Doctors, Treat Yourselves! 

Dentist Bottom Line:     

Date Night:  This is one night during the week that you and your spouse, significant other, or just a best friend, meet for a fun evening. This is the most important idea in the whole newsletter this month.  Don't miss date night!   

Quarterly Retreat:  Once every three months, take a three-day mini-vacation.  This can be with or without family.  And continuing education is not allowed!

Doctor's Hump Day:  Wednesday is an important psychological day for all.  Do something special during the Wednesday work day or at lunch. Make sure it's decadent, yet within the law! 

Vanguard Founder Upbeat on Stocks 

Mr. Bogle has been providing fairly accurate forecasts of stock and bond returns for years. In the early 1990s, he predicted double-digit-percentage annual gains for stocks over the coming decade. In 1999, Mr. Bogle prophesized low returns for the next decade. 

In the September 2011 interview, Bogle stuck to his decades-long view. "Diversification is not only the first important thing investors should think about, but the second and the third, and probably the fourth and fifth, too," he said.

As for  buy-and-hold, Bogle said it must be applied not just to stocks but across an entire portfolio, including bonds and other assets. That is because the stock market is, above all else, "spasmodic."     

Over the next decade, Mr. Bogle said stocks will likely to generate an average return, including dividends, of around 7%. "Your money will double in 10 years," he said. "How bad is that? People ought to get over the illusion [of higher expectations] and realize that they may have to invest for longer time periods, start earlier and save more." 

This sanguine view is what I adhere to these days.  Yes, there's a fair amount of doom-and-gloom with a 50/50 chance prognosticated by the experts of a double-dip recession, yet over the next decade, the chances of rebound appear strong to those that have been around as long as Bogle and Buffet.

Dentist Bottom Line:    

Buy-and-hold, with proper diversification is predicted by John Bogle, founder of Vanguard and author of several common sense investing books, to possibly provide a 7% annual return over the next decade.   

Fed's Twist:  The Almost Last Last Last Resort?  

For the 2 minute version, click on the CBS logo.  

For the 5 minute version, click on the photo of the  former Vice Chairman of the Fed, Alan Blinder.  

Dentist Bottom Line:  Long-term rates will stay at historic lows for quite awhile, lowering anyone's fear of real inflation. No one has high hopes of an economic surge in the near future. 

Otherwise, don't expect much from "Twist," except for Blinder's claim that we will probably see QE3.   

Definition of Quantitative Easing (from Wikipedia): The Fed may purchase a pre-determined amount of bonds or other assets from financial institutions without reference to the interest rate.  The goal of this policy is to increase the money supply rather than to decrease the interest rate, which cannot be decreased further. This is often considered a "last resort" to stimulate the economy.  Thus, this would be the last, last, last resort!

My Most Widely Read Web Sites  

What are the puppies for?  To get you to look down the page this far!  

Click on the underlined names below to access the web sites. 

Paul Farrell on WSJ Marketwatch:  There's never a dull moment with Paul.  Savvy beyond belief!

Dentist Bottom Line: None of the above are boring in the least!  Have a safe ride.    

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