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Considering Cash (other than immediate spending needs)... My emergency fund is (4 months) in cash - some at local bank (2 months), then another 2 months in a web bank (earns a bit higher interest) then my last 2 months is actually invested in Wellesley Income fund at Vanguard. My 403b and rollover I...

#1 thing to consider is diversification... Vanguards Total World fund breaks it down like this: 10.6 Emerging Markets 22.6 Europe 15.2 Pacific 0.30 Middle East 51.3 North America (good old USA and Canada). I would suggest somewhere around 50% In US Equities (Max). Anything more than that and you are...

== Dulocracy wrote: To save money, my wife makes our detergent. Her recipe is: 1 cup Borax 1 bar Fels Naptha 1 cup washing soda use a tablespoon per load (2 for extra large or dirty loads) == My wife does this and makes a huge (5 gal bucket) of the stuff, then she pours it into gal jugs for easier u...

Dave Ramsey recommends the perkstreet debit card...

Details below:

http://www.perkstreet.com/account_home. ... ramsey-HI6

Trev H

I marked "0"... We love to go out and eat and usually do that a couple times a week. There is no place in my small country home town where you can drop that kind of cash for a meal for two. About the worst damage you can do is 50-60 bucks (including tip). Now we can drive 60-70 miles to an...

Scooter57.. Historical stock returns are just that... What you could not do in 1929 is not really relevant to what he can do today going forward. Stocks may not return what they did in that timeframe, in fact probably will not, and his cost going forward will sure be much less than it was in the pas...

Brian... There is really no way to know what is going to do best the next few quarters, years, etc... Most of the time when you place that bet you are going to end up wrong. Your best bet is to simply diversify and stay the course (rebalancing occasionally)... I would suggest you consider a US / Int...

When I was in my late 30's was in very similar shape to you... We had our daughter 5 yrs old and had just had our second (a son)... and while my wife was on maternity leave we looked hard at her staying at home after her leave and decided to do it. My wife works as a Radiation Therapists and makes g...

Adding asset classes, 1 component at a time... building a S&D Portfolio Yr 1 = FTSE X-US International Small Market Yr 2 = US Small Value Index Yr 3 = Total International Index Yr 4 = US Large Cap Index When ready for bonds... add... InterTerm Treasury Bonds TIPS If you are going to be a Lumper ...

Some facts from the past... Historically speaking a couple of the most brutal market down turns were 1929 (and a long string of years that followed) and then 1973-1974. If you happened to be so unlucky to start investing in 1929 and you retired in 1974... that is a span of 46 years. You were 20 year...

I worked (that's right worked) and saved my own money and bought my first car - a 55 chevy with a 325 engine - for 400.00. Now that was back in 1977 and my Father and Mother both worked hard and did all they could to provide for 4 kids but they could not just go out and buy us a nice new or even a g...

Wellesley Income with it's 35% Stock /65% Bonds allocation... 1970-2012 Has outperformed 100% Total Stock Market & 100% Total INternational Stock Market indexes... CAGR's 100% Wellesley - 10.03 100% TSM - 9.75 100% Total Intl - 9.79 It has also outperformed any combination of TSM, Total Intl and...

One more... Home Country Biased Lumping... VS ... Global 3 Factor Diversification (with reduced equity exposure) Trev H 70% US Market 00% Intl Market 30% Total Bond ================ 10K Growth $498,352.22 CAGR 9.52 StDev 13.02 Sharpe 0.39 Bear Market 1973..-11.85 1974..-17.14 2000...-3.98 2001...-5....

1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) Fixed allocation of 30% Total Bond. International Market exposure ranging from 0% to 50%] Trev H 70% US Market 00% Intl Market 30% Total Bond ================ 10K Growth $498,352.22 CAGR 9.52 StDev 13.02 Sharpe 0.39 60% US Market 10% Intl Market 30% Total Bond ========...

A couple of things are not even considered in my definition of diversification...

What feels comfortable, and what Mr Bogle thinks...

Trev H

I have been 50/50 on US/Intl for quite some time now and have never regretted making that decision. I do the same with other areas of my equity allocation too.. 50/50 Large/Small 50/50 Market/Value 4 Funds, 25% allocation to each, EASY on rebalancing... Simple, Global, 3 Factor Diversification. Trev H

C4NT, 1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) 35% TSM 35% Tot Intl 30% Total Bond ============== 10K Growth $554,430.12 CAGR 9.79 StDev 13.38 <------*** Sharpe 0.40 Bear Market 1973...-10.76 1974...-15.77 2000....-5.75 2001....-8.36 2002...-10.14 2008...-26.88 30% TSM 30% Tot Intl 10% REIT 30% Total Bond ===...

It is an EXTREMELY BAD idea to leave property to family members with multiples owning it and having to try and get along and decide what to do with it. Listen to me folks.. NEVER - EVER - Do that ! If you have written up a will including stuff like that - CHANGE IT ! I have had the bad experience of...

