Search found 115 matches

by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Ten Things You Should Know About Index Fund Investing"
Replies: 9
Views: 2647

Re: "Ten Things You Should Know About Index Fund Investing"

Great article, Taylor. Thanks for posting. I particularly enjoyed 7. Not all index funds are cheap. Here's an interesting example of that Wells Fargo offers a low-turnover, large cap index fund that tracks the S&P 500 index. Three classes of fund shares as follows: WFILX - "A" shares. 5.75% sales charge, 0.45% expense ratio, $1,000 minimum. WFINX - "C" shares. 1.00% sales charge, 1.20% expense ratio, $1,000 minimum. WFIOX - "Admin" shares. No sales charge, 0.25% expense ratio, $1,000,000 minimum. Sales charges for an index fund ? Sky high expense ratios ? I suppose they need the money to make up for other stuff :wink: When I write a blog post about these smaller index funds (i.e. not Fidelity, Vanguard, Sc...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Ten Things You Should Know About Index Fund Investing"
Replies: 9
Views: 2647

Re: "Ten Things You Should Know About Index Fund Investing"

2015 wrote: Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:31 pm Number 1, "With index investing, you beat the vast majority of investors", is my favorite, particularly this paragraph:
Many new investors think they have to do more in order to beat the market. They think that the more they study the market, the better they will do. Unfortunately, the average investor underperforms the market, often by a wide margin.
Why is it every new generation and every "student of investing" has to go through the process of learning how not to be patsy, even though many generations of patsies before them had to learn the exact same lesson? :oops:
You remember the expensive lessons better than the free ones.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:41 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Titans of Junk: Behind the Debt Binge That Now Threatens Markets [Bloomberg article]
Replies: 14
Views: 2879

Re: Titans of Junk: Behind the Debt Binge That Now Threatens Markets [Bloomberg article]

But chances are that anyone who socked away cash into a retirement account during the past five years has lent them money. Investors have parked trillions of dollars in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that buy junk bonds. Pension funds in Canada have started leveraged-finance lending operations. Insurance companies have helped bankroll leveraged buyouts. And, in an echo of the subprime mortgage bubble a decade ago, investors from Sydney to Seattle snapped up hundreds of billions of dollars in AAA rated securities known as collateralized loan obligations that are actually backed by the debt of junk-rated companies. Found this article about corporate debt. I wonder if this is something that a regular investor need to worry about. Are ...
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu Jul 12, 2018 5:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: CNN Money Article on how much fees can add up
Replies: 3
Views: 1393

Re: CNN Money Article on how much fees can add up

A440 wrote: Wed Jul 11, 2018 4:49 pm Nice to see the message is getting out on Money.CNN

https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/11/pf/retirement-fund-

I believe Bogle stated something like "In investing, you get what you don't pay for"
You can't control the returns, but you can control the fees you pay.
Yea I saw this article-with the click-bait title and huge audience, it’s nice to see index investing (with a shout-out to Vanguard) highlighted.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Target date funds....unsophisticated?
Replies: 64
Views: 7224

Re: Target date funds....unsophisticated?

Quick post here.... Myself and my wife are currently maxing out our Roth’s with Vanguard 2055 funds....we are also funding employer matiching accounts, taxable, etc....but wanted to focus on the target date funds. I recently read a post of a member where they called target date funds “unsophisticated”....I kind of like the idea of not haveing to rebalance or fund multiple accounts each month..... I understand that I am paying a slightly higher fee for this, but am I missing the boat? Am I being a “unsophisticated” investor by choosing to fund Roth’s with target date funds? By using TDF, you’re trading convenience for less flexibility and slightly higher costs. It’s up to you if it’s worth it. Since it’s in a Roth you can quickly change you...
by WallStreetPhysician
Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Morningstar article [Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio]
Replies: 24
Views: 2932

Re: Morningstar article [Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio]

Mel Lindauer wrote: Wed Jul 04, 2018 1:48 pm I like John's recommendation for Vanguard to turn the three-fund portfolio into a one-fund portfolio, holding Taylor's three funds in market cap weighting in a single fund. Talk about the ultimate in simplification.
Interesting idea, but what would be the stock/bond ratio for this one-fund portfolio? Aren't Vanguard's Target Retirement funds three-fund portfolios combined into one fund, with a nominal amount of money in international bonds?

