Search found 495 matches

by simba
Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:45 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New investment chief says Vanguard to stay lowest cost
Replies: 1
Views: 985

New investment chief says Vanguard to stay lowest cost

Reuters has an article - New investment chief says Vanguard to stay lowest cost that gives a little insight of the incoming CIO Tim Buckley. Tim Buckley, who takes over as chief investment officer at The Vanguard Group in January, has never managed money in his 20 years at the firm. He has no plans to make big market calls and he won't micro-manage his team's thinking or strategies. That's something Buckley says is crucial to help Vanguard maintain its place as the lowest-cost provider of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. "There is only one firm that is lowest cost," Buckley said. If you undercut us today, be prepared to do it again tomorrow," he said. "We won't just lower costs on one or two funds, we will do it a...
by simba
Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Saving for kids education
Replies: 26
Views: 4072

Re: Saving for kids education

And presently, there are significant tax benefits for paying for some of college from a checking account and not from a 529 plan, so don't forget that. Can you shed some more light on this? I know for folks in states that offer tax incentives, there is an underused method of getting the tax deduction A Tax Strategy for 529 College Savings Accounts How? Deposit the money (or the loan proceeds) in the 529 account, then immediately take the money out again and pay the tuition. Most states don’t require the money to have been in the 529 account for any significant amount of time to qualify for the tax deduction. This can be worth hundreds of dollars in annual tax savings. What are the tax benefits for paying from a checking account rather than...
by simba
Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:38 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re: Spreadsheet for backtesting (includes TrevH's data)

Paul Douglas Boyer wrote:I did a spreadsheet with MONTHLY data about a year ago. It does not noticeably change the results at all. I also computed Max Drawdown, and determined that you can estimate Max Drawdown by multiplying the Standard Deviation by 3.

So no, it is not worth your time to go quarterly, it wasn't even worth it going monthly.
Paul - Thanks for the info. Btw did you get the monthly data from M* principia pro or somewhere else?

For the heck of it I looked up the prices for M* Principia Pro. I am absolutely sure they have a typo for the the Principia Suite. It is listed at $3.345 instead of $3,345.

I should maybe call them to see if they'll honor the listed price :)

-Simba
by simba
Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re: Spreadsheet for backtesting (includes TrevH's data)

Completely agree, though I was somewhat chagrined to only find it after having done a significant amount of work to build something similar myself. However since yours was far superior to the product I had and so many more people are checking it for errors I was happy to switch. Now everyone can be sure that when they accuse me of curve fitting that at least the curves are the right ones! I just wish I could get the same thing with quarterly data, but I doubt that's easily available. Thanks CI. I don't mind including the quarterly data but it's just too much work to capture the data for all the funds. Even if I venture out on this path, I won't be able to get the quarterly data for the funds back to 1972 or 1985 for that matter. I do appre...
by simba
Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re: Spreadsheet for backtesting (includes TrevH's data)

Cyclone wrote:I love the spreadsheet, but I am using OpenOffice and the new versions (both) are not working for me. Nothing but errors. Am I doing something wrong?
Please use libreoffice. I noticed openoffice had some issues but I saw none with the libreoffice [I am using the current stable version 3.4.5] [FYI - libreoffice is a spinoff from openoffice after Oracle/SUN decided to stop supporting openoffice and is actively being maintained]
by simba
Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re:

Simba - great spreadsheet - love it :) Query on the 5 year treasury VFITX for 1995 though that shows a 20.44% gain. From http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/data.htm it looks like the 5 year T yields were 1994 6.69 1995 6.38 1996 6.18 So I can't see how a 20.44% gain in 1995 occurred. Yahoo shows that value http://au.finance.yahoo.com/q/pm?s=VFITX - but just seems ??? Clive - for VFITX here's the split for 1995 Capital Return - 12.98% Income Return - 7.46% Total - 20.44% I posted the historical returns for Vanguard and also capital-income returns for all of the Vanguard Funds in this post - Historical Returns of Vanguard Funds I know it's time to update it but just wanted to confirm that the data in the spreadsheet is correct. As st...
by simba
Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:05 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re:

