Search found 88 matches

by stefan_lec
Thu Feb 15, 2024 8:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car recommendations for daily driver
Replies: 26
Views: 1755

Re: Car recommendations for daily driver

A used Chevy Bolt or Bolt EUV might work well here. We got a 2022 Bolt EUV with 40k miles on it a month ago for only $20K (after the $4K rebate). It's got 240 miles of range, comfy seats, wireless Apple carplay & android auto, and a wireless phone charging pocket. We've really been enjoying it.

If we had to drive super long distances really often, or didn't have access to an L2 charger at least a couple nights a week, we'd have gone with a used Toyota Camry Hybrid (not plugin, just regular hybrid). They get about 52 mpg for both city and highway. They're a bit pricier than a Bolt though - KBB estimates a 2022 Camry Hybrid will set you back about $28K.
by stefan_lec
Wed Feb 07, 2024 3:06 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: EV Charging Station at Home
Replies: 48
Views: 3469

Re: EV Charging Station at Home

Responses to other stuff: 1) Agree with earlier poster that said hardwired is actually detrimental. 14-30 or 14-50 NEMA outlets are standard, and having a plug makes it easy to replace your charger if it breaks, or take it with you if you sell the house. Would you hardwire your dryer? Same tradeoffs, really. 2) How much charging amperage do you need? Let's assume you charge every night for ten hours. There's no convenience issue with this - plugging in the car when you get out takes like 5 seconds, it's no harder than plugging in your cell phone at night. Typical vehicle efficiencies: Small Car: 4 mi / kWh Med SUV: 3 mi / kWh 40A charger (50A circuit): 9.6 kW for 10 hrs = 96 kWh Car: 384 miles added SUV: 288 miles added 24A charger (30A cir...
by stefan_lec
Wed Feb 07, 2024 2:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: EV Charging Station at Home
Replies: 48
Views: 3469

Re: EV Charging Station at Home

Option E: 14-30 adapter $20 +1 You should definitely start with this. Almost certainly it will be fine. If you find that it isn't sufficient, then and only then should you consider a different option. From what I’ve read, this is advised against because adapters are a point of failure long term, and it’s easy to forget to set the charge rate to a lower value in the vehicle. One of the safety functions of an EVSE is the control signal that it sends to the vehicle to limit amps drawn. By lying to the EVSE, it then lies to the EV claiming that up to 40A can be drawn. So then there’s a resulting danger zone from 25 to 30 amps where my breaker would not trip, but wiring/receptacle/adapter’s continuous load capacity is exceeded. We have a Grizzl...
by stefan_lec
Thu Sep 14, 2023 2:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Home security system...low tech.
Replies: 14
Views: 2076

Re: Home security system...low tech.

Our low tech security solution was to put a metal plate on the door jamb with extra-long screws so it's much harder to kick open. We bought from this place:

https://armorconcepts.com/

That ran us about $80 a few years back (now $100). For a low-budget alternative, you can just replace the short screws in your strikeplate with 3" long ones from the hardware store. That secures it to the main structure of your house, instead of just the (relatively) flimsy frame around the door.
by stefan_lec
Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [resolved] Should I buy a car to drive 100 miles a month?
Replies: 96
Views: 7858

Re: Should I buy a car to drive 100 miles a month?

beachtech wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:02 pm I have a used 2011 Honda CR-Z Hybrid, which I paid $5k for back in 2017. Since then it has needed:
Off topic: wow, $5k for a 6 year old Honda was a phenomenal deal, and a hybrid on top of that? Where did you find this?

If you're tired of it, you might want to look into selling. I just did a quick search and these are selling right now anywhere from $7K to $12K, depending on mileage. You could actually make a profit on it, even after driving it for 6 years. :beer
by stefan_lec
Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: [resolved] Should I buy a car to drive 100 miles a month?
Replies: 96
Views: 7858

Re: Should I buy a car to drive 100 miles a month?

wow, thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts! We test drove the car today and now we are exhausted from talking to the car dealership. I want to add a few points to address some of your questions - 1. I don't live in downtown Boston. We are ~10 mins walk to the metro system, ~8 mins walk to the nearest zipcar. Zipar doesn't make sense because it is more expensive than ubering for me. 2. The gym classes are already the ones near me. My options are getting on the T to go into the city, or getting on highways or local back roads to leave Boston to go to the cheaper gyms. 3. I have tried working out at home but going to classes helps me socialize more, which has been helpful for my mental health. 3. I currently go 3 times a week, and mayb...
by stefan_lec
Tue Sep 05, 2023 12:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Designing health and retirement benefits for small remote company?

