Dear Mr. Berko: This may be hard to believe, but my husband and I have a close friend who is an engineer and, for the past 21 years, has helped us build a portfolio that has averaged 11.2 percent annually since 1993. He won’t accept any money for his advice because, he says, all the stocks he researches and recommends are the same issues he owns for himself.
And we know that’s true because we’ve seen his portfolio statements. So for his management fee, we take him and his wife out for a classy steak dinner each quarter, though we’d gladly do it every month. Also, my husband doesn’t charge him for his dental work.
Now our friend is recommending that we invest about 6 percent of our portfolio ($50,000) in real estate investment trusts. Logically, one would think that with interest rates rising and the Federal Reserve cutting back on easy money — as well as cutting back its bond purchases — REITs would not be a smart investment. Because we’re doubtful about this (we discuss the market frequently together), I told our friend we would write you for your opinion. He said you will agree with him. I’ve enclosed his recommendations.
— TS, Durham, N.C.
Dear TS: I have a longtime friend who is an engineer and also a nonpareil stock picker. I’ve watched this guy pick stocks for 38 years — and watched him buy stocks that looked like garbage but turned into gold. I came to the conclusion 205 years ago that engineers rather than politicians and lawyers should rule the world. Imagine for a moment that the president, the Cabinet and all the White House staff were engineers instead of lawyers. Then imagine that members of Congress (47 percent are lawyers) were engineers. Without question, our tax code would be fair; the budget would be balanced; our public schools would be exceptional; poverty would be eliminated; welfare costs would plummet; the trains would run on time; and there would be peace in the valley. Lawyers are America’s terrorists but without guns or suicide vests.