Search found 778 matches

by TrustNoOne
Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: My Treasury Direct experience
Replies: 39
Views: 6028

Re: My Treasury Direct experience

I have had a few problems with T-direct, but generally overcame them. I'm not a professional ITguy, but use computers a lot. As for the problem of remembering passwords, and security question answers, there is a very simple solution - I have a file which I keep on a jump drive that has my passwords, account numbers and security answers etc. Whenever I log in I plus it in and pull what I need from it. Now, of course, I suppose someone could break into my house and steal my jump drive, but I think the odds of that are lower than having someone steal my passords, etc on my computer. Plus, I can hide my jump drive in plain sight since I have so many of them. Aside from writing it all down on paper (which also suffers the same problem, with far ...
by TrustNoOne
Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why not be a real Boglehead
Replies: 69
Views: 6496

Re: Why not be a real Boglehead

It appears from reading this and other threads are that the reasons for not being a "real Boglehead" appear to be "I'm different", "I don't need to be simple", "I have a better idea", and "he's wrong about x (age in bonds), y (international), or z (gold.)"

These are the same reasons that apply to those who say they don't follow Bogle's ideas. :?
by TrustNoOne
Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Even John Paulson can't predict the market
Replies: 12
Views: 1363

Re: Even John Paulson can't predict the market

I had the good fortune to have an audience this morning (along with a bunch of other people) with Bill Gross on the trading floor at PIMCO. He talked a bit about the bad call on treasuries last year. Said they did a lot of research, a lot of analysis, and got it wrong. On the other hand, he discussed how PIMCO got it right on sub-prime mortgages early on. How they sent people out in the field to take a look at the junk loans that were being made in 2005, and so had an idea of what was coming. And acted on it. But nobody gets it right all the time. There are few psychics floating around that predict future events accurately. Isn't this all an example of selection bias or something. No one posts a thread when an expert gets it right. These g...
by TrustNoOne
Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Jeremy Lin is a Boglehead...
Replies: 42
Views: 6157

Re: Jeremy Lin is a Boglehead...

Probably a good thing he did not have the Tiger Mother lady as his mom. She'd have never let him play basketball, when he could have been studying. :D

BTW - my wife is Chinese as well. First real interest in an NBA player in ages, if not ever. I just wish he has a sister somewhere for our Atlanta Dream.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How much money do I need in retirement?
Replies: 143
Views: 23418

Re: How much money do I need in retirement?

I am a bit surprised at how many of the answers use the 4%/25x rule. Its a bit ironic that one would compute the spending/withdrawel requirements to great detail then throw in the 4%/25 rule as if it were fixed in stone. The reality is that one could probably make an equally credible case for anything between 2% and 5%. If the withdrawel requirement is 40%, that could take $1 million. Or $2 million. Or, if you feel lucky, 800k. A 100% bond swr is probably around 2%, based on the calculators I've run. However, we are now in a terrible time for bond returns. Real returns are now negative. The last time that happened coincides with the 30 year periods when bonds produced their worst case SWRs (around 2%). And there is no reason to beleive futu...
by TrustNoOne
Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Why do people think different when buying housing?
Replies: 89
Views: 7112

Re: Why do people think different when buying housing?

I don't agree with the premise of this question. When we bought our house the process was pretty much like everything else - find the best deal on the choices that met our requirements. It was far less than we could have afforded, just like a TV, car or the like. We paid cash for it, pretty much just like everything else we buy.
by TrustNoOne
Tue Jan 03, 2012 9:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 85% of investor decisions are wrong
Replies: 30
Views: 3127

Re: 85% of investor decisions are wrong

I wonder if the 85% wrong decisions includes the decision a person makes each month when they put their money into their 401k?

In any case, if 85% of investor decisions are wrong, my suggestion would be the not make any decisions.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When do you not invest?
Replies: 23
Views: 3201

Re: When do you not invest?

