matter even more. As Sir John Templeton said “If you want to have a better performance than the crowd, you must do things differently from the crowd.”   And that frequently means “To buy when others are despondently selling and sell when others are greedily buying…” which he said “…requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward. “ That approach takes a certain mindset and training which is why for this WEALTHTRACK exclusive we have asked great investor Bill Miller to join us with his Co-Portfolio Manager Samantha McLemore. WEALTHTRACK #1601 broadcast on July 5, 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/market-beating-value-investors-the-next-generation/

Better financial advice for women with Yie-Hsin Hung, one of the most powerful women in finance.  The economic might of women is large and growing. According to research put together by New York Life Investment Management, 51% of the personal wealth in the U.S. is controlled by women - an estimated $22 trillion worth.  That number is expected to jump by 30% percent to nearly $29 trillion over the next 40 years as intergenerational wealth is handed over. Women are the key financial decision makers: 96% of women have primary or shared responsibility for family financial decisions, yet there is a gap in how women view and handle money.  Women score lower than men on financial literacy tests, and women invest less - by one study, 40% less. Yie-Hsin Hung is determined to change this dynamic, and she is in a position to do that.  WEALTHTRACK #1554 broadcast on June 28, 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/51-percent-of-personal-wealth-in-the-u-s-is-controlled-by-women/ https://wealthtrack.com/women/

Berkshire Hathaway stock has underperformed the S&P 500 for the past decade. By a recent calculation Berkshire’s stock has risen by nearly 260% versus the market’s more than 300% advance in the decade ended in 2018.   Despite Berkshire’s stunning record since 1965, 21% compounded annualized gains, this is not the first time that the company’s shares have underperformed the market for a decade. It’s happened several times in recent years.  This weeks guest: "The advice is stay put, and then you’ll get the returns from the S&P because 90 percent of the investors in the S&P 500 funds don’t earn the return for that fund because they’re out when the market is most cheap, and they’re overexposed when the market is too expensive." Are Berkshire Hathaway’s best years behind it? Great investor and long-time holder, Tom Russo responds.  WEALTHTRACK #1553 broadcast on June 21, 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/follow-buffetts-investment-principles-great-investor-tom-russo-continues-to/

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint” describes the investment time horizon of Tweedy, Browne’s senior portfolio managers William Browne and John Spears.   Wall Street is haunted by the ghosts of brokerage firms past. Names such as Dean Witter, Kidder Peabody, PaineWebber, and Smith Barney were thriving independents. No more! Even the Merrill Lynch name is being gradually erased by parent company Bank of America.   There is one old-line firm still standing however with an impeccable investment pedigree that is carrying on its deep-rooted value traditions. It is Tweedy, Browne Company   Although they are both traditional long-term value investors there is nothing old fashioned about their performance.  Buffett’s partner Charlie Munger once described Tweedy Browne as “…absolute spiritual descendants of Ben Graham… they are like Buddhists or Tibetan monks who absolutely bought into the catechism.” Classic value investing – delivering modern outperformance.  In a WEALTHTRACK exclusive, Tweedy, Browne’s senior portfolio managers explain their Ben Graham/Warren Buffett approach. WEALTHTRACK #1552 broadcast on June 14, 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/the-culture-of-value-investing-from-ben-grahams-warren-buffetts-former-brokerage-firm/