Search found 80 matches

by Xyz214
Tue Jan 09, 2024 8:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What is consider substantially identical for wash sale
Replies: 22
Views: 2417

Re: What is consider substantially identical for wash sale

Are VGT (information tech) and VUG (growth) substantially identical?
by Xyz214
Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:38 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Interesting interview with Nouriel Roubini
Replies: 43
Views: 5119

Re: Interesting interview with Nouriel Roubini

Are we now living Mr Roubini's predictions? What did he get right?
by Xyz214
Tue Sep 06, 2022 12:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Spam in my yahoo email.
Replies: 17
Views: 2398

Re: Spam in my yahoo email.

I recently started getting a huge amount of spam in my yahoo email. It is designed to look like it is coming from a bunch of different sources (Ace haddware, Sams club, costco, iPhone and others) but I know it is all coming from the same source because all of the spam, somewhere in the body of the message uses my name, spelled incorrectly, as Tomcarr, with the first letter upper case. I set up a filter to move all mail that contains Tomcarr in the body of the message to a separate folder. However, the mail doesn't get moved to that folder. I did a test, sending myself a message with Tomcarr (first letter upper case)in the body of the message and the test email did get moved to the folder. What is going on here? Does the spammer have some w...
by Xyz214
Sun Nov 07, 2021 5:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is Software Development/ Programming Oversaturated?
Replies: 209
Views: 21714

Re: Is Software Development/ Programming Oversaturated?

Tech in general seems a bit like a classic bubble, basically everyone is 'learning to code', wants the WFH/ remote lifestyle and there are people selling bootcamp/ certifications and seems to be a lot of hype around it in general (possibly tech companies trying to drive salaries down) Is it still a good idea/ career going forward these days? It's saturated with code monkeys. More than 80% of candidates I interviewed can't write an optimal word count function. I'm not exaggerating. I’m not sure that I ever could either, but during my working years my employers made literally millions from my software annually. I did well also. There’s something to be said about having a good sense of what the objective is and that it matters more than a (ch...
by Xyz214
Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:07 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is Software Development/ Programming Oversaturated?
Replies: 209
Views: 21714

Re: Is Software Development/ Programming Oversaturated?

If you are a minority or a girl then there are tremendous opps now. My daughter is 5 years older than her brother. She just graduated with a CS related degree and had no trouble getting internships and/job offers while in college. My then HS son tutored her on many occasions in her programming courses at a good, not great Uni. My son is very solid in math and programming and did well in many comps in both. He is currently attending a very good university and is struggling to get an internship. Things that fell in her lap, he is fighting for... This is anecdotal and a very small sample size but from what I read it seems to be widespread. I am sure long term, my son will do very well and am very thankful that my daughter has a job that she l...
by Xyz214
Sun Nov 07, 2021 10:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Is Software Development/ Programming Oversaturated?
Replies: 209
Views: 21714

Re: Is Software Development/ Programming Oversaturated?

alex123711 wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:15 am Tech in general seems a bit like a classic bubble, basically everyone is 'learning to code', wants the WFH/ remote lifestyle and there are people selling bootcamp/ certifications and seems to be a lot of hype around it in general (possibly tech companies trying to drive salaries down) Is it still a good idea/ career going forward these days?
It's saturated with code monkeys. More than 80% of candidates I interviewed can't write an optimal word count function. I'm not exaggerating.
by Xyz214
Sat Jun 26, 2021 8:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pull-ups and Push-ups
Replies: 678
Views: 182781

Re: Pull-ups and Push-ups

You're not hitting you hamstring.
by Xyz214
Fri May 21, 2021 8:30 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: A lost decade for stocks and bonds on the horizon?
Replies: 693
Views: 64203

Re: A lost decade for stocks and bonds on the horizon?

