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Welcome to Bogleheads! You have some good options. Below I'll note some red flags: The PTTRX seems to outperform the VIPIX even though the ER is a little higher. I would most likely go with the Blackrock funds, and maybe add some VHCAX as it has performed really well (up about 40% this past year). C...

My apologies. I was still waiting for answers to a couple more questions and I figured you were busy with the little one. :D Do you have information as to whether His 401k allows elective after-tax contributions and regular in-service withdrawals of only those contributions? This is what it says, wh...

He has a few financial planners chasing him, and I want to make sure he doesn't do anything he regrets. Show him PBS Frontline's The Retirement Gamble (available for viewing online and which is also discussed in in this thread ). If he advances it to the 19:50 mark it'll start him at 3 critical top...

I'm contributing 6% which maximizes my employer contribution Got it. I know I'm terribly low on contributions, but will be bumping up in June/July when I can change it. Thank you for giving the dollar amounts, too. I wanted to know the dollar amounts in case you were also contributing outside of th...

In case you missed it, PBS Frontline did a documentary piece called "The Retirement Gamble" that might interest your friend. I think it makes all this investing gobbledygook very simple and palatable. There's a link in the thread to see the video online. If she needs a good "hook"...

^ ^ I watched Frontline's "The Retirement Myth" before going to bed last night and the question of costs haunted me last night as I slept. I scanned this thread again and realized that I don't understand what you're saying (and not saying) about future retirement savings, from which one mi...

^ It would appear that DFA Global Equity is simply the equity part of Global Allocation 60/40 fund , with the same US/International split (64 US / 36 Int'l) and the same value and size tilts (see links). OP could actually taylor the amount of bonds by using DFA Global Equity for stocks and add howev...

Today, I couldn't get the following out of my head, so I wrote it down to Honor Mr. Bogle for his birthday. Imagine John Bogle on a stage adorned with an Admiral Bicorne. He dusts off the musical score to Pirates of Penzance and turns to the Major-General's Song. He clears his throat and cues the mu...

"He couldn't have nearly as many DFA options," I thought to myself as I typed that last question. Well you don't, but you do have A LOT. I think you should change the title of your thread to "Portfolio Help - DFA & Vanguard" or something like it. Also, edit your first post to...

I guess I agree that bonds look terrible right now, but only if they don't get worse later. Gas prices also look terrible, but I need both bonds and gas. So does Buffet. Perhaps if I were as smart as him, I'd be complaining. Honestly, I'm just happy to be able to save and invest!

I converted an old 401k from Fidelity (awhile back) to USAA IRA just to keep my accounts together. Do you have other investment accounts that you have not included? I am not familiar with USAA, other than the general rep they have for being good for insurance, but they leave a lot be desired for in...

18x earnings does not mean there will be a crash or drop or anything of the sort. Instead of a drop in the market, what if the "correction" is merely a slower rise in the market wherein the earnings catchup to the prices? Waiting for that correction would be a loser's game because your ass...

Pingo, Funny...if you look at the back of my images you'll see that my chin-up station is an old Soloflex that I must've bought around 1982. Wow, 31 years ago! :shock: I only use it for chins anymore as all other movements are done with free weights except for shoulder warmups which are done with a...

IronMind has a nice article on an easy way to build a great lifting platform . And there's nothing like having a good bench. Blues features the IronMaster Super Bench in his photo and I have never heard anything negative about it. Another one I'm partial to is the IronMind 5-Star Flat Bench , which...

The only other account is a Roth IRA through USAA, just opened, with less than 10K rolled over from Fidelity. I have all of that in VTSMX for now. Too bad. You had good options at Fidelity. And I'll admit I'm questioning the choice of holding a Vanguard fund at USAA. It has to be more expensive doi...

I have both powerblocks and the ironmaster. The powerblocks are far, far superior. Great comments from everyone so far. The ironmasters are marketed as quick change - but they really aren't that fast. I would go with powerblocks. I've seen this comment before, that is that the IronMasters can't be ...

