Bogleheads.org

I was thinking that in the US, we take for granted that the market generally produces around a 2% dividend. There is a general move away from dividends toward stock buybacks in some companies. And there are a selection of companies that are known for producing dividends, that we are all familiar wit...

FYI, I just came across an "automatic muni bond investment ladder" investment at Charles Schwab. Managed by PIMCO, they select investment-grade municipal bonds with an average credit quality rating of A- or better at purchase. These are assembled in laddered portfolios with 1- to 6-year a...

longview, I think that even if you're market timing it still makes better sense to use bond funds, you'd just use smaller duration and shift in/out as needed. It's just that the NAV markdown thing makes this terribly confusing. Here's a simplified scenario that I played with when I was making my ow...

From 1993 through 2007, the lines are very close; you wouldn't have a difference of more than a few percent no matter which fund you used. A rolling return chart can do a better job of highlighting what happens in the short run during market/economic disruptions. By looking at both the growth chart...

If you invested in the Japanese stock market in 1989 would you feel better about it now than you did in 1992, say. Sorry, I realized I didn't answer the question. Actually, I think I would feel better. But I'm the guy who gets really worried when multiples are insane, or houses cost more than anyon...

Stocks are "less risky" in the longterm in the way people mean it -- to their portfolio. (only academics are talking about stock, in a vacuum, are more "risky"). ie, if you invested 1k in 1929 all in the equity index, you'd be feeling pretty good right about now. You wouldn't be...

Real rates have been consistently negative for two years and show no sign of rising. This is just silly though -- it's the Fed. Rates will rise as soon as they take their foot off the gas, it could happen at any time. They've outlines their goals, but they can do it whenever. You won't see "si...

Stocks are "less risky" in the longterm in the way people mean it -- to their portfolio. (only academics are talking about stock, in a vacuum, are more "risky"). ie, if you invested 1k in 1929 all in the equity index, you'd be feeling pretty good right about now. You wouldn't be ...

Thanks for the info guys. For those that asked, the situation is: - It was a residence that I paid off - I moved and rented it out - It's been "making money" for a few year (but it's paid off, so that's cheating in that I need to compare the return to what that money would make in the mark...

Thanks for the reply. I think here is the crux... It's just that the fund is required to mark the bonds down, reduce the NAV and increase the %yield to be the same as new issue bonds, whereas the individual bondholder can pretend nothing happened and both the principal and the yield are unchanged. B...

I believe the author early retired and is living on a sailboat. I don't think it will be updated. Additionally, I believe I found a bug and reported it on earlyretirement.org but it was never fixed. FIDO RIP, otoh, is updated with each change in the tax laws and DOES take taxes and RMD's into accou...

i have convinced her to invest in a fidelity defined maturity fund (fchpx) invested in only MUNICIPAL BONDS that is starting just now and terminating in 2023.fideliity has several that they started in 2011(terminates 15,17,19,21). this is the first one that will get the full 10 years. what this doe...

Although they still create the impression that the only alternatives to bonds are stocks, REITs, high yield bonds, and MLPs. True to them managing billions but not to retail investors. The forbidden words shall not be spoken. tfb, can you speak the forbidden words? :wink: Are you speaking of CDs or...

I didn't dump -- but I didn't rebalance either (option 4). I said let it ride, but no new equities.

I've officially adjusted my equity position down based on the experience. Turns out Im slightly more risk averse than I thought.

pwesben wrote:I just read the "change notes" for the first tome. The current version came out in Novenber, 2007, and data is through 2006. Thanks for the input.

So how many donations to get it updated?

I'd say it's the same in principal... from my experience and reading I'd say it "changes" at around 100 million (oh well). Maybe a few changes: - I have lower equities for my age (but, higher than needed for my risk). - I've held back ~5% for potential VC or commercial RE opportunities. Bu...

