Search found 34 matches

by laohan
Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Stage 4 Cancer and Young Family
Replies: 105
Views: 17129

Re: Stage 4 Cancer and Young Family

Sandtrap wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:20 am +1 on Vanguard PAS services. Look into that. Research the forum archives for "VPAS".
If you believe your wife will have trouble managing finances, or will be tempted to dramatically change course, the Vanguard Personal Advisor Services is cheap (0.30% / year), and may make her feel more secure as there will be somebody to talk to, and who is paid to look at it. 2055 target fund may be tempting to change over time, perhaps not into the wisest alternative.

Also, respect from afar for being a good husband and taking care of your family. Best wishes for time, and happy time, with them.
by laohan
Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Donating $1M
Replies: 81
Views: 14754

Re: Donating $1M

1) make sure you get the anonymity or recognition you desire. I am almost exclusively anonymous. 2) many charities can have trouble receiving large gifts, as they won't know how to employee them, or may start an ambitious project they don't need to solve, etc. consider giving as a subscription, like 10k a month indefinitely, so they can absorb the impact of the money. 3) giving money over time also lets you change your mind and give to another, similar organization that you may grow to prefer instead of the original. 4) With a gift of your size, it's easier to think of it as a partnership with the charity (especially if it's smaller, like a church). Tax efficiency is important but really I'd be focused on making sure money I put in isn't wa...
by laohan
Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:02 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A good name for a donor advised fund
Replies: 25
Views: 6712

Re: A good name for a donor advised fund

I use a donor advised fund, but I typically give anonymously or in honor and memory of people and places worth honoring and remembering. I use my name sparingly, and only when I think it will make a positive impact, or there is a specific reason I want to be on the donor list.
by laohan
Sun May 19, 2019 7:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Very High Net Worth, elite private or “good” public
Replies: 278
Views: 26711

Re: High net worth, elite private or “good” public

Be very careful about hidden costs of forced donations. Its mostly with top 10 boarding schools but has trickled down into many day schools. It usually requires an additional 25-50k a year in donations depending on the school. They get you 2 ways. One, if you have a sibling they will not allow that sibling to get in, the other way is that they wont endorse you to apply to colleges of your choice. That's crazy. Do you have a source for that? I don't doubt you, I'm just curious about it. Yes have had extended family members and one colleague experience this. No link or source. Talking elite boarding schools ones that attract many top foreign students and place more than half the class in ivy caliber schools. No extortion, no pressure, its ju...
by laohan
Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:25 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best ways to provide STRUCTURE to retired life
Replies: 71
Views: 7201

Re: Best ways to provide STRUCTURE to retired life

livesoft wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:31 pm I like to increase waste and idle time because it make me creative. This morning, I walked my dog for about 5 miles and stopped by the grocery store at the same time. I brought along an extra trash bag and collected litter as I walked.I ran into a few of my friends and we had a very nice political discussion, too.
This is a great post, thank you.

I am far from retired/not of "retirement age", but that sounds like a nice morning.
by laohan
Sat Aug 04, 2018 5:42 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: (bitcoin) societal-loss-risk-management mechanism
Replies: 3
Views: 748

Re: (bitcoin) societal-loss-risk-management mechanism

Just another way of implementing a guarantee fund like a normal clearing house.
Who else would they get to pay the bill if not other users of the exchange? Somebody has to cover the loss.

For the record, I believe the long term value of bitcoin is zero.
by laohan
Sat Aug 04, 2018 5:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Touring Singapore in October
Replies: 9
Views: 1159

Re: Touring Singapore in October

Thanks for the super detailed replies! Does anyone have suggestions for tour operator or packages? I've been there many times on business and a couple times as a tourist. I would avoid a tour operator and instead research the sites you and the family are interested in. I’d second that. Singapore is easy, and the people are nice with fluent English. Hawker centers for food. Ask about things that are unfamiliar - esting is an important part of Singaporean culture and they are rightfully proud of their delicious food. Night zoo and aquarium on sentosa for the kiddo. I recall the museums having free tours (asian civilization museum, for example), and the tour guides were friendly and engaging. A week is a lot of time for Singapore, so you may ...
by laohan
Sat Jun 02, 2018 10:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: One more try: get rid of profile posted to "background check" sites
Replies: 4
Views: 1218

Re: One more try: get rid of profile posted to "background check" sites

https://www.abine.com/deleteme/

It costs money, and it's not perfect, but it does get rid of a lot of this type of stuff.
They also have instructions on how to do it yourself, but I figured my time was worth more than the fee they charged.

