Bogleheads.org

drummerboy

First of all, good for you for "tracking" your expenses. That is an eye-opener for everyone. If you don't raise your awareness of it, the money will just flow out to everything. Most of it unnecessary. How did we lower ours? Create some form of constraint (real or forced). For example, we moved to a...

drummerboy

I chose neither. Data aggregators concern me, and I no longer participate in any of them. It takes only a few minutes to do it myself periodically. I agree. I use YNAB only with my checking and credit card accounts. Income and Spending. For tracking my investments, I use a simple spreadsheet that d...

drummerboy

Give up on both Quicken and Mint.

Use YNAB instead. Great mobile app. Easy syncing. True "Envelope" Budgeting.

drummerboy

Midtown Atlanta is very walkable. https://www.walkscore.com/GA/Atlanta/Midtown Stores, parks, transit, groceries, universities. Everything in that area. Very diverse population (ages, background) But, it is not a “retiree” area, just a growing population of people that have decided that city living ...

drummerboy

The easiest way to keep costs low is to avoid expensive housing/cars. Visited some friends the other day who live two miles away. They have an infant, similar to us. They bought a big house bc they think an infant needs a lot of space :confused . Anyways, their home price $650k, ours $95k (+50k ren...

drummerboy

Wow! Lots of questions. But you obviously have organized your thoughts around this... Questions: Can I quit stressing about this, and just let the plan work? Are their major issues I’m missing? You are 42/43 with a target of 55... You seem to be well on your way. The most encouraging thing is that y...

drummerboy

Do you have 2 Factor Authentication setup with your iCloud account? If not, you want to set that up!! Personally, a tool like 1Password can be much better for managing passwords. You can use it to generate unique passwords for every site, use it for TOTP (Time Authenticator as a 2nd Factor). Everyth...

drummerboy

Not a fan of this bit: And Schwab says in regulatory disclosures it may require robo clients to keep up to 30% of the account in cash. Doing so, Schwab earns money from interest and lending the funds to others. Jon Stein, founder and CEO of robo-advising pioneer Betterment LLC, said these moves und...

drummerboy

[moved this post and a reply into the existing topic - moderator prudent] I would be curious to here comments from Bogleheads that use Schwab. Do they push higher cost products on clients who are not financially savvy? Been a Schwab customer for 4 years. Moved from one of those "big full service" b...

drummerboy

My biggest concern with TD right now is how DW will deal with it when I die. It would be nice to have everythign in her account when this happens. Right now I'm maxing purchasing i-bonds in both of our names up to the annual purchase limit. What do you think of the following: 1) Purchase annual lim...

drummerboy

Age 45-50 - maximum EE bond purchase of $30K/year, to act as totally safe $60k annual, bridging from age 65-70 (social security FRA) I thought each SSN has a total limit of $10k a year for Series EE. You could potentially buy $10k a year of I-Bonds too (which have the advantage of an inflation adju...

drummerboy

15.00% Vanguard Dividend Growth Inv (VDIGX) 15.00% Vanguard Equity-Income Inv (VEIPX) 45.00% Vanguard GNMA Inv (VFIIX) 10.00% Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Inv (VWEHX) 5.00% Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Inv (VFSTX) 10.00% Vanguard Wellington Inv (VWELX) It looks pretty good to me and I'm th...

drummerboy

Ally is fine. Their savings account rate is competitive (for an online bank). Their checking is pretty good too (but only a .10% rate). They also support Zelle for fast 1-day transfers. Fidelity Cash Management (with FDIC coverage) is .37% . Better than the big banks (e.g. BofA, Wells, Chase). Of co...

drummerboy

Not sure about the TIPS portion, as there doesn't seem to be a 'total TIPS' fund/ETF. You might want to consider SCHP. Schwab's TIP ETF. Expense Ratio is .05% (Lower than the TIP ETF from iShares, and lower than VAIPX .10%). Vanguard should provide commission free for almost all ETFs. Average Effec...

drummerboy

Instead, you should buy the "Purchased Money Market Funds", they all have competitive money market rates. They range in yield from 2.34% for Taxable to 1.2% for muni money markets. These aren't amazing, but not awful. Is there a boglehead standard/preferred fund in taxable and non-taxable? I want t...

drummerboy

Taxable at Schwab (1.7m, 59% of total) CACTX, $80k, 4.64% (crappy heavy load bond fund) CAGLX, $890k, 50.87% (crappy heavy load global equities) VWIUX, $290k, 16.42% (Vanguard intermediate munis) VWSUX, $80k, 4.5% (Vanguard short-term munis) Money Market $410k, 21.5% (as we all know, this is how Sc...