If you are is still accumulating, I don't think you need to worry. if expected return is zero or negative, price will go down until expected return becomes positive. And this works both ways.
by Xyz214
Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What Are You Doing Given Record Stock Market Highs and What Is Your Situation?
Replies: 128
Views: 18243

Re: What Are You Doing Given Record Stock Market Highs and What Is Your Situation?

I wonder how many all time highs the market hit in the last 20 years? Good article here: https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2020/12/investing-in-stocks-at-all-time-highs/ "According to my calculations, there have been more than 600 all-time highs since the start of 1988, or roughly 7.3% of all trading days" Sure, but it's not that we are at high that concerns me, rather it is the quick recovery period that concerns me given the effects of the pandemic have not played out. Look at the Dow Jones index for the last 25+ years below. You can see the market crashes/corrections in 2000 and 2008. You'll also see it took YEARS to recover to those pre-crash highs. Take for instance the great recession crash in 2008. It wasn't till 2013 that ...
by Xyz214
Sun Dec 27, 2020 6:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 2020: Lessons learned
Replies: 237
Views: 20024

Re: 2020: Lessons learned

theplayer11 wrote: Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:43 pm continue to buy in big on huge dips
where did the money come from?
by Xyz214
Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Thoughts on VGT [Vanguard Information Technology ETF]
Replies: 102
Views: 12063

Re: Thoughts on VGT [Vanguard Information Technology ETF]

For people who are against betting on a sector. Should VGT be treated like a regular sector fund? Tech companies nowadays encompass many industries.

From the web

"Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles.
Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content.
Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory.
And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.
Something interesting is happening."
by Xyz214
Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:33 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Software developer about to seek new opportunities -- discuss salary up front?
Replies: 223
Views: 19019

Re: Software developer about to seek new opportunities -- discuss salary up front?

As for the code tests. The biggest thing is to not start coding right away but to ask questions to fully understand the problem you are trying to solve. Why are they doing code tests if you already have built commercial apps/software? Makes you wonder are these the kind of people you want to work for? I wouldn't. Hate to say it, but lots of immature 20 and 30 somethings in these tech companies. They all think they are the next Zuckerberg with the midas touch.. Suppose I wrote on my resume that I had built XX and YY commercial applications. How would you verify that I had actually done that? Maybe the applications don't exist. Maybe I contracted them out to developers-for-hire. Maybe I was dead weight on the team that built them. Maybe I ju...
by Xyz214
Mon Oct 19, 2020 10:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Software developer about to seek new opportunities -- discuss salary up front?
Replies: 223
Views: 19019

Re: Software developer about to seek new opportunities -- discuss salary up front?

From my experience, IC making over 300k is not common. I work for the number 1 big bank in NYC and I’m in a project that’s considered strategic and important. Most IC’s make between 150k and low 200k. Ones who makes 300 and up have to lead or manage a team of people.
by Xyz214
Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:32 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need serious help
Replies: 32
Views: 3892

Re: Need serious help

I was like you back in 2011 with smaller amount of money 500+K. I invested 10% in 2011 and invested the rest within 2 years or so. When the market dropped by more than 20%, I didn't panic and saw it as opportunity to buy more shares for my dollar. After this realization, I accelerated putting in my money to the market. I recommend you read "Investor's Manifesto" by William Bernstein. Good luck!
by Xyz214
Sat Apr 06, 2019 1:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: That's enough for me in 2019
Replies: 906
Views: 139388

Re: That's enough for me in 2019

OP is not the only one contemplating moves like this right now. I did it (transitioned 100% to cash) starting in Dec 2007 and finishing by June 2008 and felt like the smartest guy in the room by early 2009. The problem is that I had to be right twice. I stayed 100% cash until 2013. Factoring in the amount of stress it caused me I would have been farther ahead just ignoring the market completely. I'm trying to stay disciplined "this time around" but the temptation is definitely there and my 'time to retire' is 10 years shorter. I did the same thing in 2007 and 2008, sold 70% of my equities. I was so smart in 2009! But I didn't get back in till 2011 and slowly. Had I done nothing, the result would have been probably the same. Marke...
by Xyz214
Sat Mar 02, 2019 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Lots of cash .. Scared to put it to work now
Replies: 207
Views: 21625

