Bogleheads.org

ajcp

In other words, does it just make more sense to simply ride out the inevitable dip and recovery in stocks given my 30 year horizon?. Be careful calling things that are not inevitable inevitable. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Nikkei_225%281970-%29.svg/700px-Nikkei_225%2819...

ajcp

nsj13 wrote:I was making the same decision a little less than 1 month ago and decided to place the cash in a vanguard short-duration bond fund and I've managed to lose almost 5% since

Uh, which fund is this?

ajcp

There is no way that opening a savings account hurt your credit score. No way. I can give you a 100% sure answer that opening a checking/savings account will not even show up on your credit report, yet alone hurt it. These posts are both incorrect. Banks can, and some do, do a hard pull even for a ...

ajcp

Doesn't the fact that the dividend is reliable mean they very well might be distributing principle. How do you know with these funds? The price they trade at and the real underlying value of the holdings can differ substantially right? see http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Closed-end_funds#Premiums_an...

ajcp

How big of a deal is it to add a fund to the company lineup?

ajcp

IMO, this is the problem with an SSD approach. 250GB of storage isn't very future-proof, and unless you're willing to deal with 2 drives, stepping up to 500GB means a $200 increase vs. an HDD. IMO, you'd get more future proofing for less money with an i5 processor and an HDD. In 2-3 years you could...

ajcp

I'm not with VZW anymore but the problem you run into with contract phones is that after the 24 month contract, the monthly payment stays the same. So you somehow want to buy the phone essentially outright and then do a cheaper PrePaid plan with VZW for around $50 a month or so. No idea if they are...

ajcp

Don't know if I'd recommend 2 hard drives for the average user....yes for the savvy user. IMO, this is the problem with an SSD approach. 250GB of storage isn't very future-proof, and unless you're willing to deal with 2 drives, stepping up to 500GB means a $200 increase vs. an HDD. IMO, you'd get m...

ajcp

You asked why would ANYONE buy a phone at full price vs. the Verizon plan, and have then shot down everyone that has tried to answer that question, with information as to why YOU PERSONALLY wouldn't do that because you need Verizon based on your location and needs. But your question didn't ask abou...

ajcp

I'd like to plant you here in our remote rural area surrounded by mountains and let you find me a cheap plan for 1/10 of what I'm paying now. Not an obstacle in any way. You have been captured by Verizon and Apple marketing. There are a number of MNVOs that use Verizon's network, and many perfectly...

ajcp

bertilak wrote:I'm guessing it is really Windows 8.1. If not, look for a laptop that comes with 8.1.

8.1 is a free update if you have 8.

ajcp

Normally I'm frugal, but I think bandwidth is an exception to the rule. Remember when a 56kbps modem was once enough? I think you can never have too much of bandwidth, as it will enable new things that you don't do now because it's too slow. For example, uploading videos, which only the patient do ...

ajcp

Of course there's a greasemonkey script

That's exactly what I'm looking for, thank you.

ajcp

You might want to look at it the other way though. At least where I live, the cheapest cable modem offering is $50/month. While that's $25 less per month than Google, or $300/year more, the user experience (for anyone but light users) is magnitudes better at 1000 Mbps vs 5. I guess it just depends ...

ajcp

I was wondering if it would be possible to implement the ability to hide or mute topics. My reasoning is that this is a pretty active forum, often I'll go through the sub forums, read the topics I'm interested in, mark the whole sub forum as read, and go on to the next. But by the time I finish the ...

ajcp

DayOldTacos wrote:Does Verizon give you a break on your monthly bill for not purchasing a new phone?

Nope, you pay for the subsidy whether you use it or not. They get away with it because people would rather be fooled into thinking they're only paying $200 for their phone.

ajcp

Moving away from hypotheticals and looking at my situation specifically it's pretty obvious that the contract price + the ETF is the cheapest way to get a phone - at least compared to buying a new one outright. We're locked in with Verizon - in the rural area where we live it's the only carrier tha...

ajcp

First, we formerly had had Verizon service. I imagine that was just luck on their part, but it did make me let my guard down, and did make me listen. It wasn't luck, per se, it was just numbers. If they call 1000 people, obviously some of them will have Verizon, and they only know about their call....

ajcp

What is an example of paying more for a phone outright would make more sense than a contract w/ ETF? It seems like people would get a contract, cancel it, pay the ETF and end up with the phone that was being considered for direct purchase. You're adding a new line anyway, so the difference there is...

ajcp

Why would you or why would anyone?

For you, I think the contract makes sense, but I could see many situations where buying new would make more sense.

ajcp

The counterintuitive part to me is the the retirement calculators are predicting the odds of being at zero before you die. But if you get to zero in your portfolio but still have an 800000 house, you are hardly in the same position as someone who gets to zero without that house. It just seems like ...

ajcp

I don't know what the advantage of getting a "64-bit Windows 7 Pro with a Windows 8 disk" would be, but based on my personal experience with Windows 8 I can say that the "Windows 7/8 divide" is much ado about not much at all. I would recommend just buying a machine with Windows ...

ajcp

topper1296 wrote:A 2 for 1 stock split is nothing more than trading a dime for two nickels.

Wait, you're not only going to give me 2 coins for my 1, but I'm getting a bigger coin too?!! Where do I sign up?

ajcp

Her entire shot looked like the fut in the second picture, also taken with an iphone. First one was taken with moto x. That's a back-lit scene. It will never come out well, unless you use some substantial fill-flash. Maybe the GS4 does that automatically? Cameras are the last thing I look at on pho...

ajcp

magellan wrote: This is controversial, but having used a touch screen laptop for productivity tasks, I'm not sold that touch is really the future, outside of the consumption/mobile world.