Second, retirement . I'm assuming some sort of company 401(k) is the way to go. With some sort of match depending on what they can negotiate. I have more experience here having seen my wife being forced into a crummy high-fee plan by a previous employer. So is there some best way for a small company to do this from the employee's perspective? What would be the three best companies for my daughter to propose her employer use if she is going to actually make a proposal? Look into a SIMPLE IRA. A company can open one for free with Fidelity, and they have minimal ongoing effort for compliance (just need to email out two boilerplate informational forms once a year to employees). You get access to Fidelity's dirt-cheap mutual funds, and the tiny...
by stefan_lec
Wed Aug 23, 2023 9:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Vanguard has blocked/blacklisted my home IP address
Replies: 206
Views: 16861

Re: Vanguard has blocked/blacklisted my home IP address

Off topic, but important.. Yes it is. The largest risk is a man-in-the-middle attack. Using a VPN will a mitigate that risk. I would never login to anything sensitive over public networks without a VPN. This piece of often parroted advice about the "dangers" of public wifi is basically wrong. It was right not that long ago, but it's now wrong. Modern browsers have solved this problem for any site that chooses to use SSL with HSTS -- Vanguard included. If you have accessed Vanguard in the last 6 months on your browser, you will not be susceptible to an MITM attack, unless you deliberately click through some very scary warnings. This is very useful to know, thanks! I've advised people to avoid public wifi too, but after some resear...
by stefan_lec
Mon Aug 21, 2023 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best EV or PHEV
Replies: 96
Views: 8884

Re: Best EV or PHEV

Wondering if folks here have found EVs or pHEVs to be financially rational? It's worked out quite well for us as a second car. We bought a used 2015 Leaf SV back in May 2021, and to date we've put about 2/3 of our household's driving miles on it. Other 1/3 is on our 2011 Accord LX. Here's the numbers: Cost of EV: $11,900 ($13,000 with tax tag & title) Current cost of gas: $3.75 / gal Current cost of power: $0.168 / kwh Last month we used 240 kwh during charging to drive about 960 mi (4 mi/kwh), which cost about $40. Assuming 25 mpg for city driving (generous, the Accord used to only get a bit better than 20), that would've cost $144. So we saved about $104 last month. That's pretty close to our typical monthly usage, so I'd estimate we...
by stefan_lec
Tue Aug 01, 2023 3:40 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: EV: Regular Outlet or Install 220v/50a?
Replies: 70
Views: 5287

Re: EV: Regular Outlet or Install 220v/50a?

Another option is to use the electrical dryer outlet (if you have one) in your garage. Dryer outlets are usually NEMA 10-30 or NEMA 14-30 and provide 24 Amps at 220-240. Most L2 EVSEs are NEMA 14-50 (40 Amps). I have a smart switch which powers the dryer OR charges the car, but I can't publicly recommend it since it's not UL (Underwriters' Laboratory) listed. My model is NEMA 10-30 to 10-30/14-50 which is going from a lower power receptacle to a higher power one so is not allowed even though the switcher is limited to 24 Amps. Do not buy a "hot-hot" splitter which can overload the outlet. Alternative smart switch that's UL listed: https://getneocharge.com/products/neocharge-smart-splitter We use one of these on the 10-30 dryer ou...
by stefan_lec
Fri Jun 23, 2023 11:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Plug in hybrid - your experience?
Replies: 81
Views: 8319

Re: Plug in hybrid - your experience?

02nz- the Volvo guy said new batteries cost $20k. my husband’s new transmission was only $4k, and thst was the most expensive repair we’ve ever done. if the batteries really only last 8-10 years, that limits the lifespan of the car for me. If someone tells you the batteries only last 8-10 years you should question their intelligence. Oh wow... sometimes it's not that deep. Their intelligence may not be relevant to their opinion or their own experience with hybrid battery. A quick google search: average 5-10 years, 100k miles. https://bumblebeebatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/hybridvehicles.jpg https://www.braunability.com/us/en/blog/mobility-solutions/how-long-do-hybrid-batteries-last.html#:~:text=Hybrid%20Battery%20Life%20Expectan...
by stefan_lec
Thu Jun 15, 2023 9:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New Bolt EV owner looking for an L2 home charger
Replies: 21
Views: 1777

Re: New Bolt EV owner looking for an L2 home charger

We recently bought a Grizzl-e charger - gets good reviews, UL listed. You can get one new on Amazon for $399, or refurbished through their website for $299 plus $20 shipping.

