Bogleheads.org

It's painful for companies to comply with the anti-terrorism requirements imposed by the USA government, and foreign banks don't really want to deal with it, either. So ex-pats can become unbanked if they aren't careful. When I was living as a nomad during the chip and PIN era, I had to go to great lengths to get a foreign credit card because no one wanted to do business with an American.

My advice: apply the rules of fight club to your foreign address. Also, stop sending pieces of paper through the mail for financial transactions. That wasn't covered in the fight club rules, but we could sub it for rule #3 without any issues.

Kookaburra wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:07 pm

whodidntante wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:55 am Honestly, brokerages are a commodity. So I go with the one that offers the highest bonus.

Vanguard had better offer a much higher bonus to coax me into tolerating all of their mistakes.

Ha! Well, Vanguard did a weird bonus with AmEx. It required buying advice or something. They can't even do a bonus properly.

WCI is a whole life shill. Just kidding.

Most of us need some insurance, but you wouldn't go far wrong if you adopt a policy to give as little money to insurance companies as possible.

Instead of this weird IBC doohickey, I'd suggest looking into low-cost ways of borrowing against your investment portfolio. These include box spreads and margin from IBKR Pro. If you own a pile of sticks that makes your mom proud, you can also borrow against that. This is much simpler, and you can access an enormous pile of money if you're rich enough for IBC to matter. The idea is own whatever you like, but you have the option to borrow instead of sell. Probably faster, definitely easier, and almost certainly for less cost.

I think it's best to panic.

I like to keep my emergency fund in emerging markets value stocks.

When visiting a city, I don't bother with its museums unless they are truly the best in class or there is something there that I really want to see. The B-grade museums are for bored residents, not tourists. With that in mind, though, you could certainly pay a visit to the Harley Davidson museum. I'm not aware of a better museum for that sort of thing.

Heavy German influence in Milwaukee. Get some cheese curds and some bratwurst and a huge stein of beer.

I don't connect that well with the majority of people in my distant past. It's part of branching out. I don't think it is my wealth.

True. I edited it to limit the scope to bank bonuses.

You may be overthinking this.

Some posters indicated an interest in such a thread. Let’s see if it gains momentum or sputters out. Today, I checked my CapitalOne360 Savings account and found a nice surprise. My $1,000 for 100k deposit bonus posted! This required a 100k deposit for 90 days, and the account was one of those “high-yield” jobs that pay decent interest. All told, I estimate a 7.2% yield on a non-trivial amount of money from this arrangement. Here’s a mini-FAQ: What kind of bonuses are available? Checking, savings, and money market accounts sometimes pay bonuses. Checking accounts are less capital intensive, typically. For example, I just completed a $600 Huntington Bank bonus that only required 25k for a few days. How do I find bonuses? Check doctorofcredit....

Since it's a taxable account, I would buy nothing but equity index ETFs and trade in tax-advantaged accounts if I wanted to reduce risk. As far as which ones, I like to diversify across countries and across factors, and I like the Avantis offerings for factors. You can also trade during withdrawal so the effect is the same, but you access the money with less overall tax.

Don't panic. The answer is 42.

I wouldn't use Merrill Lynch due to fees. But I would use Merrill Edge because of the bonuses Merrill Edge pays.

I like to have a number of banks, brokerages, and credit card issuers in my life.

Accounts can be locked for a number of reasons, and it's not always instant to unlock them. I once had a bank account locked and it took several weeks to resolve that. If that were my only account, it would have been a serious problem. But it was only a minor inconvenience.

Plus, you can earn a substantial bonus. You are just a number to Vanguard, and to your bank.

It's probably not the brake pads, but you have a mechanical issue like a stuck parking brake or a stuck caliper or the pads are binding so not able to move as intended. Certain parts need to be lubricated when replacing the pads, and if not done, it will lead to issues. The bottom line is there is no way to know without looking.

This kind of stuff happens. Has the mechanic been reliable otherwise?

The pedal being low is not a reliable indicator that the pads are shot. You have to look.

tj wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:02 pm

nalor511 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 4:00 pm

tj wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:57 pm If Apex doesn't provide the corrected soon, I'll just file without the foreign tax credit. What a mess.

I certainly wouldn't give up my tax credit because my broker made a mistake. Even if I had to file a FINRA/SEC/IRS complaint.

I have no idea how I would calculate the tax credit. Avantis doesn't provide it.

https://res.cloudinary.com/americancent ... s-2022.xls

One potential oopsie is your HSA if you are not covered by an HSA-compatible HDHP for the whole year. It's not a big deal to fix this, however. You just need to command them to return excess contributions.

