Search found 29 matches
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:27 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1412
Re: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
Thx. Have heard of TIPS ladders but need to spend some time reviewing your posts to determine if I am comfortable executing.
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 6:10 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1412
Re: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
Schwab has some excellent index mutual funds that compete with Vanguard and have lower expense ratios. I'd have no qualms about switching over to funds that are free to puchase within your existing brokerage and offer equal diversification at the same or lower fees. You are right that Schwab fees are lower. However, Schwab Total US SWTSX has lower performance than VTSMX and Schwab SWISX is lower than Vanguard's Total Non-US market VGTSX. There has been discussions in the forum whether tax timing or differences in index basket cause the variances. I determined I am safer staying with a known quantity. I don't know that I would catch if Schwab changed its fee structure or index basket,but I am confident the boglehead forum would have many pa...
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 5:19 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1412
Re: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
Edited post to note social security.
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 3:24 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1412
Re: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
Thx for rules IRA penalty info. Did not know. Thinking he will be employed, just take home pay less than our spending unless we stop contributing to 401k. Can't pull from retirement while he's still working without triggering the penalty.
Edited to call "Roth IRA".
For all the Schwab accounts we have access to almost infinite mutual fund/ETF choices - except Vanguard Admiral class as they are available only to Schwab institutional clients. There is enough choice to create a more customized portfolio of funds rather than using the Target 2030 fund. Posted fund choices and expenses.
Edited to call "Roth IRA".
For all the Schwab accounts we have access to almost infinite mutual fund/ETF choices - except Vanguard Admiral class as they are available only to Schwab institutional clients. There is enough choice to create a more customized portfolio of funds rather than using the Target 2030 fund. Posted fund choices and expenses.
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:46 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: The Three-Fund Portfolio
- Replies: 3895
- Views: 2424575
Re: The Three-Fund Portfolio
Thank you.
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1412
Finally on a Boglehead plan - appreciate feedback
I am within days of having my family on a Boglehead plan - finally! I aligned my investments and have browbeaten my partner for a 4 fund portfolio for his Roth (60% of our assets). We had that money in a mutual fund timer’s newsletter portfolio which did well (as did the markets) over the last 17 years and he is a loyal guy … but I did not give up this time. We need to implement a simple, justifiable approach which will be easy for me to manage. Monday I am selling the mutual funds in his Roth and moving in to the 4 funds outlined below (pending any adjustments considering feedback). Emergency funds: 60K Debt: None Tax Filing Status: MFJ State of Residence: WA Age: 56 (retired), 57 (working, retirement TBD by him) Desired Asset allocation: ...
- Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:19 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: The Three-Fund Portfolio
- Replies: 3895
- Views: 2424575
Re: The Three-Fund Portfolio
With retirement and too many fun things to do, I got religion and implemented a 4 fund portfolio.
I bought and read the book and plan to use it as I spread the gospel. I was disappointed it did not have a comprehensive historic return grid for a Vanguard 3 fund portfolio at 10%, 20%, & 30% stock/bond split for Vanguard shares. Page 61 contained some return info but it wasn't footnoted so I had to look up the source article to know it was 80/20 stock/bond split. Is my desired grid posted on Bogleheads somewhere or do I need to produce?
I bought and read the book and plan to use it as I spread the gospel. I was disappointed it did not have a comprehensive historic return grid for a Vanguard 3 fund portfolio at 10%, 20%, & 30% stock/bond split for Vanguard shares. Page 61 contained some return info but it wasn't footnoted so I had to look up the source article to know it was 80/20 stock/bond split. Is my desired grid posted on Bogleheads somewhere or do I need to produce?
- Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:57 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Buying 2018 Honda Pilot
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5078
Re: Buying 2018 Honda Pilot
Adding to the historical Honda perspective. In 2004 we bought a Canadian 2003 Pilot from a WA dealer. Over the years we replaced the transmission and ignition but overall happy with value and 265,000 safe miles. Just caught this model/year's emergent airbag recall in Consumer Report this month. How did I miss this? Actually 4 critical recalls. Here is what can happen when you buy a Canadian model. 1) Entered VIN in Honda USA website and not there 2) Entered VIN in Honda Canada, found vehicle and its 4 recalls 3) Called the local dealer, they said call Honda Canada 4) Called Honda Canada but not answering so sent email and got auto response will reply in 2 days 5) No response so a week later I call and get a live person and they say go to my...
- Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:36 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Anybody been to Porto? Lisbon? - portugal
- Replies: 11
- Views: 1904
Re: Porto
Always something useful when I visit the forums! Biking Lisbon to Santiago next month and booked the brown unit for our layover days. Will explore all your recommendations. Sara's page had some helpful vegetarian options.FraggleRock wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:48 pm Stay at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1168784 (there are 7 units in the building).
- Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:58 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Will/Estate question first child
- Replies: 16
- Views: 1439
Re: Will/Estate question first child
We paid for lawyer-created wills at 3 junctions 1) birth of first child 2) kids in college, realized needed young adult trusts/guardians to place restrictions on inherited money (if we died together) 3) one kid not thriving so modified trust wording to give guardian more power to set requirements to access money If you paid a lawyer and thought ahead, you could take care of 1 and 2 together. When creating will 3, we identified a lawyer that left the powerhouse firm and set up a will shop. For $1,000 the language was boilerplate "will for parents with kid making poor choices" and was fine for a situation where we both were dead! It would be hard to wrap your head around ever needing it with a newborn. The biggest surprise for us wa...
- Wed Jan 10, 2018 8:18 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Best Sources to Buy Prescriptions Out of Pocket
- Replies: 49
- Views: 5544
Re: Best Sources to Buy Prescriptions Out of Pocket
My physician gave me the name of this Canadian pharmacy and it has worked out well for a variety of drugs.
https://www.northwestpharmacy.com/
It is a murky world. Recently I went through 3 copies of a prescription. I initially filled it at my local Costco using my insurance, then did some research and found out Costco Online 90 day supply cash price was a better deal, then later found out the Canadian price was significant savings.
https://www.northwestpharmacy.com/
It is a murky world. Recently I went through 3 copies of a prescription. I initially filled it at my local Costco using my insurance, then did some research and found out Costco Online 90 day supply cash price was a better deal, then later found out the Canadian price was significant savings.
- Thu Oct 26, 2017 3:40 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Credit card companies forgiving debt after death?
- Replies: 48
- Views: 14077
Re: Credit card companies forgiving debt after death?
I really learned from this discussion. I had not thought through secured versus unsecured debt. Most of all from searching on the web I had no idea this ever happened and wanted to know if anyone shared this experience.
I looked up probate law in WA and if the estate is worth less than $100K, it is exempt. Since there are no assets in his name, this is one worry the widow won't have.
I looked up probate law in WA and if the estate is worth less than $100K, it is exempt. Since there are no assets in his name, this is one worry the widow won't have.
- Thu Oct 26, 2017 3:34 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Credit card companies forgiving debt after death?
- Replies: 48
- Views: 14077
Re: Credit card companies forgiving debt after death?
When you are liked in a small town, people help you out. I gave her marching orders to generate cash and selling the truck was the best option. (Not much market for the boat till Spring.) She needs to pay off the mortuary and if possible the car loan as without his pensions she has negative cash flow.letsgobobby wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:45 pm How was wife able to 'transfer' truck and boat titles from husband to herself? Typically that occurs after probate, the purpose of probate being a chance to file claims against the estate.
- Tue Oct 24, 2017 12:52 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Credit card companies forgiving debt after death?
- Replies: 48
- Views: 14077
Credit card companies forgiving debt after death?
This month I created a financial action plan for someone after a husband’s death. He died with 8 credit cards with $30K total balances plus medical bills. The wife has a house with $20K in equity, a car with a big loan, a mortuary bill, and $40K in retirement assets. The husband had a truck and boat. We were able to transfer the titles to the wife (an advantage of living in small town) and she has people selling them to generate cash. The Discover card had a $15K balance but we found it had a payment protection plan (costing about 10% of the balance annually) which will cause the loan to be forgiven. Maybe the only instance in history where one of these overpriced plans was beneficial? I had her pricing a credit card consolidation and a sec...
- Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:30 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Can one have too much money in tax-deferred
- Replies: 128
- Views: 17185
Re: Can one have too much money in tax-deferred
We are three years from retirement with 70% Roth, 20% tax deferred and 10% taxable.
I overshot the mark on Roths from both an enjoy life today and projected tax rate standpoint. My family was running away from IRS debt and I veered in the opposite direction. When we changed jobs, I rolled the money into a Roth and used our cash to pay taxes.
I would feel better with more accessible money now and will have to pull a chunk when we retire at 60 for a house move and planned splurge. The Roth will be a legacy vehicle but we will be actively spending ours down which we would not if I had left more funds accessible.
I overshot the mark on Roths from both an enjoy life today and projected tax rate standpoint. My family was running away from IRS debt and I veered in the opposite direction. When we changed jobs, I rolled the money into a Roth and used our cash to pay taxes.
I would feel better with more accessible money now and will have to pull a chunk when we retire at 60 for a house move and planned splurge. The Roth will be a legacy vehicle but we will be actively spending ours down which we would not if I had left more funds accessible.
- Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:23 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: A week in Iceland
- Replies: 28
- Views: 3446
Re: A week in Iceland
From reading blogs, TripAdvisor and Moon guide, my impression is the scenery is truly is outstanding but too much car time and the expense can put a damper on a trip. This is my plan for Snaefellsnes Peninsula/Reykavik 3 day layover tour late next month. We like getting away from the crowds so we aren't doing the classics. Day 1 – Buy duty free beers, pick up Happy Camper, groceries at Bonus, hike Mt Esja or Mt Akrafjal, start Magical Snaefellsnes tour from guidetoiceland.is, camp at Lysuholl to enjoy the pool and bar Iceland beer guide https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/borg-ulfur-ulfur-double-ipa-nr-17/210166/ driving guide https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/regina/the-magical-snaefellsnes-peninsula Day 2 – Continue Magical tour, vi...
- Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:37 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Your Charitable giving – do you have definitions and guidelines?
- Replies: 2
- Views: 577
Your Charitable giving – do you have definitions and guidelines?
For a long time we tithed our salaries between church and a cast of charities. With kids tuition payments behind us, we are developing a methodology to make our giving more thoughtful and impactful. Here is where we are today. It would be helpful to hear others’ approaches. Define income – 1040 gross income + non-taxable retirement Define donation – Cash or securities. For this purpose we don’t include donations of used goods, volunteer hours or miles. They are good, but they don’t keep the lights on. Define Charity – We target tax deductible charities where a minimum of 80% of receipts go for program services. We give to some organizations that don’t have tax-deductible status where we are confident the money is being appropriately utilize...
- Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:14 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Claim SIL as Dependent
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1522
Re: Claim SIL as Dependent
In addition to the IRS tool https://www.irs.gov/uac/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent, there is also a form. https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf In completing this form there is leeway to determine the person qualifies, but she must have met the requirement that gross income can’t be greater than $4,050 (2016). In calculating gross income 1) If disabled can exclude income from sheltered workshop. 2) Don’t include Social Security (SS) unless married and filing separately, lived with spouse at any time during the tax year or if half the SS benefits plus their other gross income and tax exempt interest is more than $25K 3) Medicare not income 4) State assistance (food stamps, SSI, w...
- Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:58 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: swimming goggles
- Replies: 29
- Views: 3749
Re: swimming goggles
It depends on individual facial geometry, but the Barracuda Wire Mask works well for me. More expensive but has the added advantage of fitting over the face so you don't leave the pool with owl-eyes.
- Mon Jun 26, 2017 4:42 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Calculating mutual fund returns for non-standard dates?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 864
Re: Calculating mutual fund returns for non-standard dates?
I appreciate the forum and the insights of it educated posters. It can feel evangelical but it is a great place to learn. My plan is to use our results to bring my partner around. After Investech/Stack Financial Management (SFM) missed the dot-com gains, it has done well during subsequent downturns with its sector distribution/mild market timing. I am analyzing returns and have created dashboards to illustrate how our different approaches perform against market indices and believe that is the best argument for change. Yes, Jim Stack is raking in the cash. With a billion+ under Stack Financial Management (SFM) and less than 20 employees, I am sure they are paying cash for their new headquarters. The newsletter is just gravy. You are right ab...
- Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:16 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Calculating mutual fund returns for non-standard dates?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 864
Re: Calculating mutual fund returns for non-standard dates?
Thanks. I was not finding the right tool.
Hard to make an argument to discredit them without a data set of their portfolio price over time.
Hard to make an argument to discredit them without a data set of their portfolio price over time.
- Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:13 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Calculating mutual fund returns for non-standard dates?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 864
Calculating mutual fund returns for non-standard dates?
I use a Merriman Vanguard portfolio but my partner still follows a market timing investment newsletter. The June newsletter contained the statement "While the InvesTech Model Portfolio didn't outperform the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund in the bull markets, our ability to manage and reduce risk provided a long term return which more than doubled that of the Vanguard index fund." When asked to clarify they responded "The month-end data used in the example was for the InvesTech Research Model Portfolio and for the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX). The total annualized returns for these two series are 8.31% for the InvesTech Model Portfolio and 5.11% for VTSMX, between 3/31/00 and 5/31/17. The reason that ...
- Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:58 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Market timing success?
- Replies: 25
- Views: 4866
Re: Market timing success?
