Search found 785 matches

by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 2:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

barnaclebob wrote:A 7 and 8 year old should be able to carry their own skis 200 yards at least.
It seems my kids aren't good enough. Sending them back now.
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

True, slope-side ski in/out accommodations are very expensive, above your budget. What could apply to you are "in the village" rentals that have nearby lifts that you can walk to. The adults who are not skiing have things to go to in the village in walking distance, and the skiers (even kids) have a reasonable walk to the slopes. Many village condos have common areas that usually include pools, hot tubs (very nice to have), exercise rooms and even other games (pool, foosball, etc). I think Keystone and Copper Mountain could be good options for you to look at. I think Copper has a better beginner skier area than Keystone, but you might find more condos that fit your desired description in Keystone. They both have base village area...
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 2:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

cleosdad wrote:
Anon1234 wrote:
cleosdad wrote: PM me if you need to. Tim
Tim, No need to keep it between us. Please share your knowledge in the thread.
Okay go to Copper Mountain.
What a build up, haha. That makes me laugh.
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 2:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

adam1712 wrote:Two things: 1) In several of those maps it looks like your overestimating the walking distance by going to the bottom of the lift versus the closest point on the ski trail.
I also tagged generously from the property starts. And, regardless of the error in my measurements, your comment is immaterial to my question.
adam1712 wrote:Unfortunately, it's really hard to visualize exactly what it will be like until you get there.
You are right. I'm into details, and I think I created too much stress for myself by organizing an trip for 8 to a destination I don't know.
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

lazyfabs wrote:If ski in/out is an absolute must you'll probably need to boost that budget. We stay in frisco, 15-30 minutes drive ...
I think you hit it on the head. I thought $1000/night wouldn be plenty based on all the tripadvisor/vrbo properties, but then I started digging in, and I'm starting to see your way. I'll mention that you don't need to go 30 minutes. Even a couple miles seems to be enough to cut the prices in half, and that will get you a bigger + nicer lodging (could be wrong, still based on internet searches).
lazyfabs wrote:Regardless i highly recommend half a day of dog sledding at breck. Super fun for the whole family and kids a well. http://www.goodtimesadventures.com/dogsledding.html
That does look fun, thanks for the tip!
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

bbqguru wrote:We are staying at Cheteaux DuMont condos. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chate ... 9131d82aef
That place was at the top of my list, until I realized they don't take kids under 12. Appreciate your help though.
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Re: Denver area ski in/out lodging?

cleosdad wrote: PM me if you need to. Tim
Tim, No need to keep it between us. Please share your knowledge in the thread.
by Anon1234
Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Limited-pay whole life policies
Replies: 15
Views: 1473

Re: Limited-pay whole life policies

R2D2 wrote:but someone pitched me a variant.
Why were you talking to this person? What goal are you working towards? Studying a complex policy (or investment or mutual fund) is total waste of time until you have a stated goal.
by Anon1234
Thu Dec 18, 2014 12:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Denver area ski in/out lodging?
Replies: 22
Views: 2599

Denver area ski in/out lodging?

We have our first family ski trip to Denver area in late January - Early February. I'm stumped with lodging. Do you have advice or recommendations for us? I have been looking at Breckenridge, but I could go to Copper Mountain, Keystone, Winter Park or Vail. Prefer not to drive farther than Vail. I have spent many hours on tripadvisor, and no good options. Do you have any recommendations? I have a group of 8 total, 6 adults and 2 elementary age kids. 3 Adults + 2 kids will ski, 3 adults not skiing. My priorities: 1) 4 bedroom with kitchen and living room (or 3 bedroom with pull out sofa), so we can spend family time in the common area and have bedrooms for privacy. 2) Ski in/out, so I can easily drop off kids if they get hungry or tired. 3) ...
by Anon1234
Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:58 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Disability INS for homemaker?
Replies: 9
Views: 1334

Re: Disability INS for homemaker?

