That jumped out at me too. Chinese exporters holding a lot of foreign currency-denominated financial assets?gabylon wrote:So, according to this graph, the total financial assets from nonfinancial corporations in China, $3.8 trillion, is higher than those of the US and W Europe combined ($3.7 T)?
Is this correct?
Search found 682 matches
- Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:25 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Article: Here is who owns the wealth ($200T)
- Replies: 53
- Views: 5637
Re: Article: Here is who owns the wealth ($200T)
- Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:11 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Weimar Inflation Causes.
- Replies: 34
- Views: 3395
Re: Weimar Inflation Causes.
This is a tough one for the Bogleheads forum, since (1) inflation is definitely relevant to personal finance and investment decisions, but (2) it's inexorably tied up with political implications. If I ever thought USD hyperinflation were likely, I would make very different investment/spending decisions (for one thing, we would remodel our kitchen now, not "in five years," as my wife and I say to each other, and we wouldn't be sitting on any cash). I do not think hyperinflation is likely, and I think MarcMyWord largely gets it right. However, costs seem to be rising at the grocery store more quickly than US-CPI is rising. The leading lights who are in favor of continued governmental stimulus need to do a better job of explaining to...
- Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:00 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Total Insanity--sport star compensation
- Replies: 148
- Views: 9406
Re: Total Insanity--sport star compensation
I'm always intrigued by players who say they will give a "hometown discount," but then (usually) sign with whichever team offers them the most money. In Pujols' case, he seemed to indicate that he would stay with the Cardinals for less, but the Angels offered him SO much more that he took it. This suggests that $250 million does have significantly more value to Pujols than $220 million (which was one rumor of the Cardinals offer). I just can't imagine that the $$ above $220 million would make a difference -- does the extra $30 million would have ANY marginal utility at that point? I guess it must have, for Pujols. Or maybe the extra money is more of a "status indicator" than an indication of marginal utility of money? O...
- Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:01 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Total Insanity--sport star compensation
- Replies: 148
- Views: 9406
Re: Total Insanity--sport star compensation
I'm always intrigued by players who say they will give a "hometown discount," but then (usually) sign with whichever team offers them the most money. In Pujols' case, he seemed to indicate that he would stay with the Cardinals for less, but the Angels offered him SO much more that he took it. This suggests that $250 million does have significantly more value to Pujols than $220 million (which was one rumor of the Cardinals offer). I just can't imagine that the $$ above $220 million would make a difference -- does the extra $30 million would have ANY marginal utility at that point? I guess it must have, for Pujols. Or maybe the extra money is more of a "status indicator" than an indication of marginal utility of money? Or...
- Tue Dec 06, 2011 3:41 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Best Stategy for 5-yr and 10-yr saving
- Replies: 26
- Views: 2597
Re: Best Stategy for 5-yr and 10-yr saving
kflorian, this is not directed at you, but to the many people who have a similar line of thinking and are planning to invest in stocks for a home downpayment fund: if your horizon is 5 years now, it will be 4 years next year, and 3 years in 2 years.kflorian wrote:Well, my horizon is "at least 5 years"
If stocks in your "house savings fund" drop 20% between now and 2 years from now, will you sell them?
Stocks (and any risky bonds) put you in a tough psychological position if the market drops. "I would have had $100k for a downpayment, but now I have $80k" is tough to think about.
- Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:23 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Advice on New Car Purchase
- Replies: 48
- Views: 3038
Re: Advice on New Car Purchase
The only reason I say the CRV is a little snug is because I am 6'2'' and having the (rear facing) car seat in the back means I have to bring the front seat forward just a bit so that it doesn't touch the car seat. Is your car seat in the middle of the back seat? We have a RAV4, and I can push the driver seat all the way back without touching our rear-facing Graco SnugRide. If our Graco was on the driver side of the back seat, I'd have to be all the way forward. On your original question, I would either (1) do what the wife wants and get the Pilot now, or (2) sell the coupe on Craigslist and buy a used sedan on Craigslist for about the same cost, with about the same mileage (or even cheaper, with higher mileage). You might be surprised that...
- Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:54 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Quality Business Casual Clothing
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3216
Re: Quality Business Casual Clothing
We have an Ann Taylor outlet near us, and it's still my wife's #1 go-to for work clothes. Like you, she has had some bad experiences, particularly when she LOVED a style of sweater and bought three of them at once because they were $15 each, thanks to multiple discounts. All three sort of contracted/pilled in the torso area after a couple of washings (on delicate/low, with hang-drying), making them unwearable. However, the pants and blazers from Ann Taylor, which are more expensive and which we dry-clean or spot-clean, all seem to hold up very well, and a couple of other shirts and sweaters still look great after years of machine washing. I do think it is a combination of lower quality/prices these days, and that the clothes are generally n...
- Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:53 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Studies that state the obvious
- Replies: 19
- Views: 1994
Re: Studies that state the obvious
This is usually the impression I get, as well. Same for the anti-litigation crowd and examples like the McDonald's coffee lawsuit mentioned above.Claude wrote:It frequently serves the political ends of the proudly anti-science crowd to mock research.
And sure, some studies are pointless, and some are lawsuits are frivolous, but I am always surprised that when people try to point out examples, I find myself thinking, "Actually, that particular study / lawsuit does seem to have some value / merit."
I recently started to re-read, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," and I was bored because it all seemed so obvious now. Obviously, it was not always so obvious!
- Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:21 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Advice for Grandmother
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1482
Re: Portfolio Advice for Grandmother
She should be advising us!
The portfolio you suggested at the top sounds fine, considering this is basically 'play money' for her.
The portfolio you suggested at the top sounds fine, considering this is basically 'play money' for her.
- Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:12 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: What is the downside to buying your first home?
- Replies: 35
- Views: 3205
Re: What is the downside to buying your first home?
Three things to keep in mind - transaction costs, home maintenance and property taxes. First, in a typical closing, if you add up the buyer plus seller closing costs, it might be around 10% of the purchase price (6% in realtor fees and another, say, 4% in transfer/recording taxes and costs related to the mortgage, although that can obviously vary widely). So if you buy a $1 million home, there is $100,000 of transaction cost. If the buyers live there for 5 years, that's $20,000 per year that should really be added to the mortgage, conceptually. If you know you'll live there for a long time, obviously you can spread it over a longer period. In addition, you might be able to get the seller or lender to cover some/all of the buyer closing cost...
- Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:53 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Advice for Grandmother
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1482
Re: Portfolio Advice for Grandmother
What are her expenses? How is her health? What is she currently invested in? What is her tax bracket (more specific than "upper end"), based on the other income you mentioned (including pension and any SS)? What is her preference, in terms of having money to pass on when she does, versus just making sure she has enough to cover herself? My guess, although it depends on the answers to the questions above, is that it probably makes the most sense to keep all of her money in cash / cash equivalent accounts. In her situation, I'm not sure it makes sense to have any money in Emerging Market Stocks, for example. She has obviously done well for herself. Since she already seems in good shape financially, the most important thing, in my bo...
- Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:48 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: They Use Math
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1826
Re: They Use Math
Presumably, "Customized Arithmetic Income Planning" sounded too sophisticated.
- Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:31 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Safe Crib bumpers
- Replies: 5
- Views: 562
Re: Safe Crib bumpers
Yes, search "Breathable Baby Universal Crib Bumper" on Amazon -- we bought it for the same reason (although for our son, it was his legs more than his arms getting stuck), and it's been good for us. Our son is at 7 months now. He has still managed to get his leg over the bumper and gotten his leg stuck in the rail maybe 2-3 times in the three months since we got the breathable bumper, but I think it would happen much more often without the bumper. He moves around in his sleep even more now than he did at 3-4 months. There seems to be no way he could suffocate on it, or use it to prop himself up and over the rail, which are supposed to be the two concerns with regular crib bumpers. It doesn't look as good as a regular crib bumper, ...
- Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:41 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Employment Interview Question
- Replies: 17
- Views: 2160
Re: Employment Interview Question
Agree with most of the posts above, especially billern, natureexplorer and stan1. The Miss Manners advice doesn't seem applicable to your case. And I would be very careful about "embellishing" in any way. As someone who has conducted hundreds of interviews and sat in meetings to discuss applicants (I was on the recruiting committee in my old job), I can tell you that any suspicion of a lack of truthfulness, no matter how minor, can damage the applicant's chances. On the other hand, putting a candid, bright spin on things is exactly what you should do. Be optimistic, but you do need to ask yourself, before you say anything, "Do I really believe this?" If the answer is no, then it will probably come through. I would say so...