Honestly, brokerages are a commodity. So I go with the one that offers the highest bonus.

Don't worry about this [(removed) --admin LadyGeek].

SIPC will cover you in cases of brokerage fraud. It's not the same as FDIC.

Perhaps because it is unloved?

vanguarded wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:42 pm I always imagine the Boglehead response to a question like this to be "somehwere around 16"

The best predictor of your income is the income of your parents. But I prefer the outliers.

ramram22 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 07, 2023 9:55 pm

AnnetteLouisan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:46 pm

davidferrer31 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:45 pm Haven't hit it yet, but I hope to between 10-15 years. Currently 26

Being 26 is worth a lot more than $1 million.

Maybe for women. I remember being 26 and broke; it wasn’t fun. I’d much rather be 40 with $1 million.

I'd give my entire portfolio to be 26 again. I have confidence that I could go get more money. But you can't go get more life.

Unless it's some sort of Twilight Zone trick.

Also, it's not a gender issue.

chinchin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 6:41 pm I haven't used new bing, but I have used ChatGPT which is the same underlying technology. It's way better than Google. Google cannot innovate, they are basically the new IBM, they have been deprecated.

The search is still decent. The problem is that they show way too many ads.

nisiprius wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:03 pm Shame on Vanguard. Shame on Vanguard software quality control.

It's controlled. This is a disagreement on the target.

Every month there is an orgy of automatic payments (direct debits) hitting my Fidelity CMA account. It's fine.

Shooting4Sixty wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 5:56 pm Are there any other metrics aside from expense ratio that I should use to better understand why none of the american funds are worth keeping?

Since they're all unique blends it seems hard to compare to any given index?

Referencing factors in my post above, American Funds tend to overweight growth stocks. This approach essentially goes against academic research. Although in the short term, anything can happen. American Funds are not the worst I have seen, but I personally wouldn't hold them even if I could purchase A shares without a load.

Some poorly organized thoughts about portfolio construction. It's mainly about picking good risks that you want to take, and that fit your situation. You also want to keep your costs low. You brought up that the funds are for retirement and it's quite far off. That means you don't need liquidity, and you can afford to take quite a bit of good risks if you can tolerate it. When picking stock funds, I like to be globally diversified. I also like diversifying across factors. I tend towards more ex-USA and more factor diversification than the average poster here, but I'm not the most extreme on either that I have seen. Picking bond funds is mainly about credit risk and duration risk. People have different models for what level of duration risk ...

The file history thingy has a configurable storage location. You can change or view it in the control panel. It's generally an external drive.

David Jay wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 3:28 pm

delamer wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:21 am Would not want a stateroom directly underneath a pickleball court!

Probably noisier when they are playing basketball up there.

We had a stateroom right next to the (outdoor) jogging track. Somebody when running every morning @ 6:30

10 print "thump thumP thuMP thUMP tHUMP THUMP (whoosh) THUMp THUmp THump Thump thump"
20 sleep 45
30 goto 10

Well said. But let me pile on: If Ben (and Cameron Passmore, his co-host on the Rational Reminder podcast) does not follow an evidence-based investing approach, then no one does. Nor is it surprising that the portfolio that his company recommends is heavy on Boglehead principles, with a meaningful tilt toward Avantis and Dimensional products. Yes I'm not sure why some focus so heavily on YouTube as a medium.... Is his YouTube channel monetized? I checked it out. There are ads, and he has more than enough subscribers to monetize. "Pat, I'd like to solve the puzzle." Ben has spoken publicly about the RR and CSI channel revenues before, as well as the site costs for RR. You won't be envious. I would say he does it and there is money...

# shutdown -r 0

GreendaleCC wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:21 am

Rob5TCP wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:19 am Pay attention to your due date on your 7 year CD's. I received an email that they will renew for another 7 year term. Well, the current interest rate on 7 year CD's in .3%. Everything else is 4 - 4.4%. I am already in the process of moving it to Vanguard and buying a brokered CD's.
I just finding it a bit questionable having all the rates semi competitive, except all those 7 years taking out 7 years ago.

I’m not sure I would ever want to bank with an organization doing something like that.

I would say below market rates upon renewal are a known risk with these "special period" CDs. I've seen it before. I get your point, however.

smooth_rough wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:15 am Systemic risk. Contagion effect. Flight to quality. Buy utilities.

Clown makeup for my posse.

100k invested in an equity index ETF sounds fine to me. But I'm confused because you brought up liquidity. It doesn't work like that. You have to take risk if you want to beat the returns of safe investments. You can sell equities for whatever they happen to be worth, but it could be less than you paid no matter how long you wait. Especially in real terms. I would rather hold off on putting in money into an etf compounding at like 3-5% (adjust for inflation) and have all my funds tied up. instead, id rather have my cash not tied up in slow growing long term investments for right now so i can take more risk in investing in my business or for further businesses down the road. I say liquid bc it makes sense in my head but what I mean is just ...

