Bogleheads.org

Larry (and Alex):

When I retired, I decided to help others. Your forum gave me the opportunity.

Thank you for bringing it back to usefulness.

Best wishes.
Taylor

Over the hill wrote: I'm looking for long-term data, which shows that the strategy actually produces a favorable outcome over long periods of time. Using past performance to predict future performance is such a lousy idea that the government requires mutual funds to tell you it's a lousy idea. It is...

Monsfdmm: Welcome to the Bogleheads Forum! Research has shown that the best predictor of future (category) returns is "low cost" (it is not "past performance"). Morningstar admits that "low cost" is better than its Star Ratings for predicting mutual fund returns. Your &...

DM wrote: i recently logged onto first command and saw that I do still have about 3K in a roth with them. Their online services seem to be nonexistant. How can I go about rolling that over into my Vanguard Roth? Contact Vanguard. They will do most of the work for you. Do it now. Best wishes. Taylor

I'm basically on the fence here. Somebody push me over one way or the other, please! Dan: To reduce costs, consider this solution: If the bond portion of your portfolio is $60,000 or more, use 50% (Admiral requires $50,000 minimum) TIPS, & 50% (Admiral requires $10,000 minimum) Total Bond Marke...

Hi Dan: In answer to your question, I can only tell you why I exchanged our long held, Vanguard intermediate-term TIPS fund to the new short-term TIPS fund: * I think the decision whether to own a short-term TIPS fund vs the original intermediate term-TIPS is similiar to the decision whether to own...

Blues:

Thanks for the wake up call, Taylor.

You're welcome.

Best wishes
Taylor

Taylor, It sounds like you expect the same drop in bonds that others expect, and if so, why not just move to a money market fund or something with no risk? Also, what are your thoughts about moving money that is in VIPSX into this fund, Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund Investor Shares (VFS...

stylebox wrote:

Now I'm more of a three-fund sort of guy (after some reading and some help from the great people on this board - thanks guys!).

nmlegere:

This is a link to the Three Fund Portfolio:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=88005

Best wishes.
Taylor

Bogleheads: Our mentor, Jack Bogle, wrote in Common Sense on Mutual Funds : " Stay the Course is the most important single piece of wisdom I can give you." Stay the Course are also the last three words in the last chapter of The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing. Vanguard concurs: Staying the...

Bogleheads:

Recent article featuring the Three Fund Portfoio:

Investing With a Three Fund Portfolio

I like the ending.

Best wishes.
Taylor

Scooter:

I doubt if index funds, especially total market index funds, are affected by their large size. This is because they have extremely low turnover and don't buy (or sell) individual stocks/bonds in large chunks thereby causing negative "market impact".

Best wishes.
Taylor

Casey:

The Three Fund Portfolio already holds the market weight in gold and precious metal mining stocks.

Strive for simplicity--not complexity.

Bogleheads invest -- not speculate.

Best wishes.
Taylor

Bogleheads: I see several posts about "yield." "Yield" is a two-edge sword. In bonds "higher yield" nearly always means "higher risk." Inasmuch as bonds are primarily for safety (it's more efficient to use stocks for higher return), Bogleheads should be wary w...

Sheepdog: Thank you for the alert. Because of this higher risk profile, we recommend that only investors with well-diversified, balanced investment programs consider the new fund for a portion of their overall holdings. (Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declini...

My employer offers a 457(b) pre tax retirement account. I have maxed it out every single year for 6 years. I also have a little chunk in my Roth. To be honest, I cheered when the last stock market crash happened. I knew I was getting a bargain every time I purchased another monthly installment. Now...

JM and others:

Thank you for remembering.

Best wishes.
Taylor

In your opinion is it sufficient to own the Vanguard Total World Fund along with the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund 50/50? If so how do the returns compare to the 3 fund ( total stock market index fund, total international and total bond market index fund) 33/33/33 portfolio over time? Mr. B...

