Search found 544 matches

by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Mar 11, 2023 11:47 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Somewhat offbeat "average cost" questions re mutual funds
Replies: 3
Views: 454

Somewhat offbeat "average cost" questions re mutual funds

Suppose I have two brokerage accounts, each of which holds 10000 shares of the same mutual fund. Suppose all the shares are covered, i.e. acquired after 2012. Suppose both brokers use average cost rather than FIFO for sales of mutual funds. Suppose broker X has a recorded average cost of $10, while broker Y's recorded average cost is $20. Overall, my average cost is $15. Now suppose that the mutual fund's NAV today is $15, i.e. my unrealized capital gain is a big fat zero. I sell 1000 shares. Q1. Do I report different capital gains depending on which broker sells the shares? Q2a. If so, would the IRS object if I use broker Y and claim a loss? Q2b. If not, and I sold with broker X who reports a $5000 gain while I report a zero gain, would th...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:46 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Historical data series for Canadian investors - Simba
Replies: 11
Views: 1396

Re: Historical data series for Canadian investors - Simba

Checking in after a nudge from Barry. Some immediate feedback below. I'm willing to pitch in, though I'm going to be travelling over the next month and may not have access to my complete archive. Presumably this isn't time sensitive. The typical approach for regular data series in Simba is to complement historical returns from a real-life fund (e.g. Vanguard or iShares) with historical returns from indices (the one tracked by the actual fund having a higher priority, but also using similar indices if we can dig up more history), and in some cases, complement such fund/index history with some synthetic model. This is based on a splicing process, the data sources being ordered by priority and the indices/models being adjusted by the same ER a...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: John Bogle has died at age 89
Replies: 856
Views: 82119

Re: John Bogle has died at age 89

Dropping in to pay my respects. Americans have much to be thankful for with Jack Bogle, but allow me to say that investors worldwide owe him just as much. It's a sad occasion, but Jack Bogle lived a long and fruitful life. He and his vision changed so many lives for the better. On the few occasions that I met him, he was always gracious, patient, a good listener. And humble, as no giant with his impact seems likely to be. As Bylo says , his legacy is that he put riches aside to do the right thing for millions of others. I would bet that his "gifts" to investors are in the hundreds of millions if not trillions of dollars. I am sad today but that will pass with time. I am also grateful today and will be for the rest of my life. Jack...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun Nov 18, 2018 12:05 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Canadian Citizen with noticeable tax deferred investments and home equity, considering moving outside US before 60
Replies: 15
Views: 1597

Re: Canadian Citizen with noticeable tax deferred investments and home equity, considering moving outside US before 60

Cross-posted from FWF . A move to Japan and then to Canada creates some serious challenges on both of the issues you've identified: the broker choice, likely irrevocable after expatriating, and the tax issues around three different countries of residence over a relatively short period of time, including the possibility of a US tax levy at expatriation. First the broker issue. I will confirm that Vanguard is not an option if you eventually end up in Canada, so you can't stick with them no matter how good they are to you in the US. You're going to have to investigate alternatives yourself because chances are no one knows for certain how any one broker will handle the three country problem. (Be aware that, even though you need to and can make ...
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:19 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

Apologies to the participants. I have been seriously offline.

Given that the results have been duplicated, that my script seems irretrievably broken, and I'm wrestling with other alligators, I'm going to leave it be.

A happy new year to all.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Oct 29, 2016 8:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

It's fixed for now.

One note: triceratops' CJES pick has been fixed at zero; 100% of the company was handed to lenders in July and shareholders were wiped out. There is a ticker CJESQ that trades (closed Friday at 95.5 cents) but I see no reason to believe it could provide any value to pre-bankruptcy holders.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Jul 19, 2016 7:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: HOA Swimming Pool Trespassing Issue
Replies: 100
Views: 17171

Re: HOA Swimming Pool Trespassing Issue

Consider auditory deterrents. Opera on a loop, or random high volume high frequency sounds inaudible to adults, e.g. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -this.html.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:27 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

