I remember that poster well -- username is YDNAL, but YDNAL always signed posts "Landy" (reversal of letters, obviously). When I posted for portfolio help years ago, Landy helped me a great deal. I don't post much now that I have everything set up and humming along pretty much on autopilot...
Congratulations, livesoft - you have helped a lot of people on this forum. I look forward to the next 40k posts - see you on this thread in 2023?
NightOwl
I too had to teach my tax preparer about the Backdoor Roth the first year it became available. I also had to tell her about the I-bond refund form -- she said she'd never had anyone request that before. She asked where I heard about these strategies, and I said, "Oh, Bogleheads.org -- you shoul...
I was 35 when I joined Bogleheads 6 years ago, with a significantly negative net worth (~$70,000 in student loans) and very little investing experience. In my case, I decided to to stay in school until my early 30s (Ph.D.), then had a couple of roughly break-even years before my earnings took off in...
Frankly, I don't know if 2008 is a good example of investing in a bear market since it recovered so quick, especially if you were a young investor with a small portfolio. Although, in the midst of the downturn, one did not know if the market was going to come back. One should not assume that the ne...
I had a lump sum of money equivalent to 10% of my portfolio become available last Thursday, and I invested according to my AA last Thursday. I am confident that 30 years from now I will be glad that I did so.
At the very least, I'd strongly consider adding enough to the Vanguard account to get Flagship status ($1 million), as I've heard that Flagship reps can be particularly helpful. Personally, I'd have everything at Vanguard if I could -- I'll eventually roll my Fidelity 401k to a Vanguard IRA. I do th...
I call my currently owned I bonds my "emergency fund." Now that I have moved my e-fund into I bonds over the past few years, future purchases of I bonds ($15k/year including $5k/year tax refund in paper I bonds) will be counted as part of my fixed income allocation. But really it's all one...
I think that there's an excellent chance that I will live and die without ever having owned a car. If you gave me one now, I'd give it back. Maybe I'll get one in retirement. Who knows? I suppose my answer is therefore $0, but I didn't vote.
This is kind of a random thought I have. I think I'd be happier if the market corrected. Hi EarlyStart, It's not at all a random thought, nor is it idiosyncratic to you. William Bernstein (poster wbern on this forum) has said : For the young investor in the saving phase, stocks aren’t that terribly...
Anyway, I kindly tell him thank you but today most of my funds are in this lazy 3 fund portfolio (VTI,VXUS,BND) all through Vanguard, with extremely low expense ratios, just covering the total US, and total intl', and total us bond markets. I just add to those to keep it about a 60/20/20 split and ...
Not to mention that many SCV funds have a significant allocation to REITS. For example, IJS and VBR both have about 11% in REITs. I tilt to small value which, as noted above, includes a heavier REIT allocation than a TSM investor has. I simply don't have room in tax-advantaged for a REIT fund once ...
I've read a lot of threads about rebalancing -- doesn't it always come down to whether we're in a mean reversion world or a momentum world? Do we ever know which one we're in? Do we pay Mr. Harvey to assume we're in a momentum world and act accordingly?
I have a moderate tilt to small value domestically (my Roth is 100% VG small value), and a somewhat heavier tilt to small within my international equities allocation. I consider my domestic small value tilt a form of REIT tilt as well, though I don't hold a separate REIT fund. I'm not at all evangel...
OP, the way you are asking the question, it seems as though you think that achieving this goal would be common for members of this forum, whereas it seems to me that it would be an incredibly rare accomplishment (at least for people who got there by saving salary, not via inheritance or other major ...
Invest the money into a Savings Account (FDIC Insured to $500K) paying as much interest as you can find (It will be less than 1%). Then spend your leisure time reading and studying things before you invest in riskier assets. There is no Rush to do anything. It is better to not lose money now than m...
Hi n00b_to_investing, I think it makes sense to prepare for an exam using materials written by the people who write that exam. I recommend going here and purchasing what the official GMAT site calls the Premium GMAT Study Collection. It is on sale for $250 (perhaps someone wants to purchase this for...
Individual circumstances matter a lot here.To give just one example, I'd say that an investor whose investments are all in tax-advantaged accounts needs a separate emergency fund, while an investor with a large taxable account probably does not. I do maintain a separate emergency fund, though I've s...
Do you not have a 401(k), 403(b), or similar workplace retirement account? I hold my bonds in my 401(k), and use my Roth for small value (highest expected return, though of course that could easily go awry).
I don't like dividends in my taxable account, and I try to minimize them as much as possible while remaining invested in equities. Instead of that money staying within my mutual funds and ETFs and coming out taxed as long-term capital gains, it comes out as income taxed (in my case) at a rate much h...
Hi Jetf, I like your savings plan -- why not think in terms of "savings goals" rather than "net worth goals"? As you note, you have control over your savings, not over market returns -- whether you end 2015 below or above $100k net worth is too heavily dependent on the latter. As...
