Search found 331 matches

by yukon50
Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sell or repair car decision
Replies: 23
Views: 6317

Re: Sell or repair car decision

If it was a head gasket, any novice trained mechanic could diagnois quickly. Compression test, leaking fluid etc.. If you have a leaking gasket you will be losing fluids, have you had to replace fluids like oil or coolant a lot? Car would probably be running hot (mine did). Smell coolant in cab of car? I don't think that is it. Blinking engine light is misfire. The code will tell you which cyclinder is misfiring. It will say something like "P0301" which is "a misfire on cylinder 1". Then it is matter of switching coils, plugs and injector around to narrow it down. This is something us shade tree mechanics do, so any real mechanic can. You said "a coil" if he replaced only 1 then they could have missed the bad ...
by yukon50
Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:21 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogle on CNBC 12-16-2014: 100% USA squity
Replies: 35
Views: 13117

Re: Bogle on CNBC 12-16-2014: 100% USA squity

dansmail26 wrote:With this current market am I better off holding off, maybe putting it into money market or cd's for a while?
For a while...until??
by yukon50
Sun Dec 14, 2014 2:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Starting out at 35 with index funds and misc
Replies: 17
Views: 2704

Re: Starting out at 35 with index funds and misc

you said you can control your income and that you are more flexible than the avg person your age. can you elaborate?
by yukon50
Sun Dec 14, 2014 1:48 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Investing more when the market is down.
Replies: 22
Views: 3302

Re: Investing more when the market is down.

nedsaid wrote:I think this is a premature discussion. Weren't we at market highs on Thursday? The market falls 300 points on Friday and we are talking about a down market. We are down maybe 2% from the market high. So far, this is just a blip on the radar.

If the market did go down substantially, investing more than normal is not a bad idea. What you are really doing is a form of reverse performance chasing. People get a false confidence that recently rising investments are safe and that investments that performed poorly recently are risky. Actually it can be the other way around. Poor recent performance can mean higher future expected returns.
Look how much international/emerging is down from the 2007 highs. Still at major discount.
by yukon50
Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How can I convince my wife to accept investing??
Replies: 54
Views: 8951

Re: How can I convince my wife to accept investing??

Uncle Pennybags wrote:
Hallman wrote: Pensions, free healthcare, ridiculous unemployment /disability benefits, etc etc. Most people simply don't have a need for long term savings.
They don't have any money to invest after all the taxes. The problem with giving advice to someone out of the US we don't know the situation over there.
Hallman, you live there, what have you seen on this topic?
by yukon50
Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 25yo Military New Investor
Replies: 34
Views: 5128

Re: 25yo Military New Investor

what kind of money do you make now? what kind of money would someone like you be making right now if they have already worked 18-19 years?
by yukon50
Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 34 year old new to investing - help please
Replies: 76
Views: 14260

Re: 34 year old new to investing - help please

how did you accumulate so much at a young age on your salary?
by yukon50
Tue Nov 04, 2014 2:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: iBonds at zero % fixed
Replies: 84
Views: 13287

Re: iBonds at zero % fixed

EmergDoc wrote:Bonds used to beat inflation handily, even after tax. Remember when TIPS and I Bonds paid 4% real and a 10 year nominal treasury paid 8%? I hope we get back there within the next decade.
I don't. I never even got to participate. Seems like a dream.
by yukon50
Sat Nov 01, 2014 12:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Annuity?
Replies: 2
Views: 741

Re: Washington State Annuity?

sounds pretty interesting
by yukon50
Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How to think about expected returns--continuing discussion
Replies: 105
Views: 13098

Re: How to think about expected returns--continuing discussi

I don't really care about expected returns. At least not directly. What I want to know is: How much money I will have in 10 years? Suppose I want to put some money away to purchase a SPIA in 10 years. It could be a substantial amount of money, say $100K or $500K. To keep from having to many zeros, let's say I put $10,000 into some investment how much will I end up with. I look up 10-year TIPS and it is yielding 0.66%. This COMPOUND INTEREST CALCULATOR says it will compound to $10,679.96 Not much growth. But this is after inflation, so it outpaces inflation. If an alternative is the S&P 500, how much will a $10K S&P 500 have in 10 years? Back on the previous page, the estimate is 4.4% real return. The calculator says I end up with $...
by yukon50
Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:48 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: AA: 50/50 Domestic and International Stock IPS
Replies: 18
Views: 3261

