Search found 425 matches

by Seattlenative
Fri Oct 21, 2016 2:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Deleted
Replies: 16
Views: 2990

Re: 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack

Gordon Prang's book "At Dawn We Slept" provides a rather detailed and interesting overview of the events of that day. "At Dawn We Slept" became the storyline for the epic cinematic depiction, "Tora Tora Tora!". Both the book and the film are very highly recommended. Some 27 years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial and to take the boat tour around the sunken Arizona. As I came to realize how many young men's lives had abruptly ended during the attack - and some men actually surviving for hours or even days in submerged vessels with no viable means for escape - it was hard to stop crying and feeling so much pain for their loss and the losses their families sustained. Certainly, it left ...
by Seattlenative
Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where do you keep your CD ladder?
Replies: 22
Views: 4618

Re: Where do you keep your CD ladder?

Keeping laddered CDs at a bank or credit union involves one snag not present with brokered CDs: "automatic renewal". Over the years, I've become more and more annoyed at the nuisance of having a maturing CD automatically rollover into a new CD, then have a rather short "grace period" (depending on the bank/CU, between six and ten calendar days) to cash out the new CD before EWPs apply. Banks contend that automatic renewal is offered "for your convenience", but it's really for their benefit in terms of increasing the stickiness of their core time deposits. Unfortunately, "automatic renewal" CDs are quite common and if you don't want it you may need to shop around or ask a bank to waive IN WRITING thei...
by Seattlenative
Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:38 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Another reason to look at International
Replies: 7
Views: 2140

Re: Another reason to look at International

This makes no sense to me at all. Every country benefits from global trade, not just US. If global trade shrinks that is bad for entire world and all stock markets. So it cannot be true that it's good for international and bad for US. And in fact the article then goes on to discuss that very point. Now US stocks might get hit worse as they have much higher valuations and thus any bad news might impact valuations here more than overseas, might. With that said, IMO this is definitely a threat to global economies and stocks, but of course the market knows this and has priced that risk in. Larry What are your opinions about simply investing in a Total World index fund like Vanguard Total World (VT) or iShares All Country World Index (ACWI), ra...
by Seattlenative
Fri Jul 15, 2016 3:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wells Fargo
Replies: 122
Views: 28306

Re: Wells Fargo

For those of you with the free trades, is there somewhere that it lists this? .... I have been with WF since the First Union days with a brokerage account and checking, and should have qualified for the free trades. I am starting to wonder what else I qualified for that they might have given me. ...... Nevermind looks like I never had the PMA package and have the command asset. Wells Fargo no longer offers the PMA Wellstrade 100-commission-free-trades program. It was offered from 2007 to 2013. Those who had the "free trades" Wellstrade accounts were grandfathered, but.... I just saw a July statement insert from Wellstrade listing new fees, effective September 1st. Notably, a new a $75/year custodial charge for IRAs, and there's n...
by Seattlenative
Fri Jul 15, 2016 3:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Index w/ good historical info for total world equity market
Replies: 7
Views: 1152

Re: Index w/ good historical info for total world equity market

Morningstar has a benchmark that can be added to a mutual fund chart for something called "World Stock" It has data going back to 1955. I don't know for sure how the benchmark is created, but I believe it's derived from a composite of actual mutual funds. Chart When I clicked on the link, it brought up the original Fidelity Fund (FFIDX), which is primarily an actively-managed domestic fund and not a proxy for Total World. I would very much like to see this benchmark, since I've moved a lot of my core equity portfolio to the Vanguard Total World ETF (VT), supplemented by some VG Total Stock (VTI) to tilt slightly more towards US domestic. Since Vanguard has reduced VT's ER to 0.14%, I think it's a good choice for simplicity's sake...
by Seattlenative
Mon Jun 06, 2016 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Wells Fargo
Replies: 122
Views: 28306

Re: Wells Fargo

Like many here, I maintain deposits at more than one bank/credit union. I have enjoyed banking with Wells Fargo over the past 16 years, and have been enrolled at the Portfolio Management Account level for the past 11 years - which has included WellsTrade brokerage services which were enrolled (since early 2007) in the 100-free-trades-per-year program. Now that I have brokerage accounts at TD Ameritrade and at Charles Schwab, I have to sheepishly admit that for a "buy-and-hold" Boglehead, I probably should have just left all of my IRAs at Wellstrade. At the time when Wells Fargo announced the phase-out of the "free trades" PMA enrollment, I figured that the handwriting was on the wall and moved out our accounts, only to b...
by Seattlenative
Mon May 09, 2016 5:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best bank for Home owners association banking
Replies: 10
Views: 7948

