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Now available - Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund Announcement: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/article/fund-announcement-05142013 In Investor and Admiral Share Classes Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares (VGAVX) Expense ratio as of 05/14/...

To add fuel to this fiery discussion, have a look at http://thefinancebuff.com/looking-at-the-big-financial-picture.html and http://thefinancebuff.com/lifestyle-design-choose-where-you-live.html Mortgage still unpaid, car payments and still what I consider high savings rate. Not retired from day job...

Wilpat, were your comments directed towards me (OP) or to stoptothink?

My reason for writing an email was starting a dialogue. I hope people am talking to are mature enough to see this. Asking for a raise should not create a conflict. Expecting more work from employees when business is growing like in my case is not a sound strategy. No is a valid answer. I just need t...

Nuvoletta, thank you for your kind words. Another update: Few days ago I wrote an email detailing my accomplishments in the past 3 months and how that might help my boss in HQ evaluate an increase in my compensation or consider me for a more advanced position in the future. I will follow up with a c...

OK. Here is the update after 3 months. Good news: My group has met its revenue target in March and in April. We are already on track to meet our May target. We are being encouraged to hire one more person. Meh news: I was not made the director. The colleague that I get along with the most was made t...

I am disappointed in how little my profession pays compared to the effort required. I have a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. Some times I feel given my brains I would have done ok in software but would have made a whole boat load more money. As for my financial situation at 31 yrs old, I am happy w...

I graduated with my PhD and started my first job in Industry in last week of Aug 2008 at age 27. Talk about timing. Thankfully without any debt. Survived lay offs and everything. But the I can see clearly see my generation suffering like anything. The salaries are nothing to write home about and wil...

Thank you for your feedback. Yeah, the ER on the bond fund bothers a lot of people. But not me as it tracks the index pretty well. The house conundrum I think can be resolved financially after I resolve it emotionally with myself first.

Coming back for a second check. Emergency funds = 6 months worth of expenses not included in asset allocation below Debt: Mortgage paid off. Car 12.5K@ 0% for 42 mon.remaining Tax Filing Status: Single Tax Rate: Federal-25% (without 401k, 28%), State-5.25% Age: 31 Desired Asset allocation: 80 Stocks...

Thank you all for the advice. Already I am feeling a bit better as repeat customers are trickling in. It is a start. I am going to wait out the transition period of couple of months to see how successful I am at picking up new things and then evaluate if asking for a raise is warranted. The company ...

My boss left to work in a larger company with a smaller breadth of projects but more depth.

I work in midwest in a small satellite office of 6 employees of a company HQed in northeast. Recently my boss decided to leave the company. My boss's boss (who works from the HQ) has now decided to run this satellite office as a bossless environment with a few people (including me) getting to do a p...

Here is something interesting. I calculated that sample means, and the average Boglehead stock allocation was 60.62% and the average return was 12.46%. (The min reported was 6.4% and the max was 17.6%) That would place the average Boglehead in the top 100 hedge funds. Actually at number 60. http://...

1515.15

I aimed for 80/20 Stocks/Bonds but for most of the year I was more like 79/21. My XIRR was 17.6%. I had 24 deposits into 401k via payroll, 1 deposit to taxable, 1 deposit to Roth IRA and I invest in 2 funds in each account. I could have done better if I had invested in taxable & Roth on Jan 1st ...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/12/28/us/ap-us-ye-wall-street-2013-predictions.html?hp&_r=0 2013 Year-end target for the S&P 500 GOLDMAN SACHS: 1,575 BARCLAYS CAPITAL: 1,525 BMO Private Bank: 1,500 WELLS FARGO SECURITIES: 1,390 What do bogleheads think? Personally, I couldn't care less.

Thank you for the free copy, Steve and Dan! Wish you happy holidays!

I had never even of thought of this. How clever! Could you also please post the source of this information? Thanks! NO such luck in Oklahoma! http://www.tax.ok.gov/it1a.html Information Regarding Itemized Deductions: Oklahoma itemized deductions are the same as currently defined in the IRS code. If ...

Joe's a dah-ling and Vanguard is fabulous!

My laptop is more than 5 yrs old. So I had to use a vga cable and a male-to-male audio cable. I got a wireless keyboard and now I am good to go. Sit on my couch and and be more lazy.

(1) Don't buy that condominium. (2) Consider the long term impact of staying in a career that suits your skills, but not your personality. (2) Stop looking to be loved for your nature and soul. Accept being"loved" for your physical attributes/what you bring to the party. (3) Don't expect ...

I am just 31 so in same boat as OP. I would say this: do not to beat yourself up for making mistakes. Humans in general are resilient. If you don't make mistakes you can't learn what you need to do. For me I am learning that the career ladder thing is overrated. I would rather have a job I like and ...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49249106 The interest banks pay on mortgage bonds has dropped from 2.36 percent on September 12, the day before the Fed announced its program, to as low as 1.65 percent last week. It edged up to 1.85 percent on Monday. That means the profit, or spread, banks earn from creating...

OP's responses tell me that his family lives rather frugally and has put a lot of thought on how much they spend their money on each item - what I call numeric efficiency in budgeting. So they will have to look at next level which is strategic choices. One distinct area is transportation. Two loans,...

At this stage in your young life, getting into habit of tracking your expenses will get you much further ahead. You want to see your savings as a multiple of your expenses. While exact expenses in retirement are difficult to determine now, the floor can be easily set. You need money for housing, foo...

You can try these calculators. http://www.dinkytown.net/java/MortgageQualifier.html http://mtgprofessor.com/ext/partners/qualification.aspx Remember, interest rates are really low and the Fed is playing its cards knowing that there might be sustained inflation in future. So it wouldn't be bad to go ...