You didn't specify age, but the average age of a Boglehead is approximately 1,000 years old. So let's round down to 30.

Probably the worst mistake is to wear tapered or slim-fit pants when you don't have the legs for it. Or to wear pants that are too long, too short, too baggy, or too tight. And no pleats. Also, don't wear pants with a noticeable logo or graphics.

100k invested in an equity index ETF sounds fine to me. But I'm confused because you brought up liquidity. It doesn't work like that. You have to take risk if you want to beat the returns of safe investments.

You can sell equities for whatever they happen to be worth, but it could be less than you paid no matter how long you wait. Especially in real terms.

If any old people want to marry a poker player, let me know.

Perhaps that's all they have. You could offer seller financing for the difference.

Do you have a problem with your credit score/history? If you are opening a "business card" in your own name, they'll run the same credit check. If, on the other hand, you have a robust business and open an account truly in the business name, then *maybe* you'd have better luck. Yeah, my credit utilization rate is approaching 40%. Thank you for confirming what I always suspected - even for 'business' accounts, the issuers would simply run the same credit check. I do have an eBay side hustle, but calling it a business would be stretching it too thin, even for purposes of applying for a business CC. IDK. If you are buying stuff and selling it for a profit, I would say that counts. If you are selling your crap from 10 years ago at a ...

Raraculus wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:15 pm My credit is middling. I find it that I can obtain new CC's, but with low initial credit limits, i.e., $3-4k at a time. It has been increasingly difficult to manage my daily spend on low-limit CC's, let alone contemplate any CC travel spend.

Do you Bogleheads know if I can apply for business CC's? Would that result in higher initial credit limits? My thinking is that if I were to apply as a business, I would have a clean credit slate to work upon.

I have a few business credit cards. I've jammed around 50k into them at 0%. I do have an actual business, but it is a crappy business with low revenue because I'm lazy and I work too hard at my day job. I've found that most issuers don't care about the size of the actual business.

The Schwab CEO just went on the financial porn network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E38qSneYQUU

He has executive-style hair, so listen well!

AVUV seems to be very tax efficient despite turning over a large portion of its portfolio it shows no capital gains and dividends are 100% qualified. Is this due to the ETF structure? If so long term ETFs should create a lot of wealth in comparison to a similar mutual funds which would have annual capital gains/ordinary income from turnover. I don’t think any ETF declares capital gains, that’s one of the advantages tax-wise. The dividends being 100% qualified is likely due to all of the holdings being (profitable) US companies ETF's can post capital gains, it's just rare(It has happened in the past). Most ETFs have never distributed capital gains. Folks got spooked by owning State Street ETFs during their drunken party years. I think they ...

Vaporvalley wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:27 pm My concern would not be that money flows from one publicly traded company to another. Or from publicly traded stocks to bonds. My concern would be if significant numbers of companies started to go private. Owning an index fund does not give you exposure to what is happening behind the scenes with private equity.

We did miss out on all the great developments at Twitter.

cchrissyy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:14 pm OP and others i've seen say "long term bonds" (and treasuries) when it's only a 6 year average, not a particularly long term.

Yep. I've also noticed term abuse. Wakka wakka. Financial news reporting is de facto awful.

With this kind of wicked jump in yields, it doesn't take much duration to sting. And if you did hold long bonds at the top, ouch.

If you shoved your assets into Public for the gigantic brokerage transfer bonus, take heed. Your 1099-DIV is wack.

Before you get too excited, you might want to hook your peepers on this old zombie I just hoisted up to the sky.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=239077&newpost=7166 ... ead#unread

Clearly not Bogleheads. If they were, they would have read by now that bonds are for safety. Or was it bonds are for bankruptcy? That's actually catchier.

bradinsky wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 9:45 pm I tried to pay our property tax bill in January & the county’s fee was exactly 9%. Staggering! So I opted to pay using an e-check with no fee added.

You could use Plastiq if needed. They'll mail a check to just about anyone. They are (or were, not sure) temporarily out of business because they used SVB, but that's probably fine.

He's not 100% stocks. He's 90/10. You said so yourself. Plus you estimate he has a net worth of 1.5 million, spends 40 grand/yr, and doesn't plan to retire yet. This dude is set. All he's missing is a place to write annoying blog posts.

Doomsday (March 15th) is fast approaching. I'm excited to see what hand I'm dealt this year.