Re: AA: 50/50 Domestic and International Stock IPS

What did you expect when you opted for international stocks? Didn't you expect there to be times like these: source http://s22.postimg.org/b80twm9ep/Captura_de_pantalla_2014_10_13_a_la_s_6_51_37_P.png That's 14 years of international stocks underperforming the S&P 500. $28,000 at the end instead of $84,000. If you are having trouble with a few months of downturn, how are you ever going to get through periods like fourteen years? Because that is what the statistics of multi-asset investing are all about. Don't rejoice when you get a decade of outperformance, don't grieve when you get a decade of underperformance, the theory is all about decades of outperformance slightly outweighing decades of underperformance in averages over time peri...
by yukon50
Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth to Roth rollover rules
Replies: 4
Views: 823

Re: Roth to Roth rollover rules

Do 401k rollover count against the once-per-year rule?
by yukon50
Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:05 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads, help me be less afraid of international stocks
Replies: 53
Views: 6201

Re: Bogleheads, help me be less afraid of international stoc

...there is less excitement about international funds. I haven't picked up on that here. My impression has been there's two or three of us who stand with a position that owning international isn't necessary, it seems to me the bulk of the posts are people raving that international is at a bargain and should be "over balanced", or looking at international PE10 etc... Well I don't remember seeing a thread from 2008-2011 titled... "Need for International Investing?"... http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&start=50&t=144519 Here is a typical thread on international stocks from 2010... http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=63974 ... the majority of the opinions in that thread were very adamant ...
by yukon50
Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Treasury Direct Security Certificate
Replies: 11
Views: 1623

Re: Treasury Direct Security Certificate

This is 2nd day now that I've had this message. I've tried Chrome and Firefox. Are you trying to log in while connected to the internet through a VPN? I believe this can result in a "re-direct" issue where TD thinks you're trying to gain access through a spoofed IP address or something. I remember getting a similar warning (using Chrome) several months ago while I was connected to VPN at a client site, and whatever I did next ended up locking me out of my TD account until I could call them to reset the password. I'd try using a different browser first (e.g. Firefox, not IE with all of its known security flaws) to see if you can log in that way; preferably when you're not using a VPN. Not using VPN. Do you get this message with oth...
by yukon50
Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Treasury Direct Security Certificate
Replies: 11
Views: 1623

Treasury Direct Security Certificate

Having problems today with Treasury Direct.

I went to the website and clicked log in, then clicked yes on "does your account start with a letter."

This prompted a screen that says something like this: The sites's security certificate is not trusted. And that Chrome can't rely on for identity information, or hackers could be attempting to access the site.

Has anyone else run into this? I tried with 2 different computers.
by yukon50
Mon Sep 29, 2014 3:36 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Replies: 27
Views: 16855

Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program

crowd79 wrote:
tibbitts wrote:
crowd79 wrote:Transferred 80,000 UR points to United and bought a r/t economy ticket to Southeast Asia from Chicago for 80k miles + $75 in taxes. If I would have paid cash this flight would have costed well over $2,500. Saved quite a bit of money.
Somebody would have had to pay me $2500 to get me to fly from chicago to southeast asia in economy class.
Why? Not everyone wants to blow their hard earned miles on first or business class. I'd rather save my extra miles for other trips down the road. Main point is getting from point A to point B for me :wink:

I would add that some people in Asia ride standing-room only trains for 20 hours straight. Economy = no big deal + more trips.
by yukon50
Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What to do with an older car?
Replies: 22
Views: 2117

Re: What to do with an older car?

interesting. why remove plates?
by yukon50
Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Advice for student buying cheap used car
Replies: 54
Views: 6775

Re: Advice for student buying cheap used car

how about ford taurus or malibu?
by yukon50
Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market
Replies: 78
Views: 10688

