Bogleheads.org

altruistguy

Hello Susan, 1) You're definitely on the right track. 2) But you can do better than VTI. Learn about the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Institutional Shares (VITSX): https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0855&FundIntExt=INT It has an expense ratio of 0.04%. That's 20% le...

altruistguy

I stopped using my HM Aeron chair in favor of a fitness ball. Have been using the fitness ball for the past five years or so and love it. I find that it keeps me from slouching and engages my core a bit. Oh -- and I sit at my desk using my computer pretty much all the time -- it is how I do my work....

altruistguy

Hello Taylor,

Sorry for your loss. LOVED the video!

Pat was an extremely beautiful woman who clearly loved life. Hers appears to be a life quite well lived.

Again, sorry for your loss.

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Hello SnowSkier, I suggest that you get your value exposure elsewhere in your portfolio. In your 401(k), load up on the least bad stuff in there and compensate elsewhere in your portfolio. Incidentally, you are fortunate to have some really good low-cost index funds -- so just use those and be happy...

altruistguy

Next Step -- do a Self-Employed (Roth) 401(k) at Vanguard! This allows each of you to do both of the following: - Contribute up to the lesser of $17.5k or your earnings, as either pre- or post- tax contributions to the 401(k) as employee contributions. - Contribute up to the SEP-IRA limits (about 25...

altruistguy

Yes -- it sure would be nice if there existed some low-dividend ETFs. But to my knowledge, there still are none. While there certainly may be some out there with lower yields, that doesn't mean that they are specifically managed to minimize dividends. In addition to the Vanguard Tax-Managed Capital ...

altruistguy

OK, let's say I've read the research and have become a believer. I've drank the Kool-Aid so I am willing to accept the higher expense ratio. I have access to the Bridgeway fund in my Roth IRA and have "room" to add it to my asset allocation by shifting some holdings out of my domestic equ...

altruistguy

Hello Folks, 1) The evidence on the momentum premium is both voluminous and credible -- going back to a paper written in 1993. 2) Until recently, it appeared as though it would be imprudent to try to capture the momentum premium (or even portions thereof) in the real world. Two papers by Keim & ...

altruistguy

FYI, here's a good guide to LTCI:
http://www.ltcfeds.com/documents/files/ ... _Guide.pdf

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Hello, You've gotten some pretty good advice here. I would add: - The federal government's LTC plan appears well administered, but it is not subsidized. If you qualify, it is probably worth considering it. - My second choice would be USAA's. - If you get LTCI, get one with the longest elimination pe...

altruistguy

As always, Taylor gave you some excellent advice, which I agree wholeheartedly with.

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

You may be able to open a low cost brokerage account in the US. If so, then you could at the very least buy US-based ETFs, even if the mutual funds don't want to sell to foreigners (and I understand that Vanguard, for one, doesn't want to sell to foreigners at this time).

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Good replies so far, which I will echo. I've used both Fidelity and Vanguard. Both have no admin fees and no transaction fees, as I recall, so long as you stick with their respective funds. This is a problem for Fidelity, as they have very few funds worth using (i.e., the very limited selection of S...

altruistguy

2. With the whole portfolio approach, I will not hit the point of maximum utilization of TSP (34K for both) but this is due to the desire of having accessible funds from 40-59.5. The risk I see with this is that our age 40-59.5 allocations would be 100% equity and they have the shortest time until ...

altruistguy

OK, this is an easy one. VINIX is clearly BY FAR the best option here. If I were you, I would put 100% of my 401(k) into VINIX and build the rest of my portfolio around that fact. In other words, asset allocate your entire portfolio, not just your 401(k). If you need/want a bit of bond exposure, get...

altruistguy

IF you can afford to do it (i.e., you can get necessary cash-flows from elsewhere between now and age 70) AND you expect to live at least as long as actuarially expected, then yes, this can make sense. But if you have reason to believe that you will be shorter-lived than actuarially expected OR you ...

altruistguy

Toyota Prius V. Compared to Volkwagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI, EPA City numbers about 50% higher, Hwy numbers about the same. Better predicted reliability.

altruistguy

Hello, I recommend that all of my clients who both (a) make material cash donations to charities each year and (b) have material unrealized capital gains in their taxable accounts, instead donate highly appreciated shares from their taxable account. The most efficient way of doing so is to utilize a...

