Bogleheads.org

Rob5TCP wrote:To add to Alan Roth - I believe he charges an hourly fee as opposed to % of assets.

Rob, maybe I misunderstand, but I thought that was the very definition of a fee-only advisor. Do you know his hourly fee ?

Thanks for the suggestions, all.

I have been self-managing my portfolio, with Boglehead principles and advice from this board and elsewhere, but have long thought a consultation with a fee-only advisor would be a good idea. Looking at this: https://investor.vanguard.com/what-we-offer/investing-help/choose-the-help-thats-right-for-y...

In my opinion, the best finishes are the so-called Swedish finishes, also known as "conversion varnishes": http://www.glitsa.com/documents/Glitsa_CVSystems.pdf For some reason, this approach seems to be popular only in the Pacific Northwest, and it can be hard to find floor finishers who h...

alisa4804 wrote:Back on topic ...

Yes, I suppose I'm guilty of the thread-hijack of the month. Sorry.

This is probably too political, but since you're curious and/or indignant, I'll try to explain at least where I'm coming from - and let the mods do as they se fit. [Off-topic and political comments removed by admin LadyGeek] But of course you deserve your pension, just like anyone working any other ...

Early Retirement forum: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f21/ Watch out though, the folks over there are extremely biased about Early Retirement. Lots of emotions, but that's what you asked for. Because cops and military can generally retire with a full ride (courtesy of your tax dollars) aft...

Yes, but I'm saying it makes more sense to just generate that watt if you can do so with a simpler and more versatile technology: PV solar versus solar hot water. PV is simpler because there's no moving fluids, and more versatile because the electricity can power things other than your hot-water he...

With regard to solar heating, any watt you don't have to use is a watt that doesn't have to be generated. Yes, but I'm saying it makes more sense to just generate that watt if you can do so with a simpler and more versatile technology: PV solar versus solar hot water. PV is simpler because there's ...

The Bailey settlement provides deduction for entire pension provided you had 5 years of service in 1989 (I forget the exact month). It sounds like you are in the Bailey category. I had 5 years of service by 1989, but I switched from the state retirement system to the ORP in 1988, so I'm not sure. I...

I use H&R Block at Home software, so I can't answer how TurboTax works. In H&R Block, there are questions in the state return about whether the pension is government, non-government, or Bailey qualified. TurboTax asks the same questions. Like I said, the problem (with deducting my federally...

If your water heater is in the crawlspace, the issue of "having room for something else" is moot; if your water heater has gotta be in the living space, then the compact size of a tankless is a plus. Where did you find a 50 gallon Bradford-White for $250? Everywhere I checked, they were in...

NC gives a $4,000 deduction for government pensions. If it is non-governmental, then it is a $2,000 deduction. If it is Bailey qualified, then that is a total deduction. I'm in NC and have a state pension (under the Optional Retirement Program). It has always been my understanding that ALL the pens...

Also, tankless is good in theory, but more expensive and not many people are trained to repair; parts have to be ordered, not usually in stock. With "endless hot water", showers can stretch longer using more hot water. I read these tips/info a few days ago on this forum. Someone provided ...

retiredjg wrote:A Mac.

(Yes, you can reach through the computer and smack me up-side the head for that smarta$$ answer. )

But a very simple and helpful answer.

You can just hit "continue" without entering the charity's address. It'll bitch at you once, but just hit "continue" again. If you get audited, hopefully you have a receipt with the address. As others have pointed out, I think TT just gives you the option of entering a bunch of t...

Not quite comparable, but I trashed a tire (naughty boy, driving on a bad dirt road) and rental car co billed my for $100+. My Penfed VISA covered it (but I think it's any VISA). A fair amount of paperwork, but not too bad. Not sure how it'd work on a much larger claim. Good luck.

I don't know if anyone else has posted this ultra-cool graphic:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011 ... aphic.html

In the process of trying to search to see if it'd already been posted, I came across a post where someone asserted the 7% thing.

I disagree it's almost certainly a good thing. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. The OP is taking social security so after he quits working he has no pure 15% bracket. A lot of his conversion is going to be effectively taxed at a 27.75% (+ state) bracket. I'm sorry. I meant to say (and will edit my post...

I may be missing things. ... Television offers only what someone else deems important and at the pace it can deliver it. I prefer my choices of what to investigate, my pace of delivery, and my depth of study. Maybe I wasn't clear. I don't have cable. I watch these "long-form movies" by ge...

I am not at all interested in TV shows .... You're missing a lot. TV has gotten a LOT better since you had a TV (I'm referring mostly to Cable TV, not network, which, with a VERY few exceptions, has gotten even more atrocious). I would put shows like "The Wire", "The Sopranos", ...

If you drop to the 15% tax bracket, converting up to the top of the 15% bracket is almost certainly a good thing. To do this, you'll need to know just what your taxable income is before you do the conversion. Since you will be new at this, nailing that down may take some effort on your part and the...

My main concern would be maintaining the ability to tax loss harvest between VEU/VXUS as those are the core of my taxable accounts. I think this tax loss harvesting would still be allowed given the change. Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU) -> FTSE All-World ex US Index ->2267 stocks Vanguard ...

A related question, for those of us who "bunch" our deductions, is the legality of paying a property taxe bill during a year other than that in which it is assessed. My county bills property taxes in September of each year and they are technically due shortly thereafter; however, they are ...

So before 2012 is out, I'll buy enough of certain medical supplies to last me through 2013 (e.g. saw palmetto). Saw palmetto? Are you getting this through a doctor's prescription. Over the counter drugs and health supplements are not deductable items. Yes, I got my doctor to write a prescription fo...

