Bogleheads.org

dandan14

I searched linkedin for a bogleheads group. Notice what it suggested.

http://i.imgur.com/BqfeoJ1.png

dandan14

Safety is my #1 concern. So I was just looking up cars for myself and was trying to find some data on safest cars. One way to measure that is measuring how many people died per 1000 cars for each model. This is an interesting list put out by the IIHS covering data from 2006-2009. If I can buy a car ...

dandan14

One of the best sites I've found in addition to Linkedin is one called Linkup.com. The thing that makes linkup different is that it indexes jobs listed on tens of thousands of company websites and aggregates them. Indeed.com also does this -- although I think they index fewer places than linkup. Als...

dandan14

This sounds a little crazy...but I bought a banjo yesterday. Excellent! That doesn't sound crazy to me at all. But then again, I'm in Nashville where everyone is required by law to play at least one instrument and/or be a songwriter. Anyway, you might want to check this out: http://artistworks.com/...

dandan14

Good ideas everyone. This sounds a little crazy...but I bought a banjo yesterday. I think it will be fun to watch some youtube videos and see what I can learn. I also like the "get in shape" ideas -- something I really really need to do. As I mentioned, travel is sort of off the table righ...

dandan14

thewizzer wrote:Travel, assuming you have the funds

I have the funds, but I also have kids and an 8 month pregnant wife.

dandan14

If you had a few weeks of down time before starting a new job, what would you spend your time doing?
I'm just looking for some ideas so I don't squander this time.

Ideas:
Musical instrument
Learn a new skill. Ideas?
Online courses?

Just looking for some input.

dandan14

I agree with using something like term4sale. Very easy to do apples to apples with term life.

dandan14

Maybe...but the other consideration is how long with Tivo even continue to be relevant? We're 100% streaming now -- and I suspect more and more people will go that way in the coming 2-3 years as streaming options become better and better.

dandan14

coachz wrote:I have never had a cell phone. Saves me a ton of money. But I also do my own haircuts for free.

Are you still paying for a landline? And long distance? If so...you'd be way better off with a cheap cell phone plan.

dandan14

There are really 2 parts to this calculation -- the monetary and the intangible. The monetary part is very easy to quantify. Run some calculations on your current savings and new savings rate with a stay at home spouse. Use a monte carlo calculator to figure out what this will do to your long term s...

dandan14

I had to spreadsheet this to get a handle on it. Originally I was going to post that it played out about the same. That the increase in yields during the holding time of the bond made up for the decrease in sales price. However, after spreadsheeting it...it really does look less advantageous to hold...

dandan14

joe8d wrote:Along the same line, does anybody else get the "Jill on Money" radio show? Jill Schlesinger seems to provide very good advice.

absolutely. Download the podcast and you'll get it with no commercials. She seems to be right on target.

dandan14

Very insightful. I don't think the immediate annuity advice is on track. It is making the mistake of considering insurance as an investment instead of as a risk management tool. If you analyze insurance as an investment, you would never buy any insurance at all; it is always advantageous to the insu...

dandan14

Why even have separate accounts? I have 529 account in my name. When needed, it is easy enough to change the beneficiary of the account. Or, it may make sense to break it up when kid #1 goes to college.

dandan14

My parents, now both retired, are reasonably sure they had a whole life policy with a cash value through my mom's work. But they can't find it. Is there a way to find something like that without calling every possible insurance company? Is there a national index of some sort? Since they are both sti...

dandan14

It's looking like 2013 may turn out to be a lower income year for me than usual. We'll likely fall squarely in the 15% federal bracket. MFJ with 3 dependents. Can you guys think of things that I should take advantage of this year from a tax or investment perspective? For example, I will likely conve...

dandan14

I second the votes for 10minutemail and mailinator. I use both of those quite regularly.

dandan14

Roku is the best $50 you will spend. Pair that with $8/month or just rent the movies you want on Amazon. Most movies on Amazon are $4 with many less than that.

