Bogleheads.org

I'm in the Vanguard (Nevada) 529 plan for my daughters. I was curious where their expense ratios were at today as it's been a few years since I opened the accounts. Not really easy to find on Vanguard's web site. You have to pull up the .pdf plan documents. The current one is here: https://personal....

I would take the annuity for two reasons. First as a safety mechanism to prevent really stupid spending by myself, or more importantly, my heirs. I'd like to think that I'd be different than the typical winner but that forces one to spread things out a bit. Second, for taxes. If one takes the lump s...

"Index funds are for people who know nothing about investing"?

To which the perfect response to this guy would have been "exactly!"

Why not just buy her another dumb phone and an IPod Touch? Would seem to meet her needs perfectly. +1 This is the only good answer. I've tried endless ways to figure out how to use smart phones without data plans. For example, I have my old 4Gs iPhone and I was going to let my daughter use it but w...

The Roth is more flexible than the 403(b) in terms of withdrawal. In the future you can withdraw contributions for a wide variety of reasons....kids college education, house, etc. That can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. But it is a significant difference between the Roth and 403(b) ...

The OP sounds like they are in great shape. However to truly answer the question I think it would help to know your plan B. If the unforseen happens and you either lose substantial assets or have substantial unanticipated expenses (i.e. medical catastrophe) then what is your plan B? Some of us are i...

A fascinating article about why Cooper Union ended free tuition which it has been offering the founding of the college. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/business/how-cooper-unions-endowment-failed-in-its-mission.html?pagewanted=all It is just a series of really bad decisions which include a very w...

You never have to get the plan affiliated with your state regardless of what state you live in. However some states that have state income tax do offer state income tax deductions if you have a 529 plan through them. Texas is not one of those states because Texas has no state income tax in the first...

So if one has an HSA account.....say $20,000 and that account is seized in some judgement. Does one then also owe the IRS for the taxes and penalties for the withdrawal as if it was done voluntarily?

How does the saying go about death and taxes? Bottom line. If at some point in the future the fiscal situation of the country requires some type of massive increased revenue, then we will all pay for it somehow through some type of taxes. No one in the roaring 20s when taxes were low could have poss...

First of all, there is a forum where you will learn more than you could possibly ever want to know about buying pianos: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ Second, as a mediocre pianist and parent with 2 kids in piano lessons currently, here is my advice for purchasing a first piano. 1. Be wary of used...

If teachers are having a difficult time with their own retirement plans and finances, would you really want those who don't have a clue doing the teaching? The education I got in school about finances was terrible. They told me how to balance a checkbook, but the "investment" part of the ...

Wall Street is not a zero-sum game. For every winner there is a loser. This is not correct. Yeah, if you have a winner (+1) and a loser (-1), doesn't that make Wall Street a zero sum game? 1-1=0? A win-win game is where both can be winners, for example, I buy beer (winner) and the seller (winner) g...

I stayed the course with auto monthly deposits into the same vanguard target retirement funds through the whole thing. Kept telling myself it was a great buying opportunity.

What I did do is stop peeking so dang much that is for sure. I just stopped wanting to know.

We've done many exotic family vacations....Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and so on. But one of the absolutely most memorable was the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park Colorado. It is a giant old historic lodge sitting on the border of Rocky Mountain National Park that has been expanded with new...

I have a Concept 2 Rowing Machine. My wife has a treadmill and an elliptical. When I can I workout cycling....either a road circuit or mountain bike circuit near my house. I don't bother with weights and haven't since I quit playing football 30 years ago in HS. I have a body type that tends towards ...

Frankly I find his blog amusing and to some extent thought provoking. It takes some level of guts to lay your life out like that so publicly. That said, I think the main quibble people seem to have with him is with his claim to be retired at 30. I'm sure we all know many people who have basically dr...

Allan Roth's review I do need to point out, Frontline, that you neglected to include a very critical segment in your documentary -- the vital role that active managers play. Seriously, who do you think keeps markets efficient and allows us indexers to profit? Without the expensive active managers, ...

Seems like the solution is incredibly simple. Just change the law so that everyone is entitled to shelter say $25,000 of income in whatever combination of vehicles they chose (401(k), IRA, ROTH etc.) You don't like your 401(k), fine. Just take your $17,500 and put it in an IRA instead and dump anoth...

Is this video implying that many 401K have big extra expense fees added on and taken out in addition to the Mutual Fund fees athey publish? Are the 401K group managers adding 1% or so fees on top of the mutual fund fees they publish? Where would one look to find these extra fees? Thanks Bill Althou...

What type of funds are you investing? My 403(b) with Vanguard is in the low 6-figures and is invested entirely in Retirement 2035. Admiral shares are unavailable to investors in Vanguard 401(k) and 403(b) accounts regardless of account balance so there is nothing gained by slicing and dicing with in...

Easier said than done. Raising a stink about 401(k) options is an explicit criticism of the decisions made by the upper management folks at my wife's organization. These are the same folks who determine my wife's salary and whether or not she is promoted. She is very loath to make waves and I don't...

VG charges .7% for the first $1.0 million. This is exactly the point I was about to make. The low-fee leader in the mutual fund industry charges 0.7% for trust management which suggests to me that the fees your trust is being charged are probably at the low end of the scale. Seems to me that there ...

Retirement savings is the biggest single investment most people make in their lives and to the extent that they are tied to 401(k) or 403(b) plans they are captive to a specific company and have no ability to negotiate on fees. This may be solvable by employee action. Remember the demise of Stock S...

Some industry rebuttals.... http://www.plansponsor.com/Documentary_Critics_Inaccurate_Portrayal_of_Fees.aspx BruceM That's a very weak rebuttal IMO. They dismiss the claim that fees are the most important category for choosing funds and say that they are offering a very important service or value, ...

