Search found 654 matches

by FafnerMorell
Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: You and Your Dumb Money
Replies: 17
Views: 4252

Re: You and Your Dumb Money

[OT comments removed by admin LadyGeek]
by FafnerMorell
Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paid off mortgage today
Replies: 26
Views: 4471

Re: Paid off mortgage today

runner9 wrote:Can I ask, did you make a Sept 1 payment and then this as a "payoff" late in the same month?

Our mortgage is with PenFed and I project us to be able to pay if off Jan 1 but am hoping to just do it late in December so it's in the current calendar year. (going to call and ask if possible soon)
Yes, I've been making the regular monthly payments, and when I got some "extra" cash, paid down the principal (I'm also doing the regular 401K & IRA contributions). Thanks to folks offering info about "what happens next" - I figured the bank would send some paywork and such to finalize it, and it looks like there's a number of items I need to check to make sure they happen so nothing comes up later.
by FafnerMorell
Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paid off mortgage today
Replies: 26
Views: 4471

Re: Paid off mortgage today

Thanks - I guess it became official yesterday or so - got the bank alert that they cashed the check, logged into the mortgage company web site (Wells Fargo) and my account said "PAID IN FULL", so that was a nice feeling. I don't know if they send me back much in the way of official paperwork or such (never paid off a mortgage before).
by FafnerMorell
Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Paid off mortgage today
Replies: 26
Views: 4471

Paid off mortgage today

Well, given the interest rate was only 3%, it was probably a lousy financial decision in terms of absolute dollars, but it feels good not to have it hanging over me...
by FafnerMorell
Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Help me understand Michael Lewis' "Flash Boys"
Replies: 175
Views: 40740

Re: Help me understand Michael Lewis' "Flash Boys"

Good questions Nisi - I suspect there might be some issues with question/assumption #1 (at some point, they need to buy X (or make buy/sell for X cancel out), but from what I recall, even in the good old days of elder respect, there was a lot of profit skimming/risk taking about when/if the actual buying occurred. For #2, I think the "required to buy at the higher price" is going to have to do with the underlying transaction mechanisms - and this kind of gets to the heart of the book (I'm only half-way through myself). For #3, it depends on the answers to #1 & #2. For #4, I recall during the original "Flash Crash" probes, there was a lot of discussion that HFT relied heavily on some sort of "probing orders"...
by FafnerMorell
Thu Apr 03, 2014 1:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Free "If You Can" Kindle and .pdf eBook
Replies: 56
Views: 27313

Re: Free "If You Can" Kindle

Many thanks - I posted the info to my FB page and hopefully some of my younger friends/family will bite (a few are mentioning funding IRAs and such, and it's good to see folks starting out early). I remember 4 Pillars of Investing being very helpful back when I was getting started. I also picked up a free copy of this one too, just to take a look through it.
by FafnerMorell
Thu Apr 03, 2014 10:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Cruise Line Preference
Replies: 61
Views: 12671

Re: Boglehead Cruise Line Preference

My family (wife, 3 kids ages 8-6), sailed on the Disney Magic for 3 days in Feb this year and had a blast. We're looking into a 4 day cruise on the Disney Dream for the kid's spring break next year. The kids loved the Oceaneer's Club & Lab and the water slides (especially the AquaDunk - heck, even I really liked that), and everyone enjoyed Castaway Cay (the Disney island). When the kids get older (tweens and such) we'll probably look into other cruise lines, but for now, Disney is a big win. Neither my wife & I had cruised before, and we were really impressed with how much there was to do. And frankly, just being on a ship and watching it dock/cast off and such was a great change of pace. It's definitely a bit on the expensive side ...
by FafnerMorell
Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Hypothetically living off investment dividends?
Replies: 34
Views: 4813

Re: Hypothetically living off investment dividends?

