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.
The real problem seems to be for those who choose teaching as a profession, but never reach retirement age to be considered part of their state retirement.
For a state that opts out of Social Security, at the very least, one would expect that they o…
@VintageFreak, I like your weather analogy. Your suggestion welcome (please review mine below).
MaxDD Portfolio Options:
-Trust the investment weatherman to predict when to stay off the road and get back on. Good luck with that.
-Store enough cas…
@Anna,
Page 3 of this document (linked below) does a pretty good job of explaining this "offset".
ct.gov/trb/lib/trb/formsandpubs/RetiredFall2002.pdf
A history lesson on Teachers and Social Security:
educationnext.org/arent-teachers-covered-socia…
@Charles,
Equities and bond often go through periods of bifurcation.
As imperfect as EDV or TLT may be as investments in rising rate environments, they more importantly serve as a sort of "portfolio insurance" policy during "MAXDD FTS" (Maximum D…
HY Bonds are not confirming the recent uptick in the S&P 500. In fact they are indicating a pull back in equities.
The SP500 has rebounded from the May 17 one-day panic to push to a higher high. But high-yield bond ETFs like HIO are not confir…
As a parent, I helped my kids through HS/College...one hot dog at a time...we ran a small business together (from ages 16-22).
We made enough to fund used cars, Roth IRAs, saving accounts (they called them spending accounts), college tuition, and …
YES!!! I signed over my social security...
By the way, welcome to MFO...you're a colorful addition to the website.
Are you referring to what most public servants... firefighter, cops, teachers... relinquish? Then, I too, have "signed over my soci…
Single payer system. Health vouchers that let patients choose their healthcare provider. If we believe in educational vouchers we should also believe in healthcare vouchers. Poor performing health providers will be replaced with high performing heal…
I am caring for my mom who is now 94 and has financially been experiencing "too much life at the end of the portfolio"...a more serious situation than "too much month at the end of the paycheck".
She raised 8 kids (full time job with no benefits).…
Three weeks into May...how about we let this play out a little bit?
My portfolio which is unscientifically 60/40 is doing as well, maybe even a little better, this month compared to my prior 2017 month to month performance.
I might add...conside…
That would be a 4.8% drop. So hedge your portfolio with EDV (long US Treasuries or your favorite non-correlated asset) at 4.8% of your portfolio if you believe this outcome is likely.
On a separate note:
Defensive funds showed themselves yesterday.
Bruce Fund (BRUFX) showed a small gain of .16%,
a high yield fund (AGDYX) was off .3%,
VWINX dropped .2%.
Bond fund PTIAX had a up day gaining .35%.
Investors "flee"? NO, it was program trading...
Just another form of "milking the cows"...Jerseys, Hampton, Fairfield, Nantucket, North Shore, Newport,Boca,....only one doubles as a bovine breed, the rest just Wall Streets breeds.
Also, that loss…
Good to know... I will inform my kids that I will need to move in with them as they will be much better prepared than I when I retire, but first I need to kick them out of my house.
Buying US Treasuries helps settle trade in a way that effectively lowers local inflation for these exporting countries.
I will find the article that explains this more clearly.
Here's a quick find:
The Chinese perspective:
henryckliu.com/page215…
I believe @Junkster was recently appointed to managing this endowment, though curiously most of its recent scholarship have been funneled to the on campus outdoor club.
Thanks @Ted,
Would like to hear from others with regard to device maintenance and security.
I try to back up personal files once a month on external HD.
I run system tools such as Disk Defrag and Disk Cleanup every few months.
Security Essenti…
ISMIX was searchable on M* (I'm assuming ISMRX is just another share class)...good choice
Two choices I like:
VINEX...Vanguard, Solid
PRIDX (breakdown from @crash)...TRPrice, Solid
Japan 21.8%
United Kingdom 12.8%
China 8.4%
Germany 4.4%
India 4.2%…
Thanks @Ted...perfect article for my friend's 30 year old. I might even learn something.
Hope the next 46 years are as generous. What am I saying, I won't be around for it to matter.
oh, clearly this has often been a fantasy-fund site
I tend to relate John Bogle's concepts of Indexing to that of Henry Ford and the automobile.
"You can have it (a Ford Model T) in any color you want, so long as that color is black"
and,
"I will…
I invited him to read the thread (we welcome newbies)...I'll see if there are any follow up questions. Thanks again...I continue to follow @Ted's advice.
Thanks so far...
A REIT investment seems like a reasonable substitute for the MLP option. I have also wondered if funds like GASFX, GLFOX or a equal split of Vanguard etfs: (VPU/VNQ/VDE/VIS) would offer more diversification than an MLP investment.
…
POAGX, though presently - limited access.
BCSIX, Sml/Mid Cap Growth - also limited access.
Maybe others have idea on getting into one or both. Possibly directly through Fund company.
Primecap Odyssey Funds:
odysseyfunds.com/index.html
Brown Capi…
I despise "Bank of 34 States" (You can't call yourself "Bank of America" until you are located in all 50 states).
The last thing anyone should strive for is maintaining various account balances with "Bof34" as a strategy to multiply credit car…
I get the sense that Index funds will have a difficult time in the next bear market.
Index funds tend to fuel markets higher as the are forced to buy "the index" regardless of its valuation. Most investors are willing to ride the rising tide, but …
Recent Bond Commentary from USAA's John Spear:
Source:
https://communities.usaa.com/t5/blogs/blogarticleprintpage/blog-id/market-commentary/article-id/227
Thanks @Ted,
The state map (highlighted below) is an interesting topic of discussion.
I see CT has a strong trade relationship with France. I will assume UTC (Pratt & Whitney, Sykorsky, Hamilton Standard, Otis) has strong ties to the Aeros…
@VintageFreak said,
Besides VFINX + EDV probably equals Vanguard Balanced Index right?
PS - Is there a tool that can take ying-yang chart above, combine and draw a zen line showing how the portfolio value moved? I think that would be really useful,…
I started a separate thread asking David about MaxDD as well.
I'll link it here as these often get buried by the daily "Ted"al wave of other discussion topics.
mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/32809/mutual-fund-maxdd-calculations-how-to-…
Congrats!
From an investment stand point it's not the principal that you should be so happy to pay back, but the 20 years of interest that you are avoiding. In a sense this mortgage principal has now been re-positioned in your portfolio as home ow…
Worth a Watch...CSPAN episode which highlights the work of Philadelphia Inquirer, James B. Steele and Donald L. Barlett won the Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (referenced by the Ritholz article above). (Gets interes…
she's on a roll
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=804419
I read your fatherly advice (M* comment) and also read this other M* comment added below. There's something about home ownership that goes far beyond the numbers, but it'…
Great Interview...thanks @Ted.
Many investment quotes...here are a couple:
"Losing half your money today requires you to double your money in the future (just to get back to even.)"
"I credit my incredible success in the market to selling too so…
