Search found 247 matches

by ClaireTN
Sun Jan 04, 2015 6:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Annual POLL] What was your 2014 return?
Replies: 144
Views: 22726

Re: [Annual POLL] What was your 2014 return?

Back-of-the-envelope math shows about 8% IRR for a portfolio that moved from 65/35 to 60/40 over the course of the year, with 30% of equities in international. This was a planned change in asset allocation.
by ClaireTN
Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Asset Allocation Trigger Point - Checking In
Replies: 2
Views: 544

Re: Asset Allocation Trigger Point - Checking In

livesoft wrote:Will a shift cause you any extra taxes? Or can you do this in tax-advantaged accounts?

I myself would shift in 2% increments every 3 months or so and would not pay any taxes to do so.

Also I would stop shifting when I reached 50:50.
I can do all of this within my 403b or Roth. Do you recommend the smaller, 2%, shifts primarily for psychological comfort (which is fine with me)? Or does the slower shift have another function? Just curious.

Edit: I just realized I was responding to livesoft. I think you are the one who recommended Otar's book to me. Thanks! It really shifted my thinking about retirement savings.
by ClaireTN
Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Asset Allocation Trigger Point - Checking In
Replies: 2
Views: 544

Asset Allocation Trigger Point - Checking In

Hello everyone, I came here a few years ago for advice when I was first getting serious about understanding our asset allocation strategy and learned a lot. My spouse and I have now reached a "trigger point" where we are supposed to shift our asset allocation, so I'm back to check in and, frankly, get some reassurance. Big shifts make me nervous! We are following the asset allocation plan that we found in Otar's _Unveiling the Retirement Myth_. It calls for shifting your allocation as you reach certain thresholds in terms of how many years of retirement income you have saved. Here's the plan he outlines: 2-10 years = 70/30 11-16 years = 60/40 17-20 years = 50/50 20-30 years = 40/60 Our current allocation is right on 70/30. We foll...
by ClaireTN
Mon Jun 16, 2014 10:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Calling all Cyclists... [help getting into cycling]
Replies: 71
Views: 9904

Re: Calling all Cyclists...

The Tubus racks are very nice, but pricey. If you aren't doing loaded tours, they are probably more than you need. Racktime is a lower-cost line made by the same company. I'm a bike commuter and sometimes carry a good bit of stuff into the office, but no way I would need the carrying capacity of a Tubus.
by ClaireTN
Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Calling all Cyclists... [help getting into cycling]
Replies: 71
Views: 9904

Re: Calling all Cyclists...

You might want to visit http://www.bikeforums.net/forum.php. I find most posters there to be very sensible and generous with advice.
by ClaireTN
Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Poll] What was your 2013 return?
Replies: 209
Views: 18814

Re: What was your 2013 return?

15.23%

70/30 mix, with 30% of equities international
by ClaireTN
Sat Jun 15, 2013 4:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Costco Natural Peanut Butter is Back!
Replies: 26
Views: 9732

Re: Costco Natural Peanut Butter is Back!

jeffyscott wrote:The jars I just bought say "best by May ___ 2014", that means it may still be edible after that, it just won't be "best".

We have never had a problem with 3 people eating it and we have not been refrigerating it.

Thanks. It sounds like, unopened, it stays good for a long time. I'll look for this on our next trip to Costco!
by ClaireTN
Sat Jun 15, 2013 1:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Costco Natural Peanut Butter is Back!
Replies: 26
Views: 9732

Re: Costco Natural Peanut Butter is Back!

Can anyone offer advice about how long it stays good? It would take us a long time -- a month? -- to go through 80 oz. of PB. Would it last that long?
by ClaireTN
Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best/Favorite ipad Apps
Replies: 34
Views: 6027

Re: Best/Favorite ipad Apps

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is Slideshark. It's the best app for saving and presenting PowerPoint slides that I have found. It saves your presentations in the cloud and locally. It lets you annotate slides as you present and also has a "laser pointer" feature. Really great app.
by ClaireTN
Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The How To of Creating a Blog
Replies: 21
Views: 2367

Re: The How To of Creating a Blog

What is the purpose of the blog? I've set up blogs with both Blogger and self-hosted WordPress. If it's just something basic, like to share photos and keep family updated with your life, or chronicle your travels, then blogger should be okay. For anything professional or if she is really serious about it, WordPress is far superior. With the info I originally provided, it seems that the majority of posters lean towards Wordpress. The purpose of the blog is social. It is not poised to generate revenue (financial in nature) so as PreemieNurse puts it; A way to 'chronicle your travels'. Now that you know its social blog, Would you say that blogger.com good enough for who/what it is for? If she really just wants to do something very simple and ...
by ClaireTN
Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: when do you plan to change AA
Replies: 29
Views: 2838

Re: when do you plan to change AA

We use what I think of as the "Otar plan." on page 206 of his "Unveiling the Retirement Myth," Otar lays out an AA plan based on a ratio of assets to withdrawals.

