Search found 1982 matches

by barrett
Thu Nov 16, 2023 2:02 pm
Forum: Cash
Topic: I-Bond fixed rate rises to 1.3%, highest in more than 16 years
Replies: 24
Views: 32185

Re: I-Bond fixed rate rises to 1.3%, highest in more than 16 years

What is the earliest date when the fixed rate forecast becomes more or less accurate? Will it be a couple weeks before May 1st? I want to set up a reminder for myself so I don't miss the narrow window to buy at the current rate if the announced May rate will be lower. Alas, the fixed rate is usuall...
by barrett
Mon Nov 06, 2023 11:40 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: High TIPS Yields Are a Retiree’s Best Friend
Replies: 6
Views: 16016

Re: High TIPS Yields Are a Retiree’s Best Friend

Quick question, Vinny... Have you actually bought any TIPS yet or are you still just researching them? Have not yet bought any. But when I do it will be significant mega-amounts. The urgency has somewhat been mitigated by the present levels of yield from the Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund. The...
by barrett
Mon Nov 06, 2023 3:56 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: High TIPS Yields Are a Retiree’s Best Friend
Replies: 6
Views: 16016

Re: High TIPS Yields Are a Retiree’s Best Friend

Quick question, Vinny...

Have you actually bought any TIPS yet or are you still just researching them?
by barrett
Fri Nov 03, 2023 9:09 am
Forum: Cash
Topic: Selling “cash” SCHO
Replies: 4
Views: 4399

Re: Selling “cash” SCHO

I want sell some of my SCHO etf that has been reinvesting bond yields. Do I sell the purchases that are making money or do I sell the purchases that are down? Or does it make a difference? You didn't specify if this is in a taxable account or not. If not, I don't see why it would make a difference....
by barrett
Tue Oct 31, 2023 3:37 pm
Forum: Cash
Topic: I-Bond fixed rate rises to 1.3%, highest in more than 16 years
Replies: 24
Views: 32185

Re: I-Bond fixed rate rises to 1.3%, highest in more than 16 years

Thanks for posting that, ocho. I may get my wife to buy some in January. We both did the gift box for 2023 and I don't want to do that again (just a personal preference). I think David Enna's articles are good but I have an issue with this statement: << In my most recent projection I estimated that ...
by barrett
Thu Oct 19, 2023 5:59 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Funds
Topic: prpfx
Replies: 3
Views: 9316

Re: prpfx

Found this Morningstar link: https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/prpfx/portfolio If I am reading the numbers correctly, it looks like most of their bonds are short duration corporates with most of those bonds having a BBB rating. If they have been following this strategy of holding lots of lower ...
by barrett
Sat Oct 07, 2023 12:58 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: The Bond Market Sweet Spot
Replies: 22
Views: 18252

Re: The Bond Market Sweet Spot

Not a bond expert at all, but... The concept of escape velocity is pretty simple, at least as explained in the article Kevin provided in the first post. But the issue I have with the concept as presented is that long duration bonds will always remain unattractive (when just considering escape veloci...
by barrett
Sat Sep 23, 2023 5:36 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: I Thought Gold Would Fare Better in 2022-23
Replies: 63
Views: 100220

Re: I Thought Gold Would Fare Better in 2022-23

https://www.usfunds.com/resource/central-banks-are-buying-gold-at-a-record-pace-so-far-in-2023/ This is after record purchases in 2022. Are there any reasons to explain these purchases besides them knowing something we don’t know? Mostly Russia, China, Turkey, Singapore. Perhaps preferring to buy g...
by barrett
Fri Sep 22, 2023 7:01 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.
Replies: 9
Views: 38010

Re: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.

Double posted something. Sorry about that!
by barrett
Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:58 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.
Replies: 9
Views: 38010

Re: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.

I was really glad I had long term TBonds in 2008. They saved my portfolio. Now it just seems like they'll never come back and the roof will finally cave in. Do I rebalance and buy some more? Or get the hell out? Long bonds to me have always been sort of an Achilles Heel of the PP just because their...
by barrett
Thu Sep 21, 2023 9:49 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.
Replies: 9
Views: 38010

Re: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.

While I don't follow the US market much, it seems both bonds and shares are rather elevated in price. As I couldn't find the 30y bond price, imagine you have 50% 10 year bonds, 25% each shares & gold. Thoughts? 30-year yields are elevated but not their price... which is probably what you meant to w...
by barrett
Thu Sep 21, 2023 5:31 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.
Replies: 9
Views: 38010

Re: TBonds saved me in 2008. Now, not sure what to do now.

I was really glad I had long term TBonds in 2008. They saved my portfolio. Now it just seems like they'll never come back and the roof will finally cave in. Do I rebalance and buy some more? Or get the hell out? Long bonds to me have always been sort of an Achilles Heel of the PP just because their...
by barrett
Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:33 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: I Thought Gold Would Fare Better in 2022-23
Replies: 63
Views: 100220

Re: I Thought Gold Would Fare Better in 2022-23

Back when kbg was posting on here (I wish he still were), he would often point out that gold was getting weaker or stronger mainly due to which way the US Dollar Index was moving. This data only goes back to 1/1/2000 but is probably worth a look: https://en.macromicro.me/collections/45/mm-gold-price...
by barrett
Wed Aug 16, 2023 2:26 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: What happens to I-bonds if rates plummet again
Replies: 46
Views: 41166