Well, one potential concern is inflation/increases-to-expenses-that-exceed-inflation (college, medical care, etc). But I think the basic idea is great once one has enough money invested (and expenses reasonably controlled) - I think this is kind of what some of the folks mean when they refer to "winning the game" - there's not much of a need for relying on capital gains in the stock market if one can count on more stable sources of income.
by FafnerMorell
Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Flagship Rep called me
Replies: 22
Views: 5449

Re: Flagship Rep called me

My Flagship rep has camped out in the mountain behind my home, he knows exactly where I live.
"Hey Dad, I think our Vanguard rep is living in the woods behind our house! I found some really worn out Bogle books on top of a sleeping bag near a lean-to made from tree branches"
"OK, let me know if a fight breaks out with that Edwards Jones guy living in the broken-down van down by the stream farther down. Those guys are really territorial"
:D
by FafnerMorell
Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Warren Buffett's portfolio for his wife: Vanguard index fund
Replies: 70
Views: 17629

Re: Warren Buffett's portfolio for his wife: Vanguard index

It would be interesting to find out more on why he choose the S&P 500 index vs Total Stock (although really, there's not a lot of difference in historical performance between the two, so he might have just stuck with the tried & true).
by FafnerMorell
Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:12 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Art Cashin
Replies: 28
Views: 2560

Re: Art Cashin

Was he given the name "Art Cashin" at birth? Because really, that is such a perfect name for a finance guy.
by FafnerMorell
Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:42 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What do you do with index funds when...
Replies: 49
Views: 3732

Re: What do you do with index funds when...

bigfoot12 - it does seem like there are some fundamental communication gaps / assumptions in what you're talking about (i.e. the notion that buy-and-hold is only done "once", or that folks only buy either a stock or bond index fund rather than having both and rebalancing, or that dividends aren't reinvested). Now, if you're trying to get folks frustrated with you as they attempt to correct you and you ignore them, hey, that's a great approach. Try going to a baseball game and screaming out how they're playing cricket wrong. Or go to a soccer match and scream about why don't they kick field goals over the goal posts or run with the ball in their hands - why aren't they playig football the way you think it should be? It might be gre...
by FafnerMorell
Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What do you do with index funds when...
Replies: 49
Views: 3732

Re: What do you do with index funds when...

Using the drop from the 2000 peak as an example, most people who were buy-and-hold investors, and who were fully invested in 2000, recovered only in 2013. That's 13 years to recover back to where you were. Do you have that much time for retirement? This soft of statement gets made a lot (whether it's about 2000 or 2008 peak), and it's nonsense. And more importantly, a lot of folks here have been investing in index funds since then (I think I started around 95 or so), so statements like "You didn't recover until 2013" are, well, kind of like someone telling you that it's impossible for a human to travel faster than 20 mph otherwise they'd die (supposedly this was a belief around the late 1700s to argue against early locomotion/tra...
by FafnerMorell
Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What do you do with index funds when...
Replies: 49
Views: 3732

Re: What do you do with index funds when...

Stay the course (which generally means keep on buying per normal (hold if you're no longer accumulating wealth), and rebalance).
by FafnerMorell
Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How did people work out in the past?
Replies: 36
Views: 6984

Re: How did people work out in the past?

I'm shocked no one has mentioned "running away from sabre-tooth tigers" or "commuting to work in their foot-powered car".
Image
by FafnerMorell
Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Yahoo changes are awful - what homepage do you like?
Replies: 66
Views: 9432

Re: Yahoo changes are awful - what homepage do you like?

I switched to BlueG a couple of weeks ago and rather like it - I was able to reproduce the stuff that I liked from the old Yahoo. A few of the widgets are a bit ugly, but it's functional and a lot better than the new Yahoo.
by FafnerMorell
Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "The market is at an inflection point"
Replies: 16
Views: 2560

Re: "The market is at an inflection point"

From Wikipedia: Homer is traveling by air in first class and says "Look at me, I'm reading The Economist. Did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?" and when questioned by his wife, he simply replies "It is!" Four days later, The Economist indeed had an article about Indonesia referring to the "crossroads", and mentioned the Simpsons episode in short weekly commentaries. The title of the issue was "Indonesia's Gambit".

Somehow, "The market is at an inflection point" seems to be the financial equivalent of Indonesia at the crossroads.
by FafnerMorell
Tue Jan 21, 2014 8:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Anyone familiar with this? Bank asking for info...
Replies: 86
Views: 17585

Re: Anyone familiar with this? Bank asking for info...

