Bogleheads.org

Thanks, simplicity -- that was exactly what I was looking for!

Does anyone have any suggested methods of back-testing a mostly EFT portfolio? I want to go back three years and find that the software I'd use (probably M*) wouldn't take monthly distributions into consideration for BND and that I'd have to enter them manually -- very time consuming! How do you all...

I surmise he invests in stocks because it's what he likes to do (he's probably not worried about outliving his assets.)

God Bless him!

No. The Prospectus notes "Currency Risk: the risk that foreign currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect the Fund’s investments in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, or in derivatives that provide exposure to, fo...

Thanks folks - excellent answers, succinct and right on the point. One other question though: in the linked article I think it said that the owner must pay the premium and that if I pay it after moving the policy to my wife, the IRS could disqualify the ownership change and assess the value back on ...

Hi, This is probably Term Life Insurance 101, but I looked through the wiki and didn't see anything germane to my question. here it is: I have a large term life policy that I took over when I left the company I was working for and put it into my name as owner, with my wife as beneficiary. For estate...

Hi,
Any ETA on the photos taken from B11 and where they may be found? I've already cleared a spot over the fireplace for my photo taken with Jack.

Many thanks!

Nazareth is strangling because of where the Wall has been put. A lot of the Christians have sold up and moved abroad, moslems have bought the shops (remember in Koran, we are 'people of the book' ie recognized by the Islamic faith, Jesus in particular). Valuethinker, do you mean Bethlehem (and not ...

Lady Geek, I saw the "Scratch Pad" entry and the only change I would suggest making to it would be to include the fact that the SEC's charges are disputed and Lucia and Co. intend to defend themselves against the charges. I'm not a Lucia partisan; I have read his book and found it somewhat...

I'm going to give Ray Lucia the benefit of the doubt and last word (at least from my standpoint as a forum member) on this. As he said on his website:


"...I intend to vigorously defend [myself against] this absolutely meritless lawsuit and will seek an early trial."

The "Buckets" approach is not too terribly different from the Liability Matching Portfolio advocated by Bernstein et al. I think the latter approach IS superior, since, assuming you have correctly identified how much your portfolio needs to provide each year, and if you can fund it with T...

The key is to choose the right wine to accompany your dog (or cat) food of choice: A few rules-of-paw for canine/feline food and wine pairing: 1. Match quality of food and wine 2. Light before full-bodied, dry before sweet, low before high 3. Balance flavor intensity 4. Consider how the food is pre...

Does anyone know if this interview is available online? Anyone have a link?

Thanks..

Pizzas! Always ask what the 'special of the day' is when you call to order a pizza and don't be shy about asking if they'll match a competitors's price for a similar pie. Of course, don't call at 6pm on Super Bowl Sunday and expect to get a deal -- Monday evenings in the summer seem to work pretty w...

As an English/History major in college, I had little financial education and had to learn quite a bit on my own when I took over the CFO role at my family's business (25 million in annual sales.) Lots of the suggestions I've read in the comments are quite good. I especially agree with the fellow tha...

I've found that an engagement ring is not the best place to save money. :) Its been 22 years. I think I paid about 12k for a 1.2 carat stone, great quality with very high 4 c's. In retrospect, I should have probably traded a larger rock for less quality: I don't recall any of my wife's friends appra...

Thanks for #10 Grok! Actually, thanks for all of the Investing Tips!

Thanks Major. Great answer & much appreciated.

I just received word from my bank (a major NYC bank) that my line of credit of $95k will be ending on 12-31-11 as the 10-year period assigned to this Home Equity loan is coming to a close. This home equity line was added to my home mortgage at my request when I built my home 10 years ago. The balanc...

Simply stated, paying off the mortgage was the best financial decision I've ever made.

The peace of mind that this has afforded transcends any argument of dollars and cents. I heartily recommend it if you can do so without hardship.

I think they should give the Peace Prize to Mohandas Gandhi. Believe it or not, the Mahatma was nominated four or five times but was always a runner-up and never received the prize.

That's probably a Bloomberg Professional ticker. (LBUSTRUU)
It sure would be nice to have an extra $1700/month laying around to use that service.

Thanks for your responses everyone!

You should use indexes for tracking, but you cannot invest directly in them. I should have been more precise. I intend to use this as a benchmark. Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Index (ticker: LBUSTRUU)*. .. * good luck getting that! No kidding! I can't get that symbol to come up anywhere! Where d...

It is an index. You can't invest in the indexes themselves, so no ticker. The DJIA and S&P 500 are indexes too and they have tickers I'm not interested in using ETFs as benchmarks since fees are incorporated into the ETF's valuation. Same with other funds that "track any index quite closel...

Does anyone know if this is available and what it might be? Also any other Bond Index tickers symbols, for example Munis and Tips... I'm looking for Total Return index tickers and not index funds or ETFs that follow those indexes, if possible. I searched past board posts but couldn't come up with an...

Yes, I became very comfortable here. My wife's an architect and we were able to buy 10 acres of woods and build a house for what I'd probably pay for a two bedroom in the Upper West Side. Still, I do miss some cultural aspects but the world seems a whole lot smaller these days with high speed intern...

