Bogleheads.org

I appreciate all this info. This is all very valuable. I will talk to a few schools in my area to see if any of them will accept my credits. I am considering switching careers - I'm not 100% sure which direction I would like to go at the moment. Perhaps I can take some of the General courses which w...

Adrian, I'm on a similar boat as well. My primary skill set is in the IT field, but I have developed a serious interest for Personal Finance. I have come to conclusion that the majority of Financial Advisors are "Salesman". With that being said, when is one not selling anything anymore?! A...

thanks for all the advice. i plan on eliminating my $9750 student loan within the next 3 months.. after that i want to help my parents..how do you think i should allocate THAT and still invest in my future?? i dont want to live at home until im 30 and want to be able to save/invest still while help...

8 Years ago I attended a private college and earned an associate's degree in Computer Network Engineering. I was a bit naive at the time and ended up choosing an option which wasn't the best. The private college costed roughly $28k for a degree from a school that is not 100% accredited and transfera...

It would be hard not to feel invincible if I had that kind of cash . I couldn't imagine being able to control myself if I had that kind of money...

I'm 28 years old. Beginning to understand the In's and Out's of life a bit more. More importantly, I'm starting to realize how unfair life actually is. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses: some people are stronger, taller, faster, better singers, more attractive etc... I also have notice...

I read it only because it keeps the "lingo" fresh in my head. Keeping it fresh in my head also keeps me on track (guess I'm getting that hanging out on this forum a bit now ) I have learned to take everything with a grain salt.

What impact would Bogleism have on the market? Let's say if everyone in the market invested the exact same way? Would this be a bad thing?... :twisted: I've always been under the impression that if everyone "saved" and became minimalists then the economy would crash due to no consumption. ...

How does one find their "passion" exactly? I have no clue what I want to be when I grow up and I'm 28.

I took a personality test for a potential job a few years ago. I was not hired. The employer made a comment that I answered all the questions the way I thought they should be answered :confused . I wasted a good hour on the test, but they bought me lunch during a "3rd interview". Not sure ...

I spoke with a colleague the other day about "low cost living" and modular houses came into the conversation. I recalled reading something about a modular house that was offered by IKEA at the price of $86500. I believe the house was only 750 sq feet, but included a kitchen, bathroom and a...

I can never find a need for a public storage. I have always felt that if I could not deal with it in my house then it wasn't that important to me to have. I guess the recurring cost of having one and the fear of becoming a hoarder is why I feel this way

My 8 years of experience has all been in the private sector for very small companies (less than 50 employees). I have valued my experience with smaller companies because job stability has felt reliable and I have gotten opportunities to wear many hats. But because of this, there has been limited gro...

Good Advice. I have about 8 years experience as a General Network Admin. I wouldn't consider myself an expert in any specific area. There are a lot of things I don't know. I feel like this industry is over-saturated a bit and there are a lot of well-rounded individuals who do what I do. I guess I ha...

Hello, I'm currently at 50k a year salary as an IT Consultant. I primarily work 40hrs per week on average so it's not terrible (I realize and I"m thankful for what I have - I realize people make less than this and I'm appreciative at least). I have a friend who's a welder who I just found out m...

Thanks a lot. There is really valuable information in this post. I appreciate it. my next question... How safe is this? What due-diligence is needed to make sure these sites I come across are "in fact" Credit Unions. I'd hate to register on a Scam credit union website only to lose my money...

it is boring, but I'm starting to like boring!

Thanks for the info. This is really valuable

Hello, My Short-Term (1-2 years) funds are currently being saved in I Bonds (3.06%) and Ally's 5 Year CD (1.74%). I thought these returns were good considering the lower returns from my former ING Direct Savings (.80%) and current Ally Savings (.84%) accounts. A couple user's in this forum have ment...

i had no idea these "high reward checking accounts" even existed! Why am I settling for 1.74% in a 5 year CD then? Time to research...

Great Tip. Thanks!

Politics aside, but what would happen if the U.S defaulted on the National debt? How would it effect the Total Bond Market Fund? How would it effect EE and I Bonds?

I believe my parents' furnace is on it's way out. Luckily, spring and summer are just around the corner so replacement isn't urgent. It's over 30 years old and it has been a good run (don't they average around 20 years?!). These appear to be really expensive; does anyone have any experience with the...

Sell your emergency fund, as others have indicated. Put the majority of it into something safe (FDIC is fine for now) but put $5k of it into a Roth IRA for 2011 (you can do this until April 15, 2012) and put another $5k of it in the Roth for 2012. Put this money in something very safe like a money ...

I recently deposited a good chunk of my down payment in an ally 5 year CD (1.74%). I plan on using the money in 1-2 years... Starting to think maybe I should have gone with the No Penalty 11 month CD (.93%) for the flexibility.

Ethics aside, you might have not done as bad as you originally thought. You spent 25k, but you still needed a place to stay all those years (5 years / 12 = 60 months... $25k for 60 months of rent is not bad!). What's done is done. Don't beat yourself over mistakes in the past. You are wiser today. :...

just curious what your age is for that asset allocation. I'm 28 and currently at 80/20. I can definitely see the benefits of having a 50/50 portfolio.

