O'Reilly: The Smoking Gun Revealed In Inspector General Report, What It Means For James Comey And The FBI
BILL O'REILLY: Well the report is out and there is a smoking gun. There is a smoking gun in the inspector general's report from the Justice Department. Michael Horowitz put out 500 pages, 499 of those pages are open to interpretation, one page is not, one page is a smoking gun. Now, you're going to hear if you watch television news or read the Internet the dispatches, an incredible amount of garbage. You're going to be lied to, you're going to be insulted, your intelligence is going to be insulted, all of that is going to happen in the next 24-36 hours. Not here. Not here. We're going to tell you exactly what this report means and we're going to advance the story.
Now, this broadcast is just for you Premium Members up until midnight tonight, then I'm opening it up for everybody because then I want everybody, the whole nation, to see the difference between our reporting and analysis and the garbage you're getting in the mainstream media. Also, I'm going to be on Glenn Beck tomorrow morning and I'm sure Beck and I are going to spend 45 minutes on this, now we will post that on BillOReilly.com in late morning, so you'll be able to hear that, we will advance the story overnight. All right.
Now, the smoking gun is an e-mail between FBI agent Strzok, Peter Strzok and his mistress slash FBI lawyer Lisa Page. That e-mail was not released before, even though Congress asked for it, held back by the FBI. That e-mail is a smoking gun. Why? And I'm going to read you the e-mail in a moment, because Peter Strzok was the top investigator into the Hillary Clinton e-mail situation, he answered to McCabe the assistant FBI chief and James Comey the FBI director. So he was like third guy and he was involved directly in the Hillary Clinton situation and then in the Trump Russian collusion investigation. So this guy, Peter Strzok, is a major player, he's still at the FBI. Page is out of there. All right. Let's put the e-mail on the screen, Lisa Page the mistress to Strzok, asks "Trump is not ever going to become president. Right? Right?!" Peter Struck, "No. No he won't. We'll stop it."
Now that e-mail was issued right smack dab in the middle of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, so we'll stop it. Who's we? Who's we? Ispector doesn't say, the inspector general does say that this shows bias on the part of Peter Strzok and because Strzok was in charge of telling Comey about what information the FBI was developing on Hillary Clinton, it's very possible that Peter Strzok held back information about the Anthony Weiner computer deal. You'll remember, that in late September 2016 the FBI found that Huma Abedine, Hillary Clinton's top aide, had e-mails from Secretary Clinton, Secretary of State Clinton, had them and gave them for some reason to her then husband Anthony Weiner, the FBI found that. But the FBI did not, apparently tell James Comey until late October, just a few days before the vote and then Comey as you know went out and said oh we have new information. There was a three to four week gap and Michael Horowitz the inspector general is saying this could be because Strzok didn't want this information out and then Comey basically walked it back and it was a big mess. Shouldn't have been done that way.
Now on Comey himself, the inspector general says Comey acted outside Justice Department guidelines. All right. So he was arrogant, he did things on his own, he did press conferences he shouldn't have done, he said things he shouldn't have said. OK. Then Horwitz goes on to say but we don't believe he did so out of any political bias. Then why did he do it? Not in the report. So if Horowitz has to go to Capitol Hill next week, the first question if I'm a congressman is, OK you're exonerating James Comey of any political bias you say he made mistakes, went outside the boundaries of the Justice Department but you don't say why he did that. Why would a savvy political player like James Comey, a guy who knows the system, who covers his butt every second of his life, why would he go outside Justice Department guidelines? Why would he take it upon himself to alienate his superiors? Does that make any sense to anybody? So if there were no political biases in place on Comey, then you got to explain to the American public, Mr. Horowitz, why he did it. Why he went outside, why he put his whole career in jeopardy. Because it's easy for a guy like James Comey to understand how the Justice Department works since he worked there for decades. Since he was, he got the highest appointment, FBI director and you don't get that if you don't know what the system is.
So, CNN and the other dishonest news organization they run with that oh there's no political bias, CBS News no political bias. OK maybe there wasn't, I don't know. But you don't explain why Comey went outside the Justice Department guidelines when he would never have done that for no reason at all. There had to be a reason. So first react came from Trey Gowdy, a former U.S. attorney and Trey Gowdy says quote, put it on the screen, "Peter Strzok's manifest bias tending toward animus cast a pall on this investigation. His bias impacted his decision making and he assigned to himself the role of stopping the Trump campaign or ending a Trump presidency. This is not the FBI I know."