Re: Lots of cash .. Scared to put it to work now

Hi all Ive been lucky enough to build up a nice cash position of approx 900k at 39 years old ( 10% invested only) , no debt, condo paid for . Looking at the market it seems overpriced historically speaking as we all know , and I'm trying to do the following : -Set up a game plan with it for the next 15 years or so with a portfolio that is relatively conservative and made up of mostly indexes ( I've always been a stock picker and don't have the time nor risk tolerance any longer aside from a small fund I set up separately ) . I hope a small pension will also allow for further retirement protection in the future , so I don't mind focusing on wealth preservation a bit more on these funds . I understand a lump sum investment makes the most sen...
by Xyz214
Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:33 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: “Market Always Goes Up” defense without past performance
Replies: 143
Views: 11881

Re: “Market Always Goes Up” defense without past performance

I think that's a good argument for using passive and index investing for whatever you invest in, but for me it doesn't answer the more fundamental question of whether I want to invest in a market that I believe is now seriously overvalued as a whole. gmaynardkrebs, Why do you need to answer this question at all? My AA is 60/40. I put money into whatever asset class that is low in my allocation. At this moment, I am buying the bond because my stock portion had gone up. If and when my stock portion hit the rebalancing band, I will sell stock and rebalance. I actually made money with my REIT index fund from the 2008/2009 crash. I had a fixed 10% allocation to REIT. It hit the rebalancing band and I sold before the crash. If you have a fixed A...
by Xyz214
Sat Mar 02, 2019 7:42 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: “Market Always Goes Up” defense without past performance
Replies: 143
Views: 11881

Re: “Market Always Goes Up” defense without past performance

I think markets went up the past, and still do, because people and their companies are always learning and building and striving and overall producing more with less. That means passive investors that take market returns figure they will end up getting more and more. Markets definitely have a lot of local maxima and minima though. Anyway, for me while saving for retirement the market was the only game in town. I did not want to work for the man until I died so I had to invest. "Invest you must" Luckily that worked out ok so far. Regarding market timing I don't have any confidence that I could do it. I guess a lot of people do, so, I wish them the best. Clearly though, you wouldn’t pay infinite money for a company’s profits if tho...
by Xyz214
Thu Jan 24, 2019 6:09 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need Advice - quit 6-figure job to do coding school?
Replies: 118
Views: 13482

Re: Need Advice - quit 6-figure job to do coding school?

I'd do an MS rather than a bootcamp. You're unlikely to get close to $250k out of a bootcamp, even with a CS degree, because you are likely to be very rusty and won't be able to pass the algorithm-heavy interviews. But yeah, you could be making significantly more than $250k within 5 years so financially it's probably worth it to switch long-term. Don't expect to get there working 20-30 hours per week, though. Thanks. Agreed that initially I would definitely take a pay cut coming out of bootcamp but like you said, it's about the long-term. One of the reasons I'm leaning over the bootcamp option versus MS or grad school is tuition cost, opportunity cost, and time. Seems like bootcamp curriculum is more practical and can get me to land a soft...
by Xyz214
Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need Advice - quit 6-figure job to do coding school?
Replies: 118
Views: 13482

Re: Need Advice - quit 6-figure job to do coding school?

WhyNotUs wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:50 pm Me thinks AI will make coders dinosaurs over time. Given the nature of coding probably not far far off.
Not in our lifetime. Someone will need to communicate the requirements to the machinr. And this is the job of the coder.

Application developer will continue to be moving to using with higher level API e.g. using framework instead of coding with bare one JavaScript, using API from AWS etc. And guess what there are software engineers who built these frameworks and APIs.
by Xyz214
Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:40 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Need Advice - quit 6-figure job to do coding school?
Replies: 118
Views: 13482

Re: Need Advice - quit 6-figure job to do coding school?