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu May 31, 2018 8:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cheapest ways to watch NBA playoffs
Replies: 37
Views: 4177

Re: Cheapest ways to watch NBA playoffs

ThankYouJack wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 4:36 pm I cut cable because I hardly ever watch tv but am considering watching some of the game 7 conference finals (on TNT I believe) and the finals. I don't have good reception if I hook up an antenna. Being able to record and fast forward would be a plus too. Any recommendations?
I don't have cable or any of the live TV streaming services (just regular Xfinity internet), but it seems like you can watch the NBA Finals since they will be on ABC, not ESPN.

http://www.espn.com/watch/

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue May 29, 2018 10:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "The Seven Types of Investors Who Beat The Market (And Why You Aren’t One Of Them)"
Replies: 14
Views: 4193

Re: "The Seven Types of Investors Who Beat The Market (And Why You Aren’t One Of Them)"

Kalo wrote: Mon May 28, 2018 5:31 pm I'll propose another type. The lone wolf Jessy Livermore type. In my opinion their main advantage is a willingness to go bust. This is their safety net. They are probably wrong as often as right but going bust serves as a reset and they can eventually try again. The trick as in gambling is quitting when sufficiently ahead. Few of us average folks would ever have the stomach for it I suspect. I know I don't.

Kalo
Of course, if you are willing to take higher (compensated) risk, you should get higher returns. But simply betting the farm on individual stocks isn't necessarily compensated risk that would yield higher expected returns.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon May 28, 2018 2:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "The Seven Types of Investors Who Beat The Market (And Why You Aren’t One Of Them)"
Replies: 14
Views: 4193

Re: "The Seven Types of Investors Who Beat The Market (And Why You Aren’t One Of Them)"

texasdiver wrote: Mon May 28, 2018 11:44 am Seems like there is an 8th type of investor not mentioned in the article, the Warren Buffet type (or maybe he is just one of a kind) who has enough resources to buy up whole companies and turn them around with new management. Something an ordinary investor has no chance of ever doing.
In these situations, Warren Buffett fits into the activist style of investing where I gave examples of Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman. Of course, Mr. Buffett tends to be less openly confrontational / aggressive with his investments.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue May 08, 2018 5:49 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why do so many Americans not own stocks?
Replies: 44
Views: 5366

Re: Why do so many Americans not own stocks?

I don't understand it. People complain about not having enough money. The fact is, the richest people own businesses, or are part-owners. That should give people a clue to buy stocks in companies. People can save up some money from their employment, in order to buy stocks. Why don't more people buy stocks, and have the dividends automatically reinvested, in order to build wealth? I've come to the conclusion that... owning stocks is one of the most important things in life. If you want to build wealth, you should own stocks. You are not going to get anywhere working. You are just going to work everyday, complain about not having enough money, and that's it. Owning a business, or owning a lot of stocks, is how you make the most money. A lot ...
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young Investor: Investing In A Bear Market
Replies: 29
Views: 4685

Re: Young Investor: Investing In A Bear Market

I'm a relatively young investor. I'm about to turn 30 and I've only been investing since 2010 so I still consider myself relatively new to the "game". Historically I've just invested in low expense ratio index funds that stratagize to match the market. I'm talking about assets like DIA, QQQ, VOO, etc. I however am getting fairly nervous about the way the market is looking and get the feeling that the recent correction is only the start of the troubles for the rest of this year. So my question is, what are some reasonable investment options if we assume a rough year ahead? In general I'm concerned that stocks are currently still overvalued, inflation is going to be picking up, and stocks are going to be looking less attractive as ...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Which book for an 18 year old who is asking about investing?
Replies: 45
Views: 4874

Re: Which book for an 18 year old who is asking about investing?

