Bogleheads.org

czeckers

Make sure the shovel you buy has a metal leading edge.

czeckers

You could consider refinancing your existing mortgages. I just refinanced at 2.125% for 15 years.

czeckers

This is a weird question to me since debt is already included in the net worth calculation. For many people, a home mortgage is their largest debt, but it is attached to an asset. A net worth calculation rightfully looks at how much equity you have in that home. As long as you have positive equity, ...

czeckers

Preferred knife sharpening system is a whole other can of worms. I've had good results with the Spyderco sharp maker.

czeckers

Victorinox (makers of swiss army knives) makes excellent kitchen knives in their fibrox pro line. They are a good value for the money. They hold an edge far longer than any of my other knives. The fibrox handles, though not as pretty as the wooden ones on say, a set of Henckles, are nonslip and give...

czeckers

We installed solar on our previous house. I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate the estimates of the annual solar production were. That was my big concern -- how do you know it's going to produce X kwh? What if it's cloudy? The annual production varied very little year to year. We sold the hous...

czeckers

Commodity funds are a touchy subject around here for sure. Having been a member here for some time, I see that there is a lot of recency bias when it comes to non-TSM and non-total bond holdings. When commodities were having their outsized returns, there was a lot of discussion about what a great di...

czeckers

I rebalanced back to my desired AA 4 weeks. Ended up selling treasuries and buying SCV.

czeckers

Toilet paper

czeckers

Most small banks and oftentimes large banks too will sell your mortgage to someone else. As a result, the company servicing your loan won't be the one that you originated the loan anyway. Go for the cheapest loan you can find.

Bankrate.com is a good place to start

czeckers

Definitely recommend the Saw Stop saw for a novice woodworker if you're going to buy one. HOWEVER, when starting out with woodworking, that's pretty far down the road as far as purchases go. I would recommend a good mitersaw and stand first. If you're looking to cut plywood, a circular saw with a tr...

czeckers

Most safes have an option of bolting it to the floor. That would foil the casual thief.

Hiding the safe is beneficial too. A thief can't take what they don't know about.

czeckers

Making babies. Boy they're expensive!

czeckers

Get a base for each car and car seat pops in and out. Viola!

czeckers

I agree with many of the points made above. Commodity funds are dominated by oil/energy. We've seen contango in those markets given a decade of flat or falling oil prices. With such low current demand, storage is definitely an issue. We are currently in an environment of low to non-existent inflatio...

czeckers

Right now, any back test including Commodities would look outright terrible. The asset class has lost 90% of it's value from its peak 10+ years ago.

However, I can't find anything else that looks as cheap right now.

czeckers

Funds investing in commodity futures were all the rage 2006 to mid-2008 due to their recent run of good performance at the time. PIMCO's PCRIX fund topped out at a share price around $42 in July 2008. Since then, the price has fallen to (gasp) $4.41. It was certainly a lesson in avoiding performance...

czeckers

If you are a contrarian investor, now might be a good time to take a look at SCV.

I rebalanced from treasury bond fund to SCV last month since SCV dropped below rebalancing band.

czeckers

Taxes are killer in both states.

czeckers

NY will give you varying degrees of cold, snow, and ice but this varies considerable within the state. Near the Lake Ontario you get 100+ inches of snow but that subsides once you get South of I-90. Conversely, the temperatures are a bit milder near the lake: few single digits days per year whereas ...

czeckers

Jhard to choose just one.

Bogle
Both Bernstein's
Bill Schultheis

These have definitely been the most influential.

czeckers

Excellent advice!! I wish I had done that when I started investing in the nineties. I am trying to get my teenage children to internalize this simple investing strategy. I just did something similar with my 16yo. He just got his first W-2 paying job so I opened a Roth IRA for him with the minimum $...

czeckers

Starting out, it seemed like such a big goal. I think over the years, the novelty and excitement of investing have worn off. When the time came, it was nice to see the second comma, but then life moves on and other things compete for my attention. Given a high enough savings rate, a set it and forge...

czeckers

From a father of 9: Commercial grade breast pump if breastfeeding. Tons of formula if not. I'd caution against using formula as a bridge to breastfeeding as mentioned above. Milk may not come in if baby is getting food elsewhere. +1 Chico key fit seat and stroller combo. Get an extra car seat base i...

czeckers

My experience is that how a house is laid out and how usable the spaces are is much more important than square footage. You can get a very functional 4 bedroom house in 1800 square feet if it has a basement. Or you can have a terribly laid out 3000 sq ft house that still won't work well You didn't s...

czeckers

I overweight emerging markets substantially--50% of ex-us, 25% of equities--but my preference would be to hold separate developed and emerging markets funds, not an all-in-one fund with a side of EM. The only way that I would hold both VTIAX and VEMAX would be if my 401(k) had only VTIAX. As it is,...

czeckers

Clever_Username wrote: ↑Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:46 pm It's true, but I also won't under-perform it by a meaningful amount.

