big enough to hold just under 7 figures worth.

about a 20% bond position

finally some decent rates at a time there is a decent chance we could end up in another oil shock recession.

big difference from 1.6% rates when i warned to stay away from them

vglt seems a tad less volatile .


60% vglt and 40% govt make up the bond portion

i agree on everything being at least 5-10% but i never exceed 2% in bitcoin

its to volatile and un predictable for my taste .

currently i own just 1.50% and am still down 16k or so

today there are just to many ways for investors to easily and reliably bet against the market .

inverse funds are everywhere. safe haven assets are not the most reliable way to run to cover anymore

backed up the truck yesterday and loaded up on VGLT and GOVT at these rates . they are substantially above short term rates now by a wide margin . i don’t ever expect to catch the top and nav prices will fall more from here most likely but eventually this war will end and while we may see higher inf...

the cash portion of the pp has an important job to do . it’s the other side of the barbell that averages out the bond side to about an intermediate term bond . by spending down the cash side you will either unbalance the fixed income side or have to sell other assets to refill the cash side . so it’...

except that chasing these dividend aristocrats can be near impossible. years ago i decided to track a bunch of the dividend kings The so called dividend aristocrats are only on the list until they aren’t . I did some looking in to them many many years ago . you keep seeing just invest in this group ...

damn , wrote a reply and hit report on my damn phone instead of post . at the end of the day it’s your portfolio value that determines your draw , not what money company’s hand you back . taking 4% from berkshire to live on vs a 4% dividend is the same thing except berkshire has better taxation sinc...

it’s pretty irrelevant if dividends increase or not . it’s only about the appreciation. dividends are a withdrawal method not a gain by itself . it’s assumed if a stock is increasing the payout and giving you back your money then its doing well but the blue chip graveyard is full of failed dividend ...

any stock can create income . it’s just on you to pay yourself instead of the company doing it for you . so at the end of the day it’s only about total return and appreciation. if you wanted to take a shot with something simple , perhaps the small dogs of the dow are an interesting play . they are t...

it looks interesting .

but all these defensive portfolios seem to back test well .

it’s usually when we commit to one that it now behaves differently.

like 2022 which didn’t follow the script as risk was totally off and even defensive portfolios had losses that were pretty nasty

they have been holding up well considering 90 dollar a barrel oil .

but being so long in duration they are looking out well past this mess.

we have had almost every recession when oil prices were high .

there are one or two exceptions i think

there are endless dr frankenstein versions of the pp tried over the years and the end results are that other assets are just to wishy washy and not strongly linked to specific outcomes I feel called out LOL it’s like real estate as an example . not only is it localized but if rates go up like we ju...

there are endless dr frankenstein versions of the pp tried over the years and the end results are that other assets are just to wishy washy and not strongly linked to specific outcomes

dualstow wrote: ↑Fri Feb 13, 2026 8:37 am

mathjak107 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 13, 2026 7:14 am just keep it very low as far as a percentage .

i keep it at about 1.50% of invested assets.

With your net worth, that's a lot of money!

it’s enough to keep it interesting but not enough to really hurt

just keep it very low as far as a percentage .

i keep it at about 1.50% of invested assets.

yep the lexus did a great job protecting us . air bags sandwiched us in and i really like the idea of the knee airbag . i had jumped out of the car fast , just in case the other guy tried to run . but my wife couldn’t get out because the way the car was hit my side elongated and her size contracted...

Bitcoin's Price Plunges Below $64,000. Welcome to 2026's 'Crypto Winter' https://www.investopedia.com/bitcoin-s-price-plunges-welcome-to-2026-s-crypto-winter-mstr-11900072?hid=3da12c628f8f8a8924c17734676714cd31b8acfb&did=21838506-20260205&utm_campaign=investopedia-daily_newsletter&utm_s...

yep the lexus did a great job protecting us . air bags sandwiched us in and i really like the idea of the knee airbag . i had jumped out of the car fast , just in case the other guy tried to run . but my wife couldn’t get out because the way the car was hit my side elongated and her size contracted ...

interesting as i see it playing on the post in the forum.

let me try a different way

https://photos.smugmug.com/FAMILY/n-cK5 ... 8-1280.mp4

Yikes, I'm really glad you're okay mathjak. And the missus for that matter. Seeing the dashcam footage would indeed be interesting. i am the white lexus . you can see me waiting for the light . being a drummer i was drumming on the wheel waiting . you can see me hesitate for a minute , thankfully o...

Modern headrests have greatly reduced whiplash in car accidents. EXCEPT for some reason GM vehicles (at least Suburbans/Tahoes) don't have them in their middle seats. Middle rear: no headrest. Middle middle: no headrest. I recently saw a Suburban with a front-row bench seat. Middle front: no headre...

I wish I had been smart enough to buy BTC every time it got pummeled in the past. Indeed. It's gone down so much that I'm thinking of buying back in. Not at the same magnitude I did before (like 80%+ of net worth), but enough to have a bit of skin in the game. i have bitcoin as just 1 to 1.25% of t...

the drop is pretty amazing in bitcoin