Summary : I don't think you can get disability coverage for a homemaker. I am replacing my disability insurance now (cancelling old, buying new). The policies I have specifically say they do not pay if you become disabled while unemployed. I suspect this is to keep unemployed people from "accidentally" falling off the roof while cleaning gutters. Homemaking is probably considered the same as unemployment. so even if the person is working while they get coverage, it would be lost once they stop working? they would need to have maybe a small part time or work from home job to produce at least some income to keep the coverage....is that your thought? thank you for the post Frankly, I'm not qualified to answer your question. (and als...
by Anon1234
Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Disability INS for homemaker?
Replies: 9
Views: 1334

Re: Disability INS for homemaker?

Summary : I don't think you can get disability coverage for a homemaker.
I am replacing my disability insurance now (cancelling old, buying new). The policies I have specifically say they do not pay if you become disabled while unemployed. I suspect this is to keep unemployed people from "accidentally" falling off the roof while cleaning gutters. Homemaking is probably considered the same as unemployment.
by Anon1234
Mon Dec 08, 2014 7:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I need to accumulate $30k over the next 2 years, how?
Replies: 59
Views: 6028

Re: I need to accumulate $30k over the next 2 years, how?

JAG88 wrote: ...what would you do? I understand there are risks in everything, I am not looking for a miracle, I am looking for tactics and I am willing to accept quite a bit of risk to do this.
I would not take investment risk because the 2 yr timeframe could become 4 or more due to investment losses, and that is not reasonable. I would max save for 2 years, then borrow the rest. Limit your cost to the interest of a personal loan from lending club. If you pay it off in 8 months (allowing 2 for recovery), then it will likely cost you less than 5% of $6k... less than $300.

For that matter, you could borrow the money now, or in 1 year. I think you are price insensitive, so why wait? Just pay a little interest and get it done.
by Anon1234
Mon Dec 08, 2014 2:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2014 Portfolio Returns
Replies: 25
Views: 3741

Re: 2014 Portfolio Returns

while comparing to my benchmark I found this: My benchmark gives me different returns depending on how I query it. Can anyone explain why?
I'm not asking about the difference in starting values of 10k and 100k.

Image
by Anon1234
Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRS CP14: Dishonored Payment Penalty?
Replies: 10
Views: 2682

IRS CP14: Dishonored Payment Penalty?

Hi Tax Expert Bogleheads, I have two questions about the IRS notice CP14 (Notification of balance due) that I just got. 1) There is a $25.00 "Dishonored payment penalty." However, they have received, and recognize having received, all the money I sent in - exactly, to the penny. There is no missing payment. Any idea why I would be charged such a fee? How should I respond? 2) Every year for a long time they send me a notice saying that I overpaid or underpaid taxes by less than a dollar. This year I underpaid by $0.64, and they want the $0.64 plus $0.01 failure to pay penalty. I gave up trying to get paper I-bonds because this small discrepancy causes them to send all my money back. For many years I used an accountant, but for 2013...
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:38 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Investing in 100 Words
Replies: 19
Views: 2671

Re: Investing in 100 Words

The comment on diversification, "Diversification can reduce risk without reducing growth," is a very interesting way to put it. Despite the customary disclaimer "Diversification does not necessarily ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market," ... A "diversified" T. Rowe Price 2030 target-date fund lost 49.4% in 2008-2009 when the S&P 500 lost 52.4%. It is technically true to say that diversification in the fund reduced the risk, but it is probably not the picture that comes to the novice investor's mind. I agree, but I think you are reading it as a boglehead, and your interpretation shows that you are probably not the intended audience. Think about the stereotypical retail investor. E...
by Anon1234
Sun Nov 23, 2014 9:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Life Insurance options
Replies: 7
Views: 1788

