Search found 57 matches
- Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:04 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Why is the Vanguard Total Bond Index diving with stocks?
- Replies: 21
- Views: 5000
A small correction
Vanguard Total Stock Market holds bonds with an average maturity of 7.4 years. That means the up and down wiggles cannot stretch out much further than that. Market conditions can push the market value of the bonds down, but they keep maturing and as they mature their value rises to their face value...
- Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:43 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Aren't declining home prices good for lots of people?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 4485
One benefit: a decline in property tax
A small consolation prize, but my property tax fell due to the declining in property values. That is a benefit I can realize every month. I suppose as long as I don't sell, I won't realize the loss. It works the other way too. As prices rise, homeowners are hurt by rising property taxes, and if they...
- Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:01 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Help picking a money market fund
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2139
Savings vs Money Market Fund
One consideration not mentioned yet is that you can write checks (greater than $250) off any Vanguard Money Market Fund. You can't do that with a Savings account. Most online Savings accounts would require you to transfer the funds to a checking account (2-3 business days), then you could write the ...
- Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:22 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: What percent of your total portfolio do you keep in cash?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 9744
Cash
What makes calculating your cash position tricky is that almost every fund keeps some % of their assets in cash. My Fidelity US Bond Index Fund (401k - no better options), had 20% of their assets in cash at some points last year - for a so-called index fund. So although I theoretically have only an ...
- Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:06 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Rebalancing with New Funds --- Approach?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 2246
Keep it simple
I actually prefer to keep it simple. By maintaining the biweekly 60/20/20 contribution, it will eventually nudge the entire portfolio towards that desired allocation, regardless of which way it is off. Why constantly monitor the allocation and manually change which fund the contribution goes into ev...
- Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:36 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Total World Stock or FTSE All-World ex-US in taxable
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2374
- Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:28 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Requesting portfolio review.
- Replies: 2
- Views: 887
Re: Requesting portfolio review.
Desired Asset allocation: 80% stocks/ 20% bonds (was 90% stock but it is not doing well, so should I tone it down?) The very fact that you are asking this sounds like 90% is too high for your risk tolerance. A true 90% investor would say "stocks are down, time to buy more!" And I second t...
- Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:22 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Do you carry a mortgage or HELOC?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1895
Re: Scam
I see that you have substational posts or I would suggest that you have become an agent and are infact shilling for the program, because that is a common means of the deceptive approaches they use by claiming to be seeking information when they are in fact there to promote the product. In addition,...
- Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:57 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: VIPSX vs VBMFX?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 4589
Re: VIPSX vs VBMFX?
Therefore, there are only three scenarios: 1) Inflation is greater than expected: TIPS win 2) Inflation is exactly what was expected: Both earn their stated return 3) Inflation is less than expected: Bonds win Since you can't predict whether inflation will be greater, equal, or less than what is al...
- Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:50 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: POLL: Is This Your First Market Drop Experience?
- Replies: 46
- Views: 9320
Asian crisis
The asian crisis is the first one I went through, though the Dot.com bust is what really shook me up.
- Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:47 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: VIPSX vs VBMFX?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 4589
Re: VIPSX vs VBMFX?
Hi I've been advised to split my fixed income investments between Inflation-Protected Securities and Total Bond Market Index, but I'm wondering why I shouldn't just put all my investment into VIPSX. After all, inflation is a given, right? What's the advantage to having both? Thanks You might want t...
- Fri May 16, 2008 4:02 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Wellington For Taxable Acct?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2835
Portfolio Help
Knowing the relative size of your taxable and tax-deferred portfolios, along with your target AA will help others provide more specific advice for you. Post back with the relative sizes (%s are fine), desired Asset Allocation, and 401k choices if you want more specific advice.
- Thu May 15, 2008 6:21 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Wellington For Taxable Acct?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2835
Some thoughts
In general, a Balanced Fund like Wellington is not appropriate for a taxable account, due to the Bond component. Since you state that most of your funds are in a 401k, most people would recommend that you put as much of your bond allocation in there, and go with truly tax efficient funds in a taxabl...
- Tue May 13, 2008 4:14 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: How to invest toddler's $20k windfall?