Late rulings, in order as I get to them. CommonCent$ Your fund looks like plagiarism of longs from one previous entry and shorts from another. You're out. We are posting in a forum that advocates three fund, sometimes two or single, fund investing. Is it a surprise if the choices are similar? I think you should (should have?) let it ride. I can't even find the post to see how I did :annoyed I was a bit :annoyed myself on January 5, looking at a late entry where every long was in the black and every short in the red, and you might understand that I suspected past posting. As there's no prejudice to any other participant, I've put you in with your opening prices set to January 5 closes, as was done with a handful of others. You'll see that y...
by Norbert Schlenker
Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

I had another go at the parser's robustness, and it's less likely to fail from here on. No thanks are due the new Yahoo Finance engine, which (a) now ships 1-5MB per quote when I need less than 10 bytes of data back, i.e. overhead is 99.999%+ and (b) fails silently on 1-2% of requests no matter what.

P.S. Thanks to tanelorn for the updates and links re the oddballs.
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Jul 14, 2016 11:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

S'dun.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue May 10, 2016 7:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

Done at 19.30.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:56 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

I have a request via PM from StormShadow to close out his DIS short. It will be done at Monday's closing price.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

slickwillbo: I missed your cover when it happened. It's recorded now, as of Feb 5, and will be reflected in the table when it updates later today.

Grapevine ATL: PBY went private at 18.50. That has been recorded as a cover of your short, and will be reflected in the table later today.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

Late rulings, in order as I get to them. StormShadow I'm going to give you three choices because of what happened to SWHC today. I can't let you keep it using yesterday's closing price, because you made the pick after material news was out. Your choices are: Drop out completely. Drop the SWHC position. Take today's close as your open. Let me know which one you want before the market opens tomorrow. If you don't make a choice, I will go with #3. triceratop You're in with THO as the last pick. 4nursebee My mistake on the long v short. It's been corrected. CommonCent$ Your fund looks like plagiarism of longs from one previous entry and shorts from another. You're out. VictoriaF Name adjusted. protagonist No good losing just the EDMC. Given the...
by Norbert Schlenker
Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

StormShadow, you have a provisional entry. If nothing looks out of line at tomorrow's close, I'll insert your picks.

triceratop, there's another problem with THOR. That ticker from June's R3K list is for a company called Thoratec, which no longer trades. If you will take Thor - ticker THO - based on nothing but name (which is how you chose the rest of your portfolio) and nothing stupid happens with it tomorrow, then you're in. Confirm before the market opens Tuesday.
by Norbert Schlenker
Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

Re: 2016 hedge fund contest

OUT protagonist - EDMC ineligible bowest - CC ineligible Randolph - GBRK ineligible triceratop - Bankers Petroleum ineligible quantAndHold - VRX ineligible snowshoes - VRX ineligible dixdak - all ineligible zotty - all ineligible PROBLEMS VictoriaF - None of them Russkiy like letters allowed in a name ;) [Seriously, the database won't store them] slickwillbo - Fix allowed couponhead - BRK.B substituted for BRK.A LATE ENTRIES No prejudice that I see, so allowed if securities were eligible NAME CONTEST Judges are pondering. Daily updates will be posted automatically at http://libra-investments.com/hf/bh.html around 6:15 pm Eastern. Already up nearly 11% today on Chesapeake! I like being a hedge fund manager! You are going to be very disappoi...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun Jan 03, 2016 2:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2016 hedge fund contest
Replies: 250
Views: 50420

2016 hedge fund contest

A couple of inquiries by PM for a new edition of the hedge fund contest, so let's see how many of you are interested enough to enter for 2016. I'm going to stick pretty much with the 2015 rules because they seemed to work well. As I'm late, your picking deadline is 9:30 EST on Monday, January 4, about 18 hours from now, so your research time is very limited. Complete set of rules for 2016 Pick a fancy name for your hedge fund. Show some creativity. A panel of judges will choose the best. Winner of the name contest deemed to purchase long positions at 1% discount and sell short positions at 1% premium! Before 9:30 am EST on 4 Jan 2016, in this thread, pick up to three stocks to go long and up to three to short. Equal dollar amounts are place...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Dec 31, 2015 6:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

The trading year is done. Permalink to the final results for 2015 are here.