It's configurable for either 16A, 24A, 32A, or 40A (for 20A, 30A, 40A or 50A circuits, respectively). Uses a NEMA 14-50 plug, or can be hardwired if you choose.

https://unitedchargers.com/products/gri ... lassic-ref

We had a $200 24A splitvolt charger that recently died on us after only 2 years, so we wanted to spend a little more to get something higher quality.
by stefan_lec
Mon Jun 12, 2023 5:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Mercedes, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Toyota, Subaru, VW join Tesla
Replies: 178
Views: 30729

Re: Ford and GM EVs (and other EVs?) switching to Tesla chargers

Note that the CCS used in Europe (CCS2) is both physically and electrically incompatible with the CCS used in North America (CCS1). So even if we didn't switch to NACS, car manufacturers would still be installing different equipment for NA and Europe. CCS1 is the same as CCS2 except that it drops support for three-phase AC charging. Three-phase home charging is a thing in the EU that you don't see in the U.S. which only supports single-phase AC. In addition to the NA standard not supporting 3-phase, the plugs are not physically compatible. See here for a visual comparison: https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/QzzYN/s3/ccs-combo-ccs1-and-css2-fast-charging-plugs-and-inlets-phoenix-contact.webp Source article: https://insideevs.com/news/488143/...
by stefan_lec
Mon Jun 12, 2023 3:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Mercedes, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Toyota, Subaru, VW join Tesla
Replies: 178
Views: 30729

Re: Ford and GM EVs (and other EVs?) switching to Tesla chargers

Looks like General Motors is joining the NACS party! General Motors Doubles Down on Commitment to a Unified Charging Standard and Expands Charging Access to Tesla Supercharger Network I am a happy ID4 owner and I think this is great news. I hope VW follows suit. VW and other manufacturers will fall in line (in North America market) after GM announcement. Too capital intensive to build a competing network out when Tesla/Ford/GM represents close to 75% of BEV sales. One complication with VW is that they have a vested interest in the largest of the non Tesla FCDC networks, Electrify America. Exactly. VW put millions into EA as a penalty for diesel-gate. Another complication is that the EuroZone has mandated CCS. Ideally, a manufacturer would ...
by stefan_lec
Fri Jun 09, 2023 10:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best East coast beach town to live in
Replies: 93
Views: 12073

Re: Best East coast beach town to live in

For Florida, look at beach communities near Jacksonville (northeast corner of state): St Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Jax Beach, Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island.

Beautiful, less busy than many other better-known coastal regions of Florida, and historically has the least hurricane risk of them all (though it's far from zero).
by stefan_lec
Sun May 07, 2023 10:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ACA insurance for early retirement
Replies: 82
Views: 10166

Re: ACA insurance for early retirement

Ah, I see the issue, Florida Blue's website classifies those two plans as PPO's, but healthcare.gov classifies them as EPO's. I do know those plans (BlueSelect and BlueOptions) allow out-of-network claims, though at a reduced amount of coverage compared to in-network. If it helps the OP any, I had BlueOptions in both Duval and Alachua counties and had no problems with provider availability in either location - even the Mayo Clinic hospital in Jax is in-network for BlueOptions. BlueSelect was much iffier. OK. that explains it. Do you recall if your BCBS plan was a part of of the BlueCard network? That is important if you need out of area coverage. Your ID cards would have had a logo of a suitcase with the letters PPO inside it. Yep, just ch...
by stefan_lec
Sun May 07, 2023 10:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ACA insurance for early retirement
Replies: 82
Views: 10166

Re: ACA insurance for early retirement

Ah, I see the issue, Florida Blue's website classifies those two plans as PPO's, but healthcare.gov classifies them as EPO's.

I do know those plans (BlueSelect and BlueOptions) allow out-of-network claims, though at a reduced amount of coverage compared to in-network.

If it helps the OP any, I had BlueOptions in both Duval and Alachua counties and had no problems with provider availability in either location - even the Mayo Clinic hospital in Jax is in-network for BlueOptions. BlueSelect was much iffier.
by stefan_lec
Sun May 07, 2023 9:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Convenience of Urgent care vs. hassle of primary care physcian?
Replies: 83
Views: 8858

Re: Convenience of Urgent care vs. hassle of primary care physcian?

