Search found 15 matches

by Pulling Hard
Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Sometimes it's the little things - Excel and Vanguard keep changing name of a fund
Replies: 19
Views: 1738

Re: Sometimes it's the little things - Excel and Vanguard keep changing name of a fund

Have you looked at the SMF add-in? It is a free utility that lets you bring stock quotes into Excel.
by Pulling Hard
Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: $3 million the new rule of thumb?
Replies: 653
Views: 63256

Re: $3 million the new rule of thumb?

KyleAAA wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2020 12:37 am
I made that in a MCOL city and it was not a ridiculous amount of money. I couldn't even afford to buy a decent house in a decent neighborhood in Atlanta on $250k.
Holy Cow - Where are you trying to live in Atlanta that you can’t get a house on $250K/yr? Seems pretty doable any where except maybe Paces Ferry.
by Pulling Hard
Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Smarthome system that is local
Replies: 17
Views: 1679

Re: Smarthome system that is local

I use the TP-Link smart plugs. No hub required. I tried Wemo but found them to be buggy and switched.
by Pulling Hard
Mon Sep 24, 2018 5:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard for business 401K?
Replies: 12
Views: 1237

Re: Vanguard for business 401K?

I use Vanguard/Ascensus for my small company 401K. They are very easy to work with and we get Admiral shares, so that’s a big plus. Would highly recommend them. They have a fixed fee for small companies, I think it is like $3,500 a year for up to 15 people - but you should call them to get the actual numbers. When I looked at the savings in fund fees we got with the Admiral shares, it was a no brainer.
by Pulling Hard
Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Intro Geology Textbooks
Replies: 17
Views: 1931

Re: Best Intro Geology Textbooks

The classic geology text that we used in college is Freeze and Cherry, “Groundwater”.
by Pulling Hard
Tue Jun 12, 2018 9:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Do Small Caps Outperform?
Replies: 63
Views: 8862

Re: Do Small Caps Outperform?

FWIW, Prof. Siegel's small-cap stock data set is different then what Ibbotson or Fama-French small-cap use (I believe his is something like the bottom 20% of the NYSE spliced to the Russell 2000)... Regardless, these were not investable portfolios / funds and the longest time period is retroactively reconstructed. We do have the DFA fund DFSCX since 1981, and it's portfolio (which has more nuances then a strict percentage of the market) and over the 36.5 years since it's been around it managed to eek out an extra 0.55% annualized over Vanguard's 500 index fund. That's not nothing, especially after expenses. Besides, today we have dozens of choices that are entirely investable besides DFSCX many of which have much lower expenses. Look at $1...
by Pulling Hard
Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: new chapter of life started - want to save and grow money
Replies: 84
Views: 11807

Re: new chapter of life started - want to save and grow money

Also, check out some of those books from the library. You don't have to spend money to learn. :happy
Good luck!
by Pulling Hard
Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do any of you professionals have a litigation emergency fund?
Replies: 30
Views: 3580

Re: Do any of you professionals have a litigation emergency fund?

In my engineering design firm, we do not maintain specific reserves for claims or litigation. However, we have not made a claim against our E&O insurance since the firm inception 15 years ago so we have not seen any need. We would just cover any deductable out of cash flow if we had to make a claim.
by Pulling Hard
Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do any of you professionals have a litigation emergency fund?
Replies: 30
Views: 3580

Re: Do any of you professionals have a litigation emergency fund?

jeez ... OP, if the firm you work for has E&O insurance (can't see how they would get any contracts without it), your work is covered by their insurance. They do not "name" you as a design professional once you are licensed. They will not come after you for any deductable associated with a claim. If they did you would just decline to pay and they would have no recourse, as the firm would have to defend against the claim and not you individually. I respectfully submit that you have quite a bit to learn about how all of this works before you endeavor to go out on your own.
by Pulling Hard
Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Clothing upgrade for professional environment
Replies: 78
Views: 9301

Re: Clothing upgrade for professional environment

Brooks brothers no longer offers unconditional warranty on their clothes. I found out the hard way when an expensive sweater came undone at the seams and they would do nothing about it. Their quality has gone down substantially in my opinion and I would not recommend them. Allen Edmunds and Charles Thwyett are both great.
by Pulling Hard
Fri Jun 10, 2016 4:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Firearm Insurance Pricing
Replies: 15
Views: 3040

Re: Firearm Insurance Pricing

Gun safe bolted to concrete floor?
by Pulling Hard
Thu May 19, 2016 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 27 y/o, need some career advice
Replies: 45
Views: 4822

Re: 27 y/o, need some career advice

It is a very natural thing that a top performer will be underpaid. Think about it - you are performing above your level so the company is always playing catchup. They promote you, but a year or so down the line you are already back to working a step or two above your level, so underpayed again. Many here have experienced this throughout their careers. I was always underpaid until I started my own business, but now am probably overpaid for what I do. As for the tuition they are paying for you, it seems perfunctory to you but I can assure you that someone had to approve that and take the hit on their operating budget for it. They are investing in you for the future and you should not discount that so readily. Eventually, you will get tired of...
by Pulling Hard
Mon May 16, 2016 5:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Did I uncover a scam?
Replies: 34
Views: 6120

Re: Did I uncover a scam?

Did you check and see if it is covered by your auto insurance? In my state it is covered with a small deductible.
by Pulling Hard
Mon May 09, 2016 8:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving a 401k plan to Vanguard? Is it easy?
Replies: 8
Views: 1703

Re: Moving a 401k plan to Vanguard? Is it easy?

They will give you a pretty comprehensive group of funds (all of the major ones favored here) and they allowed us to add a few additional ones, such as a REIT and some geographically targeted international funds (Europe and Asia focused). There is no markup on the funds and we have been given Admiral shares. Our 401k is similar to yours - less than $1M total. If we offered the investor class instead of Admiral to our employees, I understand that they would rebate the difference in the fund fees to help offset our cost of the plan, which is only around $4k per year. It is based on headcount. We just went with the Admiral shares and the company pays the annual cost. I am in the process of setting up a personal account with Vanguard, so can ge...
by Pulling Hard
Mon May 09, 2016 4:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Moving a 401k plan to Vanguard? Is it easy?
Replies: 8
Views: 1703

Re: Moving a 401k plan to Vanguard? Is it easy?

+1 on everything jamessfo said. We just moved my small business plan to Vanguard Ascensus and it all went very smoothly. They will provide all of the pricing upfront and it is very competitive. The 401k needs to be pretty sizable for Vanguard to administer directly - like greater than $10M is what they told me.