Re: Best bank for Home owners association banking

I no longer live in an HOA (condo in my case) but I served on our community association's board for a decade and was very familiar with our finances. Our community association management company handled our checking account, but not our association's maintenance reserve accounts. As you noted, some banks are easier to deal with in terms of handling ownership/signatures for association accounts - and we dealt with more than one banking institution. This is very critical when board members come onto, or off of, the board. Up front, be absolutely consistent in using your association's true and correct legal name on ANY deposit accounts, tax filings, or service contracts. Sometimes your association's legal name as originally registered with the...
by Seattlenative
Mon May 09, 2016 5:11 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Index Bond Funds
Replies: 10
Views: 2129

Re: Index Bond Funds

Could someone explain the difference in methodology between the Barclays "Float Adjusted" Aggregate Bond Index used by Vanguard (BND) and the standard Barclays Aggregate Bond Index? Looking at long-term time spans for these funds using Portfolio Visualizer, there are brief periods when"Float Adjusted" BND slightly outperforms AGG but I really wonder exactly what the difference is.
by Seattlenative
Sat Mar 05, 2016 9:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Any good options in Wells Fargo?
Replies: 12
Views: 2243

Re: Any good options in Wells Fargo?

I love, love, LOVE my WellsFargo accounts! I am grandfathered into the no-commissions, everything free deal. One is not supposed to use the WellsFargo web site for any research. Do your research elsewhere, then buy what you want in your WellsTrade account without paying any commissions. This is simply one of the best brokerages available to retail investors.. The author didn't mention having a Wellstrade self-directed account. Wells Fargo no longer offers the commission-free-trade program to Portfolio Management Account clients. PMA clients who opened their Wellstrade accounts from 2007 through early 2013 still receive the 100-free-trades-per-year deal, but cannot open new accounts offering commission-free trading. Wellstrade's platform is...
by Seattlenative
Wed Jan 13, 2016 4:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where do you keep your CD ladder?
Replies: 22
Views: 4618

Re: Where do you keep your CD ladder?

Keeping laddered CDs at a bank or credit union involves one snag not present with brokered CDs: "automatic renewal". Over the years, I've become more and more annoyed at the nuisance of having a maturing CD automatically rollover into a new CD, then have a rather short "grace period" (depending on the bank/CU, between six and ten calendar days) to cash out the new CD before EWPs apply. Banks contend that automatic renewal is offered "for your convenience", but it's really for their benefit in terms of increasing the stickiness of their core time deposits. Unfortunately, "automatic renewal" CDs are quite common and if you don't want it you may need to shop around or ask a bank to waive IN WRITING their...
by Seattlenative
Wed Jan 13, 2016 3:54 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Are there any cheaper stock index ETFs that are better than VTI and VOO?
Replies: 20
Views: 4780

Re: Are there any cheaper stock index ETFs that are better than VTI and VOO?

Are there any cheaper stock index ETFs that are better than VTI and VOO?
Yes as to "cheaper", no as to "better". The "cheaper" alternatives, SCHB and ITOT at 0.03% ER, for most investors are comparable and equivalent to VTI but not necessarily "better". If you are making small purchases, trading commission expense also affects whether a particular fund is "cheaper" for you.
by Seattlenative
Wed Jan 13, 2016 2:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where to open up a low balance retirement account?
Replies: 29
Views: 2454

Re: Where to open up a low balance retirement account?

