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I'm having a hard time understanding bonds. I'm going to open an account with the three main components (VTI, VXUS, and BND), but I am trying to understand why bonds need to be more in tax-efficient accounts vs taxable accounts. Is it because most profit from bonds comes from dividends, thus they w...

Okay, I see--thanks for explaining this, retiredjg and David!

Thanks, retiredjg--this is really helpful! If I'm planning on buying-and-holding (I'm in my 20s now, so this could be for many years), does it make sense to pay the most attention to the "10 Year" or "Since Inception" differences in before taxes/after taxes returns?

No. I think you have to do the math, run the numbers, create a spreadsheet, ...., and not believe what M* says. I apologize for the newbie question, but how do you calculate this (and where do you get the numbers from)? I've looked at dividend yield and Vanguard's YTD 2013 qualified dividend income...

I feel like this is getting kind of off-topic, but just to provide a counterweight, I know friends who got engaged or married while one was in med school, and they are still very happily married and are very glad that they made the decisions that they did. I think the talk about how an engagement or...

A lot of online backup services offer several GBs (way more than enough space for tax documents) of free encrypted storage for personal users (check out Dropbox, IDrive, or SugarSync, for instance).

Barclays has a 1.75% APY five year CD, too.

Yield is on the present value of the bond. One can also refer to the "interest rate" or "coupon" which is the rate at which interest is paid on the face value of the bond. The yield as a percent of the current value and that value are inversely related. Yield up, value down, etc...

I opened an online savings account (1.00% APY) with Barclays recently, and I've been very pleased so far--everything has gone very smoothly. I've also had an online savings account with Emigrant Bank's DollarSavingsDirect (0.55% APY) for years now, and everything has worked flawlessly with them.

I't has been quite a stressful week since our broker had us mainly invested in gold mining stocks/funds -- and this was the worst week in 30 years for gold. Things seemed to stabilize a bit at the end of the week so we will plan to sell most of the gold mining equities on Monday and keep a bit in t...

Could someone please explain what this so-called currency is? What can people supposedly buy with it? It sounds to me like some over-hyped sleight of hand, but it is being discussed more often on some sites. I could be wrong, but my gut feeling says avoid and run away. Check out this website: http:...

I ended owing the state of Arkansas for tax year 2012. I e-filed using Turbo Tax, and it was accepted. Then I mailed a check to the Arkansas Finance and Administration po box. I paid an extra 5 bucks or so at the post office so I could get a tracking number. Unfortunately the tracking number has no...

REITs seem to be a pretty popular "fourth leg," too. For instance, see the Core Four portfolios on this page on the wiki.

It does imply the opposite, but that is because of current conditions which may not last. It will require watching bonds and then making the switch back to "normal" when conditions change. For an investor advanced enough to understand when the switch should happen and willing enough to ac...

Thanks for the responses, dbr and David, about my question regarding investing in long-terms bonds--they were helpful and I appreciate it! Also, I assume that the answer to the question below, which I posted earlier, is that the yield isn't decreased by the drop in the fund's price (I haven't quite ...

So, do bond fund yields increase quickly to match interest rate increases, then, or is there a meaningful lag time in the yield of bond funds, after interest rates increase? If there is a lag time in the increase in bond yield, after interest rates increase, does this effect your quiz results? (Sor...

Now, suppose that interest rates rise by 0.4% per year for ten years. The fund's price will fall by 21.2%; however, the yield will be 5.6% at the end of the period, and with an average yield of 3.6%, the yield produces a 42.4% gain. Subtracting the loss in price, you have a net 12.2% profit (1.16% ...

And the expectation of interest-rate increases is the reason for the high yields on long-term bonds. Investors know that long-term bonds have the risk of losses when rates rise, so they will not invest in such bonds unless they can earn enough interest to compensate. That is why Short-Term Bond Ind...

Thanks a lot! Yeh, David's explanation is excellent! +1 Thank you, too, David! This was really informative, and I appreciate it. Though I am still trying to figure out the numbers in his writing, it calms my nerve quite a bit. I also found this article and this thread (which make similar points as ...

1) the interest rate paid by the fund doesn't change, 2) the interest rate paid by the fund doubles the day after your invest to 3.2%, and 3) the interest rate paid by the fund increases the day after your invest to 5%. So, do bond fund yields increase quickly to match interest rate increases, then...

In general, bonds go in tax-advantaged accounts, often a 401k/403b. There are some exceptions. There are also people who disagree based on the current market. But "bonds in your 401k" is a good place to start. My only tax advantaged space is a Roth IRA, right now, but anyways, what about ...

Then now is the time to read the bond books by (1) Swedroe, The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Every Need , and (2) Thau, The Bond Book . These will tell you everything you want/need to know. Thanks! I'm surprised no online resources have been mentioned, but I will check these books o...

One of the big factors in your bond choices is location. In 401 your choices are limited to what's available. Your ira provides the most flexibility with bonds or maybe even CD's.Taxable is usually the least desirable but municipal bonds and savings bonds are good options also. My first question is...

You are in your 20s, whatever type of bond fund you pick today probably won't be a big deal. This is one of the less important decisions, so don't agonize over it too much. If you choose a total bond market approach, you will have it covered. Then you can spend some time mulling over other fixed in...