Re: Life Insurance options

The wrinkle here is I have cancer in my family history, so I'm not sure whether I'll "pass" their form. ... Voya also offers a premium payback plan on 30 year plans. ... I'm also not sure whether we need 20 or 30 years at this point; given that the goal is house pay off, 10 might even suffice, but I THINK it's better to go longer than you think you need, rather than adding a layer down the road when you're older. I also have family history of cancer. I got term LI from http://www.Amica.com , and found their rates to be about 33% less than what I found on term4sale.com. Amica said they don't care about cancer as long as the relative remained alive at age 65. Also, Amica's policies increase by inflation for face values up to $1M. ....
by Anon1234
Fri Nov 21, 2014 1:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: NWM - Keep or cancel policy
Replies: 12
Views: 3870

Re: NWM - Keep or cancel policy

I used to work as insurance analyst and .... Let's assume my answers are contribution to insurance understanding on this forum. I do not assume that. Why? Because the OP asked a practical question "keep or cancel." You launched into 1) stating the policies have a positive return, but skipped mentioning the negative returns for more than the first decade of the policy. 2) then you suggest OP could put even more money into the policy. 3) you said that OP should cancel if ratio is greater than 50/50. But who has a ratio that high? I'd bet virtually no one. I've read many of these complife posts and none have a WL ratio that high. The sell them as 'Hey, here's a high insurance amount that builds cash value," but that pitch doesn...
by Anon1234
Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Boglehead' Guide to Investing, 2/E
Replies: 8
Views: 2386

Re: Boglehead' Guide to Investing, 2/E

you can get fund correlations at http://investorcraft.com/PortfolioTools ... ation.aspx

Or, you can download total return data from yahoo, and calculate correlations yourself. Wow, it is really easy now.
just go to http://finance.yahoo.com/ type in the ticker, click historical prices then scroll to the bottom and click the link
Image
by Anon1234
Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: NWM - Keep or cancel policy
Replies: 12
Views: 3870

Re: NWM - Keep or cancel policy

No mech-tower I was not referring to blend between whole life and term.These are 2 different policies.According to what you said your whole life is not a pure whole life but Adjusted Comp Life.Inside Adjust Comp Life you should have a blend of two policies pure whole life and term life where term life rates guaranteed for 15 years.You can check your annual statement and see currently what the proportion of your whole life and term.It changed slightly since time of sale because your annual dividends and premium bought some paid up insurance i.e. some of your term converted permanently into whole life.Then you can ask sales person if you over fund the policy how many years you still have to pay to assure the policy is going to be paid up.My ...
by Anon1234
Thu Nov 20, 2014 11:06 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: NWM - Keep or cancel policy
Replies: 12
Views: 3870

Re: NWM - Keep or cancel policy

The first and most important question is how much life insurance do you need, and for how long do you need it?
Don't waste your time doing investment analysis until you have that question answered.
by Anon1234
Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Suggested retirement reading for 60 year olds
Replies: 25
Views: 5961

Re: Suggested retirement reading for 60 year olds

Mike Piper's "Can I retire in 100 pages or less" http://www.amazon.com/Can-Retire-Retire ... mike+piper

He posts as Oblivious Investor here, and on his site. http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/
by Anon1234
Thu Nov 20, 2014 1:05 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice on future direction
Replies: 6
Views: 792

Re: Advice on future direction

In regards to yield, both companies have high yields so I've gotten lucky with the cashflow. This is worrying as I move to the total market funds, dividends will be 1.9%... I just need to make sure I can cover living expenses and have some left over to still invest. I wouldn't worry about living off less than the dividend payouts in order to re-invest. Bogleheads would look at the annual spend rate. "The 4% rule" is the rule of thumb, meaning one could spend 4% in the first year, then inflation adjust that amount in future years, with a high probability of doing this for a full 30 year long retirement. Obviously you have more time, but you are living off less than 2% of your portfolio, which as far as I know would last indefinite...
by Anon1234
Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice on future direction
Replies: 6
Views: 792