Gonna use it bigtime in 2012. Semi-retired with AGI not that high. Had to replace dental crown, and got LASIK. And getting very creative about "bunching" my medical expenses - similar to bunching deductions in general, so you push them into every 2nd year. So before 2012 is out, I'll buy e...

Doesn't work at all on Google Chrome on OSX.

My question is this: can I refuse dental x-rays (for whatever reason) ... Perrhaps I misunderstand your question and apolgoies if so ... but, what kind of sheep have we become if we have to ask if we can refuse a medical procedure ? ... and if so can the dentist then refuse to see me? Seems like I'...

I have a Terx deck, on the second floor, high in the mountains. No humidity. Very sunny spot. It's about 12 years old and looks terrific. Unfortunately, this material doesn't work in humid climates. Did you mis-spell Trex, or are you talking of a different product ? How does it "not work"...

This is one of the factors in the perpetual argument about what age to begin SS payments, no ? Assuming you're going for a certain total income (probably inflation-adjusted), if you wait 'til an older age and get larger SS payments, you need less income from your other investments to hit your total....

A lot of people repeat the line that bonds should be in tax-advantaged accounts. My notion is that Roth money is precious, because of the tax-free status of any growth and earnings. Therefore it should have an AA similar to my entire portfolio (because, after all, that also is precious). So I tend t...

Thanks for the ideas, folks.

My father, who died 40 years ago, was an avid stamp collector. I did it for awhile when I was a kid, but lost interest nearing adulthood. Of course my mother left it to me in her will (not that my other siblings were interested). I have done nothing with it. Rumors circulating between the time of my...

Muchtolearn wrote:Why would you put annual statements in a safe deposit box? They are all kept online and available forever.

Yeah, or just download the statement PDF, and keep those in a folder you backup well (including perhaps as part of a once-per-year DVD that goes to safe-deposit box).

Vanguard has a page of foreign tax credit information , but this page still has the 2010 information for now, so you can only use it as an estimate. Sure, but I owned VEU (my only foreign fund in taxable account) in 2010 anyhow, so I can just estimate based on that. It still seems bizarre to me tha...

The actual distribution is now available on the distributions tab of the main page for each fund/ETF, e.g.: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0991&FundIntExt=INT#hist=tab%3A4 For foreign fund/ETFs, I wonder if there is any way to know what the foreign withheld is, before act...

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, dogs in the Iditarod run about 100 miles per day for about 10 consecutive days. Sure they're top athletes of their species, but I'm pretty sure no human can come close to this feat of long-distance running (never mind while dragging a sled through the snow)....

I think the scientist (the same ?) went on to remark that humans, of both genders, generally tend to pay particular attention to the gluteus maximi when evaluating the physical suitability of potential sexual partners. Really ? I can't tell you how disappointed I am at the lack of any witty rejoind...

Walk breaks are fine. Especially for building up. Army friend recommended "sixty-thirties" to me. You sprint hard for 30sec and walk for 60sec; rinse and repeat. The idea is that you keep your heart in the training zone most of the time, but only pound your joints 1/3 of the time (plus I ...

Walk breaks are fine. Especially for building up. Army friend recommended "sixty-thirties" to me. You sprint hard for 30sec and walk for 60sec; rinse and repeat. The idea is that you keep your heart in the training zone most of the time, but only pound your joints 1/3 of the time (plus I ...

I recall hearing a similar story a few years ago. I think the scientist (the same ?) went on to remark that humans, of both genders, generally tend to pay particular attention to the gluteus maximi when evaluating the physical suitability of potential sexual partners. As a backpacker and mountaineer...

Even dogs that didn't know me and came out to chase me off didn't last long. Well, perhaps you're a pretty strong runner, and perhaps the dogs just got bored. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, dogs in the Iditarod run about 100 miles per day for about 10 consecutive days. Sure they're top at...

Yeah, I wish they hadn't quoted it that way; is that new this year ? I really am (and I suspect most of us are) interested in a good-faith estimate on the final dividend payment. But we have to figure that out on our own, and I'm not quite sure how. For a fund (or ETF) that pays a quarterly dividen...

I suspect that VTI will end up seeing an increase since it is only for income up to 11/30. Yeah, I wish they hadn't quoted it that way; is that new this year ? I really am (and I suspect most of us are) interested in a good-faith estimate on the final dividend payment. But we have to figure that ou...

Another interesting followup on the quote titling this thread ... My buddy went through Army boot camp a couple years ago. They teach them some military history, and he was told that the Japanese admiral went on to cite the US Civil War and the way we invented new weapons and merrily slaughtered our...

The Japanese treated POWs in the most evil ways imaginable. Terrible. The excellent book "Ghost Soldiers" talks a lot about this, and about the first successful US Army Ranger mission, which liberated a big POW camp in the Phillipines. The success of the mission, both in liberating the pr...

I'm a Dropbox user for some things, but the following article about a pretty large security issue is giving me second-thoughts. It's worth bringing up for disclosure's sake: http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static-host-ids/ Bottom line is that if malware gets your config.db fil...

I use a combination of home-stored USB drives (in a locked closet like an "owner's closet" in a rental house), Dropbox.com, and USB drives secreted in my car (behind an interior panel that is removable in a few seconds). For the latter two, I encrypt the entire drive using TrueCrypt (excel...

I am not sure one can have fast recharging at low voltage. Can't drive through the amps? Sorry, I haven't plowed through the whole thread, so maybe this is mentioned. An Israeli guy (I saw on Charlie Rose) is starting an electric car company based on the idea that you go into his recharging station...