Search found 124 matches

by mwgr5
Fri Jan 12, 2024 8:20 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Safe Withdrawal Rate - Income Tax Rate Buffer in Failure Scenarios?
Replies: 3
Views: 501

Re: Safe Withdrawal Rate - Income Tax Rate Buffer in Failure Scenarios?

Yes good point. It's intuitive that lower portfolio value = less taxes, but therefore the ~4% type rule while it's a fixed pre tax $ actually has some variability to it which improves the after tax performance, assuming you aren't in a very low bracket to begin.
by mwgr5
Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:59 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Safe Withdrawal Rate - Income Tax Rate Buffer in Failure Scenarios?
Replies: 3
Views: 501

Safe Withdrawal Rate - Income Tax Rate Buffer in Failure Scenarios?

This likely is only applicable for those expecting higher retirement income that have mix of taxable, Roth, traditional IRA/401k where your federal bracket will be >15%. I'm looking at safe withdrawal rate for 50 year retirements on FI Calc. The ~1966 period is one of the few that causes failure even at a ~3.5% withdrawal rate. However, I noticed in my modeling, there's some significant volatility in out year income tax rates, especially when you model RMDs in a downside case scenario like this. In a base case / average market type return scenario when factoring in RMDs / Roth conversions etc, I'm in a ~16.5% AVERAGE (not marginal) federal tax bracket average over a 50 year period. In the 1966 scenario, where FI Calc says portfolio depletes...
by mwgr5
Fri Jan 05, 2024 3:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Portfolio Review for High Earner Considering Career Change
Replies: 5
Views: 1031

Re: Portfolio Review for High Earner Considering Career Change

A few thoughts: child 3 likely increases expenses is that accounted for? Private health insurance in not working scenario increase expenses? Do you have a college fund for children you want to fund for the 3 kids. My high level view is you need to save more as prior post implied if you are not working. If take lower paying job it seems you are fine.
by mwgr5
Wed Dec 25, 2019 7:01 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Monthly Cost of Living
Replies: 94
Views: 15340

Re: Your Monthly Cost of Living

1. Housing 2500 (because of taxes, no mortgage)
2. Transport 300
3. Food 1000
4. Other = health insurance (500), daycare (1500), Cable / utilities (500), Misc another 1500+
Total 8-9k

Family of 3 in HCOL area

My expenses were in the ball park of some of the other people on here in the 3k range but having kid and wife drives expenses up materially.
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 26, 2019 5:54 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 29yo Targeting FI at 40 - Review Request
Replies: 29
Views: 4523

Re: 29yo Targeting FI at 40 - Review Request

Not sure how old your kids are but if they are young and you project out the cost of college it might be double the 150k each your parents are providing. It’s a really hard expense to project but something to consider.
by mwgr5
Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: John Bogle has died at age 89
Replies: 856
Views: 81243

Re: John Bogle, who founded Vanguard and revolutionized retirement savings, dies at 89

RIP. He drove one of the greater transfers of wealth to the average person, transformed an entire industry, we all owe him a great debt.
by mwgr5
Fri Jan 06, 2017 7:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What To Do With Large Bonus
Replies: 16
Views: 3212

Re: What To Do With Large Bonus

Yes run the math on how much college will cost for 2 children... you will want to start investing a large chunk of that bonus now for that if you plan on paying for it...
by mwgr5
Sun Apr 05, 2015 6:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay Off Mortgage to Save for Bigger House
Replies: 10
Views: 2425

Re: Pay Off Mortgage to Save for Bigger House

Thanks for all he replies. I ran the math on this and if you compare the two choices of saving in a tax exempt intermediate term bond fund vs. Paying off the mortgage they are about equal financially. Even though my mortgage rate is higher than the rate I would get on the bond fund, when you factor in the income tax deduction benefit of the mortgage interest expense the two choices are about equal so I think given liquidity benefit it makes sense to not payoff the mortgage early. Thanks again
by mwgr5
Sat Apr 04, 2015 2:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay Off Mortgage to Save for Bigger House
Replies: 10
Views: 2425

Pay Off Mortgage to Save for Bigger House

I live in a condo but am planning on moving to a larger house in the next 3-4 years. Houses cost about three times the value of my current condo.

To save for this house I was planning on just making additional principal payments on my condo mortgage and eventually paying it off.

Is there any reason, other than near term liquidity, why it would make more sense to save for this in a money market account. I was thinking maybe it makes it more difficult to buy a new place because it would need to be contingent on me selling my current condo, but I feel like many people are in that situation. Just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

Thanks
by mwgr5
Sat Feb 09, 2013 8:04 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: investing with style
Replies: 18
Views: 4348

Re: investing with style

Larry

Have you looked at the tax efficiency of momentum funds. I'm assuming it is higher turnover and would need to not be held in a taxable account ideally.