I've invested with Vanguard for decades. I'm trying to help a young adult set up a very low balance Roth IRA. It seems that Vanguard is not the right place for such an account as they require a minimum $1k in the IRA for a Target Retirement 2045 fund. Family connections don't matter any more according to the VG rep. I'm sort of surprised that VG is turning away this sort of person. So I'm thinking maybe to steer him to Fidelity where one can open a Roth IRA and fund it with a minimal sum like $100 to start. They have a Fidelity Freedom 2045 fund which is a bit like the VG Target Retirement 2045 fund. Low ER and no maintenance fees. Thoughts? Schwab will WAIVE their $1,000 new-account minimum for a brokerage Individual Retirement Arrangemen...
by Seattlenative
Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:44 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Costco AMEX Transition - Costco has no answers
Replies: 163
Views: 41888

Re: Costco AMEX Transition - Costco has no answers

I think it is a fairly safe bet that rewards points will not go through Costco after the end of the current cycle (rebate check with Feb statement). Note that recent billing statements regarding the sunset of this card has changed from the end of March to sometime after the end of March to the latest indication of "mid 2016". To me mid 2016 means June or July. Can you imagine if all large retailers including supermarkets had exclusive card arrangements, and customers had to weather a year long transition schedule like the Costco-Amex deal? At this time barring an unbelievable set of perks, I plan to decline the new Costco Citi visa, pay cash or use another Visa card at Costco, and give considerable thought to renewing Costco memb...
by Seattlenative
Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Final calculation of my 2015 rate of return: +1.69%
Going forward, I will be extracting ROR data using the Return Sheet for Bogleheads (awaiting approval from the owner).

Side note: Although my portfolio slightly outperformed an unadulterated Three-Fund Portfolio in 2015, which reflected some inadvertent market-timing, there's no guarantee it would do so in the future. 2015 returns performance of the Three-Fund Portfolio ETFs, per updated 12/31/15 disclosures at Vanguard's web site:

Total Stock Market (VTI): +0.37%
Total International Stock Market (VXUS): -4.10%
Total Bond Market (BND): +-0.49%
by Seattlenative
Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: M* 2015 fee study
Replies: 2
Views: 794

Re: M* 2015 fee study

Overall expense ratios are down, but investors continue to outsmarted by the industry. While the asset-weighted expense ratio has fallen, strong market appreciation and moderate inflows have pushed industry assets to record levels. We can proxy industry fee revenue by multiplying the asset-weighted expense ratio by total assets under management. By this measure, industry fee revenue is at an all-time high, reaching $88 billion, up from $50 billion 10 years ago. During that period, industry assets under management have increased 143% while the asset weighted expense ratio has declined 27%, and industry fee revenue has grown by approximately 78%. Thus, a much larger share of the benefits of the increase in assets under management has stayed ...
by Seattlenative
Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:32 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Seattle Chapter?
Replies: 122
Views: 28161

Re: Seattle Chapter?

delconte wrote:Planning on January, after the holidays. Will post details as soon as I have them.
Looking forward to a meeting in January. Happy New Year! :happy
by Seattlenative
Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Ameritrade, Fidelity, Vanguard
Replies: 16
Views: 3024

Re: Ameritrade, Fidelity, Vanguard

All options are good. Pick the one/ones you like the best, has the features and funds you want, type of customer service you want and don't be too swayed by the free gifts. Pretty much all will offer something and those that do not will give back to you in other ways like vanguard. I have accounts at fidelity, vanguard and schwab and would be willing to have all my accounts with any of them. They all have good and bad things about them. Preference for fidelity right now. I like their website, spartan funds, checking account, online chat and customer service. I'd have everything at fidelity if Vanguard didn't have the best range of mutual funds. I prefer mutual funds to etfs so have not tried ameritrade but obviously from the comments they ...
by Seattlenative
Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:07 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

I am surprised by many of the returns posted (with limited bonds) given the the Total US stock and Total Intl returns YTD. Maybe optimistic calculators? lol I am not surprised at all. I can leave out all my "bad" accounts or I can cherry pick my "good" account or I can Beardstown the whole thing. But the thread title is "What are you up YTD?" and does not set the parameters for the calculation. For instance, my son contributed for the 2nd year in his life to his Roth IRA. Technically, the account (his only one) has more than doubled in value, so he is "up" more than 100%. :) I don't think anyone construes being up including contributions as gains. Up YTD means investment performance, not adding new c...
by Seattlenative
Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Indexing declared bad for Business
Replies: 4
Views: 1410

Re: Indexing declared bad for Business

Fortune's article headline, "America's Most Popular Investment May Be Toxic", is unbelievably silly. I don't agree with the contentions set forth in the article, such as: 1)"Passive ownership is associated with less support for management proposals and more support for shareholder-initiated governance proposals", and 2) "U.S. airline ticket prices are 11% higher because the largest index funds that track the S&P 500 own not just American Airlines AAL -1.61% , but Delta DAL -1.92% and United Continental UAL -3.02% as well. Common ownership makes companies less likely to want to compete with rivals.....”
by Seattlenative
Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1 etf for 4
Replies: 15
Views: 3081