Well that's a pretty broad statement by Gowdy accusing Strzok of trying to sabotage the Trump campaign but it is not totally out of reason, where we have a few more steps to take. What it does do. is it taints the whole thing. It taints it. I mean now you have a smoking gun from the top FBI investigator telling his mistress we're going to stop Trump, we-we, not me, we! We're going to stop him! This is. this is in the summer of 2016. We're going to stop him. I mean that is serious, that could be a crime. It has got to be investigated as a crime has to be, conspiracy and a whole bunch of other things, we'll get to that in a moment. OK. But remember that Mueller hired Strok to come over to his operation to look at the Russian collusion allegations.
So if Strzok is on the record to his mistress and he never thought these e-mails would get out, saying we're going to stop Trump from becoming president and he's investigating Russian collusion, that whole thing blows, it blows up! No matter what Mueller comes back with and Mueller did fire Strzok when this whole thing came out about the mistress and the e-mails but it's too late. Whatever Mueller comes up with is under this unbelievable cloud of suspicion. All right.
So let's recap. Let's recap. You've got a smoking gun, the headline is the lead FBI agent investigating both Hillary Clinton e-mails and Donald Trump collusion, OK, told his mistress that we are going to stop Trump from becoming president. That's the headline. Nothing else comes close to that. Second, James Comey went outside Justice Department guidelines in the Hillary Clinton e-mail situation and did things he never should have done, said things he never should have said but remember the Justice Department didn't do anything to him the first time, they let them do it. But there had to be a reason why Comey did it and that reason is not explained, as far as I know, I haven't read the whole 500 pages but believe me we've been through it pretty fast. That's the second. The third is, that you the American people are going to hear so much B.S. your head is going to explode because the Democrats who basically have to get Trump on Russian collusion, have to get him. They see this blowing up, they see it and they go oh no no no no there's no political bias, CNN and CBS that was their headline. Strzok was not their headline. So you got to know that when you're consuming news tonight, tomorrow, over the weekend, you're going to be lied to because this is about as serious as it gets.
It doesn't get any more serious than this is becasue we're talking about an FBI investigator, direct access, remember Strzok wrote co-wrote Comey's first comments about Hillary Clinton not really knowing what she was doing therefore we're not going to charge her, remember that? Strzok was co-author of that. So you've got an FBI that has been unbelievably embarrassed, unbelievably embarrassed, so even if you're the most far left kook in the world you can't trust that agency at this point. Can't trust them. Because if Strzok, is... There is a culture and I talked about this in the media culture OK. There is a culture inside the FBI, a culture. You got two high rankers, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, obviously despise Trump, obviously! All right. There is a culture in that organization and remember Loretta Lynch was the attorney general overseeing, why would, why would Comey fear Loretta Lynch? Loretta Lynch from, according to report is hapless, hapless. They didn't find out why she met with Bill Clinton in Phoenix on that plane. They didn't find that out. OK. Because there's only two people in that meeting and they both said, oh we just talked about our grandchildren. OK.
So Horowitz doesn't know but immediately when that was exposed Loretta Lynch should have recused herself. Hey, look I made a mistake I'm out of here. But there was something about the Justice Department run by Loretta Lynch and Barack Obama, that James Comey the FBI director could do whatever he wanted to do. He could do whatever he wanted to do. Nobody is slapping him down, as long as what he was doing, you've got to assume was OK with Loretta Lynch and President Obama. But I don't want to get too far out in front of that because we want to do facts, facts, facts, facts, facts here.
So let's bring in perhaps the best analyst on this whole thing, Brett Tolman former U.S. attorney for the District of Utah, comes to us today from Salt Lake, City. All right.
So this a quick analysis of the 500 page report, did I leave anything out that you heard?
"You know that was surprisingly good and efficient, given it's like drinking from a fire hydrant right now. That report is stunning and there is a bombshell in that and I do agree that the FBI statement, when he says he's going to stop Trump, I think it's interesting though to connect those to what ultimately happens with Comey. Comey changes his statement, when he issues that public statement, he changes it from finding that Hillary Clinton was grossly negligent, to simply careless. He changes it from saying that it's reasonably likely that our enemies, the United States enemies would have obtained classified information based on what Hillary Clinton did with her servers and with the, with the e-mails and he changes that to, it's possible. So even and in just it's base level you see that there's changes that occur that are in favor of Hillary Clinton based on even that first draft."