Congratulations to Tanelorn, up 57% for the year on a single stock bet. Concentration leads to winners. (Losers too but I'm not going to rain on Tanelorn's parade today.)

A healthy and prosperous 2016 to all.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Aug 01, 2015 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Free Windows 10 Upgrade, Yes or No?
Replies: 533
Views: 99363

Re: Free Windows 10 Upgrade, Yes or No?

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/07/30/windows-10-privacy-settings/ Windows 10‘s privacy settings very much need to be frowned at. Essentially: unless you pay close attention to the fluffy options offered when you first install Microsoft’s new operating system, it’s going to quietly track your behaviour and use it to fire targeted ads at you, as well as keeping tabs on your location history, data from messages, calendars, contacts and God knows what else. It is a bit scary, despite coming off the back of Microsoft’s own pledge to offer ‘real transparency’. You may or may not be OK with this yourself, but in any event at least some of this stuff can be turned off after the fact... Our lives are on our computers, and our lives are nobody ...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

All fixed. Thanks for the pointers.
by Norbert Schlenker
Wed May 20, 2015 12:06 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

It gets swapped to CY (at a cost of 34.01/2.457=13.84). Table will update automatically tomorrow evening.

BTW, thanks for noticing and responding in thread. The contest entries are diverse enough that I can't keep up otherwise.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue May 19, 2015 9:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

For aficionados of data mining from past performance, http://libra-investments.com/hf/bh-contest-archive.html.
by Norbert Schlenker
Mon May 18, 2015 5:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

Apologies. I do have a watch set on this thread but never got an email re a followup.

Cost is now fixed in the data base. The update tomorrow should fix your return and ranking.
by Norbert Schlenker
Wed Mar 25, 2015 5:00 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: R.I.P. George-J
Replies: 4
Views: 3721

R.I.P. George-J

Sad news. We've lost one of our own.

http://www.president.utoronto.ca/in-mem ... orge-luste

George posted here for years as George-J, member #3643 of this forum, over 170 posts here (with more than 2600 posts at our Canadian cousin FWF), Bogleheads conference attendee multiple times. Also a very consistent attendee at FWF beer nights in Tronna. Diligent digger into pension desiderata. Physicist. Wilderness adventurer via canoe. Collector of arcane Canadian exploration history. Loving husband, father, and grandfather. A mensch.

:( :( :(
by Norbert Schlenker
Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

JLJL wrote:Please liquidate my short "OCN" position.
Done @ 9.73.
protagonist wrote:Wonder what went wrong
viewtopic.php?p=2328097#p2328097
zaboomafoozarg wrote:I had Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which got spun off into VSTO and OA.
Problematic for the simple minded software, which has only three slots long and three short. Pick one of the successor companies and I'll make an appropriate adjustment.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Feb 10, 2015 1:48 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

liquidate the position in NFLX Done at today's close: 443.07. liquidate our long holding of Amazon.com AMZN Done at today's close: 370.56. I actually sold AMZN for real on Friday as part of closing out my individual stock positions, but was at work ... You could do a real trade in AMZN on Friday, while you were at work, but you couldn't post a virtual trade to Bogleheads, because you were at work???? You'd better be an employee of a broker/dealer. The're's a good reason for the contest rule on these freezes, where you get the closing price after you call the trade. Otherwise, the contest is open to past posting . The rule is the same for everyone. No one gets an advantage. So if we can only post closing out a position during trading hours ...
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

Having been notified, I've tried a few reruns. Usually one is enough to clear the bad quotes. Today, the zeroes just move around. Maybe it's a bad day at yahoo. Maybe yahoo has decided that anyone who downloads 250 quotes in quick succession deserves to get bum info. I'm not really sure at this point.

I'm also on the road and not well equipped nor connected, so this is not a trivial thing to fix at the moment. If I can get a good run, I'll replace the webpage. However, it may happen again tomorrow or the day after or every day for the next two weeks. You are hereby warned.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Jan 10, 2015 4:19 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

Okay, we're up and running with an all time high 66 entries. Please check your own portfolio and report any errors in this thread.