2kidsmom wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:11 pm I looked at the recommended reading on Bogleheads but am clueless about which book would be good for an 18 year old who is asking about investing. She has a ROTH IRA already (we match her earnings) in Fidelity ETFs because the total is not enough for index funds. She wants to be more involved in choosing funds and my statement of "pick something with low expense ratio" is not enough info for her. Anybody read all those books and have suggestions? No math issue, she is in Calculus 3, so she totally gets exponential growth. Anybody have an opinion on a good book?
I'll put in a vote for A Random Walk Down Wall Street.
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:29 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Interactive Brokers fee structure for passive investors
Replies: 43
Views: 7818

Re: Interactive Brokers fee structure for passive investors

mixinvest wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:18 am Hi all

I am researching opening an IB UK account to trade ETFs, but I find the fee structure a bit unsuitable to the "buy and stay the course" approach.

They said:
we apply a monthly minimum activity fee of $10 which can be reduced on a dollar-per-dollar basis (to $0) by commissions generated for the month.


IB seems more geared towards active investors right?

Cheers
IB has some of the lowest margin rates I've seen, so for those who want to be > 100% equities (I don't recommend it), this would probably be the broker to do it at.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Just added Total Int'l Stock; add Total Int'l Bond too?
Replies: 25
Views: 3758

Re: Just added Total Int'l Stock; add Total Int'l Bond too?

Today I took the big plunge and moved to a three-fund portfolio. I added Vanguard Total International Stock fund (VTIAX) to my previous two funds (Vanguard Total Stock and Total Bond). VTIAX now comprises 20% of my equity allocation. I'm just wondering if, while I'm at it, I should add Total International Bond (VTABX) as well. I see that Vanguard includes this fund in their Target Retirement Funds. I'd like to get opinions on the value of adding VTABX to a portfolio. Is the extra diversification worthwhile? And if I do add it, how much should I add? Should it be 20% of my bond allocation? 30%? Please let me know what you think. I don't. It depends on your asset allocation. If you are young and have 10% bonds like the Vanguard Target Retire...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Passive Investing Best For A 'rigged Market'? [insider trading]
Replies: 13
Views: 2027

Re: Passive Investing Best For A 'rigged Market'? [insider trading]

Tamalak wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:09 pm Insider trading just means that stocks are MORE fairly priced because insider information is being priced in.

This is bad news if you're trying to price discover without insider info (active trading) and neutral news if you're a passive investor.
+1. It's not significantly meaningful for passive investors, but the gains of insider traders are the losses for non-insider active traders.
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How risky is Med school student loan debt?
Replies: 158
Views: 16863

Re: How risky is Med school student loan debt?

I see lots of posts from Docs on this site with mounds of student loans, and following that mounds of income. How many people end up saddled with 150k+ debt but miss out on the high income jobs afterwards? Depends on where you go to medical school. If you go to a U.S. MD school, essentially zero, presuming you don't choose to quit during residency or have some other issue that prevents you from going to residency or completing residency. -WSP 6% of each graduating class every year, who don't match at all, is NOT essentially zero. That number is going to go up too, since med schools increased class sizes, but residency spots haven't. This was meant to get more people into primary care and family medicine, which are becoming less appealing f...
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Top 1% Net Worth Under 30 Years Old
Replies: 13
Views: 7330

Re: Top 1% Net Worth Under 30 Years Old

bigtex wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:18 pm Hello, I am wondering if any bogleheads have an estimate or source they could refer me to that would help determine what dollar amount range of net worth would land you in the top 1% of net worth for under 30 year olds?
My suspicion is that most of the people on such a list would have inherited / trust money from parents / grandparents.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:28 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How risky is Med school student loan debt?
Replies: 158
Views: 16863

Re: How risky is Med school student loan debt?

raisinsaregrapes wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:26 pm I see lots of posts from Docs on this site with mounds of student loans, and following that mounds of income. How many people end up saddled with 150k+ debt but miss out on the high income jobs afterwards?
Depends on where you go to medical school. If you go to a U.S. MD school, essentially zero, presuming you don't choose to quit during residency or have some other issue that prevents you from going to residency or completing residency.

