Search found 35 matches

by Jack44
Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What kind of car do Bogleheads like to drive?
Replies: 470
Views: 47160

Re: What kind of car do Bogleheads like to drive?

2017 Subaru Forester (base model). Prior to purchasing the 2017, wife and I drove 2001 and 2002 Foresters respectively. Now consolidated with just one car, I guess you could say we like the Subaru Foresters.
by Jack44
Sat Dec 19, 2020 7:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who's keeping Netflix now? (price increased to $13.99)
Replies: 215
Views: 19859

Re: Who's keeping Netflix now? (price increased to $13.99)

midareff wrote: Sat Dec 19, 2020 5:12 am We are retired and in this day and age of Covid only go out for groceries and medical appointments. I don't care much about a buck or two a month which probably is about a penny or two an hour these days.
Agree wholeheartedly with midareff. We have Netflix (both streaming and dvd) and Prime. They are helping to keep us relatively sane during our Covid-19 self-quarantine.
by Jack44
Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 500 Index preferred over Total Market
Replies: 70
Views: 7211

Re: 500 Index preferred over Total Market

rgs92 wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:00 pm Taylor Larimore has called Total Stock Market the Perfect Investment. I think that says it all.
+1. Good enough for me.
by Jack44
Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:31 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Thank you Taylor!
Replies: 9
Views: 1911

Re: Thank you Taylor!

+1000!
by Jack44
Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Large emergency fund where to put
Replies: 36
Views: 5250

Re: Large emergency fund where to put

What about Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund? Seems a pretty stable and safe place to hold your cash. Not particularly looking for yield.
by Jack44
Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:01 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: U. S. Marine Corps Birthday
Replies: 57
Views: 7701

Re: U. S. Marine Corps Birthday

Ex Gator Navy guy here, late 60's, early 70,s. Happy Birthday USMC. Met so many great Marines during my time.
Semper Fi,
Jack Lee

“The battle of Iwo Island [Jima] has been won. The United States Marines, by their individual and collective courage, have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.... Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, 17 March 1945.
by Jack44
Tue Jul 17, 2018 4:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: New Vanguard Security Code Requirement [2FA: Two-factor authentication]
Replies: 204
Views: 28434

Re: New Vanguard Security Code Requirement

c.coyle wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:52 pm I gotta a [boat load --admin LadyGeek] of money sitting at Vanguard. Good for them.

Let's face it, most people aren't going to go to password managers and unique, complex 12 character passwords for each of their accounts.
[OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek] I too am glad for any extra measure of security. I don't really understand how a password manager works, but do plan to investigate using one. I am constantly amazed when I hear about security breaches at companies that should know better and anticipate attacks of this nature. I don't understand how these bad actors do what they do, but I don't want them to do it to me.
by Jack44
Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Thinking about moving to Madison, WI or Minneapolis, MN..Any advice?
Replies: 141
Views: 18266

Re: Thinking about moving to Madison, WI or Minneapolis, MN..Any advice?

For me, I think it would depend on which location offers the best ice fishing opportunities. Both seem to have an ample amount of water nearby, but Minneapolis would probably have the better climate (for sufficient ice thickness for the longer amount of time). Even now, I am pining for the coming winter and six or more inches of ice in northeast Pennsylvania.
by Jack44
Thu May 31, 2018 7:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: GEICO vs. USAA auto insurance
Replies: 59
Views: 29140

Re: GEICO vs. USAA auto insurance

USAA's Subscriber Savings Account and Senior Subscriber Savings Account may be the best loyalty bonuses that I know. Further, I have never had any problems with claims nor adjustments with USAA. They are a 'most admired' organization. Good luck & great profits! I will second the above sentiments. I have been a member for almost fifty (50) years. (Yikes). In that time, the cost has increased incrementally like everything else, but not to the point that they are not competitive. I have had USAA Insurance on both automobiles, Homeowners Insurance with umbrella coverage, a USAA Visa card, and another Visa for my wife. In that time, I have always received top-notch service on claims and rates that I still consider reasonable. I'm at the age...
by Jack44
Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What kind of car do Bogleheads like to drive?
Replies: 470
Views: 47160

Re: What kind of car do Bogleheads like to drive?

