Search found 26 matches

by kevin.m
Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Re: Rebalancing and the TSP

Jason,

That's exactly what I meant in my original post about potentially mitigating one's risk aversion by rebalancing too often.

As to rebalancing by band.. I don't really see what that has to do with the momentum strategy.. if anything I would think they're opposites.
by kevin.m
Sat Jan 19, 2013 2:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Your most intense movie scene
Replies: 155
Views: 19645

Re: Your most intense movie scene

I know this isn't a movie scene, but the most intense scene in general was from the end of Homeland season one when:

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When brody was trying to activate his vest and it wasn't going off... and then hesitating after his daughter called him.
My heart was thumping more during that scene than from any movie I've scene.

As far as intense movie scenes though, I think the Nazi bar scene from Inglorious Basterds, when the Nazi officer approaches the table followed by the mexican standoff, would have to be my #1. Or the opening scene from the same movie.
by kevin.m
Sat Jan 19, 2013 2:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Buying a tablet...which one?
Replies: 42
Views: 4180

Re: Buying a tablet...which one?

Nexus 7 all the way, although I am biased because I use Google online products extensively. You simply can't beat the price. $200 for the wifi version.. and with my nexus 4 unlocked phone, i can just leach internet off my phone (unlimited data with T-mobile), so I don't even need the mobile data version with a separate data plan that I need to pay for.

And as for the comment about certain android devices taking a while to receive OS updates from Google, yes, this is true. However, if you purchase a nexus device (which means pretty much straight from Google, although they contract out the manufacturing), you're pretty much guaranteed to be the first one to receive updates.
by kevin.m
Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice
Replies: 23
Views: 2465

Re: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice

Thanks Hoppy, some excellent advice there. Fortunately my non-TSP account is just large enough for me to swap out my international fund, so it shouldn't be too much extra work for me. Either way my Total US Stock is split between Vanguard and TSP, now it'll just be different proportions. Sorry for hi-jacking your thread Austin.
by kevin.m
Mon Jan 14, 2013 12:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice
Replies: 23
Views: 2465

Re: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice

My mistake, was thinking end of year instead of tax day for some reason. I'll edit the original.
by kevin.m
Sun Jan 13, 2013 10:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice
Replies: 23
Views: 2465

Re: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice

Finally, I haven't heard anything about the I fund vs. the vanguard total intl stock fund. Right now I have my Vanguard IRA 100% in Total US stock just because that makes up the largest portion of my portfolio. If I'd be better off rearranging it so my intl equities were in vanguard and everything else is in TSP, I'd be very interested to hear about that as well! Kevin, the explanation for this is here: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/TSP#International_Funds. The idea, which you'll find in many threads in this forum, is that the weakest fund in the TSP is the I Fund because it tracks the MSCI EAFE benchmark, which is only ~62% of investable international equities (large-cap in developed markets, excluding North America), whereas Vanguard To...
by kevin.m
Sun Jan 13, 2013 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice
Replies: 23
Views: 2465

Re: Young Active Military Seeking Investment Advice

I'll let some others commet on everything as a whole, but my recommendation would be to put as much as you can into the Roth TSP rather than putting money aside for a separate Roth IRA since the TSP is so much cheaper than any option you will have for the IRA. Once you are able to max out the TSP then put money aside for the IRA. Although if you do get to the end of each year and have extra money I would put that into the IRA. Chase Hey Austin, I think I'm in pretty similar shoes to you right now. I agree with bigb's above statement about taking TSP over IRA because of the low ERs, and would like to add that you're better off investing in the TSP because you can always make up for your IRA contributions at a later date. You only get one sh...
by kevin.m
Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:00 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Re: Rebalancing and the TSP

Thanks for all the replies. I think I had the wrong idea about rebalancing, as I viewed it as a tool to improve performance, not control risk. I'm just going to set my future contributions to match my desired AA and sit back and wait. I'll step in if any funds get off by more than 5%.
by kevin.m
Fri Jan 11, 2013 4:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Portable high-gain wifi antennas
Replies: 14
Views: 2707

Re: Portable high-gain wifi antennas

No harm in giving it a shot, it's not like he'd have to make a large investment to try that experiment!
If that doesn't work, though, a yagi can be had for very cheap. If you have any more questions concerning the stuff feel free to shoot me a PM.
by kevin.m
Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Re: Rebalancing and the TSP

Kevin.m, I think you might be over thinking it. A couple thoughts. 1) Consider looking at your IRA, TSP, and other investments together as one portfolio, if you are not already. This might change how frequently you need to rebalance your TSP. 2) In my opinion, if you still want to rebalance your TSP more than once or twice a year than you should choose an L Fund. I personally rebalance once a year. P.S. Just saw the above chart. Looking at that is the best advice:) Kevin.m, I'm in the situation where the TSP makes up a portion of my whole portfolio. I use an excel spreadsheet and look at all my accounts as one portfolio. I rebalance according to a combination of frequency and tolerance bands ( go out of tolerance, rebalance at the end of t...
by kevin.m
Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Portable high-gain wifi antennas
Replies: 14
Views: 2707

