Bogleheads.org

by larryswedroe » Sun May 26, 2013 8:32 am Wild Willie Here is nice piece by John Cochrane re Kessler's piece. FWIW, IMO Cochrane is one of our best financial economics, and those interested might want to check out his "debate" with Krugman. A classic I recommend bookmarking his blog http:...

In line with the discussion on this thread (I think) is a column in Friday's WSJ by Andy Kessler. This is my interpretation of what he claims: Kessler claims that the Fed bond buying is actually limiting the liquidity available for certain "lenders" to lend. He states that since these &quo...

The S&P and Dow at an all time high, the bond bubble is about to burst. I just couldn't take it anymore, I moved everything...................................in the front of my poor brain to the back of my poor brain, fired up my truck, hooked up the boat and went fishing. Guess the fish were wa...

Speaking from experience, it doesn't pay to try to guess when the bond market will turn (as has been said ad nauseum by the bogleheads on this forum who I greatly respect). I have "stayed the course" with 100% in VTINX (except for emergency fund) for three years and have been very satisfie...

I was told by VG that it is going to be in effect for the third quarter of this year.

I read this article yesterday and just saw this thread. If I could be so bold as to "cut to the chase" (as it were), I didn't see anyone discuss the alternative suggestion mentioned in the article about another SWR strategy, that being the one that suggested one use the IRS actuary tables ...

Got a "bud" who filed with BP for oil damage to his coastal property (just land, no structure on the property). Appears the settlement will exceed his cost basis in the land considerably. He was wondering how the payout will be viewed by the IRS when he claims this payout next year on his ...

As some of the posters have alluded to, the best part of all this besides the obvious increased diversification IMHO is the reduced duration in the TR funds due to changing the TIPS fund to short term TIPS. That, and the decrease in the allotment to MM funds, make this a win/win IHMO, especially sin...

As some of the posters have alluded to, the best part of all this besides the obvious increased diversification IMHO is the reduced duration in the TR funds due to changing the TIPS fund to short term TIPS. That, and the decrease in the allotment to MM funds, make this a win/win IHMO, especially sin...

Oops, found a separate topic on this exact subject:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=109763

Heard on a news program that effective today (I think) merchants, 'sticks and bricks' and also online merchants, can begin charging all credit and debit card purchases up to 4% additional charge, but they have to disclose it at time of purchase. That will pretty well kill all my points I accumulate ...

The ultimate simplicity for retired folks (like me).......100% VTINX, Target Retirement Income Fund. Love it. Willie: I agree that Vanguard's Target Retirement Income Fund is ideal for retirees who are in a low-tax bracket or have all their savings in tax-advantaged accounts. Yep, that be me. 8-) V...

The ultimate simplicity for retired folks (like me).......100% VTINX, Target Retirement Income Fund. Love it.

I purchased a similar set made by RCA for the same price from the local wallyworld. Works great.

Whew! Finally got something right

Didn't think it was possible to move an IRA into a 401k although I know you can do the reverse, i.e. roll a 401k into an IRA. Perhaps I'm wrong. Yes, you're wrong. From IRS Pub 590: Kinds of rollovers from a traditional IRA. You may be able to roll over, tax free, a distribution from your tradition...

Didn't think it was possible to move an IRA into a 401k although I know you can do the reverse, i.e. roll a 401k into an IRA. Perhaps I'm wrong.

Oops, meant a 401k.

As info, I handle my bro-in-law's IRA at VG and when I initiated a withdrawal today (first one for 2013 obviously), VG have me the option to withhold for Louisiana taxes for the first time. I have been asking for this option for several years, but prior to this, they only withheld for those states t...

Let me jump in here with a different wrinkle: My case is different in that I am retired and make no contributions during the year, only withdrawals. The formula I use is (end + withdrawals - start) / start. Now, I realize that doesn't allow for the interest or dividends or appreciation effects of th...

DM200: I was planning on keeping the durations short so redemption prior to maturity shouldn't be a problem. I'm just trying to do better than the dismal return of money market funds for my short term cash. Are the returns of the cd's offered by VG competitive with banks or credit unions or should I...

I know a phone call to VG could probably answer this question, but they seem to be pretty busy today with year end stuff and since I was already perusing this forum, I thought I would ask the group. The CD's that VG offers, are they new issues or do we purchase them on the secondary market? Just won...

All good points. Probably prophetic as to what decision I will eventually make, I noticed that there were zero respondents who thought my idea was a possible wise decision. I expect that I will still play around with the idea for awhile longer before I give in to the consensus and agree that this is...

Nedsaid: thanks for your comments, but I'm not hedging against precious metals, my intent is to hedge against inflation. Since 70% of my present ira is in bond funds which I know will take a hit on the nav when interest rates begin to rise, I was looking for a way to preserve some of my principal fo...

same here, I went 100% into the TR Income fund two years ago and couldn't be happier. I did it for the same reason you are exploring it and I was only 65 when I did it. Total return ytd is 7.8%. What's not to like?

