The ERE discussion is 5-10 months old.  The post you quote started the discussion last summer.  Doesn't appear anyone on that link is discussing the PP currently.

You may need to have your memory tested. Here's what actually happened: http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/au80-84.gif. Note that it never got to $900 (although it did get close). More important, it took a couple of years to get down to $300. ;D  Thanks for the memory refresher.  Actually, in a way you've ...

My Cash just triggered a rebalance.  Buying some gold it looks like. Edit: I add to cash each month and was getting close anyways. Not me.  Gold is going to 1150, or lower.  I know it's against the rules, but I would keep the money in cash. I'm nowhere near rebalancing, yet.  My 10.5 mo. PP today i...

I really enjoyed that hot Australian chick :) Yeah, the guys like her.  She won some kind of hottest TV newschick award or something, somewhere.  So, they keep her on for eye-candy. She's like 5' tall.  Teeny, tiny.  Married, has at least one child, two I think. Anyway, I can't stand her - her acce...

It doesn't sound like he understands how economics works, unless you're mis-quoting him.  The price of things isn't determined by how much it costs someone to make them, it's determined by how much someone will pay them for those things. Here's the video - Tim O'Brien starts at about 2:00: http://v...

So far, since inception of my PP on 6/1/2012, on an annualized basis, I'm seeing a gain of 4.7%.  If gold continues to drop and the other assets don't compensate, lower it will go. Had a nice huge gain in gold in 2012, runup in Treasuries as well.  Not enough to do any rebalancing. Then gold began i...

There were no capital controls etc. The only consequence is that now the state is informing everyone that exported large amounts of cash from Greek banks to foreign banks that according to some calculation algorithm of their incomes during the last ten years, the amount seem bizarre so they will ta...

Gold is taking quite a beating right now.  I started my PP on 6/1/2012 and still am up 2.9% -  VTI carrying the entire portfolio.  But, even VTI dropped 1.33% today.  For a long while, GTU showed a huge gain.  First TLT and then GTU carried the portfolio nicely through some very choppy days last yea...

I am extremely loss averse, but do want to achieve a positive real return with the "money I cannot afford to lose." You will.  It is early days, yet, this year.  I track the PP from 6/1/2012 - which is when I first set mine up with about 15% of my available assets - just to test the water...

Risk parity is a backward looking measure in many cases I've recently read about. Designing a portfolio based on past volatility alone can have significant problems if the volatility of those assets in relation to each other going forward changes (and it will). Also the idea of adding in foreign bo...

I will provide the same service for $179/yr, which is a $10 savings over the Morningstar price. LOL - funny.   Since all of you are so much geekier on this stuff than I will ever be, guess I'm wondering to what degree these comments have validity and how much better would the HBPP performance be wi...

I just got this from Morningstar - they're tweaking the HBPP. Here's an excerpt: Implementing Risk Parity How, then, to implement a risk-parity-type portfolio? One of the most popular portfolios of the type is Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio. It's simple: 25% allocations each to gold, long Treasu...

If it had been a good year for stocks and a bad one for treasuries, I bet the hydrid would have done better! That may very well be correct. Others on this board have said the PP is harder to stick with when equities are doing well, so it may very well balance out over a 25-30 year period.  Right no...

Nice story, TennPaGa.   Significant difference that 2.5% between the hybrid and the HBPP.   When I worked, my 401k allowed a once a year rollover into an IRA.  I believe I needed to be 55 in order to do that, but some 401ks allow once-a-year rollover/withdrawals regardless of age, now, I think.   Th...

Sophie, that's over a 9.5% return over the 6.25 years.  Which is pretty much what I've read over and over the PP has been returning.

Thanks for that analysis.  I'll just keep it simple at 25% each asset class whenever I get new money.

I have been accumulating into cash and plan to do a once-a-year re-balance out of cash into my other positions. I do this for two reasons: 1. My employer forces me to use Manulife funds, and Manulife only lets me take money out of their funds once a year. If manulife offered all the necessary funds...

LOL - well, I bit the bullet yesterday - and my account is up about $130 as of now.  GTU and TLT carrying the day.   Oy vey.

First: Turn off CNBC. Second: I had the same apprehensions about LTT's but they have literally saved my portfolio the past 18 months. Third: Gold still seems high at $1,500. but hindsight is always 20/20. The PP takes out the guessing (market timing) and allows you to get on with your life without ...

I have exactly the same sentiments. So I have been moving from a large cash position into PP gradually (every 6 mos over 2 yrs). The result? LTTs bought at increasingly ridiculous prices. And no crash in stock or gold prices like I have been secretly hoping for. Should have gone all in, I guess, bu...

Appreciate the input, guys.  Thank you. Interestingly enough I'm most comfortable with gold  - seems the floor for about a year has been $1500.  Although, fwiw, I just heard on CNBC risk to gold could be the central banks dumping.  Worst case it goes back to $300 (unlikely).  Least comfortable with ...

Came into about 25k.  Should I set up PP now, or stash it for a few months, and/or incrementally buy PP components and, if so, when. Planning to use: VTI TLT GTU SHY or SWIIX (hate to have $$ earning zero) Not locked into any of the above choices.  Acct is at Schwab, if that matters. Intellectually,...

Well, after much rumination, I sold PRPFX completely after the latest runup Thursday, at a small loss.  Bought b/4 I learned it was short on LT and got put in the trick bag on the franc.  Plus don't like Wynn or Freeport McM.  So, converting to the PP.

Using the ETF backtest at the link below of $100,000 permanent-portfolio (SHY, TLT, GLD, VTI); for the last few weeks in September 2011; the permanent-portfolio has lost almost $5,000 (from the peak of ~$113,000 to ~$108,000 right now. That's a loss of ~$5,000. I can understand why that some of us ...

Ariadne22, That's an interesting strategy. I have heard of it before, but not in terms of the PP. I am in retirement as well, but have no plans, at present, to withdraw from the PP until RMDs kick in in about 4 1/2 years. At that time, I will still only use to supplement my SS and pension for COLAs...

Guy who first alerted me to the PP philosophy talks about buckets and continually stresses a long-term investment viewpoint - 10-15 years.  According to him, the gold/equities/ltt investments in the PP should be made with the idea of a 10-15 year horizon.  The cash bucket can be replenished on a reb...