GRT2BOUTDOORS wrote:When the rate of return is lower than my cost of capital.
Would you invest in something that returned 1% if your cost of capital was 5%?
So what is my cost of capital? I've never been able to figure that out. I don't have any debt, so I never borrow. A related question is what is my discount rate? If my discount rate was 2%, then it seems like I would find a 30 year treasury paying 3% a great investment, and I'd buy them. But I don't. Instead, I buy a 5 year CD paying south of 2%.

These are the kinds of issues glossed over in economic theory.
by TrustNoOne
Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Pascal’s Wager, religion, and investing advice
Replies: 83
Views: 6888

Re: Pascal’s Wager, religion, and investing advice

So, there are two possibilities. 1.) My lucky rabbit's foot will bring me wealth and prosperity. 2.) My lucky rabbit's foot will be no benefit at all. So according to Pascal, I should carry it around wherever I go, since there is little negative consequence if it doesn't work, and a high positve benefit if it does.
by TrustNoOne
Thu Dec 15, 2011 6:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gold continues to fall
Replies: 178
Views: 20081

Re: Gold continues to fall

I keep waiting for salt to come back as an investment. It was used for money for quite some time. Its a real physical mineral not paper money. And unlike gold, you its useful. You can eat it. You need to eat it. If really just a different form of money......
by TrustNoOne
Mon Dec 12, 2011 12:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I just want to say four words to you
Replies: 18
Views: 2456

Re: I just want to say four words to you

One word - PLASTICS
by TrustNoOne
Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: If risk = return why aren't you buying European bonds?
Replies: 56
Views: 4366

Re: If risk = return why aren't you buying European bonds?

I actually think they are Spanish or Italian bonds are much lower risk than US Stocks for a ten year period. If they default, (or reschedule) one probably doens't get the 7% over the next ten years, but you might get 0-6%. If they defualt, however, US stocks will almost certainly fall by a lot more and return a lot less. And we all know that stocks may simply go south for their own reasons and return nothing or negative numbers for the next ten years.

So why don't I buy them? Too risky, even though they are less risky than stocks.
by TrustNoOne
Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: You get what you pay for
Replies: 42
Views: 3861

Re: You get what you pay for

How about financial advice? You can pay a lot of money for bad advice, or go to Bogleheads, and get it for free. (Or for the price of a the book.)
by TrustNoOne
Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ethics poll--"Sell you a new Lincoln for a quarter"
Replies: 49
Views: 6586

Re: Ethics poll--"Sell you a new Lincoln for a quarter"

Redfive wrote:Connie will grow up to be a fine politician.
I was going to say investment banker.
by TrustNoOne
Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Safe withdraw rates, recent WSJ article
Replies: 24
Views: 3755

Re: Safe withdraw rates, recent WSJ article

I plan to retire once I've solved the SWR problem.
by TrustNoOne
Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Dealing With Financially Negligent Parents/In-Laws?
Replies: 51
Views: 17491

Re: Dealing With Financially Negligent Parents/In-Laws?

There are some cases where just managing the money people have is not going to solve the problem. These people are close to retirement age, and pretty clearly have not got anywhere near enough to handle it at least in their current lifestyle. Their only solution is to contiunue to work as long as possible. They probably know that already, deep down. Maybe if they saved carefully for 10-15 more years, they might make it. But that is very unlikely to happen. These people have decades of living one way - you are not going to change it. Most likely they will thinkg "what do these youngsters know?" My suggestion - have a talk with only your wife about it, and make it clear you don't want to bail them out -ever, or have them move in, or...
by TrustNoOne
Fri Nov 18, 2011 12:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why is Vanguard listed as an executive pay enabler?
Replies: 92
Views: 8558

Re: Why is Vanguard listed as an executive pay enabler?

KyleAAA wrote:I wonder if anybody at Vanguard even reads most of the proxy statements they receive on our behalf. Probably not.
That's my read. In this case, being a "low cost" fund Company may work in the direction of not paying people to read all those proxy statements (or if they are required to read them, read them and don't give them any thought, just vote for the management proposal.) So in this case, low cost and passive fund management may mean they just don't interfere.

Its a shame because Vanguard could carry a lot of weight if they were to take an active stance on some of these kinds of issues.

