Googins Advisors Inc
Newsletter: February 23, 2024
Dear Friends and Readers:
When I started working in finances, the world was in “terrible shape”, we had a man, name forgotten, who had an (The) answer and people were collecting coins for trading and storing food and other steps that he recommended. Now, about 40 years later, it is the same story with fear and worries intended to frighten us into foolish moves.
There is also the opposite story allowing each one of us to decide if the “glass is half full or half empty”; technology has provided us enhancements and new products, the market has made many people rich, and there are good to excellent companies continuing to serve us.
But words and phrases like “Direct Indexing”and “Nostalgianomics” clutter the news. I had to look them up. Not being a fan of indexing, I found direct indexing had to do with buying the individual stocks that someone else had turned into an average. Visions of increased cost and confusion of trying to look at more stocks rather than less filled my mind.
Nostalgianomics? I was confused until I understood I could break the word into two words and add a few letters: Nostalgia and (eco)nomics. Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward discusses “The Bankruptcy of Nostalgianomics” In Reason Magazine, March, 2024.
- More people could live on one income today but six decades of progress since the 1950/60’s have changed our expectations of what we need or want.
- Home ownership has increased from 62% to 66%. Today’s homes are larger, grander, and come with standard equipment we once considered optional/luxurious/deluxe.
- 1960 – four vehicles for every ten Americans; today two-times the national population own cars. College is expensive but more people are going, groceries are up to nearly 12% of our income, but it was 17% back in the 50’s/60’s.
I had better not pretend that all is well; we have major problems and we can list many. But we will work on the side that the glass is half full. We have much proof of the value of the stock market and client discipline.
The other day we reviewed a client who has been taking money out of her accounts for well over 20 years. She has now taken out and spent approximately 4 times the amount originally invested. And she still has her accounts. Call it magic; we think it is good planning. We see it over and over. We want to help everyone do that. It was not wild, speculative investing, but logical and looking for the good in our economy. It is not limited to a few.
We ask your help informing people that is possible. People are badly informed about money and how it works…how our economic system functions to allow citizens to participate and create wealth.
Thank you for reading,
Louise Googins, President, Investment Advisor
Michael Googins, Administrator
Kim Rankin, Accountant
Richard Martin, Investment Advisor
Lynne Goldsmith, Investment Advisor
Dayton Hoffmann, Associate