Looking at M* X-Ray... 50% 500 index 50% FSEVX (Ext Mkt Index) 15-15-16 09-09-12 08-08-08 (not bad... I would consider this one.) 50% 500 Index 50% FSSSX - Small Cap Index 15-15-15 03-03-04 13-17-17 More of a barbell approach, which would not be bad except that your small cap fund actually does tilt...

My conclusion (after studying the data intently for years) is to go 50/50 on US/International. Not so much because of CAGR, or any of the other stats... but mostly because of diversification. It's also simple (rebalancing is easy), and it's near Global allocation which IMO is more diversified than f...

airahcaz... That is correct... over longer periods of time (historically speaking and considering 1927-2012)... bonds reduce returns, and well of course reduce volatility. Back during (1929) and for about a 17 year period following the great depression, a mix of stocks & bonds performed better t...

Below are some mixes of Total Markets (50/50 US/Intl) working in Total Bond. Again 1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) TSM...TotIntl...TotBond...10K.Growth....CAGR....StDev...Sharpe ============================================================== .50......50........00.....614,701.63....10.05...18.68....0.3...

Agree with others... it could be a lot worse (mine is)...

Suggestion...

1/3 each, Mid Cap Index, DFA Intl Value, US Gov Securities...

The total ER would be right at 0.75

And that would be decently diversified.

Good Luck !

Trev H

Here is a few crunches from that data set on TSM and Total Intl... 1970-2012 (annual rebalancing). 100% TSM 545,800.07 = 10K Growth 9.75 = CAGR 17.86 = StDev 0.34 = Sharpe 100% Total Intl 555,573.65 = 10K Growth 9.79 = CAGR 22.92 = StDev 0.30 = Sharpe 75% TSM, 25% Total Intl (annual rebal) 595,712.6...

Below is the data for US Total Stock Market and Total International (returns 1970-2012). Again in CSV format so you can pull into excel and have at it. Data Source.. TSM = US Cap Weighted Market: ============================= 1970-1992 CRSP Market Decile 1-10 (-.19) 1993-Forward Vanguards Total Stoc...

Something that is very important to growing good, healthy veggies... SUNSHINE ! A lot of first time garden attempts do not do so well simply because of site location. You need to locate your garden so that the "sun shine on it" time is maximized. Pick a spot where the sun hits it early, an...

If you are like most you will hold some position in US Large and International Large (markets)... and then seek to add components to diversify, reduce volatility, increase return, sharp, etc... Considering Vanguard Fund options... (and looking at equity only mixes...) the best components to add (to ...

Community Garden ??? Must be a city slicker thing... :-) We live on 30 acres out in the country and I own another 200 acres that I grow mostly timber on, some food plots for the wild game, but also lots of deer, turkey, squirrel, etc.. I grow tomatoes.. my favorite big tomato is burpee's brandy boy ...

I used to collect data.. and below is the Callan Table data from 1980-2012 (in CSV format). You can easily cut and paste that into Excel and have at it... Trev H == YEAR,LCV,LCB,LCG,SCV,SCB,SCG,REIT,EAFE,BND 1980,23.59,32.50,39.40,25.39,38.83,52.26,24.40,22.60,2.71 1981,0.02,-4.92,-9.81,14.58,2.68,-...

My wife is a radiation therapist and one of their department doctors invited their staff and spouses to a Christmas dinner/party at their house (up in Franklin TN...).. It was back in a very nice hilly area... and the Dr's house was in the 10,000 sf range size wise and on the top level he had a obse...

Another thing... If I were going to hold a combination of Wellesley and Wellington and mix in other funds. I would consider adding 4 funds in equal weight US Small Value Index, FTSE X-US International Small Market, InterTerm Treasury Bonds, TIPS. A 50/50 Mix of Wellseley and Wellington gives you a s...

You really need to compare Wellesley to other funds with similar stock/bond ratio's... Fund.........YTD....1YR....5YR...10YR ===================================== Wellesley...2.86...9.54...7.94...7.64 TR Income...1.72...5.79...5.33....... TR 2010.....2.78...6.87...5.00....... LS Inc......0.91...4.78...

livesoft...

correct - that is for the whole mix US and Intl.

Trev H

US Equities

25% Large Cap Index
25% Small Value Index

Intl Equities

25% International Value
25% FTSE X-US Intl Small Market

X-Ray
14-14-13
11-11-07
15-10-04

Trev H

bobby... EFV = iShares EAFE Large Value X-Ray 56-29-06 06-02-01 00-00-00 Problem is that it is Developed only, no EM. You could add in a slice of Vanguards EM index to get that exposure back though, and combine that wtih Vanguards FTSE X-US Small Market to complete the international holdings. If you...

My Wife is not a nurse, but instead selected one of the more Tech routes... She is a Radiation Therapist and also does CT Simulations. She worked a few years when we were first married, and when we had our first baby she changed to part time, and when we had our second, she decided to quit work, sta...

