Search found 1262 matches
- Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:11 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Only S&P 500 or is TSM necessary?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 3081
Re: Only S&P 500 or is TSM necessary?
By current market cap, you would hold them at about a 6-1 ratio. The TSP lifecycle funds hold them at a 4-1 ratio. If you like round numbers, you can just round it off (i.e. if 40% of your portfolio is U.S. stocks, do 30-10). Over long time horizons, the difference will be quite small and could go in either direction. It's impossible to be that precise about the future.
Could you share how this is calculated? I'm holding a similar arrangement as the OP at 1/5 completion = 4/5 SP500. I realize there's not going to be much difference over the long term, but curious where your data might be available to run the ratios myself.
Random Googling gets the total market cap of the S&P 500 companies at around $50 trillion.
Random Googling ...
- Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:50 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Only S&P 500 or is TSM necessary?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 3081
Re: Only S&P 500 or is TSM necessary?
The TSP doesn’t have the option to select a total stock market index fund but it does have a C Fund which tracks the S&P 500 with an ER of 0.036% and the S fund tracks the Dow Jones Completion Total Stock Market index for an ER of 0.051%.
At the right percentages, I could hold these 2 funds and closely resemble something like VTSAX, but is that necessary? Could I just hold all C Fund?
I’d think most people would say that either choice can offer good results since there is so much overlap, but is that really true? Is there not consensus on which scenario is better?
I know Jack Bogle said to buy the whole haystack while Buffett told his wife to buy the S&P. It’s clear that either option should result in a good return over a lifetime ...
- Fri Jan 10, 2025 10:54 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Bankruptcy in California
- Replies: 1
- Views: 324
Re: Bankruptcy in California
You want to spend $500 - $1,000 talking to a California lawyer about this rather than trusting random people on the Internet.abqguy wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 10:47 am Hello, i am helping out a sister who lives in CA, who is an alcoholic. I am encouraging her to sell her house, and move in with me. She has burned through all her retirement savings. She has about $400K in equity in her house, and that is her only asset. If she were to declare bankruptcy, could her creditors make a claim on her house? I am just trying to think creatively about how she might best salvage something from the wreckage.
- Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Career advice for a young college student looking to get into Mega Corp or Big Tech
- Replies: 194
- Views: 14084
Re: Career advice for a young college student looking to get into Mega Corp or Big Tech
I would say that the downside of thinking about FIRE in your 20s is that you focus too much on savings and work and not enough about LIVING while you are in your 20s.player2012 wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:30 pm The downside of thinking about FIRE in your 20s is you focus too much on savings and not much on growing income. 20s is the time to invest in yourself so you can be in a position to increase income in the future.
You don't get a re-do of being young, healthy, having lots of energy and being a little bit stupid. Spending those years missing out on lots of fun so that you can retire earlier than normal (45? 50?) seems sub-optimal.
- Wed Dec 25, 2024 6:51 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: The "high water mark corollary" to Safe Withdrawal Rates
- Replies: 53
- Views: 4440
Re: The "high water mark corollary" to Safe Withdrawal Rates
<snip>
The point is that you don't have to apply the 4% at the point of retirement, you can apply it at any past point in time, add inflation since that time, and withdraw that amount safely, as long as you are ok with the reduced number of future safe years.
<snip>
You can actually do "better" than that.
You can download the annual return numbers for both the US stock market and US bond market (probably 10 year treasuries?) from 1926 - 1995 and try out lots of different things to see what historically worked for the US stock and bond market. You can even get that data and the extend it through 2022/2024.
Then you can see how much you can push the 'safe' return if you are okay with only 28 years (or whatever).
Or calculate a 'safe ...
- Wed Dec 25, 2024 6:44 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: The "high water mark corollary" to Safe Withdrawal Rates
- Replies: 53
- Views: 4440
Re: The "high water mark corollary" to Safe Withdrawal Rates
On a similar note, it's not the same mathematically to apply the 4% rule to your portfolio value in 2024 versus applying it to the portfolio value in the year it hits $1m. You are more likely to hit your number in a year with higher valuations which may lower the success probability.
Are you suggesting that SWR studies do not already take into account all past instances of starting withdraws from all-time-high-valuations? That is the whole point of SWR is it not?
The 95% vs 100% safe thing is not really the point of my post. Adjust the SWR to whatever it needs to be to yield 100% success, my point still stands.
The Trinity Study ("Retirement Savings: Choosing a Withdrawal Rate That Is Sustainable", 1998) considers only end-of ...