Re: What happens to I-bonds if rates plummet again

Sounds good Barrett! Letting the ladders run down is a good escape hatch. And...sounds like you have a fee-only advisor already - ask if they'd be willing to handle financial management & transactions? If so, your wife could always arrange for that if needed when the time comes. An aside - I've not...
by barrett
Tue Aug 15, 2023 6:53 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: TIPS Ladder vs. PP/GB in retirement
Replies: 45
Views: 29852

Re: TIPS Ladder vs. PP/GB in retirement

While TIPS bonds aren't often discussed here they've certainly been a hot topic of late on mainstream forums like Bogleheads and sites such as Morningstar - in part because for the first time in many years it's possible to construct a ladder of them yielding a 4%+ inflation-adjusted safe withdrawal...
by barrett
Mon Aug 14, 2023 11:06 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: TIPS Ladder vs. PP/GB in retirement
Replies: 45
Views: 29852

Re: TIPS Ladder vs. PP/GB in retirement

Don't forget that with a 4% 30 year SWR TIPS ladder that assumes all is spent, no residual. For other asset allocations 4% 30 year SWR was around the worst case outcome, left nothing remaining ... but in the more usual/average case tended to leave a very decent residual amount remaining, in some ca...
by barrett
Mon Aug 14, 2023 8:23 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: What happens to I-bonds if rates plummet again
Replies: 46
Views: 41166

Re: What happens to I-bonds if rates plummet again

Still think the ladders are too complicated, Barrett - what you said about your wife not being able to handle it without you kinda says it all. Well, in general I think you are probably correct, but here are a few things specific to our case: 1) The ladders are not very long (tall?). My TIPS ladder...
by barrett
Thu Aug 10, 2023 7:07 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: TIPS Ladder vs. PP/GB in retirement
Replies: 45
Views: 29852

Re: TIPS Ladder vs. PP/GB in retirement

OK the discussion has gone a bit into the weeds so I'll try to bring it back around a bit, John Rekenthaler did a good comparison of TIPS, nominal Treasuries and SPIA'S recently: https://www.morningstar.com/bonds/retirement-income-treasury-bonds-tips-ladders-or-annuities TIPS obviously outperform i...
by barrett
Tue Aug 08, 2023 6:38 am
Forum: Cash
Topic: Why I Stopped Buying I-Bonds (For now)
Replies: 12
Views: 5237

Re: Why I Stopped Buying I-Bonds (For now)

jhogue, congratulations on the house deal, but is this a typo? CPI-U is currently at 3.0% and has been dropping precipitously. With inflation seemingly under control and unemployment at 3.5%, one wonders what motivation the Fed has for any further rate increases. When I listen to Jerome Powell spea...
by barrett
Mon Aug 07, 2023 10:50 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: What happens to I-bonds if rates plummet again
Replies: 46
Views: 41166

Re: What happens to I-bonds if rates plummet again

This is what I thought as well, and was exactly what I was doing. However, after hearing multiple horror stories of executors struggling to unwind estates, I am working to streamline my investments. One of the elements to be simplified is to liquidate both my and my wife's TD accounts and just move...
by barrett
Mon Jul 17, 2023 6:35 am
Forum: Cash
Topic: New I-Bond Rate for 5/1/23 to 10/31/23
Replies: 33
Views: 14652

Re: New I-Bond Rate for 5/1/23 to 10/31/23

What's the way to think about using I-Bonds if the yield dips significantly below T-Bills? It looks like you've more or less answered your own question already, but... When your wrote "T-Bills", did you mean the literal definition which is issues maturing between a few days and a year in the future...
by barrett
Tue Jul 11, 2023 12:06 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: Is anyone else buying TIPS?
Replies: 28
Views: 8954

Re: Is anyone else buying TIPS?

One major advantage that they do have over iBonds is that they do not have that peculiar limitation that iBonds seems to be the only investment to have -- a limitation in how much investment you can make in them in a year, in one lump sum. If one had $200,000 and wanted to make 75% of it Treasuries...
by barrett
Mon Jul 10, 2023 6:12 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: What to do with a Low-Yielding 30-Year Bond
Replies: 31
Views: 19873

Re: What to do with a Low-Yielding 30-Year Bond

Barrett, I misspoke. Sorry. It's "bonds," plural, amounting to about $15K. As an aside, the majority of my bond allocation is in Wellesley (VWIAX). Wellesley's managers, of course, are constantly churning their holdings, so in that sense I am getting some exposure to new, higher-yielding bonds even...
by barrett
Sat Jul 08, 2023 9:43 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: I'M OUT!
Replies: 64
Views: 59978

Re: I'M OUT!

Every time I see this thread title I think it’s a Seinfeld reference. :D O0 One of the finest episodes. that episode won many awards …not only was it really something that could have been easily censored in those days but it never used the actual word once for what they were betting on … wikipedia ...
by barrett
Sat Jul 08, 2023 7:32 am
Forum: Bonds
Topic: What to do with a Low-Yielding 30-Year Bond
Replies: 31
Views: 19873

Re: What to do with a Low-Yielding 30-Year Bond

I bought my first 30-year bond a year or two ago, before all the interest rate hikes. The yield is 1.8%. At the time I purchased this bond, 1.8% seemed like an acceptable return. Things look much different to me now that treasury money markets are paying 4.0% and additional interest rate hikes seem...