Re: Advice on future direction

You remind me of an old friend. He was very smart and imaginative guy I looked up to who dropped out of college in mid '90s to work for Sprynet, then eventually Amazon in late '90s. Ended up with low millions ($2-3M was my understanding) from Amazon stock options. As Amazon got bigger he got bored/pigeonholed or whatever and stopped working by 2001. He bought two houses, in Seattle, and San Francisco, lived simply, but didn't hesitate to spend on family, vacations, or his new ideas. In mid-2005 he was married, and wife was with child. Still not working (ie not earning regular income). He was trying to keep up with Silicon Valley crowd, and spending big on his latest idea, a personal video assistant/diary. The idea was something between goog...
by Anon1234
Wed Nov 19, 2014 11:33 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice on future direction
Replies: 6
Views: 792

Re: Advice on future direction

You have won the game. If you diversify, go low cost, and stay the course you can live off your $3.2M indefinitely. The highest federal long term capital gains tax rate is 23.8%. And that is only applied to the gains, not the basis. And that is only if your taxable income is above about $400k. You could probably stay in the 15% cap gains bracket, and sell off big chunks for a few years in a row. I could not sleep at night with $1.7M (50% of my assets) in 2 PE companies. If you want to work and contribute, do it as someone living on $50k/year. Never tap the egg. Bootstap. Find investors if you need to fund a business. Protect your nest egg and you will always be working at your convenience, and not mine. PS, you stated you are 100% equity, b...
by Anon1234
Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Minimizing Taxes on Year End Bonus
Replies: 8
Views: 1979

Re: Minimizing Taxes on Year End Bonus

You are thinking the amount your employer withholds from your bonus as your "tax." But, the actual tax liability you accrue could be more or less than that depending on your marginal tax bracket (federal, state, local, social security, phase outs, etc). My marginal tax bracket is higher than the 25% FIT withholding, so I have to send an extra 1040-ES payment above and beyond the employer withholding when I get a bonus check. If you increase your 401k contribution it will decrease your tax liability. And conveniently it doesn't matter if the 401k contributions come from the actual bonus paycheck or from your normal paychecks throughout the year. It has the same effect on your tax liability. Just bump up your 401k contribution rate ...
by Anon1234
Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Child's Education Savings (529) and life insurance plan
Replies: 23
Views: 3421

Re: Child's Education Savings (529) and life insurance plan

I have a cash value life insurance policy through northwestern mutual. I am almost 10 years and sitting at -5% cumulative annual returns (CAGR). Specifically, I have contributed $17,100 dollars, and my current cash value is $12,000, about 30% loss. If I follow the company projections I will reach 0 CAGR at YEAR 16 (ie, I get the nominal value of my contributions back, ignoring inflation). This is not guaranteed. The guaranteed return is basically zero - AFTER they subtract cost of insurance and adviser fees. So I could see almost 100% loss of the contribution from previous year, per the contract. If your child is going to college less than 20 years from now you would be better served by putting the money in your savings account, far better ...
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: AT&T Upgrades Data Allowance
Replies: 5
Views: 1252

Re: AT&T Upgrades Data Allowance

Upgraded. Thanks for posting.
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buick regal/chevy impala
Replies: 14
Views: 2427

Re: Buick regal/chevy impala

It seems a little early to make any judgments on 2013/2014 models long term reliability. All I can say is I'm satisfied with my 2009 Impala, but even five years is too soon to evaluate it's long term reliability. For people who work on quality, "reliablity" refers to the period between the end of assembly issues and the beginning of wear out. Its' the flat bottom of the bathtub curve. The middle section. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve Assembly issues generally show up fast, within 1 month in service (of course not always). The first section. You can measure reliability pretty well if half of the population has 1 year of service. This is called 50% maturity. I think what you call long term reliability is referring to ...
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buick regal/chevy impala
Replies: 14
Views: 2427

Re: Buick regal/chevy impala

Consumer reports gives the '13 regal the worst reliability rating (5th of 5). '14 regal is the next to best (2nd of 5).
chevy impala V6 gets average (3rd of 5) for both '13 and '14.
Both are "recommended"
by Anon1234
Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Toyota Class Action Settlement Check, Cash or Not
Replies: 16
Views: 5089