Re: 1 etf for 4

AOA has about the market rate in REIT, so if you want any significant allocation to REIT (10% recommended) then you have to add VEU. AOA also does not have emerging markets (EM), LS funds do, and about the same amount of REIT as AOA. If you don't want EM, then you could use AOA and VEU. At any rate, the lowest possible number of funds you could hold is 2. .... AOA invests in 10 different iShares Core funds, including a 6.86% allocation to emerging markets (IEMG) and nothing specific to REIT. 38.21% Core S&P 500 (IVV) 18.12% Core MSCI Europe (IEUR) 12.01% Core USD Total Bond Market (IUSB) 6.86% Core MSCI Pacific (IPAC) 4.71% Core US Treasury Bond (GOVT) 6.86% Core Emerging Markets (IEMG) 3.47% Core US Credit Bond Market (CRED) 3.25% Cor...
by Seattlenative
Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1 etf for 4
Replies: 15
Views: 3081

Re: 1 etf for 4

stlutz wrote:
AOA is offered commission-free at TD Ameritrade as well as at Fidelity.
As a side note, AOA is not commission-free at Fidelity.
Good to know, I had been under the mistaken impression that all iShares funds were commission-free at Fidelity.

AOA, AOR, AOM and AOK are commission-free at TD Ameritrade. All four are "funds of funds", comprised of very low ER iShares Core index funds. but unlike a lifestage fund, the asset allocations don't change over time though they are periodically rebalanced. I wonder if Vanguard would consider introducing similar ETFs, perhaps with a cheaper ER?

P.S. My wife is in college now and not really into investing, so I have invested part of her Rollover IRA into AOA.
by Seattlenative
Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:13 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: why indexing wins
Replies: 18
Views: 3918

Re: why indexing wins

larryswedroe wrote:http://www.etf.com/sections/index-inves ... nopaging=1 Thought this would be of interest, some interesting data Best wishes Larry
On this topic, could someone explain to me the difference between the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index (iShares AGG and Schwab SCHZ) and the Barclays Float-Adjusted Aggregate Bond Index (BND)? I have seen small but noticeable day-to-day performance differences, but over the long term it may be insignificant (other than the extremely small expense-ratio differences between Schwab, Vanguard and iShares). Thanks.
by Seattlenative
Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:02 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Three-Fund Portfolio
Replies: 3895
Views: 2424430

Re: The Three Fund Portfolio

The key thing about any of the discussions about 'this is the best allocation', you can actually remove all of the qualitative discourse (he said, she said, in the last year its performance was good etc.) by calculating the risk adjusted return of the said portfolio over different time horizons.. Then you just get an objective answer without any of the talking heads needing to tell you which is better or worse.. We are Bogleheads.. we don't need talking heads. For the 3-ticker portfolio, for instance, over it's life time, a 33% VTSMX, 33%VGTSX and 34% VBMFX gives a 7.2% yoy return with a monthly risk of 3.08% . this may sound very abstract.. but this means that over its life time, this portfolio has varied between +9.84% to -8.64% during a...
by Seattlenative
Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

livesoft wrote:
selftalk wrote: The title of this thread to me encourages others to experience fear and greed, encourage trading (switching allocations) and to alter their well thought out financial maps for the future.
I think I am one of many to whom the thread title has no such effect.

I have other problems with this thread, but I certainly don't think it encourages others to trade, etc.
All good points. Old habits ("peeking") die hard, though I no longer log in to my accounts each and every day like I once did.. Like others, I simply want to know if my returns are meeting the market, not "beating" the market. Thanks to all for reminding us to "stay the course".
by Seattlenative
Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dividend payable dates - brokerage journaling discrepancies
Replies: 4
Views: 1491

Re: Dividend payable dates - brokerage journaling discrepancies

I have IRAs at both TD Ameritrade and at Wellstrade (grandfathered PMA). I have noticed that Wellstrade's journaling of paid dividends is quicker, and dividend reinvestment quicker, than at TD Ameritrade. I have checked and double-checked the transaction history information for my accounts at both brokerages before writing these remarks. WellsTrade is awesome as you and others have noted. Perhaps your post should be moved to the Case Study: Broker speed of dividend payments thread? One thing you may need to look at is that your cash balance at TDAmeritrade and WellsFargo and others will have gotten larger indicating that the dividends are in your account, but the transactions will not show up in the actual Transactions or Activity tab unti...
by Seattlenative
Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:35 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Through market close last night, my combined YTD retirement account assets between TD Ameritrade and Wellstrade are ITB 1.44%.

