Bogleheads.org

Fertilizer (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) and water are not toxic when used appropriately. More affluent and educated people are more likely to know excessive lawn treatment is bad for the environment and their own kids/pets and are more likely to use it anyway ( article , or book " Lawn Peop...

Do it! Who says you can't go back to work if you need to? YOLO. You may even be in the position to pick a job solely its non-financial attributes... maybe would love to be in that position. Congrats.

Too many books. OK, 10-year-old travel books really should go. Much of the fictions could go. Non-fiction we won't possibly read again... should go. You may know this already, but libraries often take used books to sell at book sales and get money to buy new books. Also flea markets or thrift store...

If I owned I home, I would soften the blow (mentally) of paying so much in interest in the early years by saying I have to live somewhere , and after 15-30 years of rent-like payments I get to live "rent-free" (-ish) for the rest of my life. Yippee! Since I am renting, I rationalize it by ...

Finally got mine calculated...

-24.83% combined Fed+State. -20.13% after FICA.

Anyone else here "in the red"? I suspect very few...

I found with Excel tinkering that a couple w/ one kid earning $35,000 + $3,100 in investment income (low enough to qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit) gains about 44% of their $3,600 T-IRA contribution back (plug again for T-IRA for low/moderate-income ) due to EITC + pushing them into the 50% tie...

Still, aside from the thrill of bean-counting, what does this sort of thing DO for someone? Let's say I spend $700 on restaurants this month. Should I try for $800 next month. Is this like a GAME or something? Either your income is high or you are naturally frugal. Eithe way, good for you! A huge c...

Let me say this ineloquently. Without eloquence. Poorly. I do not believe people behave exclusively according to mathematical models (hence my beef with my uber-rational, reductive economist professors). Risk-aversion is not strictly rational ( less than half of us take an equal $5 bet on a coin-fli...

You cannot possibly build your own life annuity for the simple reason that it is impossible for an individual to pool mortality risk with herself, ^This seems pretty self-evident to me. The savings bond plan seems to just be swapping different kinds of risks, therefore it's no longer an annuity. No...

To the OP: Yikes! I don't usually see that much self-righteousness and belittling here on BHs. Some folks are out of touch with how most people in the world live, let alone most people in our country. Sorry. You are employed. You have a house. You have 3 square meals a day. You have savings with whi...

Trying getting a trend with 3 data points published in a scientific journal.

Note that for EIC purposes, a TIRA contribution will reduce AGI, perhaps down to the amount of earned income, however there is still a 3,200 investment income limitation to apply the credit. If your investment income per the worksheet exceeds 3,200 you won't be eligible for the EIC at all even if y...

Reality check for the Boglerich. This question at the margin, for most Americans, is between prepaying mortgage vs maxing retirement contributions (say $10 in Roths for a married couple). We plan to be a single (moderate) income family for some time. Maxing the Roth might be manageable, but not also...

Basicfin: See this recent discussion on how Traditional IRAs can provide superiors tax benefits to low/moderate income households. Roths are perhaps oversold, and I will consider T-IRAs much more carefully in the next 10 yrs, perhaps making my contribution during tax time for the previous calendar y...

learning_head wrote:Now, granted, average is misleading and the mean was instead more like 200k-300k through the decade

I think you meant "average is misleading and the median was instead..." b/c average = mean.

Thanks for the data (now back to that thesis...)!

Shouldn't these be called coal burning cars ? after all that where the majority of most markets eletricity comes from ? Define 'most' ? Total US coal is now about 43% of power generation from memory-- it has dropped quite sharply with the growth in gas--- dropped by about 8 points in 4 years (again...

I thought this was a good discussion of some reasons why the government is involved in flood insurance: http://www.xmastips.com/home-insurance/why-isnt-flood-coverage-automatically-included-in-your-home-insurance/ Also, NPR's Planet Money put out this <5 min podcast on gov't involvement in flood in...

