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Re: Global markets in turmoil

Valuethinker wrote:.... The long run track of securities prices looks fractal ....

What does not look fractal?

With enough terms, I can use a Fourier transform to model anything. Anything. Enough terms.
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 12:37 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Global markets in turmoil
Replies: 10
Views: 866

Re: RBD

Jebediah wrote:I thought it a little disconcerting that stocks, bonds, gold, and ccf all went down together yesterday.

Yep, I was looking for some asset class that went up on Wednesday. Even short-term bond funds lost some ground.
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 12:06 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: RBD (Really Bad Day)
Replies: 19
Views: 1111

Re: RBD

Maybe only a Really Bad Morning? Even SCZ (small-cap developed) is not in RBD territory as I type this. Oh, well.
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 12:01 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: RBD (Really Bad Day)
Replies: 19
Views: 1111

Re: Need opinions about my broker's strategy

To answer the question of how this person is paid, the firm is paid on a commission basis. Per trade. To put that in context .... Many advisors charge a so-called Assets Under Management fee which can range from about 0.05% to 2.00% annually of the total value of your account(s) with them (includin...
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 11:07 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Need opinions about my broker's strategy
Replies: 25
Views: 923

Re: Asset Allocation Across Companies (Fidelity, Vanguard, e

I use the free Morningstar Portfolio X-ray tool to see my asset allocation. I also use Fidelity Guided Portfolio Summary which shows the same thing. The Vanguard PortfolioWatch tool tries to do the same thing but fails miserably. I just manually enter all our accounts and positions into the above to...
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 10:56 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Asset Allocation Across Companies (Fidelity, Vanguard, etc.)
Replies: 2
Views: 156

Re: Need opinions about my broker's strategy

Did you write how much you are paying this person?
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 10:11 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Need opinions about my broker's strategy
Replies: 25
Views: 923

Re: Need opinions about my broker's strategy

Your broker's strategy is excellent. For him. He gets to play with your money with no obligation whatsoever to you. You asked whether the options strategy is viable. You can figure this out yourself. Have you compared returns versus a benchmark? I don't think it is viable or everyone would be doing ...
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 9:36 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Need opinions about my broker's strategy
Replies: 25
Views: 923

Re: Hi Bogleheads! I'm seeking some sound advice and insight

Normally folks would ask what other investments does this person have, what other income, tax bracket, etc You know, the standard stuff: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6212 If she wants to spend $5,000 of it, then that means maybe invest $25,000 and spend $5,000. (And lose t...
by livesoft
Thu May 23, 2013 7:59 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Hi Bogleheads! I'm seeking some sound advice and insights.
Replies: 9
Views: 403

Re: Kid on the way - financial decisions

Key issues:
Disposable or cloth.
Breast or bottle.
Sleep in parents room or another room.
Buy all kinds of junk for baby or let others buy everything for baby when they see that you don't
Whose mom gets to come first

Congrats. Babies are easy and inexpensive for the most part. And lots of fun, too.
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 8:05 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Kid on the way - financial decisions
Replies: 6
Views: 505

Re: Would you invest a lump sum or dollar cost average?

I'd invest half now and the rest over the next 10 months. On a really bad day I would accelerate my purchases. I've been waiting for that bad day for the last 3 months. You have not been reading the forum then. A bad day was announced about 10% ago. Many folks bought on that day. Also note that in ...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 8:00 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Would you invest a lump sum or dollar cost average?
Replies: 45
Views: 1140

Re: 401k Loan Question

Assuming that the money you loan is used in an investment that appreciates faster (for the hypothetical assume it was guaranteed to) than the 401k investment appreciation (accounting for the expense ratios) during the period of the loan, this is would be a 'better investment', correct? Correct. Let...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 7:44 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: 401k Loan Question
Replies: 4
Views: 197

Re: 401k Loan Question

Your understanding is correct, except there is no tax deduction on the interest. I will guess that the OP meant taxes are taken out before the interest is paid. So if one has to pay $75 of interest and one is in the 25% tax bracket, then more than $100 of gross pay is needed before taxes to get the...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 6:32 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: 401k Loan Question
Replies: 4
Views: 197

Re: Would you invest a lump sum or dollar cost average?