I recently left my concierge practice physician, due to the cost ($3,800 a year for my wife and I, not a "little more money" in our family). Ours is substantially cheaper and definitely more “direct primary care” than concierge Almost 10 years ago we used One Medical in DC and found them very pleasant Same here, our subscription is $600 a year per person. There are two other competitors in our smallish FL city that offer rates around $800 a year per person. Same experience with being able to email or text the doctor and get an almost immediate response. Have been able to get appointments within a day or two, too. I *love* direct primary care, don't ever want to go back to the old model. This site is pretty good for finding practi...
by stefan_lec
Sun May 07, 2023 9:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: ACA insurance for early retirement
Replies: 82
Views: 10166

Re: ACA insurance for early retirement

marcopolo wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 7:06 pm 2) The second issue, often discussed in other threads, is the availability of wide networks, or out of network coverage, that usually accompany a PPO plan. Florida appears to only provide access to HMO or EPO type plans that can, in some cases, restrict (often severely) the options you have for where you can get your care.
Not sure why people think this, Florida Blue offers several different levels of PPO plan (BlueSelect and BlueOptions) through ACA. My family was insured under one of those plans up until last month, actually. Cost was reasonable after subsidy, and all the local hospitals and urgent care providers were covered.

https://www.floridablue.com/individuals ... s/products
by stefan_lec
Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:41 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1204022

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

For my own edification, I put together a comparison of historical I-bond rates versus high-yield savings accounts (HYSA), 1-year treasury bond yield-to-market, and 5-year treasury bond yield-to-market. Thought I'd post it because it looked pretty interesting. I sampled rates for the various account types at the beginning of May and November each year, then averaged the two rates together to get a yearly rate (helps smooth out the noise). I-bonds were definitely worth it! Here's the graph: https://i.imgur.com/6MGrvbL.png EDIT: fixed a bug caused by doubling the fixed component of the I-bond return, as described by #Cruncher below. Caveats: * This neglects any interest penalties from selling the I-bond before 5 yrs. However, these are fairly...
by stefan_lec
Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)
Replies: 6651
Views: 1204022

Re: I Bonds Mega Thread (I Bond Heads Rejoice!)

For my own edification, I put together a comparison of historical I-bond rates versus high-yield savings accounts (HYSA), 1-year treasury bond yield-to-market, and 5-year treasury bond yield-to-market. Thought I'd post it because it looked pretty interesting. I sampled rates for the various account types at the beginning of May and November each year, then averaged the two rates together to get a yearly rate (helps smooth out the noise). I-bonds were definitely worth it! Here's the graph: https://i.imgur.com/6MGrvbL.png EDIT: fixed a bug caused by doubling the fixed component of the I-bond return, as described by #Cruncher below. Caveats: * This neglects any interest penalties from selling the I-bond before 5 yrs. However, these are fairly...
by stefan_lec
Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are there any "philosophers" here to help develop our investment philosophy?
Replies: 130
Views: 11549

Re: Are there any "philosophers" here to help develop our investment philosophy?

Without education and training the mind is wild, self-indulgent, full of half-baked notions, and scarcely self-aware. Same for emotions and values. Uneducated, they lay about with whatever weapon is at hand. The seven liberal arts for training the mind (for the Greeks/Romans) were grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The four cardinal virtues for training the feelings and the values were prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Christianity added the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The idea was to be educated in all respects. Whether Thinking or Feeling, it would be possible to do the good and avoid the evil. Are you separating thinking from feeling? I think we have to, don't we?...
by stefan_lec
Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are there any "philosophers" here to help develop our investment philosophy?
Replies: 130
Views: 11549

Re: Are there any "philosophers" here to help develop our investment philosophy?

And a portion of an Abstract on Plato vs. Aristotle on emotion: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-6967-0_29 Without education and training the mind is wild, self-indulgent, full of half-baked notions, and scarcely self-aware. Same for emotions and values. Uneducated, they lay about with whatever weapon is at hand. The seven liberal arts for training the mind (for the Greeks/Romans) were grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The four cardinal virtues for training the feelings and the values were prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Christianity added the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The idea was to be educated in all respects. Whether Thinking or Feeling, ...
by stefan_lec
Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How are you funding withdrawals from your portfolio in retirement?
Replies: 77
Views: 10043

Re: How are you funding withdrawals from your portfolio in retirement?