+1

czeckers

15 year term should be plenty. That's the high risk eriod for your family. After that, house will be paid off and kids through school. At your current savings rate, you should have a $3M+ portfolio which should be plenty to sustain your wife. If you feel that wouldn't be enogh, you can use a 20 year...

czeckers

Paycheck gets deposited into multiple accounts, each designated for a specific purpose: Local bank checking for spending money for gas, groceries, clothes, etc. Nearly zero interest but easy ATM access. Local bank checking for charitable spending. Online bank high interest checking for fixed recurri...

czeckers

You may get better prices in the summer.

czeckers

I think the fuel line ruptured in the engine bay. A clear liquid was noted under the engine immediately after the accident and the car was completely engulfed 10 minutes later.

I chuckle when people say you shouldn't get an electric car because the batteries might catch on fire.

-K

czeckers

As you've pointed out, most of today's tech is wireless. First, think about where you will put the modem, usually near where utilities enter house. Make sure there is an outlet nearby. Next, you want to think about where to put your router(s) and have an outlet and coax cable drop there. Run cat 5 f...

czeckers

"I started with nothing, and have most of it left." I wish I remembered where that quote came from. -K My wealth progression: Started with zero, went way negative after education, then clawed my way back to zero through maxing out my retirement plans. Now, 12 years of maxing out my retirem...

czeckers

Andrew Hallam actively writes articles on his website as well as on the assetbuilder.com site and the posts are generally interesting. He lives outside the US and travels quite a bit and thus has a unique perspective on what's going on in the markets.

czeckers

2009 Subaru Legacy, got to 163K and then it burned down after my son hit a deer.

2013 Nissan NV3500, 170K

czeckers

For 2020 the limit for a conforming loan will be $510,400.

czeckers

I would put down enough to not have a jumbo mortgage. For 2019, that would be cost of house - $484,350. No sense in paying extra interest.

czeckers

I'm not sure back testing is very useful for anything other than seeing how a portfolio will perform under certain specific market conditions that occurred in the past. For example, testing a portfolio while looking at specific time periods of inflation or deflation. The type of back tests you are t...

czeckers

There of course are ways to do very precise calculations, however precision does not equate to accuracy since the future is unknowable. There are also philosophical differences in how people arrive at a desired AA. Depending on whether your focus is on maximizing income, minimizing downside risk, or...

czeckers

The approach of using leverage early on in life sounds great on paper, but is harder to do in real life. The problem with leverage is that it can wipe you out if you face a crash early on. Look at past posts by market timer: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5934 . He did exactly that...

czeckers

As you’ve alluded to in your example, the answer depends on your personal situation. 40% is quite conservative but maybe appropriate for someone at or near retirement. If I was 40% for a simplified AA, I would agree with you. But I am 50% for simplified AA and 40% for enhanced AA. My general feelin...

czeckers

Porter Cable is Black and Decker's mid-grade brand, not the same level as the others mentioned. I'd compare them to Ridgid, and some of the better Ryobi and Craftsman tools. Still a good choice for general use, though. I'd put Bosch roughly on par with Makita and Milwaukee. Definitely not "the...

czeckers

I'd check whether it's time to re-balance between stocks and bonds to make sure that my asset mix is in line with my desired asset allocation. That's about it.

-czeckers

czeckers

As you’ve alluded to in your example, the answer depends on your personal situation. 40% is quite conservative but maybe appropriate for someone at or near retirement.

czeckers

Whatever brand tool you buy, you are buying into their entire lineup. Because batteries are so expensive and not too nterchangeable between brands, people will stick with the same brand and swap a couple of batteries between all their tools. Festool is the top of the heap but super expensive Then De...

czeckers

A number of zeros might feel good, but the better yardstick is a multiplier of your gross income (1X, 2X, 4X, 8X). I was at 3x of gross income, but then I got a new job with a substantial raise and am now at only 2x income. :) or :x Hmmm :D Probably a multiple of annual spending would be the most r...

czeckers

If you are in your 20s and have $400,000 in investments, you are doing very well. Congratulations! I would say that a defensive strategy, though not as exciting is much more appropriate for your situation. Even if you invest very conservatively and only get a 5% annual return, and don't add another ...

czeckers

You can't do much to air seal the walls. Maybe you can - https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/aeroseal-rolls-out-air-sealing-technology-for-houses I've seen that and it is brilliant technology. However, it's only practical for new construction before any of the interior finishes are in. As ...

czeckers

If your driving needs primarily involve hauling a family, then a purpose-built family hauler is what you want. After you have a minivan, you'll wonder what you did without one. Look for one that it's easy to remove the seats or fold them flat. A minivan should be able to haul full sheets of plywood ...

czeckers

As mentioned in one of the posts above, lack of air sealing in the attic is your culprit. This is pretty typical, even in new construction. Warm air rises, and since there is nothing to stop it from going up through the ceiling, it escapes out of the attic. This creates lower air pressure in the hou...

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