The instructions for doing it yourself are here: https://www.abine.com/optouts.php
by laohan
Sat Apr 28, 2018 8:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Which literary magazine do you read?
Replies: 12
Views: 1534

Re: Which literary magazine do you read?

London Review of Books
Sun Magazine

The other reviews of books are also not bad, but I prefer the LRB
by laohan
Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:08 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Money Market Yield Gaps
Replies: 8
Views: 2621

Re: Vanguard Money Market Yield Gaps

Lots of treasuries for sale by the government recently is moving all of these markets.
The Prime should be sustainably higher than the other 2.
by laohan
Thu Sep 28, 2017 6:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Which is better a Cryptocurrency or Gold?
Replies: 99
Views: 11780

Re: Which is better a Cryptocurrency or Gold?

The reason stores process credit cards is because they're convenient consumers want to use them not because they have the lowest transaction fees. Otherwise stores would only accept debit cards or cash. Pretty much all solutions I've seen to make Bitcoin payments more convenient have some sort of payment processor operating between the consumer and the store. I don't see Bitcoin beating debit or credit cards for convenience anytime soon. Visa charges roughly 1.6% + 10 cents per CC transaction. I'm not saying cryptocurrencies are there yet but what will happen to the credit card industry if some of this cryptocurrency tech pans out and can scale and offer transactions at a fraction of what Visa offers? There are other industries as well whe...
by laohan
Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:13 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: best practices when buying a large amount of stock
Replies: 10
Views: 3304

Re: best practices when buying a large amount of stock

Good morning! Let's say you wanted to buy $100,000 dollars worth of a particular stock at one time. Assuming a buy and hold scenario (not attempting day trading). Stock has a rather erratic trading volume history meaning a 100k "market" order could fill at current price...or you could drive up the price to an unacceptable purchase cost. You really have no idea. How is the best way to put in this order? Let's say current Ask price is 21, but you are willing to pay up to 22 per share. My guesses are: If you were to do a "Buy-Limit-22-Fill or Kill": 1) Can sellers "see" you are willing to pay up to 22 per share instead of 21 and immediately increase their selling price? 2) Being a "Fill or Kill", would ...
by laohan
Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:42 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Wiki article - Bitcoin
Replies: 37
Views: 7725

Re: Wiki article - Bitcoin

On the definition of Bitcoin as a commodity: In reference to the above, I wasn't saying I was any more authoritative than the Forbes author, as I am certainly not an expert on BC, just giving my reasons for how I thought about the asset class / allocation question. In terms of constructive suggestions for the Wiki, I would suggest changing the section where you call it a commodity. The argument presented is that the regulators want to regulate it as a commodity, but that's independent of its investment role. Maybe this is just symantics, but I think it's more correct to call it a currency. Commodities are things like hogs and oil, currencies are things people use as a medium of exchange. While both can be and are typically exchange traded,...
by laohan
Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is Bitcoin?
Replies: 263
Views: 53157

Re: What is Bitcoin?

objectivefunction wrote: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:12 am The inefficiencies, delays, and duplications in the financial system are not because of technological challenges, but human challenges. Getting banks to work together to connect their systems, to define standard representations for digitized assets (like stocks and bonds and currency) and rules for how they are exchanged, this is not a technical challenge, it's a challenge of collaboration. Blockchain is not some magic talisman that will make everyone work together.
This is a very accurate description, and applies across the board to tons of problems.

Another important part of reality is that one person's inefficiencies is another person's profits.
by laohan
Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:36 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to buy a Bitcoin?
Replies: 29
Views: 3850

Re: How to buy a Bitcoin?

