Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
davidrmoran
I myself see a big pullback coming in the next six months but I don’t know that I have ever been correct over 45 years. I will put a lot of money in if a 10% pullback comes. I expect you r being prudent depending on how old you are. The thing is, if you’re young, you might as well stick it out and not try to time. He said.
I sure hope this is wrong for this retiree:
>> debt free (no mortgage, no rent, etc.)
not me
>> and $3,000,000 for a couple.
whoa, less that half that
>> That's assuming your only income is Social Security
yup
>> an…
Good grief. The WoP is for the most part this huge success, with truly lousy PR.
Not opinion, evidence-based, something von Mises was in short supply of. (I don't trust my opinions myself; need to read intensively and skeptically.)
Suggest googlin…
A silly youthful libertarian-style video unworthy of someone with your decades of engineering experience.
This entry is thorough, if you're genuinely interested in the complex subject, which somehow I bet is not really the case: http://en.wikipedi…
Is this all you got? What kind of theory? The data given and analyzed are the opposite of theory.
It is not a matter of agreeing with me, for heaven's sake. You make it personal and cultish, and I gotta wonder why you would do that. A matter of my…
Jeez, nothing like sarcastic preemption to cloud the facts.
No one says enormous sustained financed spending (on anything, not just infrastructure, it could be on unneeded weapons) at multiples larger than productive economic activity is a good id…
Please don't bring in 'national debt', it completely misguides the argument about individual worth, has no bearing on this discussion, and is not at all like what most people think anyway. We have been over this before here: it is money owed to ours…
ooh, 'set to explode'. Guess we better panic.
http://www.salon.com/2015/04/24/paul_krugman_on_the_gops_zombie_apocalypse_chris_christies_social_security_plan_is_exactly_this_bad/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/opinion/paul-krugman-zombies-of-20…
Some history and context:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/maximizing-shareholder-value-the-goal-that-changed-corporate-america/2013/08/26/26e9ca8e-ed74-11e2-9008-61e94a7ea20d_story.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/w…
Y'all are inferring all sorts of things he does not say, and when I went to his other articles, insofar as they are findable, there is little there. Why do it if you do not need to? Why not let it grow and do the other cool things cited here with yo…
>> “If you don’t need the money, take it early,” advises Bach. His reasoning is “at 62, 63, 64 – you’re in the best shape of your life…there’s so many things people in their 60’s can do to enjoy that money so if you don’t need it, I suggest ta…
@msf:
Thanks much again for detailed calcs and for your last three paras. The responses make it clear that some still do not really get the points.
I do think smart the notion of period valuation and weighting, extra moneys overvalued for when yo…
sorry, found this:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/feb/01/medicare-and-social-security-what-you-paid-what-yo/
Fascinating, and generally quite contradictory of your assertion.
See also
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co…
>> Just because.
No. It's really not personal to you. They're following a bunch of regs/laws and policies/procedures. Not chopbusting or toying with you on account of principle.
I have good (meaning efficient, accurate, helpful) phone experi…
>> The problem is systemic. And brainless geeks put it together in such a way as to make everything as difficult as possible, rather than to SERVE the public.
Such bullshit. Such.
Fwiw, I had a few phone interactions in my recent SS filings,…
>> The government can be relied upon to screw up the simple task
Jeez. You need to meet more public sector employees maybe, like a cop or a schoolteacher or a DoD proposal writer or a Darpa PM. Or a highway worker. It is not like the gov is …
Ralph may be lucky to have you.
In 1983 or so, some Japanese CD company, after Sony and its CDP101, did an early release of a fancy CDP model with this new feature --- random play. (You might see where this is going.) When you pushed that button, t…
I think I could enjoy being bored on islands Harris and Lewis, then around Loch Maree, before heading to a given hill town somewhere south of Florence. Maybe stop in the south of France.
Crash, Mass. friends who had terrible time w the state exchange now tell me it is much fixed and mostly smooth sailing --- have you revisited to check if your situation might be worth swinging back? Just a thought, not arguing your experience.
>> I dispute the assertion that a retire with a 15-year time horizon would not want to own some equities.
I think he was implying individual stocks and all equities, not bonds only.
I myself dispute it even if that is what he was implying. …
Man, so much violent agreement. Of course it depends on direness of individual situation. Who has said otherwise. If you must have it so as not to be on the street, well, duh.
That does not apply to most of the frugal and smart types here, I bet.
…
Check the schwab lines and crossing points, halfway down this page:
http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/articles/When-Should-You-Take-Social-Security
The amounts are so much higher when you wait, seems like a no-brainer if you can swing it from o…
I drive in Mass. and the roads are not good, at least the state and town roads, not at all. Awful and worsening. I am spending a week-plus in a month in my native state of Ohio, so I now can dread those roads too. Infrastructure, man. What a lost op…
l5b --- the big things were just the ones all in the news, fighters and similar that nobody now wants etc., that should have been canceled some time ago. Depressing.
BW, can you go on a little bit about public policy, how different, why farsightedn…
I don't think I added it later, but apologies if I am misremembering.
Why are Georgia roads in such good shape? It leads in some other areas for the region too, I know that.
Not following. I have not corrected myself in this thread, not trying to fool anyone.
I was quoting an assertion from BrianW. The evidence of actual gov efficiency and low waste is too vast to cite easily; it has been studied to death, and you can …
The Lehman bonds I was referring to and lost considerable moneys on were not InterNotes but notionally solid and safe corporate bonds, tradable, brokerage-sold, etc.: GCB LBH inc NIKKEI 225. Issued 2003.
Thanks v much (as always) for SC further det…
>> Clean up the waste in Government and the voters will gladly give more if needed.
BW, that actually has been studied pretty extensively and the data show, DoD programs aside, that gov waste, the popular idea that big gov is inefficient and…
The M* thrall toward VDIGX just won't quit. Look at its performance since a likely start date per this article, say April 09, and compare it with DVY, SDY, PRBLX, and YACKX. Man.
>> all these media spots that tell you to wait on SS is being run by the govt in hopes that there will be less payout? I cannot be the only one that has noticed we are inundated with this idea.
If there is any plan, it is to get people more …
>> Are you seriously suggesting that this poor fellow put $100,000 into a single bond offering issued by this company?
Sure. Have you slogged through the details of many corporate bond prospectuses?
Thanks for the official rating info, and y…
SolarCity; had mentioned it earlier (sorry)
https://solarbonds.solarcity.com/available-bonds/
I am sure there are others, but this is a v good outfit, I know from experience.
>> If OC was the law before my retiring I may have had second thoughts.
Dex, when you were running the numbers at 51 for healthcare costs until Medicare, what did you plug in and what did you base them on? Was your nonjob private insurance …
Incredible research, msf; tyvm. I did not even get burned then, or not badly, though I sure as hell did with my other 08-09 follies. I just got tired of listening to Weitz smooch Buffett and even tireder of M*. Its dislikes furthermore are just as s…
I would think the odds of loss in any of these worthy funds over the next 5y to be nontrivial, no matter what they do, even, you know, BERIX and FPA. So I would stick a hundred thou, or even more, into SC 4% bonds, and make a few thou against inflat…