Two Subaru Foresters.....a 2001 and 2002. I like to buy cars new and run them as long as possible. Am thinking of a newer car in light of safety advances over the last 10-15 years but they both still run well. Maybe we will treat ourselves to an upgrade like a Subaru Outback this time. If I were a more successful investor (having discovered Bogle-ism late in life) I might be talking about a new Lexis or similar.
by Jack44
Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: USAA Auto Insurance?
Replies: 70
Views: 14154

Re: USAA Auto Insurance?

I have been with USAA for over 45 years since my days in the Navy (makes me feel very old). I carry both auto and homeowner's insurance with them as well as a Visa card. In all that time, I have never experienced anything but superior service at very competitive rates. Every survey I have ever read comparing insurance companies places them in the top couple of those companies compared. My take is that you simply cannot go wrong with USAA for insurance. They offer investment services through their banking arm as well, but I don't believe they equal Vanguard in that area.
by Jack44
Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Ding! Check engine light is now on. [PE10 exceeds 25]
Replies: 108
Views: 14966

Re: Ding! Check engine light is now on.

could we have a nice long-term chart showing how many of those indicators have been yellow, month by month, so that we can judge whether two out of seven is unusual? That would be cool! There isn't data for all of them going back to 1929, and I don't have time to collate all of that right now, but here are the links if you feel like putting something together: http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/statistics/dlyrates/fedrate.html http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/RECPROUSM156N?cid=33120 http://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe/ http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/us/ http://www.spindices.com/documents/additional-material/divstat-dividend-action-report.xlsx?force_download=true http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/resea...
by Jack44
Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: USAA Auto Insurance?
Replies: 70
Views: 14154

Re: USAA Auto Insurance?

I've been with USAA for over 45 years for both home and auto and would never consider changing. The service is unparalleled and the rates are competitive and cheaper than most. You might save a few dollars a month in some market areas, but absolute cost is not everything, so I would strongly suggest you investigate to see if you are eligible for membership as there are military service requirements that may be met by you or family members (including parents).
by Jack44
Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:27 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any less expensive sources for Lipitor?
Replies: 54
Views: 5280

Re: Any less expensive sources for Lipitor?

If you look on the website for Lipitor (Lipitor.com) you will see they have a program that they instituted a couple of years to compete with the generics. They will send you a prescription card that reduces your co-pay to $4 per month. I'm not sure how they work this with the insurance companies, or how long it will continue to be available, but I have been taking advantage of it for a couple of years now and am very happy with it. Have been happy with my results with using Lipitor also. If it ever ends, I guess I will let my Cardiologist prescribe a generic at that point.
by Jack44
Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:16 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: TSP Time to fly to Safety in G Fund?
Replies: 54
Views: 8388

Re: TSP Time to fly to Safety in G Fund?

For me, TSP funds are in one of the L funds. Ample percentage of G fund sufficient to provide some stability and risk reduction. Enough in equities to increase long-term retun. Since I don't know what the future holds, I choose to "Set and Forget".
by Jack44
Fri Aug 23, 2013 12:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: PenFed Rewards Point Change?
Replies: 63
Views: 38573

Re: PenFed Rewards Point Change?

sperry8 wrote:I kept my 5% cash back PenFed gas card - and I'm happy I did. Still getting 5% cashback on Gas. And that's all I use the card for.
Me too.....it's now strictly a gas card and one other card for all else. I find it really tedious to keep up with all these competing offers, which change so often you are constantly searching for another. From now on I'll keep it simple as my time is better spent elsewhere.
by Jack44
Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: is "age in bonds" really good Bogleheads advice?
Replies: 94
Views: 14078

Re: is "age in bonds" really good Bogleheads advice?

