MediumTex wrote: I have read and listened to David Brooks for many years and I have concluded that he is a complete idiot. 

Ha.  This is the message board equivalent of a movie trailer that gives away the entire plot.  Your post is great, but you could have stopped after the first sentence.  ; )

This lens makes you more likely to share the distinct strands of libertarianism that are blossoming in this fragmenting age: the deep suspicion of authority, the strong belief that hierarchies and organizations are suspect, the fervent devotion to transparency, the assumption that individual prefer...

I'll need more info on Snowden before passing judgment.  Sometimes even a traitor can accomplish a public good, and the final chapter hasn't been written yet.  The fact that a former CIA agent sought refuge in China doesn't exactly reassure me that this will ultimately end with the US stronger than ...

The low scores would seem to corroborate my observations that the average American has no idea what the hell theyre doing when it comes to money. In my circle of friends, even the ones in middle management banking are pretty clueless. What are the odds that the average congressman would score 3 or ...

I've thought about moving "expired" 20 year long bonds to the VP rather than selling them.  For the PP, though, I'd stick with the barbell approach.  Even though a collection of Treasuries with "average" maturity of 10 years might deliver the same performance in the accumulation...

Last December I switched to Virgin Mobile and have been pleased so far. 300min voice + unlimited texts and data costs a flat $30/month for my iPhone.  The only catch I've seen is that they're usually a generation behind on iPhone models and the data network is only 3G (neither bother me - hedonic ad...

FarmerD wrote: I expect the trend to continue.  You'll hear the following phrases used within the next five years:
"You're happysized!"
"You're splendidsized!"
"You're orgasmsized!"

Well, apparently "Funemployment" is a thing now.  You're good.

It depends on your investing goal and timeframe. I'm actively saving towards early retirement in the next 1-2 years. With that goal in mind, "money I can't afford to lose" is that which would drastically change my plans if the funds vaporized tomorrow. If I was still 20 years out from my r...

It seems if you're diversified you're treading water at the moment, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Watching the markets right now feels like watching Game of Thrones. You know full well that you're being set up for one of the major characters to be killed off, but you have no idea who or ...

If you really distill it to its essence, I think that robotics is only going to kill off all the sucky jobs like moving heavy or dangerous substances from point A to Point B which if you think about it, describes an awful lot of jobs, from factory work to trucking, and virtually all farming and res...

Good healthcare summary, Pointedstick. Don't forget about the laws that forbid insurance companies from selling policies across state lines.  Even with the ACA, that's the reason there are 50+ exchanges to set up and not just one. Personally, I wish they would just: 1) Do away with the state lines i...

It's easy to underestimate the pull of large urban areas. Between LA + suburbs, San Jose, San Francisco, and the rest of the SF bay area, that's 18 million people, or half the entire state population. These areas are massively, overwhelmingly liberal areas. I've always found the Silicon Valley demo...

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...