With 1-2 years of withdrawals in savings, you use a 50/50 AA (he calls this "seed money" and assumes you'd get scared off by a big market drop at this stage).
With 2-10 years in savings you go 70/30
With 11-16 years in savings you go 60/40
With 17-20 years in savings you go 50/50
With 20-30 years in savings you go 40/60
During retirement he recommends a 30/70 mix

I voted milestone.
by ClaireTN
Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:25 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: My Christmas gift for you.
Replies: 42
Views: 9059

Re: My Christmas gift for you.

Thank you! Merry Christmas!
by ClaireTN
Sun Dec 23, 2012 3:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: .
Replies: 8
Views: 1433

Re: IPAD: Shared or Separate Usernames re: Apps

My spouse and I use a common Apple ID so that we both have access to all of the apps and music we have purchased. We also maintain completely separate e-mail, calendars, task lists, and so forth. We've never had any trouble with it. Every once in a while, if one of us gets a new app, it will automatically show up on the other one's iPad. If it's something I don't want, I just delete it from my iPad. That doesn't affect his set up at all. It does mean, though, that we always know what the other one has downloaded. That's not a problem for us, but if you want more privacy from your parents, that could be an issue I suppose. By the way, we use Google calendar and e-mail. They work seamlessly with the native calendar and e-mail apps. For some o...
by ClaireTN
Mon Dec 10, 2012 7:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: IBM to hold matching contributions until end of year
Replies: 3
Views: 749

IBM to hold matching contributions until end of year

According to this Forbes article IBM plans to change the structure of its 401k so that matching contributions will be held until the end of the calendar year. Employees who leave mid-year -- even if they are fired -- would lose the match. I hope this does not become a trend for other companies.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/helaineolen ... 401k-plan/
by ClaireTN
Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: buying a smartphone
Replies: 38
Views: 4084

Re: buying a smartphone

boglestan wrote:There's an app (GrooVe IP) for free VOIP calling over wifi (that doesn't deduct from your minutes), but my wife tried it and her call dropped on the first try. Didn't bother trying it again.
I've used this app and find that it works well in exactly one situation. If I am in a wifi and talking to someone on a landline, it's perfect. I can hear them with clarity, and the call never gets dropped. Any other situation -- I'm using data, my conversation partner is on a cell phone -- and the app is pretty much useless. Still, I use it a lot to talk to family members who still use landlines.
by ClaireTN
Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: buying a smartphone
Replies: 38
Views: 4084

Re: buying a smartphone

I'll throw in another recommendation for the $30 T-Mobile Monthly4G plan. 100 minutes are included, and extra minutes are 10 cents. So at 150 minutes, you'd spend $35, which is still hard to beat. Unlimited web and texts are included, and you have your choice of a huge array of Android phones that work with T-Mobile. You don't get the "discount" on the phone given to people signing up for contracts, but in the long run it's a far better deal. Plus, you can switch to another provider whenever you want without getting hit with an early termination fee. I was looking at that recently at Walmart. I use very few voice minutes -- maybe 20-30 a year. The problem I had was that there were not many choices of phones at Walmart and the cle...
by ClaireTN
Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [POLL] How many miles on your car?
Replies: 141
Views: 12617

Re: [POLL] How many miles on your car?

