Up, Up, and Away.

Up, Up, and Away like a big balloon, that is what the market seems to be doing this last month.  If you have done what Small Town Investor suggested you do for going on now about eight years and even more importantly ignoring the bad news bears last fall your investment portfolio is looking quite good. You are most welcome. 

Last fall when the boo bears came out as the market plunged many said the end was near for the bull market that started in March 2009.  We suggested otherwise and said hold your investments in stocks and frankly do as we were doing at the time add some extra money if you got it.  Sure enough except for a early year down period the market has been going almost straight up. Your asset numbers would be looking real good right now compared to those who bought gold or put their money in mattresses.  Even better than those who put their money in US Treasuries who each day lose buying power.  

It has been a great two years to be in stocks and undervalued municipal bonds too.  We advised purchase of NNC and VKI early last year and this year and has it been a capital gains ride.  We are up over 10% in both those closed end bonds funds and that is not including the over 6.5% tax free interest we have been getting monthly on our original investment.  Fact is it always a good time to buy stocks when your investment horizon is long term.  Gold and other such nonsense are well fool's gold when it comes to long term investing.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, beats stocks long term and frankly right on into retirement.  People with pensions have to hope and beg to get a raise and pray their pension funds do not go bust or lose value.  People invested in the S&P 500 stock fund get that nice quarterly 3% or so dividend to spend, the value of their holdings goes up, and the payout increases annually like clockwork.  No begging, no hoping, no praying, just going to bank.  Oh, and the assets they own get to pass on to their children, while pensioners wished they had something to pass on to their children. 

Here is a fact the market will go down one day or even days, but no one has won the bet of betting against the American free market for now going on over 240 years.   So smart people bet on a good stock fund like the Vanguard 500 fund and sleep well at night knowing lots of people are out there working and making money for them and adding to their net worth.  If you do not believe me, believe Warren Buffet who has instructed his executors to sell his holdings and place them in that very Vanguard fund for his wife to live off of upon his passing.