It would seem if banks want to get to know their customers better, we should get to know the banks better.

What's CEO's name, address, social security #, mother's maiden name, and birthdate? After all, if they want to know this about me, shouldn't they be willing to tell me the same info? Seems fair. Somehow, I don't think banks are going to be much for fairness. Politicians neither.
by FafnerMorell
Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Efficient market theory - not
Replies: 10
Views: 1054

Re: Efficient market theory - not

Ironically, the OP's original point is more of a "proof" of Efficient market theory:
- The price of NEST did not reflect that Google might acquire a similarly named company.
- As soon as the acquisition became knowledge, THEN the price went up by 4900% (new information (even if wrong) causes a change to the price)
- Once it becomes knowledge that that people bought the wrong stock, THEN the price will plummet back down. (new information causes a change to the price)

I suppose one could try to game the system by buying penny stocks with names similar to companies which might be acquired by big name tech firms (if there's a slight rise in stock prices of such penny stocks, then this would also serve to confirm EMT).
by FafnerMorell
Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Gold to tank in 2014: Goldman Sachs"
Replies: 112
Views: 15414

Re: "Gold to tank in 2014: Goldman Sachs"

Time to make the muppets dance.... :beer
by FafnerMorell
Wed Dec 04, 2013 6:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Executive Counseling Services
Replies: 8
Views: 1299

Re: Executive Counseling Services

Must be tough being a financial adviser when you're too busy to be aware of the S&P 500 or Russell 2000. Bet he's heard about the Dow though. I think I'd stick with your Couch Potato-inspired portfolio rather than impose on such a busy person. Luckily Scott Burns isn't too busy to follow the passive index funds.
by FafnerMorell
Sat Nov 09, 2013 6:10 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: John Bogle's "Philosophical Disagreement" with Eugene Fama
Replies: 104
Views: 13447

Re: John Bogle's "Philosophical Disagreement" with Eugene Fa

If economics is a science, then I would expect proponents of the "bubbles exist and can be predicted in advance" theory would publish a reproducible method by which this could be proven. I haven't seen that (and no, the Hindenburg Omen doesn't count).
by FafnerMorell
Mon Nov 04, 2013 2:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Brent Arends: you can beat the market with smart timing
Replies: 89
Views: 9221

Re: Brent Arends: you can beat the market with smart timing

Sounds like the usual "Buy low, sell high, repeat as necessary".
by FafnerMorell
Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:52 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Anyone still investing in gold or the Permanent Portfolio?
Replies: 6
Views: 1244

Re: Anyone still investing in gold or the Permanent Portfoli

I would think for folks who buy gold for their portfolio, it's been an excellent year to buy low. As Warren Buffett says: "When hamburgers go down in price, we sing the 'Hallelujah Chorus' in the Buffett household. When hamburgers go up in price, we weep. For most people, it's the same with everything in life they will be buying -- except stocks. When stocks go down and you can get more for your money, people don't like them anymore." (of course, by "people", he's not referring to himself and other savvy investors). Seems to indicate that WB has a blind spot when it comes to gold, since both stocks and gold seem to have this same behavior. Maybe he understands gold unconciously better than he allows himself to openly adm...
by FafnerMorell
Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Active Manager Marketing Quote of the Day
Replies: 32
Views: 5809

Re: Active Manager Marketing Quote of the Day

I would think that "blindly" investing would remain pretty easy - I mean, if you were doing it blind before, and you're still doing it blind, what's changed? Has Vanguard made their web site less friendly to seeing-eye dogs?

Personally, I prefer "intelligently investing in ETFs and index funds", which, thanks to auto-deductions and a pretty-darn-lazy portfolio, mean I don't often have to change things. So if things got more challenging (perhaps you have to solve differential equations as part of the security questions?), I haven't noticed.
by FafnerMorell
Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:08 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What's wrong with debt?
Replies: 58
Views: 5287

Re: What's wrong with debt?