I'm seeing a lot of PowerBlocks here. What, no love for IronMaster Quick-Lock Dumbbells?

They're not nearly as quick to change, but they don't feel any different than gym dumbbells. Just curious.

So if you were to add the amount of money you have in the Roth with the amount you have in the 403b, what percent of the portfolio is the Roth? What percent of the portfolio is the 403b?

To increase resistance for pushups I'd lower a dumbbell behind my head and position it on my upper spine just below the neck and do pushups while balancing the dumbbell on my back. Or I'd balance one or two 45 lb weight plates on my back while doing pushups. Be warned that when increasing pushup re...

I would probably do the following... -Choose the amount of bonds you want and put it all in Total Bond Mkt Idx Signal (VBTSX). -Choose the percent of equity you want for International, multiply it by the total amount of equity and split the result 50:50 between Vanguard International Growth and Vang...

A weight belt or even better a weight vest are good ways to add resistance on dips and all bodyweight exercises. However, at that point, it is not truly bodyweight. Depends on how strictly you want to adhere to using your own bodyweight only. For weighted dips, I used to just grab a 50 lb dumbbell ...

Edited my last post a little.

More questions: 401(k) at current employer - ING 50% match up to 6% of salary, capped at $2000 So, all I know is that they will match 50% of contributions up to 6% of salary (which covers the whole $17,500). -Am I right that the total of new contributions to His 401k will be $19,500 once the employe...

It looks like the fund may be more like 60% stocks / 40% Bonds: FundSource PDF Well, okay, there are tiny slivers that include commodities, REITS, High Yield and Emerging Markets bonds, but they appear to be reasonable amounts, assuming they stick to the allocations. I don't like the active portfoli...

(Also not keen on the long bonds, but that's a different discussion.) I noticed that the OP lists VBTLX which is the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (Admiral Shares). OP states "long-term bond index" and "bond, long-term investment" about VBTLX. Perhaps there was some conf...

^ I agree with grabiner 100%.

For my own investments I allocate across all accounts, but this inquiry is for someone else and I like that the Target Funds make for zero or no maintenance. I looked at the link provided by Landy and was working under the assumption that the taxable account is yours, that you have a 403b and that ...

What you've posted looks nice. Might I also recommend reading Taylor Larimore's thread called The Three Fund Portfolio ? I am looking to invest ~$20k in lazy(ish) portfolio with Vanguard and am wondering what the merits of simply buying TR 2050 vs. trying to figure out my own asset allocation are. I...

Have you checked your employer Plan Document to see if your 403b allows optional after-tax contributions plus quarterly or yearly in-service withdrawals/distributions of only the after-tax contributions? In such a case you could directly roll those after-tax contributions into your Roth IRA and neve...

Edited. If you are going to hold bonds and stocks in your taxable account, I would probably avoid the target fund option, even though I love Vanguard's target funds. That way, you have a degree more flexibility to rebalance (or not) at times or in ways that are better for you tax-wise. There are al...

^ Yes. VBTLX is the place to put His unexpected/additional Roth contributions. At the same time you schedule the deposit to His Roth, you can also schedule a transfer in His 457 to have an equal amount leave His 457 bonds and move into the Small and Mid cap funds. When that time comes,if you need (o...

I looked and yes, we can do the Roth IRA. I am curious as to whether that is a good idea though - and the reason I ask is this: If we are able to retire in 2-4 years we will be paying for health insurance out of our own pockets. That would mean 5-7 years for DH and 10-12 for me. For us to be eligib...

I would like to simplify our account where it is correct to do so and pick a good allocation for us that we can live with for a long time. We may be too heavy on stocks for our ages but I don’t know what else to do . Cash is nice but sure doesn’t move one forward. I see a lot of scary posts about b...

Edits to 2013-only Portfolio suggestion: I eliminated any further contributions to her 457 in order to free up money for His Traditional IRA without infringing on Her Roth contributions. That should get you up to the $3k fund minimum for Total Bond (Investor Class). (Adding the money to His BND ETF...