- Replies: 21
- Views: 6047
Maximize the $900 tax free limit
For my children, I tried to maximize the dividend / interest income up to the $900 tax-free limit. And the next $900 is at 15%. Perhaps not the best allocation method, but why pass up the chance to collect $900 in interest or dividends every year tax free? $20,000 in Prime @ 2.3% would be $460 / yea...
- Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:12 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: How much does everyone save for retirement?
- Replies: 55
- Views: 15459
Savings rate
Also, don't forget this thread is a skewed population of this forum which is a skewed population of this country. You're probably saving more than 95% of Americans already. I thought the average American's savings rate turned negative a year or so ago. Talk about Diehards being a skewed group! For ...
- Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:07 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Would you use a Vanguard Target Retirement fund?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 10370
A solution to Problem #2
These funds seem like a pure-indexer's dream, except: - They're not suitable for a taxable account (use of Total International instead of FTSE, taxable bonds in TBM) - Setting your AA based solely on your date of retirement seems at odds w/ AA principles, namely focusing on your risk tolerance abov...
- Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:28 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Should I pay off my mortgage?
- Replies: 20
- Views: 4810
Sleep better
Hi KMaxim, This decision has a financial and an emotional component. On the financial side, with a 4.75% fixed-rate mortgage, minus what kind of tax break you will get if you itemize, you will almost certainly to come out better by keeping the mortgage and investing the money in a balanced, diversi...
- Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:20 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: CNNMoney: Brief stories of folks hit by hard economic times
- Replies: 55
- Views: 11403
Happiness is key
gkaplan wrote:I went to school and got a foo-foo masters degree and am working in a low-paying job and very happy.
The last part is the only part that matters. I've heard of many people with a so-called "real" degree that are very unhappy.
- Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:12 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: ST Inv Grade yielding 1% more than PMM
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1648
There's a potential inconvenience factor. Any redemptions from Short-Term Investment Grade will incur a capital gain or loss. While we're probably not talking about a lot of money, you will need to enter each sale on Form 1040 Schedule D. Best wishes, Ken This is the reason why I stick with Money M...
- Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:09 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: most tax efficient way to move from SP500 fund to TSM fund
- Replies: 6
- Views: 1979
Option #1
Since you have an unrealized loss, exchange now and get the tax deduction for 2008 on the capital gain loss. Remember, you can use a realized capital gain loss to cancel other capital gain distributions (like at the end of 2008), and even apply an additional $3,000 to reduce your taxable income if t...
- Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:21 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Children's savings accounts
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5034
Re: UTMA account
The gift money our son receives goes into a UTMA account at Vanguard (or his linked savings account). We felt that gift money from birthdays, Christmas, etc were his for a multitude of uses. As such, we did not want to put them into a 529 or ESA which is specifically earmarked for education. As far...
- Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:38 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Children's savings accounts
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5034
Under 18
Can you open any type of savings accounts for your infant child whether it be ING, HSBC, Emigrant Direct, Citibank, etc? Or are you suppose to open these savings accounts under a special status whereby your child is the owner but you, the parent, is the custodian? I believe some of the small local ...
- Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:01 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Vanguard index funds vs. Fidelity Spartan index funds
- Replies: 25
- Views: 12079
% in cash
Fidelity says: " Normally investing at least 80% of assets in common stocks included in the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which represents the performance of a broad range of U.S. stocks." Vanguard: "Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (the Fund) seeks to track the performance...
- Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:50 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: In what form do you keep your emergency fund?
- Replies: 96
- Views: 25323
Emergency fund
Aside from kidnap ransom for a kid, or bail I can't come up with any high 5 digit 24-48 hour emergency. I tried, I really tried, but nothing. I can, and this is based on personal experience. You are travelling in a foreign country and you get ill, or have a serious accident which requires hospitali...
- Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:22 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Seeking Opinions: How would you handle over $100 million
- Replies: 58
- Views: 12406
$100M is just fine
VG Prime Money Market - 100%. WHY? two reasons: 1. you only need to get rich once. 2. you're either in the "get rich" business or the "stay rich" business. with $100M, you're in the "stay rich" business. why take any risk? I have to agree here. Do you really need more ...
- Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:41 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Vanguard's Asset Allocation Fund - your opinion, please
- Replies: 10
- Views: 3326
Asset Allocation Fund
I used to own this fund, but once I was properly educated in the Boglehead way, I took a much more active role in determining and managing my Asset Allocation. The "market timing" nature of the Asset Allocation Fund, in my opinion, goes against the ideas of indexing, setting a proper AA, a...
- Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Cash / Emergency Fund
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1126
Cash / Emergency Fund
I don't consider cash or my emergency fund as part of my AA. If it was, if I needed to use it, I would need to rebalance. It is much cleaner separate, in my opinion.
- Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:12 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Fidelity screws the pooch
- Replies: 28
- Views: 6149
Another theory
I too own FBIDX in my company's 401k (only decent Bond choice). Another reason they may have lagged the index was the fund's large cash position throughout the year. It averaged around 15-20%. To me, a quasi-index fund should at least be substantially invested at all times, and not have such a large...
- Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:06 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Can I say "bye bye" to this forum?
- Replies: 47
- Views: 16546
Always Learning
I frequent this forum because I am always learning. I may be comfortable with my current AA and fund positions, but that doesn't mean I can't learn more from the tremendous collective wisdom of this forum.
And if I can contribute a little bit too, so much the better.
And if I can contribute a little bit too, so much the better.
- Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:59 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
- Replies: 22
- Views: 8558
% US Government Obligations
there may be confusion b/t federal and treasury mm funds correct me if i'm wrong, but i think: treasury is 100% state and tax free interest federal is not That is correct. Treasury is 100% US Government Obligations and thus is 100% state tax free interest. Admiral Treasury is the same, just with a ...
- Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:58 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
- Replies: 22
- Views: 8558
Re: admiral T MM
To the best of my recollection the Vg rep told me that you need $50K to open the Admiral T MM acount, but that your balance could drop and stay below $50K afterwards with no problems. Mine has been up and down, including under $50K for long periods, and I haven't heard anything from Vg. On other Ad...
- Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:27 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Poll: What's your asset allocation philosophy?
- Replies: 45
- Views: 19196
A blend
A heavy Total Market allocation, with small "tilting" to Small and Value on Domestic Equities, and adding TIPS on the Bond side.
- Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Emergency Fund as part of AA?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 6481
Generally no
I am sure most "Bogleheads" do NOT typically count their emergency fund as part of their asset allocation. Most "experts" recommend putting "emergency funds", "short term money" (house, car, etc.), and long-term money ("retirement", etc.) in seperate...
- Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:17 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
- Replies: 22
- Views: 8558
Why a seperate thread?
Not sure how this thread started, but both the Admiral and regular Vanguard Treasury MMF's have been 100% State/local Tax exempt. To be honest, it is because I hit "New Topic" instead of "Post Reply" to another thread about Money Market Funds. However, I find that in any MMF dis...
- Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:14 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
- Replies: 22
- Views: 8558
Re: Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
Don't forget Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund. Sure, it is $50K minimum to open, but once opened, you can drop below $50K. While this is technically true, you will drop out of the admiral level of this fund if your balance drops below $50k when they do one of their periodic checks. I own this MM ...
- Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:04 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Too much in Index Funds?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 4077
Re: Substituting mamaged funds?
Index-oriented investors can add the potential for above-market returns by including one or more carefully chosen, low-cost, actively managed funds in their portfolio What do you think? They didn't mention the potential for below-market returns . Best wishes. Taylor Which is why I avoid Vanguard's ...
- Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:59 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
- Replies: 22
- Views: 8558
Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund
Don't forget Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund. Sure, it is $50K minimum to open, but once opened, you can drop below $50K. And it is backed by US Govt Obligations, so it could be exempt from State income tax. Of course, it has all the other benefits of Vanguard's Money Market Funds like Checkwriti...
- Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:52 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Why should I invest in Bond Funds rather than CDs?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5831
Re: Comments:
1. A bond fund has the benefit (vs CDs) of overnight liquidity in just about any amount, large or small. This flexibility and liquidity allows access to amounts very small or very large, either because the cash is needed or to shift to other investments. This is the #1 reason I use Bond Funds and n...
- Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:48 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: An Inside Look at Target Retirement Funds
- Replies: 62
- Views: 10554
To the extent there is short-term momentum, rebalancing less frequently is better. While I understand that is true, I believe I saw that rebalancing at 18 months was better than at 12 months (at least in one particular time period) I wonder if the same issue applies to daily rebalancing? I would as...
- Tue May 29, 2007 11:59 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: What % at Vanguard?
- Replies: 27
- Views: 10099
90%
Everything for my wife and I, except my work's 401(k) which is with Fidelity.
- Fri May 18, 2007 12:06 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Asset allocation across all accounts
- Replies: 11
- Views: 3480
Rebalancing across accounts
I appreciate the responses. I think I am going to try to have all asset categories in both my wife's and my own 401k since it is about 50% of the money we are investing. This should hopefully make it easier to rebalance within the 401k even though it may cause there to be funds in the 401k that you...
- Fri May 18, 2007 12:00 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: What's Wrong With a 100% Stock Investment?
- Replies: 118
- Views: 56367
Re: 100% Equity
I'm 23 years old investing only in non-taxable accounts (401k, Roth IRA) and am comfortable knowing that the market will go up and down, but over the long haul will go up The end of that sentence is the main thing that is wrong. There is no guarantee that stocks will go up in the long run, and a we...
- Fri May 11, 2007 11:33 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Non-College Savings for a Child
- Replies: 24
- Views: 8605
Their money
I put my kids gift money in an index fund when they were young with the idea that even if they "blew it" when they came of age, it was their money. They would have spent most of it on toys when they were little if I hadn't put it away. It would have been "blown" then anyway. I a...
- Wed May 09, 2007 3:25 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: [poll] last change to asset allocation?
- Replies: 30
- Views: 12495
New AA
I admit, I have been tweaking my AA ever since I joined the original forum. I went from too Agressive (100/0), to too Conservative (72/28), to just right (80/20). I just implemented the final change back in January, by switching from bonds to equities, just in time for the recent equity market run-u...
- Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:55 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ING checking account with 4% interest
- Replies: 34
- Views: 14107
ACH
Thanks for the replies on the ACH issue. I opened an ING Savings account back in 2004, but keep just a $1 in it now since I moved my Savings dollars to a Vanguard Money Market Fund. Still, a high interest checking account is appealing, just to pay my Credit Card bill with (like any Die Hard, I charg...
- Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:48 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: ING checking account with 4% interest
- Replies: 34
- Views: 14107
ACH payments
I mainly pay expenses (such as Credit Cards, utilities, etc.) using an ACH out of my local bank's checking account. For this I need a Bank routing #, which prevents me from using my Vanguard MMF account. Has anyone paid off a credit card or similar using an ACH out of the ING Checking account?
- Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:26 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Vanguards Total Stock MKt Index vs. 500 Index
- Replies: 30
- Views: 14173
TSM vs 500
Although I own Total Stock Market for simplicity sake, I have seen the S&P500 fund recommended for the four corner S&D Portfolio (LV, LB (500), SV, SB). The two are highly correlated, so if you have one in a taxable account, there is no reason to switch to the other. Starting from scratch, I...
- Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:21 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Taxable vs 401K
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3172
Don't forget performance
When we have gone through the math, it ends up the biggest factor is often how long the funds would be in a rollover IRA with lower fees (with enough time in the IRA being able to make up for very bad fees). For most people, this is going to be a long time even if you work for the same employer you...
- Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:13 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Vanguard Money Market vs. INGDirect
- Replies: 19
- Views: 7729
Thanks for the link to your blog. I didn't realize that the VG fund yield is net of the expense ratio. That makes me want to move my liquid savings over there in order to simplify my financial life a bit. I am getting tired of rate chasing my funds all over the place :roll: I went the ING Direct ->...
- Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:56 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: New Vanguard Int'l Fund availability
- Replies: 44
- Views: 21503
Re: Tigershark & FTSE AWEUSA
Personally, I would like my international allocation to resemble a 50/50 split between Market and 40/40/20 weighting: 50% Total International or the new FTSE fund 20% Europe 20% Pacific 10% Emerging Markets Why are you thinking of doing that rather than using the appropriate percentages for Europe/...