I just learned GDAX exchange is insured https://support.gdax.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2689803-how-deposits-are-insured-on-gdax When you read three the insurance, three things stick out- 1) The insurance doesn't cover the most common ways people lose money (including bitcoin movement leaders, using coinbase this year). Text is " This insurance policy does not cover any losses resulting from the compromise of your individual account. ". 2) over 98% of customer bitcoins are not insured. Text is "All digital assets that we hold in online storage are fully insured....We hold less than 2% of customer funds in online storage. The rest is held in offline storage." 3) FDIC insurance, which is a good thing, only covers USD...
by laohan
Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to buy a Bitcoin?
Replies: 29
Views: 3850

Re: How to buy a Bitcoin?

I just learned GDAX exchange is insured https://support.gdax.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2689803-how-deposits-are-insured-on-gdax When you read three the insurance, three things stick out- 1) The insurance doesn't cover the most common ways people lose money (including bitcoin movement leaders, using coinbase this year). Text is " This insurance policy does not cover any losses resulting from the compromise of your individual account. ". 2) over 98% of customer bitcoins are not insured. Text is "All digital assets that we hold in online storage are fully insured....We hold less than 2% of customer funds in online storage. The rest is held in offline storage." 3) FDIC insurance, which is a good thing, only covers USD...
by laohan
Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to buy a Bitcoin?
Replies: 29
Views: 3850

Re: How to buy a Bitcoin?

I just learned GDAX exchange is insured https://support.gdax.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2689803-how-deposits-are-insured-on-gdax When you read three the insurance, three things stick out- 1) The insurance doesn't cover the most common ways people lose money (including bitcoin movement leaders, using coinbase this year). Text is " This insurance policy does not cover any losses resulting from the compromise of your individual account. ". 2) over 98% of customer bitcoins are not insured. Text is "All digital assets that we hold in online storage are fully insured....We hold less than 2% of customer funds in online storage. The rest is held in offline storage." 3) FDIC insurance, which is a good thing, only covers USD...
by laohan
Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bitcoin in 3-fund indexed portfolio?
Replies: 192
Views: 26996

Re: Bitcoin in 3-fund indexed portfolio?

nisiprius wrote: Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:09 am The role of correlation is widely misunderstood... and wildly misrepresented. It's a very subtle thing. Always be alert: when an investment is represented as having "low correlation," even if it is true, the reason for bringing up correlation is often that the presenter can't claim anything better.

<snip>
This is a good post (including the part I didn't quote), thanks for contributing.
by laohan
Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:21 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bought crypto currency
Replies: 67
Views: 7073

Re: Bought crypto currency

Surprised to see negativity on bitcoins. You shouldn't be. Bogleheads.org Investing Advice Inspired by John Bogle Hi goingup - I agree. I'm not sure why it's caught such a fever here. The nature of the posts is also different from what I'd expect in the forum (both tone of the discussion and the "I just bought" / "hammer dropping" / "Robert Shiller doesn't know about asset valuation" type posts). I think some people are "brigading" the board, i.e. hoping to drum up some interest / buyers to push the value higher. I don't really care what people do with their own money, but I do think most of the conversation around bitcoin and hammer dropping is inappropriate for the board. There's a big bitcoin comm...
by laohan
Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:06 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Robert Shiller on bitcoin & information cascades
Replies: 21
Views: 2826

Re: Robert Shiller on bitcoin & information cascades

Wow Robert Shiller is an expert on BitCoins to point he can tell you if its bubble or not yet did you happen catch part in his expertise where: "Have you by any chance looked at initial coin offerings? RS: No, what is an initial coin offering?" LOL https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@coinmonkey.com/nobel-prize-winner-on-bitcoin Might wanna ask someone who knows lil more aobut BitCoins instead in your research You really need to take a different tack to be persuasive. As I said in another thread I encourage you to make some investments into digital currencies and come back later and let us feel bad that we doubted you. And it's worth rereading the interview and also Irrational Exuberance . To be persuasive? So your gonna trust and promot...
by laohan
Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is Bitcoin?
Replies: 263
Views: 53157

Re: What is Bitcoin?