A lot of the "Age In Bonds" discussions seem to be affected by recent events. Notwithstanding the fact that it is just a rule of thumb, with the rise in equities we have experienced of late there are a lot of opinions expressed that Age In Bonds is an invalid concept and far too conservative for the average investor. Until the next big market drop.
by Jack44
Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Brooks Brothers / Armpit staining
Replies: 8
Views: 5668

Re: Brooks Brothers / Armpit staining

There is a fairly new product out from Mennen.............Speedstick Stainguard. It is an antiperspirant formulated to prevent staining. Works for me.
by Jack44
Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: TV music theme recommendations?
Replies: 59
Views: 4248

Re: TV music theme recommendations?

cheese_breath wrote:Showing my age a little, Peter Gunn.
What he said. Hard to beat Mancini. And the show was the epitome of cool.
by Jack44
Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V
Replies: 3372
Views: 1561209

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part V

Am currently into a re-reading of "The Frontiersmen: A Narrative" by Allan W. Eckert. It is a "novelized" history of the early years of the country and the first volume of his Pulitzer nominated series "The Winning of America". Eckert has a unique ability to bring history to life through reconstructed dialogue while maintaining a strict adherence to historical accuracy of events.
by Jack44
Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best watch for around $5,000? [Archived]
Replies: 1479
Views: 347565

Re:

once again, you and others who are either too gullible,have weak ethics and lack integrity to buy or defend those who buy fake watches have "swung and missed" ! You will forever go through life as you are now,faking who you are with no idea of what a real fine timepiece is,when in fact you have no clue about the difference in quality. And here is a better way to "take time out of your day" read something that might help you ! http://www.amazon.com/Yourself-Everyone-Else-Already-Taken/dp/047039501X My own timepiece is a Timex with the senior citizen sized numerals. The manufacturer's list price at the time was $19.95, but, being a shrewd bargainer, I obtained a handsome discount and therefore received a subtantial amount...
by Jack44
Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netlfix changes tune, will not split off DVD business.
Replies: 33
Views: 3901

I will keep the DVD service and cancel the streaming. The selection of DVDs is vastly better than streamed material and the picture quality of streaming is mediocre at best and does not approach BluRay. Cable providers like Comcast already provide a limited amount of streamed stuff for instant gratification and I can wait a couple of days for a great classic movie. Won't pay for both.
by Jack44
Wed Sep 28, 2011 6:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 28. Government Employee - Clueless, but would love to learn.
Replies: 40
Views: 5192

Zav wrote:Just as a heads up (I am also a federal employee), the TSP L2050 re-allocates your equity into securities only, rather than into a mixture of bonds and securities. I don't like this strategy because upon retirement, only 10% of your portfolio will be in bonds. In fact, bonds will never make up more than 10% of your portfolio in this fund.
This is not correct...........the L funds, like Vanguard's Target Retirement funds gradually decrease the equity portion and increase the fixed income portion made up of the G fund (a short-term treasury vehicle available only to TSP participants) and the F fund (a Barclay's index). They eventually fold into the TSP income fund, which is 20% equity/80% fixed.
by Jack44
Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Retire or plod on?
Replies: 62
Views: 13869

Re: Retire or plod on?

I work for Uncle Sam, and there is no easy way to go part time as a transition. You are correct in that it is not easy to do on a routine basis. I retired from DoD in 2008, and was lucky to obtain an offer to return to the same agency as a contractor working part time, 3 days per week. It's actually a lower paying job than I retired from (and I was none too highly paid to begin with), but I had always factored working a little part time anyway into my pre-retirement calculations. Anyway, it's better than wearing a red vest and handing out shopping carts at the store entrance. Another possible avenue would be to return part-time a a "re-employed annuitant". This is not uncommon, at least not in DoD...........I don't know how wides...
by Jack44
Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:52 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: International Investing
Replies: 29
Views: 3163

livesoft wrote:So your only hope to invest in the US is to overweight small-cap value stocks, right?
If that's what you are trying to accomplish. I guess you might logically assume that small companies have less international revenue than large companies, although I don't know of any hard data. My point in posting was that, although aware that many larger companies do overseas business, I had no idea the number (47%) was that large. We are apparently significantly affected by foreign economic conditions whether we want to be or not.
by Jack44
Thu Dec 16, 2010 7:16 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: International Investing
Replies: 29
Views: 3163