OK let me just stop you there. You're saying, the first draft was changed. OK to cite and the co-author was who?
"That's right."
Peter Strzok, Peter Strzok and Fox News is reporting today by the way that the Russians did access information from Hillary Clinton's unsecure email system. That's what Fox News is reporting today, so we don't, I can't verify that but that's what their saying. Go ahead.
"And it's very, very important to go back to what the OIG found. Remember in January of 2017, Bill James Comey says I welcome the IG investigation, we need to do this and get it out in the open. I'm not sure he's so excited about what's out in the open right now. But clearly, when when Strzok actually says we're going to stop Trump and the OIG report and people are clamoring and you said it right, all the news stations right now are instantly saying but he didn't find there was any political, you know evidence of that political mentality affecting the investigation."
On Comey's part, on Comey's part.
"But let’s be honest..."
"Correct and with respect to Strzok, if you're in that investigation and your objective is to stop Trump, you're not going to do it through directly, through the investigation."
But I just want, I just want everybody to be clear. The inspector general found no political bias motivating James Comey. He did find political bias on Peter Strzok's part and he did then speculate that Strzok slow walked the Hillary Clinton second revelation because of that bias that he wanted to put the Trump Russia collusion ahead of the Clinton e-mail for biased reasons, this is Peter Strzok. That's what Horowitz speculates.
"In fact, he says it is a cloud. He says it is a cloud over the investigation but even more he goes further to say it was of grave concern the instant messaging and the text messages that did reveal and remember there's one line in there that I think is very key, the OIG without being able to find evidence of this, was very concerned about efforts to actually follow through with those, that line of text messaging and instant messaging that they found."
Sure, that's, that's the big thing and that's why I he has to, that's why Strzok has to be investigated for criminal behavior because there's got to be a clarification of whether Strzok said we'll stop him and then used his position to try to further that goal but I want to get back to Comey for one moment. You worked in the Justice Department, you know the culture, you know how stringent the rules are in that organization. So to say that the director of the FBI would put his whole life and career on the line by going outside the boundaries of what's acceptable for the Justice Department, you got to have a reason, why did he do it?
"You got to have a reason and keep in mind one line that he uses in there is he finds that no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges. Do you realize that when he does that, he is providing what we refer to as Brady or Giglio material, which is exculpatory evidence that comes from law enforcement when they're investigating a potential crime? So what he's doing is insulating Hillary Clinton from being prosecuted, when he says that, that information is going to be used by anybody that would try to defend Hillary Clinton on criminal charges. But at the heart of it, it actually takes away the Department of Justice's ability to bring charges. That in and of itself is worth firing Comey, which should have been done even sooner than it was done but as you indicated it is beyond the pale and anybody that's worked in the Department of Justice had an audible gasp when they saw his press conference or heard what was going on. Remember, Loretta Lynch is still in charge, she is the head of that investigation."
And she didn't make any public statements about Comey at the time. She didn't do anything about Comey, she didn't say you're out of line pal. Comey suffered no blowback from the Department of Justice superiors. None. But I go back to the, I go back to Michael Horowitz now Horowitz has got to go next week in front of Congress. Now, he's going to go and he's going to have to stand behind his report and say we didn't find any political bias on the part of James Comey but then well why did he do it? Why did he do it? Why did he put himself in that kind of a position? Look, James Comey's reputation is shot, he's through. He sold a lot of books. All right. Probably won't be charged with anything unless Strzok is charged and then Strzok flips. So if they charge Strzok and we'll get to the what possible charges for Strzok in a moment but if they charge Strzok with a bunch of felonies. All right. But they say hey we'll go lighter on you if you tell me what James Comey told you to do. That's Comey and McCabe, too the second in command who is going to be charged.
"That's right."
OK. You take it from here.
"The statement by Comey that the reason he's doing this is to provide transparency and help the American public feel more confident in the investigation and the credibility is completely belied by the fact that he is just insulating Hillary Clinton from any potential prosecution."
But Brett, that's not his job. It is not his job!
