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If you think threads with a few hundred posts is a lot, you ain't seen nuthin': http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=88005&newpost=1538021 (Taylor's 3-fund portfolio thread, 455 posts). http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5934 (Market Timer's leverage/margin call/...

If Vanguard changed-out the intermediate infl-protected with short-term infl-protected in their retirement asset-allocation accounts -maybe they know something we don't? Carl W. Don't count on it. Vanguard increased the stock allocation in its Target Retirement Funds just in time for the crash in 2...

I'm trying to remember the last time Buffet recommended bonds.

Here's a calculator that will show you how long it will take to break even. http://www.mtgprofessor.com/calculators/Calculator3a.html My rule of thumb had been to not refi unless I could break even in less than 12 to 18 months (3 of my refis had no closing costs at all). My guess is that with closin...

To answer your question about CD vs TBM, yes, a 5 year CD with a yield higher than TBM would have a higher expected return than TBM. But it wouldn't need to work out that way. The CD will definitely return its APY every year for 5 years. TBM however, could increase in NAV if interest rates were lowe...

SEC yield is a much better statement of the fund's current yield than distribution yield. A bond with an SEC yield of 2% and a duration of 7 years can reasonably be expected to return 2% annually over the next 7 years. When comparing bond funds, it is much more useful to compare SEC yield, credit ri...

If you can get 3.5% for no closing costs (which is different than no lender's fee--no closing costs includes no cost to you for appraisal, title insurance, filing fees, etc.), then there's no reason not to refi to that rate. If your goal is to pay off the loan in 10 years, I'm not sure it will be po...

How much are the closing costs?

No need to buy TLT or GLD (except relatively small slices for rebalancing). Just buy 30 year Treasuries at auction and buy this: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2016258_2016259_2016264,00.html Hah, that's funny but I don't want that much value sitting around my house, too...

For amusement value I looked up the daily trade values for my funds and realized I'd have to spread out my purchases if I didn't want to move the market: VBR $17.6 million VWO $757.1 million TLT $937.6 million GLD $1857.7 million So I guess dollar cost averaging is the way to go if you're going to ...

It was simple math for me. When I started out, I knew that I knew nothing about investing. As I was reading about mutual funds, I came across a description of an index fund--average returns with below-average costs. For someone who knew he didn't know what he was doing, this was immediately appealin...

I found that online resources report federal tax on lottery winnings is 25%. State taxes vary, California is 0%. Ordinary income tax. California tax is only zero on its own state lottery. Since Powerball is not a CA state lottery, the top tax rate of 13.3% will apply. a. California Lottery Winnings...

I found that online resources report federal tax on lottery winnings is 25%. Where did you find that? Here's what I found: The prize, no matter how the winners take it, is considered income. So the highest federal tax rate of 35% will apply. http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/30/pf/taxes/powerball-lotter...

I think a company the size of Vanguard could produce a set of funds similar to DFA in that they don't track an index per-se, are very low-cost, and don't require an advisor to sell them. Vanguard offers many low-cost actively managed funds which do a good job of sticking to their knitting. What OP ...

This is not about you, G-Money, or about me. It is about words versus investment strategies - and about how some words are more meaningful to some people, less meaningful (meaningless) to others. So, words like "market timing" used in relation to an investment strategy are just words. All...

I would not buy a Schwab mutual fund at eTrade if there was a transaction fee. I wouldn't buy any mutual fund with a transaction fee. Couldn't you buy the Schwab mutual fund at Schwab? Otherwise, look for no-transaction fee ETFs, whether at eTrade or elsewhere.

richard wrote:Everyone knows bond yields will increase and prices decrease at some point.

I must be behind the curve. I don't even know that much.

The whole reason I use Amazon is so I don't need to go somewhere to get something, it can just be delivered straight to my door. I can't imagine I'll be getting any use out of that option. I guess it's a nice feature for more valuable deliveries or folks who live in apartments/condos/etc.

"Market timing" is nothing but words. Yes. But words have meaning. Here's what I mean when I say "market timing": Market timing is the strategy of making buy or sell decisions of financial assets (often stocks) by attempting to predict future market price movements. The predicti...

100% agree, LH. Market timing is market timing. I have no problem with "short bonds always," if that's what's appropriate for an investor. But I do have a problem with "short bonds now." Here is the way I look at it. You should "stay the course" in terms of your risk p...

Sounds familiar: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94579&f=2 I'm in the camp of avoiding counter-party risk in this situation. Cash for me. But where do you put the cash? :moneybag Invest according to your AA, taking into account your new need, willingness, and ability to take ris...

Sounds familiar: viewtopic.php?t=94579&f=2

I'm in the camp of avoiding counter-party risk in this situation. Cash for me.

100% agree, LH. Market timing is market timing.

I have no problem with "short bonds always," if that's what's appropriate for an investor. But I do have a problem with "short bonds now."

Thanks for the link. My guess is that the Balanced Index may once have had an annuity feature. Given the reference to the Wilshire index (which was replaced by MSCI, which was replaced by CRSP), my bet is the info is at least 10 years old. I currently hold Balanced Index in my 401k, and haven't seen...

So what you're saying is that Vanguard should be both Vanguard and DFA. I've never understood the thinking that Vanguard should be all things to all people. Vanguard is a store. If you like some of the products it offers, you should buy them. If you don't like some of its products, but prefer the pr...

