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2. Is there a single-state muni fund with reasonably low costs available for your location, either through Vanguard or another provider? If yes, I might be tempted to replace the Vanguard International Bond fund with this. 3. All of your bond funds are intermediate-term, each with a duration over 5...

I'm restructuring my bond allocation, and wonder if anyone else has done something like this. This is all in taxable as tax advantaged space has no room (the taxable space is much bigger, by a substantial factor). The tax considerations for my holding something like Total Bond are negligible at the ...

Some people when it comes to gold will take an interest in telling you how to spend your money. It's the one thing here that brings out opinions you probably didn't ask for when you wanted an answer to a simple question. The best thing to do if you want to buy bullion is tune out the noise. Buying c...

Also note that many of the REIT index funds (such as Vanguard's "VNQ" product) often do not include timber REITs in their holdings. This is I think partly due to many of the timber companies only converted to the REIT form a few years ago.... maybe they'll be added to the index soon. The s...

Having purchased a house which had an "AS IS" clause added late in contract negotiations, all I can say is: RUN AWAY. There is some, or multiple, reasons for those two magic words. You don't want to know my experience (it's a long story, and you can probably guess) but if you ask around to...

As someone who has moved 24 times, please take my advice on this: It is almost never, ever, worth moving furniture if you are going more than 500 miles. You can get to the destination and typically buy *brand new* furniture cheaper than it cost to pack, move, and unpack the old stuff (which also may...

You need to throw technology at this problem. And unfortunately the traditional phone companies don't have it. You can use Google Voice, which will let you set up rules to deny or screen inbound calls. For a free service, it's pretty darned good. You can use a mobile phone and a call block or screen...

No realtor (R) [note 1] ... I mean real estate agent... is your friend. They are salespeople, the same as someone who tries to sell you a car or insurance. All the same behaviors apply. It's one of the most ridiculous industries in the world when it comes to people who want to put their hand in your...

I guarantee you that most of the fantastic fancy meals you've had in restaurants have been made in stuff bought at the restaurant supply store. The food doesn't know how shiny the pan is. If you use fresh ingredients, you're 90% of the way there. Learn your stove and pots and pans and how they trans...

You've got plenty of advice already, but have you considered talking to one of "Bogleheads Own" and give Rick Ferri a call? http://www.rickferri.com/about/about-rick http://www.portfoliosolutions.com/ (I have no affiliation other than reading his postings and books, and trust his rational,...

Larry is right, of course. But I think Rick is *more* right. I hold High Yield Bonds as recommended by Rick, along with Total Bond (BND), and Inflation Protected (VIPSX), and have enjoyed the additional income. Additionally adding this component to the overall bond mix more correctly approximates th...

Thank you again to Taylor for all his contributions to the forum and the three fund portfolio. Although I still slice and dice and have a few more funds, I'm trending closer and closer to the three fund model as well.... I'll probably end up with the "five fund" version, which is pretty cl...

It's tax time, and I'm diligently working my way through the process. But while doing the taxes I got to wondering... and this is a question really for Taylor -- what was the "inspiration" for the three fund portfolio? Was there some process that naturally led to its construction (e.g. sim...

I'm in the same bind as you. I've tried them all. Moneydance had a terrible user interface (although GnuCash was even worse). iBank had a better UI although still not great. Both of them had difficulty correctly importing large amounts of Quicken data. I have data going back to 1992. I'd like to bri...

I left the area in the late '90s. It used to take me from 45-90 minutes (each way) to go 30 miles on the Beltway. Sometime I would cut through the District just to keep my sanity (same amount of road time, but at least I was moving). Summers are miserable. Winters are tolerable unless it snows, and ...

Check out StraightTalk for low cost GSM service. You can get a package with data services for about $45/month. It's sold through WalMart. You can just buy the plan and get a SIM via the WalMart web page... no need to go the store. Check what size SIM the iPad uses though... if it's the same nano siz...

It's the big watch-shaped beacon in the sky!

Only Petrocelli can save us now!