Our Corolla will be 10 in July. It just reached 60,000 miles.
by ClaireTN
Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Reccomend things to do in New Mexico
Replies: 22
Views: 2334

Re: Reccomend things to do in New Mexico

Ghost Ranch if you are into red rock hiking.
Chimayo for a fascinating look at a pilgrimmage site and the best chile around.
BTW, it's "chile" if you are in NM, not "chili."
by ClaireTN
Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bogle on value tilting/REIT/emerging markets
Replies: 23
Views: 4095

Re: Bogle on value tilting/REIT/emerging markets

bob90245 wrote:Investors expecting value tilting/REIT/emerging markets to pay off year in and year out will be disappointed. This is strictly a long term strategy. Those who lack the neccesary patience should stick to total markets.
The total market strategy is also not for those who lack patience.
by ClaireTN
Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The new iPad
Replies: 107
Views: 13279

Re: The new iPad

If an 11" Airbook is around $900 does it still make sense to buy a $600 to $700 new ipad? Even with the ipad upgrades it seems to me that the extra money for an Airbook is well spent. For me the answer to this would depend largely on whether you need a consumption or a production device. If the primary point is to read books and magazines, listen to music, browse the web, view documents and e-mail, and so forth, then I find the iPad to be the better device. If you need something that is primarily for producing and editing documents and spreadsheets, then I think a netbook (like the MacBook Air) is a better choice. I think my iPad is great, but if I am writing an article, or even a long e-mail message, then I tend to go to my laptop. T...
by ClaireTN
Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The new iPad
Replies: 107
Views: 13279

Re: The new iPad

I own a first generation iPad and love it. I knew it was what I wanted before it existed. I remember saying that I liked the idea of a smartphone, but really wanted a BIG smartphone and didn't really care about the phone part of a smartphone. I ordered it as soon as it was available and have loved it. It works beautifully, does just what I want it to. I can imagine that one day I'll be able to give up my laptop and just use the tablet. I am not, however, ordering the iPad 3. Why? Because my current iPad works just fine, is only two years old, and shows no signs at all of slowing down or becoming obsolete. I'll replace it eventually, but not yet. If you've never had one before, then I'd just ask yourself whether the extra $100 for the lates...
by ClaireTN
Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The new iPad
Replies: 107
Views: 13279

Re: The new iPad

I own a first generation iPad and love it. I knew it was what I wanted before it existed. I remember saying that I liked the idea of a smartphone, but really wanted a BIG smartphone and didn't really care about the phone part of a smartphone. I ordered it as soon as it was available and have loved it. It works beautifully, does just what I want it to. I can imagine that one day I'll be able to give up my laptop and just use the tablet. I am not, however, ordering the iPad 3. Why? Because my current iPad works just fine, is only two years old, and shows no signs at all of slowing down or becoming obsolete. I'll replace it eventually, but not yet. If you've never had one before, then I'd just ask yourself whether the extra $100 for the latest...
by ClaireTN
Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: TIAA Real Estate -- Role in portfolio.
Replies: 52
Views: 3442

Re: TIAA Real Estate -- Role in portfolio.

Valuethinker wrote:Claire in Tennessee had a query about TIAA RE which we discussed here a few months ago. If you can find her nick in the search engine. Good discussion all the main points raised, I think.
Here's the thread: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... =1&t=88238
by ClaireTN
Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Deleted
Replies: 50
Views: 5096

Re: Do you have a portfolio "floor"?

I don't have a floor now, but plan to by the time I reach retirement. My plan is to have enough in safe assets (like TIPS and the TIAA traditional account) to purchase an SPIA that will cover the gap between Social Security and our basic living expenses. If the concept of a "floor" covers planning so that one can ignore a market crash without having to change one's asset allocation or compromise one's standard of living, then, yes, we'll have a floor as we approach retirement. That is, we'll have a set amount of money that (barring the end-of-the-world senario) we can't lose. But that's not our "plan B." That's plan A.
by ClaireTN
Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TIAA Direct - High Yield Savings 1.24 APY
Replies: 23
Views: 3579

Re: TIAA Direct - High Yield Savings 1.24 APY

It looks like they only plan to reimburse ATM fees from in-network machines. Here's what the website says: " Withdraw money at more than 400,000 ATMs with free transactions at over 23,000 ATMs in our network." The savings account might be attractive, but for me that would be a deal killer on the checking account. I don't care if there are 10 million ATMs I can't use; I only care about the 23,000 I can use. Have you looked at the map of their locations? There are two kinds: in and out and out only. There are plenty of locations near where I live and near where I often go. Plus, I have other accounts with other ATM cards. I use the card and the ATM that is most convenient. Between my 3 cards, I have plenty of access. If I add a 4th...
by ClaireTN
Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TIAA Direct - High Yield Savings 1.24 APY
Replies: 23
Views: 3579