It's ironic that when we moved our IRAs from Schwab to TD Ameritrade, I sold almost all of my Schwab ETF positions at a time when the market was up. I think that my inadvertent "market timing" with the Schwab ETFs, purchasing similar Vanguard and iShares positions commission-free at TDA using a slow dollar-cost averaging approach, is the reason I'm actually up slightly YTD. My Wellstrade IRAs are actually down 0.15% YTD.

Note also that I deducted the small but significant "bump" in valuation from the generous TDA new-account bonuses received in the IRAs.
by Seattlenative
Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:54 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dividend payable dates - brokerage journaling discrepancies
Replies: 4
Views: 1491

Dividend payable dates - brokerage journaling discrepancies

I have IRAs at both TD Ameritrade and at Wellstrade (grandfathered PMA). I have noticed that Wellstrade's journaling of paid dividends is quicker, and dividend reinvestment quicker, than at TD Ameritrade. I have checked and double-checked the transaction history information for my accounts at both brokerages before writing these remarks. Six of my ETFs (listed below) have a dividend payable date of 12/28/15. Please note this is not the dividend declaration date, the ex-dividend date, or the record date, but the business date on which the dividend payout is to be disbursed. Most of us would understand that sometime after market close on 12/28, and before market open on 12/29, that dividend payments would be journaled and posted to my account...
by Seattlenative
Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:46 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1 etf for 4
Replies: 15
Views: 3081

Re: 1 etf for 4

AOA has about the market rate in REIT, so if you want any significant allocation to REIT (10% recommended) then you have to add VEU. AOA also does not have emerging markets (EM), LS funds do, and about the same amount of REIT as AOA. If you don't want EM, then you could use AOA and VEU. At any rate, the lowest possible number of funds you could hold is 2. .... AOA invests in 10 different iShares Core funds, including a 6.86% allocation to emerging markets (IEMG) and nothing specific to REIT. 38.21% Core S&P 500 (IVV) 18.12% Core MSCI Europe (IEUR) 12.01% Core USD Total Bond Market (IUSB) 6.86% Core MSCI Pacific (IPAC) 4.71% Core US Treasury Bond (GOVT) 6.86% Core Emerging Markets (IEMG) 3.47% Core US Credit Bond Market (CRED) 3.25% Cor...
by Seattlenative
Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What Movie Have You Recently Watched?
Replies: 11037
Views: 2066517

Re: What Movie Have You Recently Watched?

Tonight's home cinema showing with my wife: Walt Disney's classic "Beauty and the Beast". :D
by Seattlenative
Mon Dec 28, 2015 11:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: VB or IJR for small-cap US stocks?
Replies: 18
Views: 9145

Re: VB or IJR for small-cap US stocks?

ajacobs6 wrote:Both ETFs look solid, but very different portfolios. I'm looking for a modest small-cap tilt. Any thoughts when comparing these two?
If you happen to have a TD Ameritrade account, both VB and IJR are available commission-free. IJR's ER is 0.12% but as others have mentioned it captures a larger number of small-cap companies than VB. If you have a Schwab account where you can buy it commission-free, SCHA is a very good alternative.
by Seattlenative
Mon Nov 30, 2015 2:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Strictly Worse "Composite" Funds - Total World
Replies: 12
Views: 2531

Re: Strictly Worse "Composite" Funds - Total World

I'm as big of a fan of investing in the "total market" than the next guy. I'd easily choose Total US Stock Market over the S&P 500 index fund because of this fact. But sometimes, it seems like Vanguard's "total" funds are strictly worse than the sum of their parts....? Unless I misunderstood you, your criticism of Total World Stock Market pertains to the expense ratios, which are somewhat higher than for separate positions of Total (US) Stock Market (VTI) and Total World Ex-US Stock Market (VXUS). I asked this question about the higher ER for Total World to Rick Ferri in a different thread a few months ago. He indicated that the Total World funds are administered by a different management team than the VTI/Total Sto...
by Seattlenative
Mon Nov 30, 2015 2:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Strictly Worse "Composite" Funds - Total World
Replies: 12
Views: 2531