KlangFool wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:14 pm OP,

1) A more realistic path would be looking into AI, machine learning, and data science. Something that combines your current job with programming.

2) What do you hope to get out of this career change?

KlangFool
Why do you think “more realistic path would be looking into AI, machine learning, and data science.”?
There are way less number of these jobs than generic software engineering jobs. They also typically require more advance degree. Data scientist don't necessarily make more money than software engineer. Lastly, a lot developers want to crack into these fields so there are many competitions from people who are likely more qualified than OP.
by Xyz214
Tue Nov 06, 2018 6:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Never thought of living in Bay Area but just got a call from Tesla
Replies: 72
Views: 9207

Re: Never thought of living in Bay Area but just got a call from Tesla

My friend is a doctor, who works in a hospital near Tesla's office. She noticed that most Tesla employees who came to their clinic look miserable and stressed out. On the other hands, google and netflix employees seem happy.
by Xyz214
Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How to determine weights within portfolio
Replies: 29
Views: 2273

Re: How to determine weights within portfolio

To add to the above, the default position seems to be the market weight. Start there and for every deviation from that point have a good reason that you understand and believe in. If you don't then when the returns for one piece of the allocation does poorly you will be tempted to sell it. By market weight, do you mean the total capitalization of each asset class? If so, where would I find such information? Ideally, I would like to see it broken out as follows: US Large Cap US Mid Cap US Small Cap International International Small Cap Emerging Market Emerging Market Small Cap US Real Estate Alternatives Intermediate Term Bonds You might find these links helpful. Cheers! https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Approximating_total_stock_market https...
by Xyz214
Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Handling ageism in tech
Replies: 56
Views: 7482

Re: Handling ageism in tech

Not sure if this is the right forum for this since it is not investing. But I will try my luck. We all know that there is considerable age discrimination in tech (for variety of reasons - but let's not get into that). I am in my early 40's and in a pretty decent technical role (lead a small team right now). I am sure at some point the age factor will kick in and I am wondering what others have done to handle this. In some sense I am preparing for the inevitable. Some ideas I have been thinking about: - Move more into management. Not sure whether this is a good idea of growing into mid level mgmt role etc.. - Start some business so that I can make that a full-time role when the time comes. Have thought about some franchises in education but...
by Xyz214
Thu Apr 05, 2018 6:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How do Bogleheads Take Advantage of Dips When Fully Invested?
Replies: 55
Views: 9911

Re: How do Bogleheads Take Advantage of Dips When Fully Invested?

Hello all, I am a Boglehead and have been for the past 6 years which has worked out great for me. I know the general answer to my question is, check AA at fixed intervals, if it is unbalanced, rebalance it. BUT It can be frustrating when the market has a huge pullback yet you do not get to take advantage of it because your Roth and Taxable accounts are fully invested and you only get paid once a month on the 20th (meaning 401K contribution only goes in once per month on that date). Anytime I see the market pullback 500+ points I would love to put more money in, not trying to time the market but I am 29 and buying to hold so it is frustrating to completely miss out and then on the next 401K contribution the market is right back up. See char...
by Xyz214
Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:54 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How does one emotionally keep it together during market swings?
Replies: 118
Views: 13627

Re: How does one emotionally keep it together during market swings?

Knowing that I don't need the money in the next 20 years. If the market drops, I get to buy more share for every pay period and I also see it as an opportunity to buy shares with prices from the past.
by Xyz214
Sun Oct 08, 2017 3:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: (24M) - Should I take a pay cut for a new career path with a better payoff?
Replies: 21
Views: 3473

Re: (24M) - Should I take a pay cut for a new career path with a better payoff?

