Search found 252 matches

by screwtape
Sun Jul 12, 2015 8:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

Thirdly, you are definitely proving that man is naturally inclined to reject God and rebels against him at every turn.  I ask you again, are you afraid that Christians might have it right and you are indeed in danger of damning yourself?  If so, never fear, there is always hope - Jesus died for you...
by screwtape
Sun Jul 12, 2015 7:30 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

Re your statement above - completely untrue for my church, and the other LCMS churches that I've attended.  My church is full of sinners and those who do not yet believe or question various parts of Christian teachings.  Our Pastor encourages asking any question that you have.  Otherwise, how do yo...
by screwtape
Sun Jul 12, 2015 6:41 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

In general, I don't have much respect for fellows of the so-called Jesus Seminar (Price being one of them).  They don't believe much they read in the Bible, but still waste their careers attacking it, all the while referring to themselves as theologians.  It's pretty pathetic.  They need to move on...
by screwtape
Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:56 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

"Some people seem to imagine, whether consciously or not, that God is a cranky theology professor, and that he has assigned us the task of answering all the questions of existence by a deadline: the day we die. And some are afraid that if they show up at the pearly gates and hand in the exam book, ...
by screwtape
Sun Jul 12, 2015 4:55 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

No time to prepare this Sunday's sermon from the gates of hell so I'll have to defer once again to Robert Price. I love this relatively short essay on the The Inspiration and Authority of The Bible.... http://www.robertmprice.mindvendor.com/art_inspir.htm A couple of quotes.... "I love the Bible. I ...
by screwtape
Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:12 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

Do you have a vestigial nagging fear the Christians could have it right and you are trying to convince yourself otherwise?  You mean do I still have that darkness in my soul? Not very much left, I think, but I'm still working on it. Could be a lifelong process. And where did you seeing me saying yo...
by screwtape
Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:46 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

OK, but then I don't get why you seem to get so upset about a God you don't believe in killing babies that probably did not exist (or do I misunderstand your comments)? I don't know where you see me getting upset, but when I see people defending beliefs that I find repugnant, I sometimes have an im...
by screwtape
Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:52 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

The doctrine of original sin says we are all sinful and deserving of God's wrath (as I've said before, I struggled mightly with this doctrine earlier in my life - I wanted desparately to believe in the innate goodness of man but my wanting something to be true is not the same as what is really true...
by screwtape
Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:55 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

I'm just reentering this conversation so I'll let MT handle the rest, but what about the part of God punishing David by killing his baby... What about it?  God is a just God.  As well as a God of mercy.  Do you see that as a paradox?  As inconsistent?  I'm not sure I get your point. When it comes t...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 8:41 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

The decade where I came of age. I wonder how many people back then even had a concept of what a "portfolio" was. Definitely not my parents.   based on my parents and their being at the start of raising a family around that time, i would say probably aware of portfolios, but it was something only th...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 8:17 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

i thought this article was fun reading . it is about retiring in the 1960's. basically  as they said  Pure 4% withdrawals for a retirement starting in 1965 were a disaster, with the portfolio dropping to $0 in about 25 years.  This occurred regardless of asset allocation.  A portfolio of 50% stock ...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:13 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Might rising rates hit LTTs more softly than we fear?
Replies: 62
Views: 27937

Re: Might rising rates hit LTTs more softly than we fear?

i can't guess the amount but i will say once again it is  likely will leave you with many times what the pp will. I deleted a previous post where I said the difference between our philosophical outlooks on life boil down to you believing the future will behave in the same way as the past. The reaso...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:17 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Might rising rates hit LTTs more softly than we fear?
Replies: 62
Views: 27937

Re: Might rising rates hit LTTs more softly than we fear?

of course what is that target fund worth today  had you just left it  ?  and what will it be worth in 20 years ?  i would bet a whole lot more . It did recover nicely and I didn't leave it until it did, having learned at least enough about investing to know selling low was a bad idea. As to how wel...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:53 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Might rising rates hit LTTs more softly than we fear?
Replies: 62
Views: 27937

Re: Might rising rates hit LTTs more softly than we fear?

long term money needs to be long term money and invested like long term money. most retirements today are underfunded and more seniors than ever before are ending up having to find work later in life. Sounds like what I was hearing when I rolled my closed-out pension plan into a T. Rowe Price targe...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:19 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

i think everyone gets why i am so distrusting of the pp going forward so we can put that part to bed .  lets move on to other aspects of retirement planning and what we can do to get a better success rate and make wiser choices when it comes to ss and insurance products. i think that has more value...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:50 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Government Data Breaches
Replies: 1
Views: 1470

Government Data Breaches

Hackers are able to strike again.... http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/hack-opm-office-personnel-management-cyber-million-20150709 I find this very ironic because the federal government went after the company where I work for its lack of data security. Because of our status in the financial indust...
by screwtape
Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:16 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

once you figure in the checks you didn't take and what you would give up in compounded gains on money invested in assets the 6% increase ss gives you from 62 to fra and the 8% from fra to 70 may not be worth it since it is not an actual return unless you are still working and not spending assets do...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:28 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

My way of making this a little less worrisome is to just not re-balance so frequently. When I first started out with the PP I stuck religiously to the 25% allocations but for the past couple of years I just check it in February and only re-balance if I exceed the bands. I was pretty close last year...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:18 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

the pp is for those who do not really want to have the volatility that goes with that superior growth and that is a fine idea..  i am just against showing short 10 or 15  year time frames and 60/40 mixes and showing how superior the pp would be in the accumulation stage.  not a very accurate pictur...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:45 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

I do agree that the typical accumulation phase is closer to 40 years.  I personally find that to be shame and an artifact of corporate brainwashing rather than an assumption we should just accept.  There's so much more to life than working 5 days a week for 40 years at a job you probably don't even...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:33 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The thought crimes of Donald Trump
Replies: 80
Views: 29969

Re: The thought crimes of Donald Trump

So ultimately the one form of ID that has been used unofficially for years to show citizenship and eligibility to be in the country has been undermined. What that means is the next step for the government to require proof of legal citizenship/residency for certain items (like buying a gun), may be ...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:56 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Forum Crashing
Replies: 16
Views: 3671

Re: Forum Crashing

I got an error message about a sessions table being corrupt and needing to be rebuilt most of the day yesterday.
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:42 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1385677

Re: Figuring Out Religion

This happened on that infamous play at the end of the Super Bowl..... “The play happens, and they pick the ball off. And I take three steps,” Wilson said. “And on the third step God says to me, ‘I’m using you. . . . I want to see how you respond. But most importantly I want them to see how you respo...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:18 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The thought crimes of Donald Trump
Replies: 80
Views: 29969

Re: The thought crimes of Donald Trump

Assuming this information stands up to fact-checking I would be very curious to know how anybody can possibly defend this kind of immigration policy. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/07/more-than-347000-convicted-criminal-immigrants-at-large-in-u-s/ "In 2013 the Obama administration r...
by screwtape
Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:01 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: meeting your retirement goals with the pp
Replies: 107
Views: 30502

Re: meeting your retirement goals with the pp

I have zero worries about the PP being able to survive those kinds of crises. My worry is your other one: that the PP will miss out on a lot of growth during good times. But you can't have it both ways. The PP isn't going to grow more slowly than a stock-heavy portfolio during prosperity and then f...