altruistguy

IF you must have an SUV, I suggest going with Consumer Reports' top-rated small SUVs: Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV-4 (4-cyl gets best mileage), or Honda CR-V. All three should get you fantastic reliability. That is if you really MUST have an SUV. I strongly suggest getting a more practical, fuel eff...

altruistguy

We are looking to replace the minivan, so this thread interests me. We have two kids, so anything we get would have to seat four + the occasional guest. And, we need room for luggage for four. I looked at Highlander but am wondering if I can get away with something smaller. I'll get myself to the s...

altruistguy

Hello Dark Knight, I'm a Highlander owner. I think that it is not only overkill for two people, but it is overkill for FOUR people! IF you must have an SUV, I suggest going with Consumer Reports' top-rated small SUVs: Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV-4 (4-cyl gets best mileage), or Honda CR-V. All three ...

altruistguy

I am talking about making nondeductible, non Roth contributions by the employEE in excess of the elective deferral limit. This is legal and I have done it at prior employers. The limit is your salary, so you can contribute all $50k if that's all you make (say from a side business). As you can imagi...

altruistguy

Hello Team Sammy, Congrats on putting yourself in what appears to be a pretty comfortable financial position. Now the challenge will be to avoid making the big mistakes that most folks routinely do when managing their money. The fact that you are at Bogleheads is a good omen. It suggests that you MA...

altruistguy

Hello, This is, indeed, how it is done. But there exist the following caveats: 1) The 401(k) is not required by law to accept the incoming transfer of pre-tax assets (but most do). This apparently isn't a problem in your case. 2) Once the pre-tax money has been moved into the 401(k), it is locked in...

altruistguy

I am SHOCKED that there exist alleged BogleHeads who would consider this. To all who would consider, I strongly recommend that you take a look here.

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Hello Ossi, Nope -- I don't think that your Roth employee contributions to a solo 401(k) show up anywhere on your federal tax return. Once your solo-401(k) balance gets up to at least $250k, the IRS will have your annual Form 5500 filings. Until then, it may actually be the case that the IRS has no ...

altruistguy

Hello Xerty, This one is easy. Vanguard's solo-401(k) plan allows Roth contributions (but only for the employee portion of contributions). However, federal law prohibits what you said you wanted about getting the full employer contribution regardless of income. I think that the income you currently ...

altruistguy

Hello SteelerFan, I'm generally a big fan of USAA. For insurance (esp. auto & homeowners), they are hard to beat. USAA Federal Savings Bank has been a good choice too. First, USAA is one of only two Financial Planning companies I am aware of who offer a money-back guarantee (from their Form ADV ...

altruistguy

Greetings,

This page might be useful to you.

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Hello RedBug, Just looking at the list of companies, it looks like a bunch of high-cost providers. Honestly, if there is no company match, you may be better off skipping these entirely. I did some modeling for one of my clients. I found that the fees of her awful 403(b) choices were so incredibly la...

altruistguy

Hello Acheruk, VEST is now a pretty good program, especially for Virginians. Here's detail of the low fees of their index fund investments . So -- at least for the first $4k of contributions per year, contribute to the VEST and keep your investments in VEST's index offerings. According to SavingForC...

altruistguy

Hello, 2nd Gen Prius Owner. Upgraded four years ago from a 1st gen Scion xB (which got 34 mpg). Over the past four years, I've been averaging about 52 mpg or so in my Prius. I estimate that I've saved about 200 gallons/yr because of the upgrade. That said, I urge consideration of the new Prius C. Ab...

altruistguy

Hello Anil, For most folks, direct-sold 529 plans that are NOT pre-paid tuition plans offer the best deal. Pre-Paid tuition plans generally require the child to attend an in-state school to get full benefit. If they don't do that, then not only is it a less good deal, it may end up being a really ba...

altruistguy

Hello Folks, Dad2000 has it right. Criticizing Rick is just silly -- he is one of the lowest-cost competent investment managers in the world. To criticize one of the lowest cost -- and most ethical -- of such providers -- for being too expensive and/or unethical just seems wrong. Rick has long been ...