-WSP

EDIT: essentially zero is probably too extreme, but it is very low. If you are accepted to a U.S. M.D. school, you should not choose not to go because of concerns of not graduating and not being able to pay off your debt.
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:25 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Change in "career", PA or Optometry?
Replies: 79
Views: 16950

Re: Change in "career", PA or Optometry?

Optometrists can practice independently, while PA's generally have supervision. By being a PA, you give yourself more options to choose (and even switch) between medical specialties. Depends on how much you like opthalmologiy. PAs often work shift work, so you can modulate how much you work up and down as you wish, which is a plus.

- WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:21 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Economist - “Factor investing” gains popularity
Replies: 22
Views: 4927

Re: Economist - “Factor investing” gains popularity

If you can stick with your factors long-term, then go for it. If you tend to bounce around from factor to factor based on how it's done in the short run, then stick with a three-fund portfolio.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Shorting AGG
Replies: 5
Views: 929

Re: Shorting AGG

A long-term short in AGG doesn't make sense. Not only does the bond market have a positive expected return, but it costs money to borrow shares to short. A lose-lose proposition.
by WallStreetPhysician
Sun May 28, 2017 9:06 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone ever use Sebonic Financial for mortgage?
Replies: 18
Views: 50763

Re: Anyone ever use Sebonic Financial for mortgage?

We need to close a 30 year conventional home mortgage loan in exactly 30 days from today. We looked at local banks and they have very high fees along with high rates. Now we are looking online and came across Sebonic Financial. They have rather great reviews at Zillow.com and some other sites, but along with those great reviews are some very poor ones. The loan officer I talked with seemed knowledgeable but pushy (and I found a negative review of him specifically online). I wonder if I can ask for a different agent. Anyway, their rates are very good and the only fees are supposed to be a $445 appraisal fee and a $125 Texas attorney review fee. We will still have to pay title fees, and I'm assuming they can work with the title company we ha...
by WallStreetPhysician
Sun May 14, 2017 2:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do i still need Term Life Insurance ?
Replies: 14
Views: 2264

Re: Do i still need Term Life Insurance ?

I don't think you need term life insurance, because the difference in leaving your family with 4 million versus 4.68 million probably won't mean much. From an expected value standpoint, it looks like the insurance company is slightly losing money on your life insurance. According to https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Excerpt_from_CDC_2003_Table_1.pdf, the probably you will die in the next year is about 1/200, while you're paying less than 1/600 of the coverage. Of course, some of those 50-somethings who will die in the next year have terminal cancer or other terminal illnesses, which probably means the probably you will die in the next year is less than 1/200. Hopefully these numbers help lay out some of the math to help yo...
by WallStreetPhysician
Sat May 13, 2017 6:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 529 Planning as related to medical school
Replies: 12
Views: 5735

Re: 529 Planning as related to medical school

What about a combination of all 3?

Pay for the relevant costs of her senior year of college (option 1), then pay for her medical school (option 3), then with any leftover money, withdraw the amount of her scholarship (option 2). As you probably know, withdrawing her college scholarship money from your 529 is penalty-free, but not tax-free.
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu May 11, 2017 11:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When switch fund for lower ER?
Replies: 14
Views: 2262

Re: When switch fund for lower ER?

sean.mcgrath wrote:As I happily watch ERs drop between the big index funds, I'm starting to wonder what drop is enough to make me switch funds. I'm curious what others do: assuming a non-taxable account and two funds from big names (e.g., Schwab, iShares, Vanguard) who track the same or extremely similar indexes, what level of ER savings would motivate you to switch funds?

I'm pretty much a set it and forget it kind of person, and the difference between, say, 0.15% and 0.07% will not change my life. But on the other hand, it is free money...

Sean
I'd pick one firm and stick with it. All three companies have cut ER in the last 6 months and will continue to compete with each other.
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu May 11, 2017 11:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bonds and RE in Tax Advantaged Accounts - Does it Matter What is Held Where?
Replies: 18
Views: 2400

Re: Bonds and RE in Tax Advantaged Accounts - Does it Matter What is Held Where?