I say go for it. If it doesn't work out, you can always go back to technology.
I'm developer in a bank and there are few managing directors who were former traders. I'm guessing either they didn't excel in trading or they decided to take it easy later in life.
by Xyz214
Sun Aug 20, 2017 2:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Weightlifting Equipment for Home Gym
Replies: 54
Views: 12959

Re: Weightlifting Equipment for Home Gym

Thanks for the replies. I've also checked out https://forum.bodybuilding.com/ for more info. It is quite entertaining and informative. They have several different programs for increasing your lifts. I'm not interested in bodybuilding but am interested in lifting for strength and health and find it much more enjoyable than jogging and I'm more likely to stick with it. I also would would much rather have a home gym than go to the gym. Pros -I'd use it more - can work out twice a day -Can crank up the music -No waiting, no driving to gym -Just my family's germs -Has almost everything I want/need Cons -There are a few machines at the gym I like that I'm not going to buy like the leg press. You mentioned "lifting in strength and health&quo...
by Xyz214
Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Life at crossroads. What would you do ?
Replies: 198
Views: 25732

Re: Life at crossroads. What would you do ?

OP, I didn't read through the whole thread but you seem very pessimistic. You can certainly find jobs elsewhere given your tech background and MBA. I'm a developer around your age and I work with a lot of business analysts and project managers who are in late 40's and in 50's. You need to realize your situation is not personal, permanent and pervasive - these are the devils pessimists have to fight with.
by Xyz214
Sun Jul 02, 2017 8:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What may have led to the US stock sell-off on 6-30-17 at 3:50-4:00 p.m.?
Replies: 50
Views: 7541

Re: What may have led to the US stock sell-off on 6-30-17 at 3:50-4:00 p.m.?

goblue100 wrote:
S17C wrote:U.S. stocks gradually rose on Friday from late morning until 3:50pm. The last ten minutes saw a sell-off. ITOT (Total US Stock Market) dropped 0.34% from 3:50 to 4:00 p.m. What may have caused the sell-off?

In the big picture that relatively small drop won't matter, but I'm trying to learn about possible reasons for the sell-off in the final ten minutes.
More sellers than buyers.
This statement is not accurate. Please read http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/how-ca ... an-buyers/
by Xyz214
Tue May 23, 2017 7:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why Invest in Average?
Replies: 34
Views: 5441

Re: Why Invest in Average?

Independent George wrote:It's a completely plausible idea which makes intuitive sense... It just doesn't quite work out that way in practice.

The question I have now is why so few funds manage to beat the indices - even accounting for survivor bias, shouldn't roughly 50% of funds be above average? And yet, it's not even close to that.
Because average is not median. :)
by Xyz214
Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where to Invest a Bit of a Windfall
Replies: 10
Views: 1621

Re: Where to Invest a Bit of a Windfall

Why not Vanguard Total International? Its valuation certainly looks better than the US'.
by Xyz214
Thu Jan 12, 2017 7:48 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How Bad was 2008, really?
Replies: 407
Views: 64150

Re: How Bad was 2008, really?

In case this hasn't been mentioned, seeing people getting laid off left and right made me really nervous about my job.
by Xyz214
Thu Jan 12, 2017 6:58 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Been renting for 10 years. Is it about time for me to get my own place?
Replies: 11
Views: 2451

Re: Been renting for 10 years. Is it about time for me to get my own place?

It sounds like I should wait for now. I just calculated the CAGR of my rent for the past 10 years. It comes out to 2.42, which is not as bad I thought.

physiorol, I'm afraid my income growth will be limited for the rest of my career. I'm in individual contributor and in tech where agism exists.

jimb_fromATL, thanks for the detailed analysis. When the time comes for me to buy, I'll use your response as a template to analyze the purchase.

why3not, good point about opportunity cost.

wassabi and VictoriaF, thanks for making me consider about the non-financial side.

Thank you all. You guys are the best. I don't think I'll ever get this kind of top quality response in real life.

Cheers.
by Xyz214
Wed Jan 11, 2017 6:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Been renting for 10 years. Is it about time for me to get my own place?
Replies: 11
Views: 2451

Been renting for 10 years. Is it about time for me to get my own place?

