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We are looking at doing some modifications to our trust and are seriously considering putting a third party as executor of the estate. Many reasons but one is that I have seen far too many family fights and break ups over estates even those with well laid out plans. I am hoping that a third party ex...

I have looked into using an On Line banks as they seem to offer rates better CD rates than brick and mortar banks. Neither Barclays or ING will allow me to open the CD up as a trust. Can anyone explain if this applies to all on line banks or just the two larger ones I looked into?

Thanks

Taylor

Curious why you chose Target rather than Life Strategy?

Thanks

John

Lady Geek Thanks for the clarification. KyleAAA I think one of my motivations is to have some exposure to TIPS which are not in the LS offering. You can use a Target fund but that puts you on the glide path which over time alters the AA from your original choice. Googling AA I ran across a Taylor po...

I am very seriously looking at doing this as well.

Just to be sure Lady Geek are you are referring to 15% of the bond allocation invested in TIPS versus 15% of the entire amount?

Gort

Thank you for posting this question I have been looking at a way to do this.

My objective was to simplify my investments and not require yearly re balancing. The LS 60/40 with 10% TIPS is spot on

Thanks to all and Happy Holidays

RYD

Nisiprius

Thanks for getting me turned around I had it very wrong

Curious any views on Vanguard Hi Yield grade funds. Yields are good.

Tempted by rates but bonds are for safety to a large extent.
RYD

Thanks for the input.

One question is isn't Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment Grade Fund, VFICX, a type of junk bond fund? I thought invetmen grade was a nice name for junk or lower quality. Good yields but safety concerns.

I am looking at using Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF to balance the Government bond % in the Total Bond Market Index Fund. To be candid I have never used ETF. Other than being able to be traded at any time versus end of the day sale with index fund are there any other issues I should ...

Thanks Benginner


RYD

What does ceiling penetration mean?

WOW lots to think about. My home is a single story ranch. No attic just a space between the ceiling and the arch of the roof. We are in the San Francisco Bay east area. Winters we do get frost, and summers can be hot. The issues of moisture barrier and ceiling lights are good I had not thought of ei...

The roof is composite shake. Drywall in the house

I am looking at insulating my ceiling. My home is 40+ years old and I suspect the insulation is not all that great. Question is it really worth it to insulate the ceiling? If so what is the best type to use? Seems there are a lot more options that the Owning Corning pink stuff I am familiar with. Th...

Thanks to all of you for your work

Great Job

John

Congratulations

Extremely well deserved a great site!!!

Keep up the great work

John

Suggest you look at Vacation Rental by Owner web site

I know people who rent a condo in Palm Springs each winter for a month and get it through that site. I have used it for renting homes for weekends and for a week at a time. Overall good site

Anyone us Virgin Mobile they have some low cost plans with some limits but were more than enough for my usage. They use VZ network. You do need to buy your own phone

RYD

Taylor Well stated and insightful as usual. I read today that CALPERS the Cal retirement fund achieved a 1% return last year. They have an extremely complex investment fund usisng hedge funds, LBO, real estate, VC and more than I could ever imagine. Maybe they should look at thte 3 fund portfolio or...

James SFO

Did you move for tax purposes or you just enjoy managing your account or another reason?

First thanks to all for their comments and insights. Seattle CPA your post captured the reason for my planned move to a Target account Arctic I do not think the issue is Target account rather it is picking one with the correct AA. Ignore the years and position pick by AA that you are comfortable wit...

As I get closer to retirement I am looking at moving the vast majority of my investments in a Target account that matches most closely my AA going forward. I have for many years been invested in Vanguard Index funds and have rebalanced and such but I am asking myself why should I continue to do so i...

VOIP or Voice over IP is a bit of a confusing term. Comcast and others offer VOIP at prices close to AT&T but a bit lower. The extremely low prices like Magic Jack are what are called unmanaged services. Difference is Comcast and others can guarantee bandwidth for the call thereby insuring a cer...

Thanks for the noe on the article. I guess I hit the target area. After telling them this was none of their business the woman told me she had to tell her manager of my response. I said that was fine . I have not heard back. If banks think selling high fee annuities and their overpriced poor perform...

We have been receiving calls from Chase Bank where we have a couple of CD held under our Trust. They have asked us to provide the value of the entire trust and what is our yearly income. These struck me as rather odd questions. My response was "in all due respect this is none of your business&q...

Add another vote for SanDisk. I have an older Sansa and it has been great. They may not get the publicity that Apple has been they perform great and are far less expensive.

We have replaced a few of these on rentals. The home owner is responsible for the line from the home to the sewer. It is not overly expensive if you use a company that does not retrench a new pipe but rather breaks up the old pipe and then runs the new one in the same trench. This is a new method an...