Re: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market

Another record. Well, today, 09/18/2014 we had another record in the market and we still have a lot of investors waiting for a window of opportunity to put their cash to work by entering the market. Soon or later market timers will have the opportunity to GET in, but not today, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next month, maybe next year. Waiting, waiting, waiting. That's not a problem at all... I can afford to wait forever if need be... But I refuse to participate in mass hysteria. If more people acted responsibly like me there would be fewer irrational bubbles and crashes, and the outcome would have been better for society as a whole. Anakin If we hit Dow 20,000 in a year or two, you have to come back and admit to missing out on a ...
by yukon50
Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market
Replies: 78
Views: 10688

Re: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market

Another record. Well, today, 09/18/2014 we had another record in the market and we still have a lot of investors waiting for a window of opportunity to put their cash to work by entering the market. Soon or later market timers will have the opportunity to GET in, but not today, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next month, maybe next year. Waiting, waiting, waiting. That's not a problem at all... I can afford to wait forever if need be... But I refuse to participate in mass hysteria. If more people acted responsibly like me there would be fewer irrational bubbles and crashes, and the outcome would have been better for society as a whole. Anakin interesting. are people you know buying stocks? seems to me that most people i know (family...
by yukon50
Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to go about our messy portfolio?
Replies: 20
Views: 3194

Re: How to go about our messy portfolio?

how long have you had the cash sitting in cash?
by yukon50
Thu Sep 18, 2014 3:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market
Replies: 78
Views: 10688

Re: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market

...In 2008, I pulled my 401(k) out of the stock market, after listening to some gloom and doom forecasts... When exactly in 2008 did you do this? February 2009. I thought that I was going to lose my job because of the downturn and also half my assets in a divorce. I couldn't risk losing more assets if the market continued to fall. You're probably the indicator that the market is going to correct soon. Feb 2009 was very close to the bottom. Right now we're probably equally close to the top. Just be patient. Keep in mind that the most cautious people are the ones who lose big on ponzi schemes; they have the good sense to wait the longest before eventually losing their nerve and getting in, right before it all crashes. You have been a bear al...
by yukon50
Thu Sep 18, 2014 2:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market
Replies: 78
Views: 10688

Re: Holding Cash because Tried to time Market

what's your current stock/bond split? what's your proposed eventual stock/bond split?

your money was frozen during divorce, at what point did it become unfrozen?
by yukon50
Thu Sep 18, 2014 1:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can you haggle with online brokers?
Replies: 19
Views: 2177

Re: Can you haggle with online brokers?

merrill edge will give 100 for 20k
by yukon50
Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:44 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any success stories of ppl who never made >$50,000?
Replies: 149
Views: 17705

Re: Any success stories of ppl who never made >$50,000?

tibbitts wrote:Maybe we need to reset this thread and specify $50k income in 2014 dollars, because obviously we're getting responses about cases of never earning more than $50k, back when $50k was a very, very generous income.

And we need to decide if it's $50k personal income, maybe x2, or the approximately-average $50k household income.

A lot depends on luck. If starting employment today, at an income of $50k, we get 40 years of 2% inflation, 1% salary growth, and 2% real investment returns, the "miracle of compounding" isn't going to be very miraculous, and no reasonable savings rate is going to fix that. If instead we get 40 years of 2% inflation, 4% salary growth, and 6% real investment returns... completely different story.
+1
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any success stories of ppl who never made >$50,000?
Replies: 149
Views: 17705

Re: Any success stories of ppl who never made >$50,000?

much harder but can be done, easier to do on 2 incomes and get some nice marriage tax breaks
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: help! where to invest about 500k
Replies: 16
Views: 2423

Re: help! where to invest about 500k

approx what was your stock/bond split 4 years ago? 2 years ago?
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I roll over my 58 year old mom's 401k?
Replies: 19
Views: 1443

Re: Should I roll over my 58 year old mom's 401k?

what is the current stock/bond split?
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What to do?? Asset allocation/General Stratergy
Replies: 7
Views: 1355

Re: What to do?? Asset allocation/General Stratergy

17.5K + 5.5K is probably way more than the average American. That's a lot of money. Good job.

You realize the average household makes like 50k? Hard to save that much on that kind of income.
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:47 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can You Build Your Retirement Portfolio Young, then Coast?
Replies: 58
Views: 10386

Re: Can You Build Your Retirement Portfolio Young, then Coas

Or front-loading maybe could allow you to retire at 60 rather than 62. That would be a nice benefit.

