From SL re my “report cards” on Trump in the May 13 and July 4 issues: 

“I really enjoyed your recent tally of Trump’s record and have sent it to a number of people. My friend KR was one. Here is his column, with quite a different take. And here’s what he had to say about your column:

This is utter BS. Trump wants to rule as an authoritarian, he’s made the Supreme Court his accomplice, he is anything but a supporter of democracy abroad, he’s a bully, racist, and antisemite, tariffs make no sense, no country has benefited more from the post WWII economy than we have, he’s lowering taxes for the rich, he’s corrupt, he’s inviting election corruption, too, his policies are killing hundreds of thousands in Africa, he is ruining American universities and undoing the research they do, etc.

TA wants to know what I decided to do with my investment portfolio… 

“In the July 20 issue, you said that you were going to be meeting with Dominick, your financial advisor, to discuss how the mounting federal debt will affect investments. I’m looking forward to hearing what he said – and what you decided to do.

“My advisor seems not to think that it is a problem. I’m retired, and he keeps me in a diversified mix of stocks and bonds. I have added gold, silver, and commodities on my own outside of the managed accounts. My advisor says the model he uses is based on history going back to the Great Depression. I guess the period during WWII was a time of high debt in this country, and we survived. But this time around seems to not end.”

My Response: Glad you asked.

I can’t comment on your particular situation because I don’t know exactly what assets you own. And even if I did, I am not licensed to give (or interested in giving) personal investment advice.

But I do enjoy writing about my own ideas about building wealth – which I consider to be a much more expansive and much more pragmatic topic. And it just so happens that once a year I write a report for my family, friends, and some of my Japanese subscribers that covers all my thoughts and sometimes my decisions about adjusting my asset balance for the following year.

I’m working on that right now, and will include a portion of it in next week’s issue.

You’ll want to take a look at it because, as you know if you know me, when it comes to investing money I’ve worked hard to earn, my number one rule is: Get richer every day. And that means I treat my stock investments differently than most financial advisors and brokers who make a living by speaking/writing about stocks and bonds as if they were the only two wealth-building options.