Though I get pitches to invest in small companies, or their debt, what I was referring to was private money lending. Technically it's higher-risk/higher headache, but I've found it to be an investing panacea in this low interest rate world. Where I live (Nevada) home prices have crumbled by about 5...

2. I get access to some high-returned fixed income deals that pay much better than any bonds I can find but require investments of around $100k - $200k each so these obviously would not be appropriate for people whose portfolios are sub $1 MM. Please -- do tell. I'm putting some big numbers in FI r...

2. I get access to some high-returned fixed income deals that pay much better than any bonds I can find but require investments of around $100k - $200k each so these obviously would not be appropriate for people whose portfolios are sub $1 MM. Please -- do tell. I'm putting some big numbers in FI r...

I can move around the Internet freely, but can't access my Vanguard account on line. This has occurred over the last two days. I get a "can't access server" message. I have used both Firefox and IE. Anyone else experiencing this? fredd In case you don't know about it, http://www.downforev...

Make up to $32,500 after-tax 401k contribution (this will hit the $49,000 combined limit for all types of 401k contributions; if you receive matching funds they count towards the limit as well so adjust accordingly). What are these 401ks where you can contribute up to 50k? I can't contribute that m...

This is not what you stated in your OP. You have changed the game. This is a declining duration situation. The OP was constant duration. Well, I don't know if there is a technical term for it, but isn't it really a "spikey" duration. At the end of the 5 years I'm going to reinvest for ano...

Thanks for the response. Bottom line is, there is no difference if you plan to keep the duration fixed. I understand this "theoretically" -- but isn't it more than "keeping the duration fixed" but really "constantly buying new bonds?" But, technically, there are a few d...

Thanks for the info everyone -- I feel much better now. :) As to the VTWSX suggestion, I'm actually 60/40 US/INTL since I'm whimping out a bit. Probably equal parts home bias and desire for lower volatility. So, technically, I'll be underweighting Emerging along with my underweight of INTL. I agree ...

/cold water mode. Don't follow the money. Follow your passion. You will do better and be happier being excellent at something, anything, than following the money. I know so many people that successfully followed the money, and they really just hate their lives. You need the coke and whores just to c...

Sounds like a lot of work for a thin margin. I'd throw it in Total Stock Market and forget about it for a few decades (especially if you haven't maxed your IRA and Roth).

Let me start by saying that I doubt the following is worthwhile since the fixed costs probably aren't worth it at this real estate level, but I'll throw it out anyway since maybe you can do it cheaply: (I've read that the way to do this is...) - The rental property is in an s-corp/LLC (which any ren...

Hello, I haven't seen this specific issue discussed. If I missed it please let me know... Short version: Does Vanguard Total International contain the world-wide percentage of emerging? ie, using the "own the market" philosphy, going 50/50 TSM and Total International, is the 20% of Total I...

So all the talk of decreased NAV in bond funds in the coming decade is getting to me :oops: , as I DCA in over this year. So... Does anyone have a system/site/book/link/provider that would allow for buying ~1 millions worth on munis each month? Ideally it would have the following properties: - Buy m...

Go over cell. Use your phone app. (or 3g tablet or whatever).

Here's the classic cartoon version of why long passwords are much better: http://xkcd.com/936/ After my DCA is complete I'll probably disable computer access -- go phone only (anyone know how solid "voice identification" is?). Would be nice to at least be able to see your account stats onl...

Where did the money come from to fund the debit cards? I'm not familiar with this type of thing, but, am wondering whether the perpetrator was hoping to take the cards from the mail before your daughter got them. Are you sure there may not have been more that three cards made? She got three cards i...

For those talking down the smartphone -- I'd put iPhone access through an official app over cellular above web access over wifi anyday. Wifi can be easily hacked/packet-sniffed. If you bank from home use the Ethernet cable. Can one turn off wires from vanguard and leave ACHs on? That seems like a go...

Scott Burns has returns and standard deviations for a large number of portfolios here . You can choose the "More Portfolios" link for the CoffeeHouse and others. Thanks. I'm wondering what is the "5 Yrs Std Dev" (I know - 5 year standard deviation)... but does that mean anything...