Hi Simba, thanks for all the work you do on these spreadsheets. I was looking at some sample asset allocations the other day and I think I've discovered a slight correction that needs to be made. On both of the "Returns" tabs, I don't think the conditional formatting has been applied to all the cells it should have. When I entered enter a 1972-2010 portfolio of 5% each Small-cap Value, REIT, EAFE & commodities, 40% 5-year Treasuries and 40% TIPS, the worst drawdown is -3.51% (in Column AM, line 43) but the orange cell is on line 29, which is the next worst return (+0.21%). I can't tell whether the Real Return columns are affected because the worst real return is up toward the top of the spreadsheet. Using the same AA and the ...
by simba
Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re: Spreadsheet for backtesting (includes TrevH's data)

The latest version of the spreadsheet (rev11a) is now available.

You can download the latest version of Excel Spreadsheet [rev11a] or the LibreOffice version [rev11a]

The latest version will always be reflected in post #1 for this Topic - Spreadsheet for backtesting

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Mon Jan 09, 2012 4:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Re: Spreadsheet for backtesting (includes TrevH's data)

Folks - Sorry but I have been hibernating from the forum ;)

I'll be posting an update with 2011 returns shortly.

Wishing you all a very happy new year.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Use social networking tactics to bring down a corporation??
Replies: 22
Views: 3739

Not related to the question the OP raised but Ars Technia had this excellent investigative report on how the CEO of a security firm tried using Social Media sites to track down "Anonymous" and ended up paying a heavy price.

How one man tracked down Anonymous—and paid a heavy price
and it's follow up (Virtually) face to face: how Aaron Barr revealed himself to Anonymous

It's a long read.....
by simba
Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: simba's back testing
Replies: 7
Views: 1546

dekecarver,

The incorrect symbol was a typo and has been fixed in the latest revision (rev10c).

You can download the latest version of Excel Spreadsheet [rev10c] or the OpenOffice version [rev10c]

The latest version will always be reflected in post #1 for this Topic - Spreadsheet for backtesting

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

The latest version of the spreadsheet (rev10c) is now available.

You can download the latest version of Excel Spreadsheet [rev10c] or the OpenOffice version [rev10c]

The latest version will always be reflected in post #1 for this Topic - Spreadsheet for backtesting

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Bongleur wrote:>This has been fixed in the next revision.

Post 1 has rev10b. Is that the fixed version you refer to above?

Adding the date of the current rev to Post 1 would be helpful.
Post 1 will always have the latest version.
by simba
Tue Feb 08, 2011 12:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why not go big with EM if time horizon is long?
Replies: 97
Views: 11464

Here are a couple of contrarian articles that question the need for EM in a portfolio.

Submerging Markets - Jeff Troutner (TAM Asset / Equius Partners - Aug 2006)

and a follow up
Another Look at Emerging Markets - Eric Nelson (Equius Partners - Sep 2009)

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

staythecourse wrote:Hi Simba,

Love the rolling returns. Is it just me or does the column for 1985-2010 for nominal and real return start at 1972 and seem to go only to time point 1988 at most.

Are they mislabeled? The time period on the 1972- 2010 seems to be labeled correct.

Thanks.
STC - You got sharp eyes :) The chart was pulling up incorrect years. This has been fixed in the next revision (rev10c)

Edited to add the next revision version.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Sat Jan 29, 2011 11:35 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

staythecourse wrote:Simba, please don't take offense at my comments.

I use your spreadsheet often myself and commend your work.

I just want to make sure other less experienced investor don't get "carried away".