*EDIT* Would there be any tax consequences if I exchanged my TSM investor fund (Taxable) for the TSM Admiral Fund (Taxable) or would I be better off waiting to invest in the TSM fund until I had 10k avoid any tax consequences? Thanks You can start a taxable TSM fund account with 3K minimum initial ...

Thank You. I believe I've been overthinking this a bit. Perhaps I've gotten distracted by anticipated expenses (House, car maintenance/upgrade). How would one go about withdrawing from the portfolio if necessary? I take it Tax Advantaged accounts is out of the question. Should I just withdraw from ...

Thank You. I believe I've been overthinking this a bit. Perhaps I've gotten distracted by anticipated expenses (House, car maintenance/upgrade). How would one go about withdrawing from the portfolio if necessary? I take it Tax Advantaged accounts is out of the question. Should I just withdraw from ...

One last question: It is preferable to hold Bond Funds in a Tax Advantaged account. Are there any Pro's and Con's to holding Bond Funds in a Roth IRA (Post Tax) vs Traditional/Rollover IRA/401k (Pre Tax)? Are Bond Funds preferred in one over the other? Does it matter? Initially, I would prefer to us...

If you want an asset allocation of 80/20 equity/bond, then its best to have your entire bond allocatrion inside your tax advantaged accounts, and then use the taxable account to hold very tax efficient funds stock like Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VTSMX) or Vanguard Total...

I am on track to max out my tax advantaged retirement accounts (5k Roth Limit and 11.5k Simple IRA (tax advantaged account asset allocation is set at 80/20) for this year. I plan on using "Tax efficiency" as an investment strategy eventually when my balances increase. I understand that &qu...

still learning about i-bonds. whats the deal with purchasing extra amount of i-bonds with tax refund? If you have a tax refund coming, you can get up to an additional $5000 per year in paper I Bonds, using your tax refund. Some folks are intentionally overpaying their taxes using estimated tax paym...

AFAICT, you can't really do anything if Ally changes their terms to forbid early withdrawals. So even if you get "notice" of it, it's not clear what that would lead to. I would be hesitant to put money in them that you definitely need earlier than the term. What are the odds this could ha...

Atilla wrote:Financial compatibility is very important. First marriage - we both spent more than we made and got along fine as far as money.

Second marriage - we both save and invest semi- aggressively. When I talk net worth and finances she says it makes her hot.

Speaking from my personal experiences (I'm 24), as long as my partner is not irresonsible with her finances then I am okay it. She definitely does not think like me at all and certainly no Boglehead... I been saving for my retirement since college... I finally managed to get her to open a ROTH IRA ...

I used to feel as you did. I was 29 and had a net worth of about $400k. Was afraid of losing anything to a golddigger. Met a girl at a bar, married her, have three kids and a net worth $1M+. My advice to you is get over yourself. You're probably not a gold digger target unless you have millions and...

Not to come off shrewd, but from my experience it seems like the more attractive the female the worse her financial situation is. Wonder if they all anticipate a responsible, stable man whisking them away... That's a horrible stereotype. let me rephrase, "the more attracted I am to them, it se...

Hello, I'm 28 and will be 29 in a few months and have been on the Single boat for a while now. I've noticed that I tend to obsess over a potential partner's finances a bit while getting to know them. Is this normal/healthy? :shock: I have this fear of Financial Devastation. I have worked so hard to ...

Do these Fidelity 2% cards go into ROTH (Post-Tax) or is it considered PRE-TAX? I'm going to crunch the numbers from last years expenses to determine which card would be my best solution. 1) Fidelity 2% with my FFNOX fund (.21 expense ratio) 2) 1% Cashback which will fund my Vanguard VASGX (.17 expe...

I have been happy with Mint. I know some people may not like the idea of having your information on a site, but what isn't anymore. Been using it for over a year and it has helped me stay on track.

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Even better I suppose. I would prefer to pay less for a house. If rates rise then my incentive to pay it off as fast as possible increases.

good advice. I would prefer to not have mortgage if I could. Maybe more savings and lower house prices could qualify me for a 15 year mortgage instead when the time is right. I'll just keep throwing money at my account and ignore the chatter.

great advice. Thank You.

I currently have 20k saved for a Down Payment on a home. At 20% down, this would only be able to purchase a 100k home. My budget for housing would be 150k-200k max (30-40k down payment needed for conventional loan). My goal would be to purchase a home as cheap as possible (low-cost living is the goa...

Thanks for all the info. Now I just have to decide whether or not I pull the trigger and tie up the money for at least a year. I have concerns about missing my limited window on low interest rates to purchase my first house. Seems like I don't know when rates will rise, but hopefully not before 2014...

imaputz wrote:****IRA is simplified now -- Everything has been rebalanced to goto one fund only -- FFNOX (60/40).

FFNOX is actually 85/15

You could always try and freelance/work part-time to create a little income until this storm passes. I wouldn't touch the retirement accounts unless you have no other options. Just rollover the funds to your desired funds and focus on your next gig to pay off the 40k and be mortgage free. I agree wi...