Bogleheads.org

I noticed, this morning, that Vanguard has opened their Total International Bond Funds (VTIBX,VTABX). Vanguard suggests a starting allocation of 20% of total fixed income assets to international bonds. What say you? I have no particular questions to ask. I am more interested in seeing where a discus...

OP, What you have posted is happening in many medical specialties. Myself? I am an Anesthesiologist. Take a look at this http://www.surgerycenterok.com/index.php What you are seeing is frustration-in-action. The physicians I know (myself included) who have been in practice for at least 15-20 years h...

I am very fortunate to have a father-in-law who has done well and is a generous man. He is 80 years old and is unwinding his estate, for tax purposes. He wants to gift his grandson (our child) some cash, and may do this annually. He has already funded a 529 to the extent necessary (any further contr...

Interesting that this older post has been resurrected. I may be one of few participants on this site who owns Tesla Model S, have had one since last December. And yes, consider myself a Boglehead despite this seeming extravagance, did trade in my 13 year old mercedes E class when bought it. Consume...

Just how realistic is it for people to lobby for the inclusion of an index fund? Do employers have a contract with asset managers to be the sole providers of their 401ks or is it possible to ask if they can add the Vanguard Total Stock Market fund? Arm yourself with this: http://www.investmentnews....

So, a friend of mine took delivery on his model S and insisted I drive it (I didn't put up much resistance). I have to say it was thrilling! I mean, it has torque...bigtime! It's a contender in the high end, specialty market. I guess I'm too practical to cough up the dough. I suspect every time I dr...

OP, there is a wonderful, recent white paper on this very topic at Vanguard. It pertains to international bonds and why VG is hedging currency risk in their new fund, set to be introduced sometime in 2nd Q, 2013. Here's the link: https://institutional.vanguard.com/iam/pdf/ICRIFI.pdf Kudos to VG for ...

Stan, I do expect my tax rate to drop after retirement. "Yes", I am maxing out retirement savings, and have paid off the mortgage. I can see your (and livesoft's) point. Burning through years of TLH'ing for saving relatively few dollars may not be good use of the carryover. I didn't unders...

Most of our portfolio is taxable and has remained, mostly, unchanged over the years other than rebalancing. It includes (amongst others) the following Vanguard holdings: Value Index fund, Small Cap Value fund and FTSE all world-ex US etf . It was probably a mistake buying the aforementioned investme...

Great info guys! I've read reviews on Moneydance, iFinance, YNAB, SEE finance and Quicken, but the reviews do not give real-world experience. I appreciate the feedback!

ddunca1994- do mean to say to use Quicken you have to upload your personal info to the net? Wow!

I was hoping for a little more sophistication than a notebook. For example, every month's entries would include food costs, entertainment, fuel, utilities, insurance premiums etc., etc.. At year end, if one wondered how much was spent on just food for the entire year, this number could be obtained w...

Can someone recommend a software program that tracks household expenses. I am about 10 years from retirement and it's time to know where all of our expenses lie, month to month. The program shouldn't be complicated. If it's too cumbersome, I won't stick with it. The only qualifier is the program sho...

My company is about 100 employees. We are seeking to move our HSA from a local bank to ? I am seeking recommendations on who we should solicit for a RFP. We have the health insurance component in place (don't need health insurance). A local, national bank is interested in our business, and has a dev...

HK- That telescoping basin wrench you talk about I have rented from Home Depot in the past. Working that tool is like holding chop sticks from the far end. Surfer-thanks for the reply. No soldering, just the fitting. It's the long reach that's frustratingly difficult with the tub right-side-up. Yeah...

Project = changing fixture on utility tub in laundry room.
Problem = deep tub makes access to fixture extremely difficult.
Plan = scrape caulk sealing tub to counter. Lift tub out, turn upside down on floor for easier fixture access.

How would a plumber do it and what do you think of my plan?

livesoft,

Like the "Riddler", you answered my question then asked a tricky one!
I have not appropriately expressed my gratitude for teaching me something new...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=translate+kiitos

Dickenjb,

Thanks for answering the question! As I get older, what was once a "known" becomes a question. Appreciate it!

Livesoft, First, let say "very cool" how you can link me to Google with the query already written! Second, believe it or not, I have been Googling this question which is answered, only occasionally, in the context of households, vs. individuals. I have found the answer, and thank you for s...

My wife and I each contributed $13K into our son's 529 in 2012, totaling $26K.
I am seeking confirmation that the annual gifting limit is $13k per person, so a married couple can gift $26k "per donee" without triggering a gift-tax penalty.

Thank you.

dbr,
I've always considered your posts well thought through and insightful. Before you come down so hard on VG's CEO, have a look at the white paper (link above). It's referenced and appears academic.

In support of your skepticism, I do not believe it was peer reviewed.
Jeff

G$$,
Helpful. Cheers!

Paul,
Excellent point. I will look for that white paper on their website. Don't know why Mr. McNabb would say 30%, when he could have said 20-40%. It came out so assuredly, causing me pause (big time)!

Livesoft, This is big deal because "changing one's plan" really is changing the asset allocation. Your example of TIPS I don't find to be comparable because in your example, you offer a new investment vehicle. As a matter of fact, when VG rolled out the FTSE All World-ex US Small Cap, I di...

So, I'm watching In The Vanguard on my computer, VG's Rebeca Katz is interviewing Tim Buckley and Bill McNabb. The program is titled "The Bond Bubble". Anyway, Bill McNabb says that Vanguard's position on asset allocation has changed (over the past 10 years). Now, they recommend "a hi...

