Bogleheads.org

bikechuck

congrats. what did you do? For the past 27 years I was blessed with the opportunity to work for a global non-profit organization that serves libraries. I led a small team in their financial planning & analysis group. I love the mission and values of this company because I love education. I also...

bikechuck

After having W2 income for the past 49 years and since the age of 15, my exit interview with my current employer is 80 minutes from now. I think this was the last stop on my career and my swan song.

bikechuck

I do not think that it is too simple and I would simplify it further by putting my 50% allocation to bonds entirely in VG Total Bond Mkt Index Fund (VBTLX). For me the purpose of holding bonds is safety and I do not want to expose that portion of my portfolio to currency risk from exchange rate fluc...

bikechuck

Throughout my lifetime communications and transportation barriers have fallen and the world has increasingly become a Global Village. I think this trend will accelerate and continue. For that reason I will continue to hold some international equities in an index fund(s). I do wish that doing so did ...

bikechuck

I am not particularly computer savvy and I resisted online banking for a time. However, a year or so ago, to capture at least some yield on my cash reserves, I opened an online savings account with Ally and have been pretty much ignoring it. Last week based on this thread I opened four no penalty CD...

bikechuck

I'll play, I try to follow Taylor's advice re the three fund portfolio with two exceptions. 1) I have some money in a VG small cap value fund in my Roth 2) I have some money in TIAA Real Estate in my 403B with my current employer For now I am keeping both and I will not let either grow to more than ...

bikechuck

I'm in, my graduation date is set for July 07, 2017. I communicated it a year or so ago, it is firm and final and no going back on it at this point. Yipee! "Firm and final and no going back" sounds like a Top-10 hit :D Welcome to the class! Bikechuck - are you a bicylist? Have you seen fo...

bikechuck

Assuming you qualify based on date of birth, one of you should take at FRA and the other file a restricted application for spousal, subsequently filing at 70. The odds are that one of you will survive and find the increased annuity payment of SS worth the wait. I always see this worded in this mann...

bikechuck

I have some funds with TIAA from before my employer changed providers for our retirement program. Approximately three years ago in preparation for retirement (this July) I met with my TIAA advisor for the first time. It was well worth my time and he had several suggestions that I have implemented or...

bikechuck

This has been an interesting thread and has me contemplating how I want to restructure my portfolio after my wife and I retire later this year. I am now thinking of doing the following ... 1) Use the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund as our core holding however, a 60/40 split is too rich for our risk tol...

bikechuck

Guess I am more conservative than most. My wife and I are retiring later this year and I like the idea of having 2-3 years of expenses in high yielding savings accounts and CDs so we would not have to withdraw from investments in the event of a prolonged Bear Market.

bikechuck

I will be retiring in July and I want to move my 401K balances from my employer’s plan to an IRA. I want to move this money to a three fund portfolio using Vanguard funds. I already have some funds from a previous employer with TIAA and I will keep money in TIAA Traditional as a bond substitute so I...

bikechuck

Here is the updated Roll Call for the Retirement Class of 2017. So far there are 10 graduates and the year has barely begun. Already graduated - Congratulations!! 03 Jan - oldcomputerguy xx Jan - quantAndHold 30 Jan - Tom1320 (54) 31 Jan - Lance 08 Feb - mrc 28 Feb - munemaker 01 Mar - Johnora 03 M...

bikechuck

I can see the benefit of ultimately having all our investments with one provider (i.e. Vanguard), on the other hand I don't mind being a bit diversified and not having all my money with Vanguard. The spousal unit and I have decided not to consolidate our portfolio with one provider. There is some s...

bikechuck

I would like to thank Mr. Swedroe for his past participation in this online community and to wish him well as he plans to spend more time with his family in retirement. I have learned so much from reading his posts. I would also like to thank Mr. Larimore for summarizing Larry's reasons for his deci...

bikechuck

I have a small allocation to international equities because I value the diversification. I also understand and hate that it exposes me to the risk of currency fluctuations on top of the normal market risk that comes from investing in U.S. based companies. That said, I intend to stay the course and c...

bikechuck

I have really enjoyed my ZVOX sound system. The one that I purchased is a black rectangular box that the TV sits on top of (they make sound bars as well). The sound quality exceeded my expectations, the unit looks nice and kind of disappears visually, it is exceedingly simple to set up and has worke...