More and more I'm becomming disappointed with Vanguard.
by TrustNoOne
Fri Nov 18, 2011 10:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What ever happened to all the "bond bubble" posts?
Replies: 89
Views: 7558

Re: What ever happened to all the "bond bubble" posts?

What happened to the bond bubble posts? I think the situation is analogous to fish. It is said that fish cannot recognize water. They can't imagine a world without it. Likeswise, we have grown so accustomed to low interest rates that the bond bubble is no longer visible. And after all, this is not a market driven result - the Fed has spent hundreds of billions, if not trillions, buying bonds of various maturities to keep rates low at various points on the yield curve.
by TrustNoOne
Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard not-so-boglehead-ish "improvement"
Replies: 27
Views: 3829

Re: Vanguard not-so-boglehead-ish "improvement"

It was just a short time ago I recall reading that Vanguard had just introduced an International Bond Index fund. The next day I saw an ad saying "Vanguard doesn't do something just because its trendy" or something like that. Face it - Vanguard is just like all the other fund companies now.
by TrustNoOne
Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Letter from IRS. They say I owe $13k!
Replies: 37
Views: 7664

Re: Letter from IRS. They say I owe $13k!

I just resolved the same type of issue. Got a notice from them saying I owed $0.00 and didn't have to do anything more. :D In my case, the security sale was listed on a supplemental page of Sched D. I filed electronically, so maybe it wasn't sent - I don't know. I also noticed that the name I used for the security was not quite the same as the one listed on the 1099. It might be possible to eliminate some of this by carefully matching the 1099 name with what is on the Sch. D. BTW- in my case the process took only a few months. As an aside, I have called the IRS a number of times for help on various matters and always found they were helpful, sometimes very helpful, such as this year figuring out how to file my daughter's return (where she h...
by TrustNoOne
Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: a what rates does borrowing money to invest make sense?
Replies: 51
Views: 3902

Re: a what rates does borrowing money to invest make sense?

Borrowing to invest is a good way to get into a lot of financial trouble. Its not the interest rate that makes borrowing to invest risky. Its the fact that a person can acquire far more risk than they have in assets. Just go down to you local branch of Lehman Brothers and ask them about it.
by TrustNoOne
Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:49 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why GNMA's are a bad deal
Replies: 53
Views: 6734

Re: Why GNMA's are a bad deal

Just thinking about mortgages in general, it seems to me that the terms are favorable for the borrower/homeowner. One thing, why does Vanguard GNMA fund ( VFIIX ) have YTM of 2.9% when mortgage rates are 4% ? I've wondered about that as well. The only thing I could think of was that there have to be a lot of fees involved in servicing the loans since this is many small loans to many people with monthly payment, rather than something like a corporate bond which is for millions of $ to one company. Also, I suppose there are variable rate mortgages mixed in. As for GNMA's in general, I just don't see why the market doesn't efficiently price them, but I read time after time in threads like this that it doesn't. Then I read that one should inve...
by TrustNoOne
Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TreasuryDirect Wakes to 21st Century
Replies: 34
Views: 7737

Re: TreasuryDirect Wakes to 21st Century

The old (current) process was a bit annoying, but it was secure. I actually wish the big fund companies would use some of the same approach. Having the "keyboard" which you used to enter letters via mouse seemed like a good idea. Hopefully, it will be an improvement and just as secure.
by TrustNoOne
Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 2 Weeks in China (Beijing + Hong Kong): What Should I Know?
Replies: 29
Views: 2641

Re: 2 Weeks in China (Beijing + Hong Kong): What Should I Kn

Don't bring anything with you that shows Taiwan as an independant country. (e.g. travel guide, map, etc.) Don't bring any drugs. Don't break the law. (But then you probably knew that already.) Don't expect the same web. (They don't call it the Great Firewall of China for nothing.)

Realize that the trip to the Great Wall will end up visiting a "jade museum" or the like where you will have the opportunity to buy stuff. (In fact, the time available for shopping will likely exceed the time available at the Great Wall.)