I'd invest half now and the rest over the next 10 months. On a really bad day I would accelerate my purchases.
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 5:30 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Would you invest a lump sum or dollar cost average?
Replies: 45
Views: 1140

Re: Alternatives to DFA funds

Poke around at this site: www.altruistfa.com/dfavanguard.htm
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 5:29 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Alternatives to DFA funds
Replies: 5
Views: 447

Re: Property tax increase protest - other forms of evidence?

Our appraisal board will not take numbers from Trulia or Zillow. They take the actual numbers from closings. They also have to provide all those numbers to anybody that walks into their office. So before we protest, we get the real numbers. As for square footage, one should make sure the appraisal o...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 5:21 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Property tax increase protest - other forms of evidence?
Replies: 21
Views: 630

Re: Is This Correct About International Equities

....Bottom line: The real advantage, if any, comes from including very risky emerging market stocks, which don't seem to have performed very well for quite some time. The Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns has Emerging Markets as the best performing category for 2012. That doesn't seem to ...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 5:12 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is This Correct About International Equities
Replies: 24
Views: 868

Re: Consistent spikes on VNQI price

I've noticed that this week Yahoo intraday charts and quotes are messed up for some ETFs.

Whenever I see something unusual like the spikes you mention, I try a different source for the same info.
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 5:08 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Consistent spikes on VNQI price
Replies: 6
Views: 589

Re: How much does water weigh?

Great question for google! :)
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 4:21 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much does water weigh?
Replies: 21
Views: 1488

Re: statins and exercise study from today's NYT?

I exercise a lot and do not take statins. I just went bike riding (fast past averaging 20+ mph) with my colleagues at lunch time today. I cannot go as fast as the folks who are 20 years younger.

My conclusion: It is a consequence of getting older.
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 3:21 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: statins and exercise study from today's NYT?
Replies: 13
Views: 935

Re: Automatic ice maker -- no ice!

Does it get water through its water supply?

Remove it and install ice cube trays made of plastic and filled by naturally organic means. Organic ice is the best and safest!
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 12:14 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Automatic ice maker -- no ice!
Replies: 6
Views: 364

Re: The Best 529 Plans - Allan Roth

Nowadays, investors are fortunate to have so many great 529 plans to tax-shelter money in. That wasn't always the case. And which low-cost 529 plan one chooses will not come down to the cost anymore. Instead, it will be about available options (Allan Roth touched on this), ease of contribution/withd...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 8:08 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Best 529 Plans - Allan Roth
Replies: 25
Views: 1297

Re: Moving from 4-fund portfolio to 3-fund portolio (yes or

I do not own TIPS nowadays. englishgirl has mentioned recency bias. The performance of VIPSX in 2013 YTD is -1.7%. QBoy said "TIPS are good protection against inflation risk." which turns out to not be completely true. Please read/watch that Vanguard webcast with Volpert and Houston where ...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 7:56 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Moving from 4-fund portfolio to 3-fund portolio (yes or no)
Replies: 17
Views: 1570

Re: I really hope people aren't tilting US due to recency

By recency, you mean the last few months. You certainly don't mean 2012. :twisted:
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 7:05 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I really hope people aren't tilting US due to recency
Replies: 36
Views: 2081

Re: finding a lost thread/ subject

Not surprisingly, there have been previous threads like that one, but perhaps not so in-depth. You might search on "mid-life" or "covet" with the search box there in the upper right. Example: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8942 Then go watch the news about Oklaho...
by livesoft
Wed May 22, 2013 7:02 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: finding a lost thread/ subject
Replies: 4
Views: 349

Re: Pay down 2.75% 15 yr mortgage vs invest in taxable accou

Note that I did not say "Don't pay off the mortgage early." Indeed, I paid off my mortgage early already. But I used gains in the stock market to do so. So invest the money, make the big gains, cash in, and pay off the mortgage at that time. The problem is, you cannot be certain when that ...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 8:20 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Pay down 2.75% 15 yr mortgage vs invest in taxable accout
Replies: 11
Views: 753

Re: Traveling to Europe for the first time...need help!