Your thoughts? Dulocracy: You may be "overthinking" something that does not have a knowable answer. In any event, either type IRA should be significantly better than a taxable account. You may find this Morningstar calculator helpful: http://screen.morningstar.com/IRA/IRACalculator.html B...

What do you guys think about this? http://w3.newsmax.com/a/aftershockb/video47b.cfm?promo_code=110D8-1 Read the PARTIAL AND FULL DISCLAIMERS carefully: DISCLAIMER: THIS REPORT AND PUBLICATIONS DISCUSSED ARE INTENDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES AND ARE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE...

SGM:

Natixis ASG Diversifying Strategies (DSFAX) is a good example of a very complicated and expensive fund designed to attract gullible buyers who think that complexity will help them "beat the market" (it has lagged far behind).

Best wishes.
Taylor

London Jimmy:

Please ask questions about your personal portfolio on the Help with Personal Investments forum.

Thank you and best wishes.
Taylor

Bogleheads: In my opinion, no man has done more for the individual investor than our mentor, Jack Bogle. This is a tiny selection of what others have said: Nobel Laureate, Paul Samuelson: "Bogle's reasoned precepts can enable a few million of us savers to become in twenty years the envy of our ...

Bogleheads: The "last crash" and subsequent recovery, once again, impressed me with the knowledge and experience of our mentor who wrote in Common Sense on Mutual funds (underline mine): Stay the course. No matter what happens, stick to your program. I've said "Stay the course" a...

Bogleheads: Mike Piper is editor of the Oblivious Investor. He is also a Boglehead who was on our Panel of Experts at the 2012 Boglehead Conference. The current edition of his Oblivious Investor helps answers this important question: Does a Bond Fund’s Yield Tell You Its Level of Risk? Thank you, Mi...

Bogleheads: Adjusting our asset allocation based on stock valuations is a form of market timing aka tactical asset-allocation. This is what Mr. Bogle, our mentor, wrote in Common Sense on Mutual Funds: The idea that a bell rings to signal when investors should get into or out of the stock market is ...

These books changed my life for the better: Tarzan series: Developed my interest in reading at a young age. How to Win Friends and Influence People : A great help for getting along with people. Fountainhead: Helped me become more "inner directed" vs. "outer directed." Random Walk...

Bogleheads: This is part of the Conclusion of a new Vanguard Research study: Investors should recognize that lower expected bond returns have not altered the fundamental relationship between risk and return or the role that a strategic bond allocation has in reducing equity market volatility. Reduci...

Bogleheads:

I am a computer klutz. Whenever, I run into a technical problem on the forum, or need guidance on our wiki, Lady Geek is who I first turn to.

Lady Geek's contributions to our Bogleheads Forum are immeasurable.

Thank you and best wishes.
Taylor

1210sda wrote:Today on TV, some talking head stated that since the Dow was at 15,000, it was now "a stock pickers market."

Whenever I hear that, I know someone is trying to sell me something.

Best wishes.
Taylor

Bogleheads:

If I didn't say it before, I will say it again:

There is more than one road to Dublin.

Best wishes.
Taylor

ProfessorX: Most of us have an investing lifetime of 40 years or more. I started investing at the age of 26 in 1950. The S&P 500 fluctuated between 17 and 20 in 1950. Today the S&P is over 1,600. Lesson learned: It doesn't matter when you invest. Do it now and stay the course. Best wishes. T...

Larry: Thank you for your article titled: "Market sets new high on flash crash anniversary." Once again we are reminded of Jack Bogle's sage advice: "Stay the course. It is the most important single piece of investment wisdom I can give to you." -- Jack Bogle "Stay the cours...

Firefergy: The only two vanguard funds it offers are VFINX sp500 index and VBTLX total bond market. These are two great funds in your 457 plan. You will probably outperform (risk & return) most investors with these two funds alone and with a bond percentage equal to about your age minus 10 or 15...