Re: TIAA Direct - High Yield Savings 1.24 APY

It looks like they only plan to reimburse ATM fees from in-network machines. Here's what the website says: " Withdraw money at more than 400,000 ATMs with free transactions at over 23,000 ATMs in our network." The savings account might be attractive, but for me that would be a deal killer on the checking account.
by ClaireTN
Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: All Vanguard accounts under one login?
Replies: 64
Views: 19016

Re: All Vanguard accounts under one login?

sscritic wrote:You can grant rights to a spouse or anyone else. It's called "agent authorization" at Vanguard.
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/litera ... _mode=true
I'll be darned. The things you learn on this forum. My spouse and I just did this - easy as can be. Thanks!
by ClaireTN
Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:01 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you do a 3 or 4 fund portfolio over several accounts?
Replies: 21
Views: 2438

Re: How do you do a 3 or 4 fund portfolio over several accou

therub wrote:I have 4 Vanguard accounts and a 401k that share an asset allocation of 5 funds/ETFs. I hope eventually I have one account that's large enough to contain most of the rebalancing, but for now I ended up with a couple funds in each account.

The math for rebalancing became complicated so I created this spreadsheet (I changed the numbers around and removed some labels so it should be pretty anonymized):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... XNIU0ZxMGc

I don't have any taxable, but this type of format is flexible enough to handle that sort of thing.
That's a great spreadsheet. Thanks for sharing it.
by ClaireTN
Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Can you express your investing philosophy as a Haiku?
Replies: 79
Views: 6814

Re: Can you express your investing philosophy as a Haiku?

My post in the ten-words thread was pretty close:

You probably don't
know anything the market
Already does not
by ClaireTN
Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Can you sum-up your investing philosophy in 10 words?"
Replies: 120
Views: 11612

Re: "Can you sum-up your investing philosophy in 10 words?"

You probably don't know anything the market doesn't.
by ClaireTN
Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you do a 3 or 4 fund portfolio over several accounts?
Replies: 21
Views: 2438

Re: How do you do a 3 or 4 fund portfolio over several accou

We use four funds and have four accounts, but there's no way to keep our AA right with just one fund in each account. I also don't see any reason to have all four funds in all four accounts. That's too complicated. Plus, I like the International offerings available at Vanguard better than the ones in my 403b. So, here's what we do: His 403b - 100% US equities (the TIAA-CREF equivalent of TSM) His Roth - 100% International equities (Vanguard's TISM) My 403b - Split between TSM, TIPS, and Total Bond (TBM) - these are all held at TIAA-CREF My Roth - Mostly TISM with a little bit of TSM (at Vanguard) We're at 70/30 with 30% of equities in International. So far rebalancing hasn't been a problem. Eventually we won't be able to house all of our bo...
by ClaireTN
Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:45 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is contributing to a 403b a no-brainer?
Replies: 10
Views: 2141

Re: Is contributing to a 403b a no-brainer?

From what I understood, any contributions I make to my 403b plan (up to $16500) are excluded from the 15.3% self-employment tax. I don't believe this is true. Reviving an old thread. As you'll see in my comment above, I was also under the impression that clergy had to pay SE tax on their 403(b) contributions. It turns out that this is incorrect. I've just confirmed this with my accountant. There is an exception for clergy -- but not for other church employees -- so that 403(b) contributions are NOT subject to SE tax. I don't know why this would be the case, but many things in the tax code are a mystery to me! This exception gives clergy a double incentive to contribute as much as possible. Not only do they save income tax on contributions,...
by ClaireTN
Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: POLL: How many funds do you hold?
Replies: 49
Views: 5892

Re: POLL: How many funds do you hold?

We have a four-fund portfolio, but accomplish it with five actual funds because part of our US stock is at Vanguard and part at TIAA-CREF. In 403(b)s we hold total bond, TIPS, and total domestic stock funds. In our Roths we hold TSM and TISM.
by ClaireTN
Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional - Safety?
Replies: 50
Views: 6696

Re: TIAA Traditional - Safety?

Here's the question: if I'm currently comfortable with my 4-fund AA, but eventually plan to annuitize part of my portfolio, does it make sense to wait until closer to retirement to use the Traditional? Or, is there some reason I should be putting money into it during the accumulation stage? Claire, read the TIAA report linked by brick-house near the beginning of this thread. Here's what TIAA says about contributing early vs. late: A calculation by TIAA actuaries shows that, as a result of the gradual return of unneeded contingency reserves, a hypothetical 65-year old participant who annuitized in 2010 after 30 years of participating in the TIAA Traditional Annuity through an RA contract would have received an initial monthly annuity paymen...
by ClaireTN
Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional - Safety?
Replies: 50
Views: 6696

Re: TIAA Traditional - Safety?