Have Fun! (And I think you will despite the minor points above.)
by TrustNoOne
Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Girlfriend is an heiress, who should pay?
Replies: 197
Views: 20812

Re: Girlfriend is an heiress, who should pay?

My wife and I did the long distance thing before we got married. It seems to me that a ld relationship will end up forcing some decisions. We decided to get married, and move together. It may be time to make a decision.
by TrustNoOne
Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gold vs. Bonds as an Asset Allocation Hedge
Replies: 24
Views: 4137

Re: Gold vs. Bonds as an Asset Allocation Hedge

I don't think there has been nearly as much research on gold as part of an overall portfolio as the case for stocks and bonds. I'd be intersted in seeing what it does to SWR's, for ex.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gold's Expected Return
Replies: 97
Views: 11266

Re: Gold's Expected Return

Scary thought - no species has survived except for the ones currently living (which, for the most part have survived for only a tiny fraction of all time.)

Golds' value as undefined makes sense. A good way to say "I don't know and no one who is honest about knows either."
by TrustNoOne
Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is stock picking a dying art?
Replies: 38
Views: 3273

Re: Thank you active investors

I thought an accepted theory was that "stock pickers" diligently analyze stocks so as to create an "efficient market" which prices stocks "correctly", which indexing strategies inherently rely on for market-cap weighted indexing to be a good strategy. So if there weren't stock pickers there would be no market to price stocks and there then couldn't be Bogleheads. So we're dependent on them, right? We should be thanking them for doing this great service, right? No matter how efficient or inefficient the market is, an index fund covering that market will capture the return of that market minus the (usually) small expense ratio. However, if every active investor threw in the towel to join the index investors, the...
by TrustNoOne
Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:34 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Thinking of changing asset allocation?
Replies: 5
Views: 1140

I think you raise a good question, more generally stated as "Is enlightenment a good reason for changing one's asset allocation?" There have been lots of threads saying one should, better, or must invest in gold, REITs, international, commodities, etc, etc, etc. And there have probably been about as many saying one should not invest in GNMA's, junk bonds, dividend stocks, etc, etc, etc. So, assuming someone was actually impressed by the arguments made, is this newly found enlightenment that the previous asset allocation was just plain wrong a valid reason for changing ones mix? And, how do we know that the voice inside of our heads saying all of this is not really greed (its been going up, up, up...) or fear (its been going down, ...
by TrustNoOne
Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:40 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gold's Expected Return
Replies: 97
Views: 11266

I suspect the argument that gold has zero expected return stems from the Discounted Cash Flow model. The DCF model says that the expected return of an asset is the Dividend Yield Plus Growth Rate. Growth rate being growth in dividends or earnings. For gold, both are zero. 0=0+0. QED

Then again, its a bit foolish for anyone to say they know what gold's expected return is.

I go back to my theory that affinity for gold is now embedded in our DNA. We've loved the stuff for what, 6,000 years now? Ladies have always liked gold jewelry. Guys with gold are a hit with the ladies. Ergo - we have a race of people who love gold. (I'm sure Darwin would agree.)
by TrustNoOne
Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: College Degree in Something Practical...
Replies: 141
Views: 13307

There is some scholarly research which really pin points this issue of unemployment among young people as part of a larger problem which our educations systems have really failed to address.


http://users.erols.com/geary/psychology/publication.htm
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cracked windshield -- how to proceed?
Replies: 33
Views: 8526

I asked a glass installer about it. I was out of town and wanted to know if it was safe to drive back home 500 miles away. He said it was mainly a cosmetic/visibility issue -beyond that safety is not a major issue. The argument about what happens in a wreck seems like a double worst case scenario. Auto window glass is composed of multiple layers, the crack is normally only in the top layer(s).

Having said that, I got mine fixed, but I would take my time to get the window replaced at the best price/quality option. Take time to shop around -prices vary a lot. I would not jump to get it replaced by the first guy available.