Madbrain We manage our SFH's and condo ourselves. To be fair we hire almost all repair work out and my wife is at home. We did use a PM for the multi unit building. Our experience was not good but do not judge by a sample of 1. We have friends who own apartments both in the Bay Area and Humboldt and...

We have owned multi family units, homes SFH, and condos for rental. My experience has been that single family homes are the most stable and easiest to rent. Multi family is great in that as noted you have multiple income streams to cover the mortgage and other costs. A SFH when it is empty you loose...

Thanks to all for the input. I am tending to the roll style.

Cheapest and overall seems the have fewest issues. Given that I an DIY challenged I will n all likelihood hire someone to install.

Thanks to all again for the great info

RYD

I am looking at adding ceiling insulation to my home. At present it is poorly insulated and I have looked into the various options and to be frank I am aconfused. Blow in versus rolled versus who knows what. I want to get a good insulation that works well and is not too expensive. The roll in folks ...

Add my vote for Craigslist. I have used it many times over the years with good results. Take a look at the local paper and you will see very few rentals, that is not where people go to find rentals today in my view they head to Craigslist.

Selecting the correct person is up to the landlord.

I have had an office in this type of environment a few times in my career. Overall it worked well. You need to understand all the costs. One I was in would not allow fax machines and charged you for all faxes that you sent or received. Another also required you lease the furniture from them. I did n...

I have never owned commercial property but I have owned residential properties for many years. You need to consider maintenance, insurance, tax and vacancy for a start. What type of lease do they have now NNN or what. Can it be increased ? Who manges the property? Are they a good tenant? 15 years lo...

Interesting I see Steve Forbes on Fox every Saturday morning when I am at the gym advising the government and business what they should do. Maybe he is not someone we should be taking advice from as it seems he was not a good steward of his own operations.

I have a question, when people say they are living on 2% or 4% are they referring to taking the actual principal or is that in reference to using he dividends and interest that the investments earn. I am not clear on that.

Thanks

sscritic Interesting idea and I like calling the president of the HOA and not complaining but understanding the scope of the problem as well as what actions are being taken by the board and the management group to recover payments. If the bank has foreclosed the property the bank needs to pay the HO...

stan1 I do not think the issue is with the management group rather it is a math problem cost are fixed if less pay those who do need to pay more. None the less I am planning on speaking with them early next week. I would guess this is not an isolated case as people go into foreclosure they stop payi...

We received a letter from our condo management group that our HOA fee will be raised this year and again next year. The reason is that many owners are not paying their fees so those that are need to pay more. I suspect but am not sure that those not paying are in the process of getting foreclosed an...

I have not chosen to use ETF due to articles I have read about "leveraged ETF's" they would seem to add risk. Admittedly I am not all that knowledgeable about them but that issue raised a red flag for me.

Curious are Schwab ETF leveraged?

John

I have been told that diesel engines last longer than gas and are more simple. It seems that buses seem to go on forever and many are diesel. Second in Europe diesel is quite common and the cars and taxis run extremely well. I was told they use "blue diesses". Unclear to me what that is or...

On the membership front I think there is a big difference between a CC requiring an upfront payment and monthly fee as well as quarterly food charges vs signing up on a yearly basis for a monthly fee with unlimited golf. As I look toward retirement the monthly fee looks quite interesting. The up for...

I am working to get to 50/50 rebalancing from 60/40 as I age. The returns from what I have researched are relatively close on the above AA but the down side and income is a bit more attractive at 50/50. The issue I now need to better understand is RMD and the tax issues. Overall I like the idea of u...

Yes I have accounts are fully taxed deferred IRA, 401k in the mix

Skibbi9

I plead ignorance what is an RMD?

Bogleheads, I am starting to plan for retirement and am confused. Upon reviewing my various accounts and investments I can live quite well on the income they are producing. This would allow me to not touch the principal. Is this a good plan? It allows me to keep the principal in tack in the event I ...

If the noise around you is bad I suggest head phones or ear buds and stream music. Quite nice As to phone calls a good high quality head set with over the ear capability will solve you phone issues. In addition it will save your neck and back I have had both a cube and office and yes an office is ni...

The entire music industry is a financial mess. Downloading has gutted the industry. Their content is basically free today. The concert industry with its associated t-shirt sales is the way they make money. The other option is licensing deals. Far different than the record/CD business of a few years ...

Two questions 1. the off brand gas stations must buy their gas from major refiners as they do not have refining capacity so the gas should be good. from above is there something in the tanks that can affect it not clear to me. If so could that not be the case in name station 2. on the issue of dirty...

As noted earlier two topics to avoid on polite conversation are politics and religion. A friend did add " and another mans wife " as well