Re: Strictly Worse "Composite" Funds - Total World

CyberBob wrote:Interesting note: the latest semi-annual report for VT shows the expense ratio for the previous six months as having dropped from 0.17% to 0.14%.
What is the date for that report? The most recent semiannual report I can find online for the Total World Stock fund is dated 04/30/2015. The fund information at Vanguard's web site still shows the expense ratio for the VT ETF shares as being 0.17%.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/ ... =INT#tab=0
by Seattlenative
Mon Nov 30, 2015 1:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: $100 On October 9th, 2007 Worth How Much Today?
Replies: 29
Views: 7317

Re: $100 On October 9th, 2007 Worth How Much Today?

Keep in mind not merely stated net returns on an investment, but inflation-adjusted returns. Portfolio Visualizer provides a CAGR tool which can provide inflation-adjusted rates of return, which are much more useful in terms of assessing the real-world performance of your investments in terms of past, present and future purchasing power.

Per the simple Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index online calculator, which is a reasonably good approximation of the purchasing power differences between years, it would require $114.71 to purchase the consumer goods and services which could be bought for $100 in 2007.
http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth vs Traditional?
Replies: 21
Views: 3388

Re: Roth vs Traditional?

Hey all, I've researched and have a comfortable grasp of the difference between Roth vs Traditional IRAs. However, I'm not seeing an obvious choice of which one would be best in my financial situation. I'm relatively new to investing and aggressively researching about it on my own. Initially, I discovered Mr. Money Mustache. Then stumbled upon Rob Berger's Dough Roller podcast. Recently, the world opened up in front of me and I learned about Bogleheads and others helpful sites. It's been amazing! I currently hold a 401k from my employer that I'm funding just enough to get 100% of the match. I also have a traditional IRA that I max out each year. I make $100k per year and my wife is a stay-at-home mom. I have $20k in student loans remaining...
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: HOA wants to do something with funds other than bank account
Replies: 19
Views: 2684

Re: HOA wants to do something with funds other than bank account

It's surprising your bylaws and CC&R's don't require the money to be in FDIC insured accounts. You might want to check on that. I'd vocally oppose and vote against anything but FDIC insured accounts. And if anything else passes, I'd immediately resign from the board at the same meeting. In Washington State it's compulsory that condo communities, sometimes called an "association of apartment owners", keep their reserve monies in FDIC-insured deposits. It is conceivable that a Board could use a brokerage account with an FDIC-insured sweep feature and invest solely in brokered CDs, which would actually have the advantage of avoiding those hated "automatic renewal" games with maturing CDs obtained directly from a bank. ...
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:15 pm
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Moving to Canada
Replies: 6
Views: 1830

Re: Moving to Canada

krow36 Thanks for the advice and I will post the question on the Financial Wisdom Forum, too. I'm seriously considering to start investing in the US because 1. Just from the sooner the better standpoint and 2. Once I move to Canada (which at this point not at all a done deal), I won't be able to open a US investment account as a non-resident alien. While it's true there's a Canadian Vanguard or other investment options in Canada, I know nothing about them and how good they are. I thought it may be a good idea to open a US investment account now, start investing, and let it grow although with no additional investment after 8 months....assuming there is no pitfall from tax etc standpoint. Check at the Canadian forums regarding the tax implic...
by Seattlenative
Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bill Gross sues Pimco
Replies: 46
Views: 7223

Re: Bill Gross sues Pimco

I hope Gross wins the compensation argument. I don't respect Gross and I think he is a fraud, but I don't have a positive opinion on PIMCO either. But corporation vs employee: I always root for the employee. Gross' attorneys got his case off on the wrong foot. Using polite language, I find their complaint pleading to be absolutely absurd. In addition to the specifics of statutes, legal cases against business entities are often decided by judges on broad application of another equity concept, called the business judgment rule. Also, Gross was a principal in his organization, not simply an employee. I'm not unsympathetic with his claim to have been cheated out of a huge bonus, but his legal complaint is utterly unconvincing (again, this is a...
by Seattlenative
Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Over the centuries, equity markets have consistently exhibited periods of greater-than-average volatility, as well as the phenomena we know as bull markets and bear markets. For most of the history of equity markets, investors did not have the option of what we now call an "index fund", though they could attempt to assemble (at substantial commission costs) a portfolio of stock and bond positions which would attempt to capture the overall performance of the market as a whole. However, such an endeavor would not be practical for most individuals due not only to commission costs but also in some cases due to many broker-dealers not wanting to handle "odd lot" purchases involving a tiny number of shares. For most of us mere...
by Seattlenative
Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bill Gross sues Pimco
Replies: 46
Views: 7223