Re: Toyota Class Action Settlement Check, Cash or Not

Cash the check. If you are worried about unintended acceleration you should fix or replace the vehicle, you don't wait for a catastrophic event then sue Toyota. No amount of money can compensate for the death / dismemberment of your passenger, who would presumably be your friend or relative.
by Anon1234
Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Whole Life Insurance vs. 401k Contributions
Replies: 59
Views: 12800

Re: Whole Life Insurance vs. 401k Contributions

I recently calculated the past and projected returns of one of my cash value life insurance policies. It's really bad. Have a look for yourself.
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 0&t=150643
by Anon1234
Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Local bank without any checking account fees?
Replies: 31
Views: 5224

Re: Local bank without any checking account fees?

I'm currently using wells fargo, and seems like all the big main banks have fees for holding cash in checking accounts. I have $500 sitting in my wells fargo, but if it goes any lower I would get charged a fee so it's money that I can't utilize. I'd like it to go to my ally emergency fund. I just need an account which I can deposit cash without any fees for any amount I have in there, just incase someone were to give me cash and I need to deposit. I live in houston,tx and I haven't been able to find any banks that are easy to access without fees for checking accounts. Which ones would you suggest? I'll recommend the BlueBird account. I think it's a really cool product because you can deposit cash at any Walmart, the fee structure is very c...
by Anon1234
Wed Nov 12, 2014 3:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Life insurance coverage if you leave employer
Replies: 15
Views: 2112

Re: Life insurance coverage if you leave employer

mojave wrote: Even if the employer insurance premiums go up, I can't imagine they would surpass individual premiums.
You're wrong. It will go up and it will go up much more than 3X in 30 years. Here is a table for the Veterans. It is in 5 year chunks. The premiums are more than what you pay (today), but look at the relative increase to get a sense of what yours will do.

300k age 25-29 costs $24/month
300k age 50-54 costs $108/month. 4X as much as 29 year old.
300k age 55-59 costs $201/month. 8X as much as 29 year old.

http://benefits.va.gov/INSURANCE/vgli_rates_new.asp

EDIT to add : also check out the link, at the top of the page there is a notice "We're revising the rates upwards..."
by Anon1234
Wed Nov 12, 2014 2:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Life insurance coverage if you leave employer
Replies: 15
Views: 2112

Re: Life insurance coverage if you leave employer

Two problems with the cost comparison you did. 1)The employer based life insurance cost likely goes up each year (presumably in relation to mortality). The term premium is fixed for the entire term. 2)The employer based life insurance rates can be changed by the insurance company over time, at their discretion*. The term premium is fixed for the entire term. If you need 20 year term, you should compare the average/composite rate of the employer based life insurance with the fixed cost of the term policy. Still, remember that the employer based insurer could change the rates*, or your employer could switch insurers and cause a rate change. The certainty is worth something, to me at least. I assume you have gotten quotes from http://www.term4...
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do you track the value of your illiquid assets ?
Replies: 50
Views: 4961

Re: How do you track the value of your illiquid assets ?

madbrain wrote:
Anon1234 wrote:What are you using the number for?
I believe I answered that in my original post.
Sorry about that. I read the OP and didn't understand what you wrote. Still don't.
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How do you track the value of your illiquid assets ?
Replies: 50
Views: 4961

Re: How do you track the value of your illiquid assets ?

What are you using the number for? If it doesn't really matter, just pick a reasonable model curve and use it until you have a reason to update.