"That's right, it's not his job."
It's not his job to be transparent, it’s the attorney general's and the President of the United States job to be transparent. Comey's job is to get the evidence job is to get the evidence present it to his superiors and make a determination whether the secretary of state violated national security.
"That's right and something he could not do if he didn't have a friendly Department of Justice."
Yeah! As we go back to Lynch, and Lynch didn't say a word. Look Horowitz is excoriating Comey now for going outside Justice Department boundaries. Oh he violated all of these things, there wasn't a word from Loretta Lynch, not a word from Barack Obama when that happened. Nothing. So they had to be okay with it.
"It's a friendly Department of Justice and they're, they're all OK with the fact and they indicated that Comey never told him what he was going to say in the press conference but I'm going to tell you that those behind the scenes know exactly what's going to happen in that press conference. So you have a friendly administration that is allowing him to undermine their authority and to take away completely any prosecutor that might review this their discretion."
But you're saying that they had to know that Comey was going to do what he did. All right. And they were fine with it because they didn't want their butts in the sling, if it went south, Comey was going to take that which he has.
All right let's get to Peter Strzok. To me it looks like Peter Strzok violated the law.
"Peter Struck indicates that he's going to stop Trump he says we'll stop Trump. First thing that comes to mind is conspiracy and that is a separate standalone crime in the United States. A conspiracy between individuals, you can have a conspiracy to affect the election, interfere with the election, for personal gain, for some other motivation that he has but conspiracy is in play certainly. As well as you know, what part then or what did he know about what would become the Steele dossier and was that there and was he part of that? And was that a known fact as part of how he would take down Trump?"
We don't want to convict Mr. Strzok but surely as a former U.S. attorney there is enough evidence put forth by the inspector general to warrant a criminal investigation of Peter Strzok who's still working at the FBI. I'm sure he's going to be fired, I'm sure he is after this.
"Sure, and you're absolutely.... There's plenty there for a corruption investigation."
Who is going to investigate them though? FBI?
"And it's fascinating and I'm sure you read this but it's fascinating in that 500-page report that Comey at one point, did indicate he thought a special counsel might be, might be appropriate but then you learn he was using it just as a sort of a threat or leverage against the Department of Justice and that he never really seriously considered a special prosecutor."
To investigate Hillary Clinton, you mean?
"To investigate, yes what had gone on in the Hillary Clinton."
OK.
"I find that fascinating because here you have Peter Strzok, who we know his political bias, he then makes a statement that we'll stop Trump, he's not going to make that statement without a plan in place. And quite frankly you won't uncover that plan as powerful as an IG is, you're not going to uncover that plan without a special prosecutor."
So you believe that the FBI can't investigate Peter Strzok right now. It has to go outside the FBI into another special prosecutor, is that what you're saying?
"It would have to be, if Congress could, I mean remember Horowitz himself went to Congress and said the FBI is picking and choosing what documents I get. Now, that that should be a concern to everyone."
So the FBI can't investigate itself because they had, they held back, they held back that Strzok e-mail.
"That's right."
They held it back, the smoking gun.
"Yes, the IG was limited, Congress has now proved that it's limited in what it can get, who can get at it, a special prosecutor could get at it or if we had someone in the Justice Department that says we're opening a criminal investigation we don't need a special prosecutor we're going to get to the bottom of this but I haven't seen that kind of courage in a leadership position."
Not at all, but look they're all tainted. Rosenstein is tainted, Sessions is tainted now, they're all tainted now, it has to go outside the FBI. So let's just recap, the smoking gun is the e-mail between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. You and I both agree that there has to be a criminal investigation of Mr. Strzok, correct?
"That is correct. There are laws, there's false statements, there's potential connection to the Steele dossier. There's lots of reasons, we don't want to convict him now."
Right but there's plenty of reasons to go after him.
"Plenty of reasons to look at it."
Second thing is James Comey, exonerated of political bias by Michael Horowitz but it's unexplained, why he would do all of these things that he did that went out of the very stringent guidelines the Justice Department has. We don't know what the motivator was.
"Yes, we don't necessarily know the motivator, we know the end result though it insulated Hillary Clinton."
No doubt about it.
"And it's flabbergasting that he admits actually in this report that he was deceptive regarding his conduct. I mean that should be a concern."
