Bogleheads.org

Thank you, Mr. Bogle. You are truly a Investing Saint because you helped so many "little guys (and ladies)" prudently invest for their future safely and soundly without being charged a 2% ER.

whoopsy, or the OP, has two total posts on this forum. Both of them in this topic. And he has not come back to this topic since two days ago?

By 2008, the hedge fund investments amounted to almost $103 million. That’s a very high concentration of the non-real estate assets in a single asset class. Since when are "hedge fund investments" considered to be a "single asset class"? . Professor X Since forever, really. Hedg...

The title of the article should be "Hedge funds destroy Cooper Union’s endowment; managers get rich and generations of students pay the price". Your conclusion is utterly bereft of common sense and logic. Despite the NYT's typically uninformed reporting on hedge funds (and business matter...

This is really sad news. EDIT: This is even sadder than I thought: In fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, 2009, Cooper Union’s hedge funds and other managed assets lost 14 percent, and the returns since then have lagged the stock market’s recovery. Today, Cooper Union’s endowment is lower than it...

You should call your broker. But you probably have unsettled trades. Look at the settlement dates on your trades.

It is interesting reading all of the comments lamenting that they missed the gain of the last couple months.Conversely,a couple months from now the market could be down 15 % and those who waited will be happy.I do not believe you have to be a robot and never think for yourself.To fund a roth or a s...

I couldn't decide when to make my 2013 IRA contribution in the beginning of this year. It seemed like the market was "too high" and I thought that I should wait for a "dip". Can you tell me, ProfessorX, how were you able to make this (quote above) determination ? Link: http://ww...

I'm sorry, but maybe I'm putting my nose where it doesn't belong . . .but according to Vanguard, the S&P500 Fund's inception was 1976. Where could one have invested inexpensively in the S&P500 in 1950? Who was offering it back then? If no one, or someone had to 'create' there own version, t...

$10K @ BlueNile. The same ring at Tiffany's would have cost me close to $25K. BlueNile also had no tax.

Happy Wife, Happy Life.

I couldn't decide when to make my 2013 IRA contribution in the beginning of this year. It seemed like the market was "too high" and I thought that I should wait for a "dip". I heard a lot of other people saying the same thing. I even think that I remember reading at least one big...

Sorry, here is the link to the case of the florida resident being sent a bill for a parent in Philadelphia. http://www.aarp.org/relationships/caregiving/info-01-2009/paying_for_momlittle_known_laws_force_families_to_fund_parents_care_.html I thought I had linked this article above - but it was one ...

dickenjb wrote:I live in PA. Right now I find the NY plan to be the best choice. Utah a close second.

Thanks!

Thank you, bornloser. Yes this post was meant as a serious question. It is a real concern of mine. To answer a previous question. My father has always been bad with money (maxing out credit cards, coming home one day with a BMW, etc), but it has somehow gotten worse in his retirement. And it appears...

Put differently: for a given level of risk, does having a $10 million portfolio allow you to create a higher expected return than if your portfolio is $500,000? If you are investing in index funds with say Vanguard. I think the answer to this question is NO. I'm sure there are plenty of people (adv...

It is very hard or impossible for you and me to "time the market." You are asking the Bogleheads forum on the internet to give you advice on whether or not now is a good time to "time the market". One of the first principles of being a Boglehead is "don't try to time the mar...

I don't know. Maybe someone else does around here. But I think you should talk to a lawyer in person. Many good lawyers will talk to you for 30 minutes for free as an initial consultation.

ddunca1944 wrote:It appears that the OP's father lives in NY. When I googled "filial support laws", NY did not show up as being one of the 29 states thst have these laws...

Yes, that was pointed out above by G-Money too (with a link in his case). Thanks again.

mptfan wrote:I did read it, and I did not make a fool of myself. Are there any filial support laws in the OP's state? Hmm....

Yes in fact there are filial support laws in PA. Hmm....

It's good that you have no control over your father and how he spends his money, because it is his money, and he can spend it or throw it away as he sees fit. It is not your money, or "the children's future education money", it is his money. And it is not up to you to decide if he is bein...

You want protection from laws that don't exist? Interesting. Perhaps there was a reason why I didn't answer your question. [Snarky comment removed by admin LadyGeek] Er... http://www.forbes.com/sites/feeonlyplanner/2012/08/13/new-financial-burden-for-boomers-forced-to-pay-parents-long-term-care-bil...

Talking to him doesn't help. He says that he will be happy to "live off social security" if it comes to that... I have no control over him throwing away his entire life savings in the next few years. So is there any way for a hardworking boglehead to protect themselves and their children'...

If he lives in New York, maybe you don't need to worry about it? http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/bulletin/interactive/filialpiety/ In addition, in some (many?) states, 401(k)s, IRAs, and/or 529s cannot be attached by creditors. So putting as much money in sheltered accounts as you can...