I'm all for pragmatism -- if it's a multiple-choice test, why not try the answer choices? It's a very effective approach. That said, if I were going to do algebra, I'd say that the cat is x and the dog is 8x. 8x + x = 63, so 9x = 63, so x = 7. Dog is 8x, so (8)(7) = 56. The longer conversation is th...
Hi Eschaef, Please check the Wiki entry 401k: Expensive and Mediocre Choices . [Edited to add link.] I believe this topic is (David) grabiner's work.Here's what I think is the most pertinent text: A reasonable rule of thumb is to consider investing in a taxable account if the product of the extra co...
And if someone surveys these same economists again today, they will all be chastened by their prior failure and admit that they don't know what will happen to yields gladly provide yet another prediction so that we can have more hand-wringing threads here beginning "Given the consensus among ec...
I think the "20% in a single stock" is the really disturbing part. Since this is "inherited money" I'm assuming it is a reasonably substantial sum... and come to think of it, these days, isn't it perfectly reasonable to buy odd lots? In a portfolio of, let's say, $100,000 or mor...
Having said all this, I really wonder if these investors are removing money because of downturns or just because they needed some money and didn't have any other funds--nothing for short term goals, nothing for emergencies. Or because they assumed it was part of severing ties with their previous em...
Hey all- I might have brought this up in the past, but I repeatedly read, mostly on portfolio check threads, how people with high income contribute 17.5k to their 401k. It seems so common but from everything I've read it seems like a rarity for this to be possible. Is there something I'm missing? M...
Legacy you have to make your own peace with that. My view is leaving your spouse in a reasonable position at your death is very important, legacy to kids less so (assuming they don't have large student loans). Hi Curious1, One of my parents is currently thinking through a similar scenario, and in t...
My daughter will be a junior this year. She is very good student (IB student, takes numerous AP, straight A, does research in Univ of Miami Breast Cancer Institute, was spelling bee champ in Broward and list goes on) She thinks that she needs SAT coaching. I wanted to find out from those who have s...
Flying to SFO Wednesday, renting a car and heading up to Sonoma after a stop at Muir woods. Our rental is just outside of Windsor. I know there are a wealth of places to eat and multiple wine tasting rooms in Healdsburg. Does anyone have any specific recommendations for this area? Looks like J vine...
Hi VGSailor, It seems to me as though you were put from the start of this mess in a no-win situation; at this point I think we're strictly in damage-control mode. I'm guessing that you have what your in-laws consider to be "lots of money"? They certainly seem to be treating you as a piggy ...
Focus on a robust college experience also, for enhanced longterm financial security... This^. At age 17, you should focus on maximizing your income so that you can save as much as possible. That way, whether returns over your lifetime are robust or muted, you will still have more than enough money ...
I hold 100% of my bond allocation in my 401(k) in Advantage Class shares of Fidelity's Spartan U.S. Bond Index Fund (FSITX), which I consider a near-equivalent to Admiral shares of Vanguard's Total Bond Fund Index Fund (VBTLX).
Got my monthly paycheck yesterday. Investable money went into the market today. I looked at my spreadsheet last night to determine what I needed to buy. Other that its effect on what I need to buy once per month, market movement rates a big "don't know, don't care" from me.
It's funny for me to read these threads, because I have the opposite problem (if one wishes to term it that). I've always been abnormally uninterested in owning things - I'm living now in a mostly empty apartment that I love for its uncluttered lightness. But I've been trying to learn to buy more th...
it's called a theoretical question, or a thought experiment, if you will.(Snip) i haven't seen it asked anywhere on this forum. Hi ERMD, I'd recommend searching for "what if everyone indexed?", specifying site:bogleheads.org. It is a good question, in that it signals an interest in the th...
I am normally not a fan of leasing but for her situation it might just be a reasonable option, or the best option----if she can get a short enough term to not be stuck in a lease after the move. I think it would be worth exploring buying a used car in the 10K-15K range and selling it when she is re...
The other issue is that generally you can't lease a car "for a year or two"....a unless you are willing to pay a huge amount. Most leases are 36 months. Maybe buy a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. If she decides to do the NYC thing, the depreciation will be low compared to most other cars....
A big question is how your state handles sales tax on cars. The problem is that if she buys a car and has to pay 7% sales tax then buying and selling it a year later would be expensive. Leasing has a lot of pitfalls that can cause problems like if the car is in a major accident, even if it repaired...
40 years old, 20+ years from retirement. I'm 80-20. I've decided to pursue a strict age-20 bond allocation from here on out, so will increase bonds 1% per year to a retirement portfolio of 60/40. But we'll see if I actually retire in 20 years. Money-wise I will probably be in good shape, but I like ...