Also, for your clients that incorporate momentum what percent of their equities allocation does it typically represent?

Thank you
by mwgr5
Sun Dec 30, 2012 6:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Just Deleted Our Mint Account
Replies: 73
Views: 14858

Re: Just Deleted Our Mint Account

I don't understand the security concern here. Even if you gave a stranger your mint login information they could see your accounts but not actually access any of the accounts. Isn't the only risk that someone hacks the mint database that stores all the account infor, but that has the same level of security as bank databases?
by mwgr5
Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 27 Year Old Disabled Veteran, Investment Rookie
Replies: 24
Views: 2941

Re: 27 Year Old Disabled Veteran, Investment Rookie

Just wanted to thank you for your service and good to hear you are doing well now.
by mwgr5
Fri May 11, 2012 7:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: JPMorgan Chase loses $2 Billion
Replies: 34
Views: 3687

Re: JPMorgan Chase loses $2 Billion

Although I think this was a significant mistake and an example of the downside risk of investing in a complicated derivative, I think the media is blowing this out of proportion. $2 billion is a large headline number but remember JPM has over $2.3 TRILLION in assets, and of that JPM has $380 billion of securities (investments). A $2 billion loss represents about 0.5% of the securities portfolio. Would you really care that much if your personal portfolio fluctuated 0.5%? That said, if you were invested in a complicated derivative that you didn't understand and didn't perform the way you expected and you lost 0.5% then you would definitely care which is why JPM's stock is down so much. I also don't think the media really understands how a ba...
by mwgr5
Fri May 11, 2012 6:39 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 12yo son's investing class at school driving me nuts
Replies: 46
Views: 10330

Re: 12yo son's investing class at school driving me nuts

Great lesson here. I remember having a similar class when I was that age. I believe it was focused on the classic stock market game that basically incentives maximum risk taking since 1st place wins and everyone else loses.

In retrospect though I'm really glad I had that class because it made me interested in the financial markets at a young age and got me to invest my money at an early age. I think most people make mistakes when they first start investing and there is a lot to learn. Better to make those mistakes, learn, and invest at a young age then later on in life.
by mwgr5
Fri May 11, 2012 6:20 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: JPMorgan Chase loses $2 Billion
Replies: 34
Views: 3687

Re: JPMorgan Chase loses $2 Billion

Although I think this was a significant mistake and an example of the downside risk of investing in a complicated derivative, I think the media is blowing this out of proportion. $2 billion is a large headline number but remember JPM has over $2.3 TRILLION in assets, and of that JPM has $380 billion of securities (investments). A $2 billion loss represents about 0.5% of the securities portfolio. Would you really care that much if your personal portfolio fluctuated 0.5%? That said, if you were invested in a complicated derivative that you didn't understand and didn't perform the way you expected and you lost 0.5% then you would definitely care which is why JPM's stock is down so much. I also don't think the media really understands how a ban...
by mwgr5
Sun May 06, 2012 5:54 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Should I Rent or Buy? 23, Secure Job, Single
Replies: 55
Views: 4631

Re: Should I Rent or Buy? 23, Secure Job, Single

This question is discussed somewhat frequently on this forum. I would recommend doing a search and reading responses from some of the recent posts. The general consensus is that this is a riskier move than it appears on the surface. 1. There are many expenses outside the mortgage including HOA fees for a condo, maintenance expenses, insurance, closing costs, and taxes. You should add these expenses to your math. Also rent may be more than owning, but renting gives you flexibility. 2. Have you lived in Houston before? I think in general it's a good idea to live in a city for a year to get the feel for the different areas and find areas of the city that you like and would want to live in. I know it took me about a year of living in a city to ...
by mwgr5
Sun May 06, 2012 5:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are safe withdrawal studies modeled on preserving capital?
Replies: 66
Views: 5974

Re: Are safe withdrawal studies modeled on preserving capita

Another important assumption of the safe withdrawal equation is that your spending in retirement remains constant in real dollars. I would argue that this assumption is conservative as spending tends to decrease as people age and become less active. See the wiki on retirement spending below. Total spending for 65-74 age was 40k while total spending for 75+ age group was $30k.

http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Surveys_ ... t_spending
by mwgr5
Sun May 06, 2012 5:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Open Thread
Replies: 7
Views: 948