drummerboy

First, tell Schwab that you want 250 Free ETF/Stock Trades and ALL Vanguard Mutual Fund purchases to be FREE of the $49 fee, forever. Find their best office manager or senior customer advisor in the office, explain your net worth to them, tell them these are REQUIREMENTS, or you walk to Vanguard. T...

drummerboy

OK, so you have $2.7m+ overall in your relationship with Schwab? That's fantastic. Congratulations on your achievements. Agree, your fund mix is a bit of a mess. Schwab as your brokerage isn't the problem, the funds are. I'd stay with Schwab. They've got a lot of perks (Great Checking Account, Great...

drummerboy

Does Schwab let you trade directly from a "purchased" money market fund, as fidelity does? Or do you have to move funds to the FDIC sweep to cover trades. Schwab will require you to "sell" the purchased money market fund to raise the cash. Fortunately, you can still request a trade, put in the sell...

drummerboy

You reminded me of a great article by Jason Zweig:
http://jasonzweig.com/five-myths-of-bond-investing/

Read Myth No 5.

drummerboy

Most benchmark sites won't have final 2018 numbers yet. (December is NOT over :D ) I created a simple 3-fund (65/35) in Portfolio Visualizer. https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=4&startYear=2018&firstMonth=1&endYear=2018&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&endDate=12%...

drummerboy

That was a great podcast Rick.

I especially liked the sections where you discussed the 4 stages of Index investing.

Something along the lines of "depressed at old methods.... a-ha moment, then too much complexity of index funds, finally simplicity and fewer funds"

Great interview.

drummerboy

I agree that the AW Portfolio was designed in hindsight and looks great when backtested. It certainly doesn't mean that it will have similar results in the next 30 years. I am confused a bit though as you mention volatile asset classes: gold and long-term Treasuries. I didn't think those were volat...

drummerboy

BrandonP311, you ask a lot of good questions. It is natural for everyone to want all the answers and to seek out the "perfect" portfolio. Unfortunately, no one can predict the future, no one knows when / if / how long the next downturn will be. The more important question is your financial needs and...

drummerboy

A timely question of mine: I have a chase freedom (no yearly fee) with 15K UR points and a chase sapphire preferred(first yearly fee in Jan) with 66K UR points. If i dont want to pay yearly fee on sapphire, can i move the 66K to 15K account? Yes, you could move from the Sapphire to the Freedom. But...

drummerboy

The only exception to a typical low-grade manufactured home..... BluHomes out in California. These are "pre-fabricated" in a factory. Steel beams, high quality materials, then permanently built on a foundation. These homes are NOT cheap. https://www.bluhomes.com/homes-landing/breezehouse I guess it ...

drummerboy

I have plenty of friends who live in these neighborhoods and the walkable lifestyle you claim you had simply isn’t common. At all. I am very familiar with these parts of town. If anything, the weather isn’t favorable to walking and biking and it’s NOT a bike friendly city. People in these neighborh...

drummerboy

I used to use Quicken.... Then I realized YNAB does the important stuff. I use YNAB same reason as you.... The budgeting is so superior. It connects to my credit cards / checking so I keep track of everything. What is Quicken good at? Reporting? Investments? What I do: Export the entire YNAB budget ...

drummerboy

YNAB is worth every penny. The iPhone app is so easy to use. It does a fantastic job memorizing and keeping my budget on track.

Compared to some of the “free” solutions ( Mint, Personal Capital).... YNAB is so much better. You get what you pay for!

drummerboy

Required: Internet Access: AT&T Fiber Cellular Service: Verizon 1Password Password Manager for Family iCloud (backup of photos and phones) YNAB (You Need a Budget, FANTASTIC software) Valuable: Amazon Prime (shipping, discounts) Netflix Dropbox (shared storage always available) Backblaze (offsite ba...

drummerboy

I had a similar issue a few years ago, trying to move from individual stocks to a market index fund. My recommendation, take the emotion out of it. Yes, there are some good brand names in your list. But, that can't predict future results. I created a spreadsheet. Identified each stock by its industr...

drummerboy

After much research, a lot on this board, I decided to leave EDJ and roll my money into Scwab, this was in April 2018. After speaking with one of their reps, I decided to go with the Intelligent Advisory, solution. They also setup a brokerage account for me with about 15% of my assets. I had a tota...

drummerboy

Is Schwab's site confusing? I guess it is all about what you are used to. I've used Schwab, Vanguard and Fidelity. I think all 3 could use some improvement in terms of usability. The key to learning about investments on Schwab's site: Click the "Research" tab at the top, then choose what you are cur...

drummerboy

What do the Schwab Amex Gold and Platinum offer that "regular" Amex Gold and Platinum do not offer? Especially the Plat, as that is what we currently have. Do the Authorized User fee/benefits differ? RM Actually, I'd recommend the "normal" Amex Gold (the points back was revised recently) paired wit...

