Bogleheads.org

This is the Bogleheads forum, so let's get this out there. If you're the type to watch your expense ratios, then you shouldn't be the type to buy Scott's mulch. 1. Decide what you want to do with the mulch. Is it for looks? Is it for soil amendment? Is it for mixing with other things to grow stuff i...

Hmmm - thanks, I'll go through there again. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what the thread topic was.

I'm glad this post was replied to so that it popped up - I was not aware of it.

I've seen a couple of references to a thread on "TrevH's simplied slice and dice portfolio" using TSM and SV. My google foo seems to be failing - does anyone have a link handy to that thread?

I like my Logitech M305. It's small, but not so small that it doesn't fit my hand. Uses 1 AA battery that lasts several months. Usually about $15 at Target. It can withstand drops and the occasional toss against a wall.

It may have been replaced by the M310, which is $20 or under.

One of these days I have to sit down and figure out the best plan for my wife and I. She needs maybe 20m of talk time per month. I need about 300 to 400m talk per month, and something like 200m of data per month. I currently have Tmobile and really like both the service and my phone. I think I I can...

Every year or 2 I try to get rid of one of the computers in my office at home (1 for me that's powerful enough to run games, 1 for my wife that's usually my old one) and replace it with something simpler. I keep running into the things I can't do. 1. Almost anything with a spreadsheet. 2. Any seriou...

dbr wrote:It doesn't follow from this that stocks that don't pay dividends don't have good returns.

Neither I nor the original poster suggested this.

heh. This is kind of like someone growing up in the 90s and thinking stocks always go up!

Roth IRAs were introduced by the Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997. I think I had 2 401k rollovers by then.

The gospel of dividend-paying stocks is Just Another Stock-picking Theory. Weeeeeeellll, except that I'm guessing your chart is total return, with dividends re-invested. And don't get me wrong - I love charts! Been a while since I read this, but I believe something like half the returns of the S&am...

Snowskier - I like it. That's essentially what I do now, minus the REIT allocation. I'm comfortable with it, and I think long term it will give me a better return with acceptable risk compared to the straight 3 fund portfolio.

That's odd. I don't use my Yahoo email account for years at a time, and it's always there when I login. But to be honest, it wasn't stolen. If something expires without your renewal........

Unfortunately, it's true for me. I drift towards value/smallcap value investing in rising markets (via rebalancing, adding funds), then drift right back to a 3 fund portfolio in falling markets. Though hmm, as I've done portfolio research I think I've usually used Vanguard value funds/ETFs rather th...

3. 40% TSM, 60% S&P 600 Value has about a 0.35 sensitivity to size and value -- a nice balance. About a 2% higher-than-market expected return, which positions you to generate greater wealth, or hold less in stocks (and more in bonds) yet sill earn a similar return as TSM, and provide you some s...

Absolutely. Now, my wife is not a big spender; we both spend within our means. But she will not, no matter how much I work it, take input from me on her investments. She's a stay at home mom now, but still has a 401k and stock account from pre-marriage, and we contribute to a Roth IRA for her. The f...

A plain old stock index fund in a taxable account is very tax-friendly. People worry way too much about taxes, and not enough about fees... I'm simply saying that it would be great if I could stash more savings in a cash sheltered investment. Given the choice, I'd love to have the ability to stash ...

It's really too bad there aren't good investment vehicles in this space. I max my tax-avoidance accounts (401k, Roth IRA) and I've got term insurance. I wish there were SOMETHING good in this space to stash more savings in a tax-friendly manner.

I find it interesting that you moved your account to Vanguard, instead of simply not listening to the Fidelity rep. now you have a Vanguard rep giving you suggestions, but that doesn't make you happy either. You can do the same Vanguard investments in the Fidelity accounts on the cheap using ETFs. I...

I'm not sure if it's only for existing investors or new investors, but Sharebuilder is currently handing out $500 just for depositing that amount of money; there are smaller freebies for smaller deposits. Of course, I made my big deposit BEFORE that offer was available. Once you're in Sharebuilder, ...

You could try selling the sets on Craigslist. I buy mostly that way these days, instead of Ebay.

Hopefully you'll find someone who'll pay more I'm willing to pay!

Google tells me the wifi problem is mostly with the Nexus. And yes, if you don't use wifi for a while, it will cut off to save power.

Yes, the Google Voice app will make calls. You can configure it to ask you for either international calls or all calls.

Were you using 3G (or 4G) or WiFi? 3/4G are generally too slow for VoIP. WiFi will work, but Android cuts the power down on WiFi when the screen goes off (at least the phone version does. i'm not 100% sure about the tab version). There is an app to fix that. I dont recall the name. There are also a...

The problem isn't with Google voice quality, as much as it's your bandwidth, and is your equipment Quality Of Service Ready. Your network makes the big difference with any voice over IP vendor. VOIP does not need dedicated bandwidth, by definition. That said, a good VOIP connection needs anywhere f...

I've had text messages sent to a friend's Google Voice number take 6-12 hours before showing up on his always connected Android phone with LTE. Something to be aware of! (it has ruined our plans to meet several times..) In theory, Google addressed that a few years ago. I used to have that issue a l...