Re: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Open Thread

Here were some other interesting comments: - At the low current rates, "I would totally avoid buying" government bonds other than short-term bills, Mr. Buffett says. (I believe this has been discussed before on this forum) - Mr. Buffett's bet that an index fund tracking the S&P 500 could beat hedge funds trying to beat the market is still in the red, though less so. The hedge fund index has lost 5.9% since 2008, vs. a 6.3% loss in the S&P over the same period. The S&P has beaten the hedge funds in each of the past three years, but the broad stock index's 36% loss in 2008 put in a deep hole against the hedge funds, which lost 23% that year. (this is a 10 year bet) - Asked about investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Wes...
by mwgr5
Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: contribute to a not so good 401k?
Replies: 6
Views: 827

Re: contribute to a not so good 401k?

retiredjg wrote:It would have to be a lot worse than that!

Wiki article link: Investing FAQ for the Bogleheads® forum Scroll about 2/3's down for the David Grabiner formula for bad 401k's.
Also, (1) if you are getting any sort of match that should make up for the high ER and (2) given you will only be working there for a few years you can just roll over your 401k to Vanguard once you leave the Company
by mwgr5
Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buffer note
Replies: 10
Views: 1788

Re: Buffer note

Larry actually covered the downside of the product in this article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162- ... investors/
by mwgr5
Sat Apr 07, 2012 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Which College? 3 years or 4 years?
Replies: 91
Views: 8965

Re: Which College? 3 years or 4 years?

1. Madison or Vanderbilt I know many people that graduated from Wisconsin undergrad and went to med school. Wisconsin is a very good platform academically and a very fun school with a great campus. Wisconsin has a great med school that places well for residency. I know people that went to Mayo and Northwestern and Wisconsin for residency. Also, if your son changes his mind about what he wants to study, Wisconsin has many other good programs (business, engineering, etc.). That said, Vanderbilt is also a very good school and is less expensive in this case. I assume he has visited both schools but I would say there is a cultural difference between going to school in the Midwest in Madison vs. going to school in the southeast in Nashville. 2. I...
by mwgr5
Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The first $500,000 is always the hardest
Replies: 260
Views: 54215

Re: The first $500,000 is always the hardest

This a great discussion and very helpful. As a younger saver in my 20s and not at the 500k mark, I'm wondering if you have any advice on how to think about saving for a house downpayment now vs. investing that money. I'm maxing out 401k and IRA, but beyond that I'm using savings to save for a downpayment. Obviously this discussion shows the value of compounding and the value of investing at a young age. I feel like I'm losing a lot of that benefit by saving for this downpayment at a young age when I could be investing, but I'm going to want to buy a place eventually and I think now is a great time to buy (low prices and rates close to long term inflation rate). Wondering if anyone has any experience or advice on how to consider the trade of...
by mwgr5
Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: to cancel or not to cancel? (credit card)
Replies: 37
Views: 9599

Re: to cancel or not to cancel? (credit card)

Agree that you should keep the card and just not use it. Both the high credit limit and the length of time you have had the card open will increase your credit score. Another component of the credit score is your borrowing as a % of your total credit limit. Keeping the first credit card will help keep that % low which will improve your credit score.

I would recommend creditkarma.com if you are more interested in your credit score and what is impacting it.
by mwgr5
Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: diversifying across risk factors
Replies: 41
Views: 3245

Re: diversifying across risk factors

Is there a practical way for individuals to invest in momentum funds that have low expense ratios? AQR looks good but has a $5 million minimum investment.
by mwgr5
Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where do you keep your emergency fund?
Replies: 67
Views: 10827

Re: Where do you keep your emergency fund?

Tier 1:
1/6 - Bank Account
1/6 - High Yield Savings
1/6 - Vanguard Limited Term Tax Exempt

Tier 2:
3/6 - IBonds
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Emerging Markets Allocation
Replies: 6
Views: 1011

Re: Emerging Markets Allocation

There is no difference between the options for rebalancing purposes, if you still maintain a target for emerging markets under option 1. That is, you would check the composition of Vanguard Total International, and if the fraction of emerging markets slipped, you would add to your holdings of Vanguard Emerging Markets. Admittedly, this would be a bit more work. Another consideration is that countries get reclassified from emerging markets to developed markets. For instance, one of these days South Korea will likely make the jump. When that happens, Vanguard Emerging Markets has to get rid of those stocks, with possible tax consequences. Vanguard Developed Markets might need to sell something else to buy the same stocks, again with possible...
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Emerging Markets Allocation
Replies: 6
Views: 1011

Re: Emerging Markets Allocation

natureexplorer wrote:What is your allocation to international equities overall? What is your allocation to equities overall?
100% equities. 60% US (10% US REIT) / 40% International
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Emerging Markets Allocation
Replies: 6
Views: 1011