I've done all the work, saved all the money, decided on a SWR--and now comes the hard(er?) part of figuring out what to sell and when. So I'm real interested to hear what other people are doing before I commit. I'll be withdrawing from my portfolio in early 2024 and want to make sure I've got enough time to tweak it. I'll be an early-ish retiree (49) so I'm only focused on taxable. Unfortunately, being in a taxable account means crushing tax implications from liquidating and going to an LMP, so right now, I'm leaning towards a mix of the following: Taking Dividends and Interest in cash (funds about 40% of my SWR) Consume (not roll over) bonds/zeros maturing over the next decade (will be lumpy, but some years will cover about 50% of SWR) Sl...
by stefan_lec
Sun Nov 20, 2022 9:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Requesting your opinion on investing in VTI or VOO or VXUS/IXUS
Replies: 29
Views: 2669

Re: Requesting your opinion on investing in VTI or VOO or VXUS/IXUS

Whatever balance is the optimum, anything you look at and chart--such as volatility--against US/international allocation--is wide and shallow. There isn't any sharp peak. It isn't credible that 40% international is way way better than 30%. Thanks nisiprius, awesome contribution! One minor quibble: current world market cap with VT isn't 50/50, it's 61.7% US, 38.3% international, as of 10/31/2022. Given that, do you still feel holding a fixed Int'l allocation that's only 10% or so different is worth it, since it doesn't end up mattering all that much in practice? Global market cap seems much simpler to recommend and reason about, even if it's not optimal - which I fully acknowledge. I don't think it will perform much different than a fixed a...
by stefan_lec
Sat Nov 19, 2022 10:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Requesting your opinion on investing in VTI or VOO or VXUS/IXUS
Replies: 29
Views: 2669

Re: Requesting your opinion on investing in VTI or VXUS/IXUS

Also, if you want to dig into the data on this some more, this is the most helpful info I found a few years back:

1. Long term US vs Int'l Market Cap
Image

Note: this only goes up through 2017. As of 2022, the US is back up to around 60% market cap, similar to what was seen back in the 1960's.

2. Siamond's detailed articles on home-market vs global-market strategies

https://www.bogleheads.org/blog/2020/03 ... ld-part-1/

https://www.bogleheads.org/blog/2020/03 ... ld-part-2/

https://www.bogleheads.org/blog/2020/03 ... ld-part-3/
by stefan_lec
Sat Nov 19, 2022 10:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Requesting your opinion on investing in VTI or VOO or VXUS/IXUS
Replies: 29
Views: 2669

Re: Requesting your opinion on investing in VTI or VXUS/IXUS

This is a very hotly debated question on here, with many strong opinions. Bear in mind that no one on here (or anywhere, really) has the slightest idea how US or Int'l will compare over your 60 year investing lifetime. Even guesses of just the next 10 years are wildly inaccurate, much less 60. I'd recommend VT (world market cap weight) by default - this is currently about 60% US / 40% Int'l. Use this as your starting point - you can think of it as (roughly) the global consensus on how to hedge your bets between US and Int'l. Then, consider how far away you want to tilt from this allocation, why, and whether it's worth the extra effort. If you have a strong reason to tilt away from global market cap, that you can stick with through thick and...
by stefan_lec
Wed Nov 16, 2022 2:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I Bonds for Young Adults - Make Sense?
Replies: 33
Views: 3913

Re: I Bonds for Young Adults - Make Sense?

A young person has no need for bonds other than as an emergency fund. Don’t young adults still buy cars, get married, buy homes, and have children? When I was a young adult these were all financial outlays that were ahead of me. Yes, exactly. People in their 20's and 30's have a lot of short- to medium-term needs that traditionally have been met by putting money in savings accounts. I-bonds are unequivocally better for this purpose. Marketable bonds aren't a particularly good comparison here - should be comparing I-bonds to high-yield savings or 1-year CD's. As far as I can tell from my personal digging on the subject, I-bonds have been a better deal than those options, or at least a wash, for almost all of the past two decades. I am in my...
by stefan_lec
Sat Nov 05, 2022 4:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: I know you can't time the market, But
Replies: 90
Views: 11368

Re: I know you can't time the market, But

Thanks for the info, just to be clear, I just retired, all of my retirement money(other then my pension) has been released to me (leave buyouts, DROP). The "Savings" account I speak of is not a real savings account, but a general fund that is not invested but pays 3% interest. All of the money is in an IRA. I don't think this changes any of the advise given here. I will be posting soon asking for help with my AA and if I should move my IRA to another company. You should wait to decide this question until you figure out what AA you'll be comfortable with. I'd focus on that first, and just let the money sit for now. In fact, you can use this situation to your advantage when deciding your AA - at what ratio of stocks and bonds would...
by stefan_lec
Sun Sep 25, 2022 9:16 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Global bonds a good idea?
Replies: 23
Views: 2406

Re: Global bonds a good idea?