Disqualifications
hrc84 - GLD ineligible
protagonist - QCOR no longer exists
madpunster - ENVE no longer exists
TwoByFour - BBRY ineligible
DharmaBum - too lazy to dream up unique name for fund
Tim Bachmann - late entry

Best name
Tough call between VictoriaF's Hedgefog and Hoax and Flobes' People's Pecuniary Privet, so they're each getting 1/2% on all positions.

Results
Results will be posted daily, around 6:15 pm Eastern, at http://libra-investments.com/hf/bh.html.
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2014 Hedge fund contest
Replies: 160
Views: 26667

Re: Bogleheads 2014 Hedge fund contest

Final results for 2014 are at http://libra-investments.com/hf/bh-2014-final.html. Congratulations to SP-diceman on the win.

Happy new year to all.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Dec 30, 2014 6:15 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Re: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

0-6 altogether. Zero is all cash and immutable for the year.
by Norbert Schlenker
Tue Dec 30, 2014 3:29 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest
Replies: 227
Views: 48974

Bogleheads 2015 Hedge Fund Contest

Once again, I'm traveling over year end so this will take a bit of time to get organized, but here are the rules for the 2015 contest. Not much has changed since the 2014 contest, but I'm going to relax the criteria a little. So instead of exactly two long and two short positions, you can have anywhere between 0 and 3 of each. Because the first trading day of the year is a Friday, and it's likely to be dead trading-wise, and closing prices are potentially gameable, I'm moving the start point to next Tuesday, January 6. Complete set of rules for 2015 Pick a fancy name for your hedge fund. Show some creativity. A panel of esteemed judges will choose the best. Before 9 am EST on 6 Jan 2015, pick up to three stocks to go long and up to three to...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:21 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Canadian RRSP
Replies: 38
Views: 9771

Re: Canadian RRSP

you have to be careful, that means TD CanadaTrust still consider you Canadian Resident and so does Canadian Government, if so, you need to clearly decalre non residency with Canadian Government or they will come after you for taxes, and if you are making transactions on Canadian RRSP you are considered resident. This is wrong. Making a transaction in an RRSP doesn't turn you into a Canadian resident for tax purposes. Failing to declare yourself a non-resident on the official CRA form doesn't make you resident either. Tax residence is a matter of fact under Canadian law, and a tenuous connection like ownership of or trading in an RRSP is insufficient connection to Canada to establish residence. On top of that, the US-Canada tax treaty has t...
by Norbert Schlenker
Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:39 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much should a New Jersey home inspection cost?
Replies: 7
Views: 2242

Re: How much should a New Jersey home inspection cost?

Go to this NJ real estate blog and post a request in the comments of the most recent post for contact details for the über inspector. Whatever he charges will be worth your while.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat May 31, 2014 9:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2014 Hedge fund contest
Replies: 160
Views: 26667

Re: Bogleheads 2014 Hedge fund contest

stickman, thanks for pointing out your DDD lock in March as I had missed it. Fixing it is to your disadvantage, so kudos for your honesty.
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat May 31, 2014 11:49 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2014 Hedge fund contest
Replies: 160
Views: 26667

Re: Bogleheads 2014 Hedge fund contest

As long as you're aware that the lock will happen as of Monday's close.
by Norbert Schlenker
Fri May 30, 2014 6:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who wants a discount on some wine?
Replies: 9
Views: 2257

Re: Who wants a discount on some wine?

Aptenodytes is the (maybe, given what's been posted above) lucky winner. Code and password in PM. Good luck and remember to be careful out among them English. ;)

No delivery today, so no round 2 (yet).
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu May 29, 2014 4:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Who wants a discount on some wine?
Replies: 9
Views: 2257

Who wants a discount on some wine?