Longview, The only time CDs lock in real loss is if real inflation rises at the same rate as interest rates. ... If my interest rate on a CD is 1.60% and rates rise by 2%... I'm talking about right now, with no interest rate rising, it's locking in a real loss (especially after taxes). CDs are payi...

CDs are quite different, because the value and yield of the CD are fixed and don't depend on what other people in the market might do. I know the precise value of my CD at any time during its term, including its value should I withdraw the money before the term is over. People keep saying this... b...

Hi. I'm wondering if anybody has a good recommendation for an hourly financial planner who might help mediate spousal spending issues (i.e., my wife and I have different views about how much we can prudently spend). A good hourly financial planner who can be evidence-based and logical on this front...

Hey all - Thanks for the advice. Some answers and some questions: 3) i've gotten a fair bit of feedback from finance people i respect that bonds could be in for a very rough ride as inflation rises over the next 5-10 years, and that a bond portfolio might actually be riskier than equities? Nah -- n...

I like ETFreplay.com. Only downside is that it's a subscription site with some limited functionality for non-subscribers. Thanks. The article I'm thinking of was like "coffeehouse portfolio" and had average return, standard deviation, etc. Then it went into slice n dice, etc. It was tryin...

I thought I saw this long ago, but can't find it anywhere for the life of me. :oops: I'm running monte carlo simulations on FIRE and would love to have some "real" (backtested) standard deviation for various Asset Allocations. The deviation is the key to if it makes it 50 years or dies in ...

For those interested, applied to Schwab today. Had to apply for an investment account with high-yield checking. Two funny things: - The password restriction is insane, for the technical among us: Must be 6-8 characters with at least one number between letters. Symbols not allowed. Yes, they have an ...

BigFoot48 wrote:I see Schwab got 4.5 but only 10 reviewers. I suspect most people rating here might have a beef and give a bank a low rating as a result.

I'm going to give Schwab a try for checking. Started the opening of an Amex savings for savings. Will see how it works out.

Munir, I don't think Bogle is actually ignoring the intermediate investment grade bond fund. I'm interpreting his comments to mean that he is interested in expanding the type of holdings that a total corporate fund might hold. Take a look at the fund, and then take a look at the ETF (VCIT). It's in...

My solution to this this issue has always been to hold a portfolio that's 20-60-20. 20% TIPS 60% Total bond market 20% High yield corporate Rebalance occasionally. It has worked very well over the years and is doing fine this year. Rick Ferri Is there a decent taxable equivalent? Tax-exempt interme...

http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=592689 I agree with Bogle that the Barclay's Agg is a very strange product. The major thing that bothers me is that it is only "investment grade." I would like it if they held the entire bond market, including all of the junk! Although ...

As I was pulling the trigger I ran across some reviews... http://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/reviews.aspx Not a single bank higher than 2.5 stars?? Ally had several people complaining of them "double withdrawing" the opening balance, and that they were fighting with Ally to get their mon...

Thanks Larry and Rick for the debat, I appreciate it. Let me throw my question of there re-HY. It does appear Vanguard high-yield tax-exempt (VWALX) plummeted along with stock in 2008. But then it came back much quicker, even when stocks were still dropping. That's from me eyeballing the graphs, and...

It's a shame Apple killed VLC. If you can manage to get it on your iPad it will play any format -- you just drag it to the VLC data section in iTunes.

Also, Amazon tends to be cheaper than iTunes -- especially for seasons of TV.

Does one still come out ahead vs Vanguard tax-exempt int munis if they have to pay someone to constantly be buying/watching their muni ladder?

Running a several million dollar muni ladder seems like a job.

But some of us are looking at investing new money. In my case, a lot. And for us, the potential losses will be real and could have a very significant impact on our retirement. So there is no reason to denigrate those of us who don't want to put our assets into vehicles that can only preserve capita...