My strategy is to assume maximum geographical diversification as the default choice, unless given a compelling reason not to, for both stocks and bonds.

So, I use global bonds (BNDW), mostly just because I couldn't think of any good reason to restrict things to US bonds (BND) instead. They only differ in cost by 3 basis points, and perform about the same (with maybe a slight edge to BNDW). So why slice 'n dice?

However, where there is a US-only product like I-bonds that does provide a meaningful benefit, I have no qualms about putting my fixed-income money there in place of BNDW.
by stefan_lec
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:03 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Foreign stocks are cheaper
Replies: 94
Views: 11135

Re: Foreign stocks are cheaper

Feels like I'm seeing more market timing threads than usual on here. Maybe we should track the number of market timing threads on Bogleheads, and see if it would work as an indicator for market timing?

Seems like it'd have better odds of being predicitive than any of the suggestions I've seen so far. At least it'd be based on info that the entire world doesn't already have... :beer
by stefan_lec
Sun Sep 18, 2022 2:10 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do you use a password manager?
Replies: 361
Views: 34135

Re: Do you use a password manager?

Hmm...so anyone have any thoughts, other than the goodies provided by the stand-alone password managers, about whether there is any difference between the Google Chrome password manager vs the standalone ones such as 1password? I'm interested in opinions purely from a security point of view. Are the strong passwords generated better? Is the safety provided better in some other way? Does the password manager built into Chrome allow you to save additional secure notes along with the password? Being able to make up random answers to security questions and save them alongside your password improves security quite a bit. Another thing to consider is phone apps - a standalone password manager can autofill passwords in your phone apps, which is p...
by stefan_lec
Sun Sep 18, 2022 1:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: To international stock or not to international stock
Replies: 154
Views: 15828

Re: To international stock or not to international stock

Also, this plot is pretty helpful to get a sense of how variable US market cap really is over the decades. It gets copied around all the endless Int'l threads, not sure if you've seen it already:

Image
by stefan_lec
Sun Sep 18, 2022 1:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: To international stock or not to international stock
Replies: 154
Views: 15828

Re: To international stock or not to international stock

I'm a 3-fund portfolio investor with small-cap-value tilt, buying and holding, not panicking at all during these times. It's portfolio rebalancing time for me, and I see that my international stock fund (VTIAX) expectedly dropped more than other funds in my portfolio (VTSAX, VSIAX, VTEAX). So, I will buy VTIAX. My IPS says this for this year: - 48% VTSAX (US stock fund) - 24% VTIAX (International stock fund) - 24% VSIAX (Small-cap-value fund) - 4% VTEAX (Intermediate tax-exempt muni bond fund) Forgetting about other funds, and only focusing on the ratio of VTIAX in my portfolio: Is 24% VTIAX high in my portfolio? Checking this now, because it came up before rebalancing. I know Bogle only invested in US, and I know there are other topics on...
by stefan_lec
Sat Aug 20, 2022 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How safe is email when "they" can insert ads into it?
Replies: 17
Views: 1780

Re: How safe is email when "they" can insert ads into it?

If you wouldn't write something on a postcard and mail it, don't put it in an email either.

Unless you and your recipient are both using the same encrypted email service (like Proton), email has the same level of security as a postcard.
by stefan_lec
Tue Aug 16, 2022 2:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Long(ish) term storage for computer files?
Replies: 66
Views: 5239

Re: Long(ish) term storage for computer files?

Also, I'd be very cautious about trusting safe deposit boxes. They're not actually a very reliable way to store stuff, stories about banks losing the contents are pretty common, either through theft, negligence, or losing records in corporate takeovers. The bank isn't held liable for the loss, either. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/safe-deposit-box-theft.html That article was discussed at length in another thread. Somewhat a FUD clickbait article and what is the chance of my house burning down AND the very rare event my 30+ year old safety deposit box becomes compromised in the same year? You say stories are "pretty common" but the only thing I ever see cited is the same ole' 2019 NYT article. True, it's not a huge r...
by stefan_lec
Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Long(ish) term storage for computer files?
Replies: 66
Views: 5239

Re: Long(ish) term storage for computer files?

Also, I'd be very cautious about trusting safe deposit boxes. They're not actually a very reliable way to store stuff, stories about banks losing the contents are pretty common, either through theft, negligence, or losing records in corporate takeovers. The bank isn't held liable for the loss, either.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/busi ... theft.html
by stefan_lec
Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Long(ish) term storage for computer files?
Replies: 66
Views: 5239

Re: Long(ish) term storage for computer files?

