Don't Keep Dying Vines in Your Portfolio
The first time I met my good friend Jim Ricci, I got him all wrong...
This was several years ago at the prestigious Sonoma County Harvest Fair. Jim's 2005 cabernet sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley was in the running to win the title of best red wine of the year.
He and his wife were dressed stylishly and looked wealthy. I figured them to be dime-a-dozen jet-setters who had swooped into wine country and pursued the romantic life of winemaking after cashing out their riches from another career.
Boy, did I whiff that one.
I've gotten to know this family well over the years. I've even visited their home many times. (Jim's wife makes a delicious tater-tot casserole that I dream of competing with someday. Please send me your recipe if you have one.) And I can tell you they're as hardworking as anyone I've ever met, including doctors on call in a trauma center.
You see, Jim gave up his "day job" to become a farmer decades earlier. Since then, he has truly lived the boots-and-blue-jeans life... I doubt his pickup truck has seen a car wash in years. And like any good farmer, Jim visits "the ranch" at least daily.
This time of year, Jim spends a lot of time "suckering." That is, he walks the rows and looks at each vine. He tries to find new, young shoots – or "suckers" – and cut them off. Meanwhile, he leaves the stronger, older growths because they will produce more fruit this year and more wood for next year's shoots.
Deciding which ones to cut and which to let grow is tedious and requires a mind for detail. I've grown to appreciate all the extra care Jim puts in to make fantastic grapes. It's the little things that create the foundation for greatness.
I've also watched Jim do something else as he walks the rows... He marks the struggling vines with one of two colored tapes. Red tape means the vines need to be pulled, as they're essentially dead. Yellow tape means he'll watch them over the year and monitor how much foliage and fruit they produce.
It takes a few years to get fruitful vines. So Jim can't just wait for failing vines to completely die. He has to plan ahead. He'll have no grapes in the future if he runs each vine down to its last breath.
This attention to detail is also the key to investing. It doesn't matter what happened last year or last month. You need to keep looking ahead and assessing the current state of each investment (grapevine) in your portfolio today. If you find investments that aren't producing or won't produce in the future, they need to be culled early.
Remember, you only want vines that will give you a healthy harvest next season.
And right now, in particular, you want only the best vines in your portfolio...
According to Marc Chaikin – founder of our corporate affiliate Chaikin Analytics and a 50-year Wall Street veteran – something has gone seriously wrong with American investing. As a result, the next crash will likely be far, far worse for individual investors like you and me.
But it doesn't have to be a death sentence for your finances. Marc explained last night that if you know what you're doing, there's a way to potentially double your entire portfolio or more in the coming weeks... even if the market continues to swing wildly from here.
You can catch all the details from Marc's Crash Summit here. And just for tuning in, you'll hear two tickers Marc recommends you avoid today.
Now, let's get into this week's Q&A... As always, keep sending your comments, questions, and topic suggestions to feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com. My team and I read every e-mail.
On Your Mind: Tomatoes, Elder Safety, and End-of-Life Planning
Q: Can you tell me if sun-dried tomatoes contain as much lycopene as regular tomatoes. I ask this because I really love cut up sun-dried tomatoes in my salads. – L.H.
A: You're already boosting your intake of this powerful antioxidant, L.H. Sun-dried tomatoes have about 45.9 milligrams of lycopene (per 100 grams) compared with just 3 milligrams per 100 grams for fresh tomatoes. (For reference, a medium-sized tomato is around 123 grams.)
Q: My mother-in-law fell recently and didn't have her phone near her. She lives on her own and we want to make sure she has a way to get help in case of any future emergency. Any suggestions, Doc? – H.G.
A: We hope your mother-in-law was OK after her fall, H.G. Nearly 30% of American seniors live alone. But a medical-alert system can provide peace of mind.
We like the budget-friendly "SOS Home" model from Bay Alarm Medical, which costs $24.95 per month for 24/7 monitoring and includes a device that your loved one can wear subtly around their neck or wrist. Pressing a button summons a live agent via a base speaker, and there's no charge for false alarms.
For folks who feel comfortable with a smartphone, Snug Safety is a free daily check-in app. Snug sends a text to the user's emergency contacts if he or she misses their check-in at a set time. The paid version of Snug includes a dispatcher who calls the user if the check-in is missed and then calls their emergency contacts if the user doesn't pick up.
Finally, some states offer free daily check-in programs via phone for seniors... including our home state of Maryland.
We also recommend making some small changes at home to help lessen the fall risk... like buying socks with grippers, removing rugs, and using nonslip mats in the bathroom. You can read more tips here.
Q: Is there some plan for end of life? Where may I find it? – S.T.
A: After we saw your e-mail, S.T., we published our guide for end-of-life planning.
But if we haven't covered what you're looking for, just let us know.
What We're Reading...
- Did you miss it? We're not in a recession... right now.
- Something different: North Korea's "Hotel of Doom."
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
March 28, 2025