Comey admits, right?
"Comey admits that he was deceptive on his conduct and keeping very few people in the loop on what he planned to do."
Well once they charge with McCabe with lying and leaking which they will, McCabe is going to flip on Comey. So that's going to happen. Third thing about today's inspector general's report, Robert Mueller can't be a happy man right now because one of his key investigators, Peter Strzok, is now exposed to the world as somebody who wanted to derail the Donald Trump presidency. OK. So Mueller's investigation, even though Mueller eventually fired Strzok is tainted, correct?
"I've seen, I have seen far more, far less in a criminal investigation blow up that investigation and ruin you know years of work with far less than what we have here. We have political motivation, we have text messages, we have the Steele dossier, we have..."
No matter what you Mueller comes out with it's tainted, half of the country is not going to believe it and a jury would never believe it. You know the politicians are the politicians, they're not going to give you an honest cut.
"That's the exact opposite of what Mueller has always strived to do. He's always strived to have consensus in his decisions. This is the exact opposite."
And he's lost control of this whole process and now the inspector general's report makes it impossible for him to get it back. He can't.
"I think that's right."
And Peter Strzok, one guy Peter Strzok, one guy, big guy OK has derailed this whole thing and the FBI's reputation, the FBI's entire reputation which is sad and tragic for the country.
"It is sad and tragic but if you're half the country and you voted for Trump and you see this, it's going to further divide given what you know Mueller does from here on out, if in fact they don't take into consideration the political motivation of major actors in the FBI."
Would you do me a big favor, Brett? I'm going to have to pay for your Hawaiian vacation or something, because you've been such a good guy. Would you come back on Monday?
"Yes, I'd be happy too."
So, you'll come back on Monday. I know that the...
"It'll give me time to get through the 500 pages."
Yeah, both you and I will have a wild weekend reading this but more importantly, I want you to carry a pen and paper around with you and every time you hear something that's deceptive on the media. OK not by the media, could be a politician.
"Not fact driven."
Right and intentionally put out there to confuse the folks because I think you and I did a great job today crystallizing this whole thing and where we are right now. So, I'm going to talk to Brett on Monday. He's the best guy in the world to do it. We are, as I said opening up this to the whole country and the whole world really after midnight tonight. You Premium Members will get until then. And then we will continue our reporting throughout the weekend.
Brett thanks very much. Excellent job as always.
One more story to tell you about and I predicted this, I said earlier this week on Monday that right after the North Korean summit there would be another story that came out that would besmirch Donald Trump so that everybody would forget the Singapore situation and it happened today. And it's no coincidence that it happened on the day the inspector general's report came out. The attorney general of the state of New York, OK has now said that she's going to sue Donald Trump's charitable foundation for misbehavior. It's basically that the state of New York alleges that Mr. Trump and his family used the charitable foundation for their own personal and political benefit. Same thing on the Clinton thing, the Clinton Foundation, which never got anywhere by the way, the Clinton Foundation never got anywhere, despite billions of dollars in play there. Here it's 18 million dollars, that's what was in the Trump charitable foundation. OK.
Now, this comes out today, today Donald Trump's birthday, it is not accident. The state of New York, the attorney general's office hates him, hates Trump. This case has been going on for two years. It's a civil case OK. They're suing Trump to close down his charitable foundation because it violated New York State norms, allegedly. I'll tell you what I make mistakes, I'm obnoxious some of you, you know OK, I predicted this would happen on Monday. I didn't know it was going to happen on the Trump Foundation but I knew something was going to happen, bingo! Comes right out now, right out now to obscure what happened in Singapore and to obscure the inspector general's report and that's the truth. All right.
So we're over our time limit but I'm going to take a little bit more time. I want to just read you one letter that I got because Father's Day Sunday and if you haven't gotten dad something don't go to the mall and get involved with that madness and get him some time that he's not going to like. This letter is from Sharon who is a Premium Member but upgraded to Concierge Membership.
"Bill, you're Concierge Membership service is fantastic. Hearing from you personally is really amazing and I really appreciate everything."