Glad I am 40% intl. I would be content with 4.4% real return from equities. Though 2012 was kind of a tease.

I love Planet Money, but... the author seemed to diverge into too many complicated and tangentially related details to obscure what I always hope to be simple indexing evangelism. There was the perfect spot to note that expenses are the #1 predictor of return, but it never quite got there. Author di...

0% (in grad school)

I don't expect to get within spitting range of all these folks for a long while. I'd like to (and will have to) spend on things that make the most of the years with a young kid(s). Don't ever get those years back - daughter is already 18 mos old.

Low income, so I get Fed + 2 States all for free (software + filing) online with TT. Had to hand-type all the mutual fund transactions though "24.035 shares of PRLAX on 2/1/12" etc. Not much of a hassle to type in my name and address. As for security, it is not much different than any chec...

A lot could change in 35 years. Lock in whatever benefits you now (keeping in mind low-income benefits like Retirement Savings Credit and EITC) as long as it puts you "in the ballpark" decades hence.

Since someone inevitably mentions them but hasn't yet, I will: iBonds can do the job too, but only $10K/SSN/yr. Current yield is 1.76%. May go up or down, but you won't be hit by unexpected inflation.

This is so interesting.I just skimmed thru a book by the Richelson's who are highly regarded bond experts and recommend an all bond portfolio.They say stocks are too risky no matter how long you hold them because there can always be a 2008 at any time along with a lot of other reasons.... The more ...

Warning: chance of snark ahead... Sound quite risky. If you miss out on an entire month's worth of interest, that's currently... 1.76%, divided by 12... a 0.15% return on your investment. So for each $1K in bonds, minus some 25% for taxes ... we're talking $1.13. Yes, a dollar and thirteen cents ! N...

This new device sends data to your smartphone - a big improvement over Kill-a-watt?

http://www.indiegogo.com/meterplug

Remember, if you have an emergency and need to liquidate your I-bonds, you can always just rebalance your equities so that after the emergency you end up with the same asset allocation (and with a need to rebuild the e-fund). Neuro - this is exactly what I would avoid in employing my strategy. If y...

That sounds fine, but just remember not to conflate your emergency fund with your bond allocation. It sounds like conflating is exactly the OP's proposition (quote: "- Whatever amount I have in Ibonds, I can decrease my bond allocation in retirement funds "). Since the emergency fund can ...

The most important thing at this stage is increasing your savings rate; that will grow your accounts far faster than what you're choosing to invest in. ^Absolutely. Don't fret about the details of your port... good enough is good enough. I'm in a similar situation [late 20's, Indiana (north of Munc...

Doesn't this tell all we need to know ? [image deleted] Aren't you missing interest earning on interest earned on interest? Snark aside, don't forget what that nearly $2m bought you at the end: http://i49.tinypic.com/2cpuru9.png That is, diversified bond investing was essentially a 0% fixed I-Bond ...

Relax. Take a one-year break from this forum. If you are interested in comparisons, you are still well ahead of many people in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. You will always find people here with way more money, many whom still aren't convinced they have enough. And you are invested in a so...

Comparison is the thief of joy. Unless in your situation you widen your comparison: ( here are the graphs I pointed out to the chap curious about what $150K/yr brings you in the U.S.) Here's how most people in your neck of the woods live (median household, mean, and % in poverty): The Bronx $34,156...

Love this discussion. First, some facts: http://www.iowacorn.org/documents/filelibrary/education/US_15CA89C94DC4A.png ( US corn usage 2011-12 ) Ethanol is around 1/3. Nearly half we feed to animals (I believe this includes "DDGS from ethanol"), in which most of the energy ends up as poo or...

linuxuser wrote:I get the coupon code once in awhile addressed to Our Neighbor, and I threw them away.
I didn't know you could sell them!?!?

I don't know if this is legal or not, BTW. I play by the rules Chase lays out, so no guilty feelings here.