International Investing

I came across this article regarding jobs and U.S trade policy yesterday. It references the administration, but is not overtly political or partisan in nature, so I think I am safe in posting it. What jumped out at me was the number quoted for the percent of revenues of S&P 500 companies from international sources: "One reason for their success is they're selling abroad - the most recent survey of the Standard & Poor's index of our largest 500 publicly traded corporations shows that roughly 47 percent of their revenue comes from outside the country." The link for the entire article is: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/14/AR2010121405606.html It looks like people invested heavily in large-cap U.S...
by Jack44
Tue Nov 16, 2010 3:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: birthday freebies... would you take a Denny's grand slam???
Replies: 47
Views: 7574

Re: Grand Slam

All the major food groups are represented:

Grease
Fat
Starch
Caffeine

I would be there in a heartbeat!
by Jack44
Tue Nov 02, 2010 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FEHB - Drop Medicare Part B???
Replies: 20
Views: 10740

Hello. I am a federal retiree and am covered under the FEHB. My carrier is BC/BS and since becoming eligible for Medicare part A, Medicare is primary and BC/BS is secondary regardless of whether you have part B coverage or not. Part B, which is an additional expense, is entirely voluntary. However, since BC/BS waives all copays and deductables if you opt for part B, it makes sense to carry it if you have any medical issues, or to protect against developing same in the future. I have several and have gotten more than my money's worth for the $96 per month. There are frequent questions regarding this issue in the NARFE magazine; the bottom line is that they recommend the coverage for most people. The NARFE website also has a lot of informatio...
by Jack44
Fri Oct 15, 2010 4:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Taylor
Replies: 138
Views: 24990

Best Wishes Taylor

Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery, Taylor. Your selfless devotion to helping others is an inspiration to us all.
by Jack44
Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What do Bogleheads do for a living?
Replies: 108
Views: 21329

Currently retired. Was an Analyst for the Dept of Army in my former life.
by Jack44
Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Including gold in AA
Replies: 25
Views: 2950

I would place it in the same category as tulips.
by Jack44
Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any knife collectors out there?
Replies: 54
Views: 7364

Not really a collection, but have several Buck knives that will cut anything that needs to be cut. Buck has been making solid, utilitarian working knives that will take and hold an edge since I was a kid (that was not recently, either). Also have a couple of older Schrade pocket folders that are pretty nice.
by Jack44
Sun Jul 11, 2010 4:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Your worst investing mistake
Replies: 145
Views: 39263

My greatest mistake is hard to put a specific dollar value to, but I'm sure it's substantial. It's the valuable time wasted until I finally took the time to educate myself in the rudiments of investing know-how. All the years wasted chasing performance, chasing the "hot" fund, going with the celebrity manager I read about in Money mag or some similar. I shudder when I think that I went so long without even being aware of concepts like asset allocation, indexing, etc. I have been a lurker on the Bogleheads site for a long time, and I have to admit that my education never really started until I got here (and I'm not exactly a spring chicken, either).
by Jack44
Thu Jun 03, 2010 7:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How much would you pay for curbside trash pickup?
Replies: 55
Views: 10172

In our township (suburban/semi-rural PA) we pay by the bag. We purchase stickers at $2.75 ea an affix to the bag w/30 lb limit.
by Jack44
Sun May 09, 2010 11:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Thanks From A Newbie
Replies: 3
Views: 1046

Thanks From A Newbie

Hello All. I'd just like to introduce myself to the Bogleheads....am a 65 year old recent federal retiree with a modest portfolio (emphasis on modest) who has been lurking on this board for the last couple of years. I'd like to take this occasion to say "Thanks" to you all for taking the time and energy to provide this great educational resource, with particular kudos to Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, Michael LeBoeuf, Rick Ferri, Larry Swedroe, Laura, and others. As one who has made almost all the mistakes described here along the way, exposure to the investing truisms on these pages, and in books like "The Bogleheads Guide to Investing" have eventually sunk in to the point where I no longer worry about making the potent...