Bogleheads.org

mokaThought

I was very satisifed with Lowe's extended warranty service on our clothes washer after a motor went out on it.

mokaThought

I don't trust the push-button start systems. There's nothing wrong with just a key. As for blind spot monitors, consider whether installing convex mirrors ("blind spot mirrors") would do the trick. Wife and I had considered a car purchase for the blind spot monitoring, but I installed some convex mi...

mokaThought

Freeze JNJ. Yeah, it's a loss, but it's a new low price on a short. I was betting on that talcum powder lawsuit making hay.

mokaThought

WHERE TO PUT YOUR MONEY Make all of your contributions to Roth accounts. You income tax rate is likely the lowest it will ever be in your life (especially if you sprinkle some deployments in there) so pay the bill now, let the money compound tax free, and then come out tax free in retirement. Spook...

mokaThought

For sure. I'm already getting a $10k signing bonus which completely covers savings account after A school. Reenlistment bonuses are around $75k for Zone A, I believe. Probably changed now. Also, do you agree that you'd rather be stationed at Yokosuka? Most people I ask tend to think that. Closer to...

mokaThought

Was that Yokosuka or Sasebo? I checked the advancement quotas for CTI and FC and it was around 45% last year. Higher this year for CTI, I'm sure. Doesn't that also influence if you get OHA since they wanna keep you in the force and make you happy? BAH definitely seems more tempting and domestic sta...

mokaThought

krafty81 wrote: ↑
Sat Jun 01, 2019 11:25 pm
Remember as AD you can get any credit card with annual fee waived. If you qualify, AMEX Plat is a good choice but pay it off monthly.

I didn't know that. Good stuff! Make sure you have a Visa card for overseas compatibility, though.

mokaThought

Either gonna be AECF ET/FC or CTI depending on when I get clearance so that seems like an overseas path to me. Ooo, we have a nerd here. :D What's the difference between OHA and BAH, though, besides one being conus and one being oconus? OHA = Overseas. You get the exact rent amount (converted to do...

mokaThought

Military personnel, with their steady income, are prime targets for companies offering easy looking loans or purchase plan deals. I know you said that you don't have any debt right now, so please be extra vigilant as you go thru your career. Being loaded down with debt can fell like a prison senten...

mokaThought

Hi Dantheman221. I'm a former Surface Warfare Officer myself (2007–2014, O-3, mostly WESTPAC). Congrats on entering! * Definitely set up the Roth TSP. It sounds like you've done your homework on that one. [[Unless something has changed since I was in, there are no matching contributions. 👈🏼 Wrong! S...

mokaThought

I left my Navy officer career to attend seminary full-time and seek vocational ministry. As my full-time study was ending and vocational ministry didn't pan out, various corporate recruiters became completely disinterested in my resume when they saw I was going to seminary, as that caused them to co...

mokaThought

Freeze AMD. Thanks!

If one of you could report another instance of food poisoning at Chipotle (CMG), that would be helpful as well.

mokaThought

There is a active debate on what a passive commodities strategy would look like, and how such a fund would should fit into portfolio building. I personally think that commodities is a high skill asset class. I'll be interested to see how exactly they manage this. It seems "easy" enough to construct...

mokaThought

I was lucky to discover the problems with FirstCommand early on in my own investing life. My parents (also military) had been with them in the USPA&IRA days, and they had kept my college fund in 100% stocks in FDESX (Fidelity Destiny) not only all the way until my entry into college but even all the...

mokaThought

Now most of the market is not participating in price discovery. Price discovery is expensive and we passive investors are basically free riding. Less money spent on price discovery means prices are less correct. I think we already started seeing the effects of this. There are probably a greater num...

mokaThought

calculon11 wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 08, 2019 3:28 pm
Just get a Moka pot.

Endorsed.

mokaThought

It seems Vanguard is going to keep reducing ETFs fees (because they are cheaper to mantain) https://www.etf.com/sections/index-investor-corner/vanguard-etfs-or-mutual-funds So I wonder if in a matter of years MFs will disapear completely Purchase $200 worth of VTI at the opening bell today and let ...

mokaThought

I have held VGSLX in my IRA for over 10 years. If you want to overweight real estate (REITs) in your portfolio, VGSLX or VNQ are perfectly fine funds. Personally, I hold them for their extra diversification benefit, but have to admit, I do like the yield. Glad you brought that up. The high yield co...

mokaThought

1) I discovered Bogleheads after learning about index funds in Money magazine and realizing that my FirstCommand financial advisor was ripping me off. Indeed, if compounding interest really is the eighth wonder of the world, high fees are utter tyranny. 2) It's important to understand one's own pers...

mokaThought

Currently, he is trading them in his 401k :shock: which I just found out about. Speaking as a theological type who's had some marriage counseling training, that's potentially more of a counseling situation than a financial one, imho. Aside from that, you might find agreement in keeping individual s...

mokaThought

I have VGSLX (Admiral Shares) and a 401(k) version as "10%" of stocks" in my tax-advantaged retirement accounts. I recently brought it down from having crept up to about 13%. Part of that was having overweighted VGSLX up to $10,000 in order to get the Admiral Shares expense ratio. I may go back to h...

mokaThought

"If I sell while the investment is down, don't I lose money?"

