According to a new report from Credit Suisse, America has 43% of the world’s millionaires, the most of any nation.

There are currently 15.35 million millionaires in the U.S. That’s 1.1 million more than last year.

Some ask how there could possibly be so many. I’m more interested in understanding why there aren’t far more.

After all, the four-step formula that most millionaires follow is straightforward: work hard... save... invest... compound.

Plenty of Americans work hard, of course. Most save (if not enough).

But too few invest successfully or reinvest their interest, dividends and capital gains so their gains compound.

In my experience, many don’t because they are pessimistic – if not downright fearful – about the future.

For example, Christopher Smart, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, kicked off an article in Barron’s last month with this blunt statement:

“One of the great mysteries of today’s global markets is their irrepressible enthusiasm, even as the world appears on the verge of chaos or collapse.”

Mr. Smart clearly spends a lot of time watching cable news.

If he turned it off, he might recognize that the market’s “irrepressible enthusiasm” has something to do with synchronized global growth, low inflation, rock-bottom interest rates, cheap energy, full employment and record corporate profits.

If this is Armageddon, bring it on.

Of course, it’s not Armageddon. And you’d think someone who shows up every day at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace might have a little better perspective on the state of modern governance, human rights, economics and prosperity:

• The number of democracies worldwide is rising. Autocracies and theocracies are declining.
• People enjoy broad property rights and the freedom to trade goods and services without oppressive restrictions. According to The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom, more people are enjoying more economic freedoms than ever before.
• Rights – to life, liberty, property, marriage, reproduction, speech, worship, assembly and protest – are more widespread than ever.
• Poverty is declining worldwide, and First World affluence is on the rise. Since 1990, the percentage of the world’s population living in poverty has declined by 50%. And the Federal Reserve recently reported that U.S. household net worth hit $96.2 trillion in the second quarter, an all-time record.
• More people in more places are living longer than ever before. The human life span has nearly doubled over the last hundred years.
• A smaller percentage of people die as a result of violent conflict than at any time in human history. Contrast this with the 20th century, with its two world wars and countless regional and civil wars.
• Homicide rates have fallen precipitously from over 100 murders per 100,000 people in the Middle Ages to less than one per 100,000 today in the West.
• Violent crime has fallen for years. Despite the sensational images on TV, the chance of dying a violent death in the U.S. is the lowest it has ever been.
• Torture and the death penalty have been outlawed by most nations, and the latter is less frequently practiced where it is legal.
• Citizens of most nations are treated more equally under the law than at any time in the past. In the United States, our rights – enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights – protect individuals from being discriminated against because of their race, color, creed, gender and sexual orientation.

We in the West today are living longer, richer, safer, freer lives than any people in the history of the planet.

Despite this widespread affluence, pessimism reigns – and not just in the United States.

While touring England and Scotland recently, I read an eye-opening column by Tim Stanley of The Daily Telegraph.

Grousing that he “hates” London because rents are too high and Starbucks is unimaginative because the stores are all the same, he concludes, “We are living in a Blade Runner-esque dystopia.”

Got that?

It’s not that society has problems. It’s not that things could be better.

We live in a dystopia.

Personally, I hope folks like Mr. Stanley and Mr. (ahem) Smart keep preaching their anti-prosperity gospel.

After all, if everyone realized that we enjoy political, economic and religious freedoms denied to billions around the world and throughout history... and that we live in a free market society where entrepreneurs and businesspeople constantly knock themselves out to bring us new products and services that are better, cheaper and longer lasting... and that educational attainment has never been greater, human life spans have never been longer and standards of living have never been higher, there would be a lot more competition for investment ideas.

So do yourself – and other clear-thinking individuals – a favor. Don’t spread the word.

I have several friends who are financially independent, but they are certainly not wealthy. Why? Because their schedules are packed, their days overloaded and they regularly carp about having no free time.

What kind of affluence is that? They have money but not the time to enjoy it. They have financial freedom but choose to relentlessly pursue more instead. They are victims of mindlessness, ambition or distraction. In many ways, their lives are more impoverished than those who have far less.