BTW - they will come to your house and do the job, usally pretty quickly.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Foreign Exchange Question
Replies: 5
Views: 663

Thanks to all. I appreciate all the good suggestions.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Foreign Exchange Question
Replies: 5
Views: 663

Foreign Exchange Question

My daughter has been working on S. Korea for over a year. She will be coming home next March and will have managed to save some money, maybe ~$10,000 US by that time. Since she is paid in won and her bank account is in won she will have to convert it to US $ at that time. I noticed in our recent trip that the exchange rates readily available are nowhere near the rates I see in the financial press. So my question is other than changing the money at the airport, what's the best way to get a good exchange rate? Or is it even possible?
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Welcome to Bogleheads? Why did you make your first post?
Replies: 46
Views: 5410

I don't remember my first post, or why I made it. Chances are I felt like arguing about something.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: to DCA or not to DCA???????????
Replies: 24
Views: 2455

Re: to DCA or not to DCA???????????

LH wrote:I have some new money, and was wondering whether or not I should dollar cost average in?

my heartfelt thanks ; )

LH
This reminds me of when I was a kid, we took swimming lessons, first thing in the morning. The water was very cold. Now, you really did know that just jumping in was better because you got it over with. But, most of the time, we just went in an inch or two deeper at a time, proloning the misery.
by TrustNoOne
Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:36 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: The Amish largely untouched by U.S. financial crisis
Replies: 60
Views: 8852

Culture wrote:
Came here for this; left satisfied.
Beat me to it.
by TrustNoOne
Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Finally! Can we lay DCA to rest and ban this topic forever?
Replies: 506
Views: 49118

it will never go away because you'll always have a mix both logical and emotional investors, and you can't force someone to be logical. you'll always have people that understand portfolio management and those who cannot or will not , and instead implement various timing tricks to try and manage risk instead of using a suitable portfolio for this goal. in the end the DCAer will be lump summed anyway, so gaining some knowledge about portfolio construction is always warranted and indispensable for successful long-term investing. I grant that DCA is an emotional rather than logical choice. My question is what about asset allocation? Isn't that pretty much an emotional decision. Risk tolerance- isn't it also driven by emotion as well? So if you...
by TrustNoOne
Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:53 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: math major
Replies: 61
Views: 6500

I had a double major Math and Physics, and got an MS in Physics in the 70's. At the time, it didn't seem like job opportunties were all that great for either field. However, my career has turned out fine - but has little to do with either subject. I would say that engineering probably is a lower risk, lower reward career path. Most good engineers seem to want to get an MBA after a few years. With math, the sky is the limit, but it may be harder to get your career launched. My suggestion would be to concentrate on statistics, rather than pure math. Math gets very esotoric very quickly and the value of the pure stuff dimished rapidly. Finally - tell him to learn how to write effectively. An extra writing course or 3 will be worth a lot more t...
by TrustNoOne
Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:42 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Scrooge McDuck Versus John C. Bogle?
Replies: 16
Views: 3412

I'm with Scrooge. Or at least my DW says I'm a Scrooge.
by TrustNoOne
Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing in Gold
Replies: 58
Views: 10411

Neither fund is a good way to invest in gold per se. The Vanguard fund invests in mining companies. The other fund, I don't know what it does, but it costs 1.42%, so who cares? If she is looking to invest in a fund that tracks the price of gold, the easiest way to do that is via a low-cost ETF such as GLD or IAU, and it should be held in a tax-advantaged account. But have you talked to her about why she wants to invest in gold? Is it because she's heard a lot recently about how it has gone up in value? Or is there an actual plan here? Putting aside the merit of gold for a moment. Could you explain that a bit? My thinking was that since gold doesn't produce dividends, etc it made more sense to use an after tax account. If the price drops on...
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Long Term Treasury Bonds are about to die
Replies: 43
Views: 10151

LT bonds didn't die but it has had some pretty big dips and spikes in prices. Not for the faint hearted.
by TrustNoOne
Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What if Eurozone dissolves?
Replies: 18
Views: 2406