Hi. I live in HCOL city and have been renting the past 10 years. My rent keeps increasing so I've been debating lately whether I should buy my own place to achieve more stable housing cost going forward and to build equity. I'm currently paying 2400 for a small studio. Here are my information. Age: 39 Debt: None Net Worth: *redacted* Income: *redacted* Average Annual Savings (past 5 years): *redacted* I'm currently single and not dating anyone but would like to get married ASAP when the right person comes along. Does it make sense for me to purchase my own place next year after my lease is up? If so, how much house can I afford? I prefer to stay in my neighborhood since commute to work is only 20 minutes but 1BR condo costs about 700K to 80...
by Xyz214
Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Trouble with "Buy and Hold"
Replies: 144
Views: 20656

Re: The Trouble with "Buy and Hold"

OP, the reality is you don't just invest at one point. Most people in accumulation phase would have continuously invested after the tech bubble. This means they reached breakeven much sooner than you think.
by Xyz214
Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Invest entire $1M windfall now or over time?
Replies: 39
Views: 7716

Re: Invest entire $1M windfall now or over time?

Invest at least 30% of it now and DCA the rest in two year schedule. If you become more comfortable with the market after experiencing large price movements, accelerate your DCA schedule. Along the way, keep learning. One book I highly recommend is "Investor's Manifesto" by William Bernsteins.

Good luck.
by Xyz214
Sun Jul 31, 2016 10:32 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Investing at stock market highs
Replies: 52
Views: 6942

Re: Investing at stock market highs

prettybogle wrote:this question comes up atleast once a month here. To summarize, you will get one of the responses below
1. Put it all in at once
2. Put it in regular intervals
3. Wait for a drop - put some in. Repeat until done

I tend to favor 3rd option as every one of my buddies made much higher returns than market consistently over the last few years. Now, there is that slim chance they might not be able to it once in a blue moon eg. 1929-30, 2008.
How much drop? As you probably saw in number of other posts, people seating in the sideline still didn't invest right after brexit.
Also what do you do if the market continues to go up like from the 80's to 99?
by Xyz214
Sun Jul 31, 2016 9:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Investing at stock market highs
Replies: 52
Views: 6942

Re: Investing at stock market highs

50K seemed like a large sum to me when I just started investing. Now, I see more than 50K movement over few days/weeks and I don't lose sleep about it. What helps is knowing that I don't need the money any time soon.

Given that you have 3-4 decades ahead of you, invest now and be done with it. Educate yourself like reading Investor's Manifesto and other books recommended here and have a long term perspective.

Good luck.
by Xyz214
Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Remind me once again why I can't time the market?
Replies: 75
Views: 12790

Re: Remind me once again why I can't time the market?

I didn't read other people's posts. Sorry if what I'm going to say has already been said.

I suggest you save your energy in doing something else. Just automate your investment. If history is your guide, chances are you'd be doing worse with your "buy in the dip" strategy since the market goes up 2/3 of the time.
If you want to continue doing what you're doing, just make sure you're not falling into this scenario. Investing at 3% dip using the cash that you've held for the past 3 months but the market had actually gone up by 5% in the past 3 months. Some might believe they have bought at a discount but in fact it's the contrary.

Good luck.
by Xyz214
Thu May 12, 2016 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Prenup, middle age couple no children
Replies: 22
Views: 4647

Re: Prenup, middle age couple no children

I felt sad reading the OP. Both of you are matured and have been together for 8 years and I'm guessing both are educated also. Given these, the probability of getting a divorce later is really low. Why can't you trust yourself and her that you two will stick together through thick and thin? And why does everything have to be equal? Once you're married, yours is hers and hers is yours.
by Xyz214
Sat Apr 16, 2016 7:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Postnuptial agreement for Physician
Replies: 94
Views: 12114