My spouse just returned from a 2-week vacation in Italy and Turkey. Despite my suggestion she did not have an ATM card that worked in Europe, but had no problems in these 2 countries. Well, at least no money problems since her non-chip-and-pin CapitalOne credit card worked. Her traveling companion h...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 7:34 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Traveling to Europe for the first time...need help!
Replies: 65
Views: 3360

Re: Do you pay for access to www.nytimes.com ?

I don't pay and I don't do anything special to circumvent the pay wall. It is more of a pay net with large spaces between the netting. Actually, call it a pay joke or idiot tax.

Last week's thread on the subject: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=116185
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 6:27 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do you pay for access to www.nytimes.com ?
Replies: 17
Views: 1109

Re: Question on re-allocation strategy

Have you actually done your own taxes to see if you are even affected by whatever you think you will be affected by? Or are you just going by hearsay? You should be able to put a big chunk of your consulting income in a solo 401(k), so that your AGI and taxable income wouldn't be that high. You shou...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 6:01 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Question on re-allocation strategy
Replies: 5
Views: 351

Re: Pay down 2.75% 15 yr mortgage vs invest in taxable accou

Let me just say that if you do not believe that you can do much better than 2.75% investing in a taxable account, then why bother investing at all. You might as well not have an IRA or a 401(k), too. Folks will come along and write, "You can't get risk-free 2.75% anywhere else nowadays", b...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 5:44 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Pay down 2.75% 15 yr mortgage vs invest in taxable accout
Replies: 11
Views: 753

Re: Advice on firing parent's investment advisor

Nevertheless the fees are $15K when the owners withdraw only $60K. That's like a 20% tax on benefits of this portfolio. Ouch!

Our it could be half a year of college education for one of the grandkids.
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 4:53 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Advice on firing parent's investment advisor
Replies: 15
Views: 827

Re: College costs, anyone else spit coffee on their monitor?

OK, how about "they should have found that their portfolio went up just in the last 6 months by the full cost of a 4-year public college education"? :)
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 4:31 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: College costs, anyone else spit coffee on their monitor?
Replies: 87
Views: 4721

Re: selling a piano or move it ?

ieee488 wrote:No, no relatives near my mom at all.

Near is relative. They could be across the country and move the piano cheaper themselves than she could. (And at lower cost than buying one.)
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 4:19 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: selling a piano or move it ?
Replies: 10
Views: 403

Re: Allocation Check - Move to simpler portfolio

About 5-6 years ago, I read several books recommended on this site and did quite a bit of research in deciding on what my optimal asset allocation should look like. .... Ah yes. The books years ago matched the availability of investments at the time. With the introduction of the Vanguard Total Inte...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 4:17 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Allocation Check - Move to simpler portfolio
Replies: 8
Views: 736

Re: selling a piano or move it ?

Do any relatives want it? We gave one of our pianos to our niece. She rented a U-Haul truck, drove 300 miles to pick it up and drove back the next day.
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 4:09 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: selling a piano or move it ?
Replies: 10
Views: 403

Re: College costs, anyone else spit coffee on their monitor?

This may be sacrilege in this thread, but I would guess that many folks here are insensitive to the price of a college education. Lots of folks here describe how they are maxing out retirement accounts or starting 529 plans before their child is even conceived or how they are helping their grandchil...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 4:04 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: College costs, anyone else spit coffee on their monitor?
Replies: 87
Views: 4721

Re: Retiring Wall Street Exec Gives Investment Advice

The retiring exec didn't write any of the stuff that Blodget (the article writer) paraphrased.
Blodget wrote:Now, before you go scrutinizing Minack's note to find these bullet points, let me be the first to say that Minack does not actually explicitly articulate this advice.
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 3:36 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Retiring Wall Street Exec Gives Investment Advice
Replies: 4
Views: 796

Re: Todays Bond Market

Mr Volpert makes a compelling statement on bond yield to maturity: But I would just point out again realistic expectations for bond investors as well as stock investors going forward. So we looked at the yield to maturity of the bond market right now—about 1.7 to 1.8%—that's a reasonable number for ...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 3:15 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Todays Bond Market
Replies: 1
Views: 424

Re: CFP or straight to Vanguard?