I bought a piece of computer equipment from the Canadian affiliate of a US retailer, but the item was shipped from Michigan. In the bottom of the shipping box was a card from Naked Wines , a Napa vineyard ( not Naked Winery in Oregon, the card makes clear), offering $100 off any case worth $160 or more, with free shipping. However, I'm not in the U.S. (or the UK or Oz, where they also ship), so the card is of no use to me. There is nothing on the card that indicates the voucher is tied to my name, so I'm happy to give the code/password combination to any Boglehead who wants to be a guinea pig. I don't know if their wine is any good; perhaps some Boglehead has tried something and can opine. They will ship, according to them, to all the follo...
by Norbert Schlenker
Mon May 12, 2014 11:13 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Canadian citizen in the US - RRSP discussion
Replies: 16
Views: 3927

Re: Canadian citizen in the US - RRSP discussion

If I were to cash out, would I: 1. Pay 25000 * 0.25 in taxes in Canada - $6250 That's the withholding tax. If your other income is low, it's possible that you may owe Canada less, but that requires filing what's called a Section 217 return . It sounds unlikely but it's probably worth a little figuring before discarding the possibility. 2. Report $25000 CAD (let's say, at today's exchange rate this is $23000) as gross income on my US 1040 That goes on Line 7a of the 8891 and from there to Box 16a of the 1040. 3. The foreign tax credit part, Form 1116, I would declare that I paid $6250 CAD taxes ($5800 USD) Yes. You will not get credit for all of it because: --> Does the $16000 factor in anywhere? It does, though pay attention to what Red-y ...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun May 11, 2014 9:05 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Canadian citizen in the US - RRSP discussion
Replies: 16
Views: 3927

Re: Canadian citizen in the US - RRSP discussion

I see what you mean, but at the same time if the transfer is indeed possible then that would seem like the best option. I have contacted TD Waterhouse to know if it's feasible. As long as you're prepared for the result. If TDWH will take the account, I'm betting you'll get dinged at least $100 transfer fee by Manulife before the account moves. Normally, that fee is refunded by the receiving broker, but it would be surprising for TDWH to do that for this size of account. So there's $100 gone. Then, $25k is right on the edge of where TDWH charges a $100/year admin fee. If the account falls below that value, they'll charge the account. One market downdraft and you could be on the hook for $100/year for quite a while, because it's unlikely the...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun May 11, 2014 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing in Gold/Silver Coins
Replies: 37
Views: 6304

Re: Investing in Gold/Silver Coins

Even with the size of the Boglehead community here, I'll be surprised if you get a "first hand" account. My maternal grandfather bribed a Russian soldier to let his wife, two daughters (one of whom was my mother), and himself pass from the Russian zone into the British zone in Germany in 1945. He paid with a gold pocket watch, the only thing of any value they had retained while refugees. He told me that himself, so it's first hand to me. For the OP, my advice is to be judicious. There isn't much pleasure to be derived from coins, and they produce no income. The bulk of my "investments" in gold and silver are in my wife's jewellery, 22-23k bought in Bangkok and Jakarta when we travelled there, and silver flatware that we ...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sun May 11, 2014 11:18 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Canadian citizen in the US - RRSP discussion
Replies: 16
Views: 3927

Re: Canadian citizen in the US - RRSP discussion

It seems I could transfer from one brokerage to another, just like I can in the US. The difficulty is not the transfer. The difficulty is opening the new account now that you're in the US. Over the past ten years, it has become increasingly difficult to open a financial account in a country where you're not resident. The restrictions have gotten tighter because governments keep passing laws and implementing regulations to combat terrorist financing, money laundering, tax evasion, and securities fraud. Address checks are now standard fare. Unless you still have a usable Canadian address, you will find it almost impossible to get a Canadian broker to take you on, and the account is so small that you may be charged annual fees just to keep it...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Server Admins - how to check for OpenSSL?
Replies: 5
Views: 871

Re: Server Admins - how to check for OpenSSL?

If you have secure shell access, then run the package manager (which varies depending on the underlying software) and grep for openssl. On a debian-based system, e.g.

Code: Select all

dpkg --list | fgrep openssl
On a Redhat-based system ...