altruistguy

All Vanguard- Vanguard Target Retirement Income Fund investor shares (VTINX) 2005 (VTOVX) 2010 (VTENX) 2015 (VTXVX) 2020 (VTWNX) 2025 (VTTVX) 30 (VTHRX) 35 (VTTHX) 40 (VFORX) 45(VTIVX) 50 (VFIFX) 55 (VFFVX) Should I spread it over a few or put it all towards one(50 or 55)?? GREAT! Just dump it all ...

altruistguy

As far as puttingmy AA to 100%, what do you suggest for splitting that into different equities??? Hello Mike, This is easy. Especially for somebody with very small amounts to invest -- the fact is that it just doesn't matter much (i.e., fancy "slice-n-dice" type strategies might be too co...

altruistguy

Don't. Put every spare dollar, after establishing an emergency fund, towards your loans. You will gain nothing by borrowing money at 9.7% to invest in the stock market (and that's what investing instead of paying down loans essentially is). Paying down a loan gives you, in essence, the rate of retu...

altruistguy

I'm not smart enough to know why the Pure Value alphas appear to be so negative. BUT, I do note that those apparent negative alphas aren't statistically significant (at the moment, anyway). Thus, there is a very non-zero possibility that the true alpha has been zero, or even positive. It isn't a us...

altruistguy

Hello Baw, There have been a number of threads on whether RZV really gives its factor returns. As of a couple of years ago, it looked like it had a pretty steady negative alpha--but then regained almost all of it in a couple of months. Is this a consequence of the smaller number of holdings? It's be...

altruistguy

. This post updates posts I made about two and four years ago here. Since the results of the analysis are identical, the verbiage is virtually identical. Basically, this post advocates for use of RPV and RZV as surrogates for DFLVX and DFSVX, which most folks don't have access to. 1) Many folks have...

altruistguy

Hello,

It looks like a wonderful opportunity.

Do you have anything in a taxable investment account? If so, you could tap that as necessary to help meet ongoing cash-flow needs in order to max out the good deal that is the 457.

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Hello, I believe that your wife's plan to switch to her husband's spousal benefit is not possible. It is my understanding that you can start with a spousal benefit and switch to a benefit on your record, but not the other way around. Once you start on your own record, you can't switch to someone els...

altruistguy

Hello, As a financial planner/investment advisor who does business this way, I can tell you that it can work. Most of my clients (i.e., all but one) live in different states than do I -- and have never met me. The overwhelming majority of our ongoing communication is by E-Mail, occasionally suppleme...

altruistguy

I am a new teacher and I am early into the retirement savings with Metlife, first year. Is it in my best interest to switch to Vanguard. The Metlife finacial advisor put me into thier aggressive growth alocation. How much money do I need to switch to Vanguard? how much will I pay to switch to Vangu...

altruistguy

The latter fees are the same for any fund, so he says he is free to choose from any available fund family. As you described it, this person appears to be a snake-oil salesman masquerading as a fiduciary. The alledgedly good news is that all brands of snake-oil he sells are equally efficatious. I re...

altruistguy

Hello folks, Just speculating here. It may be that Vanguard had to agree to start this big family of S&P ETFs in order to get reasonable licensing terms from S&P when starting VOO (which they had long sought to do -- and for which they fought long and hard in court -- unsuccessfully). Of cou...

altruistguy

Hello,

If you must have an emerging markets fund in your plan, than it is hard to beat VEIEX (or better yet, perhaps the Signal Shares version).

If you are aware of a better option, I'm all ears ...

Eric E. Haas

altruistguy

Hello EmmaBus, Not doing any actual research on these particular funds, but off the top of my head: - If you want the growthiest one, then the Rydex is clearly your man. And, after all, it is the "growthi-ness" that makes a mid-cap stock a mid-cap growth stock in the first place. - If not,...

altruistguy

Hi Eric- thanks again. One last question, what are your thoughts on including DFA's 5 year Global Fixed Income Portfolio (DFGBX)? Hello Meckaneck, For those who have access to it, I think that DFGBX is a fine fund. However, for those who have enough to qualify for admiral shares, it is difficult to...

altruistguy

I do all my asset allocation on an after-tax basis. I was convinced many years ago by academic William Reichenstein of Baylor University (see his several papers on this topic here ). I note that he's also written a book about this . I wish that I wasn't convinced that this was the right thing to do....

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