Letsgobobby and Alan S. THanks for the comments, didn't think about RMD (which will start in about 4 years), but there will be sufficient $$$ in my other IRA to take care of that, Yep, thought about liability insurance and will need to check into that also. Regarding personal use of the land, that's...

Been exploring the possibility of rolling over some of my IRA $$$ to buy some raw land as an inflation hedge through a self directed IRA because I "think" precious metals are in a bubble. Found a custodian that will process the purchase, etc., but looking for info to be able to judge their...

Looking for comments about this topic. I just discovered that if you follow the IRS rules (which are substantial and somewhat complicated), you can rollover funds from an existing IRA to an IRA with a custodian that will allow you to invest in such things as precious metals, real estate, etc. Don't ...

Just watched the video. What a great man with so much common sense. Thanks Mel for posting this.

My answer may not exactly the OP's questions, but I think I have the "best of all worlds" cuz I exclusively use the Target Retirement Income Fund (VTINX) which combines total bond, tips, international and domestic equites. Up 7% YTD.

Not one fund, a mix of 26 different investments, like CAIBX, AHTFX, DBLTX, AEGFX and a bunch of other no load, but somewhat high ER mutual funds and four ETF's. After reading about WARAX, I'm guessing that the investment strategy is similar but different.

To all: Thanks for all the comments. No, it is not one fund, it appears that it is a custom portfolio that they offer to many of their clients and while there is no load, WF charges 1.25% to manage the portfolio and the average ER of the underlying funds is .80% hence my comment that she is being ch...

JP, yes, but I only get a 22 second message and then it ends.

thanks for the response, but I couldn't get the podcast to play.

Anyone ever hear of this portfolio? I did a search and didn't find anything. It is apparently a Wells Fargo product and it is being highly recommended for my sis-in-law since my brother's death. They were previously invested in it and the returns have been very good, but with the management fees and...

Good to know. Thanks

In retirement and I have been 100% in Target Income for the last two years and have been extremely happy and yes, I know that we haven't had a real down market since I've been invested that way. Even so, when I looked at how TR Income did during the 2008-9 debacle, I'm still happy. One question for ...

Also, why is everyone applauding taking out a loan to give the 'beneficiaries' something before you're dead? In other words, why aren't the 'beneficiaries paying the interest on their new found 'fortune'? Down here in lower La., we call that "giving with a warm hand rather than a cold hand"...

I found this very helpful

https://retirementplans.vanguard.com/VG ... ggCalc.jsf

Update: FA aka salesman has advised that there is no surrender fees and that the VA returned 5% in the one year it was invested. Additionally, there is a death benefit of $15k that will be added to the 5% (of $100k initidal investement) bringing the total of the VA that will be paid out to his widow...

Alan, he was 67, died last month, she is now 68. Never even thought about RMD and whether she should roll the IRA over or leave as an inherited IRA. Can you explain the signicance of the two options please?

Thanks

I have posted before about helping my brother's widow with her investments now that my brother has gone on to the "happy hunting grounds", but that post was about life insurance proceeds. Now I have a question because I just learned that his advisor convinced him to invest in a variable an...

why the big drop with VAIPX? Did it go ex-dividend today?

Taylor, my service was much later than yours. You and your colleagues were an inspiration to us as we served in Vietnam. Thank you for your service to our country. You are a true patriot.

Here is the limited info I have on their portfolio: it is invested with a Wells Fargo FA, mostly in American Funds, all in tax deferred IRA. I think it is about 60/40 stocks/bond funds. He also has an immediate annuity of about 1/4 of the total portfolio with a death benefit equal to about what they...

without giving any more details than necessary, my sister-in-law will soon need some advice regarding the proceeds of a life insurance policy and my brother has asked me to help her decide how to invest it. This will, of course, be after tax money and the goals will be capital preservation and ROI. ...

I "bit the bullet" about a year ago and went 100% Target Retirement Income Fund VTINX. Couldn't be happier. Not making much, but not losing either. At my age, 65, it's all about capital preservation IMHO.

+1 After 30 years of fiddling with different components of my AA, I have settled on this fund, and no longer 'second guess' my asset classes. Choosing to invest in Index Funds was my first step.....Then 're-thinking' every Asset Class every year was just as 'money losing' as investing in individual ...

Being the OP on this thread, I thought I might make the following concluding comments: 1) After being "educated" by both this blog, reading and rereading and rerereading my sister's annuity contract, I have learned so much about annuities that I could probably sell the darn things (just ki...

"I’m going to call AVIVA tomorrow & see if I can get some answers. "Agent" (name redacted) says can’t do email takes too much time going back & forth with questions. I will ask him about the class action settlement regarding this fund" Above is a quote from my sister's l...

Just received an email from my sister, the agent/salesman still doesn't want to answer in writing, but now he is willing to go to her home to meet with her and explain everything to her and if necessary, he will talk to me telephonically while he is there. I told her that she needed to push him to r...