Re: Postnuptial agreement for Physician

Hi, My wife and I recently got married and joined our finances. We currently don't have any significant assets (she has about 30K in student loan debt, and 25K in her retirement account; while I have 16K in car debt, no student loans). I am a physician and she is a nurse. I am still in training, and will become an attending next year when I will see my salary increase by approx 6x. I have a clear idea of what I want for my life and I want to achieve financial independence very early in my career (10 years of working full time) to pursue other interests and travel. I will aggressively save most of my salary in order to do that. My wife likes the idea of FI and traveling, but I occasionally have the feeling she will be content in spending he...
by Xyz214
Sat Apr 16, 2016 7:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Postnuptial agreement for Physician
Replies: 94
Views: 12114

Re: Postnuptial agreement for Physician

OP. Divorce rate is not as bad as you think.

From http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/articl ... inment.htm

"The chance of a marriage ending in divorce was lower for people with more education, with over half of marriages of those who did not complete high school having ended in divorce compared with approximately 30 percent of marriages of college graduates."
by Xyz214
Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Leaving a LBYM lifestyle ["Living Below" to "Living At" Your Means]
Replies: 54
Views: 8971

Re: Leaving a LBYM lifestyle

At your current income level, you can definitely afford it. Are you confident you can sustain same level of income for next 10, 15 years?
by Xyz214
Fri Feb 26, 2016 4:09 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Where does the money go when stocks and bonds are in the red ?
Replies: 34
Views: 5950

Re: Where does the money go when stocks and bonds are in the red ?

There is no "money". When you see the price of a share of stock or a bond, what you see is the amount it could be sold for. It is just the price that that investment is trading for at the moment. There's money! Stock price goes up because someone put in money into the stock and it goes down because someone withdraw the money. Here's an oversimplified example. T0 You have little world of 5 people. Each of them has 100. T1 Person1 started a company and sold services to the other 4. As a result, Person1's money increased from 120 and the other 4's money drop to 95. T2 Person1 decided to sell equity stake to his company issuing 4 shares each valued at 10 keeping 2 shares for himself and selling 2 shares to Person2. Now, person1 has 1...
by Xyz214
Sat Nov 07, 2015 9:39 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Have people who want early retirement actually BETA-TESTED it to see if you like it?
Replies: 13
Views: 1964

Re: Have people who want early retirement actually BETA-TESTED it to see if you like it?

I had a month break in between jobs 5 years ago. I travelled, read books, worked out and did whatever I liked. What I realized in my experience, it's not enjoyable if I have do all the fun things just myself. I know extreme ER is not for me. Right now, I'm aiming to retire around 55 and be FI ASAP.

Here's an interesting article about the minecraft founder.
http://www.businessinsider.com/minecraf ... ppy-2015-8
by Xyz214
Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:33 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Organic Food: Costco vs Trader Joe's vs Local Super market
Replies: 33
Views: 7747

Re: Organic Food: Costco vs Trader Joe's vs Local Super market

Raybo wrote:I eat organic frozen blueberries for breakfast everyday. We buy the 3 pound bag from CostCo for about $11. At Whole Foods, the 10 ounce bag is $4 and at Trader Joe's, the 12 ounce bag is $3.

Since the blueberries are Kirkland brand, they always seem to be available.

I don't buy anything else on your list, so can't say.
If it's just blueberries then you're not saving much but I'm sure you're getting tons of other things.

Costco
3lbs (48 ounces) = $11

TJ
12oz x 4 = $4 x 4 = $12
by Xyz214
Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I am scared of a bear is it ok to take longer to go in?
Replies: 36
Views: 4737

Re: I am scared of a bear is it ok to take longer to go in?

rec7 wrote:I am 55 and would like it to last 30 years. I do not care to list the amount at this time. I would take out no more than 4%. I am thinking about a 60/40 AA How does this plan sound?
60/40 is a reasonable asset allocation for people your age. But ultimately, as Larry Swedroe said, your asset allocation should be driven by your ability, willingness and need to take risk.

I suggest you provide more information using the suggested format in viewtopic.php?t=6212 so the experts here can chime in.