Why is bitcoin topical for this forum? asks the poster with 8 out of 12 posts about bitcoin, all negative, while spreading FUD. Very curious. Then I see that China just made a huge move against cryptocurrencies Very curious. I've lurked here for years, and only post when I think it will make a difference. I'm also not an agent of the Chinese government (not sure if you are implying that, but if you are, I doubt you'd believe me anyhow?). For what it is worth, there is no profit being made in pointing out negatives in bitcoin. You can short it in any real sense (because you would have to trust the exchange), and bitcoin fans tend to be a very, very enthusiastic bunch, so it would be much easier to go away and look at threads about asset all...
by laohan
Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is Bitcoin?
Replies: 263
Views: 53157

Re: What is Bitcoin?

I guess I don't get it. Cryptocurrencies are ripe with fraud, practically by design, with their irreversible transactions, and very difficult security procedures. The likelihood of a boglehead (i.e. typical member of this forum) being able to successfully manage to invest a real sum of money (let's say 25k) without having their money stolen, or be fooled into investing in the wrong token, or have their account disappear with an exchange collapse, are nowhere near 100%. This is an often repeated lesson of cryptocurrencies. Even an advisor for Coinbase, one of the big names in the field, got hacked for 18k this year (http://fortune.com/2017/08/22/bitcoin-coinbase-hack/ ) First exchanges getting hacked is different than being "Cryptocurr...
by laohan
Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:11 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Bitcoin] question
Replies: 131
Views: 16430

Re: Bit Coin question

You should understand that China is burning through its foreign exchange reserves at an unprecedented rate . That number was over 6 trillion USD a few years ago. A lot of what you hear about the Chinese managing their exchange rate down was true pre 2008, but is not true now. ... the way the Chinese do this is they will have a crackdown on exchange control violators, who signed this form, and who will receive severe penalties. It's like one of their anti-corruption drives. China is horrifically corrupt, and every so often some group of officials and businesspeople go to prison for many years over it. 1) Peaked around 4tn, not 6tn. They manage the currency both ways, and additionally try to stop black money leaving the country. 2) Now stabi...
by laohan
Sun Sep 03, 2017 5:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is Bitcoin?
Replies: 263
Views: 53157

Re: What is Bitcoin?

What I'm trying to do is raise the level of discourse. I want to get beyond the "bitcoin is used by criminals, so it must be bad," or "I don't understand it, therefore it must be a scam. QED," or "it's only for anarcho-capitalist libertarians." Instead of saying "bitcoin is too volatile" I'd like people to actually quantify how volatile it is, how it compares to the volatility of other assets, and how (if you wanted to) you can incorporate it into your portfolio risking appropriate amounts of money. Bitcoin has been around for almost 9 years now and weathered more than one storm. It has proven out its concept. As a technical person I find its design quite an innovative way to solve the double spendin...
by laohan
Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Bitcoin] question
Replies: 131
Views: 16430

Re: Bit Coin question

I don't see this happening right now. I see a bunch of banks trying to look like they are "with it", but nobody is actually using it for anything serious. Modern finance shifts 100s of billions in value daily without too many hiccups. Most frictions that are left are either because the problem is hard, or because removing them would take away somebody's profit margin, not because they don't have a reasonable database (or "ledger"). re: finite supply of bitcoins Sure, there's a finite supply of Bitcoin A, but what happens is people just make Bitcoin B, or whatever, and get people to buy that, instead. There can be any number of internet tokens like this, so the supply is only bounded by human imagination. Talking to a fr...
by laohan
Sat Sep 02, 2017 7:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: [Bitcoin] question
Replies: 131
Views: 16430

Re: Bit Coin question

Blockchain technology is being used by financial institutions for a wide variety of things. I don't see that going away anytime soon. I don't see this happening right now. I see a bunch of banks trying to look like they are "with it", but nobody is actually using it for anything serious. Modern finance shifts 100s of billions in value daily without too many hiccups. Most frictions that are left are either because the problem is hard, or because removing them would take away somebody's profit margin, not because they don't have a reasonable database (or "ledger"). re: finite supply of bitcoins Sure, there's a finite supply of Bitcoin A, but what happens is people just make Bitcoin B, or whatever, and get people to buy th...
by laohan
Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:47 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is Bitcoin?
Replies: 263
Views: 53157

Re: What is Bitcoin?

