Bogleheads.org

The land is not likely "unsellable." You have simply not lowered the price enough to entice the right buyer out of the woodwork.

Perhaps you think of it as unsellable because it seems unthinkable how little it may actually be worth on the open market.

Bought some call LEAPs of Citi that expired (useless, of course) at a strike of 7.50 ($75 after the reverse split) in Jan 2012, purchased about 18 months before. Luckily, realizing along the way it just wasn't going to happen, I sold most of them, but at a sizable loss. It was a good amount of money...

The more stocks you hold the less impact a single big winner will have on the whole (assuming equal weighted). Whilst the best performer out of a fewer number might not be such an outstanding winner, when that relatively smaller big gain is shared across a fewer total number of stocks the overall b...

If you don't own them all you risk missing out on the big winners.

http://www.efficientfrontier.com/ef/900/15st.htm

malcolm

1) Do nearly all of our grocery and sundry shopping at WinCo, which is the local low price chain. They're cheaper than Walmart, Fred Meyers, Albertsons, Costco and anything else I've checked. It's a warehouse store where you bag your own groceries. For any thrifty boglehead that has never experienc...

yes, i just read about how the valuation date/price is changed to the date of death, not the date/price of original purchased. I think there is an option to take the value at something like 6 months instead of the date of death. See what you can find about that - it may be more convenient. This onl...

No, I would continue to contribute to the company plan up to the amount that is matched. That way you're not turning down free money. After that, contribute additional funds available to an IRA at Vanguard, for example. If you still have money you want to save for retirement, put more into the compa...

I am curious what people consider to be a break-even point for intrest rates on debts when it comes to saving/investing versus paying off those debts.

I am curious how many of you adjust your AA and to what extent if you currently have any debts, even a low interest car loan or mortgage. In this low interest rate environment it would seem logical, if you have a decent chunk of bonds in your portfolio, to use a bunch of it to just pay off debt and ...

I think it is very difficult to simply add up the additional costs an investor would pay to have an advisor and access DFA funds and make a straight performance comparison. Most people that have an advisor are not simply hiring that person just to get access to DFA. A good advisor will offer a lot m...

I am familiar with Nick Murray. He wrote a book for financial advisors that did pretty well, it was published in mid/late 90's. He formulated his beliefs during a long, powerful bull market. I've read his book and there is good stuff in it, but the advice he gives on investing I would not agree with...

The program's actuarial neutrality varies over time as market interest rates move. When real interest rates are low, it becomes relatively more advantageous for people to delay taking benefits. +1 It depends or market conditions and/or what you deem an appropriate discount rate to be. The current f...

TexasInvestor- Most people have said you needed more bonds. I'll be going against the crowd, but I don't think that's necessarily true. With 7 million bucks and $100,000 in income needs, you don't need much of a strategy really. That's only a 1.4% withdrawal rate. (not including what SS will chip in...

But at least this loss has motivated me to start researching and to suggest to my spouse that we not make these sorts of investments and to try to do something a bit more constructive. So I ended up here on this forum.... If you had made a killing on your ABX trade, it probably would have been one ...

For the non-experienced among us, would there be any difference in long-term returns if rebalancing were accomplished by changing the allocation of new contributions? Those of us who are still funding our investments on a bi-weekly (or however often) basis do have the option of changing our proport...

Don't feel too overwhelmed. There are people here that are very educated in the finance realm, and many that are not. It can take a little while to get a good handle on things, and yes many people here have been on this track for a long time, but it doesn't have to be super complicated. The Boglehea...

I suggest you commit some time to learning some basics first. Read a good book, there is a good reading list on Bogleheads. I think a good starter book- short and sweet- is this one: http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Investing-Lessons-Investor/dp/1118484878/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365893675&...

malcolm Sorry --please explain why if day 1 you decide on 60/40 as the right amount of risk for you, and the next day no assumptions have changed but your AA has changed what logic are you using to allow the market instead of you to determine your AA. There isn't any. Any other argument is basicall...

mlewis Simple answer is this: IF today you decide to be 60/40 and tomorrow market moves you to 55/45 what logic is there to allow the market to change your AA if your assumptions about ability, willingness and need to take risk have not changed. The answer is obviously no logic. Thus you should reb...

I think you should try adding the insulation, to R-30 or so as has been suggested, with blown cellulose or blown fiberglass. See how that works for you. Trying to shade your bedroom windows in some way if they get western sun is also very important, especially if those trees are not tall enough yet....

Sam First, in a world without frictions (costs) rebalancing should be done DAILY, otherwise you have allowed the MARKET to control your AA and thus the risk of your portfolio which makes no sense whatsover. Larry I disagree. This might be true if your only goal is to control risk and not to also ho...

The description by the OP may be accurate, but is probably not communicated well. For example, it looks like there is 8.6% front-end load on $20,000 per year contributions. Maybe some of that load pays for life insurance, but it was not stated. The other fees charged by the product are not clear. A...

But a fund isn't inherently better because it provides more of a load; you decide how much of the load you want, and add the appropriate amount. If the DFA fund has twice the value exposure of the Vanguard fund, then you can get the same exposure by holding $10,000 in the DFA value fund and $10,000...

if you want to rollover your old 401k roll it into an IRA, not your new 401k. that will give you all the options you want.

Once again, please do not compare funds with the same "name". DFA large-cap value does not hold the same stocks as Vanguard large-cap value. Instead, compare funds with the same factor loads. I see this argument from time to time, but I'm not sure I understand it entirely. DFA and Vanguar...