- Tue Dec 17, 2024 8:24 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Giving kids a cell phone
- Replies: 34
- Views: 4985
Re: Giving kids a cell phone
Don't conflate cell phones with smart phones.10001110101 wrote: Tue Dec 17, 2024 6:27 pm My child is currently too young for a cell phone. When the time comes we'll most likely start with an Apple watch. They'll have the ability to text and call for help, but they won't be able to consume inappropriate content (tiktok, social media etc.).
One can purchase a dumb phone for the kiddos and they can text and call but won't have access to apps or the web.
My wife and I did this with ours when he got old enough (9?) to walk to our downtown on his own. He didn't get a smart phone until many years later.
- Sat Dec 14, 2024 2:58 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: With abundance of cash does it make sense to add an asset class?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 3143
Re: With abundance of cash does it make sense to add an asset class?
Commodities? No thanks.
What do your tax-deferred account(s) look like?
100% bonds yet?
If not, add bonds in tax-deferred up to the comfort point and use the cash to buy a tax efficient stock index fund.
Regards,
Rather pessimistic about stocks and own a 7 figure portfolio already. I would rather buy a second home with the cash but would also like to have some of this cash invested in a non-corrleated asset. I'm already 40-50% muni bonds as it is. I guess typical answer would be don't market time ect ect. But to get over the hurdle of investing cash, it would probably just make me feel better to further diversify. If I were to add anything to existing portfolio, I would probably add another 5% to AVUV. I'm 10% vanguard small ...
- Wed Dec 11, 2024 7:36 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Travel Soccer Worth the Money & Time?
- Replies: 55
- Views: 4431
Re: Travel Soccer Worth the Money & Time?
My 8 y.o son is doing well with his club soccer teams. He loves the sport....he enjoys playing it year round in spring/fall/winter leagues. Also asks me to play with him every night and watches soccer games on TV (English Premiere league and Spanish La Ligua) when he is not playing. Loves to come to practice early and stay late to kick some more.
Other parents and coach recommend we look into travel soccer for him so we are weighing the PROs and CONs below:
PROs:
-structured year round soccer activities (practice, games, etc.) with same coach/teammates...currently, I sign him up in different leagues
-better coaching (paid) vs. volunteer coaches
-higher competition peer group
CONs:
-large time (go-away for tournaments) and money ...
- Wed Nov 27, 2024 7:31 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Buy bay area home or no
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1897
Re: Buy bay area home or no
Thanks all for the advice here.
I agree that renting is not obviously worse financially than owning here… and I’m not under the illusion that the owner and property manager and netting my full rent check every month or anything close… I think I’m mostly bothered by the lack of autonomy to “personalize” my home on top of ambient stress about rent increasing every year and not building equity.
I hear the commute notes. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place because I don’t want to live in most areas of the inner commute corridor here for lifestyle reasons. I might have to bet on WFH extending indefinitely for me. But agree that’s a risk.
My thinking was to buy a basic home ~5 years before having school age kids so I could judge if ...
- Mon Nov 11, 2024 6:31 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Avoid losses or Miss out gains?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 2403
Re: Avoid losses or Miss out gains?
US data is here: https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500/returnsjust_learning wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2024 6:03 pm Hello,
I was wondering- which would leave an investor better off- Avoiding losses or missing gains above the annual average (9.x%)? Basically, what would the hypothetical return be if 1. we got rid of all loss making years (assume return was 0) OR 2. capped all returns greater than 9.x% (the long term average return) to 9.x%?
Thanks.
You can plug it into a spreadsheet and see.
- Fri Nov 08, 2024 10:45 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: I have to buy individual stocks. Help me make a plan.
- Replies: 35
- Views: 3883
Re: I have to buy individual stocks. Help me make a plan.
A caveat. If you own Exxon, say, then you don't need to own 3 other oil cos, probably. For those sectors whose performance is very driven by an external factor - ie the oil price in this case. And you won't need to own all the big banks. If you own JP Morgan and maybe on other, you are probably OK.
With tech and pharma there is greater dispersion of performance between companies. Also probably consumer durables. Retailers? Well you can't own IKEA but you can own Costco. Maybe you own Walmart (or not). Inditex (Zara) might be the other.
Some types of industrials you may not wish to own at all. Autos (consumer cyclicals generally) would be my example. Tesla is huge with a forbidding valuation. Other car companies are generally priced at ...
- Sat Oct 05, 2024 10:27 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Why buy companies which pay no dividend if dividends are the central goal
- Replies: 140
- Views: 13230
Re: Why buy companies which pay no dividend if dividends are the central goal
Hi all. I would have posted in my previous post since this one is sort of related to it but the question is different and I would like to maximise engagement since these are fundamental questions for me and for all the novice to investing. So in my previous post I proposed a fruit for thought as to what is the internal value of a stock if we remove buying/selling from the equation. Many people had great points but it basically boils down to current dividend payouts as passive income stream or anticipation of dividends in the future. I want to further develop this idea. So there are companies with stellar track records which do pay dividends already and you'll get a steady dividend payout from a stable company albeit with limited potential ...
