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The Wizard wrote:We'd need to look at what historic P/E ratios for international stocks are compared to US.
Not immediately clear the two are comparable...

Where would we find that information, and the historic PE10?

Great speech. Thanks for posting. Here is one of my favorite parts... What’s the problem? It’s summarized in Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters.” Yet when a management firms is owned by a giant conglomerate (or even by public owners), the conflict of interest is palpable. When a conglomerat...

1% a year is a lot. The question you have to ask is whether there's any real reason a cookie cutter approach shouldn't work for you. I buy clothes off the rack, I don't have them tailor-made. I just download the binary for Firefox, I don't download the source code for Firefox and pay a programmer t...

1. Sell the condo. No question. 2. I would encourage her to take out the loans, especially if any of them are like the federally subsidized college loans people get (if that is even possible). Docs have a high rate of divorce/break up in the early stages of their career. I know too many of these peo...

MD assistant professors have two full time jobs: one job is 40+ hours of research, and the other is 40+ hours of clinical work. These academic MDs generally do not spend much time teaching, and spend little time with family (especially pre-tenure). So if you like teaching and spending time with fami...

Where do I find good information on PE10, both past and present?

+1 on your choices not being that bad. The S&P 500 index fund at 16 bps is a pretty awesome choice. I'd contribute more than just the match if you can, the ER is not that high at all. And while the JPM bond fund at 74 bps is considered outrageous for us Bogleheads, its not a terrible option if ...

My wife and I have wrestled with this over the years, during our working lives we have always worked for organizations seeking economic and social justice, as we saw it. Our experience with so-called socially responsible funds has not been good, as the screens often included corporations (selling u...

That S&P 500 fee is very, very, low for a 401k plan. If I were you, I'd put 100% of my 401k in that one lowest cost fund, and then balance out my asset allocation (for a classic 3 fund portfolio) in my IRA and taxable accounts. Here is one way to do it... 1. 401k: Spartan S&P 500 2. IRA: Van...

P.S. I have a quibble with the sound bite that says "You put up 100% of the capital, take 100% of the risk, and get 30% of the profit". The missing 70% was never there - it was taken in costs and likely consumed as income. But even granting that the fund managers took every dollar of fees...

You are lucky. The Vanguard funds are institutional funds with very low fees. I would go with them. You don't mention your asset allocation. I would use VINIX (S&P 500) and VIEIX (extended market to complete the S&P 500 fund) for the stock portion, and VIPIX (TIPs) and VBTIX (total bond) for...

I think the answer may be philosophical rather than directly financial. Most European counties are more Socialist than the US e.g. all European countries have socialized/government medical care. In some countries such as France, people are openly hostile to companies in some industries such as oil ...

you are probably right gasman, and i've never dealt with Mednax personally. i read their website. i guess my point is that if push comes to shove i'd rather be an employee of a monstrously large multispecialty group with experience managing physicians than a bunch of short-sighted pencil pushing ho...

But don't ever drop liability! Agreed! Many bogleheads can afford to self insure for loss of property, but most cannot afford to cover the costs of liability, which can be a few orders of magnitude higher. I wish there was a homeowner's policy that just covered liability (much as there is for car i...

A crude analysis... Lets say the 30% chance of serious car wreck in a lifetime represents the average total financial risk covered by the extra insurance, and we calculate that as 30% chance of a total loss of the car's value. Lets say the lifetime of car driving is 70 years, and the extra cost of t...

Yup -- I actually came here from the wiki link. Fidelity's Spartan funds seem to have an equivalent to everything Vanguard offers for anyone trying to set up a stock index tracking, and it's great. At the FI end of the spectrum though, there is less equivalence. Choices, choices... Yes, if you stic...

I don't believe in the distinction between needs and wants, except in the most trivial sense (needs being air, water, temperature regulation, enough calories, etc.). Today's needs are yesterday's wants. I usually think of "need" in the sense of "requirement." So if I need to hav...

mhc wrote:OP,

welcome to the forum.

You are correct that you can trade off "expected returns" for lower risk/volatility. Just increase your bonds while decreasing your equities.

I second this.

2. If you have a low beta job (stable and uncorrelated to the stock market), you can afford to have a higher beta, more equity oriented portfolio. This is a common thing discussed among tenured university professors. Many do get more aggressive knowing that they will always have a good jobs and cou...

Go to a hummusiyot. These mom-and-pop hummus places are amazing. They are everywhere and take hummus to a new level.

Putting aside the issue of whether or not to tilt, if you are tilting, either strategy is just fine. I use VBR just for convenience of doing it all with Vanguard funds.

stan_the_man wrote:

wilked wrote:If I paid $150 a week I would be doing backflips, not writing notes

Ditto!

Ditto again! Wow that is cheap. Basically half price. That religious university sure loves children (and apparently heavily subsidizes them).

I would hardly call 10% inflation hyperinflation. If we ever do get hyperinflation, I bonds will be a super deal. I hope we never have that experience. Phillip Cagan, in The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation, defined hyperinflation as a monthly inflation rate exceeding 50%. 10% per year is hardly...

"If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right" Funny, I was going to post the exact same quote from a book just finished, http://lauravanderkam.com/books/all-the-money-in-the-world/ The book is a little cliche'ish, especially for BH's but the point is just a...

This research article answers much of your question... "If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right" Elizabeth W. Dunn, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia Daniel T. Gilbert, Department of Psychology, Harvard University Timothy D. Wilson...