The quote from Francis Bacon about "Money makes a good servant but a bad master" applies even more so for debt. If the money borrowed enables you to earn greater sums than is spent paying it back (with interest), keeping in mind that "risk" means that things may not go as one initially hopes, then debt is a powerful servant. But when fortune turns, it is very quick to seize the advantage and make you the slave.
by FafnerMorell
Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:44 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Where are all the gold bugs?
Replies: 10
Views: 1684

Re: Where are all the gold bugs?

If anything, the more surprising aspect is that stocks are currently going up, given the shutdown - maybe everyone sold off their gold to get money to buy on the upcoming stock plunge? :shock: I'd expect any true gold bugs to be happily stocking up (pardon the pun) on their favorite shiny, and coming up with elaborate explanations about what reason the banking cabal has for setting the price so low (which is crazy talk, because everyone sensible knows that gold prices, just like libor rates, are immune to such manipulation).
by FafnerMorell
Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: More on evils of indexing
Replies: 18
Views: 3347

Re: More on evils of indexing

At least "Evil indexing" sounds more exciting than "passive investing". Just think, now when folks are talking about their investments, I can toss in "For decades I've been buying up portions of almost every company (that's stock is for sale) across the entire free world as part of an investing approach that's so successful that the hedge fund managers whine how I've got unfair advantage over them - in fact, they cry that my approach is EVIL incarnate compared to their piddling attempts for financial domination - BAHAHAHAHA!!".
by FafnerMorell
Fri Aug 16, 2013 12:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Warren Buffett: How Should the Average Person Invest
Replies: 16
Views: 4459

Re: Warren Buffett: How Should the Average Person Invest

I'd be real curious how many people have become multi-billionaires by thinking/investing like Warren Buffet. Offhand, there's 1 (WB himself), so out of 6+ billion folks, the odds of getting really rich by following that advice seem pretty poor. However, there seem to be a couple of hundred authors offering various Buffet-inspired investment books, and they must make at least a decent buck fleecing the sheep, so perhaps there's a market for a book on "How to Make Money By Exploiting Warren Buffet's Name in the Investment Community" (at least the odds on that are better). Or maybe some variety with a "Breaking Central Banks for Fun & Profit by Investing like George Soros"
by FafnerMorell
Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Do you need bonds if you're ultra-wealthy?
Replies: 43
Views: 4365

Re: Do you need bonds if you're ultra-wealthy?

Purely in theory, if you've got $100 million and only spend $100k a year then you can live for 1,000 years and not worry about this whole stock vs bond vs anything. It wouldn't work for Mel Brook's 2000 year old man, but for anyone else - no worries!
by FafnerMorell
Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What happens to stock prices if everyone index invests?
Replies: 42
Views: 6262

Re: What happens to stock prices if everyone index invests?

What happens to the Powerball lottery if absolutely no one buys a ticket ever? Would all the prize money just sit there forever, as they hold drawing after drawing? This scenario is probably a lot more likely than the index one. The truly awesome thing about taxing stupidity/greed is there's always someone willing to pay. Well if no one buys a ticket, the jackpot would just remain at the minimum and no one will buy it. I don't know how your analogy applies to my question. Wow I didn't realize that my thread generated so much hate. Oh, don't assume I mean stupidity/greed in a hateful way - heck, I'm grateful for those folks paying expenses that I can free-ride on. Yay, stupid/greedy people, yay! (If it makes them feel better, they can fairl...
by FafnerMorell
Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:31 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What happens to stock prices if everyone index invests?
Replies: 42
Views: 6262

Re: What happens to stock prices if everyone index invests?

What happens to the Powerball lottery if absolutely no one buys a ticket ever?
Would all the prize money just sit there forever, as they hold drawing after drawing?
This scenario is probably a lot more likely than the index one.

The truly awesome thing about taxing stupidity/greed is there's always someone willing to pay.
by FafnerMorell
Thu Jul 11, 2013 10:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Does EMH hold water?
Replies: 28
Views: 3622

Re: Does EMH hold water?