Re: Portable high-gain wifi antennas

For my senior engineering capstone, I had to transmit a wifi signal 5 miles from a moving target... as you can imagine we needed to boost the signal quite a bit. When you're looking at a transmission, the most important factors are: Power of the transmitting source Directional gain at the source Directional gain at the receiver Noise You have no control over transmitter power or gain, so the way you're going to make headway is by increasing receiver gain. This is done most easily by selecting the right type of antenna. I would suggest using a Yagi antenna.. they have a cone-shaped radiation pattern.. picture it as a antenna-sniper rifle. If your source is stationary, just point the yagi at the source and you'll have a much more powerful sig...
by kevin.m
Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Re: Rebalancing and the TSP

I'm not so sure if I understand now.. If my goal is to rebalance annually, should I be trying to adjust my ratios with every contribution(every paycheck)? Or should I contributing my money at a constant ratio throughout the year (25% of new money goes to bonds, 75% stocks) and fix the percentages when my year is up? Basically I'm confused about whether that "soft" rebalance (via contribution) is considered to be a rebalance at all (as opposed to going in and actually transferring money from one fund to another). Right now the plan is just to leave my future contributions at 25% bonds and 75% stocks, and to just adjust my percentages at the end of the year if they're out of whack. edit- I probably should have put this in the help s...
by kevin.m
Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Re: Rebalancing and the TSP

Thanks for the answers guys. I'm all for doing less work, and if less work could produce better returns, that's all the better.
by kevin.m
Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How good is vanguard website security?
Replies: 109
Views: 27692

Re: How good is vanguard website security?

cb474 wrote:This cartoon makes the point well: http://xkcd.com/936/.
That comic came to mind as soon as I started reading this thread. The military is especially bad about this. All of their passwords require 2 upper, 2 lower, 2 numbers, 2 special chars. I find the passwords so difficult to memorize that I find myself using the same password over and over.. which really renders me much more vulnerable. If only more people knew about this comic.
by kevin.m
Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Re: Rebalancing and the TSP

Sam,

This is what I was planning on doing originally with the first paycheck of every month.. giving me a monthly rebalance. Isn't this a relatively high-frequency rebalance? Could this be detrimental like in the scenario I mention above?

If I have the means to rebalance even more often(between paychecks where you can't do a "soft rebalance), should I do it?

Kevin
by kevin.m
Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Rebalancing and the TSP
Replies: 39
Views: 7738

Rebalancing and the TSP

Hey all, I currently invest just enough to max out my retirement accounts each year (5000 in a vanguard Roth IRA, 17,000 in TSP). I have done some reading on the boards about rebalancing, and have a question that I think might be unique to members with access to the TSP. It seems that the general consensus, at least from my understanding, is that calendar rebalancing is more hands-off, less stressful, but also less effective than band rebalancing. Arguments against rebalancing often usually revolve around the fact that you get taxed when buying/selling to rebalance. This is not the case with TSP; I could rebalance every day for free if I wanted to (and wit wouldn't take more than 2 minutes a day to do it). For now, I was planning on rebalan...
by kevin.m
Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

Re: New O-1 looking for some advice.

Default User BR wrote:
kevin.m wrote:With today's interest rates, would the G fund be a safer investment than the F fund?
Define "safe".


Brian
I believe the G fund is less volatile than the F fund, but that's not what I was getting at. Poor word choice. What I meant to say is "Is the G fund more likely to yield more than the F fund?" I know you can't predict the future, but you seem to know a lot more on the topic than I do. What would you do if you were in my shoes?
by kevin.m
Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

Re: New O-1 looking for some advice.

With today's interest rates, would the G fund be a safer investment than the F fund?

Really the only thing that's still up for debate in my portfolio is whether to use G fund, F fund, or some combination of the two.
by kevin.m
Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Young military man with Options
Replies: 10
Views: 939

Re: Young military man with Options

I'm a 22 years old and active duty. I am looking to make my first foray into the investing world. I've done some research, and I've got limited time to make a few decisions if I want to act before the tax deadline. Without further ado: Option 1) Open a Roth IRA, and invest 5k for 2011 and another 5k for 2012 into Vanguard Total Stock Admiral (10k min) to get the lower expense ratio Option 2a) Open a Roth IRA, and invest in 3 Index funds, Vanguard Total Stock, Total International, and Total Bond (split how?) Option 2b) Open a Roth IRA, and invest in 3 Index funds, Vanguard Total Stock, Total International, and REIT (real estate still not recovered yet?) Option 3) Open a Roth IRA, invest 5k for 2011 in Vanguard Total Stock, and wait until Ro...
by kevin.m
Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:33 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

Re: New O-1 looking for some advice.

