Search found 13 matches

by Nephron
Sat Jun 15, 2013 8:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Premium Products That Are Worth It To You
Replies: 368
Views: 65429

Re: Premium Products That Are Worth It To You

ECCO brand dress shoes- Lasts for years. Attempted to pay slightly less for other premium brands=back pain for weeks.
by Nephron
Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How do you hedge against rising bond rates in a 401k?
Replies: 7
Views: 1629

How do you hedge against rising bond rates in a 401k?

I'm finally beginning to understand why one would want to consider laddering CDs as a hedge against the potential of rising bond interest rates in the future. I can see how one can do this in an IRA or even a taxable account.

I curently have my full bond 401k allocation in VG total bond fund (20% allocation). As a small business partner, I have to option to add other funds if needed.

How do Bogleheads hedge against the potential of higher bond rates in a 401k?
by Nephron
Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Learning to Speak Chinese
Replies: 49
Views: 7119

Re: Learning to Speak Chinese

My son has used Rosetta stone which I think is pretty good. It didnt' work for us simply due to his (and ours) lack of dedication.

A lot of medium to larger cities have Chinese language schools. We have sent our kids to one for a couple of years. Though they were mainly started for Asian American kids, most of them have classes for adults to learn conversation (esp for non-Chinese folks). This seems to be the most effective technique (vs software) since it gives you a little more accountability. I have had some friends who went all hardcore and dedicate a year in a language school in Taiwan. I was floored by their fluency after that year. Dedication is key.
by Nephron
Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?
Replies: 33
Views: 4407

Re: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?

My thoughts: write a will and put trust provisions inside the will. I don't see a need for a separate trust document (oops, I didn't see O.P. statement about writing separate documents) This is not an uncommon plan. Lawyers do this in order to build flexibility into the plan, and sometimes to protect the client from influences like Suze Orman or other hypesters who insist on the one-size-fits-all strategy for everybody. The client starts off with an unfunded revocable trust and a pourover will. The revocable trust contains all the dispositive provisions, while the will just leaves everything to the trust. If the client dies with probate assets in his name, we can quickly probate the will to get them in the trust, where the instructions are...
by Nephron
Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?
Replies: 33
Views: 4407

Re: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?

He recommends a will AND revocable trust His advice sounds good. Bottom line, no living trust. Nothing real fancy and/or elaborate needs to be done today outside of some wording in the will to clarify things should both parents die simultaneously while the kids are young (which is solid advice). Which side are you on? Trust or no trust? If there is both a trust and a will, typically arrangements for the children are in the trust document. If there is no trust, the children are accounted for in the will (thus, the testamentary trust). What clarification is needed outside the trust if there is a trust? Perhaps I need to clarify my scenario and please pardon me if my legal terms are screwed up. I'm not a lawyer, as a doc I just get sued by th...
by Nephron
Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?
Replies: 33
Views: 4407

Re: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?

What's important is that you do some planning, and don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Doing something basic now and then revising it into something better later puts you way ahead of the average person
Thanks. I needed to hear that.
by Nephron
Mon Jul 23, 2012 3:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?
Replies: 33
Views: 4407

Is this sound advice on Wills and Trusts?

Hello all, My wife and I have 2 kids under the age of 12. We are consulting a lawyer to finally set up our will +/- trusts. I have a $2.5 million term life policy and rest of my assests are estimated around $1million. My lawyer states that my state probate system is pretty straighforward and not that expensive to deal with in general. He recommends a will AND revocable trust for both of us. However he recommends that we do NOT fund our trust during our lifetime. He advises us to name my spouse as primary beneficiary and the trust as a secondary beneficiary on all my accounts, insurance etc. If we were both to die in an accident at the same time, the assets will go straight to the trust. I would like a second opinion from BogleNation. Thanks!
by Nephron
Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Helping high net worth relative
Replies: 24
Views: 2695

Re: Helping high net worth relative

In my culture friends and families have a positive obligation to offer assistance to those less able or less endowed and with that comes the possibility for a bad outcome. For many of us who are immigrants it is the way we anchored ourselves in the life of the US, socially, economically, and psychologically. Just my opinion to counter some of the other opinions (sometimes masquerading as fact) that have been put forth here and elsewhere on this site. Well said. I understand your point about the burdan of looking after family. I'm a physicain born and raised in the States and my father is a retired physician who immigrated mid-life. My source for financial understanding comes from the BH board and BH books and my dad's source comes from his...
by Nephron
Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How many times have you refinanced?
Replies: 27
Views: 3085

Re: How many times have you refinanced?

1-Original mortgage jumbo 2007;30 yr fixed at 6%

2- Refi to 15 yrs conventional mortgage in 2010 4.25%. Thought that would be the last mortgage. paid closing costs... :oops:

3- refi to 10 yr fixed Dec 2011. 3.25%;no closing costs; thought that would be the last mortgage

4- refi 10 yr fixed May 2012 at 2.875% no closing costs; I think this will be the last ..........:confused
by Nephron
Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Email bidding for Used car
Replies: 6
Views: 1063

Re: Email bidding for Used car

I did this 2 years ago when looking for an awd 6 cyl rav 4. I cast a large national net using autotraders. The awd feature was hard to find in the South. I eventually bought an immaculate rav 4 and got shipped it from NH. It worked well in this case. I then looked locally for a used honda odyssey for the family Those preowned vans really taking a beating even when use for only 2 years. I realized then how lucky I got getting a nice rav 4 that i never personally saw. Bottom line....the bidding on used cars work but dont do it unless you can see the car before purchase.
by Nephron
Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is elementary private school education worth the price?
Replies: 104
Views: 11260

Re: Elementary private school education a scam??

Ultimately the decision of public vs private is a very personal question and at the end of the day becomes one of a "parents' gut instinct." The "education starts at the home" is very true but the kids do spend 7hrs a day at school. Both my wife and myself were educated in the public schools and we have been great advocates of public education. We decided to pull our 1st and 6th grader out of the system this year and they will both be attending private schools in the fall. We live in a fantastic public school system but eventually it became a numbers game. We had really good teachers for the most part but you cant change a ratio of 22-25:1 (vs 12-15:1 in private). The semester parent teacher conferences we looked foward ...
by Nephron
Sun Aug 29, 2010 3:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: High-fee Passive Advisors Gave Me the Boot!
Replies: 87
Views: 14065

Mr. Ferri does not know me but I called him a few years ago to be a potential client. I'm in the medical field and have gotten several calls from adivsors to use their services. Prior to reading the boglehead website and books, I felt overwhelmed about investing the right way and turned to Rick. After giving me some useful guidelines, he politely told me that I knew enough and did not need his services. I bought his asset allocation book after that conversation (and of course read the forum) and have felt much more secure about the Boglehead-way. Rick, I appreciate your integrity and your character in turning me away. You took the moral high-road instead of chasing the almighty dollar.
by Nephron
Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help preparing for a disable kid's future!!
Replies: 10
Views: 2726

Help preparing for a disable kid's future!!

Hello All. First of all, I'm very grateful for the great advice and camradarie expressed in this forum I'm a doc in his thirties who is a saver and maxes out all my tax-deferred savings. I have a 5 yo son who has some developmental disabilities. Its unclear at this point in his life if he can be fully independent in adulthood. I've got a lot of term insurance to protect my family and have never been a fan of whole life (esp after reading this forum). I've also read that a whole life insurance policy should play a role in one's financial future if there is a dependent who might need cash as an adult. Can someone give me some feedback and any other advice would be appreciated. Boglehead Rock!