Listen, the Concierge service is designed for people who believe in what we do. I've been doing it for 45 years, 20 plus on Fox about 18 months now here on BillOReilly.com. If you want direct access to me, you got questions about your country, history, foreign policy whatever I can't answer personal, I can't answer financial. But I will then answer you personally by e-mail and you'll get it fairly quickly. We have a great staff and it's been very, very successful but I'm doing this basically because I know that there was a, not a hunger, but a need for some people who work maybe in education or in the government or in corporate America or your sons and your daughters do and you know people in school. So, you ask me the question, you know you're going to get an honest answer and you're going to get an answer that matters. So, Sharon, I really appreciate your letter.
Concierge Membership is a great gift for Dad's Day and give it to dad or grandad, they'll, I don't know, I think they'll be flabbergasted get two free books and my books two free books or other gifts, you can get the No Spin Dad mugs, whatever you want. And 20 percent off all our stuff, as long as you're a Concierge Member and if you Premium Members want to upgrade, it's not much and you get the perks and it'll pay for itself. So, I wanted to do that, I wanted to do that.
Now, we have a bunch of other stories that are good stories, the Catholic Church coming down on the migrant situation. I'm going to explain that on Monday, it's a good-good story. We have a column that I wrote that I want you to take a look at on BillOReilly.com. It's a good, good column about how it's so difficult for honest Americans to get honest information and what's happening and I do it off the North Korean thing, that really is disturbing me and I know I overdo it and I'm sorry about it, I don't mean to, I hope I'm not being boring. I don't mean overdo it but I heard Rush Limbaugh say something to the same effect, that you know we who are in this industry all right, we know what's happening, we know the dishonesty that's now everywhere, everywhere! And it just drives me crazy, I don't care if you disagree with me. I want you to challenge me on the e-mails and everything I want you to disagree with me, if you have a strong argument. That's what America is all about but this deceit, you know for political purposes I'm going to fight against that till I die.
So, anyway happy Father's Day to all the dads and granddads out there. Have a great time. And we will have a Mr. Tolman and again on Monday. Listen to me and Glenn Beck tomorrow, we'll have that posted on the site. I'll be updating throughout the weekend on crazy stuff that's happening and we really appreciate you guys being Premium Members. We'll see you soon.
(via Bill O'Reilly)
10 things to pack for a day hike in Oregon
Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
Day hiking is a wonderful opportunity to experience our beautiful natural spaces, but just because you’re not setting up camp doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go unprepared.
All of these items can fit into a small backpack and are light enough not to be a strain on your body. They're the things you absolutely need to carry when exploring nature, and things that you absolutely might need should something go wrong.
I’ve unpacked my own pack to give you a look at what I consider to be the basic essentials to carry on a day hike. Whether you’re going on a quick morning excursion or an all-day adventure, here are the items that are good to take with you.
READ MORE: 10 dangers of hiking in Oregon and how to stay safe on the trail
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
1. WATER
If you bring nothing else with you, bring water. A 32-ounce or 48-ounce bottle should be all you need, but if you’re taking a longer hike or hiking on a hot day, consider bringing a larger water reservoir that can slip into your backpack.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
2. FIRST AID
A first aid kit is an item you will rarely need to use but will be vitally important should you ever need to use it. Feel free to make your own, but I like to carry a store-bought ultralight medical kit that I also take backpacking. It's not comprehensive but has the basics: bandages, gauze, ointments, pain killers, sting relief and tweezers, among other odds and ends.
Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
3. WARM CLOTHES
It’s always wise to dress in layers (and to leave room in your backpack to stow those layers), but I always carry extra warmth, like a lightweight jacket or a hat and gloves, just in case. Weather can change suddenly, and if it does it’s important to have something to keep you warm and dry. They could also come in handy if you’re still out after dark and temperatures begin to drop.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
4. FOOD
Even if you’re not planning on stopping for lunch pack some of food regardless. Maybe the hike is more strenuous than you imagined. Maybe breakfast didn’t give you enough energy. Your body will be grateful if you have an energy bar with you, at very least. I usually pack a small lunch and either a meal bar or trail mix, which I’ve had to turn to on more than one occasion.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
5. PAPER MAP
The apps on our phones are amazing, but it’s foolish to rely on them completely. Even screenshots of maps can be unreliable if they wind up stored on the cloud. The safest bet is to carry a good old-fashioned paper map with you, either printed out ahead of time or picked up at the trailhead. I sometimes go without a map when I’m hiking a simple or familiar trail, but for longer trail networks I always carry one just in case.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
6. KNIFE
You never know when you’ll need to use a knife. It could come in handy for use in first aid or just cutting open the packaging of your sandwich. For day hiking, there’s no need to carry a big wilderness blade (but go for it if that’s your thing) – a simple folding knife or multi-tool will usually do.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
7. HIKING SHOES
Hiking boots aren't something you pack per se, but they're important enough to warrant mention. I constantly see people hiking in flip-flops, loafers and skate shoes – please do not do this. Improper footwear can quickly lead to a legitimately dangerous situation, from slipping to spraining your ankle. If you don't have hiking boots, at least wear a pair of athletic shoes.
