Bogleheads.org

I'm curious why Ameriprise is so successful in getting clients. More reps for face-to-face contacts? Yes. I think this is part of their success. They also recruit clients/victims aggressively. I think the Bogleheads are a very rare breed and that the vast majority of the American public is financia...

I am currently in the process of overseeing the transfer of my parents assets from Ameriprise to Vanguard. We are about half way done at this point. Vanguard was quick once they received the necessary notarized forms. A couple of variable annuities remain. I'll follow-up later with an update on how ...

I also vote to AVOID AMERIPRISE !!!

This also supports the views of David Swensen (Unconventional Success) and Larry Swedroe (Only Guide to Winning Bond Strategy) who advocate US treasuries, in part, for this very reason. However, I have never seen this graphically before. Thanks for providing this. It's a good reminder when everyone ...

I agree! I try never to miss one of his posts because I always learn something useful.

Always insightful. Always thorough. Always boils the complex down to something simple enough for me to understand.

Never snarky.

Thank you David for all that you contribute!!

Winthorpe

I answered "more aggressive". I am 90% stock at age 45, which is the top boundary of the reasonable range, but I have the risk of a 100% stock portfolio, overweighting small-cap, value, and emerging markets, and losing 60% in 2007-2009 with essentially the same allocation. I'm the same as...

Axes are not labelled. What are they? I guess horizontal axes is number of children and vertical axis is percent house value of net worth? I don't understand your proclivity towards snark and how you think it benefits the readership of these pages, but maybe the problem is mine. I had the same prob...

I would like to have a Vanguard checking account, similar to Schwab's high-yield checking account. Other banking type services? I'm not interested because all I use at any bank/credit union is checking. Not a big deal, but it would be nice for simplicity/consolidation to have more accounts at a sing...

Unless these are "high-end" speakers, it's quite likely that it would cheaper and easier to simply replace them. I suspect macrwd is probably correct. If these are super high-end speakers, it might also be cheaper to replace the wife before putting the replacement/repaired speakers at risk.

Nancylee,

I also think you would benefit in a huge way by doing the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. Go all in, get your husband on board, and you should be able to clean things up. However, once you get to the investing part, leave Dave behind and get much better advice here.

Good luck.

I'm a pharmacist. Throughout most of the country, the job market for pharmacists is pathetic right now. In my area, it's saturated. This will make all the more difficult for your friend. Like another above, I would suggest going rural, to an underserved area. I would also suggest this person focus o...

mephistophles wrote:I think you have a grave concern.

I agree completely.

I vote for Kauai or Maui.

I would work until I was 70 at my job if I could work 3 days a week (at 60% pay of course). But for some reason, most of corporate America doesn't seem to offer this plan, so instead I'm working 5 days a week, and saving a ton, so I can retire at 55, and do what I want when I want. You know, it's n...

Anyway, here is what I'm thinking of doing. Instead of paying off my mortgage early (currently $166k and 10 years left) and losing significant liquidity, I was thinking of placing my "house money" into long-term tax-exempt and just leaving it sit there. I would cash-flow mortgage payments...

I am sticking with Vanguard. Here is why I am staying with commision-free Vanguard ETFs with Vanguard brokerage, even if the Schwab ETFs could save me $3 or $5 per year... 1) Vanguard does not earn profits at the current ERs, so for a for-profit company like Schwab to undercut Vanguard, this is a lo...

My wife and I had all this done a couple years ago by a firm that specializes in estate planning/probate/guardianship law. I purposefully did quite a bit of research to find somebody who seemed to have the most experience locally in estate planning law. The total paid at the very end was $1500 for a...

The best I can tell is that the two funds are currently very similar, in terms of interest rate risk. Intermed-term duration 4.9 years long-term duration 5.9 years. I believe what is going on is that the effective duration as computed by Vanguard includes the probability that the bond will be calle...

Vista has been working great for my needs since 2008. No plans to change any time soon.

I need the expertise of the Boglehead community to let me know what I'm missing, if anything. As the two funds currently stand, what is the difference between Vanguard intermediate-term tax exempt bond fund and long-term tax exempt bond fund. The best I can tell is that the two funds are currently v...

Jerilynn wrote:If you freeze with one bureau, does it automatically apply to the other 2?

No. You must freeze with each of three bureaus separately.

A credit freeze is best. Anything else is of much lesser value.

Clark Howard says you should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NOT EVER give credit card or bank account info to collections agencies. He would recommend you 1) Get a written statement from the collections that if you pay those amounts the debt will be reported to the 3 bureaus as "Paid in full" 2) ge...

How do you categorize the following? 1) Swiss pharma company with 80% of sales in the US 2) US Mfg with 75% of sales outside the US What is more important, the HQ location of the company or the source of it's revenue? I think this is an interesting question. This white paper by Christopher Philips,...

I don't think having kids closer in age makes it cheaper, but most of the time (except for the situation I detail above), it spreads out the financial hit, which is easier (but not cheaper). I agree with HomerJ on this one. Mine are 5, 3, and 1. Although it's a non-financial consideration, my 5 and...

bengal22 wrote:Isn't this forum a "social media?'

Hope I did not ruin it for anybody.

Blasphemy!