I lived in NYC for about five years in the 1980s, after graduating from university. I returned to Ohio (where I was born) mostly because I could enjoy a higher standard of living economically and frankly, tired of having to carry dry-cleaning up to my fourth-floor walk-up after a hard day's work. I ...

Did you know that TJ's parent company is ALDI?
Just a fact.

I don't believe this is true. TJs is owned by a Trust that was created by the founding brothers of Aldi for their children, but beyond that connection there is no ownership or management relationship between TJs and Aldi..

The irony - if you want to know - is that since AF is part of Sky Team, it is possible that the exact same award inventory is available through any number of other ST carriers, in particular Delta - and DL would not charge $586 for an award ticket using Sky Miles from ATL to TLS. DL does charge a l...

Trader Joe's has a lot of great stuff, but shop carefully like you would anywhere else. Some things are excellent - tabouli salad, for instance, or craft beers -- but other stuff is ordinary, though sporting fancy packaging and a high price tag. (e.g. frozen burritos, with 30 or so "ingredients...

2009 CTS didn't come with a spare but instead came with some contraption that would patch and allow me to inflate the flat (guess it didn't anticipate any road hazards that would blow out a sidewall.) I bought a spare from a Caddy dealer on the internet for $250, about $100 less than at my local dea...

I guess my P.S. fell on deaf "eyes." If you actually read what I wrote, you would see that my current position is that there is no rule against advertising that I can find. How do you see my position that there is no rule against advertising is my attempt to protect you from these "n...

Living in the country, I've had years of experience killing mice. Quick and dirty suggestions: 1) Use covered traps. They cost more but work better since they require the mouse to enter in such a way that they are killed quickly and humanely (if one can call a spring-loaded mechanism breaking their ...

Rocket, Cinghiale, sscritic, others: I appreciate your efforts to protect your fellow Bogleheads from the nefarious efforts of those whom you feel are peddling undue influence, but I prefer to make my own decisions and don't need your protection... I feel confident that I am speaking on behalf of a ...

It certainly seemed like ordering wine was the norm as everyone else had wine in their hand / table. I would hate to stop coming here as the entrees were very good. I am a wine fan and know that many restaurants --especially many finer ones-- are very proud of their wine lists and consider wine to ...

I just read Stewart's A Decade of Buying and Selling Stocks column in SM, which he says will be his last. Does anyone know what his plans are? I like his column and will miss it.. http://www.smartmoney.com/invest/stocks/common-sense-success-a-decade-of-buying-and-selling-stocks-1307395134226/?link=S...

Speaking as an Ohioan, I would recommend the Air Force Museum in Dayton or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. (I guess it depends mostly on the age of and what most interests your kids.) Also, if you're die-hard football fans (and being from Alabama, it could be assumed that you are!) ther...

Considering Youngstown State went through the exact same thing as OSU currently is now while under the tutelage of Tressell(they were charged with a lack of insitutional control from the NCAA because of booster issues, cars for players, etc.), I highly doubt they want anything to do with him. "...

All I can say, on behalf of fellow Buckeye fans, is "arrrggghh."

Is it possible to transfer a TD account to Vanguard? How does one do this? (assuming it can be done)

Lots of responses here...you touched a nerve. I think you're being a bit harsh. Lots of these events are organized by people with big hearts but not a lot of saavy when it comes to running them. I'd just roll with the punches and get into the spirit of the charitable purpose. I'm sure they mean well...

I'm currently on call for jury duty, though I have only one more week to go and have only been summoned to the courthouse once over the past two weeks. It's relatively benign, but I insist on wearing a tie (I'm the only male who wears one out of approximately 15 total) and am confident that I will n...

Thanks everybody...still trying to figure out what to do. The balance on the annuity contract in question (the one with the 'permanent' withdrawal fee) is about $7100 and it is described as a "Pro4 Fixed Annuity" - sscritic, I don't think it is a specific IRA product, in fact, the service ...

Interesting..I finally got through to customer service at Selective Ins., who told me that the surrender/withdrawal charge is permanent ('We discontinued these contracts anymore because the governments didn't like the fact that there was no limit to surrender fees' she said, to paraphrase) She sugge...

Personal preference, of course, but I prefer using a desktop. I have two laptops and two netbooks (I don't collect them but over the past few years, my wife and I both acquired them) but find myself using the desktop more than any of the portables, which I only use for travel. The desktop is just mu...

I love my Tempur-Pedic mattress!

Thanks for #9 Grok!

It does seem rather ridiculous. They called it a "withdrawal charge" and it's described in the contract as follows: "The withdrawl charge is a portion of the Annuity Purchase Value. The size of the charge depends on the amount withdrawn... A withdrawal charge will be caluculated by mu...

Please clarify: Can you transfer the one without the other? (clarity to transferring "these contracts" with paying charges) When does the surrender charge on the 1987 contract come off? If never, does the surrender charge decline? If your answers are no, never, and no, then I don't see ho...

Need some guidance on an existing Annuity. Back in 1986, my wife (before she was my wife) opened an IRA with $2000 with the Kemper Group. The Salesman (hardly a financial adviser) put her into a Single Premium Deferred Annuity which guaranteed 4.5% interest a year. The following year, a different sa...