Bogleheads.org

Browser, You don't need to remove the cover. Nothing for you to do there, don't worry about it. All you want to do is to replace ATF, unless your manual specifically says to replace the filter as well. You want the engine to be hot, not cold. You may want to check the level of ATF now, just so you l...

Al, I agree with you, just wanted to expand on couple points you made for Browser's benefit: "Many dealers will just do a single drain/refill unless the vehicle sees severe usage, like towing. It takes 3 drains/refills for a "total" flush (80%+). Alternatively, every 30k miles or so j...

I got an oil change for my 2002 CRV and was told that the oil in the rear differential was dirty and needed to be changed -- costs $120 for this service. Just re-read your post again. This is a very common tactic, and what I referred to when you take your vehicle for oil change and they try to up-s...

Honda ATF DW-1 costs about $8-10/quart. Prices vary. You can get it for as little as $6 if you buy the whole case. You need the socket, new washer, drain pan, turkey blaster and funnel. 1. Drain 2. Plug (use new washer) 3. Measure how much you drained 4. Put the same amount in - turkey blaster into ...

I do it every 30K miles. Really easy (easier than changing the oil), you don't even need the lift. Very inexpensive preventive maintenance. If you don't keep the car forever, it's not necessary, just follow the manual. Although I have found that transmission behaves better when drained and filled ev...

runnergirl, There has been some excellent advise, and some that does not apply in your case. The ER rates under your HDHP are pre-negotiated by your carrier, and are outlined in your documents. In a typical plan, the rates are very high (again, if you opened your documents, you know by now what they...

I'll preface this with saying I have no experience with booking (or taking) international flights. So perhaps others on the forum can contribute actual knowledge about typical pricing trends for these flights. If you have an inflexible schedule, and you're willing to pay $2,050, then I'd just book ...

It is high season going to Europe, you will not get lower price, to Vienna in particular. The longer you wait, the more you will pay, that's just the way it is, unfortunately.

Enjoy the trip!

Let's say the country is France. This is still not specific enough to provide meaningful advise. You might be better off googling around and read threads discussing similar issues. In order for me to say anything meaningful, I would want to know at least the size of the company, preferably industry...

OP, since you are making an appt, I assume you are not changing oil yourself, so I would not overpay for synthetic oil change service. Just have it changed every 6 months with low mileage (unless severe conditions apply, as defined in your manual, not by your dealer). Sooner only if you hit 5K miles...

If I was under 30 years old and saving for retirement, I wouldn't put any new contributions into bonds at this time. The yields are too low, below expected inflation. Total Bond Market 1.44% ST Invest Garde 1.01% IT Investment Grade 2.01 The Equity Risk Premium is large right now. I would put all n...

There are too many variables in your life that I am not familiar with, that's why I said "consider" all equity portfolio. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you have. You are young, you have 5-6 decades of investing life ahead of you (it does not end when you achieve FI). Your mai...

sunnyday, At your age, with your goals of ER (and assuming very high savings rate), I would consider 100% stock portfolio. You can start adding bonds later, based on predetermined criteria, and/or you can work longer if necessary. If you like having bonds for lower volatility and rebalancing opportu...

You are paying taxes on your total income - W-2 and distributions. Since my income is very unpredictable, there were years where I grossly overpaid taxes, and was getting a large refund, or I underpaid, and had to make it up in large 4Q tax payment to avoid underpayment penalties. The system that I ...

I'm in my twenties, and will be investing for the long term. Over 80% of my assets are in a taxable account. I'm willing to take a lot of risk and stay the course, and I'd like a portfolio that is hands-off. The proposed portfolio: 100% VT What do you think? :thumbsup That's the way to do it. Every...

C63amg, I echo what Scooter57 wrote. You need to educate yourself first, so you get familiar with risk/reward expectations etc. There are many good books out there. You need to gain comfort level with whatever you decide to do, and stick with it for the long term, so it's a given that the process to...

Successful, happy and fulfilling life cannot be measured by numbers alone, if at all. There are many different roads to many different destinations. Choose your path because it takes you to your version of happiness, in a way that's most enjoyable by you and your family. MMM has found his, and I am ...

I have a solo 401k at Fidelity, it's the best one out there IMHO (better than Vanguard for reasons already discussed). However, I was not aware of ERISA issue, so I called Fidelity to confirm, and you are correct - solo 401ks are not covered by ERISA protection. This is what Fidelity sent me from th...

I read his blog on occasion, and while I may not agree with him on some things, he will absolutely make you think about lifestyle choices you make every day. Case in point - biking. Yes, it's hard and mostly not very practical to bike to work, and pulling the cart behind your bike to grocery store i...

Thanks for the link, Taylor. I have read and watched many interviews with Mr. Bogle over the years, and for me this one was the best yet. I think mostly because questions were excellent, covering all aspects of outlined problem from several different angles. He was very comfortable providing answers...

The JP Morgan guy - I hope he took the rest of the week off :oops:. Can you imagine - an executive VP of retirement savings at a major institution - on national television, looked quite incompetent. Not that Wells Fargo did such a hot job either. Prudential, tsk, tsk, not keeping up with the ongoin...

The JP Morgan guy - I hope he took the rest of the week off :oops:. Can you imagine - an executive VP of retirement savings at a major institution - on national television, looked quite incompetent. Not that Wells Fargo did such a hot job either. Prudential, tsk, tsk, not keeping up with the ongoin...

Thank you guys for the link. I thought it was very well done, I just wish they also offered a non-legislative alternative to fix the system - one that starts with consumers spending less and saving more. Some of those interviews - especially the JP Morgan guy, but Prudential lady as well - reminded ...