Thanks for destroying my self-image!

You should have at least 20 times living expense that are NOT covered by Social Security, pensions, annuities, rents or other passive income. Rick Ferri That seems inconsistent with your earlier recommendation that it would be safe to begin retirement in one's 50's spending 7% of poerfolio assets a...

I'm glad someone posted this because that has been a nagging question in my mind as well. I went "Bogle" after reading Dr. Bernstein's two books on asset allocation (which I have followed pretty faithfully for the past 5 years or so after terminating my advisor), and have been staying &qu...

If it's really mostly about your reluctance to spend on yourself because of paranoia then I'd say you have something wrong with you, but if you are perfectly happy in cheap shirts and shoes then don't worry about it. If you are privately resentful that you work so hard (assumption) but don't get to...

Soccerdad12, Don't worry. If you are happy, then there is nothing wrong with living this way. I do all the same things. The older I get, the more I realize that most of the keys to happiness have little to do with spending money and material possessions. I know that sounds so cliche, but it's true. ...

Xanadu: How big is your emergency fund? Many of us do not have a separate emergency fund. For example, we have not had one for many years because I know we can quickly obtain money from our portfolio, ATM, credit card, etc.. This allows us to avoid an extra low-return account/fund we may never use....

My neighbors across the street have two pure Brittany spaniels. These are two of the sweetest, most obedient, and well-behaved dogs I have ever seen. They do have energy and love to fetch. I think if you are willing to burn off some of this energy daily, they generally make perfect companions. Howev...

Another vote for econtalk. The site is excellent as well because they add links to things referenced in the podcast episode. http://www.econtalk.org/ This is an economics podcast but it is fascinating. The most bogleish episode would probably be Gene Fama: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/01/f...

I never buy an extended warranty on anything that I can afford to repair or replace. I came out way ahead over the years. The previous poster summed it up very nicely and I only insure things like house and health which would be too catastrophic to self insure in the rare circumstance of a major is...

Brian Preston the money guy is pretty good. I don't know how Bogleheads would take him though. I agree! Brian Preston CFP the money guy -- His sidekick Bo the CFA,CFP is also excellent. I agree this one of the best podcasts, not just investing but all matters of personal finance. Very boglehead-ish...

Chicago High in sales, low with the critics. They are not in the Rolling Stone top 100 rock artists, yet they are 2nd only to the Beach Boys among American bands in Billboard charting success. They had 5 #1 albums. Chicago -- the 1st band to come to my mind as well. Very underated I've always thoug...

I have 3 kids (ages 5, 3, and 1). We got the 2012 Prius V (the new station wagon version). I get 3 car seats across the back with no dificulty. I replaced an old and dying year 2000 Subaru Outback. The Prius V is a bit larger than the old Subaru Outback I replaced. Road trips are comfortable and I h...

The general rule of thumb for investing priorities says to contribute to 401(k) up to the company match, then max out Roth, then max out 401(k), and finally move on to taxable investing. The "general rule" that you cite is based on one post by one person in 2007. That is not the general r...

I also vote for Burton Malkiel's Random Walk Down Wall Street, if I must pick only one. Although not an investing book, I also like Thomas Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door. I felt like this book gave me permission to live far below my means without feeling like some sort of freak (relative to the...

BigOil,

AWESOME post!!

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge with us.

Regarding the oil filter question asked above, I am also curious to know what you know about that.

Winthorpe

I haven't had much time to be on Bogleheads lately, but I have read through all the replies.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all those who have shared their experiences with Amica.

You've all been very helpful as I go forward making insurance decisions!

I believe on this issue that the manufacturer knows best and people should follow the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual with regard to intervals and oil type.

Mine says full synthetic 0W-20 every 10,000 miles, so that's what I do. Engine purrs nicely

itypefast wrote:

Winthorpe wrote:Today I locked in 2.875% for a 10 year fixed.

Last refi was 11/2010 for 4.125% 15 year fixed.

I'm done after this.

Where'd you get this rate?!

At a local credit union.

See rates at:
Mayo credit union
Westconsin CU
Royal CU
Pentagon Federal CU

They are all about the same.

Anybody use Amica insurance for auto, home, or anything else?

They seem to have a good reputation, but premiums do seem to be quite a bit higher than my current rates. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Today I locked in 2.875% for a 10 year fixed.

Last refi was 11/2010 for 4.125% 15 year fixed.

I'm done after this.

Clark Howard is the best!

I have read James Lange's books. He does have a good message.

Thanks Gatorman.

I love split pea soup, and this recipe looks simple but good.

I've had Prius's ( Priusi? ) for 10 years. For what it's worth, I have heard that prii is now the most widely accepted plural form of prius-- not priuses, not prius', not prius's, not "a bunch of cars with great fuel economy", and not "a bunch of boring, low-performance cars". I...

Many of you are saving 30%+, why? Early retirement? Late start? .. I save mainly for two reasons. The first reason is to minimize the risk of not having enough money to provide to my family for emergencies and family operating expenses (shelter, food, college, vacation, etc). The second is to minim...

I'm also sad to see this card go.

Like many others, I am now transitioned to the Fidelity 2% investment rewards card. I am happy with this one so far.