Thanks again.
STC - None taken. I appreciate your comments and definitely agree with you about the disclaimer.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:41 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Like many I would like thank simba for tirelessly putting all this together. I feel like this app. Does need a few cautionary notes as a reminder not to data mine: 1. For the same reasons the sec does it: past performance does not predict future returns. 2. Remember that many of the indexs/ funds had no investible produc for much of the time points. This makes some of the more dated data purely theoritical. Keep in mind the real starting dates for the specific funds of interest. Thanks again simba. Staythecourse - I currently have this in the README worksheet Please use this spreadsheet only for learning purposes and as a need for diversification. Don't change your AA purely based on historical returns. Past returns are not indicative of f...
by simba
Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

rmelv wrote:Hey I'm a little bit confused. I made a hypothetical portfolio that is 100% t-bills/treasury money market and I'm showing a 2.76% percent return for 2010.

That's not right, is it?

Thanks for your wonderful tool. It has really helped me analyze my portfolio :)
rmelv - There was a typo in the returns for VUSXX (Admiral Treasury Money Mkt). The actual returns for this fund is 0.01% instead of 2.76%. I have corrected this in the next revision. I have also corrected the symbol I was using in the Portfolio worksheet for TBills from VMPXX to VUSXX in the next version.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

stoub wrote:A minor labeling error for the next revision: the symbol for "VG Int'l Small" should be VFSVX, not VFWIX.
SET - Thanks for pointing the typo. I have fixed this for the next version.

Btw - Welcome to the forum.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

Mike/Lbill/yolk/wtoner/chrikenn - Thanks for you wonderful comments.

Have fun with the new version.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:29 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

The latest version of the spreadsheet (rev10b) is now available.

You can download the Excel Spreadsheet [rev10b] or the OpenOffice version [rev10b]

A couple of extra charts have been added for rolling returns for both nominal and real returns.

Have fun with the tool :)

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Simba's backtesting spreadsheet [a Bogleheads community project]
Replies: 1370
Views: 824397

BigFoot/Mike (re@51.5)/Jlhod1,

I have the updated the spreadsheet with the 2010 returns. As Cb said i am waiting for a couple more funds to announce the returns in addition to the CPI numbers to be announced. Once I have them, I'll post the latest revision.

Mike/Don (DP) - the latest version fixes the issues you raised. Thanks for bringing them up.

Best Regards & Happy New Year
Simba
by simba
Tue Oct 19, 2010 1:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Has Jonathan Clements written any columns lately?
Replies: 3
Views: 2029

Jonathan Clements quit his WSJ job to become the Director of Financial Education for Citi Personal Wealth Management.

Citigroup shutdown the myFi (Financial wellness program) back in 2009. Jonathan was working on his book Little book of main street money. He has also published some articles in WSJ in 2010. His website indicates he still has a @citi email but this could be outdated.

His articles on Job insecurity and The Case for Retiring in a Bear Market are available on Yahoo Finance.

His personal website is http://www.jonathanclements.com

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 25 account limit - Vanguard
Replies: 33
Views: 8068

Wow. More than 25 funds.
How do you keep up with the re-balancing? Are they mostly static with no additional contributions going in?

Is the limitation only if you convert them yourself? I believe VG would do the automatic conversion on 10/24. Is the issue pertinent only if you are trying to convert prior to 10/24?
by simba
Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: vanguard 529 and Upromise
Replies: 14
Views: 5778

camper wrote:I pay the $20 per year account maintenance fee because I live in Arizona (non-Nevada resident). I use this account just for the Upromise rewards. Upromise doesn't have an Arizona plan. I contribute any spare savings $ to the Arizona sponsored plan which is with Fidelity.