I did a quick quote on term4sale.com. With my family history, the rate is $108/yr for the cheapest A+ rated company for $150,000 term policy for 10 yrs vs. $120.60/yr with my employer. In addition, the rates creep up with age in blocks of 5 yrs with the employer's policy.

I am 31, single, in a relationship - marriage or kids not yet decided. My workplace is offering for the first time a Supplementary Life Insurance. Available in $10,000 multiples up to $150,000. The cost to the employee is $8.04/yr per $10,000 and company is United Health. This is on top of $50,000 b...

there is a a link on the right for comments. Please let them know. I detailed my issues with the changes as follows: 1) Too many different fonts on one page. It is distracting. 2) The asset allocation pie chart is way too small now. And it does not work for my account any more. 3) Too much white spa...

One of the flaws I found that it optimizes the account to which savings are allocated - which also it is trump card. Here is the problem I ran into while running it for a friend: Income $40,000, Only savings is 401k contribution of 6% = $2,400. But he receives 12% match for his 6% contribution. So t...

I am assuming you need $65,000 per year in income. If so...... You can subtract your Social Security from that number - the average 62 year old collects $1,800 per month = $21,600 that leaves you needing $43,400 - roughly $3700 per month. - that would require roughly $1,100,000 in assets assuming a...

My net ER is .31%. It is good but clearly not excellent at all. If my 401k had Vanguard Admiral shares my ER would drop to 0.10% and save me a few hundred bucks a year and probably tens of thousands by the time I retire. I am expecting about $90K to $100K loss.

mikeny17 wrote:
Someone told me it's just the PIMCO Total Return fund at work but I cannot guarantee that is correct.

That is a well diversified fund.

May I suggest JPMorgan Core Bond Fund 0.40bps as your bond fund choice. It is equivalent of Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund and as such it is a great diversified bond fund. It has tracked US Aggregate Bond index pretty well. On Morningstar.com, with ticker symbol PGBOX.lw you can see for yourself (...

May I suggest JPMorgan Core Bond Fund 0.40bps as your bond fund choice. It is equivalent of Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund and as such it is a great diversified bond fund. It has tracked US Aggregate Bond index pretty well. On Morningstar.com, with ticker symbol PGBOX.lw you can see for yourself (T...

GRT2BOUTDOORS wrote:

Jay69 wrote:

livesoft wrote:I was thinking of under $50K in Shirley.

Now were talking.

No way, not with my family - we like "living" very much!

I got hurt.

Me lives in <$50K condo 2-bed-2-bath one. may be not with a family

If I count Social Security, and reduce money required for spending accordingly, then my ratio is over 100%.

But I am in my thirties and not retiring any time soon. My ratio is between 21 to 30%.

I am wary of ratios in general. They discount a lot of crucial info. But this a cute one. I like it!

The approach still won't work for most people. It ends up being pseudo-rationing. Looking at the big picture, paying for savings and essentials first possibly with autopay, and then leaving rest to be truly discretionary works for most people. http://thefinancebuff.com/looking-at-the-big-financial-p...

I paid off my 15 yr @ 4.5% mortgage on Monday! Yay! I was able to do so as I used a 15 month 0% no-fee balance transfer offer. I was on my way to paying off my mortgage in 15 months anyway. It will save me anywhere between $800 to $1000 depending on how you account for it. I was not using any mortga...

I responded to the survey. I got no amazon coupon. While Vanguard banking services would to helpful to some, I responded that most they could do is match my credit union and not better it.

My wife and I have a high deductible health care plan that we pay about $9,000 a year for. I'm interested to learn if it will be cheaper for us to drop our high deductible plan, take the government plan and pay the tax. Tax is the correct wording according to the language from the court today. Rick...

No pain, no gain they say. It would be true for you too. Are you stretching yourself? yes! But should you still buy this place if you want to? yes! Understand that you are taking a calculated risk here which entails you scrimping for 12 to 18 months after your home purchase to build a cushion, and m...

I tried to use the spreadsheet. It is too convoluted in formulas. I inserted a few rows for my mutual funds in the section where they are listed and the spread sheet went awry. It would be better color code the font so that user knows which columns to touch and which not to. Another issue was it sta...

I love experiences! I buy things that make my experiences great! Smartphones are Exhibit A in these regards. I never thought they would be this useful. That said, I think of three things when buying stuff: 1) Utility. How often am I going use the stuff I am buying?, 2) Value. What difference it is g...

I have a balance of about $19K+ on my mortgage at 4.5% & I do standard deduction on taxes. In 15 months I will have saved enough to pay back the Balance transfer (still maxing out Roth and 401k). Would it be wise to pull the trigger to do a balance transfer for $19K, and pay off the mortgage? T...

Age: 30 Desired Asset allocation: 80 Stocks/20 Bonds, 26 International Currently my asset allocation in low six figures looks like:.... I will max out 401k and Roth contributions and add 8K to taxable this year. If any more money remains at the end of the year, I am thinking of putting it towards m...

OK I finally applied for Chase Slate w/ 0% BT for 15 months w/ no fee. I rejigged my credit limits on other cards to get a credit limit of $26K+ I have a balance of about $19K+ on my mortgage at 4.5% & I do standard deduction on taxes. In 15 months I will have saved enough to pay back the Balanc...

It's no closing cost. And yes, it literally cost me nothing to do this. I paid no fees, and nothing was added to my principal balance. If the loan >60% LTV, you need to pay for an appraisal. In my case, that would have been $300. But, as I said, it did not cost me anything. G-Money, could you pleas...

OK, I will try to be patient.

Anybody else have any opinions/suggestions?