Emerging Markets Allocation

I was just reviewing the holdings of my Vanguard funds and think I might be far too overweight emerging markets because the total international funds already hold emerging markets. My international allocation is 50% Vanguard Total International Stock Index, 25% Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index, and 25% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index. I want to have a small cap / emerging markets tilt. However, I just notice that the total international stock index is 23% emerging markets and the small cap international index is 25% emerging markets. Therefore my international allocation is almost 42% emerging markets (23%*50% + 25%*25% + 25%) which seems way too high. Am I missing something here? (note total international is in taxable, other ...
by mwgr5
Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable
Replies: 8
Views: 1193

Re: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable

Thanks brad - that makes sense.
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable
Replies: 8
Views: 1193

Re: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable

Thanks for the responses. I meant to say that my retirement portfolio was all equities, not this other pool of capital that will be for a down payment. Thanks for the general advice though. I will probably look into shorter duration tax exempt bonds
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable
Replies: 8
Views: 1193

Re: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable

Thanks Taylor.

I am in the 28% federal tax bracket and live in IL which has a 5% state tax (recently raised from 3% given IL's intelligent management of state budgets).

I am 23 and comfortable with risk so my general portfolio is 100% equities diversified across various Vanguard funds. The only other bonds I own are ibonds which I use for a portion of my emergency fund.

The purpose of this money is to save for a down payment on a house. The time frame is probably 2-3 years.

Thanks for the help.
by mwgr5
Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable
Replies: 8
Views: 1193

GNMA vs Intermediate Tax-Exempt in Taxable

I am trying to determine if it makes more sense to hold the Vanguard GNMA or the intermediate-tax exempt fund. This is in a taxable account. Given my tax bracket the intermediate-tax exempt fund has a tax equivalent SEC yield that is about 15 basis points higher than the GNMA (just comparing the SEC yields on the Vanguard website). Both funds have similar durations so I don't think that is a big issue. What I'm wondering about is if you think GNMAs are significantly less risky than the intermediate-tax exempts. I think GNMAs have a higher credit quality than the intermediate-tax exempts, but GNMAs also have this prepayment risk. I think the issue there is if rates rise the duration of the GNMAs would extend and the sec yield might rise slow...
by mwgr5
Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Emergency Fund and TIPS vs. IBonds
Replies: 8
Views: 3258

Thanks for all of the responses. They cleared up my questions.
by mwgr5
Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Emergency Fund and TIPS vs. IBonds
Replies: 8
Views: 3258

Emergency Fund and TIPS vs. IBonds

I am revisiting the allocation of my Emergency fund (100% in taxable accounts) because I think it is inefficient. I just learned about IBonds which I think will help a great deal. My questions are directly below with more details below the questions: Questions: 1. Is there much value to having TIPS over IBonds especially in this interest rate environment? - Downside to IBonds vs. TIPS are I can't redeem them before a year, lose a quarter of interest if redeemed before 5 years, and no price appreciation (if rates fall) - Upside vs. TIPS - No price depreciation if rate rise (which seems like the most likely long-term scenario), more tax efficient, interest rates reset over time, can not lose any principal - Seems to me that there isn't much b...
by mwgr5
Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:35 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: *****
Replies: 35
Views: 4547

Credit Card Savings

I earned about $300 on in rewards from my Visa Card. I don't use that card very much though.
by mwgr5
Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: DFA Founder Gives $300 Million to Chicago School of Business
Replies: 1
Views: 1067

DFA Founder Gives $300 Million to Chicago School of Business

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1226013 ... od=testMod

The University of Chicago's business school will get a $300 million boost to its endowment -- and a new name -- from David Booth, an investor who has tried to avoid the limelight until now.

Mr. Booth made his money applying concepts of "passive investing," which eschews the research-intensive task of picking individual stocks for a strategy of holding large portfolios of hundreds of stocks that as a group better represent the overall market.


Nice to see DFA and the benefits of passive investing highlighted in the media.
by mwgr5
Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tips on answering the question - What Should I Do?
Replies: 165
Views: 252559

Excellent advice. It is critical to not act emotionally during market downturns.
by mwgr5
Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Poll 1. How many funds are you invested in? [2008]
Replies: 28
Views: 5692

I slice and dice also with about 6 funds. I am surprised so many people have more than 12 funds.
by mwgr5
Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Survivorship bias in action....2.8 Billion fund closes
Replies: 8
Views: 2296

Top hedge funds have offered high returns with low correlations to general markets. These beneficial characteristics are supported by the huge flow of capital to the hedge fund space over the past 10 years. Not all hedge funds are extremely risky, many have lower standard deviations than typical mutual funds.