Re: Bill Gross sues Pimco

I should note that I'm a paralegal with a significant amount of litigation experience on various types of cases, a few of which were large-scale but none having quite this degree of public interest. As a nonlawyer who has ended up being involved in the drafting, revision, finalization and court filing of numerous complaints over the years - mostly in courts in Washington state and in U.S. District Courts - I have some observations about Mr. Gross' complaint. Nothing herein is to be construed as legal advice as I am not an attorney, but submitting simply my thoughts as an interested citizen critiquing this specific court filing and the case as set forth by plaintiff's attorneys at Glaser Weil Fink in Los Angeles. The recitals in the Introduc...
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Cases regarding employer 401k fiduciary responsibility (wiki add?)
Replies: 9
Views: 1250

Re: Cases regarding employer 401k fiduciary responsibility (wiki add?)

ruralavalon wrote:Just out of personal curiosity I would be interested in lists, with citations, of pending and decided cases about 401k fees, fiduciary responsibility, etc.

However, I doubt that such cases would be useful in campaigning for an improved 401k. In my opinion anything that might seem to imply a threat of litigation is likely to backfire and result in no changes to the 401k.
That is the paradox of 401(k) plans. I've learned not to get into rants on this, unless there is specific news regarding groups or well-known people who are spearheading an organized effort to reform 401(k) plans.
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Barclays US aggregate bond index?
Replies: 7
Views: 2015

Re: Vanguard Barclays US aggregate bond index?

Personally I consolidated all of my fixed-income positions into AGG (the "pure" Barclays index), and theoretically Vanguard's "float-adjusted" Barclays index has somewhat more price fluctuation, but the difference is extremely miniscule. Given the choice, I picked the iShares fund - both AGG and BND are available commission-free at TD Ameritrade. I'm not cheerleading in favor of one or the other, simply stating my own choice for the record. From January 1991 through September 2015, backtesting of VBMFX (Total Bond Market - Investor shares) with FBIDX (Fidelity Spartan Bond Index) shows that Vanguard's fund slightly outperformed Fidelity, though as another poster mentioned Vanguard periodically changes their indexes. Over...
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 10, 2015 7:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bill Gross sues Pimco
Replies: 46
Views: 7223

Re: Bill Gross sues Pimco

Did I miss a link to a copy of the Complaint? I'd love to read the details of the jurisdiction and venue, named plaintiff and defendant parties, enumerated allegations against the defendants, and prayer for relief. If indeed it's in U.S. District Court, if I knew the specific state and district I could access it via PACER though admittedly getting the public court filing for free online is a better price.
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 10, 2015 7:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

YTD (excluding new-account bonuses from TD Ameritrade): 2.20%, which reflects some rebalancing and moving funds away from cash. Here's my updated AA, and cost basis performance for my current positions many of which I haven't held all of this year: 39.44% of AA: iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Index (AGG): Up 0.42% 27.87% of AA: Vanguard Total World Index (VT): Down 0.89% 9.97% of AA: Vanguard Value Index (VTV): Up 0.09% 8.97% of AA: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTI): Up 6.62% 5.47% of AA: Vanguard Total International ex-US (VXUS): Down 2.86% 2.04% of AA: iShares Developed International Value Index (EFV): Down 2.04% 1.49% of AA: Vanguard Emerging Markets Index (VWO): Down 0.75% 0.66% of AA: Vanguard International Real Estate (VNQI): D...
by Seattlenative
Sat Oct 10, 2015 6:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Up 1.48% All of the assets here are in IRAs. It took me awhile to whittle my positions down to the following eight ETFs, plus a couple of CDs. Here's the current AA shown for each: iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Index (AGG): 39.92% Vanguard Total World Index (VT): 27.62% Vanguard Value Index (VTV): 9.93% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTI): 8.88% Vanguard Total International ex-US (VXUS): 5.39% iShares Developed International Value Index (EFV): 2.00% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index (VWO): 1.46% Vanguard International Real Estate (VNQI): 0.66% Certificates of Deposit (all at 0.55% interest rate, matures August 2016): 4.14% Of your top 5 holdings only one has a positive YTD return, and that is AGG, which is +1.0%. The other four are all...
by Seattlenative
Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:11 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 900043