I'm not trying to "beat" the market, just stay with it, so I will mainly have index funds, at least until I hit the 6-digit mark . Best of luck. After you finish Four Pillars , you will no doubt find that your above sentence would be much better with the portions in blue eliminated. Don't...

First, IMO plan B is not a good idea. it would be silly not to take advantage of the company match at a minimum. Out of the three options you list, I would probably choose A. Like you say, there isn't necessarily a right answer. A 5% rate is moderate. (3% is nearly free, since inflation is probably ...

A round trip trade would cost you 0.7% of the value of your holding. Not something I would want to repeat year after year, as that is a real drag on returns. But you raise a good point, and I think the answer depends more on your specific circumstances and how you foresee things happening/changing i...

Robert Schiller posts data on S&P prices (or perhaps some substitute for?) dating to 1871. He got his pre-1926 data from some book published in 1939.

See his site:

http://www.econ.yale.edu/~shiller/data.htm

malcolm

Your list is rediculously incomplete. You probably omitted 98%. I started making the list a few months ago. If anybody knows of any advisors around the country who fullfil the two basic criteria (both fee-only and passive investments) I have set for it, please let me know. I know that it is incompl...

I don't know of one, but you might try searching through DFA's website. http://www.dfaus.com/find_advisor/ Being authorized to use DFA funds (only certain advisors can, and not the public) of course does not necessarily mean they are a good RIA, but I think most good advisors that follow the Boglehe...

Munchkin Man wrote:The Munchkin Man would like to approach the development of a new casual wardrobe methodically and slowly with careful planning.


Munchkin Man

Spoken like a true Boglehead.

malcolm

I used PCs for many years and a mac is breath of fresh air. It is so much better.

I can't recommend getting a mac with windows on it. It's the more expensive computer with the lesser operating system. If you make the switch you will not regret it.

I agree you should get more info about the plan. Is it a "qualified" plan.
There could be some tax advantages, but you may not feel they outweigh the risk of owning an individual company stock that is also the place you work at.

thanks for the replies. And I'll definitely look into that article. Maybe I can check it out through a university library computer.

malcolm

Investing is sort of like gambling, only there might be a slight amount of skill involved in gambling. No. Investing is managing a risk that already exists. Gambling is creating risk. Most people on this board will abhor leverage because most people can't stomach that much volatility. To many peopl...

If you hold to maturity that can mitigate the interest rate risk and price fluctuation, since you won't have to realize it. However for long term issues you still face inflation risk. I think we all hope not to run into a high inflationary period again, but you never know. If it happens, your real r...

If two married people were both able and willing to delay SS benefits to age 70 to increase benefits, would there be any benefit to NOT taking spousal benefits in the interim? As I understand it the basic requirements for this strategy to be most effective: Spouse 1 files and suspends at their full ...

Is this an actual example you are citing? Do these costs of $300 per month for the owner include their mortgage? Even if they already own the building, depending on what that building is worth, that extra $400 might be a fair return on that investment. If they are paying a mortgage, and that is incl...

This silly argument is often put forth by the industry as a way to keep themselves employed. The evidence does not support that assertion at all. It's tough to find free money lying around anywhere these days, and even if it exists, you have to pay somebody a lot of money to spend a lot of time look...

Horrible portfolio.
If you have any sway in this small company at all, get them to fire this advisor and give you better options.

One thing I would do is find out more about the pension plan. If nobody is or can contribute anymore, I wonder if that money couldn't be distributed to another account, perhaps a traditional IRA? What type of pension plan is it? As far as transferring money out of your 401(k), that would depend if y...

I don't understand those that read into me saying this was a safe withdrawal rate - it isn't, nor does it provide eternal life, as much as I wish I found either. :happy I don't assume you are saying this is a safe withdrawal rate, and I agree with your main points in the piece. However, based on th...

Maybe I'm missing something, but this "strategy" seems to boil down to liquidating a certain percentage of your equity holdings for income according to an arbitrary rule based on share buybacks. What is unique about that? It's not arbitrary. It's based on the total amount of cash companie...

That may be so, but that doesn't mean that a 5% withdrawal rate will be sustainable over a long retirement. There is nothing in the article implying that the 5.08% is a safe withdrawal rate or even that it will increase with inflation. In fact, in 2009, companies drastically cut stock buy backs and...

Rick Ferri wrote: There is no lunch from high dividend paying stocks over any other value stock strategy, athough as Allan pointed out, it is more tax efficient to take it from capital gains.

Rick Ferri

That may be so, but that doesn't mean that a 5% withdrawal rate will be sustainable over a long retirement.

This sounds completely nuts. Why? Details please. What happens if you have a long bear market, do you still withdraw the same amount, and keep up with inflation? Are you suggesting a portfolio with zero bonds for a person in retirement? Do you plan on diversifying beyond the US stock market? It has...

Is he merely trying to steer people away from dividend funds or is this an actual long term plan? Is he trying to suggest that people should base a long term strategy after using 1 year of dividend and buyback data? I suspect that most bogleheads will know that a 100% stock portfolio (of only US sto...

It has been said that for every dollar you spend upgrading the INSIDE of your house you get 2$ in return when you sell it. It has also been said that for every dollar you spend upgrading the OUTSIDE of your house you get 5$ in return when you sell it. When I used to buy and sell a lot in rental pro...

greenbuildingadvisor.com