- Mon Sep 23, 2024 7:05 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Except inflation does Bengen "4%" base remain static?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 908
Re: Except inflation does Bengen "4%" base remain static?
When applying the original Bengen "4% rule", for calculating retirement withdrawal, does the initial account base remain unchanged yearly from the original retirement nest egg value other than to increase by the annual inflation factor?
Or does the base vary, depending on retirement asset value each year, in addition to to the annual inflation factor?
For what it's worth, DW and I are retired X 2 years and so far have been spending 3% of our retirement nest egg annually + Social Security & it seems to be working for us so far.
Just academically curious what Bengen originally said.
nanook
You can read his paper here: https://kyestates.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Bengen1.pdf
Note that this is (as are the Trinity study papers ...
- Fri Sep 20, 2024 6:09 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Thoughts on earning associates degree in high school/career paths
- Replies: 30
- Views: 1996
Re: Thoughts on earning associates degree in high school/career paths
My child's school district offers an opportunity to earn your associates degree for free while in high school. My son is an overall excellent student and seems to enjoy math/stem the most. I expect/would like for him to earn a bachelor's degree and beyond- my husband and I both have graduate degrees (although recognize there are high drop out rates in college and life happens).
The more stem AA degree offered are business, computer science, cybersecuriry, information science, and a general studies with a stem focus
Which AA would be the most valuable for further education and future career prospects? I don't know much about stem careers these days.
It sounds like your son is still early in HS.
I don't have a suggestion for a ...
- Mon Sep 02, 2024 2:54 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Kettlebells
- Replies: 52
- Views: 10546
Re: Kettlebells
My primary advice is that you consider kettlebell risk/benefit FOR YOUR AGE.4nursebee wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2024 2:03 pm I am considering getting into kettlebell exercises. There seems to be too much info available online and too many books also. I'd like to get a few of the best books, perhaps learn of other resources about where to start.
What books?
What is your experience?
Thank you.
As one ages some exercises become less good because it becomes much easier to injure yourself doing them and recovery takes longer.
This is a general suggestion for exercising, but very much applies to kettlebells.
- Thu Aug 22, 2024 5:23 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Tricks of the high net worth households
- Replies: 17
- Views: 5731
Re: Tricks of the high net worth households
I'm not sure what the "official" definition of HNW is. To me, it is $5M+. I'm at $3M as a 46 year old school teacher. My simple (more easily said than done!) tricks are frugality and discipline.
EDIT: I should probably add that the #1 trick is to educate yourself as much as possible.
The definition of HNWI varies by financial institution so there isn't an "official" definition.
A common range is something like this for financial assets (so excluding the house):
$1M - $5M: HNWI (High Net Worth Individual)
$5M - $30: VHNWI (Very High ...)
$30M+: UHNWI (Ultra High ...)
I'm sure that there are institutions that have a tier that starts at $100M or $250M. And others that use different bands.
$100K - $1M is often considered "mass affluent ...
- Sun Aug 18, 2024 6:26 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Tech overvaluation
- Replies: 120
- Views: 16698
Re: Tech overvaluation
https://disconnect.blog/what-comes-after-the-ai-crash/
If we accept that tech stocks are being driven somewhat by the hype around artificial intelligence, then doesn't some kind of a crash seems inevitable, since S&P 500 funds and ETFs are so heavily invested in them? For example, most stocks in the top ten FXAIX holdings are companies that make software as opposed to actual physical stuff, and many of the others make hardware that is dependent on AI. The returns the last couple of years have been amazing but how long can it last? I've considered adding a fund or ETF that avoids the tech sector in favor of boring stocks - companies that make stuff that people actually need to live - industrials, health care, agriculture/food etc ...
- Sun Aug 04, 2024 11:23 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Intel Core i7 vs i5
- Replies: 37
- Views: 3709
Re: Intel Core i7 vs i5
Because Apple doesn't price by looking at the price they pay for the part and then adding a small percent.rockstar wrote: Sun Aug 04, 2024 10:42 am ... snip ...
The mac minis are interesting. No idea why it costs so much for the equivalent RAM and storge. My SSD was about $40 and my RAM was about $30.
Apple prices based on what people who by Apple products are willing to pay. And Apple clients are willing to pay "extra" for SSD and DRAM so that they can use an Apple product.
- Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:59 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Estimating Healthcare Costs in Retirement > Age 65
- Replies: 19
- Views: 2038
Re: Estimating Healthcare Costs in Retirement > Age 65
One of the areas that is somewhat amorphous to budget is healthcare costs even when on Medicare. I wanted to run by the BH Forum my preliminary budget and assumptions based on estimated MAGI in the married $258-322K category. This will kick in in 2027, but I am using 2024 rates for what I estimated.
MONTHLY
$699------------Medicare Part B (with IRMAA)
$40--------------Medicare Part B Deductible
$136------------Medicare Part D (with IRMAA)
$333------------Max Medicare Part D OOP > 2025 of $2,000 per person (worst case, likely less)
$400------------Medigap G (just using a $200/per person placeholder)
$1,608---------SUBTOTAL
On top of this, I want to account for routine dental and vision care.
MONTHLY
$83-----------Routine Dental ...
- Sat Jul 20, 2024 1:19 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: list of non-income genearting lower risk investments
- Replies: 17
- Views: 2081
Re: list of non-income genearting lower risk investments
Hi,
I am trying to find the investments with following constraints.
1 risk : that are much lower risk compared to equities. The risk level can be close to US treasury or can be low risk equity ETF. The risk should be lower than total stock market.
2 income : They must not generate any income. That means total bond market doesn't meet the condition.
3 cost/expenses : As you expect the cost or expense ratio must be low.
4 return : The total return should be greater or equal to 10 year US treasury yield.
These are candidates to be held in the taxable account while investor is still in acculturating phase.
Here is a list that I believe are good candidates that satisfy above constraints.
1) BOXX ETF
2) Deferred Annuity. I ...
- Wed Jul 17, 2024 6:44 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Database App For A Mac
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1799
Re: Database App For A Mac
Depending on your needs (and technical confidence) SQLite would work.LifeIsGood wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 4:13 am Many years I ago I used a Windows DB called Visual Foxpro. I believe Microsoft bought them and rolled it into MS Access.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a basic, stand alone (non subscription based) data base for the Mac?
https://www.sqlite.org/
- Wed Jul 17, 2024 12:28 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Dr.Peter Attia's book...Outlive
- Replies: 141
- Views: 15744
Re: Dr.Peter Atia's book...Outlive
... snip ...
Also surprised that walking with weight qualifies as "zone 2," which per the summary I read means you can carry on a conversation but only with difficulty. I briskly walk my dogs while wearing a weighted vest on hiking trails and that definitely is not zone 2 for me, except on steep hills.
Zone 2 is poorly defined (in the sense that it has many definitions that aren't terribly consistent).
Peter has a video where he shows you himself doing Zone 2 training:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RqY5EYOM0k&ab_channel=PeterAttiaMD
His heart rate is between 137 and 142 and he's putting out 225 watts. Walking with weights is unlikely (I think) to get your heart rate to 85% of estimated max.
I tried to understand Zone 2 and ...
- Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:05 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Dr.Peter Attia's book...Outlive
- Replies: 141
- Views: 15744
Re: Dr.Peter Atia's book...Outlive
I found it hard to read and way too technical. I wasn't able to finish it. For me, it was good enough to just search for what he does on a weekly basis to live as long as possible.
The way my mind works, I just have to be convinced that someone reasonably knows what they're talking about and he convinced me of that fairly early on. After that, it's "spare me the details and just give me the recipe." :D
Peter summarizing (six minutes) the key exercise bits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92kYDVjX0G0
Summary:
Cardiovascular health matters (most)
Strength matters (next most)
Muscle mass matters (after strength, though the two are related even though not quite the same)
Balance matters, though he covers this in other videos ...
- Sun Jul 14, 2024 5:17 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Laid off - advice and a few questions
- Replies: 20
- Views: 3853
Re: Laid off - advice and a few questions
...snip ...
1. I am trying to balance finding a job at my level (or even one higher) with the fact that there are more jobs out there with a slightly lower title. I'm applying for jobs that make sense, but at what point should I consider taking a slightly lower level role than the job that I was in?
... snip ...
Note that there are almost always fewer jobs at higher levels than at lower levels so this isn't unique to you :-)
How important is the title vs the actual job activities/responsibilities/pay? In my field a "senior software engineer" at one company might have more responsibility than a "staff software engineer" at another. Same for pay. Do you care about the job itself or the title (and it is not obvious because there seem ...
- Sat Jul 13, 2024 10:12 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Join a gym? Is it worth it?
- Replies: 109
- Views: 9809
Re: Join a gym? Is it worth it?
...
If that's not enough, I'll probably join the local Planet Fitness for $10/mo. The only part I don't like is that they seem to require that you set up an auto-pull from your checking account. Have people found a good way around that?