Thanks for the great post explaining things Simba.
camper - upromise is the program manager for NY 529 plan as well. The ER is .25%. You may want to check out the NY 529 plan website.
Are you investing in any funds/portfolios in the Nevada plan?
by simba
Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:14 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: vanguard 529 and Upromise
Replies: 14
Views: 5778

Are you sure? I have never seen mention of a $20 fee going through Vanguard 529 plan (Nevada), or a breakdown of the ER as you mention above. Perhaps I missed this.. Upromise / VG 529 plan website Please refer to the Program Description for the 529 plan for the split up of fees. The following replaces the “Fees and Expenses” section in the “Plan Highlights” table on page 2: Total Annual Asset-Based Plan fees (including Program Management Fee, Investment Services Fee, and State Fee) are 0.57% except for the Savings Portfolio, which is 0.29%. Accounts are also charged a $20 Annual Account Maintenance Fee if (i) neither the Account Owner nor the Designated Beneficiary has a Nevada permanent address or Nevada mailing address on file with the P...
by simba
Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: vanguard 529 and Upromise
Replies: 14
Views: 5778

The states sponsor the 529 plans. The plan is managed by either the state or they hire financial service firms to manage/administer their plans and the investment managers are financial firms that manage the investments in the plan. The State of Nevada sponsors The Vanguard 529 Plan, which is offered by The Nevada College Savings Trust. The Plan is administered by Upromise Investments, Inc., and investment management services are provided by The Vanguard Group. The following link gives a good overview of the different terminologies - How 529 College Savings Plans work For the VG 529 plan (Nevada) the expense ratio includes (Investment Services Fee) + (Program Management Fee) + (State Fee) + (Account Maintenance Fee) where Investment Service...
by simba
Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 plans: 2nd kid on the way
Replies: 35
Views: 7550

Re: 529 plans: 2nd kid on the way

I'm sorry, but I disagree with most folks AGAIN on this. First there is no guarantee that the stock market will give a 7% return on average over the next 20 years. What has the average return been over the past 10 years? We might expect more of the same going foward. Or, maybe not. Don't make decisions based on gambling when you don't even know the cards in your hand. Secondly, the kids will need the money in 18 years. I would consider the mix of stocks/bonds just as if the kids were to retire in 18 years - because that's when they need the money. Therefore the kids are not starting out at 1 years old. The kids are actually more like 45 years old because they have 18-20 years until their "retirement" of needing the money to pay f...
by simba
Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 plans: 2nd kid on the way
Replies: 35
Views: 7550

Correct me if I'm wrong, but... Why would you make a second account for the second child, except for the sake of keeping things separate? If the first child doesn't use all of their funds, the remaining can be transferred to the second child. Not sure if it works the other way around. And is it still the case that if your child gets scholarships, you can withdraw an equivalent amount from the 529 with no penalty? wde You can only have 1 beneficiary for a 529 plan. If the children are more than 4 years apart and you only anticipate withdrawing for 1 child at a time; then you can combine the assets to simplify. This would however require you to change the beneficiary after the older one graduates. It's normally recommended to have separate a...
by simba
Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 529 plans: 2nd kid on the way
Replies: 35
Views: 7550

Re: 529 plans: 2nd kid on the way

We have two kids (age 4 and age 8 months). We use the NY Vanguard 529 for the older one and we'll be starting another one before the year's over for the younger one. We started in the aggressive age-based option but switched to the "do-it-yourself" version of that after reading in Morningstar that the age-based option (for reasons unknown) had no foreign exposure. The only way to get that was by buying the funds separately. So, right now we're at 75% Total Stock Market and 25% Developed Markets Index. Jay Jay - All the VG age-based portfolio options have foreign exposure. As a matter of fact for all the stock allocation the domestic to international ratio is 80:20. Ex: Vanguard Aggressive Growth Portfolio has 100% allocated to st...
by simba
Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TDAmeritrade offers commission free ETF's
Replies: 43
Views: 18594

Brian/mas - Thanks for the reply. Looks like the commission-free ETFs offer is available for both existing and new investors.

letsgobobby - The short term trading fee is $19.99.
8. Any order to Sell within THIRTY (30) Calendar days of last purchase (LIFO – Last In, First Out) will cause Account Owner's account to be assessed a Short–Term Trading Fee of $19.99;
by simba
Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TDAmeritrade offers commission free ETF's
Replies: 43
Views: 18594

