Ask Doc

'I Should Have Done More'

Nobody wants to think about the bad times.

The widespread layoffs and job losses and the hopeless look in good employees' eyes. Formerly steady companies going bankrupt, seemingly overnight, because they took on too much debt or expanded too quickly. Huge one-day drops in the market, egged on by a panicking and discredited financial press. And a cold, empty feeling in your stomach as you look at your invested savings... your nest egg that you worked hard for your entire life... cut in half or more.

But the bad times are coming.

And when they get here, please don't look at your retirement account and think, "I should have done more to prepare."

You must think about the bad times on the way up... not on the way down.

Right now, we're still in the "good times." Sure, there are cracks forming in the foundation of the house, but the party inside is still booming.

Please take control of your wealth today. Check your portfolio for danger. And learn about the strategies that you can use now in the good times to prepare for tomorrow's bad times.

I've worked with Porter Stansberry, Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, and Stansberry Portfolio Solutions portfolio manager Austin Root to design a 20-position model portfolio that contains everything you need to protect your wealth – and even profit – before, during, and after a crash.

We've detailed six proven strategies to lock in the profits you've made over the past decade... and take advantage of the rare moneymaking opportunities that arise during a bear market.

In fact, we felt so strongly about the importance of this new product – we call it The Defensive Portfolio – that we gave it to every single Stansberry Portfolio Solutions member on Wednesday night.

If you're not a subscriber to Stansberry Portfolio Solutions, you can still learn about these six strategies by watching this exclusive replay. You don't have to buy a thing. But if you set aside some time today, you'll learn the basic strategies of protecting yourself, your finances, and your retirement.

I hope that you'll take the time to watch Porter and Austin today, and that, if you so choose, you'll ultimately decide to join us at The Defensive Portfolio so we can give you access to all of our specific companies to buy and allocations to use. But no matter what you do, please watch this video.

Q: I'm an 11-year survivor of prostate cancer, which I attribute to early detection due to PSA Velocity (one year change from 0.5 to 2.5). My dad died at 62 from prostate cancer because the rectal exams he had every year didn't detect anything until he was stage 3. If you don't believe PSA tests are useful... What do you suggest men do? – L.T.

A: Early detection can save lives, like it did for you. And when that happens, the results are great.

But the PSA tests just aren't accurate enough at this point. While you enjoyed the benefits, you don't see the high costs of false-positives, which include unnecessary invasive treatments and loads of heart-taxing stress. And given the rate of false positive – those costs fall on many people.

What can we do? A lot of things...

We want medicine to develop a better test, first of all.

Second, those with risk factors like family history or other symptoms should get a test. Watch out for these symptoms:

  • Frequent urination
  • Hesitancy with urination
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Burning with urination
  • Pain in the lower back
  • Stiffness in the upper legs

And finally, those who do take the test need to be better informed of just how accurate it is. Most folks assume a positive on any test means you have the disease, but tests aren't perfect. It's just one piece of information. And though it's hard to remain calm when you get those results back, a positive PSA test doesn't mean you have prostate cancer. Don't fret or dive into treatment until it has been confirmed.

Q: Can you please address the 529 plans. I have one child with two years of college remaining and one who will begin in a year. The American 529 Funds have performed well but I don't want to lose any principle because of their situation and time frame. What are the safest options available for these plans under the current environment? – C.B.

A: 529 saving plans are a great way to pay for college. Earnings are exempt from federal taxes, they compound tax-free, and withdrawals made for qualifying college costs (like tuition, fees, and room and board) are also tax-free.

What many people don't realize is that you don't have to invest in your state's plan, although if you do you could save on income taxes.

So you have a ton of options to choose from.

One place I'd recommend you look is at Morningstar's Gold medal plans. These plans rank the highest in terms of safety and cost. Savingforcollege.com gives you Morningstar's 529 plan rankings and its own. You can also look at plan options state-by-state. A lot of plans have conservative options and some are even backed by the FDIC, which offer greater protection for your principle.

Q: A while back you wrote about the radiation from cell phone batteries and shared a list of some of the worst phones. My current phone was No. 2 on the list at the time, and I don't want to make a similar mistake when I buy a new phone. Do you know if this list or info has been updated? – J.M.

A: The good news is that your phone has moved down the list a few spots. The bad? It still emits a lot of radiation...

Telecommunications use radiofrequencies, which range from 3 kHz to 300 GHz. These include AM/FM radio signals, television broadcasts, and cellphone signals. Cellphones run on the 1.8 GHz to 2.2 GHz frequency. These are all nonionizing radiation.

There's a lack of research on nonionizing radiation. This includes cellphones.

Here's the thing... our bodies absorb energy from these frequencies. We measure the energy by calculating the rate that our tissues absorb energy when exposed to that frequency. This is the specific absorption rate (SAR), measured in watts per kilogram (W/kg).

The current FCC limit for public exposure is 1.6 SAR. It's important to note, however, that older cellphones measure SAR based on holding it at least 15 mm away from your skin... so pressing it up to your ear will increase your exposure.

Similarly, the SAR can change based on some factors like the strength of your connection with the cell tower. The further away your phone, the more radiation output as it works harder to connect.

You need to know your phone's SAR. If you have one that's close to the 1.6 limit, change phones if you can.

Several surveys show people touch their phones between 80 and 150 times a day. It's likely most of us smartphone users have our phones around us the entire day. That's a lot of radiation exposure.

And it's why I created a report on risks of cellphone use in my report, "How to Protect Yourself from Your Cellphone and Other Devices: The EMF Radiation Protocol." Current Retirement Millionaire subscribers can read it here.

If you're not already a subscriber, click here to learn how to get started.

Keep sending your questions, comments, and criticisms our way. We read every e-mail... [email protected].

What We're Reading...

Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,

Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
May 17, 2019