Hi Kevin, I'm a retired Navy O-6. Don't call me sir, ok? :sharebeer You've got it, Chris. USAA is a great company for insurance. We have all our insurance through them. However the TSP and then Vanguard beat USAA on expenses hands down. Stick with the TSP except in asset classes TSP doesn't cover, Emerging Markets being the only biggie that comes to mind. I agree completely. For the next few years, the only investing OUTSIDE of TSP that I'll be doing is in Vanguard, and that's just to max my IRA contributions. I plan on maxing my TSP every year. I would recommend 60/40 stock/bond until you have suffered through your first really big bear market. If you can sit through seeing your portfolio decline by three times your annual salary and you ...
by kevin.m
Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

Re: New O-1 looking for some advice.

MIDN, You should check out the wiki here: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Military_finances It gives you the basics to get started. As a JO a bit further up in the food chain, I've taken a bit more of an aggressive stance than you have: (see here: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64238). I've slimmed down quite a bit in terms of the # of funds I hold thanks to this place. I also still have an emergency fund equivalent to 3-4 months' expenses. I know that you feel like a commission is ironclad job security, and often it is, but in my designator I've seen people lose it surprisingly quickly. Thanks for the wiki page, I've added that one to bookmarks. I agree with your statements about emergency funds, As soon as I get m...
by kevin.m
Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

Re: New O-1 looking for some advice.

Rick, I can't recall EXACTLY what it was, but I believe I google searched "should I invest 100% in the F-Fund". Doing this search again I see that bh.org comes up as the 4th query with a list of forum links underneath it. In the following days, as I did some more searching on google for various investment questions Bh.org came up a few more times, then I decided to check it in more detail (watched the wiki videos) and became a regular visitor. (This all happened over a period of the past 2 weeks). I am my company financial officer (company consisting of 160 midshipmen), though, and you can rest assured that before I graduate I will be sending out a comprehensive investment advice email to the underclassmen. I will certainly refer ...
by kevin.m
Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

Re: New O-1 looking for some advice.

The shorter the time frame to needing the money, the more we must worry about protecting the principle. Bonds are less risky than stocks, however, interest rates are currently so low there is almost no where to go but up. And any interest rate increase within your 5-year time frame must result in a (small, <15%) loss of principle. So in our current investing environment, maybe want to stay with FDIC/NCUA-insured CDs for guaranteed principle protection for the 5-year time frame. Consider bonds for the 5-10 year time frame. With interest rates where they are currently, would you recommend swithing from F-Fund to G-Fund? F Fund: Fixed income index fund that tracks the Barclay's Aggregate Bond Index. G Fund: A uniquely attractive bond fund tha...
by kevin.m
Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Transferring to Vanguard
Replies: 9
Views: 1241

Re: Transferring to Vanguard

Regarding your DCA question, this is taken from another recent post: 1. I have $50,000 sitting in Vanguard money market right now. I intend to use this to allocate funds in my taxable account. It seems illogical to deploy all this money at once. Is it recommend to value average across 6-12 months? 2. Where do I put my emergency fund? Do I invest this all at once, or piecemeal over 6-12 months? We've had our share of lump sum vs averaging discussions here at Bogleheads. There are many considerations and there's no right answer for every case that everyone agrees on. My personal opinion is that the choice largely rests on how well you'd deal with a bad outcome if you get unlucky and the market crashes a couple weeks after you invest a lump su...
by kevin.m
Sun Apr 08, 2012 11:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Question about Traditional vs Roth IRA contributions
Replies: 3
Views: 717

Re: Question about Traditional vs Roth IRA contributions

Hi Rich,

You can contribute to both in a single year, but the combined total must be less than the contribution limit for that year.

Source:
http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers ... z1rVu0cDuA
by kevin.m
Sun Apr 08, 2012 11:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New O-1 looking for some advice.
Replies: 18
Views: 2174

New O-1 looking for some advice.

Hello all, I've stumbled upon this site a few times while searching for financial advice, and after lurking the forums for a while, I've decided to put forth a few questions of my own. I've never really had any financial guidance other than what I've found online and limited advice from my father, so please bear with me. Anyways, here are my current financial vitals: Age: 24 Job: Currently a senior at a service academy: Pays ~$700/month after expenses/taxes Commissioning into the military (O-1) at the end of May(2012): Pays ~$50,000/yr, just under $35,000 of which is taxable. Graduation+18 months: Automatic raise to ~$60,000, $43,000 taxable Graduation+24 months: ~$70,000, $50,000 taxable Job security: I am very confident that I will have a...