The economist wrote about the possible impact of a Euro-zone breakup a few issues back. The article is here: The costs of break-up http://www.economist.com/node/21529046 A recent study by economists at UBS, a Swiss bank, suggested that the costs in each of these eventualities [either Germany leaving the Euro of Greece leaving] would be forbiddingly high. If Germany were to leave, it would incur costs worth 20-25% of GDP in the first year and then roughly half that amount in each subsequent year. If Greece were to quit, the first-year cost would be 40-50% of GDP, and subsequent annual costs would be around 15% One would want to look at the UBS methodology oh so very carefully. Argentina boomed when it abandoned the dollar peg, for example. ...
by TrustNoOne
Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:41 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are we all wrong on taxes and asset location?
Replies: 22
Views: 4063

You might question his choices of assets, but location has to be determined first by space available. If you have $2 million in assets, its not out of the question that half would be in taxable and half in tax deferred retirement accounts such as an IRA. If you have $100 million in assets, it seems rather unlikey you wil have $50 million in an IRA.
by TrustNoOne
Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should you teach your kids Chinese?
Replies: 67
Views: 6961

I'm not sure I would bother, unless you or your spouse speaks Chinese. And I say this as someone who grew up in a mandarin-speaking household. Sure, your child may learn some Chinese words and tones by having a Chinese nanny . But unless you or your spouse also speak Chinese, your child will find few opportunities to speak Chinese and have little incentive to keep it up . And once he or she goes to pre-school, he or she will lose it quickly, unless you persist and enroll them in a Chinese immersion school. This is an excellant point. A basic problem Americans have maintaining language skills is that we simply don't have many opportunties to use them. In Europe there is plenty of opportunity to speak German, French, Spanish, etc. I used to ...
by TrustNoOne
Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Expense ratio avg in your portfolio
Replies: 39
Views: 3974

How do you compute the expense ratio for Tresusry bonds, or CDs? At Fido they have no commissions. At Vanguard they do for Treasuries, but do you apply them the year you purchased, or amortize over the life of the bond? What about spreads?
by TrustNoOne
Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The decline of the Schwhinn Bicycle Company
Replies: 52
Views: 8417

I suspect that the problems of Schwin, Kodak and the US auto industry are due to thier great success over the years. If a business is doing great for decades, the mentaility is to keep doing what's been working. Management becomes entrenched in the corporate culture, philopsphies and dogma's. They have a very hard time chanring. (I recall that Hersey refused to advertise because he thought the best advertisement was a discarded Hersey bar wrapper on the ground. And for decades, he was probably right.) Some comparnies do adapt, but many will fail. I doubt that this is unique to American companies. Just look at Toyota's problems over the past few years and how the bungled them.
by TrustNoOne
Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why not 100/100 asset allocation
Replies: 234
Views: 24410

I'm assuming that over the long run equities will outperform. This has been shown to be true according to the data. Granted, no one can predict the future and bad things do happen [Japan]. But if you play the odds, equities will always outperform. I'm afraid this really does not make sense. First you assumed the answer you wanted. That is not a valid argument for something being true. (Well it is true if I assume it is true!) Your last line is just wrong unless the odds are 100 to 0, which is not true in the real world. Going back to your opening post you are absolutely correct in what you said: If one assumes extreme long term and one assumes over that time equities will be the highest performing asset, then sure, go 100%. In real life on...
by TrustNoOne
Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should you teach your kids Chinese?
Replies: 67
Views: 6961

I doubt the idea of hiring a nanny will work. My wife is Chinese, and says that when she was little she mainly spoke the language (Cantonese) because here grandmother was her main caregiver. But she lost it, almost completely once she went to school. To maintain fluency one really needs to speak a language regulary. No one in her family, except her mother can speak Cantonese. (And having seen my MIL try to order food in Chinese restaurants, I question if she really knows the language herself.) Its hard to predict what language would be beneficial for a child to learn. Certainly Mandarin would be a likely benefit if you are correct in predicting the child will become involved in international business, or perhaps work as a tour guide for Chi...
by TrustNoOne
Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Did you love your work?
Replies: 52
Views: 6689

In my case, I would say its more like an abusive relationship than actual love.