Duckie wrote:
LFKB wrote:Does it matter in which accounts I hold my REIT or bond funds (i.e. is there any reason REIT index would be better held in 401k vs Roth vs Traditional)?
Put bonds in pre-tax and save your Roth account for assets with higher expected growth. REITs might qualify, but so do your other stock funds.
+1
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu May 11, 2017 11:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: To DCA or not to DCA? And a question about cash
Replies: 15
Views: 2091

Re: To DCA or not to DCA? And a question about cash

Hello Bogleheads, Very long time listener, first time caller. I've two questions for this group that I've learned much from over the years: 1) I have about $750k in cash in a taxable brokerage account that I intend to invest in index funds, bogleheads-style. Starting now do you think I should dollar cost average my way into these funds or invest in one lump sum? 2) I have $100k out of my total portfolio of around $1.7M that I intend to keep as cash-equivalent (or very close to it). This is far above 3-6 months of living expenses but it's what I'm comfortable with. That said I would like to get some small return on this money that's higher than 0. I was considering investing much of this in FSTVX as I use Fidelity. Are there any better opti...
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu May 11, 2017 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with picking 401K fund(s)
Replies: 12
Views: 1503

Re: Help with picking 401K fund(s)

I have the below funds available in my 401K, I think the only fund that worth considering in this bad 401K plan is the Dryden S&P 500 Index Fund while the rest are bad ones. Am I right? Guaranteed Income Fund ER 0.85% Fixed Income - Domestic: Core Plus Bond / PGIM Fund ER 0.98% Government Securities Enhanced Index / PGIM Fund ER 0.97% Balanced - Value: Balanced I Fund ER 1.13% Large Cap Stock - Value: SA/T. Rowe Price Equity Income Strategy II ER 1.17% Large Cap Stock - Blend: Dryden S&P 500 Index Fund ER 0.61% Large Cap Stock - Growth: Large Cap Growth / Jennison Fund ER 1.12% Mid Cap Stock - Value: Mid Cap Value / Integrity Fund ER 1.51% Mid Cap Stock - Growth: Mid Cap Growth / Westfield Capital Fund ER 1.50% Small Cap Stock - Va...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue May 09, 2017 7:31 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Boglehead Debt Free Scream! 174K in 53 months
Replies: 24
Views: 5056

Re: Boglehead Debt Free Scream! 174K in 53 months

RmeHyd8tion11 wrote:WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!

DW and I just finished paying off $174K in student loan, credit card and a career starter loan in 53 months making between 96k and 116k!

With interest, we paid $224K toward the debt along with Non-Dave Ramsey-type activities like buying a $14k used car, earning the Chase Sapphire Reserve point bonus and contributing towards our TSP, 401Ks and Roth IRAs. The amount of debt wasn't fun to overcome but I think we've developed some great habits and I'm ready to start saving for a trip to Australia and New Zealand or Bali in December :beer

Go Army! Beat Navy!!
Congratulations! Well-done.
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue May 09, 2017 7:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Even if active managers aren't better at picking winners, can't they be better at picking losers?
Replies: 13
Views: 2314

Re: Even if active managers aren't better at picking winners, can't they be better at picking losers?

I understand the Boglehead philosophy and all the accepted wisdom about not trying to beat the market, etc. It would seem to follow that the accepted philosophy about investing in index funds with maximum diversification (indeed, the ideal asset allocation might very well be a total market allocation, and maybe even a total world market allocation), would necessarily require owning even the worst companies/stocks in the entire market. [I ASSUME MOST BOGLEHEADS AGREE WITH THIS -- IF NOT, TELL ME WHAT I'M MISSING.] It also seems to me that the conventional wisdom is that almost no one can consistently pick stocks that consistently beat the market, and that's true regardless of time/expense involved. In other words, it's not just that some ac...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue May 09, 2017 7:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: If everybody indexed, the only word you could use is chaos, catastrophe
Replies: 107
Views: 21278

Re: If everybody indexed, the only word you could use is chaos, catastrophe

TheTimeLord wrote:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-bog ... 10197.html
“If everybody indexed, the only word you could use is chaos, catastrophe,” said Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday.