You can also see the announcement @ http://www.tdameritrade.com/trade/etfs.html The fine print states (emphasis mine) To trade commission-free ETFs, you must be enrolled in the program. Eligible ETFs purchased commission-free must be held for at least 30 days. If you sell an ETF within 30 days of being purchased commission-free, a short-term trading fee will apply. Offer valid for one new Individual or Joint TD Ameritrade account opened by 06/30/2011 and funded within 30 days of account opening with $2,000 or more. Funding with minimum of $25,000 - $99,999 receives $100 cash, funding with minimum of $100,000 - $249,999 receives $250 cash, funding with minimum of $250,000 or more receives $500 cash. IRA and other tax-exempt accounts are not ...
by simba
Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How come there aren't any commodity threads?
Replies: 17
Views: 2696

I agree some of it may have to do with performance chasing.

I don't invest in CCFs but as Larry always said look at your portfolio as a whole. If we look at it piecemeal then some part of our portfolio might/will resemble the chart Prokofiev posted.
by simba
Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:52 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same...
Replies: 8
Views: 2268

nisiprius - Jerry may have cherry picked the dates to prove his point.

But in this case, I agree with Andy that the dates were specifically chosen to coincide with the paper's publication. No cherry picking to prove their point.

So why not blog about this is 2009 or 2008? I don't know but time will tell if these premiums will continue to persist.

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Thu Apr 22, 2010 3:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same...
Replies: 8
Views: 2268

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same...

Jeff Troutner has this post in their company blog titled - The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same Eric Nelson, one of our principals at Equius, who examined the “risk premiums” of stocks for two distinct periods going back to 1928. The first period ends in 1990--the ending year for the original Fama/French “Three-Factor” research (The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns, The Journal of Finance, June 1992)--and the second period looks at the data from 1991-2009. Here’s what he found: http://www.equiuspartners.com/Equius/Equius_Partners_Blog/Entries/2010/2/10_The_More_Things_Change..._files/droppedImage.jpg Two “bubbles,” the Internet, real estate, commodities, gold, hedge funds, the “endowment approach,” the re-rebirth of “t...
by simba
Thu Apr 01, 2010 5:21 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why wine isn’t an investment
Replies: 0
Views: 891

Why wine isn’t an investment

Felix Salmon blogs Why wine isn’t an investment
Swiss researchers Philippe Masset and Jean-Philippe Weisskopf have a new paper out claiming to demonstrate that if you add wine to a portfolio of financial assets, that decreases your risk, increases your returns, and helps you out (if you care about such things) on the skewness and kurtosis fronts as well.
Can someone help me with the synthetic returns for wine from 1972 so I can add it to the backtesting tool? :D

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Thu Apr 01, 2010 5:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Lessons From Warren Buffett’s Personal Portfolio
Replies: 4
Views: 3044

Lessons From Warren Buffett’s Personal Portfolio

Morningstar has an article titled - Lessons From Warren Buffett’s Personal Portfolio

Interesting article on where Warren Buffett invests the 5% of his personal portfolio.

Image

So one of the big questions is how does he live on 100K per year? Well he doesn't since the dividends from the 5% of his personal portfolio generates a paltry 43 million per year :D

Best Regards,
Simba
by simba
Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: You might want to reconsider your Foreign Bond index fund
Replies: 6
Views: 2669

Obviously this calls for an alternative weighting scheme--maybe weighting by GDP/debt ratio? PIMCO Tries to Get Ahead of the Next Credit Crisis If you're concerned about potential storm clouds on the global debt horizon, then PIMCO Global Advantage Strategy Bond (PSAIX) may be worth a look. This world-bond fund takes a novel, and in some ways defensive, approach to the global market. But it also takes on potential risks in trying to separate from the crowd. Rather than using a capitalization-weighted bond index as a starting point for its country exposure, this global bond fund focuses on GDP weightings. PIMCO has created the Global Advantage Bond Index, or GLADI, and uses it as the benchmark for this portfolio. The fund's managers, Mohame...
by simba
Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 3 Questions about using TaxACT with Vanguard 1099s?
Replies: 50
Views: 15978

Greg@TaxAct - Thanks for taking the time to respond to other queries.

