In Search of the Perfect Investment

Buy Chile today –– if there’s a pullback. The ETF is ECH. Nice chart.

Money for old hope. The Economist has a special report on asset management. It begins:

The fund management industry has done very well — but mainly for itself.

Imagine a business in which other people hand you their money to look after and pay you handsomely for doing so. Even better, your fees go up every year, even if you are hopeless at the job. It sounds perfect.

That business exists. It’s called fund management.

The business opportunity in healthcare. Health is the  only expense we don’t see. Our doctor  bills us a random amount. Our insurance company pays our doctor a random amount. When I went on Medicare, my medical bills skyrocketed. My doctors added spurious tests and random prices. When I questioned one particularly outrageous bill (whose paperwork I saw from Medicare, but not the doctor), my doctor told me I shouldn’t worry; I wasn’t paying.

But I really was. It’s  called taxes. They’re killing me and everyone else. Here’s what will happen if we do nothing:

The New York Times did a piece on Sunday:

“In health care, there will be no status quo, with or without an overhaul. Prices will rise beyond reach. Then what happens?

“It will break all of our banks if we do nothing,” said Peter V. Lee, who oversees national health policy for the Pacific Business Group on Health, which represents employers that offer coverage to workers. “It is a course that is literally bankrupting the federal government and businesses and individuals across the country.”

When I ran a company, we self-insured. I’d probably do that again today, but look for a way of re-insuring catastrophes.

I love the idea of catastrophe insurance for those people personally paying their family’s bills. When the bills exceed $25,000 a year (or so), the insurance kicks in. That should mean much lower insurance premiums. I believe there are few policies like this available today.

I smell a business opportunity.

Sorry about this cartoon. I can’t stop laughing.

How long will you live? Try this quiz. Click here.

The Alta Kaka bargain. Apple has the biggest bargain in computing around. Buy an Apple computer, pay $99 extra and you get membership in a program called “One to One.” You get an hour of one-on-one a month and unlimited attendance — space available — at all the classes Apple runs regularly at its retail stores.

Says Apple, “We’ll get you set up, teach you all the basics, and help you with personal projects.”  One to One is available only at the time of purchase when you buy a new Mac from the Apple Online Store or an Apple Retail Store. A lady friend of mine attends and loves it. She’s between 65 and death — as are most of the classes’ attendees. Hence my title for the program — Alta Kaka Computing.

Three favorite, old New Yorker cartoons.

I spent the weekend researching new investment ideas and throwing out old ones. The “big accomplishment” was five garbage cans of paper out to the recycler. What joy! Finally breathing room.

Harry Newton, who wonders how many other husbands have lost their wives to a BlackBerry.