I'm pretty new to investing (I'm in my mid-20s), and I've been trying to educate myself and keep up with all the discussion about bonds here lately, but I've been kind of drowning in the information. Could anyone point me towards a good, basic, up-to-date (and preferably online) resource that explai...

Calm Man wrote:It always happens this way.

Yup, that's really true. I mean, I think this has happened to all of us. It just comes with the territory. Welcome to the club!

I'm not sure if this article completely applies to the Hines REIT, but you might want to check out this recent New York Times article: Speculative Bets Prove Risky as Savers Chase Payoff.

Also, check out Evantage Bank (1.10% APY for amounts under $35K), mentioned in this thread.

I would also be interested in people's feedback on Bob's calculations--I ran a series of similar calculations (though a bit more rudimentary--I just ran a version of Bob's scenario #2) on whether it makes sense to invest stocks or bonds in my Roth first, and my calculations also came back with a sli...

1911guy wrote:My caller ID shows "Vanguard" if they call.

Caller ID can be faked.

passivefist wrote:Wouldn't it be unwise to invest when the DJIA just hit the record high? (as per OP's original question)

Not if it keeps going up, which -historically- is what it has done.

I also recommend Getting to Yes, and it's a fast read.

Kevin M wrote:Barclays also offers a savings account earning 1% APY, but they do not offer IRA accounts.

On the note of savings accounts, I found two banks offering slightly higher yields: one at 1.05% APY for amounts over $2,500 and another at 1.10% APY for amounts under $35,000. See this thread.

Brian2d wrote:Also have to decide what to do now that I've lost the 1% (5 x nothing) rate from Capital One after a year.

Let me know what you decide to do (and why, if you don't mind), Brian!

Evantage Bank has a Mega Money Market Account with an APY of 1.10% for balances up to $35,000 (portions above that earn 0.50% APY). Anyone familiar with them?

Oh yeah, and MyBankingDirect is also offering a 1.05% APY Money Market Account, but I'd ruled them out, because of their fees (it's too unclear, at least to me, which ones would apply if I opened a Money Market Account with them).

I've been with Emigrant Bank's DollarSavingsDirect for years (and they've been great), but their APY has sunk to 0.55%, and I've been starting to eye other banks, which are offering about double that APY now. I'm considering Florida's Citizens State Bank's Personal Money Market , which has a 1.05% A...

I've been with Emigrant Bank's DollarSavingsDirect for years (and they've been great), but their APY has sunk to 0.55%, and I've been starting to eye other banks, which are offering about double that APY now. I'm considering Florida's Citizens State Bank's Personal Money Market , which has a 1.05% A...

I had to do this last year. It is not hard to file an amended return especially if you already have all the information in Turbo Tax or some other program. I would rather deal with it on my timeline rather than getting a letter in the mail and having to deal with it on the IRS's timeline. Right, I ...

The IRS only worries about under-reporting of income. OP, in your situation, I would not bother filing an amended tax return. If there was a substantial refund or under-reporting of income, that is when it really make sense. That's what I was thinking--you'd think they could be more clear about tha...

livesoft wrote:And the thread you linked has at least 3 responses that say: do not file an amended return.

;-P Thanks and thanks!

Also, I searched the forum here, and I found this : This was just asked and answered. I'll teach you how to find the answer and by extension the answers to many such questions: Go to google.com in your browser Type in "Forgot a 1099, already filed my Taxes" then add "site:bogleheads.o...

Hi friends--after filing my federal and state taxes last night, I received a Corrected 1099-DIV in the mail today. :oops: Thought I had waited long enough, but apparently not, I see... The corrections don't change much--they reduce my AGI by $15, which doesn't change my refund amount on my federal t...

Essentially, the problem boils down to this: I'm willing to take a LOT of risk with my investments, as long as it is rewarded with potential return. (on the efficient frontier, so to speak.) My understanding is that I should still diversify as much as possible to eliminate unrewarded risk, but I'm ...

make sure to keep good track of its cost basis, ... With recent changes in tracking and tax reporting, that should not be an issue. I had that thought, too, but I've also heard that cost basis won't necessarily transfer when you move accounts from one brokerage to another (e.g. from Fidelity to Van...

I'd like to start an investment account for our newborn using a $5k gift we received for her. If you end up investing in an equity of some sort (stock, ETF, mutual fund), just please make sure to keep good track of its cost basis, until you hand it over to your child--I was gifted some stocks as a ...

I am currently debt free, however, my girlfriend has ~190k in school debt with interest rates of 6.8 and 8.5%, practically no savings and is currently not working (she's looking for legal work in a very tight market that required me to move across the country). My goal is to pay off this debt ASAP ...

2. Our tax-advantaged accounts are large enough now that we need to consider adding stocks to them, not just bonds. Should we avoid placing international funds in the tax-advantaged accounts so as to not lose out on the foreign tax refund? This thread might be helpful in answering this question? (H...

http://www.safelinkwireless.com, if you're eligible.

boknows wrote:Switched to the local credit union, and couldn't be happier.

+1