“There would be no trading,” Bogle told Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer. “There would be no way to turn a stream of income into a pile of capital or a pile of capital into a stream of income.

“Now, what are the chances of everybody indexing? It’s zero.”
Indexing is a free lunch. Take it.
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue May 09, 2017 7:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gundlach shorts S&P 500, says passive investing is a 'myth'
Replies: 51
Views: 8762

Re: Gundlach shorts S&P 500, says passive investing is a 'myth'

birdog wrote:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gundlach ... 52048.html

Furthermore, he argued that pension funds are abandoning their fiduciary duty by opting for passive investments.
Saw that article on Yahoo! Finance. Bogleheads, they're getting desperate and are resorting to name-calling.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Sat Apr 22, 2017 10:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reached 50% of my "number" today
Replies: 20
Views: 5649

Re: Reached 50% of my "number" today

White Coat Investor wrote:Second half goes a lot faster than the first half!
Yup, the second million comes in a lot faster than the 1st million!
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu Apr 20, 2017 1:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Larry Swedroe says "Goodbye."
Replies: 445
Views: 79741

Re: Larry Swedroe says "Goodby."

Sad to see you go, Larry. Your contributions to the forum are greatly appreciated by the Bogleheads community.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: WSJ article-Indexes Beat Stock Pickers Even Over 15 Years New data show that 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their respect
Replies: 19
Views: 4821

Re: WSJ article-Indexes Beat Stock Pickers Even Over 15 Years New data show that 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their res

Fees are the major determinant of this underperformance, but there was a Bloomberg article (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-09/lopsided-stocks-and-the-math-explaining-active-manager-futility) about a week ago discussing about the skew in individual stock returns which leads to a similar skew in mutual fund returns. The quoted 82% number may be influenced by that skew, even over a 15 year period. -WSP Here is a quote from the article.... Often, equity benchmarks are so reliant on gigantic gains in just a handful of stocks that missing them—as most managers do—consigns the majority to futility. And here's an article in today's WSJ... http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/print/WSJ_-B012-20170418.pdf Ah very nice. I...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: WSJ article-Indexes Beat Stock Pickers Even Over 15 Years New data show that 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their respect
Replies: 19
Views: 4821

Re: WSJ article-Indexes Beat Stock Pickers Even Over 15 Years New data show that 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their res

WSJ article 4/12/17 Indexes Beat Stock Pickers Even Over 15 Years New data show that 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their respective benchmarks over 15 years https://www.wsj.com/articles/indexes-beat-stock-pickers-even-over-15-years-1492039859 "Most actively managed U.S. stock funds were beaten by their market benchmarks over the past decade and a half, a record of underperformance that helps explain why stock pickers are losing billions of dollars in assets each month to low-cost passive investments that track indexes. Over the 15 years ended in December 2016, 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their respective benchmarks, according to the latest S&P Indices Versus Active funds scorecard. This was the first year that the analysis inclu...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Chase.com - Anybody having issues?
Replies: 14
Views: 4978

Re: Chase.com - Anybody having issues?

Faisal wrote:Hey just wanted to check if anybody was having issues logging into chase.com - it has been giving me an error for a few days now saying looks like the site is not working. Please try again later.
No problem here. I would try a different computer / device and/or call customer service.
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is all the money flowing into index funds bad?
Replies: 21
Views: 4280

Re: Is all the money flowing into index funds bad?

I heard today on the radio, the head of the endowment fund for the University of Cincinnati say that the 830+ billion dollars flowing into index funds at Vanguard and all the other money flowing into them at other Investment firms is going to hurt the market and will have consequences at some point. He did not say what or when but he did say it is bad for the market over all. I am not sure if he thought all the money was flowing into the S&P 500 and so those stocks would be horribly over bought or what he was saying. Any thoughts? I guess as long as the money keep flowing in it can't hurt? Sure, us index fund investors are profiting off of the work of active fund managers to correctly price the markets. In my opinion, we are far away f...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: everywhere we are encouraged to trade and to our detriment
Replies: 31
Views: 4796