I've found a good rule of thumb is to never trust financial journalism that uses Warren Buffet as the primary (and generally only) example - if folks could achieve the same results as WB did by reading a "How to Invest like Warren Buffet" book/article, we'd have about five million multi-billionaires (in the $50 billion range) - and it would be great to see the GDP increase by $250 trillion. Since we don't see an $250 trillion or so in the economy, it's obvious these books/articles don't deliver the results that their titles imply. (Also, why no books on how to invest like Slim Carlos? or how to write code like Bill Gates?) Another good rule of thumb is "Cui Bono" - when they're proposing/refuting a theory, it generally h...
by FafnerMorell
Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Emergency fund contradiction
Replies: 44
Views: 4673

Re: Emergency fund contradiction

Markets may be efficient, but taxes certainly aren't (and selling often has tax implications)
by FafnerMorell
Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Onion: "Price Of Money Skyrockets To $90 A Dollar"
Replies: 14
Views: 2813

Re: The Onion: "Price Of Money Skyrockets To $90 A Dollar"

I'll wait for the book on "How to Buy a Dollar Like Warren Buffett" to come out before I get into that market.
by FafnerMorell
Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:45 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: I love the smell of fear in the markets
Replies: 34
Views: 6110

Re: I love the smell of fear in the markets

It's all my fault - I bought in May rather than selling like I should have.
by FafnerMorell
Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anybody who bought a Kindle go back to regular books?
Replies: 74
Views: 7849

Re: Anybody who bought a Kindle go back to regular books?

When buying books, if the Kindle price is significantly less (say, > $5), I'll go Kindle. Or if I'm in a rush and don't want to wait the 2 days for delivery. On the other hand, if I'm looking for a long-term reference (a book I can refer to while reading yet another book), then I'll go physical copy. Or if I plan for someone else to also have access to it.

Another debate is library vs. buy. Our local library tends to rely on a county-wide computerized borrowing system - which is great if you know the details of the book you want. But it's less conducive to just wandering through the aisles, picking up a title that sounds interesting and paging through it to see if it is indeed of interest.
by FafnerMorell
Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Perfect Storm for the Permanent Portfolio?
Replies: 5
Views: 1216

Re: The Perfect Storm for the Permanent Portfolio?

Browser wrote:The theory behind the Permanent Portfolio is that you should divide your portfolio equally between stocks, long duration bonds, and gold
I think you left out cash. (If I recall, PP is a 25% in each - it's not my portfolio so I don't know the details, but I seem to recall that from the discussions).
by FafnerMorell
Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:21 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Perfect Storm for the Permanent Portfolio?
Replies: 5
Views: 1216

Re: The Perfect Storm for the Permanent Portfolio?

I would think that this would be a great buying opportunity for someone with PP - they can rebalance their cash to stock up on gold, bonds, stocks.
by FafnerMorell
Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is Market really efficient? This says no-
Replies: 39
Views: 4125

Re: Is Market really efficient? This says no-

It's news articles like this that prove the retail investor, buying S&P500-style index funds, has no hope of ever beating the advantages of elite hedge funds, paying for ultra-fast access to the latest info before it's available to the masses. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-22/hedge-funds-trail-s-p-500-by-10-percentage-points-goldman-says.html Of course, other news, like "Hedge funds gained 5.4 percent on average through May 10, compared with a 15.4 percent rise for the S&P 500 (SPX)" make you wonder what's going wrong with that 2 second head start (perhaps a bit like some of the cartoon versions of "Tortise and the Hare", where the Hare is so focused on cheating to assure victory over the outmatched Totri...
by FafnerMorell
Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is Market really efficient? This says no-
Replies: 39
Views: 4125

Re: Is Market really efficient? This says no-

The news would seem to indicate that markets are extremely efficient for any period of time longer than 2 seconds, and perhaps even 500 milliseconds. :happy
by FafnerMorell
Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:51 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: FINRA's new 5-question financial capabiliy quiz is out today
Replies: 9
Views: 1517

Re: FINRA's new 5-question financial capabiliy quiz is out t

So do they update the average when someone takes the test, or is the average score from when they tried out the test on FINRA advisors first? :twisted:
by FafnerMorell
Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Today's WSJ: Old School Stock Picker Struggles w Index Craze
Replies: 17
Views: 3336

Re: Today's WSJ: Old School Stock Picker Struggles w Index C

Oddly enough, it was precisely 68 million years ago today that the Denver Dino Journal ran an article about how tough it was for an Ornithomimus named Wally to find eggs to eat, with the craze of small mammals infringing on it's territory.
by FafnerMorell
Thu Jun 06, 2013 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Will we get rich off index funds ?
Replies: 40
Views: 7305

Re: Will we get rich off index funds ?