Roku doesn't require a computer and just plugs into your TV.

dandan14

Use priceline to get a hotel. We've stayed in nice "off the strip" hotels like Texas Station for about $30/night using Priceline. Oddly enough, we had a ton of cheap fun at the Pinball Museum. All of the old pinball machines are just a quarter. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g4...

dandan14

Don't buy into the stupid 2-3 month salary rules. That's utterly ridiculous. I used BlueNile and bought a pretty nice middle diamond and 2 smaller side diamonds. But now, only 5 years later, I have absolutely no recollection of the various ratings for those diamonds. And honestly, I don't think my w...

dandan14

Sure -- Petronas Towers are a marvel of engineering. You can't miss them if you are in KL. But also be sure to spend some time walking around normal streets, eat at a local restaurant, order some Nasi Lemak, visit some temples, etc. Batu Caves are touristy -- but pretty cool. (A taxi to the Batu cav...

dandan14

Jimmy: I recall several years ago when I called my Vanguard representative to ask a question about index funds. He asked me to please wait. A short time later a voice came on saying "I know a little bit about index funds. How can I help you." There was a lot of laughter in the room and I ...

dandan14

I've investigated this path as well. I've talked with several vanguard employees (thanks linkedin) in both Charlotte and Valley Forge. It seems that they really like to hire from within and do most of their hiring for the phone support positions. If you want to do that for a while and gain some grea...

dandan14

Yes...as others have said, you need a will. Since you have life insurance, you may even want to specify things such as if you and your wife die at the same time, perhaps you want the money from insurance to go into a trust until the children are a certain age. In addition to a will, you should also ...

dandan14

I can do better. I can do it in 5 lines: 1. Save as much as you can so you can invest as much as you can 2. Asset allocation is king and should be based on your willingness, ability, and need to take risk. 3. Active management is a losers game so avoid it. 4. Be cognizant of fees, taxes, and inflat...

dandan14

We're in the middle of a claim with Geico now. (Geico is our insurer and my wife tapped someone who is now claiming 2 weeks lost wages.) I've been pretty impressed with their responsiveness so far.

dandan14

About 7-12 years ago I predicted in a national financial magazine that rates were low, and were surely going to go up. Thus, EE bonds paying a fixed 3.X% were not a good deal and should be avoided. :oops: I can never get away from that one. But what I REALLY said, which did not quite come through i...

dandan14

We'd had PV panels for about 2 years. It was about a 7-10 year payback at that time based on federal, state, and power company rebates. I generally save about $50/month in energy costs. Upfront cost was nearly 30k, with the final bill being about 8k after I got all of the rebates. The reason you can...

dandan14

Wondering if anyone has some insight on this. There is a good chance that we'll be moving soon, and I'd like to buy a new house as quickly as possible (to avoid renting and to go ahead and lock-in a low rate). Is it possible for me to represent myself (and thus take a 3% discount) if the house i'm i...

dandan14

I had a similar situation for about 6 years. I never took the deduction, because really, it was for my convienience. I had a cube with my name on it at work -- of course on the occasion that I did go into work I was there by myself (unless I tried to coordinate with others to go in on the same day)....

dandan14

The primary diagnoses for long nursing home stays - more than a year - are some form of senile dementia. This is because people with these diagnoses are often physically healthy but still require round the clock care. A disproportionate number of people who end up in long term nursing care are sing...

dandan14

Most people buy 3-year policies. If the policy has a 5-year benefit it should be per-person and the benefits may be shared (depends on the policy), so that one spouse could use up to 10 years of care. The cost for an unlimited benefit today, even if you can find it, would be cost-prohibitive compar...

dandan14

Most people buy 3-year policies. If the policy has a 5-year benefit it should be per-person and the benefits may be shared (depends on the policy), so that one spouse could use up to 10 years of care. The cost for an unlimited benefit today, even if you can find it, would be cost-prohibitive compar...

dandan14

Not a direct answer to your question, but I posted this in another thread a few days ago: An article on the problems with long-term care insurance http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2013/08/08/more-bad-news-for-long-term-care-insurance-a-major-carrier-reassess-the-business-amidst-more-rate-...