1. Bitcoin is a dinosaur. Bitcoin is based on the greater fool theory. But to write off the entire technology because what is essentially an alpha version has flaws is incredibly foolish. 2. Agree and disagree. Yes, this is mostly what it has been used for up until now. Smart contracts will change this by essentially digitizing real world assets. Additionally, there is currently a Chinese project which is cooperating with authorities in order to allow the entry/exit points of the blockchain to be monitored - essentially their commitment that they are pursuing a legitimate business use for their project. 3. How is it too good to be true? Most people involved in cryptocurrency recognize the inherent risks and only speculate with money that t...
by laohan
Thu Aug 24, 2017 10:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What is Bitcoin?
Replies: 263
Views: 53157

Re: What is Bitcoin?

Attack of the 50 foot blockchain is a good read - https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/

The author goes through real-life blockchain projects, and the most common uses of bitcoin, etc.
The take-away is that
1) "Bitcoin and blockchains are not a technology story, but a psychology story."
and
2) Almost every practical use has to deal with crime or getting around money laundering rules, etc. Read through the histories - it's basically a legacy of fraud, pump and dump, drugs, etc.


I'd add a common third rule that bogleheads generally like : If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
by laohan
Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hong Kong hotel - which side of the harbor?
Replies: 8
Views: 1578

Re: Hong Kong hotel - which side of the harbor?

Next to the Peninsula Hotel is the 1881 Heritage building with the Hullet House hotel. It's small, fancy, recently renovated, and low rise. I have not stayed there before, so I can't comment on the quality of the accommodations. Both sides of the harbor are very different from each other, so make sure you spend time walking around in both. For someone that doesn't like heights, on a clear day the peak will give you lots of altitude while your feet are firmly on the ground. The peak tram line takes forever, so just take a cab if you want to see it. The ferry is fun, but when you take it, make sure to try upstairs and downstairs, as both are nice but different. If you can sit on the upstairs, front seats of the trams that go back and forth on...
by laohan
Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Collective thoughts [investing mini-reference]
Replies: 73
Views: 335504

Re: Collective thoughts [investing mini-reference]

Great post, thanks for stickying.
by laohan
Thu Aug 04, 2016 11:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing help for high dual income family
Replies: 8
Views: 2222

Re: Investing help for high dual income family

1) max out everything. Back donor Roth is tiny, but it makes you feel better, so do it. 2) If you have kids, may have them, have relatives with children, or want good estate planning, open a vanguard Utah 529 on your name and max it out too (370k). The math is compelling even if you don't use it on education if you think taxes are going to go up one day or you have long time horizons. 3) get your full allocation of I bonds and EE bonds. EE bonds are very cheap if you hold them to maturity (and useful for education expenses), and I bonds are nice and redeemable as cash if need be. If I could buy more, I would. 4) as you are well off, I'd strongly advise against having multiple pots of money that aren't linked as individual goal based savings...
by laohan
Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:19 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Reinvesting dividends question
Replies: 6
Views: 1115

Re: Reinvesting dividends question

I'd say you are correct.
Do remember that you will pay taxes on the divs, so 1,775 isn't necessarily the right amount to plow back in.
On the other hand, when you finally sell, you will have a slightly lower cost base (1,775 lower, to be precise), so the tax up/down is more of a temporal thing, and not an outright loss.
by laohan
Sun Feb 28, 2016 2:38 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Hedging Foreign Currency: 0%, 50% or 100%?
Replies: 27
Views: 4524

Re: Hedging Foreign Currency: 0%, 50% or 100%?

Fundamentally the equity w/ associated currency are one bet, especially for USD based investors. Capital is invested globally based on estimates of best returns, etc, and the "country" / location of the stock listing is given more importance than it should be. Here's an example : US listing of a company that exports mainly to Mexico - if Mexican Peso goes down, that company will also go down (export revenues decrease in value). Mexican listing of a similar company. If Mexican Peso goes down, the company is more likely to be relatively resilient, because on a local currency basis, the economics haven't changed (revenues in Peso are constant, price in Pesos is probably constant, revenues in USD is down, price in USD is probably down...