- Tue Nov 22, 2011 11:01 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Please Review my portfolio
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1610
Re: Please Review my portfolio
It jumps out to me that you could probably do a no-cost refi of your mortgage that could take the 15yr 4.5% down to maybe 15yr 3.5%. Even with only $34K outstanding (which is amazing), that would save you more than $300/yr for the next few years. I think you have a good handle on your liquid investments. Chaika's suggestions seem good to me as an example of how to simplify your holdings, but it seems to me that you can probably weight even heavier into VTIAX (for the Roth) and MASRX (for the 401k) based on your 90/10 desired allocation. Or you could take Chaika's advice to increase the bond/cash percentage of your AA. (If you do, I don't know enough about the bond fund options in your 401k to comment on that.) Also, you have a lot of liquid...
- Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:20 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1041
Re: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
So the money's earning 1.1% taxable until then. Just out of curiosity, what's your reason for going with a non-FDIC insured account for 1.1% when you can get 1% in an FDIC-insured account at AmEx Bank or the like? The short answer = 0.1%. When we first set up the GE demand notes account, a number of years ago, it was paying around 4%, even after the online savings accounts had started to drop. I had an account at ING, and it was at 2.2% when I moved over to the demand notes. After that, every time I looked into moving the funds into an FDIC-insured account, the interest rate was lower for the FDIC-insured account, so I figured I can just pay attention to GE and redeem the notes if there was anything that made me nervous. Having said all th...
- Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:07 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1041
Re: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
I'd max out all retirement assets before funding the 529 at all, except to use the 529 as a pass-through to save 5.75% (or whatever the rate will be) in 18 to 22 years. How come? Money is fungible. Not contributing to a 529 doesn't have to mean that you're not going to cover the child's education. Instead, it could mean that you'd plan on doing so differently. The properties of 401k's and IRA's can make them preferable to 529's because 401k's and IRA's are invisible to the FAFSA for financial aid purposes. Even if you overfund retirement accounts have to withdraw Roth IRA contributions in the future to fund college, you are probably better off doing that, along with using the 529 as a pass-through, than to fund the 529 today. This calculat...
- Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:02 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1041
Re: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
Yes, I'm pretty sure that VEST 529 provides a state 5.75% deduction. I'd max out all retirement assets before funding the 529 at all, except to use the 529 as a pass-through to save 5.75% (or whatever the rate will be) in 18 to 22 years. How come? Money is fungible. Not contributing to a 529 doesn't have to mean that you're not going to cover the child's education. Instead, it could mean that you'd plan on doing so differently. The properties of 401k's and IRA's can make them preferable to 529's because 401k's and IRA's are invisible to the FAFSA for financial aid purposes. Even if you overfund retirement accounts have to withdraw Roth IRA contributions in the future to fund college, you are probably better off doing that, along with using...
- Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:54 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1041
Re: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
We do.randomwalk wrote:Also, do you get any state income tax deductions for the 529?
(At least, that's my read of it for Virginia. We just set it up this year, so we haven't been through the tax return process yet.)
- Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:35 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1041
Re: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
I look at this "Real plus 3%" as "cash" in an overall portfolio of "stocks/bonds/cash." Does that make sense? Most importantly, should we be more aggressive than 3% real with some of this money? For example, if you were 35 years old and had the "Real plus 3%" option for up to 21% of your retirement savings, would you put the whole 21% in that basket, or some lesser amount? I also might like the S&P 500 fund with a 0.04% expense ratio. You are extremely fortunate to have this investment option. Yes, I would absolutely put the entire 21% in this fund. If I had an inclination to increase my equity allocation, I'd do it in the other accounts first. Since it is unlikely you'll have any better risk fre...
- Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:03 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1041
Portfolio Review and (Long, Detailed) Questions
Thanks in advance to anyone who makes it through this entire post. All advice on our portfolio, not just on the questions below, is very much appreciated. I suspect we are on the right track but with room for improvement. Also, let me know if you think any of the questions below should be a stand-alone post; but they are all somewhat tied into our overall portfolio. Emergency funds: 6+ months Debt: no debt except mortgage, 15 yr fixed at 3.375% (we bought last year and the outstanding loan now equals 50% of the original purchase price) Tax Filing Status: Married filing Jointly (one child born in 2011) Tax Rate: 28% Federal, 5.75% State (Virginia) Age: 35/31 Desired Asset allocation: not exactly sure, but we could be comfortable with up to 8...
- Wed Nov 09, 2011 12:58 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: How a financial planner lost his home
- Replies: 203
- Views: 20624
Re: How a financial planner lost his home
I normally would give credit to a person who is able to come forward with such a story. In this instance, the plug for his book being released on January 3rd makes me give pause. Do you think for a moment that such an article would have ever been written and released to the public at large for comments had potential profit motivation not been involved? There have been instances where people lose homes and other property due to job loss or medical issue, however many of those facing similar circumstances such as Mr. Richards encounter these problems for one simple reason - they overleveraged themselves without any thought to the potential ramifications of such an action. Some call it greed, some call it other things. All of them failed beca...
- Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:48 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Just found out that I'm going to be a Father. Now What?
- Replies: 46
- Views: 5841
Re: Just found out that I'm going to be a Father. Now What?
Lots of great advice here already, especially Rodc's post. My wife and I had our first child 6 months ago. In our case, he arrived four weeks early, so be ready for that possibility! Other than daycare, kids can be VERY cheap when they are small -- or very expensive, if you are buying $400+ strollers, brand-new clothes, etc. We bought our car seat, crib, and a handful of toys new. Pretty much everything else was used or a gift. Consignment sales, craigslist, ebay, and friends/family/neighbors can provide almost everything you'll need, and when your kid outgrows stuff, you pass it on. Disposable diapers and wipes are under $40/month using Amazon Mom. Meanwhile, we definitely saved money by going out a lot less. Right now, our son is 19 pound...
- Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:09 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Jogging shoes, why so complicated?
- Replies: 38
- Views: 4550
Re: Jogging shoes, why so complicated?
After a few years of physical inactivity, I am not back walking briskly and will soon start very moderate jogging. My jogging/running shoes are wearing out; I need a new pair. I have no special needs; no foot/leg problems. I just plan to jog/run moderately - at most, maybe in 6 months do a 10k in about an hour. I look at a web site about getting shoes, and it tells me I have to determine which of 3 foot types I am - take a wet image of my footprint and get shoes dependig on foot type (pronator or the other two). This used to be simple - just buy a pair of inexpensive shoes. Do I need to go through all of this? Why can't I just go to a discount store and buy a pair of moderate or inexpensive Men's 9-D jogging/running shoes? I agree with you...
- Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:10 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: MF global: tell me again how Vanguard is safe from fraud?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 5721
Re: MF global: tell me again how Vanguard is safe from fraud
Nisiprius wrote: "I think the primary protection is the fact that Vanguard and other mutual fund companies do not actually hold any of the securities that comprise its mutual funds. They're held by an independent custodian bank, named as JPMorgan Chase" Can JPMorgan Chase pull a Lehman Brothers? Do you mean, could they go bankrupt and not be bailed out by the US federal government? Yes, although it's very, very, very unlikely. Long story short, in this very unlikely scenario, your cash deposits, to the extent they are not covered by federal deposit insurance, could be in trouble. Your securities and fund holdings would probably be okay. This is because "your" cash can't be identified, while "your" securities a...
- Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:03 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: MF global: tell me again how Vanguard is safe from fraud?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 5721
Re: MF global: tell me again how Vanguard is safe from fraud
I figure having two financial institutions involved probably makes it a square of the probability situation--if there's an 0.1% chance of Vanguard committing Madoff-scale fraud, and an 0.1% chance of JPMorgan Chase committing Madoff-scale fraud, then there's an 0.0001% chance of both of them being willing. Then throw in some fudge factors involving mutual suspicion, distrust, etc. and another fudge factor for the difficulty of it being kept secret. I have complete trust in both Vanguard and JPM. Having said that, I am not sure JPM as global custodian would do much to police the situation, whether for Vanguard, MF Global, or any other institution. For example, Vanguard could simply direct customer transfers into its own accounts, and I assu...
- Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:44 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Arrends: "There is no wider social purpose"
- Replies: 18
- Views: 2798
Re: Arrends: "There is no wider social purpose"
In fairness to Arends, in the quoted excerpt he is talking about MF Global, and only extrapolating that to "most of" Wall Street.
As OP says, firms like MF Global do provide liquidity. They also take on risk and re-distribute risk. In exchange, they customarily make gigantic gobs of money.
Firms like MF Global do not do many of the other things that investment banks and commercial banks do, many of which have more obvious social benefit.
As OP says, firms like MF Global do provide liquidity. They also take on risk and re-distribute risk. In exchange, they customarily make gigantic gobs of money.
Firms like MF Global do not do many of the other things that investment banks and commercial banks do, many of which have more obvious social benefit.
- Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:47 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How much % of yearly net income do you spend on vacation?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 8919
Re: How much % of yearly net income do you spend on vacation
I was expecting more responses in the 30%+ range, for exactly this reason.Lon wrote:Being retired for the past 20 years and having no debt we spend between 30 to 40% of our income on travel and vacation.
My wife and I are looking forward to being in your shoes someday, although we have a lot of wood to chop between now and then.
- Tue Oct 25, 2011 3:30 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Flying to Wash.DC: need help from scratch :-(
- Replies: 37
- Views: 3331
Re: Flying to Wash.DC: need help from scratch :-(
I would also recommend against the overnight Greyhound bus, based on that overnight layover. The Richmond bus station is not very nice, and it's in no-man's land. (At least, the one I am familiar with is near a big stadium and not much else.)
If it's still possible to tweak your plans, take the bus during the day or use a private bus line that doesn't have a layover -- e.g., as ladders mentioned, just use Megabus. Based on a quick check, it's $41 with no layover, leaves at 10:30 pm tomorrow and arrives at 6:20 am at a decent location (K St NW and Capitol).
Once you get to DC, I think you will find it much easier to get around than you seem to think.
If it's still possible to tweak your plans, take the bus during the day or use a private bus line that doesn't have a layover -- e.g., as ladders mentioned, just use Megabus. Based on a quick check, it's $41 with no layover, leaves at 10:30 pm tomorrow and arrives at 6:20 am at a decent location (K St NW and Capitol).
Once you get to DC, I think you will find it much easier to get around than you seem to think.
- Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:14 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Clothing for -40 F windchill factor
- Replies: 26
- Views: 3430
Re: Clothing for -40 F windchill factor
Spent a winter stationed at Ft. Greely, AK. I have spent more than a few days at -20 and have a few thoughts: 1 I second the Mickey Mouse boot idea. This is what the Army issued, and everyone wore them on their off time as well as on duty. 2 Balaclava. Get one (or two). 3 Wear layers, not one giant thick coat. 4 Layer hands as well (thin polypro liners, then wool mitten, then waterproof mitten shell. 5 Ski goggles. 6 Did I already mention balaclava? These are awesome. I pretty much agree with all of the above, but especially the balaclava. Put on a balaclava as the first layer for your neck, ears, face and head. Then add other layers as appropriate. At -40, I might go two thin balaclavas (one polyester, one fleece) plus a regular hat that ...
- Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:01 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Obsessive Compulsive Accuracy Disorder
- Replies: 24
- Views: 3388
Re: Obsessive Compulsive Accuracy Disorder
Internal calculations of what?enderw88 wrote:This is totally irrelevant in even the least grand of schemes, but:
Does anyone know how many significant figures financial firms carry when doing internal calculations? They typically report four digits in share purchases and balances. Are they keeping more internally?
I'm not an accountant, and I don't know of any rules on rounding under GAAP, etc., but I would assume that internal calculations are based on exact figures.
For example, if you buy X for $3.07 at Walmart, they wouldn't round that when accounting for the sale. It's $3.07. Doesn't matter that it's a multi-billion dollar company. If they rounded all the small sales, that could create materially misleading totals.
- Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:15 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: "House Hunters"(TV show)...who are these people?