dandan14

Update: Northwestern is the only company I've found so far with a lifetime benefit. Anyone know of others?

dandan14

2 quick questions about LTC policies: I'm trying to help my parents on a few things and I'm taking a look at their LTC policy. The good news is that the premium seems very reasonable compared to what I'm seeing with online calculators. So that's good. However, the payout period is only 5 years. That...

dandan14

#5 - Yes, that is what can happen. It may (not sure of details) depend on the type of "takeover", but if you own a brokered CD from The Peoples' Bank of Kumquat , and it is taken over by Behemoth Bank -then Behemoth Bank could redeem the CD at par or unilaterally give the choice of a lowe...

dandan14

#5 - Yes, that is what can happen. It may (not sure of details) depend on the type of "takeover", but if you own a brokered CD from The Peoples' Bank of Kumquat , and it is taken over by Behemoth Bank -then Behemoth Bank could redeem the CD at par or unilaterally give the choice of a lowe...

dandan14

DM200: I was planning on keeping the durations short so redemption prior to maturity shouldn't be a problem. I'm just trying to do better than the dismal return of money market funds for my short term cash. Are the returns of the cd's offered by VG competitive with banks or credit unions or should ...

dandan14

I know a phone call to VG could probably answer this question, but they seem to be pretty busy today with year end stuff and since I was already perusing this forum, I thought I would ask the group. The CD's that VG offers, are they new issues or do we purchase them on the secondary market? Just wo...

dandan14

I was able to find the Atlanta Waste Water one and matched the CUSIP. However, the report I found from Etrade (Bonddesk) shows this exact bond yielding 3.129. So my question of course is ---what's going on here. This seems like some slight of hand by Wells Fargo. ( Are you confusing yield with YTM?...

dandan14

I was able to find the Atlanta Waste Water one and matched the CUSIP. However, the report I found from Etrade (Bonddesk) reports this as 3.129 as the yield to worst (which is what I would expect).

Very deceitful here for Wells Fargo to not show that. Seems like some slight of hand by Wells Fargo.

dandan14

My dad has some individual munis at Wells Fargo -- and honestly the yields on the statement sound a little too good to be true. For example, a "Medical Ctr Hospital Authority of GA" with a 6.5% coupon currently yielding 6.05%. Due in 2038, callable at 100 in 2018. Current price 107. Rated ...

dandan14

Ranger wrote:
dandan14 wrote:
Interesting. Can you share how that deal was structured? Does it have a 5 year balloon? If so, what is the 5 year plan?
Sure. There is no ballon after 5 year, since this is a 10 year loan, but the rate resets after 5 year with floor min and cap max.

What is the plan at year 10?

dandan14

We own NNN property along with small group of investors and it was financed in 2011. If you have very strong relationship with the bank, then the deal can be structured to your liking with practical limitations. Our deal is for 10 years recourse loan, but the recourse is capped at 125% of the loan ...

dandan14

Currently, for example, if you had no other business with me I could do a commercial RE loan at 70% of the value, on a 5 year term with a 25 year amortization at a 5.5% interest rate with a half a point origination fee. I work at a relatively small privately owned bank but I know a lot of bankers a...

dandan14

I agree. If I had an 8-9 figure portfolio, this might make sense. I'm surprised their aren't low cost funds that focus on these. (Since a high cost fund 1-2%) would suck all of the returns out. There are several REITS that focus on triple net lease properties. "Realty Income Corporation" ...

dandan14

That is pretty interesting on Rite Aid. I looked up a few others, like CVS and Walgreens, and they seem to pay a little less. (I assume because their credit rating is higher.) I agree. If I had an 8-9 figure portfolio, this might make sense. I'm surprised their aren't low cost funds that focus on th...

dandan14

Anyone here own NNN properties (where the tenant pays all expenses and has a long term lease)? I'm just curious what the loan rates and requirements would be on something like that. There are a ton of them for sale, here is one at random. Rite Aid 14 years remaining (5 x 5year options after that) $2...

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