Lower ERs on fund of funds would be nice, but I suppose I'm happy for the fund of fund folks to subsidize the people who are willing to manually rebalance. However, a rebalancing tool would be great. That way I can set it and forget it like a TR fund at admiral prices, and still get the TR people to...

My vote: do nothing. The four fund portfolio is ideal, and adding to it is just gilding the lily.

Chicago is a great town, and there is no need to own a car there because it has big-city transportation. I agree with others that Zipcar and the CTA trains and buses are ideal for you. Owning a car in a big city is a big, time-wasting pain. Parking in the city is tough and expensive. It is faster in...

Tmobile requires that you spend about $100 once for the first year, and then $10 each year after than to keep the minutes rolling over. So $100 in year 1, and $10 in year 2, 3, 4, etc. E911 DOES give the operator your address. There is much discussion about different E911 services and configurations...

The key here is to only give out the Google Voice number . All calls to the Google Voice number will be forwarded to the mobile phone. The next step is to purchase a cell phone from TracFone . It is best to purchase one that includes triples minutes for life. 1,500 minutes costs $199.99, but with t...

The key here is to only give out the Google Voice number . All calls to the Google Voice number will be forwarded to the mobile phone. The next step is to purchase a cell phone from TracFone . It is best to purchase one that includes triples minutes for life. 1,500 minutes costs $199.99, but with t...

This thread should be required reading for anyone considering law school. I am constantly amazed by how accurate and insightful the professionals who post here are.

PROS and CONS, ETFs v FUNDS : http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=767441#767441 , Also : http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investing_FAQ_for_the_Bogleheads%C2%AE_forum#Should_I_use_mutual_funds_or_ETFs.3F . These two links pretty much cover it. For long term investors there's practically n...

A lot of good advice here. A few thoughts: 1. Lots of T-14 grads who did not graduate in the top 30% of their class are having a very hard time getting jobs. I know a few, and it is very stressful for them to work for less than they made before law school with all those loans. If you are not in the ...

We live pretty far below our means. We are lucky.

2.5% on mortgage.
2.5% on taxes, insurance, upkeep, and maintenance.

One of the main reasons to work hard for a high salary is so you can afford the good things in life, LIKE STAYING MARRIED. If you can't spend a high salary on that, then what is money for? So you feel the Paper Document and the Laws of the State constitute 'STAYING MARRIED'....My wife and I have a ...

One of the main reasons to work hard for a high salary is so you can afford the good things in life, LIKE STAYING MARRIED. If you can't spend a high salary on that, then what is money for?

In the last 12 months, VTI (Vanguard Total Domestic ETF) is up 13.33%. In the last 12 months, VXUS (Vanguard Total International ETF) is up 6.15%. In the last 12 months, VGK (Vanguard European ETF) is up 10.43%. In the last 12 months, VPL (Vanguard Pacific ETF) is up 8.9%. In the last 12 months, VWO...

I suspect the word "minimalist" is a synonym for "frugal" on this post. Well i have proof that i am a minimalist as my wife uses another synonym......"cheap". For me, a "minimalist" is someone who only values things that have true value (things that contribut...

We're buying stocks now. But not because we expect them to go up. We're buying them because we think we're getting good value for them." Anyone else find this statement curious? Why? Capital appreciation isn't the only way to get value from a stock. Agreed. I'm curious what he had in mind [spe...

Bogleheads are universally against trading in penny stocks as an investment strategy. I would recommend reading the great book The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing [Paperback] Taylor Larimore (Author), Mel Lindauer (Author), Michael LeBoeuf (Author), John C. Bogle (Foreword). Also, I'll add a +1 on lo...

I don't think of my Ibonds as investments at all, so they are neither good nor bad investments. I think of them as a safe place for the part of my Asset Allocation that is not subject to (stock or bond) investment risk.

There is a similar situation going on right now on one side of my family, and my cousins are stressed and in disagreement about what to do in the long term. My cousin's mother (my aunt) inherited enough to live comfortably until death, but spent it all by the time she was in her mid-60's. The proble...

It is a ton of both skill and luck. But there are 1000 people with skill for every one big success story in many industries.

A 3 fund portfolio is all you need...

http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

Vanguard total domestic and total international funds are perfect for you, and tax efficient.

henry wrote:Toyota Avalon
Hyundai Azera
Buick Lacrosse
Lexus ES

If shopping new, pick the trim with the smaller wheels and higher profile tires. These tend to ride softer/better...and tend to be less expensive as well.

I agree with Henry entirely.

So many of these stories I have heard from family and friends. I have had two (somewhat distant) elderly family members who (independently and on opposite sides of the family) inherited large amounts of money at the age of 50, and should have been able to live comfortably until death, but overspent ...

Combined domestic and international...

15-15-15
09-09-06
17-11-05

Vanguard Total Domestic (VTI) is by itself...

24 24 25
6 6 7
3 3 3

So Bustoff has a large and mid value tilt, but tilts away from small.

Domestic 00-00-00 09-09-01 46-27-08 Foreign 00-01-00 27-16-10 22-14-08 Overall 00-01-00 18-13-05 34-21-08 empb, I understand how you get the small value tilt in domestic (using VBR would work), but how do you get the small value INTERNATIONAL tilt? VSS and Vanguard International Explorer couldn't d...