Thanks all. This is very helpful. In about a year my spouse and I will likely hit the first of the thresholds Otar lays out for shifting to a more conservative AA (when your portfolio hits 10, 16, or 20 times your expected withdrawal). At that point, I think we'll add the traditional and maybe TREA. In the meantime, I'm going to stay the course and not worry about what may or may not happen to interest rates. I have a lot to learn in the next year before it's time to shift our mix!

OP - thanks for the caution about liquidity. Fortunately, I have a GSRA, so unless they change the rules, that won't be a major concern for me.
by ClaireTN
Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional - Safety?
Replies: 50
Views: 6696

Re: TIAA Traditional - Safety?

On the theme of thread hijacking, I also have a related -- but not right on point -- question. My 403b is at TIAA-CREF and has been for several years, but I'm only now getting around to figuring out the TIAA traditional. Here's the question: if I'm currently comfortable with my 4-fund AA, but eventually plan to annuitize part of my portfolio, does it make sense to wait until closer to retirement to use the Traditional? Or, is there some reason I should be putting money into it during the accumulation stage? That is, if I'm comfortable with the risk associated with my total bond and TIPS funds, so that the 3% minimum guarantee isn't drawing me to the traditional, is there some other reason to be in it now rather than later?

Thanks,
ClaireTN
by ClaireTN
Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TIAA Traditional Annuity Question
Replies: 26
Views: 14852

Re: TIAA Traditional Annuity Question

Just a thought: I also have an old 403b at TIAA-CREF, which I have not rolled over to Vanguard (my current employer's plan is also with T-C). One reason I haven't done that is that I think my spouse and I will want an SPIA (or several) in retirement. As far as I can tell TIAA is one of the best places to buy one -- reasonable costs, a "good" company, very stable and highly rated. If I understand correctly, the deal you get on an SPIA at TIAA is much better if you hold an RA/GRA/GSRA/etc. with them than if you buy from them as an outsider. So, if you are thinking about an SPIA for part of your portfolio, it might be worth keeping your funds at T-C. That doesn't mean you have to keep them in the TIAA traditional account though.
by ClaireTN
Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What's Your Favorite Username?
Replies: 89
Views: 6485

Re: What's Your Favorite Username?

I love Fallible and wish I had thought of it first!
by ClaireTN
Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Trying to understand role of a RE fund in portfolio
Replies: 35
Views: 4367

Re: Trying to understand role of a RE fund in portfolio

But I honestly cannot figure out how TIAA determines what to pay into the TIAA traditional accounts. if you want to reply here and don't mind taking the thread OT, I'm always happy to learn new things. Hi Claire, I'm a little reluctant to start a discussion about TIAA Traditional in the middle of a thread on real estate, since those interested in the topic would not be aware of it from the title of the thread. However, for some time I've been wanting to start a thread on the changes that TIAA has made over the last half century, and how these conform to, or deviate from, Boglehead principles. If you can wait a few days, there should be some discussion there about how the vintage structure is supposed to work. Dick I think you're right abou...
by ClaireTN
Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Cell Phone Plan for unlimited everything - $30
Replies: 52
Views: 10687

Re: Best Cell Phone Plan for unlimited everything - $30

I'd be curious to hear from people who have used GrooVeIP with a T-Mobile mobile data connection (not WiFi) and what the call quality was like. Mobile data connection also suffer more quickly in area of spotty signal or when moving in car, so I am wondering how that works when using GrooVeIP. I believe the GrooVeIP call quality improves with phone quality. For example, a dual-core phone will be much better than a single-core phone. Just out of curiosity I'm going to try using it on the data plan tomorrow. I'll post back here about how it goes. Well, that was a disaster! I could hear the person I called, but he couldn't hear me at all. I wasn't on a 3G network, so that might have something to do with it. I'll try it again in a couple of oth...
by ClaireTN
Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Trying to understand role of a RE fund in portfolio
Replies: 35
Views: 4367

Re: Trying to understand role of a RE fund in portfolio

Dick and VT, I appreciate your comments about TIAA traditional. As I said above, I haven't invested because I don't understand it. I do understand that they guarantee the principal and a set interest rate for each vintage. I also understand the restrictions on withdrawals -- using a transfer payout annuity over a nine year and one day period. It makes me nervous to invest in something that sounds so good when I don't understand it and can't easily get out of it. Here's specifically what I've never been able to figure out: How do they arrive at the return rate? It seems like a black box, or a magic 8 ball! With stocks and bonds, I understand why I get the return I do. I'm starting to understand that for TREA, which is one of the reasons my c...
by ClaireTN
Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Bottom Line: Just sit there.
Replies: 31
Views: 5562

Re: The Bottom Line: Just sit there.