Code: Select all

rpm -qa | fgrep openssl
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Replacement for Windows XP Computer
Replies: 72
Views: 7790

Re: Replacement for Windows XP Computer

I may be right but you're not wrong, Harold. Chances are my $150 solution will break sooner than your $1000 solution. If mine lasts five years and yours ten, then it's $70/year difference and you get to avoid the aggravation at the five year mark. That's a plausible trade off. Think of all the times you read suggestions - here and elsewhere - that people buy a Mac, on the grounds that "sure they cost more, but they just work". My wife and daughter swear by them, and my role is limited to finding them at a good price. Even better, when something does go wrong (and trust me, Macs don't always "just work"), it's not my problem. Everyone's entitled to choose how they spend their own money. The important thing is to get the m...
by Norbert Schlenker
Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Replacement for Windows XP Computer
Replies: 72
Views: 7790

Re: Replacement for Windows XP Computer

Harold, I see a lot of people egging you on to buy top shelf gear, but I've yet to see a good reason for most of it. My guess is that you're going to spend something around $1,000. While $1,000 won't break the average Boglehead, make sure this is what you want to spend it on. You can buy a five year old used machine for $100-200. Chances are that machine will (a) subjectively feel as fast as this monster you propose given the tasks you seem likely to perform, (b) will last almost as long, and (c) will let you blow $800-900 on something else. You're not unlike most computer users. You read your email, surf the web, listen to a little music, write the occasional letter, do a little arithmetic in a spreadsheet. You do not need this sort of com...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Thinking About a New Laptop
Replies: 46
Views: 5981

Re: Thinking About a New Laptop

Well, it's a rare person that needs an i5 for the jobs you seem to want to do, but if that's what you want, that's what you want. But why pay $1340 when you can pay $803?
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Mar 27, 2014 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Were These Investment Advisors Lying or Incompetent?
Replies: 100
Views: 12769

Re: Were These Investment Advisors Lying or Incompetent?

I didn't know the tickers. I wouldn't know a fund ticker if it fell on me.

What I did, and what you or anyone can do, is go to morningstar.com, start typing the fund name in the quote box, and up pops a menu of choices. Once you get far enough into the name, the choices are restricted to the various classes of a particular fund. Pick the ones you want.
least of all evils.
Been there. Done that. Did my best. Washed my hands thoroughly afterwards. ;)
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Mar 27, 2014 2:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Were These Investment Advisors Lying or Incompetent?
Replies: 100
Views: 12769

Re: Were These Investment Advisors Lying or Incompetent?

Here is one of the portfolios they proposed to us. Have at it! 18% DIA (SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Avg) 12% BIV (Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond) 14% Columbia Thermostat C (CTFDX) 14% First Eagle Global C (FESGX) 14% BlackRock Global Allocation Inv C (MCLOX) 14% Ivy Asset Strategy C (WASCX) 14% MainStay Marketfield A (MFADX) Thank you! I appreciate the political issues that you have to deal with, and maybe you'll get stuck with these particular advisors and funds. But if so, maybe you can get the board to understand something like ... "I've made my views clear on fees and I can see that I'm not going to win that argument. You seem committed to the Morgan Stanley advisors, so let's make the best of that. They're charging us a fee of 1.2...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Mar 27, 2014 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone been to Budapest?
Replies: 31
Views: 7505

Re: Anyone been to Budapest?

First of all, don't do the tourist thing and stay in your hotel or take organized tours. Walk around and see the sights yourself. Be random. You'll never know what you'll find. You'll be sleeping in Pest, which is to my mind more interesting than Buda on the west side of the Danube. (Buda was shelled into rubble by Soviet artillery in 1944-45; almost nothing there is original, including the "medieval castle".) Many people speak English or German, so you shouldn't have much of a problem communicating. No point trying to learn Hungarian - it's famously difficult and odd. What to see? I'll repeat the advice above to go to Gellert, though if architecture isn't your thing (or you're architectured out anyway because there's something to...
by Norbert Schlenker
Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:05 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Canadian inheritance but living in the USA
Replies: 13
Views: 6968

Re: Canadian inheritance but living in the USA

If Nesbitt is willing to make a direct transfer in kind to a US broker via DTC, without charging large fees, then that's the way for you to go. Their suggestion of Harris is just a suggestion, understandable because it's an affiliated organization. But the truth is that, if they can transfer to Harris, they can transfer to anyone, and that institution doesn't need to be full service in order to accept the transfer. Upthread, you seemed interested in TD Ameritrade. Contact them, ask them what you need to do on their end so that they could accept a transfer from a Canadian brokerage firm, and then relay those instructions to Nesbitt when the time comes. If you already have a discount brokerage account somewhere else, but were thinking of TD A...