That said, I think the use of large leverage is what makes some hedge funds more risky investments. Normally, these funds investment thesis's are correct, but the use of leverage forces the funds to sell to meet margin calls and investor redemptions.
by mwgr5
Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:16 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How much are you down?
Replies: 102
Views: 19903

My 100% equities portfolio that is overweight value and small cap stocks is down about 13% this year. (Yesterday didn't help)
by mwgr5
Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:50 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: why is the dow referred to as 'the maket'?
Replies: 19
Views: 3737

I agree it is a tradition. Many people use the S&P now as the market though.
by mwgr5
Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: starting a Roth IRA
Replies: 2
Views: 1161

Yeah there is no problem with starting now if you will have future earned income this year.
by mwgr5
Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: SEC to Curb Short Selling - WSJ
Replies: 35
Views: 5522

Yeah this rule is kind of complete BS. It isn't really going to do much. It only lasts 7 days. Basically before when shorting you just needed a locate from a broker who had a reasonable assumption that you could actually borrow the shares. Now, you have to have the shares actually borrowed to short sell. This really doesn't change the process much. Borrow fees might increase a little but people can still short.
by mwgr5
Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Hedge Fund Millions Reduced to Nothing
Replies: 30
Views: 7624

While no mutual fund lost 100%, PBHG, American Heritage and the like came pretty darn close :), but even those mutual funds look respectable when compared to hedge funds. The hedge fund industry (thanks to their massive profitability) has a very formidable PR machine. Touting "absolute returns in any market", "low correlation with the stock market" and other plausible sounding reasons for investing in hedge funds. Beware the siren song of the hedge fund industry ! But saying that here is preaching to the choir :) You are correct that people should be aware of the risks associated with high risk concentrated hedge funds. The fact that some of these funds loose all of their money is one of these risks. However, to label t...
by mwgr5
Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Wisdom of the "Experts"
Replies: 6
Views: 2180

I think this is a good contrarian indicator, but it is impossible to pick a bottom . The best idea is to keep investing for the long run and re balance your portfolio.
by mwgr5
Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Hedge Fund Millions Reduced to Nothing
Replies: 30
Views: 7624

I share many of the feelings echoed that some hedge funds are not wise investments and the fee structure for those funds is not reasonable. The fund featured in this article was highly concentrated, essentially betting in a high risk game. The investors should have been aware of the large potential downside to this fund. However, not all hedge funds are this risky. The term hedge fund is really meaningless now as it encompasses a huge variety of strategies. I think the huge asset flows of large institutional investors (even with the fee structure) to large multi strategy hedge funds demonstrates that there is some value in these funds, in that many multi strategy funds provide exposure to diversified uncorrelated asset classes. Also, I thin...
by mwgr5
Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:22 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: career advice
Replies: 43
Views: 8831

I am currently interning at a top 40 hedge fund in terms of AUM. First, I think it is important to end up at a fund with a large amount of assets as there are definite economies of scale in this business and talent and investors have been migrating to larger funds more. Second, you have very good credentials. Many traders/analysts have law backgrounds which prove useful in many investing strategies, such as distressed investing where you need may to understand bankruptcy law. I think getting your MBA to add to your finance skill set, would be a very good step to get in the door of a top fund. Also, you could try networking with other alumni of your Ivey school. I think you can still be a boglehead and work at a hedge fund for a variety of r...
by mwgr5
Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Total ETF Portfolio
Replies: 18
Views: 12303

I'm interested in Piper's question too. GWX and SCZ seem more like true indexes than WisdomTree. GWX has a volume of over 100,000 shares and an average market cap portfolio of about 950 million.

SCZ has an average mkt cap of about 1,500 million and volume of about 11,000.

Although GWX is 19 bps more expensive, it seems like it more of a true small cap intl index.

I would appreciate any other input.
by mwgr5
Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Bear Market
Replies: 24
Views: 5320

Like others have said this is a good time to test your ability to stay the course . At my firm, I hear many people saying they are allocating all of their 401k contributions to cash. By staying the course and avoiding the mistake to get out of the market, investors avoid the future mistake of taking too long to get back into a rising recovering market.
by mwgr5
Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:52 am
Forum: Wiki and Reference Library
Topic: Meet the Vanguard Diehards Bloggers
Replies: 10
Views: 38470

I blog at SharpeInvesting.com (http://www.sharpeinvesting.com/). I try to blog about more advanced financial concepts and also more material related to investment banking and other wall street careers. Also, I have really enjoyed reading this forum and have integrated the advice into my own investment philosophy.