...
I have a separate checking/savings account at my local credit union that is pretty much just for this. I keep a few hundred dollars in it and the credit union doesn't charge a maintenance fee as long as I have more than $50 in the account. I gave Planet Fitness THIS checking account to draw from. The damage is small if something goes wrong and I can close out the account if/when I decide to cancel my Planet Fitness membership.
So far there have been no problems, but I like having the isolation ...
- Fri Jul 12, 2024 6:56 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Join a gym? Is it worth it?
- Replies: 109
- Views: 9809
Re: Join a gym? Is it worth it?
I’ve decided I want to do two things with my life going forward. Make money and stay healthy. My investments are growing well with the market. Now I need to focus on getting in shape. I am thinking about joining a gym. I’ve never lifted weights before so I’d have to also pay for a coach/trainer. I don’t need to lose weight, but build muscle as I am skinny. I need to invest in my health.
What should I look for in a gym? What kind of price range? Very intimidating trying to get started on this part of my “investment” journey. The last thing I want to do is dump a bunch of money into this and not see/feel results. Would love any advice. I want to get and stay healthy so I can enjoy the money I’ve invested to a ripe old age. I am 38-single ...
- Fri Jul 05, 2024 5:26 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: 2.5% withdrawal rate forever?
- Replies: 125
- Views: 14016
Re: 2.5% withdrawal rate forever?
Is 2.5% a withdrawal rate you feel you could draw down in perpetuity?
I know the 4% rule. I know there are many threads about inflation and how one likely needs to have a higher equity portion.
But if one runs the numbers and sees 2.5% meets their needs in a 55/45 portfolio, would you feel comfortable? Why or why not?
Thanks and any research would be helpful
For practical purposes, yes. If you start with a 55/45 portfolio of $1,000,000 and withdraw an inflation adjusted $25,000 each year this will last indefinitely.
But ... $1 invested at a constant real 2.5%/year return from the year 0 until the year 2000 would grow to approximately $2,800,000,000,000,000,000,000. Google says that worldwide private net worth in 2022 was "only ...
- Sat Jun 29, 2024 10:53 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Investment lesson learned
- Replies: 32
- Views: 5883
Re: Investment lesson learned
Day trading a tech stock, you say?
As the dot bomb was reaching its high-water mark, you could not walk the floor of an American office building without seeing a stock chart on someone's screen. We were all going to get rich selling our stocks to each other.
I know Supermicro from the days when Cisco was like Nvidia is today. I'm positively stunned Supermicro grew up to be a 7 billion dollar company. Someone needs to revive SGI and Sun Microsystems and we'll have ourselves a more familiar looking tech bubble.
SuperMicro is benefiting from the AI boom. My employer buys SuperMicro computers to embed in larger systems.
We used to just buy dual-socket machines with RAM and CPUs so maybe $10,000/box.
We are now shipping GPUs with our ...
- Mon Jun 24, 2024 9:51 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Article: Why not 100% equities
- Replies: 167
- Views: 22970
Re: Article: Why not 100% equities
I also think Bogleheads threads such as:exodusing wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2024 6:46 am Cliff Asness has an interesting article arguing against 100% equities. Especially given the volume of posts expressing enthusiasm for similar portfolios, it seems worth reading.
https://www.aqr.com/Insights/Perspectiv ... 0-Equities
I can't believe I am thinking this [Panic and Survival 2008-09]
and:
"Maximum Tolerable Loss" -- Not just a fear factor
Illustrate the challenges many face with a 100% equities position.
- Fri Jun 21, 2024 10:50 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: No college choice really
- Replies: 255
- Views: 21900
Re: No college choice really
... snip ...
The biggest driver of college costs is the expansion of administrators on campus. The following is from Stanford, but most colleges have seen an increase in admins that far outpaces the increases in the number of students and faculty. At this point, both public and private colleges are being operated for the benefit of the administrators.
https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-12-at-1.03.56-AM.png
[Bold and underline added by me]
Let me start with, "Yes, a huge driver for increase college costs is the addition of new non-professor employees."
Having said that:
"Administrators" are not the same thing as "non-teaching staff". The College Fix website blurs this distinction ALL THE ...
- Fri Jun 21, 2024 10:30 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: No college choice really
- Replies: 255
- Views: 21900
Re: No college choice really
* 2 years community college
* 2 years university
* All while living at home
I am 100% in your camp of thinking regarding this.
My daughter did something similar. I realize there can be a stigma about community college, particularly if your kid’s friends are going off to “real” colleges. But IMHO community colleges offer the best bang for the buck.