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*EXTRA PRECAUTIONS*
These are items I don’t usually carry in a daypack, but that are good to include on longer or more strenuous trips, or just for some extra precaution.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
8. EMERGENCY BLANKET
Emergency blankets are small, lightweight and could save your life if you get stranded overnight. Those extra layers and a jacket won’t be enough if the temperature really begins to fall.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
9. WATER FILTER
If you run out of water and there’s no clean source on the trail, you’re pretty much out of luck. That is, unless, you bring along some kind of water filtration. I like the Sawyer mini water filter, which I pack with its plastic straw. It’s been a life saver more than once.
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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
10. HEADLAMP
When darkness falls it’s good to have some kind of illumination. And while your smart phone surely has a flashlight app, it’s just more reliable to bring a headlamp. I recommend getting one with a lock switch, so it doesn’t inadvertently turn on and drain the battery.
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--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB
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7 worst 401(k) mistakes by retirement savers
If you have designs on achieving the retirement you desire, then don’t act the typical 401(k) investor.
Many veteran workers are making many rookie investment mistakes with their employer-sponsored retirement plans, be they 401(k), 403(b), 457 or similar plans. What are those mistakes and what might you do to correct or to avoid them before they sabotage your retirement?
1. Know your investments
You might think that Americans who participate in an employer-sponsored retirement would be familiar with the investment options in their plan. Well, think again. Apparently, one in three of Americans participating in a 401(k) or similar plan are unfamiliar with their investment options, according to a survey by TIAA-CREF.
Why might you want to take a moment to learn about your investments? Well, apparently, there’s a correlation you might want to consider: People who are familiar with their investment options are almost twice as likely save at least 10% to 15% of annual income for retirement. And saving that much, my friends, will go a long way toward helping you have a comfortable and secure retirement.
“To get there, it’s critically important for people to understand all of the investment options in their retirement plan, and how those options will translate to income in their retirement,” Teresa Hassara, executive vice president of TIAA-CREF’s institutional business, said in a release.
Read the executive summary of TIAA-CREF’s survey.
2. Know your fees
In 2012, the Dept. of Labor issued final regulations requiring the disclosure of fee and expense information to defined contribution plan participants and sponsors. The intent was to provide greater transparency and awareness to the costs of providing and participating in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to a recent LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute (SRI) report.
Unfortunately, what seemed like a good idea on paper didn’t really work in reality. In fact, research suggests these disclosure rules have had little effect on participants’ knowledge of them.
Consider: Since July 2012, the SRI has conducted a series of consumer surveys asking defined-contribution plan participants about their retirement plan fees. Its 2012 survey, conducted prior to the initial participant disclosure, showed that 50% of retirement plan participants do not know how much they pay in fees and expenses.
One year later, a follow-up survey tells the same story. The disclosures have had little impact as there is no noticeable difference in participant knowledge of the fees they pay, SRI wrote.
Meanwhile, the SRI’s 2013 findings show that half of participants do not currently know how much they pay in fees and expenses. Further, nearly four in 10 still believe that they do not pay any fees or expenses. One-third of plan participants believe they pay more than 10% in total plan fees. And only 12% of defined contribution plan participants were able to estimate a percentage.
So, if you don’t want to behave like the typical 401(k) investor, get a handle on your investment and plan fees. By way of background, participants in 401(k) plans often get hit two ways. First, they pay to cover the annual operating expense of the plan and they also are charged for the expenses associated with the mutual funds they hold, according to a BenefitsPro report.
