Here’s our new financial reality, which we have become all too familiar with: higher inflation, higher interest rates, and higher levels of debt among consumers, corporations, and governments, which all add up to significantly higher costs of doing business, living life, and borrowing.
To fight higher inflation, the Federal Reserve continues to hike short-term interest rates.
This week’s guest has experienced multiple economic and market cycles during his more than 50 years of managing money and thinks the current one is particularly perilous for investors. In an exclusive WEALTHTRACK appearance, he felt it was important to tell us why and what steps we should consider taking to mitigate its effects.
Robert Kessler was the CEO of his namesake Kessler Companies from its founding in August of 1986 until he made the decision to close the business in October 2021. Until then, he was a manager of fixed-income portfolios, specializing mostly in strategies using U.S. Treasuries for institutions and high-net-worth individuals around the globe.
He has been an annual WEALTHTRACK guest since our launch in 2005 and one of our most popular ones. He has been a consistent critic of Wall Street practices and group think, and for decades has been particularly disparaging of the Street’s consensus that Treasury bonds were an expensive and dangerous investment sure to bring losses to investors.
Robert Kessler explains why he thinks the markets are so dangerous for investors right now. A long-time critic of Wall Street and its pervasive groupthink.
WEALTHTRACK Episode #1919 broadcast on November 04, 2022Listen to the audio-only version here:
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ROBERT KESSLER
- Veteran Treasury Bond Manager
- Sovereign debt manager specializing in U.S. Treasury securities (retired)
- Founder & CEO, Kessler Investment Advisors (retired)
ACTION POINT
CONSIDER BUILDING A LADDERED TREASURY BOND PORTFOLIO
- Online and fee-free
- Buy a series of bonds that mature at different times
TREASURY BOND LADDER
- Bottom rungs – short-term maturities (1-2 years)
- Middle rungs – intermediate (5-7 years)
- Top Rungs – long-term (10-30 years)
- Buy new Treasury issues at www.treasurydirect.gov
- Monthly Auctions: 2, 3, 5. 7, 10, 20 & 30-year maturities
- Interest payments are semi-annually, free from state & local taxes
ONE INVESTMENT
PAY OFF DEBT
- Pay off the mortgage
- Pay down credit cards
- The cost of carrying debt is onerous
- Sleep better at night
FROM THE ARCHIVE
Robert Kessler from the WEALTHTRACK Archives:
WEB EXTRA
STILL CLIMBING
Outspoken bond manager Robert Kessler recently closed his firm and retired from active management, but he has no intention of retiring from the challenges of world-class rock climbing. We asked him why.