Community colleges offer a low-cost way for a kid to figure out what they are interested in. And if they do well, it’s pretty easy to transfer to an in-state (not sure about out of state) 4-year school for the final two years. And no matter how far one goes in their academic career, the only school that matters is the last one.
My son went to a California Community College for two ...
- Thu Jun 20, 2024 8:37 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: No college choice really
- Replies: 255
- Views: 21900
Re: No college choice really
It has always been the case that students/families with money have more options. Such is the nature of a capitalist system.
I went to a state school like the bulk of students.
One option I considered was the service academies. A classmate went to West Point. It has an excellent school for Engineering, especially Civil.
One of my older brothers was first alternate to the Air Force Academy, but did not get in, so he enlisted in the Air Force ending up in Da Nang.
Isn't everyone at West Point also expected to participate in a sport? Don't know what division they compete in but at Division 1 colleges it's quite difficult to be both an athlete with an engineering major as many Division 1 sports require a 40 hour per week commitment ...
- Wed Jun 19, 2024 12:26 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: No college choice really
- Replies: 255
- Views: 21900
Re: No college choice really
My oldest has mid 1500s SAT and 4.0 gpa. .....
.....or am I missing something?
You are missing a couple of things;
1) With honor classes some students will graduate with a GPA of well over 4.0. I looked up the high school my son went to and the valedictorian had a GPA of 4.8 !!! :shock: Colleges are well aware of this and grade inflation in general so they will likely not be automatically impressed by your kids 4.0 GPA
... snip ...
To provide a concrete example, the top 75% of freshmen admitted to US Santa Barbara in 2019 has a GPA
of 4.04 or higher. A GPA of 4.0 put one in the bottom quarter.
The mid-1500 SAT score is good, but the cut-line to be in the top 25% of admitted freshmen by SAT score was
around 1520 (around because ...
- Wed Jun 19, 2024 12:18 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: No college choice really
- Replies: 255
- Views: 21900
Re: No college choice really
Looked at Tennessee Tech? 25 years ago, the two schools I was looking at for Computer Science were GA Tech and TN Tech. I visited both schools, and GA Tech was definitely the more impressive one, facilities-wise. As a TN resident, GA Tech offered no scholarship, and was something like $17k a semester. TN Tech was something like $4k a semester, and they offered me an academic scholarship that covered tuition if I worked a few hours a week on campus. My parents could have afforded to send me to GA Tech, but I didn't feel right putting that burden on them. They were both tech schools and you know what? Course work doesn't really care about the facilities that much. Plus I appreciated the small town out in the country feel of Cookeville ...
- Tue Jun 18, 2024 10:41 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Why haven’t higher risk free rates affected equities?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1749
Re: Why haven’t higher risk free rates affected equities?
In August 2020, long term treasuries (EDV) were trading at a 1.2% yield. Since then the SP500 is up 75% while the treasuries are down 50% due to rising rates.
What was the market using to discount future earnings back in late 2020? Surely it must be lower than what it is today given the big change upward in interest rates? If so, how can stocks rise so quickly?
Like if risk free rates are 1%, then equities could be justified if they returned 2-3%. But now that risk free is 4-5%+ then equities today need to return 6-7% minimum to be viable. Unless earnings can grow astronomically, it’s hard to see how such a big jump in equity yield can happen given the 75% rise in the SP500.
Either:
1) the market expected future earnings to be low ...
- Sat Jun 15, 2024 10:29 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Do you diversify beyond stocks and bonds?
- Replies: 48
- Views: 4397
Re: Do you diversify beyond stocks and bonds?
As we are approaching retirement and considering I may have a company package buyout the thought of branching out for diversification comes to mind.
Specifically, we own mutual funds of stock and bond indexes, and cash. If I receive a package from my company it would amount to about $500,000 and I was considering a rental house for a stream of income. We have no pensions and I was hoping to get some real life feedback on whether this type of diversification is helpful or just added problems. And finally, if not real estate, what did you have and what lessons can you teach me?
I have no investible assets outside of stocks/bonds/cash.
My wife and I do own a house in a VHCOL area so we have an asset that is uncorrelated with the stock ...
- Sun Jun 09, 2024 4:40 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Question regarding career direction
- Replies: 38
- Views: 3599
Re: Question regarding career direction
I have PM'd you.mtwistercapitalist wrote: Sun Jun 09, 2024 3:32 pm ... snip ...
What other options are there apart from medical devices and automobile overall? Can you tell me more about this semiconductor equipment you're working on? Seems interesting.