For cars I use a depreciation model. -15% at purchase(reduction from purchase price, not including taxes, plates, etc), then -1.465% per month. This depreciates my car 50% in three years. It's a lowball estimate (conservative) for the reliable brands I buy. I could sell them quickly at my estimate. I only do it to keep my balance sheet from bouncing around the years I trade cash for hard assets.
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 10:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: restarting overwhelmed
Replies: 28
Views: 6513

Re: restarting overwhelmed

Why are you investing? Is it for retirement, or something sooner like a new car or college?
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 10:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Insurance is a bad investment for college saving - My policy
Replies: 14
Views: 1988

Re: Insurance is a bad investment - My policy as example

In your graph you say that you ignore the value of the insurance. That really isn't reasonable you should subtract out what the cost of a similar term policy would have been. No, this is an investment analysis. The purpose was to show that permanent life insurance is a very bad investment for college savings, compared to 529s, CDs or other investments that don't have embedded costs for mortality and agents. Even a savings account at today's rates is better. If the life insurance was on the parent, and not the kid, then the death benefit would be available to pay for college expenses so that is not totally without value. I agree that it is terrible as an investment but if you want to try to quantify it then should take all the factors into ...
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Insurance is a bad investment for college saving - My policy
Replies: 14
Views: 1988

Re: Insurance is a bad investment - My policy as example

Watty wrote:In your graph you say that you ignore the value of the insurance. That really isn't reasonable you should subtract out what the cost of a similar term policy would have been.
No, this is an investment analysis. The purpose was to show that permanent life insurance is a very bad investment for college savings, compared to 529s, CDs or other investments that don't have embedded costs for mortality and agents. Even a savings account at today's rates is better.

EDIT : Watty, I changed the title to add "... for college saving" in an attempt to be more clear about my intent. Sorry for the confusion.
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Insurance is a bad investment for college saving - My policy
Replies: 14
Views: 1988

Re: Insurance is a bad investment - My policy as example

Unfortunately, agents will try to convince folks that your experience is atypical or that a policy can be crafted such that you will be happy. As long as they guarantee it one will know if it is good. And when they won't guarantee good returns, one should buy term and invest the rest. Well as you noticed, agents are allowed to use words or phrases that don't tell the whole truth or confuse folks. For instance, you have noticed that you didn't really get the guaranteed 4% return even though that's what is in your policy and what the agent told you. Unless you have spent a lot of time reviewing this stuff, its hard to understand that you are being deceived. I agree they can be misleading. One simple way to know if you are being deceived: Any...
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 7:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Insurance is a bad investment for college saving - My policy
Replies: 14
Views: 1988

Re: Insurance is a bad investment - My policy as example

dhodson wrote:Unfortunately, agents will try to convince folks that your experience is atypical or that a policy can be crafted such that you will be happy.
As long as they guarantee the return one will know if it is good. And when they won't guarantee good returns, one should buy term and invest the rest.
by Anon1234
Tue Nov 11, 2014 4:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Insurance is a bad investment for college saving - My policy
Replies: 14
Views: 1988

Insurance is a bad investment for college saving - My policy

A recent post explained that a grandparent (poster's parent) wanted to buy a permanent life insurance policy as a way to save for grandchildren's college education (3 kids ages 3-7). I said that life insurence is one of the most clear examples of bad investment decision. In order to back up that claim, I reviewed a policy that I have. I used this Northwestern Mutual permanent life policy instead of my State Farm UL policy because I have all the records. It is very similar to a UL in that is has a fixed payment, a fixed death benefit, and the return is variable and based on the insurer's investments. Like UL, I have no control of, or information about, how they allocate their investments. Also, my state farm UL policy has performed substanti...
by Anon1234
Mon Nov 10, 2014 3:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: dad wants to get univ life policy for grandkids
Replies: 21
Views: 2960

Re: dad wants to get univ life policy for grandkids

Slowmaha wrote:I'm in a similar situation, but I've learned to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe try to have the conversation, but it's Grandpa's money and he wants to give his grandchildren something. What's so terrible about that?

Sometimes perfect is the enemy of good, IMO.
I agree with that sentiment, but UL for college is one of the most clear bad investment decisions.
by Anon1234
Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: dad wants to get univ life policy for grandkids
Replies: 21
Views: 2960

Re: dad wants to get univ life policy for grandkids

Rupert wrote:If your dad is really old-school and refuses to consider a 529, suggest that he buy them savings bonds. Either I Bonds or EE Bonds would be a better option than what he's considering.
I agree. A bank CD would be better, even a savings account paying 0.01% would be better.

