Bogleheads.org

jimkinny

The above but it is also possible a broker is selling these bonds above par and the 6% is actually partially a return of principle. So, maybe you buy at 104, the broker takes a slice and you get back your own 3%. Allan Roth wrote about this maybe a year ago in ARUP. I am sure others have written abo...

jimkinny

I initially kept some funds in CDs for the immediate years after I retired, before starting pensions and SS. I use a short term corporate bond fund for stuff I anticipate for a few months to a few years ahead. I try to stay below the next higher tax bracket but I am close. If I am fortunate and the ...

jimkinny

PBGC provides a lot of safety but not necessarily a 100% guarantee.

Some religious and maybe charitable institutions can opt out of PBGC. My last employer did this.

Government sources are likely the best.

jimkinny

Allan Roth has written about this. You can google him. He knows more about investing than me. He suggested in a blog posting having both. pretty simple. We do not know the future: our earnings, tax rates or tax policies re TIRA or Roths. Taxes rates and policies can be changed. The classic answer i...

jimkinny

I am no expert having used only Vanguard brokerage to buy CDs. I guess I just assumed that competitive pressures and Vanguard's ownership structure were safeguards enough. I do spend a few minutes checking out direct CD rates, but that is just a going through the motion. I would verify that whatever...

jimkinny

Allan Roth has written about this. You can google him. He knows more about investing than me. He suggested in a blog posting having both. pretty simple. We do not know the future: our earnings, tax rates or tax policies re TIRA or Roths. Taxes rates and policies can be changed. The classic answer if...

jimkinny

I like Vanguard's ownership model that has resulted in cost savings for me and other Vanguard's investors but has likely driven down the cost for investors that use other companies. I am pretty sure there is a Boglehead Wiki article that addresses the issue of the need (or lack thereof) of splitting...

jimkinny

Buy these: The Boglehead Guide to Investing and the B. Guide to Retirement. Both can be bought from Amazon as can this book: Larry Swedroe's book "The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan: Managing Your Wealth, Risk, and Investments" . This book deals a lot with the need, ability...

jimkinny

I look as often as I want. I do not want to look very often when equities are heading down. But I do look at the S&P 500 index almost every day so I pretty much know if I am down by 5-10% without looking at my actual portfolio. I do not get pleasure from a 10% decrease in equities but it does not ca...

jimkinny

1-2 months ago I noticed the 10 year Treasury was yielding about 1.8%. This was down from around 2.2% -2.3% in the fairly recent past.

Brokered CDs in the 7-10 year range have followed this trend when I last looked. I would guess direct CDs are following the trend but maybe a bargain will be offered.

jimkinny

I have used both 3 and 4 inch high density memory foam. Higher density works best for me, thicker the better. Heat build up is a potential drawback but I have found I use less covers and lower the thermostat in winter. I have not used the foam with a layer of ????? to minimize the buildup but this i...

jimkinny

Over a lifetime, delaying until you reach 3,000 will not matter. Keep it simple.

jimkinny

I am with you sierra.... That is why having a plan that you can live with when equities crash and burn is important. Trying to time the market is a losing proposition. 3 books that could be helpful are the 2 Boglehead Guide to books: Investing and Retirement. Larry Swedroe's book "The Only Guide You...

jimkinny

A good place to start for anyone is the 2 Boglehead Guide to Retirement and Guide to Investing. You can get both at Amazon. There is a lot of free information on the Boglehead Wiki. If you read from start to finish you will learn a lot but the two books are just a lot easier to read because of the o...

jimkinny

I think that the charge to freeze credit reporting info is up to each state. Some states prohibit charges for freezing and/or unfreezing based upon age or situation.

jimkinny

In another thread I had indicated that I had a problem, after converting, that had to do with a slight difference in 1099s vs statement dividend income. I converted in early Dec 2015 I did not have any conversion problem. It was my mistake. I eventually realized the supposed discrepancy had to do fo...

jimkinny

I have found that just starting to work out helps. Sometimes I tell myself I will just do one exercise or one set or pedal the bike for 5 minutes. Then, I will stop if I want. I almost always do more. It is the starting that is hard. Cardiac stuff makes me feel better than weights. I do both in abou...

jimkinny

The boglehead Wiki has a lot of information. If you read everything and understand it all, then you will pretty much know all of the facts available. In a bit easier to read format are the 2 Boglehead Guide books ( to Investment and to Retirement), available maybe at your library but for sure via Am...

jimkinny

I would suggest you reconsider using Vanguard's financial advice or read the two Goglehead Guide books to Investing and the 2nd to Retirement.

jimkinny

The premise assumes a possible cause of financial distress is "negative interest rates".

Negative interest rates are a symptom of financial/economical distress, IMO.

jimkinny

Stuff happens.

What is the guarantee of getting 6%?

If you had TIPS in a liability matching portfolio to cover your retirement years your idea would have a solid foundation.

jimkinny

...Yes, investing in index funds is much less emotional if you do it right. However, studies show that even index fund investors are subject to chasing market performance and selling at the wrong time. ... It's not just index funds alone, but the relative simplicity of passive investing vs actively...

jimkinny

Suppose I bought $10000 of a bond index fund. If feds increase interest rate to 0.5%, what will happen to my yield and the price of each share? If feds decrease rate to 0%, what happens? If feds decrease to -.25%, what happens? Thanks. Maybe nothing will happen. this stuff is market driven for the ...

jimkinny

YMCA
Most/many facilities have weight machines, free weights, racquetball courts, basketball courts,cardio,pool, many different type of classes for all ages, child care and a welcoming attitude.

jimkinny

Maybe you are one of those people who need to take a lot of risk, are willing and have the ability to do. Many people think they are in this group, until they lose, what to them is a lot of money, over 6-12 months. the most rational way to approach this is need, ability and willingness to take risk....

jimkinny

I have never had a problem and appreciate the security imposed by TD.