Of course, it’s not easy to find the right balance between achievement and enjoyment. But when things are out of whack, the symptoms are pretty obvious. The people around us are talking, but we’re not listening.

We’re divided between what is happening here and what is happening somewhere else. Or we’re thinking about what will happen tomorrow... or 15 minutes from now. In the process, we miss a lot.

Modern society puts a premium on speed and efficiency, too. We figure we can accomplish more by doing two or three things at once.

But this distraction comes at a price.

John Freeman, editor of Freeman’s and author of The Tyranny of E-mail, writes, “We will die, that much is certain; and everyone we have ever loved will die, too, sometimes – heartbreakingly – before us... Busyness numbs the pain of this awareness, but it can never totally submerge it. Given that our days are limited, our hours precious, we have to decide what we want to do, what we want to say, what and who we care about, and how we want to allocate our time to these things within the limits that do not and cannot change. In short, we need to slow down.”

He has a point. And we have a choice to do something about it.

• Doctors say slower breathing is one of the simplest ways to better health. Deep breathing lowers stress and reduces systolic blood pressure. It allows oxygen to get down to the smallest airways in our lungs, the alveoli, where the oxygen exchange is most efficient. Quick, shallow breathing causes your body to release less nitric oxide, so your organs and tissues are less oxygenated.
• Eat more slowly, and you will eat less. There is a lag time between when the stretch receptors in your stomach signal it is time to stop eating and your brain gets the message. If you slow your intake, you won’t just savor your meals more. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island discovered that people who eat more slowly consume 70 fewer calories per meal. Multiply that by three meals a day, and you’ll drop 20 pounds over the next year.
• Slowness won’t hurt your love life. Mae West once remarked that anything worth doing is worth doing slowly... very slowly. Marriage counselor Lori Buckley of Pasadena agrees, “Often, the first thing to disappear from a marital relationship is the long, lingering, teasing kiss.”
• Slowing down prevents accidents. It’s impossible to calculate the number of motorists killed or injured each year because they were in a rush. Insurance companies have found that the overwhelming majority of job site accidents can be traced to hurrying.
• Slowness is even part of successful money management. Some folks realize late in life that they haven’t saved enough for retirement. To make up for lost time, they often decide to roll the dice by trading risky derivatives (futures and options), penny stocks, cryptocurrencies, or hot tips from friends and colleagues. Big mistake. When it comes to meeting long-term investment goals, starting early, investing regularly and reacting slowly is a winning combination.
• A more deliberate pace enhances your quality of life. There’s an old Chinese saying, “He who hurries cannot walk with dignity.” A constant flurry of activity does not present an attractive image. And it creates stress and anxiety, causing you to miss a lot of what is going on around you. As the philosopher Lin Yutang noted, the wise man is not hurried and the hurried man is not wise.

Deep down, most of us realize this. But it never hurts to be reminded – and perhaps take things down a notch. More than 150 year ago, clergyman and transcendentalist William Henry Channing described the slower, more relaxed life as his “Symphony”:

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly... await occasions, hurry never... in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common – this is to be my symphony.”

We all have obligations and deadlines. But hurry and extreme future-mindedness impoverish the present. What we value most is love, friendship, solace, beauty and humor. Yet these things are best appreciated or communicated face to face in a calm, relaxed setting.

Slowing down enhances your sense of gratitude, improves your mental and physical health, allows you to gain control of your life, lets you appreciate beauty, and enables you to reconnect with those around you.

Sometimes the best way to spend a day is simply savoring what you have before it’s gone.

This bull market is fast approaching its 9th birthday. We’ve taken full advantage in our Oxford investment portfolios, locking in dozens of profits over this period.

Yet I still see plenty of opportunities out there. One of them is Liberty Expedia (Nasdaq: LEXEA), a Colorado-based holding company.

One of its principal assets is 16% ownership of Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE), through 10.8 million shares of common stock and 12.8 million shares of Class B common stock – representing an approximately 52% voting interest.

It also owns 100% of Vitalize – formerly known as Bodybuilding – a holding company with health, fitness and media-related businesses.