Another vote for cloud storage - we use Dropbox, with 2fa and a complicated password stored in Bitwarden. Then we have it set up to sync local copies to our laptops as well.

For something small like tax return PDF's, you probably don't even need to pay a monthly fee. So you're getting enterprise-class security and distributed, backed-up storage for the low low price of $0. It's not really worth it to try to roll your own solution, IMHO.

If you're extra security paranoid, you can encrypt the files locally before uploading them. This can be done for free with 7-Zip (https://www.7-zip.org/), a free archive utility that has excellent AES-256 encryption as an option.
by stefan_lec
Thu Jul 21, 2022 12:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: US vs Int stock allocation
Replies: 462
Views: 38716

Re: US vs Int stock allocation

1. Long-term US vs Int'l Market Cap http://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-22-at-9.11.22-AM.png THIS IS THE PICTURE I WAS LOOKING FOR! If you look USA is moderately constant in the modern era. I found this reaction kind of surprising. If dropping by half over the course of two decades and then doubling over three is moderately constant, what would it have to do to be considered variable? Meaning - all the bands stay pretty constant except USA went down as Japan went up meaning that period USA went down wasn’t “international” but rather specifically Japan. So one of the reasons I don’t invest in international when people talk about the different periods where USA was better and other times where international was...
by stefan_lec
Wed Jul 20, 2022 8:38 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: US vs Int stock allocation
Replies: 462
Views: 38716

Re: US vs Int stock allocation

Here's the most helpful information I was able to find back when I was evaluating this same question a couple years ago: 1. Long-term US vs Int'l Market Cap http://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-02-22-at-9.11.22-AM.png Note: this only goes up through 2017. US market cap in 2022 as a percentage of the world is getting up near the previous high set back in the 1960's (US is about 60% right now). Key takeaway: the talking point that the world moves in lockstep with the US stock market is just not true - if it was, the US's share of world market cap would be constant. But it is very clearly not constant. It has risen from 30% all the way up to 60% just in the past 30 years, and it dropped by a similar amount in the dec...
by stefan_lec
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommend PHEV or EV Commuter
Replies: 49
Views: 5048

Re: Recommend PHEV or EV Commuter

We have a 2015 Leaf SV - the battery degradation was fixed halfway through the 2014 model year. Great for short range city driving, has around 70 miles of range now (originally was 84).

I see them available on Carvana in Columbia MD for 15k-18k, more than 30k for a leaf seems kind of ridiculous.

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2343716
by stefan_lec
Wed Mar 09, 2022 10:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Considering a Nissan Leaf for a commuter
Replies: 58
Views: 6831

Re: Considering a Nissan Leaf for a commuter

2015 Leaf SL owner here (24 kWh battery, 4.2 miles / kWh observed efficiency). Have been using it for local driving in Florida for about a year now. Some thoughts: * The Leaf isn't small, I'm a fairly big guy and I find it comfortable. People sometimes assume EV==smart car, but it's not true. * Have not observed more than a couple miles of range loss from use of either A/C or heat - call it 2% or 3%, if that? Our Leaf has a heat pump, and it doesn't typically get cold enough in North Florida to force it to use resistance heating. Maybe if you're up in the mountains it might be more of an issue? * Quoted ranges are pretty accurate unless you're an aggressive driver, for in city driving and highway up to about 55mph. At sustained speeds over ...
by stefan_lec
Sun Feb 06, 2022 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.
Replies: 48
Views: 5544

Re: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.

I get that argument when discussing a person who's still in the accumulation stage, but I'm not sure I really see it for someone doing withdrawals Even in retirement, most people have (or should have) funds which are earning money. I was pointing out that the formulas you posted for your situation fail to account for the earnings you lost on the $125k you no longer have in your portfolio. Not only is your portfolio reduced, but the earning power of your portfolio is reduced as well. Interesting. My understanding was that the 4% rule-of-thumb does take into account future growth of the portfolio? It just looks at historical worst-case, and includes sequence of returns risk, which is why it's so much lower than the average stock market retur...
by stefan_lec
Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.
Replies: 48
Views: 5544

Re: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.

JoeRetire wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:50 pm You not only used up $125k, you used the returns that your $125k could have earned if invested.
I get that argument when discussing a person who's still in the accumulation stage, but I'm not sure I really see it for someone doing withdrawals, and who already has a large fixed-income allocation to allow them to weather market volatility.

