We Don't Only Want 'SWANs'
"Sleep well at night" ("SWAN") stocks...
Longtime Health & Wealth Bulletin readers know this term well. SWAN stocks are industry-leading companies and businesses that have strong balance sheets, solid cash flows, and long histories of rewarding shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.
They're the kinds of companies you can buy, hold for decades, and rest easy holding... knowing you're earning safe, steady income.
If you're close to retirement, you want to own SWAN stocks to protect your nest egg. But they're not exciting. And they aren't likely to make you 1,000% gains. You probably won't hear someone at a dinner party bragging about making 46% on Coca-Cola (KO) over the past five years.
These market stalwarts should form the bedrock of your portfolio. But as I'll explain, it also pays to look beyond SWAN stocks...
Small-cap stocks consistently outperform large caps over time. Occasionally, a tiny stock blossoms into a big winner. But the trouble with small caps is that if you don't have the right strategy for choosing potential winners, the occasional booms won't be enough to offset the possible duds that can lead to big losses.
According to my colleague Bryan Beach, investors are too scared to buy small-cap stocks right now. But as Bryan explains, "The reality is, many of these companies are very healthy businesses with great financials, dynamic products, and strong management teams."
Even more, small-cap stocks are at their cheapest valuations since the financial crisis... giving investors a rare opportunity today to double or even triple their money in as little as 18 months.
If you want to learn why now is an incredible time to buy small caps and how to avoid the junk, click here for all the details.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
April 29, 2023
Reader question of the week...
Q: I bought a new 2019 Hyundai Ioniq for $23k with no [government tax credits]. 60K miles later and 0 problems, on this NON plug-in hybrid, I get a consistent 60 mpg.
What's the problem? Why no emphasis and development on NON plug-in hybrids with many advantages over all the plug-in models? – T.S.
A: Our in-house auto-expert Brady Holt wrote a pair of articles last month about the pros and cons of owning electric vehicles ("EVs") and plug-in hybrids. T.S., you alluded to one of those advantages: federal tax incentives. From the perspective of a car buyer, if the government wants to pay us to buy certain cars, we won't refuse its cash.
That being said, you're absolutely right that there's a lot to love about a conventional hybrid car like the Toyota Prius or your 2019 Hyundai Ioniq. These hybrids use electric motors so their gasoline engines don't have to work as hard, which improves gas mileage. But you charge their electric batteries using the gasoline engine and energy captured from the braking system, so you don't have to worry about plugging in.
This technology works beautifully... To use today's equivalent to your Ioniq, the 2023 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid gets 17 mpg more than the gas-only Elantra model – and it's more powerful, too.
The key advantage to plug-in cars over hybrids is that they go from using less gasoline to using little to none. If you're able to plug in a car and wouldn't regularly exceed its electric range, it can significantly reduce your fuel bill.
In 2019, Hyundai sold three Ioniq variants: the hybrid that you bought, a plug-in hybrid EV ("PHEV"), and a fully electric version. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") estimates that the Ioniq PHEV can travel up to 29 miles on an electric charge. After that, it would get 52 mpg using gasoline. Meanwhile, the fully electric 2019 Ioniq could travel an EPA-estimated 124 miles per charge.
And when you charge at home, electricity costs significantly less than gasoline for most U.S. markets... The EPA estimates that the average all-electric Ioniq would cost barely half as much to drive per mile versus the hybrid.
Of course, there are indeed downsides to these plug-in versions... You need to be able to plug them in to reap their benefits. They require bigger, more expensive batteries. And with the electric version in particular, your drives are kept on a short leash. Even when there are cost advantages for many people, there are also many folks who wouldn't benefit from plug-in cars.
Still, there are two main reasons why plug-in cars get so much more attention...
First, they produce zero tailpipe emissions, which is a huge deal to many car buyers and policymakers. (Again, we aren't delving into that argument here, but it's a big reason why there's so much fervor around them.) Secondly, plug-in cars are newer and more exciting. It's like how hybrids got so much coverage 20 years ago and celebrities queued up for Priuses. Now, the idea of pairing a gasoline engine with an electric motor is no longer headline news.
Fortunately, that doesn't mean carmakers have forgotten about hybrids. Consider this... Twenty years ago, the Prius got an EPA-estimated 41 mpg. The 2023 Prius gets up to 57 mpg – while making an extra 82 horsepower. That's the result of significant research and development, even if you won't hear politicians talking about Priuses anymore.
And hybrid choices have proliferated... Of last year's top 20 bestselling vehicles in the U.S., nearly half have a non-plug-in hybrid option, including three of the top five.
Rest assured, you're not alone for loving your hybrid. And we wish you many fuel-sipping miles ahead!
Keep sending your questions, comments, and suggestions our way. We read every e-mail... feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com.
 | How to Navigate the World of Income Income investing is truly one of the best ways to grow your wealth over time. Here are four income generators to get you started... |
 | Why I'm All for This 100-Year-Old Wartime Activity In World War I, families across the U.S. started "victory gardens" to combat food shortages. Today, they're gaining popularity again... |
 | The No. 1 Tool to Build Your Financial Literacy The best way to empower yourself to take control of your own life is to educate yourself. And you can with my No. 1 tool... |
 | Don't Let Your Produce Poison You My favorite "super" food could be poisoning you. But there's a way to avoid dangerous chemicals in your produce... |
 | The Looming Disaster for New Grads The state of financial education in America is awful... And new graduates are about to be the latest victims of it. |
没有评论:
发表评论