I'd say it all depends on the definition of "rich". That, and the amount invested and the time period, etc. I suspect many Bogleheads feel that they've gotten rich because, by saving a moderate percentage of their income over a long period time (say, 30-40 years), they've seen their investments skyrocket in value.
by FafnerMorell
Sat Jun 01, 2013 9:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: France - Paris / Nice - Must do List
Replies: 92
Views: 17054

Re: France - Paris / Nice - Must do List

Saint Paul de Vence near Nice is a must see. It's probably only 2-3 hours to walk through all the art shops, etc and admire the view - but a wonderful spot. I've been to Nice many times, and Saint Paul is my one "must do". Also, in Nice itself, on the section called "Old Nice", there's a stairway/path where you can climb up from the beach area to a park high above (I think it's called Castle Hill).

It's amazing how close Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Monte Carlo all are - you can spend a day driving along the Bord De Mer (and where it takes you) and see so much.
by FafnerMorell
Tue May 28, 2013 12:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Financial Literacy Must Be Taught!
Replies: 55
Views: 5400

Re: Financial Literacy Must Be Taught!

Back when I was in high school in the early 80s, there was a mandatory semester-long class called "Consumer Education" which basically covered it. One part that was pretty effective was the famous Cosby Show bit where we had to figure out a basic monthly budget (we actually predated that episode by a number of years, but I suspect the scenario wasn't novel). We also had to fill out a simple 1040. We also read "The Jungle". Learned about the miracles of compound interest. /shrug - it was marginally useful, but I think a lot depended on the students willingness to learn. I remember my take-away being "Hmm, I need to earn some decent money otherwise I'm not going to have much to spend". Of course, I'm sure educati...
by FafnerMorell
Wed May 01, 2013 4:31 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Will Indexing Kill the Market?
Replies: 16
Views: 2856

Re: Will Indexing Kill the Market?

I wonder if active fund managers get depressed about the futility of their jobs, or if the money is good enough they don't care, or if it's something like what generals felt during WW1 were they'd send off 20,000 soldiers to die each day to no real effect, and they'd do it again day after day because they couldn't think of what else to do. Or maybe they do get depressed and spend some of their cash to pay academics to write papers like this.

"Look, the only reason indexes win is because I'm around to lose - if I wasn't here losing, they wouldn't be winning - they'd be out of control. So give me your money to manage, and pay my fees, and don't complain".
by FafnerMorell
Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:38 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Do you Fancy Yourself as a Contrarian ?....Prove it !....
Replies: 25
Views: 2422

Re: Do you Fancy Yourself as a Contrarian ?....Prove it !...

If you think you can dare a contrarian into doing something, you don't understand contrarians very well. They're probably pretty immune to reverse psychology as well - just from experience of folks tryng that angle on them. And you'd probably be horribly outmatched trying to prove yourself smarter than a 5th grader.

But the original post makes an excellent case for buying junk silver coins in bulk. (Now, that's an example of contrarianess).
by FafnerMorell
Fri Apr 19, 2013 1:19 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Are bitcoins something like internet tulips?
Replies: 62
Views: 6698

Re: Are bitcoins something like internet tulips?

The NPR Planet Money podcast has some info on bitcoins, as does the Economist magazine. Wikipedia also covers it. As you point out, if you don't understand it, don't invest in it. Also, just because you understand something, doesn't mean you should necessarily invest in it. And it's probably very arguable whether or not Bitcoins is an investment per see, or more of a technology for alternatives to conventional currency. If you look at "money" over the course of history, there's been a lot of different approaches which seem bizarre to other cultures. Personally, I'd take a pragmatic approach - does Bitcoins do anything useful for you that you can't do better another way? Even if you view it as speculation, couldn't you speculate on...