Insights on markets, emergent trends, history, innovation, risk management, global economics, strategy, policy, and other topics that catch our attention. Inspired by ongoing research, conversations and events. Written and edited by Osbon Capital Management and published every Thursday morning.
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2024 will bring more positive novel surprises. New years always do. In 2023, it was the dramatic acceleration in AI, which touches nearly every industry, and the early stages of an answer to the obesity epidemic with GLP-1s. Here is a list of what’s on our minds going into 2024.
Oil and your portfolio
Some of the world’s greatest fortunes have flowed from the ground, one barrel at a time. Oil powers cars, trucks, jet engines and generators. In many ways, it has powered the entire modern economy as we know it. But will that always be the case? Or is oil on a slippery slope down the industrial food chain?
Cryptocurrencies
I get more questions about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies than any other finance topic. Everyone wants to know what to do with crypto. What’s your angle, how much is your allocation and which crypto is the most compelling? Here are some facts to help guide you:
Afraid of New Market Highs?
The stock market notched another new high this week. That’s a sentence we hear over and over. New high this week, new high this quarter, new high this year…the new high drumbeat seems to get louder and louder. Is it time to sell? Time to run? Time to invest more? What to do? Our advice: read this article before doing anything.
Delay Your Pay
Are you making more money this year than usual? Worried about the big chunk that will go to taxes? Fear not. You may have an option that lets you reduce your taxes, save money for the future, and compound your savings tax-free. It’s called deferred compensation. Most people who work for a company and anyone who has their own company can defer compensation and reap big benefits. Read on…
Maximize Your Health and Wealth
There aren’t many free lunches in healthcare, tax planning or investing. The Health Savings Account (HSA) comes pretty close. Designed to help you save and pay for medical expenses, HSAs are an example of a major investment and tax benefit hiding in plain sight. Less than 15 percent of those eligible use them. Do you?
Prepare for New Tax Plan
Between now and year-end — and perhaps well beyond — we can expect the popular news to be dominated by the tax reform debate. The last tax reform law to pass muster was in 1986, thanks to President Reagan and Speaker Gephardt. Their reform was a true bipartisan effort. It seems we’ll need another two-party effort to reform our system this time around. How can you protect yourself now if you don’t even know if a bill will pass or what it will include? Read on…
Only 1/3 of investors like their portfolio
Research shows that only 1/3 of investors are currently comfortable with their investment portfolios. That’s a very low satisfaction rate, given how long and hard people work for their money. If you’re one of the many people not happy with their portfolio, we want you to know we are expanding our investor client base at Osbon Capital to include people who don’t yet meet our usual $5M threshold for investable assets.
More Income From Your Portfolio
Investments serve several core purposes. One of these is generating cash flow — income that can be reinvested or spent. Nice levels of income are available if you know where to look. As we rebalance to keep Osbon Capital portfolios risk constant, we are making allocation changes to increase cash flow. Here are some of the methods available to us.
You Can Beat the Equifax Breach
Last Thursday’s announcement of the Equifax breach was a monumental moment for personal financial security. Nearly 44% of Americans had their social security numbers exposed by hackers. Here’s what you can do about it.