- Sun Jun 09, 2024 1:48 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Question regarding career direction
- Replies: 38
- Views: 3599
Re: Question regarding career direction
Hi everyone,
I'm currently in cybersecurity. Have been working in it for slightly more than 4 years while doing my masters degree from a top 10 cybersecurity school on the side. I've learned about this industry in multiple ways and have become slightly disillusioned. It seems that a lot of it is just boring -- and boring IT especially.
... snip ...
I am of an engineering mindset and am fantastic with math and science. Let's say one wants to leave that field and try their hand at something else.... what do the options look like? Do you all even like what you do for careers for decades on end before retiring? I'm struggling.
Thanks in advance!
Does "engineering mindset" mean that you want to build things (where software counts ...
- Sun Jun 09, 2024 10:59 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Question regarding career direction
- Replies: 38
- Views: 3599
Re: Question regarding career direction
Hi everyone,
I'm currently in cybersecurity. Have been working in it for slightly more than 4 years while doing my masters degree from a top 10 cybersecurity school on the side. I've learned about this industry in multiple ways and have become slightly disillusioned. It seems that a lot of it is just boring -- and boring IT especially.
... snip ...
I am of an engineering mindset and am fantastic with math and science. Let's say one wants to leave that field and try their hand at something else.... what do the options look like? Do you all even like what you do for careers for decades on end before retiring? I'm struggling.
Thanks in advance!
Does "engineering mindset" mean that you want to build things (where software counts as a ...
- Wed Jun 05, 2024 8:34 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: What is the Most You Would keep in Fixed Income?
- Replies: 71
- Views: 10733
Re: What is the Most You Would keep in Fixed Income?
Based on these assumptions:
-Fixed income = bonds, cash, I/EE bonds, CD, HYSA, MM funds
-No pension
-Age 45; retirement in 10 years
Please express the amount as a multiple of annual expenses. So for example, 10x.
I don't think "multiple of annual expenses" is how most people here think of this.
It also often depends on age.
For *ME* at younger ages I tended to run with 0% bonds except around the peak of the dot-com boom I bought a bunch of Series I Bonds. At 3.6% real they just looked reasonable compared to the stock market (and I was working for a tech company that saw a 75% drop in stock price over 18 months after the dot-com peak).
Today ... things are different.
Are you trying to ask how much YOU should hold in fixed ...
- Wed Jun 05, 2024 9:27 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Rent vs. buy in VHCOL city with $150k from employer
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3438
Re: Rent vs. buy in VHCOL city with $150k from employer
Is "owning" worth the extra monthly cost? Apply actual price/mortgage/insurance numbers rather than my toy numbers. A $600K house will be cheaper, but a worse commute is a real cost that you'll want to think hard about, but obviously the monthly dollar outlay will be lower.
I'm thinking it's probably not worth the extra monthly cost, though it partly depends where rents are in ~3 years, when I'm eligible for this program. (I'd written off the possibility of buying before it was announced.) Everything else being equal, we'd prioritize short commutes. (Right now, neither of us have a commute. That can change if my wife's work changes and she no longer works remotely.)
For rough calculations, I've been using the NYT rent/buy calculator ...
- Tue Jun 04, 2024 11:59 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Rent vs. buy in VHCOL city with $150k from employer
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3438
Re: Rent vs. buy in VHCOL city with $150k from employer
Rent vs. buy in VHCOL city with $150k from employer
... snip ...
We both have 800+ credit scores. There's nothing worth buying within a reasonable commute for less than $600k, and $650k is the more likely lower end. Houses in our neighborhood are >=$1MM move in ready. It is hard to find a rental in the same radius (that's not totally destroyed) for <$3k; $3,400-3,500 is more likely.
...snip...
It appears that a $800,000 30-year mortgage (figure 20% down on a $1M property) will have a monthly payment of around $5,000. For California your property taxes would be about $10,000/year (1% of $1M) which is ~$800/month. You'll also have to pay to insure the property.
So it looks like a $1M property purchased with $800K ($200K down) will cost ...
- Tue Jun 04, 2024 10:20 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Confused and directionless for next phase [should I retire?]
- Replies: 45
- Views: 5819
Re: Confused and directionless for next phase [should I retire?]
As I typed this and read many times just for my cathartic experience but finally decided to really post and see what others think.
Thanks in advance for your advice/thoughts.
Background:
---------------
... snip ...
- Recently had a 3rd cardiac event in the last 15 years (CVD) due to genetic factor and likely not the stress at work( at least I think so) and lucky to survive so far.
-Currently on Short Term Disability with a very low intention to go back to sw eng work in FANG like company.
... snip ...
I don't have a recommendation to retire or not.
And this is not medical advice, but more a suggestion for focusing on the 'high order bit'.
But after three cardiac events I think there might be value in you prioritizing putting off ...