Controversial? I'd say your in the majority.

ajcp

For best camera, I'd wait for the galaxy s5 when it comes out in a month or two. I've found iphone cameras to be overrated. I was at an event with my sister a couple months ago and she kept trying to take pictures but all it captured was the light and you couldn't see a thing. One shot on my gs4 and...

ajcp

Greetings, I understand that a stock split does not add value at that time; however, now the investor owns additional shares. If she or he now owns 10 shares vs 5 they have greater growth potential. If stock price rises $1.00 after 2 for 1 split investor makes $10 v $5 before split. As a long time ...

ajcp

I thought it had to do with the Fed wanting to calculate M-1 and M-3 money supplies where savings accounts were presumed to be long term (could be wrong). I ran into this a couple years ago when I set up multiple savings accounts for my kids at Cap1-360. I set them up to do weekly automatic allowan...

ajcp

However, in reading about it now, there is some nasty stuff in it. The Fed trashes savers again: The limit is 6 for online transactions of any amount, and in persons transactions are unlimited. Let's not be dramatic. There's some stuff in there about losing interest depending on when you make withd...

ajcp

midareff wrote: Wasn't there a cut-off on browser updates for IE? I seem to recall that IE7 was the last browser that worked on XP, then IE8 for Win7 and both 9 and 10 for Win8.

IE 8 is the last update for xp. 9, 10 , and 11 are all available on 7.

ajcp

hudson wrote: The gamers go with Dell's Alienware computers. .

Alienware is generally overpriced and better/cheaper computers can be bought elsewhere.

ajcp

Thanks for the review. They definitely seem cheaper than most, so nice to get some information from someone who's used them.

ajcp

frugaltype wrote:However, in reading about it now, there is some nasty stuff in it. The Fed trashes savers again:

The limit is 6 for online transactions of any amount, and in persons transactions are unlimited. Let's not be dramatic.

ajcp

Often your payments will be directed to the lowest interest rate first. As livesoft said, check the fine print.

ajcp

They are taxed on these estimated tips and wages. There have been complaints by wait staff that the estimated 10% tip is unfair because people may not tip. This is another argument I hear a lot and hate. In aggregate, I don't believe for a second that they are getting less tips than they are claimi...

ajcp

Some nights he might work 4 hours and make $25, another night he might make $80. I'm a good tipper, but I hear this argument pretty often and it annoys me (particularly since unlike you, the ones making it usually talk much more about the $25 day than the $80 one.) I always make the stock market an...

ajcp

No. 2% everywhere is as good as it gets. thanks! I just got a mailer from Chase for a Marriott rewards card where if i spend 3K in the first 3 months, i get 70K miles upfront. for all other purchases, i get 1point per dollar. I was wondering if its worth going that route. Ok yea if you want to do t...

ajcp

No. 2% everywhere is as good as it gets.

ajcp

Surprised no one has said expensive AV cables, tests have shown cheap HDMI cables show no loss of quality if you arent running them for long distances. That's a good one, I take that one for granted and hadn't even thought of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if many people do not know this. I'll go ...

ajcp

Your bank most likely has online bill pay, you put in your information and they'll debit your account and pay the bill. Whether that is better comes down to personal preference.

ajcp

But nobody has answered my question. What is the specific name of the boxed retail product I need to buy if I wish to upgrade a) Microsoft Windows XP Pro, or b) Microsoft Windows Media Center, to Microsoft Windows 7? May I shouldn't want to do that, but let's say I do. You can't, that version doesn...

ajcp

3CT_Paddler wrote:It's cheaper, but the one issue is that for that cheaper price its a one time installation. If your hard drive fails, you will need to purchase it again.

This is incorrect. The installation is tied to the motherboard, not the hard drive.

ajcp

The OEM version is still available, however it is intended only for building new computers for resale, and although Microsoft isn't always very clear about the matter it seems like they don't permit using Windows 7 OEM for personal use. That used to be their stance, but not anymore. The oem certain...

ajcp

It seems to me that the limit for tax-advantaged space is extremely generous Glad you feel that way. Of course what Fifty-three percent of the population isn't covered by 401k plans. (me) Also, Expats can't use foreign income to fund IRAs. Yet that income is used against us to push us up into highe...

ajcp

Taylor, I'm having trouble reproducing your results... I repeated my "search" and also couldn't come close to the four million figure. Now I'm no longer surprised. Thank you for catching my "search" error. Best wishes. Taylor Sorry to have been the bearer of disappointment, beca...

ajcp

In my opinion, practically nothing is over priced. It's a very competitive world out there. If something is truly overpriced, it soon gets buried by the competition. Luxury costs. Get over it, or don't buy it. I'd agree that something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but I think thin...

ajcp

(Added) On second thought... looking at what Amazon is offering for Windows 7... I am actually very puzzled as to how one would go about upgrading from XP to Windows 7. All the Windows 7 packages seem to be for "System Builder (OEM) editions" that warn that they required a clean install a...

ajcp

Bacchus01 wrote:We buy our groceries at Walmart. How does Amex and other class that?

Not groceries

ajcp

The global financial crisis had swamped us. Investors a decade or two from retirement were surprised to see these "set-it-and-forget-it" funds lose more than one-third of their value. It prompted a Congressional hearing on whether workers automatically enrolled in their employer's retirem...

ajcp

I typed cheese_breath and got 72,400 hits. But the results are bogus because Google removed the underscore between cheese and breath. Then I put quotes around cheese_breath and reduced it to only 48,900 hits. Google still removed the underscore, but somehow I got less hits. I didn't examine them al...

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