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This is one of those bad decisions we all make occasionally in life; I'm certainly no insurance expert, but sounds like trying to keep this policy afloat by putting more money in is just gonna compound the problem, and you eventually will get backed into a corner and have to deal with it (unless you...

.I guess every person in the country who sells these products is an evil dishonest thief.That is what the bogleheads believe I guess.It is not like Mr.Bogle did not become very rich selling all of you his mutual funds.Vanguard sells variable annuities...what about that??? I'm afraid you know even l...

You might find it helpful to pick up one of Dave Ramsey's books - he gives great advice on getting out of debt and living within your means.

Just skip over his (very limited) investment advice, as most of us on this forum consider it misguided at best.

This is a *long* thread. Would it be possible for you or someone else to summarize it in a few paragraphs or is it something I'm just going to have to read? Young whippersnapper thinks he has everything figured out and loses his shirt. and becomes much wiser for the experience. As should anyone who...

Anyone who considers using leverage for their portfolio should spend the time to read thru what I think is the classic thread on this forum:
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5934&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

While I had always previously followed the drive-it-easy-during-breakin-period philosophy, when I last purchased a new F-150, I picked it up from the dealer just a couple of days before we set out on a month-long cross country trip, loaded with 2 kids, a bed full of gear and luggage, and towing a 30...

What will be the reaction of the advisors and their personnel situation if I meet with them and tell them I am going to file for arbitration? Are they going to be willing play their hand in arbitration? We are talking about them and their position not the company! From what I've read, even very leg...

Medical is the big outlier. They do have supplemental insurance and it's one of the bigger expenses each month. However, if the nursing home situation happens, it will wipe them out and end up on medicaid for sure. Trading their home equity for cash may have been a mistake, if one of them needs nur...

Vermont's already taking advantage of this waiver: it plans to implement a single-payer system in 2017. :idea: Thanks for the link. I had not heard about this. Should be a very interesting experiment: in Vermont, the idea is that everyone would be insured through a state-funded pool called Green Mo...

Before a major election such as this, both sides drink their own kool-aid, believing that when their candidate(s) win, and everything will be OK.

After the election, reality sets in for both sides, as they realize there are serious problems ahead, and no magic bullet.

Assuming you told him you didn't want to lose money and you wanted this money in five years, yes, you were given bad advice and he is not someone you should trust. In your situation, the best thing to do is find a good 5 year CD . You should be able to find something paying a little more than 2% ri...

A more “natural” allocation plan for how real people act is to start lower in stocks and then build up over time. For example: Ages 20-25: 40% stocks Ages 26-30: 50% stocks Ages 31-40: 60% stocks Ages 41-60: 60%-80% stocks depending on risk tolerance Ages 61 >: Whatever financial needs dictate Rick...

Here is an article Britain in the American Civil War on Wikipedia The Confederacy, and its president Jefferson Davis, believed from the beginning in "King Cotton" -- the notion that British dependence on cotton for its large textile industry would lead to diplomatic recognition and mediat...

wbond wrote:Somewhat off-topic and anachronistic question: would Sherman - as the first president of LSU - have been a college football fan?

If Sherman were reincarnated as a college football coach, he would have to be Nick Saban.

Maybe not the most complete history of the war, but by far the most interesting (IMHO) is "April 1865, the Month that Saved America" by Jay Winik. He reviews all the pivotal events of that single month, from Lee's surrender, the final military events of the war, and Lincoln's assassination...

i went to art school and have been doing web design for years getting by... working in webdesign i have been able to keep our heads above water... Perhaps you should use some of the money to train yourself for a new career? A better paying job that you enjoy would likely be the best "investmen...

I suppose it depends on a person's political leanings, but unfortunately it is just about impossible to find a news source that doesn't have a significant bias in favor of one political party or another. :oops: Try BBC - especially good for world news, and a different perspective on issues here in ...

The best source I have found for a non-biased discussion of energy matters is the R-Squared Energy Blog: http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/columns/rsquared/ Here is a brief article from the site on "The Effect of New Production Methods on U.S Oil Output": http://www.consumerenergyreport....

Dear Wife loves it cold, especially when we sleep, so I added a small window unit to our bedroom a few years back, and it seemed to drop our electric bill, and definitely added to comfort. The noise which some complain of is actually very soothing after a short while - now we have trouble sleeping w...

Because of potential changes next year, Vanguard is hosting a webcast "The urgent state of estate planning" on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7PM EDT. You may wish to register to participate. I plan on listening in. Jim Thanks a lot. Been worrying about this very problem, as we get closer to end o...

mickeyd wrote:

many of the other typical organizations that turn a profit from death: florists, cemetery, Church/Temple, pensions funds, etc.

Funeral homes, attorneys, auction houses, insurance agents...

and Family members if there is life insurance.

Based on personal experience, and that of a knowledgable friend who has an appliance repair business: 1. Your new fridge IS using less electricity than your old one (agree, too many variables in just looking at total power bill) 2. Your new fridge will come no where near lasting the 28 years of your...

I didn't hear the very end of the story but I think he eventually had to stop I listened to the story on This American Life, and after the insurance companies figured out what was going on and failed at civil suits, the FBI became involved, and brought criminal charges for fraud against him. Don't ...

The side-by-side headlines on MSN.com this morning are:
"Neil Armstrong dies" and "Snooki gives birth to baby boy".

Sort of an ominous hint of the future of America?