One school of thought (Larry Swedroe) is against HY and would prefer to take that risk on the equity side. Another school of thought (Rick Ferri) allocates a portion of the bond side to HY. My take - stick with one of those plans - you'll be better off doing that than waffling back and forth betwee...

Hi Don: I agree with Grabiner. You will find this tax-equivalent yield calculator helpful in determining whether to use Total Bond Market or a tax-exempt bond fund with similar (credit & maturity) for bonds in the taxable account. http://screen.morningstar.com/BondCalc/BondCalculator_TaxEquivale...

Is it a good time to buy VGPMX since it is the only Vanguard stock fund that is down year to date ? Would this fund be a hedge against future inflation after the fed is done with its' printing money ? jdrmlr: Bogleheads are not market timers. In 1995 Vanguard's Gold Fund (now called Precious Metal ...

I get the feeling that we are in unprecedented territory here and that no one (not even the experts) has a clear-cut answer on what to do with fixed income asset allocation at this point in time. Investormom: You are right about "no one has a clear-cut answer." There never is a clear answ...

Hi all, I'm an infrequent poster here at Bogleheads (though a daily reader), so I may not be the best person to post this, but I noticed tonight that grabiner is rapidly approaching 10,000 posts (at 9,995 as I write). I hasten to add that these are (or will be!) 10,000 detailed, rigorous, thoughtfu...

Although they still create the impression that the only alternatives to bonds are stocks, REITs, high yield bonds, and MLPs. True to them managing billions but not to retail investors. The forbidden words shall not be spoken. tfb, can you speak the forbidden words? :wink: Are you speaking of CDs or...

Bogleheads: In another Topic I was asked: What was the "inspiration" for the three fund portfolio? This is part of my answer: My interest in investing is inherited. My grandfather, Christopher Foster Coombs, was one of three principals heading United Founders Group , the largest group of i...

Sarah:

July sounds good to me.

Please notify Josh and work out a place & date.

Thank you for all you do.

Taylor

Bogleheads: Vanguard continues to significantly outperform its competitors. Vanguard funds in each major asset category exceeded the average returns of their competing fund peer groups (as determined by Lipper) over the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods ended March 31, 2013. Performance report: Vangua...

Tom: Thank you for adding the fund names. I agree with Grabiner. Tax-Managed Balanced Fund is a good fund for a taxable account but it has disadvantages that can be avoided by locating tax-inefficient funds in tax-advantaged accounts and tax-efficient funds in taxable accounts. Best wishes. Taylor

Hi Josh: Welcome to the Bogleheads Forum! Your portfolio is not clear to me. You wrote: "We have saved about 250k over the past ten years." Then you wrote: " My wife and I decided to invest 100k for our retirement and plan on putting in about 10-15K each year." When structuring a...

Tom: It will be helpful if you edit your post (button in upper right) to show fund names alongside the ticker symbols. Few, if any, Bogleheads have memorized ticker symbols. It is difficult to give specific advice without more information. Use the format in this link: ASKING PORTFOLIO QUESTIONS Than...

Bach: Buying funds based solely on their past performance is one of the worst things an investor can do. Your answer is in The Retirement Gamble: It’s this simple: Fund fees can erode as much as half or more of your prospective gains. For the sake of dramatizing the point, John Bogle, founder of Van...

Strep: I would like our seasoned investors to educate me. This is what seasoned investors say: "The stock market will fluctuate, but you can't pinpoint when it will tumble or shoot up. If you have allocated your assets properly and have sufficient emergency money, you shouldn't need to worry.&q...

I personally suspect he is not giving away all that he knows for free.

Prune:

If he gave it all away, I couldn't understand it. He's too darn smart.

Best wishes.
Taylor

My concern is about the logic of the asset allocation. Ilan: One of the most important lessons I have learned is that once we meet our financial goals it is MUCH more important to keep what we need instead of taking unnecessary risks trying to get more. It appears that you have accumulated sufficie...