Bravo for dad. Statistics say he has 10 or 11 years left to live. If he is sitting on more than half a million in investments, plus some equity in a couple valuable properties, he is going to have to do some serious spending in order to use up all his assets within his remaining lifetime. As in the...

Ok. This post is partly motivated by the following article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/feeonlyplanner/2012/08/13/new-financial-burden-for-boomers-forced-to-pay-parents-long-term-care-bill/ Here is the story: My father had at the time of his retirement a good (over a million) but not spectacularly o...

Fair enough.

What? You don't think they can go after the nephew?

Yes, another question. Once you sign up for a plan, it is hard to leave it for a different plan, right? So even if fees in the NY plan are very low right now, that could change dramatically during the 20-30 year investment period. How can you protect yourself against "fee creep" in the fut...

You should look into whether or not there are "filial support laws" in your area.

Hi. My wife and I have a 10 month old son, and we live in PA. Our son has now got enough money as gifts so that we want to set up a 529 plan for him, rather than keep the money in a savings account. We are not currently planning to aggressively contribute to a 529 plan for him, but we do think that ...

Nowadays at least in Pennsylvania where I live, the law says that the lender has to credit you back any errors plus half of the difference. Call that strong motivation for the lender to try very hard not to make errors. So when I closed on my house 1.9 years ago I didn't know this, but I was happy t...

We did a lot more of these before we had our son than after.

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. As some of you suggested, it turns out (as I learned after I called them) that for some reason USAA is just switching over to a new "better" insurance (so they claim and whatever that means) and the letter is just sent out to follow Pennsylvania sta...

I got a three page mailing from USAA the other day. The first page is titled "Reference: New Homeowners Policy Will Be Issued". It is a weird form letter that says things like "Notice of contract changes" and "Review your homeowners policy packet for details" and "...

My guess is that Zillow's estimate is better in suburban areas where houses are further apart geographically. I live in a City, and home values based on geography can change very rapidly in a very short distance, say less than a quarter mile. It is my impression that Zillow does not do a good job ta...

No I use turbo tax. About 5-6 years ago. I "shadowed" my accountant by putting my information into the turbo tax web site, since it didn't take that much more time than what it had originally taken me to collect and sort the information for my accountant. When I got my returns back from my...

I just got an email from MINT informing me that Ally bank reduced their rate from the previous 0.9% to 0.84%.
Boo! Boo! Boo...
Since the economy is supposedly "on the rise" when are rates going to start "moving up"?

ProfessorX, as an audiophile and a Boglehead, I approach audiophilia nervosa the same way I do other hobbies that tempt me to spend too much. Just try to remember that after a point, there's a diminishing return to anything more you spend. There are legions of audiophiles who are constantly upgradi...

Read this: http://www.matrixhifi.com/ENG_contenedor_ppec.htm it might help. You'll see even experts can't reliably tell the difference between inexpensive "good" equipment and top end "excellent" equipment. Then take 2 aspirin and go to bed until the urge to spend more goes away...

tphp99 wrote:get married

have kids

That is not my cure, I am married and I have an eight month old son.

So I always thought of myself as a boglehead, not the strictest boglehead but a boglehead all the same. I max out my tax deferred retirement savings, I max out my families Roth IRA contributions, we save money on top of that... even though our house doesn't necessarily conform to the standards of &q...

I recently dumped ING/CapitalOne for Ally Bank. I realize that it is only a .2% interest rate difference right now, and given the low interest rates it will take a while to recoup the lost interest during the time it took to transfer my funds etc. But I feel better about Ally bank, and they seem cur...

I like Sherwin Williams personally.

Paint with primer, as long as its good paint.

SSSS wrote:

normal people

accumulates say 2 million in savings

Wow, I wish I were normal!

That was just a hypothetical example.

I was just reading this NYT article "Looking Beyond Income, to a Tax on Wealth" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/business/yourtaxes/a-wealth-tax-would-look-beyond-income.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 Note: I am not interested in discussing the proposed legislation in this article ...

We pay approx $145 including all fees. Comcast internet 25MBps download speeds. TV including the HD channels and HBO + Showtime. HD DVR box. 2nd any room DVR extender box. I had to get a bigger package of channels a few months back so that we could get nick jr for my son. We have no home phone. And ...

This is like eminent domain for companies.
You can buy stock,
but it is only truly yours as long the majority of shareholders and the private equity overlords agree with you.
Being forced to sell is similar to not really owning in the first place.

ING no longer exists, even in name. If you go to their log-in page, it is now Capital One 360 (ugh). I just transferred the last of my cash out of their system. My savings account is now at Ally Bank. (I get an extra .2% from Ally. But better than that Ally seems to currently be committed to maintai...

The question you should answer honestly to yourself is how would you respond to a 50% decline in the value of your stock portfolio? Would you keep holding on to ride it out? Or would you panic and sell? In either case, I am guessing that now is not a great time to change your AA given the recent sur...