An article in the NYTimes goes more into advisors fees than usual, so it is an interesting read: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/your-money/an-investment-firm-evercore-offers-clients-honest-returns.html Perhaps it should have its own thread, but it seems to me it might be worthwhile for the OP to ...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 1:38 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: CFP or straight to Vanguard?
Replies: 28
Views: 1078

Re: CFP or straight to Vanguard?

I'd try the cookie cutter Vanguard approach first because it will cost you less and you won't be making a mistake. If you find that you don't like it, then do something else.

If you do it in the reverse order, it will cost you more money and will possibly lead to more regret.
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 11:24 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: CFP or straight to Vanguard?
Replies: 28
Views: 1078

Re: I don't see the message center on the Vanguard page

If I click on My Accounts > Messages / "More ways to contact us" (right-side of Message Center), a pop-up dialog appears with an option "Send a secure message"

My Accounts / Messages is the place where you read the messages.

Image
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 8:51 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I don't see the message center on the Vanguard page
Replies: 2
Views: 154

Re: to invest now or wait?

I ask because on my first playing with the charts I started on April 15th and saw NASDAQ first went down 4% to end up 4%, Dow Jones down 2% then up 2% (though with today's numbers they're both up a touch more than that. But that doesn't seem like "way up" in that time frame, especially si...
by livesoft
Sat May 18, 2013 2:13 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: to invest now or wait?
Replies: 27
Views: 2465

Re: portfolio review for tax efficiency

I don't know if Fidelity Spartan index funds are as tax-efficient as Vanguard ones. I am talking with respect to percentage of qualified dividends and lack of cap gains distributions. I own Fidelity Spartan funds in my 401(k) where I am not concerned about tax-efficiency, so I have not looked up thi...
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 8:21 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: portfolio review for tax efficiency
Replies: 11
Views: 493

Re: portfolio review for tax efficiency

Looks like a historical version of our portfolio, so I like it.
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 8:13 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: portfolio review for tax efficiency
Replies: 11
Views: 493

Re: Does Vinegar kill weeds?

I didn't write that mulch kills weeds. :) But you didn't write that I wrote that either. :)
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 6:47 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does Vinegar kill weeds?
Replies: 21
Views: 1453

Re: Devil's advocate

I think the basic economic force is that folks don't want to be worse off than in the past, so they strive to better off than they are now. Think about it.
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 6:14 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Devil's advocate [Investing for the longterm]
Replies: 14
Views: 921

Re: Is today a RBD [Really Bad Day]

Looks like today was a RBD for a some funds, for those of you with a market-timing bent. VBR down 3.44%, VSS down 2.66%. Of course, now it's too late to transact. Interesting that all the preceding discussion occurred on a day that ended up being nothing, but nobody said anything on the actual RBD....
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 6:03 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Is today a RBD [Really Bad Day]
Replies: 83
Views: 7333

Re: Does Vinegar kill weeds?

Place mulch over them then. They disappear instantly under mulch.

Or even more effective: weedwack them, then place mulch over them.

Also please post a photo of these beds. I hope you are not talking about marijuana droppings in your bedroom. Thanks!
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 5:38 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does Vinegar kill weeds?
Replies: 21
Views: 1453

Re: Help Managing 1M IRA Account for a Retiree

Doesn't seem aggressive to me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

A burning question though: How did she end up with this portfolio? Who decided this would be the portfolio? I doubt it is luck or happenstance.
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 5:33 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Help Managing 1M IRA Account for a Retiree
Replies: 9
Views: 494

Re: Does Vinegar kill weeds?

Why do you need to ask this question? Just go out in your yard, put vinegar on the weeds and see if they get killed. Simple. Please keep it a secret though.
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 4:55 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Does Vinegar kill weeds?
Replies: 21
Views: 1453

Re: What were the little things that led you to index invest

In the 1990's one of the funds with the best performance was Vanguard's S&P 500 index fund. That is, large-cap growth funds kicked butt. If one was performance chasing, they bought VFINX.

So rather than a little thing that led to index investing, a big thing beckoned.
by livesoft
Fri May 17, 2013 4:44 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: What were the little things that led you to index investing?
Replies: 60
Views: 2637
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