- Replies: 45
- Views: 10239
The show has been outed multiple times. The show recruits buyers who have already ratified a contract (or who have already purchased the house). The other two homes are shown to fulfill the selection process but are often homes that the buyers may have never seen. It kind of makes sense. You never see an episode where they like the house but get out bid, or the house closes before they have the opportunity to make a bid. You never hear about counter offers. http://hookedonhouses.net/2010/06/02/the-truth-about-house-hunters-on-hgtv/ http://mothersofbrothersblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/231-lets-trash-house-hunters-shall-we.html These links were great, thanks for putting them up. I have only watched HGTV a few times, but I think I'd buy a book c...
- Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:21 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Why is insider trading illegal?
- Replies: 26
- Views: 2435
I'll assume you are serious and respond to your softball.
"Non-insiders" would not put money into public equity markets if "insiders" could profit based on information that is not public.
If non-insiders (like Bogleheads!) did not put money into public equity markets, the world would be worse off.
At least, that is the idea.
"Non-insiders" would not put money into public equity markets if "insiders" could profit based on information that is not public.
If non-insiders (like Bogleheads!) did not put money into public equity markets, the world would be worse off.
At least, that is the idea.
- Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:12 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How much time per year do you spend studying up on tax code?
- Replies: 27
- Views: 2276
We use Turbo Tax, but like doug4523, I read up on each new situation we find ourselves in (estimated quarterly tax payments, AMT, owning a home, rental income, etc.)
I am looking forward to the year when we have no new tax situations. Then I will just plug numbers into Turbo Tax and be done. I trust Turbo Tax to alert me to anything new in the tax code that might help or hurt me.
But if I hadn't read the background docs at some point, including IRS publications and the actual code provisions, then I would not feel entirely comfortable.
I am looking forward to the year when we have no new tax situations. Then I will just plug numbers into Turbo Tax and be done. I trust Turbo Tax to alert me to anything new in the tax code that might help or hurt me.
But if I hadn't read the background docs at some point, including IRS publications and the actual code provisions, then I would not feel entirely comfortable.
- Thu Oct 06, 2011 2:53 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Simple 4 estate docs: did I hear the price right?
- Replies: 42
- Views: 4832
Me too.BigFoot48 wrote:Me for one. Maybe you should do a poll!tphp99 wrote:Are you serious?
How many people here are DIYer for wills?
We are going to update ours - but never thought of the DYI route.
Then again, I am a lawyer, took a Trusts & Estates course in law school, and studied Wills and Trusts for the bar exam, so I figured I had some background.
I got a book out from the library (something like, "Drafting Your Will"), then downloaded a few state forms and samples.
If we could have paid someone $175, it probably would have been worth it, but it was an interesting experience, and I was expecting it to cost north of $500 if we paid someone.
- Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:42 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Question about combining finances with fiancee
- Replies: 21
- Views: 3073
OP, it sounds like you are in a good financial situation, and you guys have been living together for more than a year. You have very similar views on finances and purchasing decisions. And you're close to 30. So I say, go for it, if you are both comfortable combining things now. If one of you is even the slightest bit uncomfortable with it, then just wait (and don't interpret it as a bad sign) - it's not a big deal to wait a few months, either! My wife and I were in exactly your situation when we got engaged. We set a date for the wedding, and during the wedding planning process, we also gradually combined our finances. Neither of us was going anywhere at that point, so I didn't see much risk. It certainly made things easier. At this point,...
- Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:22 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Retirement Planning 2011
- Replies: 2
- Views: 748
Re: Retirement Planning 2011
Have a job where annual salary increases are guaranteed to at least match inflation. (Good luck.)Honobob wrote:I thought it was interesting in the life insurance thread how people were contemplating insurance needs 20 -30 years out. Even with Boglehead savings will that be enough down the road? I was surprised to read how much inflation has increased for the basics in this economy since 2008.
(22.8% for the Bay Area)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1LD969.DTL
Other than buying a home to stop rent inflation how can you reduce the effects of inflation on the other basics?
Invest in TIPS or I-bonds. (That works if you don't need to earn real return on your savings.)
- Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:18 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Real Estate Tax Deduction
- Replies: 7
- Views: 737
...when you are paying income tax estimated payments, that 4th quarter for the fed I dont believe is due until sometime in Jan, the following year. As with the real estate question, do you deduct the 4th quarter payment in the year you make the payment rather than the year it is for? Ie, if you wait til january to pay it, do you lose the deductibility for the prior year for which it is written? You don't deduct your Federal estimated payment. You apply it as a credit to the tax due for that year. The 4th payment, if made in January, is still applied to the prior year's tax. Bruce I assume OP means to ask about state taxes here. I always make my 4th estimated state tax payment in late December, so that I can deduct it on my federal return f...
- Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:09 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Lost with taxes
- Replies: 19
- Views: 1943
EmergDoc, that phase-out post is great. Nice to put it all in one place.EmergDoc wrote:I've got a couple of pages on taxes for docs on my blog that you might find helpful.
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/taxes/phase-outs/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/taxes/2011-tax-brackets/
OP, you will quickly realize that the AMT will destroy the effects of most of what you might expect to deduct. Try to remember that your taxes pay for lots of good stuff for everyone - thanks!
- Wed Oct 05, 2011 8:59 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: What if Eurozone dissolves?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 2406
For whatever index investment you are thinking about, open the prospectus and go to the sections regarding risk disclosures. For example, for MSCI, the sections are called, "A Summary of Principal Risks" on pages S-3 and S-4, and "A further discussion of principal risks" later in the document. These risk disclosures are intended to give you a comprehensive understanding of the risks involved in investing in the fund (well, really, they're intended to insulate the fund and its advisors from liability, but they still do provide useful information....) For MSCI, you will see that there are a few things that could happen if the Euro really blows up. For example, look at the sub-sections, "Currency Risk" and "E...
- Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:59 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Discerning Financial Priorities
- Replies: 1
- Views: 613
I am having trouble understanding your first few sentences re: the value of each of your "residences," but: 1. If you have $200k in the bank and a $13k credit card balance that will be at 14% interest on October 14, then yes, you should pay off the credit card balance ASAP. A balance transfer with a 3% fee doesn't sound good to me at all, so just pay off the existing card. 2. Yes, you should fund the tax-advantaged retirement plan that you neglected so far this year. 3. Are you really asking whether you can deduct mortgage interest on your second property? The short answer is, "almost certainly," but how long have you owned your second and third properties? You need to understand all of the tax implications for each of y...
- Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:12 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: That Retirement Calculator May Be Lying to You
- Replies: 22
- Views: 4370
Re: That Retirement Calculator May Be Lying to You
Bill Bernstein and Jack Bogle are both quoted in this article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-03/that-retirement-calculator-may-be-lying-to-you.html I like the article because I use to have this complicated spreadsheet that projected inflation forward, and a rate of return pretty near one of these optimistic numbers. The rate of return was the first to go, as I couldn't figure what use it was, if the market wasn't going to deliver that (and it hasn't for quite a while now). About 6 months ago, I also ditched the inflation rate projected forward. The benefit of that was simplicity. Guessing the unknown, made for complexity. Everything in today's dollars made for simplicity. My goal would be for my savings to match inflation. As such,...
- Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:07 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Is marriage too risky?
- Replies: 89
- Views: 9928
Where did you see the 2/3 statistic?
According to this site, the divorce rate is 41% for first marriages in the US. http://www.divorcerate.org/
That's still pretty high, but not 2/3. Also, it's a lot lower if you get married after age 25, and even lower if you get married after age 30, and a lot lower if the marriage involves a woman who is college-educated.
According to this site, the divorce rate is 41% for first marriages in the US. http://www.divorcerate.org/
That's still pretty high, but not 2/3. Also, it's a lot lower if you get married after age 25, and even lower if you get married after age 30, and a lot lower if the marriage involves a woman who is college-educated.
- Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:10 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Question for bogleheads with no kids
- Replies: 225
- Views: 22032
Re: Question for bogleheads with no kids
OP - Do not make any rash moves, do not take a day or weekend, think very carefully, you may be about to throw away the most valuable thing in your life today, you just don't know it. Financial independence does not alleviate one of everyday worries. You will have less worries of one type only to have other worries - are they here for me or my money? When the money is gone, you will find who your real friends are. Perhaps you can tell us what financial independence is in your mind and what your plan to attain it is? Kids can be expensive, they cost more than a Big Mac and less than a yearly membership for a G5 airplane. I'm through my first two years of child rearing - assuming you have health insurance through employement, I would say the...
- Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:16 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Question for bogleheads with no kids
- Replies: 225
- Views: 22032
There are many, many good, thoughtful responses in this thread, going in both directions. Here is my little story. My wife was very upfront that she was not sure she wanted kids. I wanted to be with my wife more than I wanted kids, so after five years of dating, we got married anyway. Then she decided she wanted two kids. Great with me! We had our first son earlier this year. It is hard to describe how happy he makes us. Now, he is only about five months old, so who knows what troubles and difficulties lie ahead. But we already could not imagine our lives without him. We have good medical insurance coverage and very generous friends and families, so between gifts and consignment sales, our son barely costs us anything directly. The big cost...
- Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Low interest rates
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1896
It is true that the main way for fixed rate bondholders to experience upside gain is if market interest rates decline. Since rates seem so low, there doesn't seem to be much room for further decline. However, do any of us really have "certain knowledge" that bonds do not have upside gain? Is prolonged pessimism and deflation, which could further reduce rates, really so unlikely? And when you say rates "eventually" must go up, when is "eventually"? Finally, even without the upside gain that would be produced for bondholders if interest rates could drop, there are plenty of reasons for a recently-retired person to hold a high percentage of bonds. (Having said all that, we just refinanced into a 15-yr fixed rate m...
- Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:47 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Grad school sister- what to do w $5K and 5 year time horizon
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1435
If, as you say, she might need this money during the next few years, then I agree it needs to be liquid. As a young investor without much money, she may be particularly unhappy to experience any loss of principal, especially if she is investing based on her brother's advice. So, despite paltry returns, an online savings account might be the best option. Bankrate is as good a place to start as any, to find an account she is comfortable with, which will get her a little over 1% right now. Or search Bogleheads for Ally CD - Ally Bank's 5-year CD is very popular because it earns a little over 2%, and the penalty for early withdrawal is apparently only 60 days of interest. I haven't done this myself, though. In NYC, she might also blow through t...
- Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:54 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Title Insurance on the land and new construction....
- Replies: 22
- Views: 5940
2) What I most want to know is .......since I have title insurance on the real property and since I am the original owner of the improvement (because I built this house) what is the purpose of getting title insurance on the improvement I am more concerned with title defects than a mechanics lien I believe it comes down to how much your policy will pay out should there be a claim. The cost of title insurance is based on the value of the property at the time the policy is written. Let's say the land cost $50k. If it turns out there is a defect and and the previous owner's ex spouse actually still has an interest in the land, you will be compensated based on the property being worth $50k -- adjusted for inflation as described in your policy. ...
- Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:31 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Buy owner's title for property with only one prior owner?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 2960
Re: Buy owner's title for property with only one prior owner
My mother-in-law is paying cash for a condo. Is there a compelling reason to buy owner's title? She should absolutely positively buy an owner's title policy. The seller could have IRS tax liens or there could be other claims against the property. It isn't worth the risk to not buy the insurance. Allan Allan, do you disagree with either of these statements: 1. If there are existing tax liens against the property, they would be listed on the public record, and therefore listed on Schedule B of a new owners title policy, and therefore would not be covered by a new owners policy. 2. If there are tax liens filed after the date of the new owners policy, then they will not be covered by the owners policy. If you agree with both of those statement...
- Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:15 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Title Insurance on the land and new construction....
- Replies: 22
- Views: 5940
I am a lawyer. I haven't practiced real estate law in a long time, but I used to work on plenty of real estate financings, and the title work was a key component of every deal. Mechanics lien coverage is typically not provided by a basic owners title policy. Title insurers will (1) include language to say the policy does not cover any liens that attach after the policy date, and (2) if there are any existing mechanics liens, they will list them as exceptions to coverage on Schedule B. You can get a mechanics lien endorsement from most title insurers, but you will have to pay extra for it. If you produce final lien waivers from the GC and all subs, then it will be pretty cheap as an add-on. (The word "final" is key - you did not me...