Re: everywhere we are encouraged to trade and to our detriment

I was just thinking about progress in our "modern times." We as investors are encouraged to trade, trade, trade. The brokerage houses lowered commissions drastically from what they were years ago. Everywhere I go I see people intently watching their hand held computers even when crossing the street which is a real danger. I go out to eat lunch with a friend and he pulls out his hand held to check the DOW and his stocks. On television and the radio the talking heads are telling us to buy their stock wares. The trading by the public and financial institutions in general are trading very frequently. It`s amazing that we`re being programmed to " not sit there but trade." Think about it. John Bogle and Warren Buffet are so r...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Investors backing off their equity AA primarily due to 8-year bull market?
Replies: 56
Views: 7017

Re: Investors backing off their equity AA primarily due to 8-year bull market?

S17C wrote:I haven't been following market news. Is there a growing trend of investors backing off their equity AA, stopping auto-investment in equity or even selling equity shares, primarily because of the 8-year bull market? Not because they are needing the money anytime soon.
In my opinion, it is about 50/50 of people asking about 100% stock portfolios, and people scaling back their stock allocation because of the bull market / Trump, etc.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Exchanging the S&P 500 for the TSM
Replies: 16
Views: 3961

Re: Exchanging the S&P 500 for the TSM

Fargonian wrote:I'm looking to exchange 50k of S&P 500 (VFIAX) for the TSM (VTSAX) in my IRA. While the performance between the 2 index funds have been similar, I'm attracted to the diversification of the TSM.

Are there any good arguments why this exchange couldn't be done at once from a potential loss perspective?
No reasons. Just do it.

Edit: agreed with the poster above about possible wash sales.
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Unwinding all positions and buy back after French Elections
Replies: 54
Views: 8815

Re: Unwinding all positions and buy back after French Elections

Hi All, I was wondering, why should anyone run the risk of the impact of politicals risks when holding a portfolio? Given the low cost of investing ( in & out in your favorite low cost broker should run around ~7bps of your portfolio size or so), don't you think it's a good a idea to close all positions before the elections and buy back right after? I know it's not really buy & hold.... But there is one event there that could break the Eurozone and trigger some bear markets (nice buying opportunities). On the other hand if things go smoothly, global market won't rally 10% up to celebrate... What do you think? Similar concerns were raised prior to the American election. Trump's election was supposed to be bad for the market, and the...
by WallStreetPhysician
Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which International Fund to Pick In 401K
Replies: 20
Views: 2255

Re: Which International Fund to Pick In 401K

Hello, My AA is 45% - SP 500 index 15% - Mid Cap and Small Cap 20% - International 20% - Bonds My 401K account only has 2 international funds to pick: (International Stock Growth) American Funds Europacific Growth R6 (RERGX) ER - 0.50% (International Stock Emerging Markets) Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Instl (LZEMX) ER - 1.10% Which one do you recommend I choose and why? From the chart below looks like RERGX performs better. http://quotes.morningstar.com/chart/fund/chart?t=LZEMX&region=usa&culture=en_US&dataParams=%7B%22zoomKey%22%3A10%2C%22version%22%3A%22US%22%2C%22showNav%22%3Atrue%2C%22defaultShowName%22%3A%22name%22%2C%22mainSettingId%22%3A%22main%22%2C%22navSettingId%22%3A%22nav%22%2C%22benchmarkSettingId%22%3A%22benchm...
by WallStreetPhysician
Sat Apr 15, 2017 7:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to book travel
Replies: 12
Views: 2878

Re: Best way to book travel

Hello, In the near future, I foresee spending about $10k or more per year predominantly traveling between Tucson, az; chicago,il; Malaysia and India. I currently have a southwest credit card as well as the fidelity 2% cash back card. I have a small business and may be able to get the Expedia business account. I also love traveling to new places and may stay at hotels. I am fairly frugal and expect to fly in economy class mostly and hotels are likely to cost 80-200 per day. What would the best credit card/ way to travel be? Is there any miles card that is better than a cash back card combined with Expedia? Welcome to the forum. As others have said, the Chase Sapphire Reserve will get you 3x points on travel (worth at least 4.5% cash back wh...
by WallStreetPhysician
Sat Apr 15, 2017 7:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone else decided not to finish med school?
Replies: 76
Views: 32167

Re: Anyone else decided not to finish med school?