The benefits of reducing sequence of returns risk, tax liability, and various tax cliffs involving health insurance seem too huge to me to be so casually dismissed, especially for an OP who's fairly conservative, at full retirement age, and has a tight budget.
by stefan_lec
Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.
Replies: 48
Views: 5544

Re: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.

In case it helps, here are the numbers that I ran for my own situation:

Remaining mortgage balance: $125K
Principal & Interest part of payment: $650/month

Amount needed in portfolio to pay principal&interest safely (using 4% rule): 300*$650=$195K

So, by paying off the mortgage for $125K, I freed up an additional $70K of portfolio dollars that I can withdraw to meet other expenses. This works out to an extra 70K*0.04=$2800 per year that I can withdraw safely after paying off the mortgage.
by stefan_lec
Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.
Replies: 48
Views: 5544

Re: On-line calcs vs forum perspectives. . . trying to understand.

No offense, but this would leave me house rich and cash poor in paying down the mortgage! Not a good idea to pay down the mortgage when you don't have enough liquid funds, which are needed in the event of a big emergency. In my state we don't get any senior property tax exemptions. Have you tried running the specific numbers on paying off the mortgage to see for sure that this would be the case? When I did this calculation with my own mortgage a few months ago, the amount of money I needed in my portfolio to pay for the mortgage with ongoing withdrawals was quite a bit higher than the remaining balance of the mortgage. So it actually reduced my required withdrawal rate to use funds from my portfolio to pay off my mortgage. Easy way to chec...
by stefan_lec
Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:00 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Hit 25x, fine to start withdrawing 3%?
Replies: 81
Views: 6917

Re: Hit 25x, fine to start withdrawing 3%?

As a SWR, 3% of portfolio is so safe that any hypothetical situation which would wreck it would probably be huge enough that no percentage would be safe. So yes, despite our ultra-ridiculously-conservative population here, taking out 3% of your current balance every once in a while should be fine. :beer

What I would question is your 25x expenses figure. If you're not including a sinking fund for cars and home repairs in your expenses, you're not really at 25x of your true expenses. You should probably include the estimated cost of health insurance coverage in there, too, if you haven't already. Might not be a huge deal, but best to have accurate numbers when planning stuff like this.
by stefan_lec
Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:10 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: -----
Replies: 235
Views: 32957

Re: Early retirement plan advice (39yo, $880k, ~3.5% withdraw)

I Bonds are best purchased at the end of the month, since you earn the same interest whether you buy it the last day of the month or the first. It may be too late to purchase them by January 31, but you can try to open and link a bank account. If the Treasury doesn't require identity paperwork to be completed you may have just enough time to buy by January 31 if you open an account today. Otherwise hold the funds in an interest bearing account until the end of the month. The difference is perhaps $4 (assuming a 0.50% savings account) but it's free money. Got it, thank you. Not sure how much I'll be able to accumulate while I try balance out different income sources and stay under certain limits, but it' seems worth doing at least for this ...
by stefan_lec
Thu Jan 27, 2022 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: -----
Replies: 235
Views: 32957

Re: Early retirement plan advice (39yo, $880k, ~3.5% withdraw)

Still here and reading it! I've added some comments where I felt it made sense but don't want to jump into every debate that arises, especially if it's not directly relevant to my situation. It's only January and I've got until the end of the year to monitor the situation and decide whether I make my first withdraws or push the start date back. Since I'm fine with it from a lifestyle standpoint (to some 30k is grim; to me it's... normal?) the biggest question is whether the markets say "go" or "no go". The only thing I can control is sticking to my budget and furthering my financial literacy. ... (2) You mentioned that it's been tricky to control your allocation percentages via combinations of target-retirement funds. O...
by stefan_lec
Thu Jan 27, 2022 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: -----
Replies: 235
Views: 32957

Re: Early retirement plan advice (39yo, $880k, ~3.5% withdraw)

Still here and reading it! I've added some comments where I felt it made sense but don't want to jump into every debate that arises, especially if it's not directly relevant to my situation. It's only January and I've got until the end of the year to monitor the situation and decide whether I make my first withdraws or push the start date back. Since I'm fine with it from a lifestyle standpoint (to some 30k is grim; to me it's... normal?) the biggest question is whether the markets say "go" or "no go". The only thing I can control is sticking to my budget and furthering my financial literacy. Really appreciate your patience with us getting distracted by stuff that doesn't apply to you! Your stated math (sub 4% withdrawa...