I love how the common wisdom is increase your % as you get older. It's so backwards.
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Rollover of maturing CDs from bank to brokerage
Replies: 17
Views: 1943

Re: Rollover of maturing CDs from bank to brokerage

what is your current stock/bond split right now with CD's included?

what will be your split if you lump sum it into schwab right now?
by yukon50
Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why do so many think their home is a foolproof investment?
Replies: 125
Views: 11202

Re: Why do so many think their home is a foolproof investmen

I think oftentimes it is over-consuming on housing. For example, a young couple buys a 3BR while they only need 1BR. Why not wait until you have kids and need the space?
by yukon50
Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: WA state Teacher Retirement System questions
Replies: 34
Views: 13270

Re: WA state Teacher Retirement System questions

Perhaps Plan 2 would be good diversification if you have lots of other assets in the markets. Yes, there are risks going forward with Plan 2, but WA is well-funded.
by yukon50
Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: A History of the Equity Risk Premium and its Estimation
Replies: 19
Views: 2468

Re: A History of the Equity Risk Premium and its Estimation

Is this an estimated ERP for next 10 years? Is this ERP higher or lower than normal?
by yukon50
Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Can You Build Your Retirement Portfolio Young, then Coast?
Replies: 58
Views: 10386

Re: Can You Build Your Retirement Portfolio Young, then Coas

Can we throw out some examples?

How about age 40: If one has 460k at age 40 and gets a 4% real return for 20 years, that would turn into 1 mil by age 60.
by yukon50
Sun Sep 14, 2014 4:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Strong dollar = tilt international?
Replies: 15
Views: 2421

Re: Strong dollar = tilt international?

US has been beating INTL pretty solid for a while.

INTL is due for a good run. C'mon, international rise!
by yukon50
Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: WA state Teacher Retirement System questions
Replies: 34
Views: 13270

Re: WA state Teacher Retirement System questions

I'll leave it to the math experts to calculate whether a 4.96%-5.95% contribution per paycheck is "worth it" for an additional (1% x years of service) benefit--if any of you want to help, teachers in Washington currently max out at approximately $66,000 salary per year with a Master's degree and 16 years of service--but I think the added benefits of inflation protection and ability to contribute to an account you own and control make Plan 3 the right choice, especially for someone interested in early retirement. So is 5.95% per paycheck worth it to get 1% x years of service benefit? I'm not good enough at math to figure it out. As for the 66K salary, I believe teachers in WA make more than that. I think that is the base salary fr...
by yukon50
Thu Sep 11, 2014 12:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How to become a millionaire retiree -- then and now
Replies: 67
Views: 13539

Re: How to become a millionaire retiree -- then and now

To become a millionaire by investing in the U.S. stock market over a 30-year working career, you could have done so by investing $200/month ($2400/yr.) in inflation-adjusted dollars beginning in the years 1972-1978 (ending 2001-2007). According to the Census Bureau the mean income for males in 1972 was about $8600, so that would have represented a savings rate of about 25% of earnings. Starting in the years 1979-81 (ending 2008-2010), you would have needed to invest about $5000 annually in stocks (inflation adjusted) to retire as millionaire in 30 years. In 1978, the mean income was about $13,000, which would have represented a savings rate of approximately 38%. Starting in 1982-84 (ending 2011-2013), you would have needed to invest $6,000...
by yukon50
Tue Sep 09, 2014 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: WA state Teacher Retirement System questions
Replies: 34
Views: 13270

Re: WA state Teacher Retirement System questions

Erhan,

For the Plan 2, what % is deducted from your paycheck?
by yukon50
Wed Sep 03, 2014 12:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Advice for a recent college graduate
Replies: 9
Views: 844

Re: Advice for a recent college graduate

Look into the Saver's Credit for IRA contributions.