Re: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

Up 1.48% All of the assets here are in IRAs. It took me awhile to whittle my positions down to the following eight ETFs, plus a couple of CDs. Here's the current AA shown for each: iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Index (AGG): 39.92% Vanguard Total World Index (VT): 27.62% Vanguard Value Index (VTV): 9.93% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTI): 8.88% Vanguard Total International ex-US (VXUS): 5.39% iShares Developed International Value Index (EFV): 2.00% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index (VWO): 1.46% Vanguard International Real Estate (VNQI): 0.66% Certificates of Deposit (all at 0.55% interest rate, matures August 2016): 4.14% Total fixed income allocation is 44.06% Total U.S. equity allocation (including 52% of the Vanguard Total World ETF...
by Seattlenative
Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 20th Century Stereo in a 21st Century World
Replies: 71
Views: 10116

Re: 20th Century Stereo in a 21st Century World

The picture was mine. The Sony ES series had pretty nice amps and electronics so I have not really had a compelling reason to replace it as it would not be easy to replace in kind without spending a decent chunk. It does everything I have needed it to so far. Just for the record, Sony has made some _mind-blowingly_ good video displays, I'm using one right now, but if you ever get tired of their audio amplification, look for some vintage Adcom (you'd best be good with a soldering iron, or know someone who is.) That's the bee's budget-rebuilt knees. Darn those Adcoms were good, if you have the house wiring to support them. You'd have to spend a whole lot more to beat them, Japanese amps were, well, not that. American amplification, yowza. We...
by Seattlenative
Wed Sep 30, 2015 6:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard sued for [failing to charge market rates to and then paying taxes on services to its mutual funds]
Replies: 806
Views: 173113

Re: Vanguard sued for charging too little

It seems to me there is plenty of precedence for this, from mutual insurance associations to agricultural co-ops to warehouse clubs organized to lower costs for members. L. This brings up the topic of credit unions. Credit unions are organized as not-for-profit associations. In the credit union business model, members "purchase" a single share ownership stake in the association, typically $5 and sometimes a bit more. Currently, credit unions are exempt from most Federal and State taxes because of this ownership structure, although there's an interesting wrinkle here. Theoretically, the boards of credit unions are volunteers who are nominated and elected by the credit union's members-at-large. In the early days of credit unions, w...
by Seattlenative
Tue Sep 22, 2015 12:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Free Windows 10 Upgrade, Yes or No?
Replies: 533
Views: 99074

Re: upgrade to Windows 10?

No. Our Windows 8.1 home desktop computer is used by my wife for her home business as well as a couple of courses she is taking at a local college. Having QuickBooks 2014 run correctly is mission-critical. Intuit has advised that they will NOT support QuickBooks 2014 on the Windows 10 platform, so we would be forced to pay for an expensive "upgrade" release to QuickBooks 2015. Ultimately it opens up a can or two of worms whenever you need to upgrade.

Windows 8.1 is a stable operating system which rarely freezes up, and which is much easier to use than the original Windows 8. As for our response to the question "upgrade to Windows 10?": No, for the time being.
by Seattlenative
Tue Sep 22, 2015 12:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 20th Century Stereo in a 21st Century World
Replies: 71
Views: 10116

Re: 20th Century Stereo in a 21st Century World

I know you said you're happy with your receiver, but you may want to upgrade that component to get some network capability. I have poor FM reception in my area, but I purchased a Denon which utilizes vTuner , so that I can stream an untold number of radio stations over the internet. I listen to my local NPR station via streaming now. My favorite part is I can easily stream stations from the other coast, or even from around the world. While I don't use it, these models also use Apple's Airplay, or Microsoft's PlayTo service, as well as connect to Spotify, Pandora, etc. It also can access local media that you have on the network. However, the killer feature for me is the Android app . I can control just about anything, including turning the ...