A followup to my earlier note. Costco / Walgreens / Walmart and the like typically use a Fuji Frontier for scanning. The results can be quite good, as long as you get an operator who knows the software and manages it correctly during the run. A typical complaint with Frontier scans is blown out high...

Does a regular flatbed like the CanoScan 9000 work OK, or should I use a special scanner? Has anyone used a service that does this? I have about 10,000 slides that I have decided to digitize. I'm a professional photographer so can save you a lot of time, since I hear this question almost daily. 10,...

I was going to move to Vanguard, but have decided to stay at Schwab. Although I spent an hour on the phone with concierge services to figure out all the right forms to transfer, I've noticed a few things with Vanguard. The forms are overly complex (compared to Schwab or Fidelity); I don't know why t...

Let's say over a period of a year you obtain 50 individual 1 oz silver bullion coins that have nothing more than the date - 2012 - on them. But (that's a big BUT), but, you have paid over the past year a variety of prices for each of the 1 oz coins. For instance, in January you buy 3 coins at $37.5...

Use variable substitution in this equation and see if it still makes sense. For example, you could replace "house" with "widget". In this instance, let's use something that makes some kind of sense just so you get the idea. Let's use "car". Now your scenario is: We have...

Wow. So much complexity. If you are inviting people over for more than burgers on the grill and some beer, you are going to deal with problems. Somehow in the last few decades people started being special snowflakes. Enough already. This isn't so hard. If you're the guest: Ask what you can bring. Br...

Anybody have any suggestions for finding cheap flights to Alaska for a summer trip??? Alaska Airlines is the "de facto" carrier and will get you anywhere you need to go in-state. They are based out of Seattle, but now fly almost everywhere in the U.S. -- even to Hawaii. They also have the...

Not to thread jack but does anyone purchase silver bars like these 100 oz bars: http://www.apmex.com/Product/57949/100_oz_Royal_Canadian_Mint_RCM_9999_Fine_Silver_Bar.aspx ? Seems like a more practical way than to hold 100 individual silver coins, but curious for feedback. Stick with 1 ounce coinag...

I love these "Please predict the future for me" posts. I didn't ask that. This is actually a situation that is pretty interesting. Is it worthwhile to keep around a managed fund which fundamentally is run pretty darned close to an index mix.... but uses some rather complex strategies to d...

I current have 40% of my portfolio in bonds. The percentages within bond holdings look like this: 20% Inflation protected (VIPSX) 48% Total Bond (BND) 12% PIMCO Total Return (PTTRX) 20% High Yield Corporates (VWEHX) --- 100% I maintain the high yield since it's not in BND, and I agree with Rick Ferr...

Thank goodness I am NOT paying to keep stuff in storage! The initial post was made this Tuesday, and now it's Friday. I'm going to turn this quote around, and note "but you ARE paying to keep your extra stuff in your house". It's costing you the physical space it takes up (an internal sto...

Fix it -- don't throw it away! Bearings, rollers, or pulleys are cheap, and generally easy to replace. Any in-home appliance service center can do this for you if you don't want to tackle it yourself. Believe it or not, Sears still does home appliance service. If it's indeed a Kenmore, gosh -- just ...

Her blog looks interesting. Thank you. I will definitely have a closer look. You are overthinking this. WAY overthinking it. You don't need to read any more. You already know what to do, I bet. Take it from someone who has moved nearly thirty times. There is no secret to this. It is not magic. You ...

I'm currently at Charles Schwab. I've had no reason to be unhappy there -- the service has been excellent. 90% of my investments are Vanguard ETFs (lazy portfolio model), 10% are "other" -- about 5% GLD ETF, and < 5% some individual securities ("play money"). A few months ago I w...

Since you're in the suburbs, here's a thought. Talk to your neighbors and mention you have storage space although it's up a flight of stairs, etc. Be honest about the condition. You might be surprised that one of your neighbors either wants (a) an office he can walk to do some work [and probably doe...

Don't do it. I went this route a few years ago and the byzantine accounting will drive you nuts. The Trusts tend not to have useful web sites, you need to wait to get strange forms in the mail that make almost no sense, and there is no "office" to call with questions since the Trust admini...