Read the Labor Dept.’s A Look At 401(k) Plan Fees. Also read “Much” Ado - Shedding some light on your workplace retirement plan fees and Making the Most of your Retirement Plan
Need some motivation to do a deep dive on your 401(k) fees? Consider this: The Securities and Exchange Commission is concerned that investors may not understand the significant impact fees can have on their long-term on returns. “Fees may seem small, but over time they can have a major impact on your investment portfolio,” the SEC bulletin said. Read Investor Bulletin: How Fees and Expenses Affect Your Investment Portfolio.
3. Contribute to the match and then some
Nearly one in three workers don’t take full advantage of the free money that their employer is trying to give them — the so-called employer match. According to a research conducted by AonHewitt in 2012, 32% of plan participants contribute at the match threshold and 40.5% contribute above the match threshold. However, 27.5% contribute below the company match threshold.
The average match, by the way, is generally 50 cents on the dollar, up to 6% of salary deferrals, according to Attila Toth, a partner with and co-founder of Portfolio Evaluations. “Often you find participants not contributing enough to receive the full match, or perhaps even stopping their deferral rates at 6% just to obtain the full match,” he said.
So, if nothing else, contribute enough to your plan to get the full employer match. If a participant leaves their contribution rate at 6%, plus the 3% match, this equates to 9% total savings, Toth notes.
That is not enough. In fact, you’ll likely have to contribute at least 15% if you want your future life to be like your current life, according to Toth.
But saving to the match if you’re below the threshold is a good start.
Read also How America Saves 2013: A report on Vanguard 2012 defined contribution plan data.
Of note, more retirement plan sponsors have begun offering employee matches over the past five years, according to research from Strategic Insight, an Asset Management company. Plan sponsors that match “50% to 99% of the first 6%” of salary rose to 58% in 2013 from 52% in 2009, according to the report. Plans also saw improvements to employer matching contributions, formulas, schedules and vesting. Read Sponsors See Success Boosting Matches.
4. Do a cost/benefit analysis
Most everyone believes it’s prudent, at least on paper, to diversify your investments in your 401(k) plan. In essence, you want to own investments that don’t always behave the same. If one investment goes down in value, you want another to rise in value. Portfolio diversification experts say this tactic tamps down the volatility of your portfolio and, with hope, improves its risk-adjusted performance.
But what works in academia doesn’t always work in a 401(k) plan, according to a new paper. Some 52% of retirement plans offer at least one fund “where the costs of fees in holding the fund so outweigh the benefits of additional diversification that rational investors wouldn't invest in these assets,” wrote Ian Ayres of Yale University and Quinn Curtis of the University of Virginia School of Law, the co-authors of the report. Read Beyond Diversification: The Pervasive Problem of Excessive Fees and ‘Dominated Funds’ in 401(k) Plans.
Also, keep in mind that many plan sponsors typically provide too many investment choices and that can have a detrimental effect on participants, according to Toth. Read The 401(k) Lineup: Successful Planning with a Focused Lineup.
5. Speaking of diversification ...
And whatever you do, don’t own a target-date fund and then five or 10 other funds. Doing so defeats the purpose of owning a target-date fund, which typically contains more than a dozen funds and provides instant diversification.
If you want to own a target-date fund and other funds that might be offered by your 401(k) consider those funds or investments that duplicate the one you already own in your target-date fund. For instance, if your target-date fund doesn’t own a small-cap value fund, for instance, and it might make to sense to invest a small percentage of your 401(k) in that kind of fund, assuming your investment policy statement calls for that sort of investment.
6. Calculate how much you’ll need
Many people never take the time to project what their expenses will be in retirement. You should. People, according to new Stanford research, save more for retirement when they use detailed retirement income projections and information. Read Knowledge is power when it comes to retirement planning, Stanford researcher shows.
Don’t feel bad, by the way, if you haven’t crunched the numbers yet. Forty-five percent of workers often guess at how much they will need to accumulate, rather than doing a systematic retirement-needs calculation, according to the EBRI’s 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey: Perceived Savings Needs Outpace Reality for Many. The survey also says 18% indicated they did their own estimate and another 18% asked a financial adviser, while 8% used an online calculator and another 8% read or heard how much was needed.
7. Don’t forget to participate
By the way, one last mistake to avoid is this: Don’t forget to defer a portion of your compensation in your employer-sponsored retirement plan. Right now, three in every 10 workers don’t even participate in their 401(k) plan.
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