I certainly find the economic discussions regarding QE and monetary theory here to be far more balanced than any political stereotype would indicate.  On a fundamentally financial forum, that's what really counts.

The rest is just entertainment.  ; )

My Subaru has been providing reliable and versatile transportation for years. It's true that a Ferrari would have been faster and flashier over that time horizon. But that's really irrelevant to whether the Subaru worked as I needed it to. It did and so I'm satisfied with it. I could post "a F...

With all the angst on the board today, I logged into my brokerage account to see where I am for the year.  Even with gold suffering a large correction recently and bonds sinking, I'm still up almost 1%.  To be honest, that surprised me.  I'm very satisfied. At some point in my investing life I stopp...

Things like tax loss harvesting, continuous rebalancing with new funds, or splitting the rebalance between December & January to spread income across multiple tax years can all help you in certain situations. That said, so much depends on your personal situation (income, state, etc) that it prob...

Interesting article. I agree with it in the sense that timing is absolutely important and people underestimate the societal impact of the Boomers based solely on their size relative to other generations.  "All things being equal" is a natural fallacy -- The market is never constant. Still,...

No worries Bud. As mentioned, your angst gives voice to what many are feeling.

Seen in this light, I can absolutely understand the appeal of such a portfolio. It seems like it's very psychologically well suited for someone whose two major goals are participating to a large extent in the stock party, but losing less than others when the party ends. Yeah, that makes sense. But ...

PP(VTI/TLT/SGOL/SCHO): -0.8%
60/40 (VTI/TLT): -1.2%

Reub wrote: Bernanke speaks and the 3 volatile asset classes all crash! Wonderful!

I give the man credit - that takes talent. 

I feel inspired to start a mattress ETF. Profit!

Texas public school funding comes from property taxes, and although Texas houses are relatively inexpensive the property taxes are pretty high.  There are good schools and bad ones just like any state.  Since 41.5% of Hispanics choose not to carry health insurance, it makes sense that border states ...

On days like today, remember that frustration like this is an opportunity for great profit!

[EDIT to label the mystery link: I imagine this is what the gold scream room looks like  ]

http://tinyurl.com/ax43yfu

It appears as if the 25% allocation to stocks is insufficient to buoy the entire PP even with a 30% allocation to equities, 20% to Gold and 25% each to LTT and Cash (current allocation). It's only May.  Give it time.  Even as tides come and go, bouys still bob with the waves.  The PP is still on mu...

I had a similar experience last year when I started my portfolio.  Looking backward, I had chosen the worst month of the year to start a PP; I still ended the year up 4 or 5%.  It all evens out eventually, but starting out it can be painful to watch. Starting a PP in a bad month sure beats ending a...

I've also been obsessed with Firecalc.  Rediscovered this thread last night and had a thought. If we look at the real returns (after inflation), the performance from 1975-2012 is 4.76% CAGR, 6.84% SD.  While that reflects the same overall 4% inflation rate in the CAGR that MachineGhost references, t...

The press is really circling the wagons on this. I don't think they're gonna let the administration get off easy. The long honeymoon seems to be over; it sort of feels like they're beginning to turn on Obama a bit. I mean, The HuffPo is reporting daily on the IRS scandal now! The problem with targe...

I'd similarly be concerned with having a taxable account 100% in gold.  That carries too much risk to near-term liquid assets for my tastes. As has already been said, I'd personally set up the taxable account as it's own PP and just do the best you can with the tax-deferred accounts.  And if you eve...

- Benghazi whistle-blowers being threatened to keep quiet. - Admissions that the IRS has been used as a weapon against political opposition. - And today, the AP is pushing back at the justice department for snooping on its phone records. Quite the interesting week for the revelations of abuse of pol...

While I don't particularly like the way agriculture is moving towards a disposable business model where you must buy new seed every year (at increasingly high prices) rather than using what you have, I don't think this case is particularly controversial.  Most farmers must find the greater yield fro...

This isn't really a fund, but I've always been a fan of the "Dogs of the Dow" strategy.  Simple and mechanical, and seems to work. That counts!  Various dividend strategies are appealing to me, too, especially since they work well with a buy & hold mentality and don't require much mai...

AdOrientum brought up in another thread the idea of having an 80/20 PP/VP split and simply choosing a single stock index fund for the VP to buy and hold with long-term growth in mind. I've been tossing around the same idea, but have never pulled the trigger because I can't identify a fund that makes...

What is more important to me is not having to deal with losses. In a bad year for the PP it has 0% return.  In a bad year for stocks you must deal with 40%+ losses. +1.  Maintaining overall value while a major asset has a significant correction is a feature, not a bug.  For me, the only way to elim...

i don't think its remarkable in the sense incompetence, political expedience being used to make life and death decisions, coverups and press manipulation, and American deaths, are all pretty much an everyday thing now... i wish it was seen as remarkable and that people weren't numb to this sort of ...

Like I said, I think it's geographical. Here in Silicon Valley, it's the Christians (I'm not one of them, for the record) who are practically a persecuted minority, often in a similar manner to what you describe. I remember when I first moved to the Bay Area. A young millennial I worked with who ha...

doodle wrote: For those who haven't done so yet, I really recommend Walden by Thoreau.

Free for the iPad, and now downloaded.  Thanks for the recommendation.

LOL, I say this all the time because I really dig modern art.  It's not meant in a derogatory way, though -- it's more like... I could have done that!  Nevertheless it is also a yardstick by which I measure whether I would purchase said art.  No matter how interesting a circle in the sand is (or wh...