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses today is getting valuable but fickle customers – always alert to lower prices and better deals – to stick with them over the long haul.

Expedia – one of the world’s leading travel companies – has done that in spades. Through its website (or toll-free number), consumers and businesses can book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages and even attraction tickets.

Expedia owns over 200 travel booking sites in more than 75 countries. It offers rooms in over 435,000 properties, tickets on more than 500 airlines, bookings for dozens of car rental companies and cruise lines, and tickets to more than 25,000 attractions.

The company also owns some of the world’s leading online travel brands, including Trivago, Orbitz, Travelocity, HomeAway, Classic Vacations, SilverRail and Hotwire.

In the past 12 months, it generated $9.8 billion in sales on gross bookings of more than $83.8 billion.

In October, however, the company reported that earnings per share rose 7% on a 15% increase in revenue.

That was below expectations, and Expedia dropped from over $150 a share to around $120.

Since Liberty’s value is tied to Expedia’s, its shares fell in unison. Looking forward, however, there are good reasons for optimism.

For example, expenses rose last quarter because Expedia made the conscious choice to advertise more heavily, something it needed to do in the face of increasing marketing efforts by competitors like Priceline and TripAdvisor.

It’s already paying off. Bookings increased 11% in the September quarter.

Plus, the industry itself is expanding. An analysis by eMarketer estimates a 45% expansion in the sales of digital travel services between 2016 and 2020. That amounts to more than $817 billion.

The total travel market is estimated at around $1.3 trillion globally. So while Expedia is already a major player, it holds only a mid-single-digit percentage market share. That means there is still enormous opportunity here.

CEO Mark Okerstrom said in a conference call following the release of third quarter earnings, “We now find ourselves in the enviable position of having all of the essential assets needed to realize our full potential as a company. Looking forward, we are more optimistic than ever.”

I couldn’t agree more. Keep buying.

Equity Residential: Put a Fortress in Your Portfolio

Over the past several decades, commercial real estate has been one of the most rewarding investments in the country.

Unfortunately, the sector is not particularly accessible to the broad investing public.

Most investors don’t have the cash or the credit line necessary to buy apartment buildings, industrial parks, shopping centers and warehouses.

And of the trillions of dollars in commercial real estate in the U.S., very little of it is publicly traded.

That small percentage that does trade is generally in the form of real estate investment trusts (REITs).

A REIT is a security that invests directly in real estate but trades on an exchange like a stock.

According to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, real estate, rentals and leasing make up 13% of our gross domestic product. Yet REITs represent approximately just 3% of the S&P 500.

If you want a portfolio that reflects the U.S. economy, you need to own a piece of this sector.

REITs are highly liquid.

They allow you to own a diversified portfolio of income-producing properties in a single investment.

They have a low correlation with the stock market, making REITs a great portfolio diversifier. And because they are required to pay out at least 90% of their net income to shareholders each year, they are also reliable dividend payers.

Some analysts believe the higher yields make them vulnerable to an interest rate rise. But there is no evidence to support that.

During five of the six periods since 1978 in which the Fed lifted short-term rates, REITs generated positive returns and outperformed both U.S. stocks and bonds.

That brings me to Equity Residential Properties Trust (NYSE: EQR) in our Oxford All-Star Portfolio.

Equity Residential owns or has investments in 302 properties consisting of 77,498 apartment units located primarily in Boston, New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, Southern California and Washington, D.C.

It was founded by Sam Zell and Bob Lurie – two of the most successful property moguls in the nation – with the philosophy of investing in properties at the right price and hiring the best people to manage them.

The trust buys, builds, and rehabs apartments and condos – for every budget and lifestyle – in growth markets where people most want to live.

The meltdown in home prices during the recent financial crisis took the shine off the idea that everyone should be a homeowner. And in this sluggish economy, many consumers either can’t afford a home or can’t qualify for the mortgage.

So the rental market is strong.

The trust takes in more than $2.4 billion in annual revenue. It enjoys an operating margin of 34%. And you’ll collect a 2.9% dividend here, too.