Make a 2k lump-sum contribution to Roth or Trad IRA in Mar/April 2015.
by yukon50
Wed Aug 20, 2014 11:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How to weather market downturn with a high chance of layoff
Replies: 42
Views: 5242

Re: How to weather market downturn with a high chance of lay

A properly designed asset allocation plan can help you weather a market downturn with a high chance of layoff. You adjust for risk by holding less risky assets, not more. Holding more fixed income/cash can provide you with what poster "cfs" calls a SWAN ("sleep well at night") portfolio. Is it perfect? No, maybe or yes it all depends are what your particular situation requires. Lets say you have an aggressive portfolio at 80/20. If you are aggressively saving 20k per year and you are young and you get laid off, not being able to contribute a big chunk when the market is down actually does have a pretty negative effect. Nothing you can really do about it, but getting laid off during a downtown really sucks for your long-...
by yukon50
Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Increasing Bond Holdings/International Equities
Replies: 13
Views: 2068

Re: Increasing Bond Holdings/International Equities

How did you accumulate 130K at age 26 while in the 15% tax bracket?
by yukon50
Sun Aug 03, 2014 11:29 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Seattle Chapter?
Replies: 122
Views: 28288

Re: Seattle Chapter?

Mercer Island works.
by yukon50
Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:27 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Repair or replace old Taurus?
Replies: 32
Views: 4153

Re: Repair or replace old Taurus?

I've also been looking at used cars on Craiglist. Older Camry's and Ford Five Hundred look attractive but there are not many for sale. Also looking at Nissan Sentra and Chevy Malibu.

I have never bought a car before so this is new to me. Most advice is to spend decent money and get a 3-year used Honda. This would cost more than I would prefer to spend. And that kind of car could have problems too. Has anyone had experience buying cheap used cars?
by yukon50
Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:22 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Repair or replace old Taurus?
Replies: 32
Views: 4153

Re: Repair or replace old Taurus?

Personally, I wouldn't fix the car at this point. I'd just let it go. However, have you looked into the possibility of just dropping another engine into it instead. Depending upon the specs of which engine you have, used 98 Vulcan engines with around 90K miles on them are around $800-$1,100 including shipping. Maybe go by the local pull-a-part and inquire. Usually they come with a warranty as well. Look online for the specific engine. Another idea. Get another similar Taurus (or Mercury Sable) of the same generation, and keep your non-functional Taurus as a parts car. Whenever your new-to-you Taurus or Sable needs a part, just pull it from the other one. This is an interesting idea. I looked into this and your quote is right, about 800-100...
by yukon50
Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Footwear in Vietnam
Replies: 25
Views: 6203

Re: Footwear in Vietnam

Get a good quality pair of flip-flops. 2 weeks isn't that long. It is pretty hot there, so you will not want socks.

If you still feel like needing better support, bring some keens or tevas.
by yukon50
Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Repair or replace old Taurus?
Replies: 32
Views: 4153

Re: Repair or replace old Taurus?

You only said head gasket.You didn't say engine overheated etc... I'd repair. Water pump is $50 and 45 minutes of work yourself. Price a couple other mechanics doing the water pump yourself. May be able to get it to 2k. My unscientific calculation is an avg car payment I would pay is 300. So, if it's 2200 than breakeven is about 8 months. That car has another 100k miles left in it so you should get another 3 years easy. Also, you wanting "Something with a low cost-of-ownership, cheap insurance, fairly reliable" for 2k off craigslist is a bigger gamble to me than just repairing this. I think you are expecting way to much for 2k used car off craigslist. You thinking you will get something like that and not need to work on that one ...
by yukon50
Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Repair or replace old Taurus?
Replies: 32
Views: 4153

Repair or replace old Taurus?

I've got a 1998 Ford Taurus sedan with 158K miles. Recently it broke down from an engine overheating. It needs a new head gasket and a water pump, which will cost $2200 total. Also will need some new tires pretty soon ($300). Brakes are new. Some contaminated engine coolant in the water reservoir so there might be some rusting issues going forward, according to the mechanics I will need a cooling system flush every 3 months to try to prevent too much contamination and potential rusting. 1. Is there any reason to put the money in and fix this car? I figure the repairs will cost more than the car is worth, in which case most people wouldn't do the repair. Please play devil's advocate here. If I could pay $2200 and get 3 more years out of this...
by yukon50
Wed Jun 25, 2014 4:28 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: My investments are a disaster
Replies: 55
Views: 8335

Re: My investments are a disaster

How do you work part-time and get 100k? What kind of job?