Beyond Buy-and-Hold #74
By Rob Bennett
At what price are stocks no longer worth buying?
That’s the question that should terrify Buy-and-Holders, for two reasons. One, it is a question that demands an answer. And, two, Buy-and-Holders are not able to come up with one.
Before you buy a car, you check Edmunds.com or some such site to identify the fair selling price. If you are in desperate need of a car, you might be willing to pay a bit more. But there are limits. You won’t pay $60,000 for a car that properly should go for $20,000.
Why doesn’t it work that way with stocks? Stocks were selling for three times fair value in 2000. Investors were buying like crazy. Why? Why don’t we care about getting ripped off when it comes to how we invest our retirement money?
Having a low credit score can be a big problem. Not only will you be restricted to bad credit loans, if you are able to get loans at all, but you will also pay higher interest rates any time you borrow. A bad credit score can necessitate that you put down a larger down payment for utilities and a cell-phone service. It can make your insurance rates go higher and disqualify you from certain jobs or make it harder to get a job when your employer runs your credit.
Reaching a point when you can grow your money via investments is an exciting time. But there are many factors that affect investors’ decisions. These are normally guided by investment strategies, which are influenced by investment goals, risk tolerance, and your future needs for capital. 
I mostly 
Last night my wife learned something disturbing—not for herself but for some of her coworkers. She has a part time job with a company that just announced that fulltime employees are losing their benefits and being converted to part time status. 
Are you paying too much for your utilities? Perhaps the cost has been steadily climbing for some time, at first only slightly noticeable, but now making up quite a chunk of your monthly payments. There are some simple modifications you can make to reduce these costs and help the planet at the same time; it just takes a bit of careful planning.
Every day, more than $2 million is stolen from American consumers and credit companies via fraud. Chances are you’ve either experienced it, or you know someone who has. While most cardholder agreements don’t hold you accountable for all of the loss that can occur with credit card fraud, you still need to be on your guard. Undoing fraud can be a real pain in the neck, and every incidence of fraud leads to higher rates and retail prices.
Picture this: you’re 50 years old, your career is dying on the vine—your entire industry is on life support—and you need to find a new career to carry you through the rest of your life. 
