Truman,
I'm not going to try to defend Mr. Pollan, who I found nearly as objectionable as you. (In particular, his voice and his attitude were both very stressful to me.) But I do want to clarify one point (even though I didn't hear the call you mentioned).
While those 30 yr bonds they bought yielded 9.5% when they bought them, remember that they are not yielding 9.5% on their current value. So, either they should be viewed as yielding 9.5% on the 560,000 original value, or (more accurately) 5.6% (or whatever) on their current value ($770k?). Of course, they'd be subject to a hefty cap gains tax (> 40k federal alone, if the figures above are accurate), so they'd better have a very good reason for selling. If those are their *only* assets, then I agree they would be well served by selling a portion of them, perhaps in several equal amounts over time, and diversifying.
But your main point is well taken. From the little I heard of Pollan, he should stick to the written word. I did hear him mention he'd never done this before, so perhaps that's part of the problem.
Ken |