I just checked the Vanguard page for annuities, and while there is a "Vanguard Variable Annuity - Balanced Portfolio," it is very different than the balanced fund. It's actively manage, investing in value stocks for the equity portion and corporate bonds for the fixed income portion. And s...

Interesting. When I look up VBIAX on the Vanguard website, I see this language under the "Investment Strategy" section: Investment strategy The fund employs a “passive management”—or indexing—investment approach designed to track the performance of two benchmark indexes. The fund invests b...

VTIP is better if you want a shorter duration tips fund. The VIPSX is better if you want longer duration. Simply a matter of preference and need.

Looks like a fine plan to me. My only quibble is I think you could increase the % in international. But if you're happy with 15%, then leave it there. I think the percentage is 20%, that was an early version of the question. I was trying to mirror the Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX). A...

GNMAs are riskier than short-term investment-grade bonds, but the higher yield of GNMAs represents the market's estimation of proper compensation for that risk. If your goal is simply to preserve the nominal value of your principal, then short-term investment grade bonds do a better job of this than...

Looks like a fine plan to me. My only quibble is I think you could increase the % in international. But if you're happy with 15%, then leave it there. I may need to balance within the 401k to match the Total Stock Fund. Unlikely. If, for example, small caps grow faster than the large caps, small cap...

In fairness, must mutual fund companies that have loads don't call them "loads." Usually they are called "sales charges" which sounds very much like a "purchase fees." And, to the extent both a sales charge and a purchase fee constitute a portion of assets which are no...

Repeat after me:

"It's all priced in."
"It's all priced in."
"It's all priced in."

By the time you're reading about it, it's all priced in.

Appreciate a "Helper" link to this process to find out how this works. I understood that "puts" were rather risky??? only because they seem to make investing more like gambling :?: The strategy you're proposing is also risky. You outline a plan for jumping out of a stock, but wh...

Evidently some of the bigger brokers? etc have set this strategy into effect already when you hear about computer sell off''s. Like I said, the big "boys" do it and I do not know what criteria they use to "trigger" a sale order. I think, more often than not, what you're reading ...

Actually, I don't know anybody like that. What a phenomenally unlucky fellow.

VSS has consistently traded at a premium of between 0.50% and 0.75%. My bet is that once the purchase fee disappears for VFSVX, so will the premium for VSS. So, if you're planning on selling out of the fund before Vanguard eliminates the purchase fee on VFSVX, go with the ETF (good luck timing that ...

How is this actionable?

Stan Dup wrote:Hmmm, I am just feeling confident on the three-fund retirement portfolio idea. I have not devoted any time to this. I will have to do more research.

Which fund are you using for bonds for the 3-fund portfolio? Chances are, it's a perfectly fine fund for your emergency fund, too.

letsgobobby wrote:where does one find a listing of the best IRA CD rates? Bankrate?

My favorites:
http://www.depositaccounts.com/
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/682884/

Any recommendations on a Vanguard fund to keep the emergency funds in? I probably should keep that money in something a little safer than my long term investments. I'd use a short or intermediate-term, investment grade bond fund. Be sure to check growth-of-$10,000 charts to see how they performed i...

While you're investigating, I'd also find out how to get your money out of a bank IRA CD, particularly if the bank does not have an IRA savings/MM account option.

I'll preface this with saying I have no experience with booking (or taking) international flights. So perhaps others on the forum can contribute actual knowledge about typical pricing trends for these flights. If you have an inflexible schedule, and you're willing to pay $2,050, then I'd just book t...

But to say that investors who choose a higher-yielding TBM over CDs with similar or lower yields "idiotic" is, IMO, both rude and inaccurate. It would be rude and inaccurate. But that wasn't what I said. What I said was that making the choice to invest based on "convenience" whe...

given the rates, decent alternatives are found in CDs/Cash which has never been the case before. I'm not sure I'd say "never." Back in 2007, PenFed was offering 6% CDs when the 10-year Treasury was in the 4%-5% range. I believe over much of the past decade, the best CDs have offered a yie...

Can I assume they're still building this fund, looking at the load and the higher expense ratios? There is no load. Is not a "purchase fee" another name for "load"? No, because a load is money that goes to the sales channel to reward them for selling the fund, while the purchase...

So, for the retail investor, to get the equivalent of the zero risk savings account, you would have to go out to 7 years on the yield curve, with its associated interest rate risk. You can draw your own conclusion, but to me, it is pretty clear where I want to be on the yield curve now. I think tha...

If the options are keeping an emergency fund in taxable or funding a Roth, then funding the Roth is preferable, since you can pull the contribution (not any gains) at any time tax- and penalty-free. Roth space is use-it-or-lose-it, so it'd be a shame to waste it. You can still in est the emergency f...

Can others more knowledgeable than me comment on whether they agree with these comments and how does one compute the % change in bond prices for 1% change in interest rates? The key is duration. This Wiki article explains it better than I could: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bonds:_Advanced_Topics...

Tip from Uncle Buck You invest in the NOW. Now is bonds yielding next to nothing and its not going to change anytime soon. You should have no more then 20% bonds at any age at this time. When yields raise invest as they go up. The people who stick their head in the sand and invest according to thei...