The executives at Equity Residential are actually looking forward to the Fed raising rates. Why? Because higher rates indicate an improving economy, strong job growth and rising wages. That means increasing demand for industrial space, office space, retail and housing.

And for those who are nervous about this market, Chairman Sam Zell offers some encouraging words:

“We think of Equity Residential as a fortress for investors. We are a large, liquid company focused on strategic capital allocation, relentlessly driven to achieve superior operations and supported by a balance sheet that enhances returns while maintaining capacity to take advantage of the next opportunity.”

Equity Residential has returned more than 275% since we put it in our portfolio over a decade ago. Yet the shares remain attractive at current levels.

“What’s Up With the Ten-Baggers Portfolio?”

The market is having an exceptional year. As of this writing, the S&P 500 – including dividends – has returned 20.13%.

If you owned a mutual fund that returned twice as much over this period, would you be happy with that performance?

Most Members would answer with an unequivocal “yes,” especially since three-quarters of all actively managed stock funds fail to beat their benchmarks each year.

What if you owned a portfolio of individual stocks that had doubled the return of the market over this period – would you also be satisfied with that?

I asked a friend this, and he gave me a puzzled look. “If the return is identical,” he said, “what difference would it make?”

All the difference in the world to some, I’ve learned.

Investors are generally happy with a market-beating mutual fund, in part because they have no idea what is happening within the fund itself.

They don’t know how many stocks are up and how many are down. They don’t know how many gains have been realized or how many losses. They don’t even know which stocks the fund owns because by the time a fund publishes its holdings, they have already changed, perhaps substantially.

An actively managed fund is essentially a black box that shareholders cannot see inside of.

The same is not true for the stocks in your brokerage account.

Members know what stocks they own and can see – in real time – how much they have moved up or down. They know (and can emotionally feel) the losses they have taken and the profits they have locked in.

For many, that changes their perception of the returns entirely. For example, as of this writing, our Ten-Baggers of Tomorrow Portfolio is up 32.6% year to date.

If we were mutual fund managers, shareholders would send us bouquets of roses. Yet we’ve been collecting brickbats instead. Consider this note from Member M. Baker:

“Your investment advice has been very poor... You talk a good game, but the results do not back the talk. I invest to make money not lose money.”

How can we double the market’s return and still make some Members unhappy?

Here’s how. Two of the five current positions are down. One is at breakeven. And last year we had realized losses in Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS) and First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR).

On the positive side, Proofpoint (Nasdaq: PFPT) is up nearly 17% and Accelerate Diagnostics (Nasdaq: AXDX) is up 34%. And Kite Pharma was bought out a few weeks ago by Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), handing us a 227% gain.

(When you earn a 227% profit, it makes up for a lot of missteps elsewhere.)

I mentioned this at a recent Oxford Club event, and a Member said, “But I didn’t buy Kite.”

That brings me to an important point. The Oxford Club doesn’t exist to offer a smorgasbord of “stock tips.” We recommend various investment portfolios, each with a battle-tested strategy that includes a well-defined set of buy and sell criteria.

If Members want to deviate from our approach and buy only the stocks they like or sell them when they prefer, their returns are bound to vary.

If your performance is better than ours, congratulations. But – overwhelmingly – I hear just the opposite.

Most of the excuses – such as “I can’t buy them all” – are hard to justify.

Razor-thin stock spreads and deep-discount commissions make it easy to spread your bets.

Yes, it would be impractical to buy every recommendation in every investment letter out there. Nor should you want to. If you own hundreds of stocks, it becomes nearly impossible to outperform the market.

Superior performance is the result of taking smart, concentrated positions and then following an ironclad sell discipline.

We do that with every portfolio in The Oxford Communiqué – and with each of our VIP Trading Services.

If you’re not enjoying outsized returns, it would behoove you to stop improvising and follow our approach to the letter.

After all, it’s this approach that led the independent Hulbert Financial Digest to put the Communiqué on its Honor Roll of the top 10 investment letters in the nation for 16 consecutive years.