Ask Doc Nearly all of America's 20 richest people either founded or inherited an incredible business... think Amazon, Microsoft, or Google.
Two of them got on that Top-20 list another way... through brilliant investing. One of them, No. 20, is hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin. The other, way up at No. 4 with three times Griffin's net worth, is Warren Buffett.
You've almost certainly heard of Buffett. And you may know that every year, he publishes an annual letter to shareholders of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.
Berkshire Hathaway is one of the world's greatest investing companies. And Buffett's letter is one of the most widely read commentaries in the financial world.
This year's letter came out last week. Buffett started it off with a tribute to his longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, who died in November.
Buffett shared one of the greatest pieces of advice Munger gave him... to buy "wonderful businesses purchased at fair prices and give up buying fair businesses at wonderful prices."
This is the core of how Buffett invests Berkshire's massive portfolio. And it's a major reason why, as Buffett wrote, "Berkshire is built to last." But he warned that, because of the company's size, there's "no possibility of eye-popping performance."
Some folks might read that and think, "Why bother with Berkshire now?"
While Berkshire may not make you thousands of percent in gains, investing in it is investing in quality. Quality businesses are the companies that will survive no matter what's happening in the economy, who's in the White House, or whether a global pandemic is shutting down the world.
Of course, you want to buy those quality stocks at a good price. But how can you do that when stocks are trading at historic highs?
According to my friend Marc Chaikin, election-year drama – and the volatility it brings – presents a buying opportunity if you play your cards right. It could mean the difference between seeing multiple 100%-plus gains in 2024 and the devastating 30% to 50% losses that most folks will likely experience... all depending on what you do with your portfolio.
Marc unveiled all the details last night, including an urgent move you need to make with your money now...
If you missed it, click here to catch up.
Now, let's dig into the Q&A... As always, keep sending your comments, questions, and topic suggestions to [email protected]. My team and I really do read every e-mail.
Q: You recommend taking a cold shower after your hot "regular" shower. How long does one need to stay in the cold shower to receive the best benefits? Thanks. – C.B.
A: Lots of folks are surprised when they hear about the benefits of cold showers...
When you take a cold shower, your blood vessels constrict and blood flow to the chilled areas of your body is reduced. In this way, cold water helps with inflammation, swelling, and pain.
Cold water also redirects blood flow from the blood vessels near the surface of your skin to the ones deep within your body. In doing so, internal inflammation and swelling in the body goes down, and the amount of blood that travels back to your heart increases.
Cold showers also reduce our levels of a hormone called cortisol that directly contributes to our experience of stress.
In one study, researchers immersed participants in cold water (about 57 degrees in this case) and found they experienced reduced levels of cortisol and a 350% increase in their metabolic rates (how fast our bodies expend energy or burn calories).
If you want to try out the benefits for yourself, do what I do... At the end of your hot shower, turn on the cold water for 20 to 40 seconds. It doesn't have to be ALL the way cold, but it should be quite cool...
I actually slowly rotate while I'm doing it so my forehead, then a shoulder, and then back, then the other shoulder, and so on all get the cold water.
Eventually, your body will get used to the cold water and it won't feel like such a shock to your system. In fact, after a recent workout, I found myself wishing for even colder water.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: The curse of knowledge.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
March 1, 2024