401k with our medical group---17.5 employee, 17.5 match, upto 16k profit sharing based on earnings (I typically hit 50k per year in retirement, wife makes less as she works part time, usually gets to 40k per year in retirement (she fully maxes 17.5 employee to get 17.5 match, gets less in profit sh...

Whatever you decide to do, you can always come back and update the thread with where all this stuff has taken you. I'm always happy to offer my $0.02.

All the best!

Understood. All the best!

I realize a lot can change by 2014, but I thought I'd work out a rough idea for when Her Merrill Lynch account is be rolled over to Vanguard: 2 Pensions Household income still assumes approx. $110,000/yr. Current Portfolio size: $200,000 <--Assumes 0% growth, but I roughly added last year's contribu...

As I've said before, I'm not great with the tax stuff, so I may be way off, but I'm playing with the numbers and assumptions for reference. $110,000 Gross Income - $17,500 His VALIC 457 contributions - $0 Her 457 contributions. - $3200 HSA $89,300 AGI - $7,800 Personal Exemptions (2) - $19,000 itemi...

^ Edited above post to add chart and chart-comments. Emergency funds: 9 months of expenses Debt: Mortgage - $143,000 @ 3.875% - 30 year fixed; Car - $8,000 @ 3.24%; Credit Card - $6,000 @ 2.99% Tax Filing Status: Married filing Jointly (No kids) Tax Rate: 15- 25% Federal 4.35% State (MI) Household i...

Edited post below to add chart and chart-comments. My initial thoughts about rebalancing is to unload the VTSAX in my wife's Roth and fill most of that with Vanguard Total International Admiral (VTIAX) and the rest with Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund (VEXMX). In my 457, I was looking over the ...

Here's the contributions planned for this year: $17,500 His 457(b) - No match $12,000 Her 457(b) - No match $0 His IRA (Roth or Traditional) $0 Her IRA (Roth or Traditional) $3,200 HSA $0 - any addtional savings from her new business (if any) A few comments on the contributions. Last year, we contr...

You've taken a lot of important steps. Congratulations are in order! This puts me at my target AA of 35%/55%/10% : bonds/stock/international_stock. (Slightly different than my original posted AA.) What matters first is that your AA is US 55 / Int'l 10 / Bond 35 with low expenses, so take my comments...

Not having those credit card payments each month has made it much easier to consider increasing our retirement contributions. Nice! Also, my wife is pursuing a new business opportunity that should bring in some additional income. Think: SEP IRA or Individual 401k, assuming she qualifies. No need to...

Hello Pingo .... I have to apologize for my lack of knowledge with my 401k ... My company decided to change things without anyones knowledge and the financial guy that was helping me for 5 years decided it wasn't worth his time to work with my measly 401 anymore ... So I'm lost and have no Idea how...

Do you have any updates concerning the HSA? What options are there? (Names, tickers, expense ratios.)

I put in 22% of my pay along with a 12% match plus $5,500 catchup, which = $23,000. a year I add to my 401k yearly. Forgive me if it was already addressed, but the above confuses me. You have the potential to contribute the following to your 401k: $17,500 401k Personal Contribution limit <--Is this...

What do you think about rolling Her Traditional IRA and His Rollover IRA their respective 401ks? It occurred to me that doing so keeps expenses just as low while making the portfolio simpler. Also, if direct Roth eligibility ever comes into question, the portfolio would already be ready for backdoo...

The hands-off nature of that portfolio gives you more time for the important stuff in your lives, and you want to spend it on the web? :oops: Kidding aside, you've done great. I do hope you'll continue to learn so that you can understand more deeply the majesty of what you have. All the best! :beer

^ Edits/changes above.

Not that you're looking for even more stuff to read, but I'd recommend reading Taylor Larimore's thread entitled The Three Fund Portfolio. Taylor is one of the authors of The Bogleheads Guide to Investing, and held in high regard on this board.