I had a question - Is TaxAct 2009 supposed to alert us if the sum total of all the 401K deferrals [Box 12 - Code D-Elective deferrals to section 401(K)] is greater than the IRS limit of 16,500 for a person [younger than 50]?

-Simba
by simba
Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: T Rowe Price has a Global Real Estate fund
Replies: 5
Views: 3475

Link for T Rowe Price Global Real Estate Fund
Note about the fund's expense ratio:
To limit the fund's expenses during its initial period of operations, T. Rowe Price will waive its fees and bear any expenses that would cause the fund's net expense ratio to exceed 1.05%.

As of its fiscal year ended 12/31/2008, the fund's gross and net expense ratios were 4.73% and 1.05%, respectively. The fund operates under a 1.05% contractual expense limitation that expires on 04/30/2011.
by simba
Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:59 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Slice and Dice Bond Portfolio?
Replies: 48
Views: 8490

Some previous discussions about S&D on Fixed Income side of the portfolio:

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=467658
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37178

In this post, Rodc discusses the Historical effect of bond length on portfolio returns
RobertT discusses the Diversifying Power of Longer Term US Treasuries.

There are many roads to Dublin. Some like the simplicity of TBM and TIPS. Others like to S&D into TBM, ST Bond, ST Corp, High-Yield Junk or Treasuries. etc

Cheers,
Simba
by simba
Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tax Prep Software
Replies: 33
Views: 7674

TaxAct 2009 - 401K deferral alert

Greg@TaxAct - Thanks for taking the time to respond to other queries.

I had a question - Is the TaxAct 2009 supposed to alert us if the sum total of all the 401K deferrals [Box 12 - Code D-Elective deferrals to section 401(K)] is greater than the IRS limit of 16,500 for a person [younger than 50]?

-Simba
by simba
Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Looking for web/phone conferencing service
Replies: 2
Views: 1198

Being a boglehead, you can't beat the price of Free Conference Call . For the cost [which is free] they offer a fantastic services Free conference calls are simple and easy to use, requiring only a name and an e-mail address to receive an instant account. Once you enter your name and e-mail address, you will be instantaneously provided with a dial-in number and access code for immediate phone conferencing. Your teleconferencing line is available to you 24/7 and there is no need to schedule or make reservations. Each conference call account accommodates 96 callers on an unlimited number of 6 hour free conference calls. For free alternatives to webex, gotomeeting, livemeeting etc you can try dimdim or Mikogo Best Regards, Simba
by simba
Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: help with long term corporate dividend question
Replies: 13
Views: 2381

Vanguard only puts up 18 months of history for dividends. Is there an area of their site that I am missing with long term historical data? Here are the yearly capital/income returns split for VG LT Investment Grade Fund [VWESX] Capital Income Total Barclays Idx Return Return Return Return 2009 2.29% 6.46% 8.75% 9.53% 2008 -3.75% 6.05% 2.29% -0.24% 2007 -2.05% 5.81% 3.75% 2.90% 2006 -2.84% 5.69% 2.86% 3.19% 2005 -0.31% 5.45% 5.13% 4.98% 2004 3.02% 5.92% 8.94% 9.08% 2003 0.43% 5.82% 6.26% 6.35% 2002 6.34% 6.89% 13.22% 13.97% 2001 2.72% 6.84% 9.57% 11.98% 2000 4.19% 7.57% 11.76% 10.55% 1999 -12.16% 5.93% -6.23% -7.00% 1998 2.57% 6.64% 9.21% 10.52% 1997 6.21% 7.58% 13.79% 13.53% 1996 -5.65% 6.85% 1.20% 1.41% 1995 17.76% 8.64% 26.40% 26.71% 199...
by simba
Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Ask the Bogleheads!
Replies: 53
Views: 7064

3 guesses from me:

1. You should subscribe to this newsletter. This guy is a genius. He knows exactly when to move into/out of the market. He has made tons of money.
[for himself selling the newsletter ;) ]

2. You should check out the market trading/investing software from xyz. They have this foolproof method that tells you exactly when and where to invest.

