Bogleheads.org

John...I like perusing the Boglehead board for "Advisor" questions every now and then, just for the expense ratio humor.

Thanks for posting!

Isn't the Wellington Fund actively managed as well? This is a solid fund with a very low ER, as is Wellesly.

Hi Khale: Speaking from experience, I am reading in-between the lines that you are a guy that wants to enjoy life, probably likes to travel and have a few recreational toys....that was me in my twenties and early thirties too. It is a balance that you have to find, mostly by trial and error, to have...

TEAM Bogleheads: My 457 plan at work has begun the option of a SMA. I wanted to jump right into this option, naturally and select low-cost Indexing funds from Vanguard through the window. The problem is the fees: "Annual plan fees of 26 basis points + $50 annual maintenance fee" This is in...

SkierMom never thought she would be discussing laundry detergent on a financial website. SkierMom doesn't normally speak or write in the third person about SkierMom. SkierMom has tried just about every laundry detergent previously mentioned. SkierMom still prefers TIDE over Whisk, Gain, and that che...

Eee gads. Yuck.

+1 on the comment above. I would do a conservative AA between the Fidelity Contrafund and the Wells Fargo Bond.

mmmm interesting - Maybe I am thinking about this incorrectly. If I check our year-end statements more closely, we may indeed NOT be avoiding capital gains taxes. I do make the transfers between accounts at Vanguard. I suspect that Vanguard sells the mutual fund shares first, then usisng the cash, p...

To Peter Foley

Not sure about the transfers between brokerage accounts, but we shift our long term capital gains earnings from our Vanguard Taxable Account into our Vanguard 529 accounts for each daughter.

Does not have to be cash.

My 2 cents - Don't get hung up on the State that is sponsoring the plan. Everything is done via electronic transfer or mail anyway. Moving physically to VA has no benefit over investing in that state-sponsored 529 plan than investing in the Utah plan. We are in CA and invest in NV 529 with Vanguard,...

Sure I follow the three fund portfolio.....with a splash of REIT and Emerging Market ETF.

To me, this updates Jack Bogle's three fund approach into the 21st Century.

Hey Bogleheads. I am looking for opinions on the projections for college costs. THe Vanguard College Calculator defaults to a 6% annual college cost increase. I'm looking at others, i.e. Bankrate.com and the like and the rates often are at least 5% if not higher. My question for BH's is, how realist...

Perfect. Thanks I figured it out.

Do you use Mint.com exclusively as a replacement for Quicken?

Anyone upgrading to Mint.com?

I concur EmerGenc Dr.

A household with $40,000 annual income will be eligible for all sorts of financial aid.

Those of us with healthy incomes $175,000 per year annual need not only the tax advantages of a 529, but use the beauty of compounding interest and time to our advantage to afford the same.

Are your student loans Federal or Private?

If Private student loans, I would pay these off before anything else. They are too much of a burden, and potentially can weigh you down in more ways than you know....

Good on ya, epilnk. This might be the topic of another thread, but while I have the attention of 529 investors, having two 529 accounts per kid could have the possibility of over-funding college saving. To me, aiming for about 80-85% of projected college costs leaves room to get any possible tax-ded...

I don't usually recommend this but since you are showing good money management acumen, why not try to obtain a 0% credit card to transfer the car loan, particularly if you intend to pay it off within the intro rate period (6 months). I've been getting a ton of offers in the mail lately and a few of ...

Only Boggleheads can give the answer I need. I have both a 401(k) and a 457(k) available to me through my employer. There is no employer match with either. I differ about the maximum each year to this account, about $16,500 per year. I am 46, married, with a combined income of $185,000 before taxes....

1,622.22

Run Away! Run Away! This Salesman, er "Financial Advisor" may be a great guy, but ultimately he has no fuditiary responsibilty towards your parents. At a minimum, find a for-fee planner that can advise on an hourly basis berhaps once or twice a year. Use the Garrent Financial Planning Netw...

mmmm, the value of the share price on the chart does not reflect the bond yeilds reinvested (?)

Hi Ronk; My thinking on this may be too simplistic. Personally, I don't get the urge to pay off mortgages early with fixed 30-year rates at 3.5 %. Money is so cheap right now and the future holds a pretty definative chance of inflation. My husband and I, with secure jobs, recently purchased a new ho...

Thanks everyone. I actually enjoyed reading all the posts and am more confident about my knowledge of Bond Distributions.

Now, are Twinkies a good Investment for my portfolio?

And what do you all think about Edward Jones?

Kidding......I'm kidding.

Sorry for posting the question. I feel neophytish.

Ah, the Taxman Cometh.

So if distributions are re-invested, do the fund balances go up tomorrow or do I just have more shares?

Hi Bogleheads;

Is there somone out there that can explain the recent volatility with the Vanguard Wellesley fund? What is causing it, and is it a bellweather of bond volatility for 2013?

5-Year Performance = 7.8%

Balanced funds made up my core holdings, Wellington and Wellsley. Portions in the GNMA fund, Small Cap Index, and Dividend.

Children's 529 accounts in the STAR portfolio.

My father currently writes checks to deposit into my daughters' 529 accounts at Vanguard on a regular basis. They are now 7 and 9, and the deposits total about $1,000 per year. I question if, my father sets up ownership of 529 accounts in his name with my daughters as beneficiaries, if this would be...

I have to laugh at Radaudit's reply. When my Father-in-Law passed away last year, he left a good chuck of money ($900,000) to divide amongst his three sons, one of which is my husband. My husband's brother proceeded to bager us to invest with his EJ saleman, er, Broker, using the same phrasing, &quo...

[quote="retired"] Example: If I am currently holding a Mutual fund like Thornburg Investment Income Builder(TIBAX) and wanted to compare to Vanguard Wellesly Income(VWINX) how would I do this? I know that the Thornburg fund has a front load of 3.5% and a very high 1.21% expense ratio but i...

The ER used to be .25%. They recently lowered it to .17%. I see from the NY529 website that New York has two sponsored 529 programs; one is broker-sold and one is direct sold via Upromise and Vanguard. The Admin fee for the direct-sold plan did recently drop from 0.25 % to 0.17 %, however, this is ...

One more thing, California recently (this year) revised the state 529 plan. The CA 529 is now administered by TIAA-CREF, with new lower fees. I am not sure how long ago you researched the state plans or what data you looked at, but the CA sponsored plan may warrant another look-see. Still no tax bre...

I am a CA resident as well - in my research of 529 plans the lowest fees charged by any state-sponsored plan is Utah. Iowa is also low, as is Nevada. I may be incorrect in my memory, but I think the NY plan is purchased only through a Broker (definate no-no as you will get hit with loads even though...