Brinker Fixed Income Advisor Returns

The Bob Brinkers are advertising very impressive returns for the "Brinker Fixed Income Advisor" on their web site. (Click the image to see advertised returns.)

What they don't tell you is how poorly they did last year and how they have greatly under performed my advice until very recently to hold Vanguard's Total Bond fund (VBMFX) for your fixed income. (I recently sold ALL my bonds and bond funds that are not indexed to inflation and put the funds into investments that should do well in an environment of rising interest rates. Subscribe NOW to get my current advice for your "Core and explore" portfolio.)

This table showing the COMBINED returns for the past three years less a month tells "the rest of the story" as the late Paul Harvey used to say.

Brinker Fixed Income Advisor	2009 YTD (through Dec 1)	2008	2007	2007 to 2009 Combined
Model Portfolio 1	30.90%	(21.70%)	8.60%	11.3%
Model Portfolio 2	19.60%	(11.50%)	6.80%	13.0%
Model Portfolio 3	14.10%	(5.20%)	7.20%	16.0%
Vanguard Total Bond VBMFX	7.74%	5.05%	6.92%	21.0%
Vanguard GNMA Fund VFIIX	6.88%	7.22%	7.01%	22.6%
Retirement Advisor Model Portfolio #3	7.21%	3.73%	8.32%	20.5%

I also show the returns for our 100% fixed income portfolio in "The Retirement Advisor." We have slightly under performed the total bond fund. Our returns are lower by half a percent because we have inflation protection via a TIPS fund that hurt our 2008 returns AND we recently moved to safer CDs for our long-term fixed income allocation to reduce the risk of net asset value declines should the Fed decide it needs to suddenly raise interest rates.

I can't find Brinker's returns by year listed anywhere on his web sites for ANY of his newsletters!!! What is up with that? Vanguard and I do it. What is he hiding? Call his show and ask why.

I show all my returns for "Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter" by year here.

We show our return data for "The Retirement Advisor" here.

The table showing Brinker's poor performance for the "Brinker Fixed Income Advisor" newsletter portfolios relative to a simple total bond index may explain why he hides that information.

Since 12/31/98 "Kirk's Newsletter Explore Portfolio" is UP 158% (a double plus another 58% !) vs. the S&P500 UP at tiny 7.5% vs. NASDAQ UP at tiny 0.1% (All through 12/5/09) (More Info)

As of December 5, 2009, "Kirk's Newsletter Explore Portfolio" is up 33.0% YTD vs. DJIA up 19.1% YTD

Subscribe NOW and get the December 2009 Issue for FREE! !
(Your 1 year, 12 issue subscription will start with next month's issue.)

More Info:

• Kirk's Two Investment Letters

Moneytalk With Bob Brinker Guests: Dec 2009: List of their Books

Bob Brinker, host of Moneytalk, usually interviews a guest in the final hour of his three hour weekend radio show. These guests usually have a new book to promote. Bob has become good at interviewing his guests to let them express their opinions. This has become the favorite segment of the show for many of us. Below is a list of the guests for this month with links to buy their books to support this site.

Saturday December 5, 2009: Joshua Kosman, "The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Will Cause the Next Great Credit Crisis"

Last Month: Moneytalk With Bob Brinker Guests - November 2009

Favorite guests from past months:

Saturday November 21, 2009: Barbara Weltman, contributing editor to "J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010: For Preparing Your 2009 Tax Return"

America's number one bestselling tax guide offers the best balance of thoroughness, organization, and usability. For over half a century, more than 39 million Americans have turned to J.K. Lasser for easy-to-follow, expert advice and guidance on planning and filing their taxes. Written by a team of tax specialists, J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010 includes all the outstanding features that have made this book the nation's all-time top-selling tax guide.

• Over 2,500 easy-to-use tax planning tips and strategies
• Easy-to-understand coverage of the year's tax law changes
• Filing tips and instructions to help you prepare your 2009 return
• Quick reference section that highlights what's new for 2009
• Quick topic index to help pinpoint the biggest money-saving deductions
• Advice for customers whose use software or CPAs to file their taxes

TurboTax 2009 - List of Products on Sale
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Most popular:
TurboTax Deluxe Federal + State 2009 + efile


Saturday November 14, 2009: Jim Lebenthal: Lebenthal On Munis: Straight Talk About Tax-Free Municipal Bonds for the Troubled Investor Deciding

Saturday October 31, 2009: David L. Scott: "The American Heritage Dictionary of Business Terms"

Sunday October 25, 2009: Dale Robyn Siegel: "The New Rules for Mortgages"

Bob said the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree with a record number of callers wanting to ask Ms. Siegel questions.

Saturday October 3, 2009: Gretchen Morgenson, author of the book "The Capitalist's Bible: The Essential Guide to Free Markets--and Why They Matter to You"

Guest Host Lynn Jimenez: Lynn Jimenez Fan Club :

Lynn's Book:
¿Se Habla Dinero? The Everyday Guide to Financial Success (English and Spanish Edition)
A bilingual guide to the basics of financial success. ¿Se Habla Dinero? walks readers through the fundamentals of personal finance and money management and explains how to open and use bank accounts; establish and manage credit; save and borrow money for education; and master basic investing techniques. This bilingual guide makes intimidating topics easy and gives readers the confidence they need to move forward.

Buy from Amazon.com here



Disclaimer. I get a commission for books purchased with these links. Please show support and use the links.