Note: this is taxable. I bought a $200 coupon code on eBay (pm me if you want the sellers username) for $10. (My wife and I both). Did have some hassle with the fraud prevention division, maybe bc I tried to transfer $ from my non-chase checking acct to my wife's new chase. $380 still worth the hass...

Just sell it and pay the damn tax. You knew you would have to pay tax on the gains when you bought it. Sheesh. Some people here are so afraid of taxes they don't want to make money. It's like the people who leave money in a MM in an after tax 401k so that they don't have to pay tax on any growth wh...

Note that for EIC purposes, a TIRA contribution will reduce AGI, perhaps down to the amount of earned income, however there is still a 3,200 investment income limitation to apply the credit. If your investment income per the worksheet exceeds 3,200 you won't be eligible for the EIC at all even if y...

Here's way more datathan you could ever crunch on energy use... from "Mr. Electricity". Electricity is all about the numbers, thus he's a valuable resource. Beware of being penny wise and pound foolish.

My parents could reasonably work themselves through college with their noses to the grindstone (considering wages for menial jobs, tuition, cost of transport, etc), perhaps with a few loans paid off in a couple years. That would have been impossible for me. This question is 16 years away for me, but...

Yes, found this out via BHs. Grabinar made note of it in 2010... and the credits is not just for low incomes. Ex. An above-median-income in much of the country - $57,500-$67,500 - is still within shooting range of a 10% credit for a jointly-filing couple with $10K to contribute to a Trad. IRA. Simil...

If you head to Sears, don't forget their very common and apparently generous coupons (on eBay, or at your local Post Office - the mover's packet)

Hey Chan: Enjoyed the [I'm thinking light-hearted] post. :sharebeer :thumbsup As for the priggish moralizing about personal responsibility: Bah. :thumbsdown +1 For some people it comes easy. They may be the cool, rational, utility-maximizing types who can change their blood pressure with their mind...

Prudence never kindled a fire in the human mind. -Aldo Leopold, The Farmer as a Conservationist, in For the Health of the Land.

You are off the chart here (sorta - 1993 data): http://i47.tinypic.com/wu0avs.gif Of the consumer class of the U.S., you'll be here (2010): http://i47.tinypic.com/z8xsg.png In fact you are even further to the right on the wealth scale, as you will have both income and assets. So you've asked a very ...

(just lost a long reply, so...) I understand your view. I like this idea because: *it provides real-world, quantifiable improvements in ecological sustainability vs. green stock trading. *Investing in coal, etc then donating profits to a non-profit that installs solar would be circuitous/inefficient...

Considering merging my EF (I-Bonds) with the bond portion of my portfolio, so I'll want sometime liquid in the case on an emergency. But I selected "EF" for now... mental accounting can lead to problems at times but I find it a helpful tool nonetheless. A couple years hence, if interest ra...

Here are 2 charts that tell us a bit about past SP500 history. First a comparison in decades going back to the 1940's : http://i45.tinypic.com/155jss3.jpg A 5% return this decade would give that graph some really tidy symmetry. Reversion to mean on a cosmic scale? Great chart BTW, thanks.

Interesting to see crowdfunded solar finally hit the market and hopefully alleviate some of the financing hurdles of renewables --> Mosaic . This new model advertises $1M+ invested in CA with 100% on-time payments so far (fine print on home page: past performance does not guarantee future performanc...

Anyone have an Excel sheet showing how a SD portfolio rebalanced after X% difference in returns of its components yielded a bump? (tax considerations excluded - all in tax-advantaged accounts). Tempting... but not tempting enough. Any couples manage these kinds of allocations? I can't imagine such a...

^Listen, we're trying to come up with the most optimal way to DCA and in the limit I doubt that LS at the beginning is the best way. So what does "real-life DCA" mean? Can we come up with an opportunistic DCA algorithm that will almost always do better than LS? You know, something better ...