For fun. here are Stack results 12/31/2016
Stack Financial Management Capital Appreciation Portfolio (SFM) - annual fee 1.2% to .75% depending on assets under management, portfolio is 20 or so stocks/mutual funds + cash
Investech newsletter subscription newsletter, costs about $150 annually, EFT/cash portfolio with hotline updates throughout the year
Years 1 10
SFM 5.1%, 6.8% (net of fees and including dividends)
Investech 6.7%
VTSMX 12.53, 7.09% (10 year as of 2/6/17)
Stack Financial Management Capital Appreciation Portfolio (SFM) - annual fee 1.2% to .75% depending on assets under management, portfolio is 20 or so stocks/mutual funds + cash
Investech newsletter subscription newsletter, costs about $150 annually, EFT/cash portfolio with hotline updates throughout the year
Years 1 10
SFM 5.1%, 6.8% (net of fees and including dividends)
Investech 6.7%
VTSMX 12.53, 7.09% (10 year as of 2/6/17)
- Tue Jan 31, 2017 12:07 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Dental insurance, dental plans or pay as you go?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 8860
Re: Dental insurance, dental plans or pay as you go?
Our COBRA extension for a generous dental plan ended 2016. Because our quality dentist was expensive and offered only a 5% cash discount, it was cheaper to get insurance to have a negotiated rate rather than pay 95% of list price. After comparing dental plans, I bought AARP’s Delta Dental administered by United Healthcare. I strongly recommend NOT using them. They denied coverage initially then each of the claims requiring a significant time investment from the office staff and me. They have significant process issues. When evaluating dental plans and dentists, know whether your cleaning appointments are being charged as D4910 Periodontal Maintenance or D1110 regular cleaning. There is a significant price difference ($255 versus $175 list a...
- Fri Jul 22, 2016 3:34 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Evaluating our investing performance - what indices and format?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 663
Re: Evaluating our investing performance - what indices and format?
Thx. I will learn from madsinger and hone my draft report format. News reports often reference market indexes like S&P500 so I want that as one of my benchmarks. I will use an ETF version to ensure it includes reinvested dividends. While our entire portfolio is generally 70/30, the investments are not identical in each account. We each have our own money and made some individual choices. I want to hold us accountable and honest in how each philosophy is performing by reporting historical performance and comparing to benchmarks. I have other reports where I straight track % we have saved toward our $ goal and whether we are advancing toward it at my predicted rate (6% - a conservative goal but I like to forecast low and over-perform plus...
- Fri Jul 22, 2016 1:03 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Evaluating our investing performance - what indices and format?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 663
Evaluating our investing performance - what indices and format?
I have assumed responsibility for our investments and want to track and illustrate their performance versus the markets. I plan to update it monthly - that may seem often but it is keeps me comfortable.
We have a six retirement portfolios and one taxable investment account, mostly with Schwab. We won't be withdrawing from the retirement accounts for 5+ years so fortunately I don't have to factor in withdrawals yet.
1) are there existing posts showing other's reporting/tracking formats?
2) what are the standard indexes people compare to and are their websites to get historical performance data for them easily?
Any suggestions appreciated.
We have a six retirement portfolios and one taxable investment account, mostly with Schwab. We won't be withdrawing from the retirement accounts for 5+ years so fortunately I don't have to factor in withdrawals yet.
1) are there existing posts showing other's reporting/tracking formats?
2) what are the standard indexes people compare to and are their websites to get historical performance data for them easily?
Any suggestions appreciated.
- Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:49 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: medical alert bracelet or something
- Replies: 8
- Views: 974
Re: medical alert bracelet or something
There are always discount codes for RoadID on sites like retailmenot.com.
We have a family member with short term memory issues and he wears a RoadID with his name, DOB and 4 phone numbers. We are fortunate that he has shown it to people and asked them to call us when he was disoriented in town.
We have a family member with short term memory issues and he wears a RoadID with his name, DOB and 4 phone numbers. We are fortunate that he has shown it to people and asked them to call us when he was disoriented in town.
- Sun May 01, 2016 1:10 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Market timing success?
- Replies: 25
- Views: 4866
Re: Market timing success?
Stack is more equity than cash.
- Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:12 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Market timing success?
- Replies: 25
- Views: 4866
Re: Market timing success?
Travel1013, did you elect to utilize the InvesTech newsletter model? I am executing an overdue financial evaluation which included looking at InvesTech. We utilize another Stack product, Stack Financial Management (SFM), for portolio management services for a tax-advantaged fund. SFM uses mostly individual stocks and cash, while the InvesTech newsletter model fund is predominately ETFs. Stack’s portfolio statements don’t contain annualized historic returns (and Schwab blocks this online performance features for advisor funds), but Stack provided upon request. InvesTech newsletters include only select performance stats so I used Hulbert Financial Digest (RIP). Years 1, 5, 10, 15 SFM Managed Portfolio -1.75%, 7.95%, 6.73%, 7.59% Investech mod...