PS... several years ago I saved a example of Robert T's portfolio... == US Large Cap Market 5% US Large Cap Value 10% US Micro Cap Market 5% US Small Cap Value 20% Intl Large Cap Market 5% Intl Large Cap Value 20% Intl Small Cap Market 5% Emerging Market Large Cap 10% US Intermediate Treasuries 10% ...

Brad... Yes I do.. 25% Large Cap Index 25% Small Value Index 25% International Value (which includes EM) 25% FTSE X-US Intl Small Market (which includes EM) X-Ray 14-14-13 11-11-07 15-10-04 If Vanguard offered a International Large Value index fund would I trade that component... Absolutely ! Or if ...

Below is a decent way to go global with size/price diversification without a intl sv fund considering etf's... 25% VV - Vanguard Large Cap Index ETF 25% IJS - iShares Small Value 20% EFV - MSCI EAFE Large Value (Developed Only) 10% VWO - Vanguard EM Large 20% VSS - Vanguard FTSE X-US Intl Small Cap ...

I bought a Flobee back around 1992 and have not paid for a hair cut since. http://www.flowbee.com/ Best I remember it cost around 50.00. I cut my hair something like a dozen times a year... so the total number of haircuts now would be around 254. 50.00 / 254 = 0.1968 So since 1992 the average cost o...

1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) P1 = 50% TSM, 50% Total Intl 10K Growth $614,701.63 CAGR 10.05 StDev 18.68 Sharpe 0.35 Bear Market -16.74 1973 -25.44 1974 -13.09 2000 -15.56 2001 -18.02 2002 -40.57 2008 P2 = 40% TSM, 40% Total Intl, 20% Total Bond 10K Growth $583,193.59 CAGR 9.92 StDev 15.12 Sharpe 0...

VWINX (Wellesley) perhaps a humble offering from Vanguard, but man it has kicked some serious Total Market Booty ! 1970-2012 Wellesley Income 10K Growth $610,212.16 CAGR 10.03 StDev 8.98 Sharpe 0.57 Bear Market 1973...-3.49 1974...-6.43 2000...16.17 2001....7.39 2002....4.64 2008...-9.84 A similar s...

1970-2012 60% Stock / 40% Bonds - Portfolio Comparisons In each case a 40% Allocation to Total Bond TSM = Total Stock Market SCV = Small Value ILB = Total International ITB = Total Bond First a look at mixes of US and INternational Market (only) for equity. TSM...SCV...ILB..ITB...10K.Growth...CAGR.....

Are small caps necessary... not if you consider the performance below to be acceptable. 1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) 60% US Large Market 40% Total Bond 10K Growth $470,708.08 CAGR 9.37 StDev 11.30 Sharpe 0.42 Bear Market 1973...-7.66 1974..-13.30 2000...-0.88 2001...-3.84 2002...-9.99 2008..-20.23...

My simple 4x25 equity allocation... 25% Vanguard Large Cap Index (domestic) 25% Vanguard Small Value Index (domestic) 25% Vanguard International Value (international including em) 25% Vanguard FTSE X-US International Small Market (international including em) 14-14-13 11-11-07 15-10-04 Half Large, Ha...

1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) 60/40 Portfolio (Example) Lumper 40% TSM 10% REIT 10% International Large 40% Total Bond 10K Growth $535,823.38 CAGR 9.70 StDev 10.76 Sharpe 0.46 Bear Market 1973....-9.14 1974...-12.76 2000.....1.40 2001....-1.80 2002....-6.21 2008...-20.91 ======================== Or...

Keeping your bond allocation the same - below is a suggestion I would make for tweaks to the equity side (increasing your international equity exposure including size diversification). 20% Total Stock market 10% Small Cap Value 10% REIT 10% FTSE Ex US (Large) 05% FTSE Ex US (Small) 20% TIPS 25% Shor...

Below are some Excel Formulas that I use. 1970-2012 Sample: TSM....=...Asset 9.75...=...CAGR 17.86..=...StDev 0.34...=...Sharpe 1.00...=...US Market Correlation 0.67...=...Intl Market Correlation 54.58..=...Growth of $1.00 CAGR (PRODUCT(1+B3:B45/100)^(1/COUNT(B3:B45))-1)*100 StDev STDEV(B3:B45) Shar...

Bustoff... Not sure this will help but in my 1970-2012 data set, I listed below the annual returns for Total Bond and CPI-U and also show the calculated difference in those returns. Year..VBMFX..CPI-U...DIFF ========================= 1970..11.88...5.92...5.96 1971..12.98...4.30...8.68 1972...5.48......

SnowSkier... I don't have the returns for US Extended Market back to 1970.... But 40% TSM, 20% Ext Mkt I expect would be very similar to... 45% TSM, 15% Small Market I did the comparison below considering that small tweak. 1970-2012 (annual rebalancing) 45% TSM, 15% SB, 10% REIT, 30% Total Intl 10K ...