- Sun Jun 02, 2024 3:34 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Absolutely elementary-level 4% drawdown question
- Replies: 11
- Views: 1212
Re: Absolutely elementary-level 4% drawdown question
While it may be the case in "good" years that your portfolio will grow back, that isn't the "plan". The idea is you can/will "spend down" part of your savings.
I realize now that I had poor wording. I didn't mean so much that it would be fully replenished every year, but rather that the interest/returns/dividends/whatever would slow the depletion by building back up a portion of what you withdrew.
But thank you for the reply! It was very helpful!
This is a nitty detail, but it is a pretty important nitty detail.
It is not the case that the 4% rule "works." It is that this rule historically worked (past tense) for US stock and US bonds.
It did work, as you say, because on average the interest, dividends and capital appreciation ...
- Sat Jun 01, 2024 2:53 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Which Midwestern markets have "coastal style" real estate appreciation?
- Replies: 98
- Views: 15033
Re: Which Midwestern markets have "coastal style" real estate appreciation?
I can't tell if you are askingJustGotScammed wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2024 2:42 pm I might be getting priced out of buying property in the coastal markets so I may have to settle short-term for buying property in the US Midwest. Which markets there have the highest price appreciation, such that if I own a home for a few years, I'd be most likely to make money on it?
- which Midwest housing markets WILL HAVE the highest price appreciation in the next few years, or
- which Midwest housing markets HAVE ALREADY HAD the highest price appreciation in the past few years
- Wed May 29, 2024 12:21 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Life Advice Needed - Software Engineer to Fiction Writer?
- Replies: 99
- Views: 8117
Re: Life Advice Needed - Software Engineer to Fiction Writer?
Hi Boglehead community. Long time lurker, first time poster. The knowledge gained from reading this forum over the years has been invaluable, and now I'm looking for advice specific to my current financial and career situation. Any and all perspectives & feedback would be much appreciated.
Details:
Age: 30, Male
Location: Medium COL
Status: Engaged to be married, Oct '24
Education: BS, computer science
Experience: 10 years, same company
His:
- Base: $149,000
- Bonus: $22,000
- Total Comp: $171,000
Hers:
- Base: $36,000 (school teacher)
- Currently transitioning to real estate agent, roughly 2 months of teacher salary remaining, income level uncertain for the next 3-6+ months as she ramps up
Checking: $5,000 (brick and mortar local ...
- Wed May 29, 2024 11:53 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Credit Card for 20 year old
- Replies: 61
- Views: 4850
Re: Credit Card for 20 year old
My college senior is interested in obtaining a credit card ...
... she only has a part time job.
Please do not turn this into a credit card is dangerous for young people discussion. She is extremely responsible concerning finances.
Hmmm ... she's over 18. If she wants a credit card and is financially-responsible, what do you have to do with it? She's an adult. Technically.
(They gave credit cards away like candy on my college campus ... I got one and then another. I was "extremely responsible." Had 2 part-time jobs. But I was young and I needed things. Nothing dramatic. But with one thing and another and the always-growing interest and fees, it took me 8 years at the School of Hard Knocks to dig out.)
I have some bones to ...
- Mon May 20, 2024 12:19 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: What if I’m Not dead but not really with it anymore?
- Replies: 89
- Views: 11933
Re: What if I’m Not dead but not really with it anymore?
How does an annuity help in this type situation?
It minimizes your maximum possible loss. If you're no longer of sound mind and have access to all your money, you could theoretically be scammed out of some or all of it it, give it away, or make poor decisions. An annuity guarantees income and removes your decision-making control over X% of your money. For better and/or worse, depending on your perspective.
I'm not sure that's true. A predator could get themselves appointed your "guardian" and cash out the annuity. Or you could cash out the annuity. I don't think the insurance company checks to make sure you are of sound mind or that your "guardian" isn't a criminal.
A lot of financial fraud on the elderly does not require the ...
- Sat May 18, 2024 9:48 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: suze orman says you need a min of $5M to retire early
- Replies: 225
- Views: 30319
Re: suze orman says you need a min of $5M to retire early
For many, dying prematurely after many years of stress trying to make money for somebody else - or yourself, makes no sense but it is not uncommon.
... snip ...
Stop trying to scare people about dying two days after they step out of the workplace door for the last time at 65. That sounds more like a fear of the accuser than the accused. You can't live your life in fear of what might happen if. Just make your choices and carry on.
The way I see it, the person who dies 2 days after retirement is one lucky sonofa. No more worries! Retirement funds in place for the heirs. Success story. Rest in peace.
Sometimes there is more than one person involved.
One of my grandmothers' regrets was that she and grandpa got only 18 months ...