bikechuck

I might as well pile on in case it keeps someone from making the same mistake that many of us have reported. I purchased a twin blade self propelled Honda mower from Home Depot last fall when my crappy Toro failed (I hated that Toro mower). The Honda does run well and has never failed to start on th...

bikechuck

My younger daughter finished her PhD at the University of Michigan yesterday. I want to gift her a four year old car that I purchased primarily for her use a while back. She currently has an Ohio drivers license but is moving to California to live with her fiancé with plans to marry later this year...

bikechuck

My younger daughter finished her PhD at the University of Michigan yesterday. I want to gift her a four year old car that I purchased primarily for her use a while back. She currently has an Ohio drivers license but is moving to California to live with her fiancé with plans to marry later this year....

bikechuck

Hopefully I am not hijacking the thread if I ask Madison area Bogleheads what it is like to retire in the Madison area? My daughter, her husband and my two granddaughters live in Madison and my wife and daughter are dialing up the pressure for us to relocate there from central Ohio. I always said th...

bikechuck

When I got married my wife had student debt and I did not. Her father advised/encouraged her to take out student loans and then default on them which neither of us were comfortable with. Shortly after getting married we had our first child, my wife dropped out of the workforce for several years and ...

bikechuck

I do not use a paid advisor though I do check in once a year or so for a discussion with Lincoln Financial who runs the retirement program where I work and with an advisor from TIAA where I have funds from a previous retirement plan. There is no charge for reviewing my situation with Lincoln or TIAA...

bikechuck

I have a very small amount of money with Vanguard in a Roth. When they first set it up, they set it up incorrectly as a traditional IRA. Fortunately I spotted it right away, called them and they corrected it within a week or so (quicker than the time that they said it might take to do so). This was ...

bikechuck

I have been participating in my employer’s after tax 401K plan for many years and my plan allowed me to initiate a trustee to trustee transfer of 1 )My after tax contributions to a Roth IRA and 2) The taxable earnings on these contributions to a regular IRA. I never received a check and the funds fl...

bikechuck

I know that you are looking for a used car but I have had mixed results with them and I decided to take a different approach. I always purchased new Honda Civics and drove them close to 200,000 miles. I figured that I could buy two or three new Civics for what many people pay for one new car. They h...

bikechuck

I do believe that there is minimal to no investment risk in focusing all of my investments with VG, Fidelity or Schwab or others but I do think that there is a slightly higher administrative risk. It is possible that there will be a time when I need access to funds during a period where there is a c...

bikechuck

Not all annuities are evil. I have one that I opened ~ 30 years ago that pays a guaranteed minimum 4.5% annual return with a highly rated insurance company. When I retire in 2017 I can take distributions of interest only, draw down some of the principal or let it ride and accrue interest if I choose...

bikechuck

Interesting thread, I worked for McDonalds for ~ 7 years in the late 70s/early 80s and I still have stock in their retirement and employee stock purchase plans. I no longer want to own individual stocks and I no longer want to own MCD because I do not feel they have good long term prospects. However...

bikechuck

After a lifetime of frugality I plan to retire in July of 2017 and I have almost convinced myself to purchase an airstream basecamp travel trailer https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/basecamp/. Over the years most of our family vacations have been tent camping and my spousal unit and I want to...

bikechuck

I plan to retire in the summer of 2017 at age 64 and my spouse who is a year younger will retire soon thereafter. I reached the age of 62 prior to the end of 2015 and my spouse did not. I have a higher SS benefit than my spouse but not by a lot. Based on my understanding of the complex SS regulation...

bikechuck

Interesting question, as I approach my retirement I am increasingly concerned about the BOND portion of my portfolio. Interest rates cannot go down much further without going negative and if/when they go up I don't want any portion of my portfolio in Long term Bonds. What I have done is to keep a ro...

bikechuck

I have learned the most from his three fund portfolio thread. Although I cannot quite get there with the fund choices in my employer's retirement plan, I am moving in that direction and will adopt it more fully when I retire and I can move most of my funds to Vanguard. I especially appreciate Mr. La...