People/companies/gov through out the world buy and sell T Bills/Bonds.

jimkinny

I do not think much changes once one has retired. As one nears retirement I would hope that every one has got a pretty good grasp on need, ability and willingness to take risk and the marginal value of money and your own goals. I do think that if you have reached your goal, there is not a lot of rea...

jimkinny

I understand your point from a theoretical pov but a 1.5% increase in an intermediate type of treasury fund seems unimportant in the real world. I think the important case that can be made for fed gov backed bonds is illustrate by the doomsday scenario of another great depression like event. It is n...

jimkinny

Jezbro: the stock markets can go down and stay down for very long periods of time, 5-20 years. It is possible that, starting today, equity investors will lose money for the next ten years. It is much less risky to make and save more than counting on the stock markets. the lowest risk investments you...

jimkinny

If you are interested, the boglehead wiki has a good article on bonds and risks of bonds. You have to understand the risks associated with different types of bonds in order to understand performance.

jim

jimkinny

You stated larry Swedoe's position re risk showing up at wrong time. He always supports his position with data and advises to take risk in stocks. I do not know. I am likely wrong in what I am doing. I am not concerned too much with a 2008/2009 scenario. I am not going to panic and sell equities and...

jimkinny

thanks every one for sharing your knowledge.

Jim

jimkinny

Good advice.

Thanks for all of your contributions to this forum this past year.

Jim

jimkinny

I will be doing a lot of traveling over the next 2-3 months and have been reading about VPN. I could buy some hardware and get a data plan for cellular (Republic does not support a computer link to their phones/plans) but after the 2-3 months are up, hopefully not much traveling after that. So, I re...

jimkinny

Thanks for posting, nice website.

jimkinny

The Federal Reserve targets 2% inflation per year. It may be higher or lower than that, but 2% is a good starting point. If the Fed's preferred measure, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index , which is calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the Department of Commerce, and...

jimkinny

I have run into this issue in the past even though I have MM accounts for a long time. It was never important enough for me to call/message Vanguard. I generally have distributions going to MM accounts in order to simplify any tax loss harvesting opportunities. I then invest the money to a MF of my ...

jimkinny

I upgraded last week. No problems.

I like the clarity and simplicity. I had brokerage accounts in roth, tira and taxable as well as MF in all three.

jimkinny

Risk, cost and simplicity. If you buy anything other than fed gov backed bonds or insured CDs you are taking credit risk. The nice thing about a corporate bond fund is you get to choose how much credit risk you want (HY type vs investment grade type) and you are spreading the risks over a large numb...

jimkinny

Sorry to ask a dumb question, but is there a difference between "unexpected" inflation and "expected" inflation? Is that something like, say, OPEC deciding overnight to cut production in half? I can see all sorts of terrible disaster scenarios for the world economy. But if it's a more gradual rise ...

jimkinny

Although I am a total market investor, XLE, the large oil companies stocks ETF looks very appealing for that portion of the money dedicated to opportunities (Don't we all have it in our blood?) Currently yielding close to 3% and with crude oil in the mid 30s, why would this not be a long term inves...

jimkinny

I do not see much point in buying CDs that are all but guaranteed to yield less than core inflation, even though I did this 3-4 years ago. As long as you know the risks, your are free to chose the risks you want to take. I much prefer secondary market brokered CDs for my Roth and TIRA because of sim...

jimkinny

FRT15, take your time. Do not be persuaded to take more risk than you can handle. Finding out that level of risk is very difficult. I do not have the link, but rick Ferri had a blog post about a year ago that resonated with me: his recommendation was to start with a low risk level then work your way...

jimkinny

I found this interview interesting from Marketplace. What Larry Summers thinks about raising interest rates Do I understand Summers to be saying that interest rates are now so low that the Fed can't goose the economy out of a recession by lowering rates, therefore they can't risk anything that migh...

jimkinny

Not much going on this year in stocks, up 10% or so, then down 10% or so, up a few % depending on the day/week. The bond markets have also been pretty boring, thankfully. Yield bites but thankfully you are not holding a bunch of high yield junkiest bonds, just good old gov backed bonds with a bit of...

jimkinny

There are a few disadvantages. Distributions can either be funneled to settlement account or reinvested in the same fund that they came from. In the past I think you could have distributions reinvested in any Vanguard fund. I noticed another thing, when I set up a bond fund to auto reinvest dividen...

jimkinny

Cable news,opinion, entertainment needs viewers to make money.

Fear is used to keep us watching.

If CNBC focused on facts, they would not have viewers.

jimkinny

If the fed does raise rates next week, say 25 basis points how much would that affect a 100k spia and when would the payout change take effect? should I wait? I agree with the above posts but I do not assume that interests rates 5 years from now will be higher than now and also do not assume that t...

jimkinny

Hi All. I like the idea of allocating at least part of the fixed income portion of my IRA in CDs. I’ve been thinking about the best way to move forward with this strategy. I see four options – each with benefits and drawbacks. (1) Buy a ladder of brokered CDs through a brokerage account: It seems l...

jimkinny

My broker wants me to take $200K of cash and buy 5 ladder CD's, one for each of the next 5 years ($40K each), as safe component of my total investment portfolio of $900K. If interest rates go up in December, as presumed, should I now wait and then I could get more interest income for any ladder CD'...

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