Something that I found useful was to read almost all the books on the Boglehead reading list. Consider it like the required freshman reading list in college. You'll see different presentations of why indexing works. You'll get a feel for various mixes of asset classes. There are some minor disagreem...

If you want a BMW, get it. Yes, you can get a Honda or Toyota, which may last a nice long time. New Fords are very well built and may give you the same experience. And they will all drive like you expect. BMW possesses handling characteristics that only Porsche seems to share. On handling, most BMWs...

I am currently at Schwab. To make a long story short, I looked at moving all my accounts to Vanguard. Spoke at length with a very nice guy at Concierge Services. He called... repeatedly (I was out of town). So I had to ultimately send him email saying "hey, enough, I'll get to this eventually.&...

People have held yard sales for over 50 years and if you look around you'll find things that will hurt you. People always sell tools. Old televisions. Radios. Electric toothbrushes. Blenders. The whole country would be standing in line for court dates if people started suing over the junk they bough...

On a slightly different note, what is the best option to seal small cracks in the concrete? There are a few options at local shops which recommend cleaning the cracks and then using the sealant. You can just buy a small plastic tube of crack filler, they come in about quart size plastic squeeze bot...

I have an advertizement from a company that will power wash a concrete driveway and apply a "penetrating seal to protect it from the harsh elements & prevent cracking". Sealing concrete will not prevent cracking. Some marketing guy is making up what sounds good, but there's no facts b...

The explanation may have been clear, but sounded unusual, which is why I was sounding against the board for a second opinion. I'm a big fan of getting information from someone other than the person trying to sell me something. Sorry, I apologize. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here. I just wan...

For each photog If you want to insult working professional photographers, start out by calling them a "photog". For the pros out there: does it really involve extra work to give me 3600 x 2400 digital negs, instead of 1800 x 1200? Here is what photog #1 wrote to justify the higher price p...

The value add of your broker should be that he calls you if you have a substantial rate increase and shows you rates for the lowest companies. This is the core of the problem with the broker. I've never actually seen the prices from the other carriers. The broker's model is "we pick for you&qu...

If you suspect the problem is your current agent more than FF, you can change agents and stay with FF by filing a broker of record change authorization in most cases. Thanks for this! That's great advice and would make things much easier if I decide to change agents. Also thanks to funnymoney for t...

Please, please spend time really viewing the portfolios of the photographer you've selected, so their working style and visions align with yours... that is most important thing for ensuring you have a happy outcome. And don't shop on price alone (it's surely a consideration, but don't let it drive t...

I would not recommend going down this road. Enlargers are getting hard to come by. Parts are even more difficult to find. The number of shops supporting all the other infrastructure you need to outfit a decent darkroom falls seemingly by the hour. And now with Kodak in bankruptcy and selling off ass...

I'm currently using a local broker to purchase insurance. They've had my policies underwritten by Fireman's Fund since I started using them. I have no complaints over the coverage Fireman's offers, which is very complete, and through the broker, incredibly easy to set up (I've done almost of it with...

Anything with the word "restricted" in it generally isn't all that great. (Compare, for example, to "Incentive stock option", or "Non-qualified stock option", which generally vest every year, or even every month). Right now, the company owns you. You may or may not be o...

Here's a way to look at this from the other direction. Could you live on $75,000 a year? I bet you could. I bet you could, happily. I bet you could, happily, and wonder why you ever worried about money. (You're living on more than that now, but I suspect that's due to expenses from a high stress job...

Just be aware that whether you pressure wash or use diluted bleach, if the surface will support mold growth, it's going to come back. Textured concrete is a perfect environment since the mold can live in the little texture ridges and stay nice and moist. I'd do whatever is easiest -- if diluted blea...

This will do what you want, with no personal computer or complicated skills required. Works with any signal feeds (antenna is just fine). http://www.channelmaster.com/Digital_TV_and_HDTV_HD_digital_recorder_CM_7000PAL_DVR_s/120.htm http://www.channelmasterstore.com/HD_DVR_receiver_for_antenna_p/cm-7...