Research Triangle Park Diehards (RTP in NC)?

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wenzee
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RTP Diehards

Post by wenzee »

Bump.
Just as a reminder.
Wenzee :wink:
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Steve Thorpe
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Post by Steve Thorpe »

dandan14 wrote:Will there be a sign on the table saying "Bogleheads" or something? Might be a good idea.

See you guys tomorrow.
We'll probably all have a Bogleheady look is my guess, so we should be able to find each other that way :)

Seriously though, we'll most likely be located in the meeting room around to the right side after you come into the GC. (Though unfortunately given our numbers the room won't be all ours). Also I'll remind the host that we're the Bogleheads group so he/she should be able to point you to us if its not immediately obvious.

Really looking forward to meeting everyone Saturday morning at 9:30!
Steve Thorpe
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Mel Lindauer
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Post by Mel Lindauer »

Good luck with your upcoming meeting. Let us know (right here) how it turned out.
Best Regards - Mel | | Semper Fi
sunspotzsz
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Post by sunspotzsz »

Mel Lindauer wrote:Good luck with your upcoming meeting. Let us know (right here) how it turned out.

It turned out very well. I enjoyed the conversation very much.

Thanks, Steve,for organizing this. Looking forward to our next meeting.
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Steve Thorpe
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Post by Steve Thorpe »

Hi everyone,

Just reporting back on the first Research Triangle Park Diehards chapter meeting... after two(!) years of discussion I'm happy to report that its finally taken place!

The crowd was a bit smaller than anticipated: dandan14, sunspotzsz, 58tarheel, wenzee and I attended. A couple of us had learned about the Bogleheads group from magazines - me from Kiplinger's probably 3 years ago, and another participant all the way back in the late '90s. We all shared a common bond in managing our investments in a Boglehead fashion.

sunspotzsz shared his insights regarding the investment landscape in his native China. Sounds as though investors are much more limited to the domestic Chinese investment markets, as the non-Chinese markets aren't readily accessible to them. Also there is not much information there on important metrics such as expense ratios, etc., less transparency in general and perhaps more volatility in the markets.

dandan14 is the founder of a savvydollar.org, "North Carolina's Source For Savings" ... a neat site about living frugally. (I just checked it out ... the look-and-feel of the site is very Bogleheadish! As I guess its built using the same software). Dan also may have had the youngest investing start in the group -- when he was only 11 years old he made his first investment, buying shares in McDonalds!

Our answers to this question were across the map: "Commodities? High Yield Bonds? Both? Neither?" This reminded me of Taylor's "Dancing on the head of a pin" and "There are many roads to Dublin" phrases. I think its true! [ For the record, I'm tentatively in the CCFs camp, but NOT in the HY Bonds camp. Though I can appreciate arguments on both sides of these issues ]

The group also had differing opinions on whether to hold international fixed income, and "Was the 2008-2009 meltdown a black swan?". Regarding the black swan question, I counted 1 Yes, 1 No, and 3 "in-betweens". [ Re. international bonds: my personal vote is no, keep the fixed income low-cost domestic, and take the international risks within equities which may be more efficient ]

wenzee shared his view that the Boglehead investment philosphy was great in the sense that it helps reduce concerns about when to buy/sell based on pricing, etc. Of utmost importance is to to focus on keeping it simple, keeping costs low, and staying the course. And this can free up your time and energies for other things in life!

58tarheel is very happy to now be a Boglehead, a status he attained after entering retirement though he wished it was sooner. Evidently his wife thinks he spends a lot of time lurking on the Bogleads group - I am sure 58tarheel is not the only one who falls into that category ! :)

We exchanged ideas about these and many other topics.... it was a really enjoyable morning.

The group agreed to reconvene at 9:30 AM on Saturday January 16, at a location TBD. I will investigate possible locations, with a library such as Parkwood being a preferred venue. Also I'll check into setting up a Yahoo list and possibly a free "Meet Up" type online service.

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped with planning, also especially to Taylor and Mel who helped from afar.

Steve
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Mel Lindauer
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Post by Mel Lindauer »

Congratulations to you and your group, Steve. And thanks for filling us in on the details. Sorry Ed Tower wasn't able to join you. He's done lots of studies on various things pertaining to Vanguard, so you'll enjoy hearing from him when he's able to make one of your meetings.
Best Regards - Mel | | Semper Fi
dandan14
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Post by dandan14 »

Hey Steve:
I just wanted to say thanks for organizing the meeting yesterday. It was lots of fun to meet you guys and to bask in our boglehead nerd-dom. :-)
Seriously -- it is nice to meet some folks who can carry on a conversation at that level.

I also find it fascinating that 2 out of 5 of us are pursuers of CFP -- not to mention that at a table of 5, we probably had about 10 college degrees between us. I guess that goes to show the level of education on Bogleheads is pretty high!

Looking forward to the January meeting!
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Taylor Larimore
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First Boglehead meeting

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Hi Steve:

Thank you for sharing the experiences of your first North Carolina meeting.

You and the other NC Bogleheads have done a great job getting your first meeting off the ground. It sounds as if all of you had very interesting and informative discussions.

From a small seed giant trees grow.
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
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woof755
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Post by woof755 »

Sorry to have missed this. I decided it would be an awesome idea to catch swine flue and a pneumonia (which hurts, by the way).

How did it go?
"By singing in harmony from the same page of the same investing hymnal, the Diehards drown out market noise." | | --Jason Zweig, quoted in The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
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Steve Thorpe
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Post by Steve Thorpe »

sunspotzsz, Mel, Dan, Taylor, woof755, all: thanks for your feedback.

Dan: loved your comment about basking in our Boglehead nerd-dom. That is accurate I think :)

woof755: Very sorry to hear about your bout with swine flu / pneumonia. Ouch! Hope the resulting pain is over with. Re. the last meeting, it went well. See a few postings back in this thread where I posted a summary.

All: I just started a new topic for our upcoming meeting, please let's move discussion for the local chapter over there. See the topic "RTP, NC Area Chapter Meeting 9:30 AM Jan 16, 2010" at http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44960 Also have started a yahoo group for the local chapter and put its contact info into the new topic.

Best wishes.
Steve Thorpe
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Trifecta
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Post by Trifecta »

I lost track of this thread a little bit and didn't realize things were getting started up. I'm sorry that I missed the first meeting but look forward to meeting all of you in January.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
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