Emphatic "yes". I am a physician in private practice. We did not have anyone doing HR 2 years ago. As we grew we decided to invest in an individual. I am chair of our Benefits Committee and, as such, I work closely with our HR director. I just told her last week how much I appreciate her. ...

Calling all Apple geeks! Our internet range began to decay about 6 months ago. My son has spotty access in a room his computer has worked well for 3 years. I have noted similar issues when roaming around the house with a tablet computer. The Airport Express is about 4 years old. I read in a chat roo...

I so value the collective voice of this community so I want to run something by you. It involves a change to my AA, something I have never done, other than periodic rebalancing. Based upon a video interview with John Bogle (Morningstar homepage/Christine Benz), he suggests moving some TBM to Investm...

Alex, Can't say "how" my account was hacked. What I can say is that we isolated the source to be in the UK. My Paypal account was linked to my bank for debits and they helped themselves. It occured around 8PM EST so I was helpless to do anything about it with my bank closed. I remember see...

Not familiar with that.

My Paypal account was hacked into about 6 years ago and I vowed never to use them again (debits taken from my checking account). Well, I want to list an item on Ebay. Ebay says I must have a Paypal account. Paypal wants my credit card info. I am selling landscaping equipment (too big to ship) for &q...

Skinut, thank you for the reply.

I was comparing notes on backdoor Roth IRA's, with a work friend. Being a work colleague, I know his retirement plan well. We both fully fund our 401(k) up to the federal limit of $17,000 (2012). While I use the backdoor strategy in my wife's name (she doesn't work and only has Roth IRA's), he menti...

I am almost finished (85% per kindle) with "No Easy Day", the book about the Navy Seal who was involved in the Bin Ladin raid. I have to say it's not as riveting as I had hoped. I feel like I am reading a diary, not a story. Maybe that's the author's goal, but it's just not a captivating a...

hand:
Your directions were perfect. Easy peasy. I know 7 bucks was far less than a taxi would have charged, especially at 5:30pm on a Friday. Thanks again!

Will be landing in Philly in 2 hours. Can a friend give me instructions on how to get to Market East st. from airport on Septa? Thanks!

"Yes", I confess! On 3/14/12 I bought a dozen shares of AAPL for $592/sh. I wanted to enjoy some commaraderie with a good friend who is big into AAPL. My plan was to sell at $640 (enough to buy an iPad), assuming it got there, and no matter how long it took. Well, that day was today! I am ...

LadyGeek:
I took your suggestion and Google led me to a discussion link, on our forum. I thought this one was pretty good http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52895 and sent the link to my friend.

A good friend is being pitched a whole life policy as part of his investment portfolio. I know he would appreciate a discussion as to why this may not be the best use of his retirement savings. I am not an authority and seek a good resource. Whole life is not in our Wikipedia. Can someone can direct...

Paul, I hold REITS and bonds in tax sheltered accounts, mostly. I have some muni bond fund but since 2008 the rebalancing has been almost exclusively from bonds to stocks, so the muni bond balance is almost nil since my job has been adding to the tax sheltered side of things. The foreign holdings ar...

Livesoft: Great points, I agree with all. Yes, Index 500 is not a growth fund. I tax loss harvested into 500 some years ago and never moved back into Lrg. Growth. Regarding your point of performance chasing, I would say "no" simply because I couldn't even tell you what's been hot. I rebala...

My retirement savings are primarily taxable and am considering an AA change in just the domestic equity part of portfolio. I have not included the remainder of the portfolio (REITS, foreign and bonds) to keep things simple. Current domestic equity AA: (divided 50% growth/value and 50% Lrg/Small) Lrg...

Hmm.
The responses are raising some suspicions. So, my car only has 31,000 miles. They showed me the underside of the hood that was dotted pink that the dealer told my wife was spray coming out of the water pump. They said it was leaking at a valve.

My 2008 Prius needed its water pump replaced because of a leak. The car did not give me any sign of trouble and the leak was diagnosed when the hood was open for a routine oil change. Suppose I was lucky (assuming I wasn't fleeced!). Question: Is the water pump stressed by the unusually hot summer?

Here's another vote for composite. I may have Trex. Don't know brand. I hired our builder to construct the deck at part of a remodel that included a 3 season room, thus I'm ignorant on the brand they purchased. It is about 3 seasons old. My wife and I cleaned it this spring (requires periodic cleani...

I usually don't get excited about a car. I've been driving a Prius since 2008. It suits me. The more I read about the Tesla S, the more I find myself getting excited. What excites me is that it has performance, it uses no gasoline, it's big enough to seat my family and the base model is 49k (still a...

One more scenario: Let's compare $100k pot to start. First guy pays 30% income tax and invests 70k for 7 years at 4%. He ends up with around $92,115. (we don't know value of dividends) but has paid capital gains tax on dividends along the way (from separate account). Second guy's 100k is tax shelter...

mhc,
thank you so much! does the ^ symbol represent "to the power of"? you answered the question, but I am trying to understand the formula.

many, many thanks!
Offshore

You have $100k invested in a tax sheltered account. It grows for 20 years and you pay tax on distributions in retirement. Compare the above scenario with an account that has $70k tax sheltered and the remaining $30k paid to you and taxed as ordinary income, at the same marginal rate as will be paid ...

I like reading the WSJ print edition, but the subcription rate is crazy high. I don't want to re-up. Browsing the internet led me to a place that described how one can read the online WSJ for free. It involved cutting/pasting article titles to the google search bar, then using the results link to by...

We attempted to wash two bed pillows. One of them took on air during "fill cycle", and became a balloon. With a top loading, older washer, many gallons of water was diverted from entering the tub and ended up on the floor. It leaked through the floor to the ceiling of our finished basement...