I may occasionally haggle for "goods" (i.e. autos, big applicance purchase), but NEVER for services. If the plumber tells me its gonna cost $X to fix a problem, I either pay it or get another estimate. Almost any workman can take short cuts that more than make up for the few dollars you sa...

Hi Cody: The adviser was ill-informed or a liar. You were wise to disengage as quickly as possible. Taylor hit the nail on the head; absolutely no reason to waste your time debating these guys, whether they are annuity salesmen or stock brokers (unless you are bored and want to waste their time). A...

A system, that when looking at how fast technology products are outdated and obsolete costs a lot more to upgrade. I bought my first Mac about 5 years ago now, and still have not had a single problem, or even needed to do an update. Honestly, I can't remember a single time it has even frozen on me,...

Pretty much anything and everything recommended to me by my old friendly Merrill Lynch "advisor".

Family members are in their mid to early 50s and have been independent contractors their whole careers. They have always had their own business and have not been fortunate to have a 401K or something along the lines. Financially, they are not doing wel and, other than this, they do not have any ret...

Even though, as Taylor pointed out, the company credit risk for Term Insurance is not a major concern, I would still consider buying the policies from more than one company. Personally, I would buy four $1M policies from four different companies. May cost a few more dollars, but as the past few year...

Speed of delivery is a non-issue. It doesn't really matter whether something takes a day or a week to show up. It depends on what I'm ordering. Recently my power window switch on my vehicle went out. Called local chain parts store and got a price (ouch!). Did a google search and found I could order...

Obviously the folks running Amazon know what they are doing, but it seems like this move could negate two of their biggest advantages: not having to maintain a large number of "bricks and mortar" locations, and the ability to limit their inventory by keeping it centralized. Also, I would t...

I would avoid taking financial advice from this "someone". Yes, it's much better to take financial advice from anonymous strangers on the internet. ;-) Whether it comes from strangers or friends or "experts" - one should generally avoid the advice of anyone who starts out a conv...

Someone recently suggested it to me I would avoid taking financial advice from this "someone". What possible advantage would there be to giving away 2% plus of your college savings each year to an insurance company? However, adding an inexpensive term life policy on the family breadwinner...

Your friends are lucky to have you for a friend. And, I believe they will truly appreciate your effort to inform them of your changing opinion about the WL. The only other thing I might add would be an Amazon link to the Bogleheads Guide - the book might be easier to start out with than this forum. ...

As I believe the OP has already discovered, when one doesn't "do the right thing", it haunts you more and more as time goes by. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, perhaps I'm misunderstanding the OP, or perhaps we simply have a philosophical disagreement. But I think the OP did do the righ...

Whether the arguments you listed have merit is irrelevant; you will not find an investing method that, over the long term , beats the low cost, broadly diversified, tax efficient method of investing that index funds offer. So, when you are at a dinner party and the stock broker starts spouting these...

There was a recent thread on the forum asking for general advice from the senior members, and the one that stuck with me was posted by Taylor: "Always do the right thing". As I believe the OP has already discovered, when one doesn't "do the right thing", it haunts you more and mo...

The last time I checked, in addition to the 2700 pages of the statute, there were 5900+ pages of Regulations attached.
I strongly doubt anyone on this forum has read, digested and understands what the effect will be.

Nothing to do now but wait and see.

Your friend also just took on a second job - Landlord. Anyone who doesn't think it's a job has never tried it. How much effort/interest can you expect from the management company for $80 per month? Think they are gonna worry much about renters who might damage the property. Will they get the best wo...

momar wrote:The interesting thing is they already lost their shirt in a similar product and are about to dive head first into another.

Who knows, in a few years we may be reading about them in another one of NYT's "Victims of Wall Street" stories.

We have even discussed just gifting him a one-time payment (not sure how much, maybe $1k +/-) and saying no to co-signing. Opinions on this route? You may want to believe it will be a "one-time payment", but I can tell you with absolute certainty that he will be back asking for more. This...

If I take into account the various fund expenses, the total would probably be about 1.5%. And that is probably optomistic. Back when bonds were yielding 4-5%+, and equities were averaging 8%+, management expenses like you are paying were not so painful, but with current paltry bond returns and pred...

Well, in plain language: when "it" hit the fan in '08, equities and TIPS both declined in price, while Treasuries increased in price.
If one had a portfolio dominated by equities, you really needed those Treasuries.

Swensen recommends a 50/50 split between nominal treasuries and TIPS. You might want to read what he has to say. 1+ on that recommendation. While the track record of TIPS is short, if you look back at what happened to them during 2008-2009, you see that, at least for that crisis, TIPS were positive...

The wealthiest person I know (a cousin and neighbor) got that way working 20 hours a day in his small business (building supply), savvy investing in real estate, and starting a small bank that rapidly became a large bank, and starting several other businesses that he eventually sold for a large prof...

Before making any big jump into any bond fund, I would recommend you pick up a copy of Boglehead Larry Swedroes "The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need".
Then, you too will be an expert.

If you desire no additional exposure to riskier (and higher potential return) assets, I would just build a CD ladder. Still doesn't avoid the risk of unexpected inflation, but at least the nominal value of your principle is guaranteed, and whatever small return you can find in today's dismal interes...

The solution to both retirement funding and preserving the consumer economy would be to expand SS to provide not merely the minimum level of living in retirement, but an adequate level. We are getting into politics here, but with our country's current deficit problems, I think your solution is not ...

As others have already stated, unfortunately, you probably have wasted a lot of money. I agree with getting as much info and unbiased assessment of the policy before you make any move. If your current financial advisor agrees this policy was totally inappropriate for your situation, it might be wort...