AgnosticInvestor wrote:Could not agree more. I struggle, mightily, against the urge to fashion a 'perfect' portfolio. Posts like this keep me from acting on those urges.
I am struggling with exactly this urge right now. I'm thinking about a small change to our portfolio and can't make up my mind whether I should "do something" or "just sit there." Maybe I should implement a Larimore rule: when in doubt, just sit there!
by ClaireTN
Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Password manager?
Replies: 109
Views: 12549

Re: Password manager?

Drain wrote:
ClaireTN wrote:I don't know about KeePass, but I've been using 1Password, which works seamlessly on my iPad, Android phone, and MacBook. It syncs through Dropbox.
Does 1Password offer an option for a second authentication factor yet?
Not at this time. Here's one explanation of why not: http://blog.agilebits.com/2011/09/23/tw ... wo-factor/
by ClaireTN
Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Password manager?
Replies: 109
Views: 12549

Re: Password manager?

Don Christy wrote:
Don Christy wrote:Any of you KeePass users have a recommended iPhone/iPad app? All of the ones I see in the App store seem to be flawed based on reviews.

Thanks,
Don
Bump - anyone have info for mobile?
I don't know about KeePass, but I've been using 1Password, which works seamlessly on my iPad, Android phone, and MacBook. It syncs through Dropbox.
by ClaireTN
Sat Jan 07, 2012 6:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Cell Phone Plan for unlimited everything - $30
Replies: 52
Views: 10687

Re: Best Cell Phone Plan for unlimited everything - $30

natureexplorer wrote:I'd be curious to hear from people who have used GrooVeIP with a T-Mobile mobile data connection (not WiFi) and what the call quality was like. Mobile data connection also suffer more quickly in area of spotty signal or when moving in car, so I am wondering how that works when using GrooVeIP.

I believe the GrooVeIP call quality improves with phone quality. For example, a dual-core phone will be much better than a single-core phone.
Just out of curiosity I'm going to try using it on the data plan tomorrow. I'll post back here about how it goes.
by ClaireTN
Sat Jan 07, 2012 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Cell Phone Plan for unlimited everything - $30
Replies: 52
Views: 10687

Re: Re:

Sidney wrote:
Looked at the T-Mobile web site. It refers to the unlimited data as "web." Do you know if that includes traffic like streaming music (e.g. Pandora) or video?
Yes. I use it for Pandora and You Tube with no trouble.
by ClaireTN
Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Cell Phone Plan for unlimited everything - $30
Replies: 52
Views: 10687

Re:

FWIW, after using Groove IP for a few days I have determined it really does not work. Call quality is terrible. I am going to upgrade to the $40 a month plan with more minutes. It's a couple bucks more but still a great deal IMO That's good to know. Was voice quality terrible over WIFI also? If so, what speed wifi and what phone do you have? Does it seem worse than calling through Gmail? I tried 3G and Wifi (not sure my exact wifi speed at home, but it is quick). No difference. My voice is described as sounding like 'taking from a bottle', and on listening to others their is some crackling, like someone calling from a landline in a bad thunderstorm might sound like. As for comparing it to gmail, do you mean gmail on your computer? I have h...
by ClaireTN
Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Trying to understand role of a RE fund in portfolio
Replies: 35
Views: 4367

Re: Trying to understand role of a RE fund in portfolio

Again, I urge you to look at the moves on NAV of the fund, because that's a measure of the pain you can take. I keep looking at that chart. Like most on this board I think I can handle volatility. But who really knows? Just eyeballing it, the big drop in TREA doesn't look any worse than the big drop on TSM from the same period. How did I react then? Well, during the 2008-09 downturn I did exactly nothing. At the time, our whole portfolio was in TR funds pegged to our expected retirement date (I know better now). I think we must have been in something like 85% equities. I honestly don't know how much we lost because we DCAd in through a payroll reduction, and I never even bothered to look at balances before, during, or after the crash. The ...