drummerboy

In the Combo Amex Gold/Schwab Platinum, the Net Annual Fee is: $130 (Schwab credits $100 a yr if assets over $250k, $200 a year if assets over $1m). Basically, for me the Gold card is $30 a year, the Platinum is $100. (and that INCLUDES a $175 fee for the additional card members). I'm not following...

drummerboy

I'm currently a Chase Sapphire Reserve / Chase Freedom Unlimited User. It's been great. But, I think Amex has changed the game. (Especially if you are a Schwab customer). In the Combo CSR/CFU world, the annual fee is Net: $200 (after the $300 travel credit + $25yr for Global Entry) + ($75 a year for...

drummerboy

If you want walkable neighborhoods, definitely stay "ITP" (Inside the Perimeter). Brookhaven and Decatur are two towns with decent school districts. If you truly want walkable, you might want to look at Virginia Highlands. Anything along the eastside of the Beltline trail (Midtown, Inman Park, Virgi...

drummerboy

Bogleheads: There are many different kinds of bonds. Some risky. Some safe. YEAR--INFLATION--BOND INDEX 1976-------4.9%--------15.6% 1977-------6.7-----------3.0 1978-------9.0-----------1.4 1979------13.3-----------1.9 1980------12.5-----------2.7 1981-------8.9-----------6.3 1982-------3.8-------...

drummerboy

What Shilling really does is (gulp!) buy 30-yr strips which is (making up ballpark numbers here for illustration) something like 75-100% cap gain *assuming* interest rate goes down to 2%. I'm assuming an easy way to implement this would be to own: EDV or ZROZ. Perhaps a fixed income portfolio of: M...

drummerboy

I have actually owned 20-year TIPS--nope, didn't wait for maturity, exchanged them all for a TIPS fund in the interest of simplification--and we have a meaningful allocation to series I savings bonds. I would personally not dream of buying a 30-year nominal Treasury. I buy bonds to minimize risk, a...

drummerboy

Everytime I think I understand TIPS vs Treasuries, I confuse myself. Just to confirm: Based on the latest Auction results at Treasury Direct. If I were to purchase a 30-year TIPS at that Auction, I would have received a TIPS bond that would mature in 30-years and the Interest Rate would be 1.0%. In ...

drummerboy

Are the new I-Bonds rates announced today (May 1st)?

I'm assuming that it will be greater than the last 6 month period. I also noticed their site will be down for maintenance tomorrow morning (the 2nd).

When do they announce new rates?

drummerboy

Feel confident with Schwab. With that size a portfolio, use a few negotiating skills..... Make sure Schwab provides you with a bunch of free trades (which might be necessary as you rebalance this new portfolio) If you want to use Vanguard Mutual Funds (not just Vanguard ETFs), you should discuss wit...

drummerboy

Instead of comparing our wealth.... The beauty of the Bogleheads philosophy is that it is applicable to people at all levels of Net Worth. $3k, $30k, $300k, $30 million.... Doesn't matter. Simplicity of investments. Low fees. Live below your means. Save as much as you can. Don't time the market. Tim...

drummerboy

Two options on the Mac that have saved my faith in personal finance software: Banktivity 6 - Not that great for tracking investments, but I don't need software for that. I need software to help me itemize expenses, save it locally, and generate reports at tax time to make my filing more organized. T...

drummerboy

Plus you could take the funds Schwab suggests and eliminate the cash drag. Make sure you take the "cash" into consideration when considering the overall asset allocation and your risk profile. Yes, cash might be a "drag", but it also lowers volatility of the portfolio. Don't eliminate it and then m...

drummerboy

Here's a list of the ETF choices they use for the various asset classes. As you can see, it is a mix of ETFs from Schwab, Vanguard, Powershares, iShares and others. https://image.ibb.co/cxO8Nn/SIP_ETF_List.jpg Would it be "hard" to create this? Not really, just a lot of investments to keep track of....

drummerboy

You can slice and dice like crazy and build it yourself. I'm not sure you would see a ton of benefit.

The list of Schwab ETF choices is listed on the Tax Loss Harvesting page: https://intelligent.schwab.com/public/i ... ncing.html

drummerboy

The question to ask yourself: Do you have an investment plan you can stick with?

If you do great. Build your investment statement. Stick with it.

If you have no self discipline, then consider something like SIA or SIP.

drummerboy

I'm still 13 years away from Medicare.... But I'm realizing I'm quite lacking in my knowledge of the premiums, coverages, etc. What should I be budgeting for healthcare coverage during retirement? I'll most likely be paying for: Medicare (deducted from Social Security) - $150 a month for a married c...

Search found 122 matches