I think he made the right choice. Medicine is not for everyone - according to the most recent Medscape compensation survey, only 77% of doctors would choose to do medicine again.

http://www.medscape.com/slideshow/compe ... 6008547#38

It sounds like he's definitely going to be successful, and there's no reason to try to soldier on for another 6-10 years of training, accumulate hundreds of thousands in loans, and end up being one of the 23% of doctors who wish they had done something with their lives other than medicine.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Conservative assumption on real rate of return?
Replies: 12
Views: 2438

Re: Conservative assumption on real rate of return?

I put together a small spreadsheet that simply takes my starting net worth, subtracts my projected expenses for the year, applies x% of real return to the balance (return after inflation), and carries the result into the next year. (My projected expenses in real dollars change every year because I'm using my 401K site's annual health care cost projectsions - very handy tool.) I extend that from now until my estimated death. Basically I want to know if my net worth will cover my expenses with factoring in variable expenses (health care) each year. Since I have a nice projection of my health expenses annually, I want to factor that in. If I average my annual expenses until age 94, my current net worth is more than 25 times that, so that's go...
by WallStreetPhysician
Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best 2050 Target Date Fund
Replies: 20
Views: 3623

Re: Best 2050 Target Date Fund

Dominic wrote:
WallStreetPhysician wrote:Vanguard = Fidelity >> T. Rowe
Should you choose Fidelity, be careful to get the Fidelity Freedom Index fund, and not the Fidelity Freedom fund.

The Freedom Index fund is more or less the same as Vanguard's (Vanguard has more international, but it's not significant). The Freedom fund is pretty much the same as TRP's fund, with an ER of around 0.75, and holdings in a bunch of excess funds.
Great point, Dominic. You need to use FIPFX (https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutua ... /315793869) to get the Fidelity Target Date Index fund.

-WSP
by WallStreetPhysician
Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best 2050 Target Date Fund
Replies: 20
Views: 3623

Re: Best 2050 Target Date Fund

Working2notWork wrote:Today, I met with a financial planner and I mentioned that my son is wearing me out that I cannot dedicate myself to rebalancing, etc, and I was thinking about putting my money into Vanguards 2050 Target Date fund. The planner said that he would recommend T-Rowe's 2050 over Vanguards. When I look at T-Rowes I see that there's a .76% expense ratio, although it HAS out performed Vanguards in some instances.

My question then becomes is the .76% worth the expense?
Vanguard = Fidelity >> T. Rowe
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 529/son got accepted to medical school whahoooo!
Replies: 53
Views: 9899

Re: 529/son got accepted to medical school whahoooo!

Son just got accepted to medical shool this week. Due to an incredible investing education learned on this board, I have enough money in a 529 to pay for all four years. He earned his way through college with scholarships and working. It is currently 90 percent in stocks and 10 percent bonds. Should i just move it all to a money market acct in the 529 or a bank fund in the 529 or some other combination? It is in the Nebraska 529. It will be drawn down to zero over the next four years. Never thought the wife and I would say "our son the doctor". Congratulations, your son must be very excited/relieved. April is pretty late in the cycle to get the first acceptance (if i recall the first acceptances begin on September 15th and waitli...
by WallStreetPhysician
Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lack of rigor in EdX (and other?) MOOCs?
Replies: 23
Views: 3293

Re: Lack of rigor in EdX (and other?) MOOCs?

I'm taking an EdX "course." (And paying $50 for certification simply to force myself to complete it). It is billed as a "six week course" requiring an effort of "three hours per week," or 18 hours total. No complaints about the price or the content. And it's strictly a pastime, for entertainment. But. To the best of my recollection, my college courses lasted for a 16-week semester, and generally involved three hours of class plus six to nine hours expected in outside preparation per week, so that would have been 16 x 9 to 16 x 12 hours total... 144 to 192 hours... around ten times as much. The coursework, on which the certificate of completion is based, consists of four unit tests and a final exam. Each unit t...