No, you've already lost the money. That's the present value of your investment.

---

If your portfolio is 50% stocks and 50% bonds, and the stock market goes down 50%, how much of your portfolio have you lost?

"50%?"

No, try again.

mokaThought

Is it just me, or is the standings spreadsheet broken?

mokaThought

I opened this thread thinking that my SE might count as a "5s" in this regard, but apparently not. I paid about $500 for my SE almost three years ago, and it's served me well. Here's to another two or three years, as I'm rather cheap.

mokaThought

Any bogleheads any diet wisdom? I've always been disciplined with saving money but can't seem to apply the same discipline to my diet. I have tried weight watchers, Jenny Craig, beach body, keto, my fitness pal...I lack discipline and get hungry. Just this week I decided to start eating the same th...

mokaThought

I've been able to find at least some kind of TurboTax Online discount for each of the last few years. It used to be through Vanguard. Last couple of years were through Teamsters, if I recall correctly.

mokaThought

Besides echoing the above, I will warn from experience to make sure that you have all of your Vanguard tax documents before filing your income tax return. I received some Vanguard statements in February of last year ("classic" taxable and "classic" Roth IRA) and filed very soon thereafter. Then I r...

mokaThought

Besides echoing the above, I will warn from experience to make sure that you have all of your Vanguard tax documents before filing your income tax return. I received some Vanguard statements in February of last year ("classic" taxable and "classic" Roth IRA) and filed very soon thereafter. Then I re...

mokaThought

Lots of helpful responses. Thanks, all! To answer the justified "What are you trying to do?" questions, I'm about 85/15 stocks/bonds in a self-owned brokerage account with VTI, VXUS, VNQ, and BIV. We're planning on moving the shares over to separate UTMAs for the kiddos when the timing is right. My ...

mokaThought

I hope my perception of biting sarcasm in your response is false. Of the major investment-grade corporate bond funds, the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCIT) is the riskiest to own. This $18 billion fund yields 3.6% (TTM, or trailing 12 months) but has a dangerous mix of assets. VCI...

mokaThought

https://apple.news/AUkltT2EMQiqVPQqKEC2HPw

I've been thinking of going beyond BIV into VCIT for the bond portion of my kids' college savings account (kids are 4, 2, and 7mo, fwiw), but this has me balking. I like the 30-day yield, but...eek. Thoughts?

mokaThought

Here is the spreadsheet with the current contest status: Current standings - 2019 hedge fund contest Please double check and see if your fund looks correct. If you click on the name of the fund, you should be able to see the performance of your various picks since the start of the year (which isn't...

mokaThought

The last time I meaningfully interacted with USAA as a customer, they turned us down for what should have been an easy vehicle loan. Our being on G.I. Bill income at the time made the situation complex to explain, but USAA is supposed to be that company that understands military situations, so I was...

mokaThought

Recent international performance has tempted me to change out of my general 70/30 allocation, but that would be called "performance chasing," no? Kiddo college fund is in ETFs. I'm buying a share of VXUS this week to get the college stock allocation closer to 70/30, but we have plenty of time to go....

mokaThought

2586.05

mokaThought

Petulant Hamster Investments

Long:
AMD — Advanced Micro Devices
BRK.B — Berkshire Hathaway
COST — Costco

Short:
FB — Facebook
CMG — Chipotle
JNJ — Johnson & Johnson

I know. No editing after the 9th.

Bogleheads.org

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Re: Purchasing Major Appliances from Costco

Re: New Camry Questions

Re: 2019 Hedge Fund Contest

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Pre-Military Seeking Investment Planning

Re: Has anyone down-shifted in their career?

Re: 2019 Hedge Fund Contest

Re: Vanguard Announces Plans to Launch Commodities Fund

Re: Leaving First Command Tax Repercussions

Re: Passive investing now controls nearly half the US stock market

Re: Espresso Maker 2019

Re: Are Vanguard Mutual Funds dying?

Re: Thoughts on VNQ?

Re: Pushing the frontier of behavioral finance

Re: Spouse wants to buy individual stocks

Re: Thoughts on VNQ?

Re: Most NON obvious thing for new investors

Re: 2019 Hedge Fund Contest

Re: Confirm that IPhone 5s Won't Work on Verizon Network as of Late 2019?

Re: Disciplined with finances, but not so with diet

Re: Tax filing software

Re: Vanguard accounts

Re: Vanguard accounts

Re: Opinion: Half of investment-grade bonds are only one step away from junk status

Re: Opinion: Half of investment-grade bonds are only one step away from junk status

Opinion: Half of investment-grade bonds are only one step away from junk status

Re: 2019 Hedge Fund Contest

Re: USAA apology letter?

Re: International Funds Still Relevant in a Simple Portfolio?

Re: REGISTRATION FOR 2019 BOGLEHEAD CONTEST

Re: 2019 Hedge Fund Contest