3. I know this double Ph.D. math/quant guy who wrote some slick program that CAN beat the market and in all the Backtesing his method has consistently beaten the MARKET. You need to be in his inner circle to get access to this program and I can get you in.

Cheers,
Simba
by simba
Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What's in an expense ratio?
Replies: 1
Views: 1164

What's in an expense ratio?

The fiduciary blog (Fi360 blog) of Investment News has an article titled - What's in an expense ratio? A very informative article about the different kinds of expense ratios. Audited Net Expense Ratio - The percentage of fund assets paid for operating expenses and management fees, including 12b-1 fees, administrative fees, and all other asset-based costs incurred by the fund, except brokerage costs. Fund expenses are reflected in the fund?s NAV . This expense ratio is pulled directly from the fund's annual report. Sales charges are not included in the expense ratio. For fund of funds, the underlying fund expense ratios are not included in the expense ratio. Prospectus Gross Expense Ratio - Gross Expense Ratio represents the total gross expe...
by simba
Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity - $7.95 Trades - 25 iShares ETFs Commisson-Free!
Replies: 70
Views: 27453

Wow, thanks. When will you be sending my IJS? :D Tarnation - Expect a personal email such as the following from the Nigerian chamber of Commerce :lol: LAGOS, NIGERIA. ATTENTION: THE PRESIDENT/CEO DEAR SIR, CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE NIGERIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $500,500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) INTO YOUR ACCOUNTS. THE ABOVE SUM RESULTED FROM BUYING MULTIPLE ETFs such as IJS FROM FIDELITY WITH NO COMMISIONS, THESE MONIES ARE A RESULT OF THE SAVINGS WE RECEIVED BY NOT PAYING THE COMISSIONS AT FIDELITY. THIS ACTION WAS ...
by simba
Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:10 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity - $7.95 Trades - 25 iShares ETFs Commisson-Free!
Replies: 70
Views: 27453

IndexUniverse has this article - Fidelity’s Free ETF Trading: Bad For Investors So what is the deal here? Well, it's fairly certain that money's changing hands, and that money is coming directly out of the BlackRock coffers and into the hands of Fidelity. But on what terms? While the price war is good news if you’re a hyperactive trader, I believe it’s actually bad news for long-term investors. Whatever BlackRock is paying Fidelity to offset trading costs is money that could otherwise be spent to the benefit of long-term investors. One of the great things about ETFs is that they cleanly segregate trading and investing costs. Unlike mutual funds, ETF investors don’t—until now—suffer any ill effects for their funds being heavily traded.
by simba
Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Utah's 529 adds custom option and drops fees
Replies: 6
Views: 2055

EmergDoc wrote:I wish they'd increase how much is deductible. I think it's only like the first $1800 that you can deduct off your state taxes.
Did you mean per individual?

From their website
For Utah Individuals: The 2010 individual Utah state tax credit amount is up to $1,710 in contributions per beneficiary multiplied by five percent, equaling $85.50 per beneficiary. If filing jointly, the maximum credit is $3,420 in contributions multiplied by five percent, equaling $171 per beneficiary. The credit does not phase out based on the taxpayer’s income. Married couples taking the tax benefits are not required to have separate UESP accounts.
by simba
Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:43 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Utah's 529 adds custom option and drops fees
Replies: 6
Views: 2055

desertdug08 wrote:Thanks for the heads up. Wow, 56 pages...looks like I have a reading project. Anytime fees are reduced and options are increased is a good thing. Not sure i will make any changes, but I now have some home work to do.

DUG
Dug,
56 pages?
The press release is 2 pages.

Jason - Thanks for the heads up.

The new fee structure is available here

They even have a handy calculator to estimate the fees for the new custom allocation.

Best Regards,
Simba