bikechuck

When I retire later this year or early next year I plan to move my 401Ks to Vanguard and adopt the three fund approach however I have access to two investments that I think might make sense to keep as part of my bond portfolio. 1) TIAA Traditional currently paying 4% guaranteed 2) A similar fixed an...

bikechuck

I would caution about CDs that not everyone wants to manage CDs. They're like churning credit cards for miles in that you have to constantly keep on top of them. It's a project. I know because I used to do the CD thing, and to make any money above the cash rate in a high yield bank account, you nee...

bikechuck

With all the predictions for lots of market volatility and 4% returns I struggle to find a way to safely invest it for her where she would be getting any kind of decent return to make the risk worth it Thank you Do you think that someone here will know of some secret investment that can guarantee a...

bikechuck

Yes, we feel that we need up to five years of cash for basic living expenses, for when hard times hit once more, & this is only about 3% of our total assets. Any more suggestions ?? How about half in the Ally savings a/c @ 1% with the rest in a five year CD ladder. That way you have access to 1...

bikechuck

And one thing to consider is that, counterintuitively, increasing diversification by adding international stocks might actually increase risk. There is a certain academic purity, though, to having international stocks in your portfolio, at least if you subscribe to the idea that capital moves fairl...

bikechuck

I'm taking a fast survey,I would like to see if anyone else is feeling as optimistic as myself,after doing my rebalance and our 2016 Roth contributions last week I feel like we're on our way to a great year ahead. anyone agree? Not me. The US stock market is still overvalued considering earnings, g...

bikechuck

(FWIW, I don't invest in REITs, but jump at a chance to invest in TREA.)[/quote]

Why do you prefer TREA to REITS? I am not questioning your judgement I am just trying to learn from you a I have the opportunity to invest in either.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

bikechuck

I have had a Hoover Linx for a couple of years now. Works great on my hardwood floors and carpeted stairs. I love that it is cordless, light and very effective. It sucks but in a good way.

bikechuck

OLED has the potential to offer huge improvement in picture quality over plasma and lcd (i.e. infinite contrast). The problem is that OLED tech is new and you'll pay an early adopter premium. Wait till they are a bit more mainstream and prices will come down. Also other improvements like HDR and WC...

bikechuck

Time for what? Volunteer work and a small farm. And trust me, the farm is for pleasure not making $$. I have a friend who is retiring this year from a delivery company in his 60s and now wants to work on a farm. Actually wants to buy one but his wife insist he tries it out first. Green Acres is the...

bikechuck

Don't sell anything, just stop adding to international and keep adding to domestic with new money. Slowly your AA will be getting closer to Bogle's ideal, but you won't be selling low. Over the long term, I think that would be the most profitable strategy. Well that works if you are in the accumula...

bikechuck

The thing I worry the most about is IT issues. What if someone does a Sony-style hack on Vanguard? We really have no idea how well prepared any one company is for an event like this. AMEN, there are administrative as well as investment risks and I do not like single points of failure. Ultimately I ...

bikechuck

I would look for an opportunity to diversify. I have a similar IRA investment in a fixed annuity with Zurich Life Ins that pays a guaranteed minimum 4.5% that I opened approx. 30 years ago. I can move money in and out of it from other IRAs or 401Ks and I have not annuitized it. I am using it as a bo...

bikechuck

Most of my investments are in index funds, TIAA traditional and a fixed annuity which I purchased in an IRA ~ 30 years ago (not annuitized) that pays a guaranteed minimum 4.5%. However, for a time I worked for McDonald's Corp and I have some Mcd stock that I accumulated as part of their retirement p...

bikechuck

You are speaking in tounges. What is TLH?

bikechuck

What difference does it make? I didn't sell anything in 2000-1 or 2008-9 Not about to start now The downturn in 2000-1 and 2008-9 did not impact me because like you I bought all way down, maintained my asset allocation and I was fine over time. This downturn terrifies me and it will have a much big...

bikechuck

I am using TIAA traditional as a substitute for 30% of the Bond allocation in my portfolio. Another 30% is coming from a similar investment with another highly rated insurance company that pays a guaranteed minimum 4.5% return. Would you be willing to name that company? Thanks. Sure it is an IRA th...

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