As far as buying VT only and be done with it, it certainly is an option, and not a bad one. I don't do it myself mostly for the reason you outlined - ER. My spreadsheet keeps track of current AA very accurately, so new funds get invested to restore balance, it's super easy. For me personally, VT wou...

notsure, I would not change a thing on the equity side if I were you. On the FI side, mainly given your age and only partially your tax considerations, I would skip the bond allocation for now. I don't want to list all conditions for this to be the right course of action, you know what they are if y...

I made the switch over 10 years ago (self-employment, not ER). Overall, a very positive experience, would do it again. Agree 100% with other posters - health insurance has been the single most difficult issue to deal with. Monthly premiums are insane (think second mortgage), and that's for HDHP. If ...

fnmix, I think you go about this the wrong way. You say that "US bonds can't quite fulfill the function they are supposed to have in my portfolio". The main function of bonds in your portfolio is to lower its risk and volatility - and they do it quite well. Many people, especially retired,...

The 5% is a judgement call. It's not always possible when you have a small allocation within an asset class that has a small allocation in a portfolio. We're trying to keep all portfolios very tight to an asset allocation strategy. This is what we're paid to do. You might take a more flexible appro...

Thanks, Rick. You did answer my question, even though I meant percentage, not dollar amount. The reason I asked is because I always thought anything below 5% in a portfolio is insignificant, and therefore not worth owning it. I took it one step further with TIPS - is 4% really worth it for inflation...

Good article, Rick. At the end of it, you say this: " An investor saving for retirement or in retirement would use a general TIPS fund as part of their overall portfolio allocation. My research points to about a 20 percent allocation in the fixed income portion." When you work with your cl...

fnmix, I am no expert, but since you asked... Just 6 short months ago, you came up with your long term AA. Why are you considering the change now? Not much has changed since then, bond rates have been low for quite some time. My fear is that 6 months from now, something else may worry you, and you w...

I typically use Discount Tire, but recently joined Costco. I have to admit it's discouraging to hear they don't take appointments. Can you at least call to see what tires they have in stock? I like that Discount Tire lets you choose the exact tires when you book an appt online. It gives me time to ...

jay22, You asked: "So, stay the course? 20%TBM is a reasonable allocation for a 30 year old?" I am not qualified to tell you what you should do with your AA. I can give you an opinion since you asked. First, I would not make any changes today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. Continue r...

I just read the interview at our local library, and it was typical C. Ellis' advice: invest in index funds, keep the costs down, don't listen to short-term noise. The bond suggestion might be considered controversial by many on this board, however, he makes it clear that bonds are a LONG TERM proble...

I use both Costco and Discount Tire. They are both excellent. I would not use any other shop. With Costco I cannot make an appointment, so I just get there 10-15 minutes before they open on a weekday, and am out pretty quickly. Customer service level is excellent. I like Discount Tire slightly bette...

I read this article a while back, I think it's a good refresher on "inflation monster" both in Europe and the US. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/how-central-banks-are-threatening-the-savings-of-normal-germans-a-860021.html That's where Charley Ellis is coming from - the relentl...

I read this book little over year ago, so it's probably not the same edition as the one discussed here. However, I would like to point out that Charley Ellis has not gone "off the rails". He made it very clear that he does not like bonds, has never invested in them, and to this day (he is ...

Rick,

Thanks for your reply and link to your article. Very helpful indeed.

Very good article, thank you! Rick, if you are still reading this thread, here is my question for you. I totally get your point of NOT increasing FI portion of a portfolio if you can afford to wait. Are there any circumstances you can think of, under which you would take your advice one step further...

I read it, it's an interesting concept. Many sections of the book may raise your eyebrows though. He offers very aggressive approach to business that I would not be comfortable taking. But who knows, it may be the way of the future...

The best website for her to go to is ehealthinsurance.com She will get many options to choose from; the base rates are 100% reliable - that's what the insurer filed for and got approved by the state. She can go through the broker, but will get the exact same rates, so why bother? The problem is that...

Austintatious, The reason I suggested TDA is because I was in similar shoes, except that my kids were much younger (8-10). There was no Betterment or other similar vehicles back then to invest very small amounts of money, only single company DRIPs. They both started with less than $150. TDA worked f...

I would recommend TD Ameritrade. There is no minimum to open an account, there are no ongoing fees, and you can buy Vanguard ETFs commission free.

It's great that you have these thoughts at such young age. While almost nothing will go as planned, you will be more successful having a plan to begin with. Living below your means, staying out of debt, and regularly saving and investing money is a good and necessary start. By early 30s you will kno...

With the latest commission-free ETF offer at Fidelity, you can also buy many Vanguard-like ETFs for free. Just another option for you.

https://www.fidelity.com/etfs/ishares

+1 on everything above.

With $70K of self-employed income, you can significantly increase your tax-deductible space by opening solo 401k. I would do that ASAP, and have all new contributions go there, instead of SEP IRA.

Matthew, I looked at your website, the blog, and some of the articles you have written over the years. You are up front about your investing strategy - "buy-and-hold does not work"; I give you credit for that. Instead, your firm employs various market timing strategies using proprietary so...

Cosmo,

no need to pay for the book, just get the latest available edition from your local library. It will put you on the right path - for free.

I cannot answer your question, but I keep recommending this book for college financial planning purposes: "Paying for College Without Going Broke, 2013 Edition (College Admissions Guides)" by The Princeton Review. They publish it every year, and it is in my opinion the best available resou...

There is a contribution form on their website you can download and you fill it out every time you make a contribution. Keep a copy for your records. 1. At this point in time, deposits into solo 401k can only be made via paper check (mail it or in person at your local branch). 2. Fidelity does not ca...