The problem with wireless and voice is not bandwidth. the problem is completely unpredictable latency and packet retries/drops. It's often useful to look at all the points of failure. If you're using wireless, you've got.... Google voice DSL (slower than cable, but perfectly acceptable)\ wireless Gc...

If I use 10 year returns off Morningstar, and compare SPY/IWD/IJS to VTI, I get 8.55% over the last 10 years vs 7.9%. Interesting. The last 10 years have all been due to small cap value; both SPY and IWD underperformed VTI. Btw, what are you using for int'l value? You know what's going to come of th...

I like to use work as a beta test site. I look at the laptops we have at work, and then find refurbished ones of the same model. There are companies on Ebay that sell tens of thousands of laptops coming off lease this way - they come already formatted with OS, etc. So, for instance, we use thousands...

Btw - you use ETFs and your .sig says you have int'l value. Which ETF do you use for int'l value?

THEORETICALLY outperformed, correct?

Interesting note: Buffet jokes about the B shares in the biography "Snowball" and refers to them as basically being worthless.

I've owned the B shares in the past; I thought it was interesting to see how he just saw them as a way to make money.

IMO, the 2 biggest steps are... 1. KNow what you want to pay before you go to the dealer. I base my price on blue book plus like to like comparisons. 2. Be absolutely ready to walk out if you aren't going to get your price. Last time I bought a used car (2 years ago) I dunno if I can count how many ...

I use 1 folder per year. IN each folder, docs are named "year vendorname month" So, a document might be named "2012 tmobile december.pdf" The folder sorts alphabetically, so if you're looking for a tmobile bill, they're all in a row. If you wanna save space, since they're already...

stan1 wrote:I am skeptical of using Evernote for archiving.

So skip the Evernote step and just save them as PDFs on your drive.

Fyi, lifehacker.com recently had a feature on using the Doxie scanner for this type of thing. http://lifehacker.com/5973033/how-i-turned-three-years-of-paper-into-a-highly-organized-searchable-document-database-in-two-days I've had a couple of scanners, and they just don't seem to let me do this typ...

Not to be smart, but if someone tells you this:

It even went so far as erasing TDSS Killer from the DVD

Find another source for information.

For god's sake don't re-install your OS. Re-imaging computers has really killed people's approach to fixing computer problems over the last 15 years. Several people have pointed out tools that will help. There are lots of ways to go about this, including http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos/ultim...

Consumer Reports usually recommends American Standard, which is what I got.

Several vendors have told me there are only 2 furnace manufacturers - but it's been several years since I researched my furnace so I don't remember the manufacturer names.

The other variable there is what dates your paycheck covers. For instance, my employer pays "late." "Pay period" would be, for instance, 12/1 to 12/14. "Pay date" would be 12/21. Some companies pay at the end of your pay period, others pay later. A paycheck on 1/3 could...

I have not, and I've done it quite a bit.

"Wanting a 15 year mortgage signifies that intellectually you know it's best to pay the loan off as quickly as possible; why not start with 20% down?" If you're disciplined with your money, why would you ever commit more than you need to? Get your loan as cheaply as possible. Put down as l...

That's odd. Comcast turned mine off the day I canceled.

Play hardball. I do this: 1. Are you able to avoid short service outages? I use VOIP at home, and cannot do without service 2. Interesting, I wonder if the fine print is different in different geographic areas. This used to be a year in my area. I'm trying to drill down to fine print on their websi...

Unfortunately, Comcast is learning. I did the "renew every 6 months" thing for years. What they now do, though is only apply that to the cable channel rate. It does not apply to HD rates or to the cost of DVRs/HD set top boxes, or to internet. So at best you can get a discount on, say, 40%...

" The service has been first rate." Heh. Now there's something you don't usually hear about ATT! ATT may have the worst customer service in the world. Even when compared to Comcast. Especially on the business side. That said, the service is as reliable as any other service. I'm on their DS...

That's interesting - I may start tracking that in my portfolio list. Not sure how far back performance history will go.

Victoria: 10 minutes! btenny: thanks for the tip, I'll check them out. They come in the usual "medium" (D) width, but maybe I can find a retail store to try them on. Dratkinson: I've seen those on military stuff, but I've never pulled the trigger. Amazon has them but few/no reviews last ti...

I'd kill to find some good pull-on boots for winter. Going in and out of the house with lace-ups is annoying. Sad thing is I have both REI and LL BEan within 10m of me.

Unfortunately, I also have feet that measure at, or even narrower than, AAA.

This is what I was referring to. Toyota is bad about this. go see a dealer. It's gonna cost you a lot.

Apparently this new key type or whatever started around 2007, when I bought my car. You can complain, and the dealer will apologize profusely. It's the manufacturer's fault.

I've done this recently on 2 different vehicles. IT SUCKS. 2006 Honda Pilot: spare key with remote buttons = $250../ 2007 Toyota Camry: spare key with remote buttons = $375. Lose the one you had? It's around $500 to get a completely new one. It's so bad the dealer offers "key insurance."

NOTE: The great 3% cashback on gas on the Costco Amex does not apply to gas bought at Costco. Their story they told us is that people were scamming them by lining up multiple cars and purchasing all the gas on 1 card.

Oh sweet, a little less exposure to Japan. I've often considered slicing and dicing a little bit due to paranoia about Japan.