Retirement savings is the biggest single investment most people make in their lives and to the extent that they are tied to 401(k) or 403(b) plans they are captive to a specific company and have no ability to negotiate on fees. Imagine the outrage if another major investment that people make operate...

Is your lot 3/4 acre or the lawn 3/4 acre? Big difference. For $1000 I think I'd put all the $$$ into the mowing rather than the riding and get a wide-area walk behind mower like pretty much all the commercial mowing and landscaping crews use around here. That way all the power goes into the mowing ...

REI, Amazon, Costco, TMobile and USAA. What is really interesting about this list is that the following companies which have been mentioned a few time: REI, Amazon, Costco, TMobile, Nordstrom, Alaska Air are all based in Seattle. Seems like a higher than average concentration. Starbucks is also bas...

Wading Ashore wrote:American Standard.

???

You mean the company that makes urinals? http://www.americanstandard-us.com/products/commercial/

Some companies are legendary for customer service and going above and beyond. I'm familiar with some but certainly not all. I'm just wondering who else has favorite companies that have world class customer service. On my list are the following: Costco: Will take returns of anything anytime for any r...

Another thing. Costco seems to frequently run coupon specials of $70 off a set of 4 tires, either Michelin or Bridgestone (they rotate the coupons between the 2 brands) so I'd call ahead and see if they are running a coupon special at the moment. They don't generally need to see the actual coupon, t...

As someone with over $10 grand in bikes hanging in my garage (road bike, mountain bike, and tandem), and probably another couple grand in tools, racks, repair stands and what not, I'm hardly one to talk. What may be difficult to understand for someone who isn't an avid cyclist is that there is just ...

They are the best. When my subdivision was under construction I had a nail go through the sidewall, ruining a tire that was about half worn out. They replaced it with no issues or charge. Yes, the wait can be long as the secret is out. If you have to go on a weekend, drop the car off early when they...

The New York Times had a front page story about gold today

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/busin ... er.html?hp

Canon Powershot SX260 for a small pocket zoom still camera with good HD video. Can be had for just over $200 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Digital-Stabilized-Wide-Angle/dp/B0075SUK14 Canon just released a newer version, the SX280 which should be out in a couple weeks but will cost ...

If it were me, I would scratch Atlanta off the list and pick a different more interesting southern city to experience. Perhaps Charleston. Or maybe New Orleans although that isn't everyone's cup of tea. I would even pick one of the big Texas cities over Atlanta. Other cities to consider would be Por...

Thanks for all the great advice. I have a long list of great ideas to copy to my phone and have at my reference for when we get there. I was not aware that the America's Cup would be happening then. I suppose that means I better get cracking on finding lodging very soon. The Columbus Motor Inn recom...

I use both dropbox and crashplan which I understand is similar to carbonite. Dropbox is great for working files. I use 2 separate computers at work and 2 separate computers at home so any file that I am actively working on for any project stays in my dropbox folder meaning that I have it backed up i...

I see another San Francisco thread going on now but rather than hijack that one I though I'd start a new one as my wife and I will be there with our kids so we'll be looking for kid activities more than wine tastings. We'll probably be in the SF Bay area for the better part of a week in early July a...

The relevant IRS rule described on page 5 of this IRS guide: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p503.pdf Specifically.... Full-time student . You are a full-time student if you are enrolled at a school for the number of hours or classes that the school considers full time. You must have been a full-time...

Just curious if everyone is posting these numbers individually or as a couple. My wife and I are roughly aiming for $2 million in actual retirement savings (403(b)s, Roths etc.). We don't have any particular WHY to explain that number, it's just a realistic number given our current portfolio and sav...

My wife and I are talking about retiring to live part-time in Chile in about 10-15 years but that is where she is from and we have family all over the place there. Plus she will probably inherit a half dozen or more properties. Just off the top of my head, here are some places in South America that ...

Those cards are good for buying things online anonymously (nothing illegal, just potentially embarrassing stuff, or any situation where you don't want the seller to see your real name or have your real credit card number). Also good for signing up for services that you're afraid will be difficult t...

Fun.

I got the alimony one wrong.....way out of my experience. But I nailed the rest.

There might be an easier solution. If your wife has a lot of nice professional clothing you could probably call a consignment shop and have them come take everything off your hands for a fixed price. Then you could just donate the proceeds or keep it. Saves the hassle of going through everything and...

Is the WSJ article really unique to value investing? Seems to me that the same things that cause value investors to "burn out" probably apply equally well to investors who follow any other tilt. precious metals? emerging markets? tech stocks? energy stocks? health care stocks? internet sto...

texasdiver, Your figure cuts off the most interesting part. Can you re-post it? Victoria Here's the link; Education pays ... Jerry Thank you, Jerry. I expected that the difference in weekly earnings between a Master's degree and a Doctoral degree would be smaller and in unemployment rates greater. ...

As a teacher in a relatively diverse school district I would suggest that the return on pre-K investment is dramatically tilted towards the lower end of the income scale. Upper middle class kids are generally going to be just fine regardless of whether they are in pre-K or spend their days tramping ...

Obviously these sorts of statistics can be deceptive. And people tend to misunderstand the distinction between median and mean. If Bill Gates walked into a room full of teachers the median income in the room would be about $50,000 but the mean income would be in the $100 million or so. The median do...

All things being equal I'd probably prefer to just have classic 3 or 4 fund portfolio. Unfortunately..... My wife has: current 403(b) with mediocre choices legacy 403(b) direct with Vanguard with good choices current profit sharing plan with mediocre choices Roth with Vanguard I have: current 403(b)...