In case you are wondering how my policy lost money with a 4% guaranteed return... 4% return is before they subtract the mortality cost and the general fee. Those two add up to more than the "4% guaranteed return" for many years. It's like the car dealer giving you $5000 for that old clunker, but selling you the new car at MSRP. They tell you the great trade-in deal you got, but avoid discussing the high price and junk fees that ruin the deal.
by Anon1234
Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:01 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: International Stock Diversification — A New Look
Replies: 66
Views: 13945

Re: International Stock Diversification — A New Look

So 100% US has 60% revenue exposure to the US, but 50/50 has 28% revenue exposure to the US? International would need to have negative revenue exposure to the US for that to be true. Not exactly. The U.S. is certainly a big market for U.S. companies (60% of revenue), but it's not such a big market for international companies in aggregate (only about 20% of revenue or less, see the blue chart upthread from The Economist). As an investor tilts their equity portfolio more and more towards international stocks, the overall percentage of revenue derived from the U.S. economy declines accordingly. At global market cap weights, the U.S. is the source of only 28% of total revenues — even though it's 50% of market cap. I think this happens because ...
by Anon1234
Mon Nov 10, 2014 11:44 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Messy baby restaurant etiquette
Replies: 75
Views: 9037

Re: Messy baby restaurant etiquette

I was excited to read about your etiquette questions regarding a restaurant for messy babies. That woulda been fun.
by Anon1234
Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: dad wants to get univ life policy for grandkids
Replies: 21
Views: 2960

Re: dad wants to get univ life policy for grandkids

Look at my UL policy, which was bought by a well-intentioned parent... a terrible investment.

Policy is 21 years old.
$50,000 death benefit
$240 annual premium
4% guaranteed minimum return (which you cannot get today because rates are so low)
Total premiums paid to date: $5040
Current Cash surrender value: $3600
21 years + 4% "guaranteed" return = RESULT: LOSS OF 28% ... nevermind inflation and opportunity costs which would make the loss much worse (coulda been invested).

My advice: Open a 529, have your dad gift you the money, invest in a low cost balanced mutual fund, then forget about it for 11+ years.
by Anon1234
Fri Nov 07, 2014 10:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How often do you change your car's oil?
Replies: 168
Views: 40023

Re: How often do you change your car's oil?

After following this thread, and especially after reading jimb's excellent & thorough explanation, I'm more than ever convinced that my 3,000 miles / 3 months policy is money well spent. An extra $150/year is good insurance for something this critical. It also helps me to recall that each of my last two cars went well over 250,000 miles and were still running fine when I replaced them and that my current car is running fine at 140,000 miles. That's really expensive insurance over 10 years you're spending $1,500 in unnecessary oil changes for something that is likely providing little to no benefit and rarely breaks. I reject the basic premise that it is unnecessary. Pay 25 bucks and get a real analysis of your used oil. http://www.black...
by Anon1234
Fri Nov 07, 2014 8:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: War on Debt
Replies: 247
Views: 44057

Re: War on Debt

Rent the house out (at breakeven or better) and moving in with family for 5 years. That would give you another $1500*12*5=$90K to put towards debt payoff. I love this idea for so many reasons. FYI, rent below breakeven is OK . Every dollar of rent is extra income that can pay off debt. Also FYI, $90K is $100K with avoided interest. Why I love this: - you will kill the 8% debts with the extra payments, and probably the car will be paid of based on regular payments. Life will be so much easier. - you will have a built in babysitter that will make your marriage better. - your child will have a great relationship with grandparents (takes a community to raise a child...) - kids age 5 and below do not even think about where they live, or who the...
by Anon1234
Fri Nov 07, 2014 8:05 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: War on Debt
Replies: 247
Views: 44057

Re: War on Debt

My observation from reading your post and followups: You have a good attitude and are going the right way. You will be successful. Best of luck.