Bogleheads

Is it a Ford? You can't always go by KBB.

It's a Lexus...KBB is $31,200...this is $26k.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

One other thing...we're close to buying, but this particular vehicle is $5k below Kelly Blue Book value. Doesn't that indicate something wrong with it? We're still ...

Yeah I mean I'm expecting them to ask how I plan to pay for it earlier on

When I was shopping my 09 Honda CRV I ignored questions about financing or trade-ins and said that I was interested in a ...

So when paying with cash...do you wait until the last possible minute to tell them this after the price has been negotiated?

yes

My brother wanted to pay cash for a car recently but only got d ...

I'm looking to buy something within the next couple of months. There are a few certified pre-owned Acuras I've seen online at local dealerships that are in my price range.

I realize that dealers m ...

I know it is a bit off your budget...but it doesn't hurt to test drive the Infiniti G35. I bought mine a year back and love it..

The G35/G37 is a beautiful car. I know it's not very bogleheaded, b ...

Also - regarding the ugly Acura grills - some dealers and owners are now painting them in the body color to reduce the horrific look. Still not that great though. You may consider that if you like the ...

For reliability I'd cross Saab and Volvo off the list. Especially Saab. Saab resale value is horrible as well, plus the brand has a questionable future as GM may sell or cancel it.

The Acuras are r ...

Looking to purchase something new and keep it for a while. Main criteria is reliability and comfort.

We're considering:

-Acura TSX
-Saab 9-3
-Volvo S40
-Audi A4

What do you guys think? V ...

Personally I've found the "buy a book" idea is completely useless. Worse than useless, in fact, because most people look at the graphs and percentages and then believe that investing really ...

Any thoughts/responses on the funds possibilities? Or are they generally too risky from swings or lack of insurance for emergency funds?

I own both short-term and limited term tax exempt, and while ...

I don't keep everything at Vanguard. I guess just a little bit of paranoia, even though I'm aware the risk is minute.

Total stock market.

For equities I prefer broad indexes and the simplicity. Fixed income I buy the individual funds, not the total bond market.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3145/displaychartaspxrq8.png

That's the VTI chart. What causes this?

0.05% is 1/20th of 1%

Thanks, I was aware of that Smile

I was wondering though why the discrepancy sometimes happens.

VTSMX (total stock market) was up 0.05% today but VTI (total stock market ETF) was down 0.17%.

I thought the Vanguard ETF's generally stay very close to their NAV. Any ideas how or why this someti ...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Reconsider-That-Mortgage-tsmf-14118796.html

Prepaying a mortgage can save tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan. But with uncertain econo ...

If 100% of the money comes with strings (earmarks, which I think it does) then it will not make the states any more solvent, and therefore have little/no effect on munis. In fact, if GDP continues do ...

I'm staying the course for lack of a better option. But then I'm not retiring in the next 10 years, so that's what works for me.

As long as your AA is what you want it to be, I'd say stick with th ...

So, any thoughts on this?

What was the context for this? A "patient" said they were going to rely on social security or something?

There's a state-by-state breakdown of which states get what, and how it will (or is supposed to be) allocated http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-STIMULUS0109.html

If states are g ...

Probably feudal Japan, as I like the design and aesthetics of that time period.

85...that's an accomplishment!

Happy Birthday, Taylor Smile

NAV has been dropping on my LT muni fund this week Sad

Too bad, it had a nice little run-up where I recovered some of the NAV I lost late last year. Wonder when things will turn back up.

Kraft Creamy French dressing is really, really good. Tons of calories, though.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41O2w59MMJL._SL500_AA280_PIbundle-6,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg

Here is a list of Vanguard's tax exempt bond funds, any of which I would recommend:

Some of the funds listed on that site are money market funds. You wouldn't call them bond funds would you? Plea ...

One thing to consider for Californian muni holders is that Moody's may downgrade California's debt http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2009/01/california-cred.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-muni22-2009jan22,0,1340417.story

The tax-free municipal bond market has had the wind at its back for the last five weeks, driving yields down and bond prices h ...

I think it's prudent to spread money around between VG, Fidelity, and maybe T. Rowe Price (who is also a pretty good company you don't hear talked about much on here). To me the safety is more import ...

Part of the reason is because I buy Vanguard funds just by exchanging from my MM into the new fund, that way I don't have to wait for the transfer to take place.

So it's easier just to dump new mon ...

It doesn't count as pizza unless it's pepperoni.

The only one I've gotten in the mail so far is for my VG muni funds. Don't they usually send all of them at the same time?

Muni NAVs have been moving up and making up for losses recently...any guesses how much longer this will continue for?

http://tiny.cc/C1QlU

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Debt-ridden states and ...

Long-term munis should be up today, right?

oops...missed that.

Me too...hope the fees/ER eventually fall though.

Or I may just buy the ETF.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/VanguardViewsArticlePublic?ArticleJSP=/freshness/News_and_Views/news_ALL_announcement_12112008_ALL.jsp&src=NMC&returnLink=/freshness/News_and_Views/news_ALL_an ...

what's odd is that i don't see a proportionate rise in yields relative to the NAV destruction. maybe it's there but i don't see it.

in retrospect, i probably should have chosen the VG Total Bond F ...

Any guesses how much longer it will take for munis to return to normalcy and not lose NAV every day?

I'm not aware of web tools for backtesting custom portfolios.

There is Quantext portfolio planner which integrates with Excel, but I don't use it http://www.quantext.com/gpage3.html

I consider them equally safe.

There was a mutual fund scandal a few years back, FYI, though Vanguard wasn't part of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Mutual-fund_scandal

An ETF can also ...

Paid professional, as my tax situation is complicated because I own an LLC, and I don't have the interest or inclination to learn the tax code myself. I have no problem paying an accountant.

Congratulations, Alex and Missus Smile

I just leave it in NJ tax exempt. I guess I could keep switching back and forth depending on the taxable equivalent yield every single day, but it's too much hassle.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=az..0LyBrxhg&refer=home

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Between 2005 and 2008, Pigeon, Michigan’s unreserved general fund balance fell 29 percent ...

I wanted to set one up here in NJ but because of our state coverage mandates the high deductible health plans are more expensive than standard issue HMO plans and not much less than a typical indemnit ...

There is the TBT etf but you'd better be right about the bubble popping..

Too risky...better to save more.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122815304785769411.html

and his full remarks http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/12/01/bernankes-remarks-on-fed-policies-and-the-economy/

While officials will at ...