ochotona wrote: The terms of my settlements require I can't name the firms involved in 2009. Lessons learned.

Settlements? You took some legal action against target date funds?

Please do enlighten us to what extent you can without violating your terms, if you don't mind.

madbean, Yes, I'm aware.  Here are some notes from my Lutheran Study Bible on the subject in case you are interested.  Are they consistent with your teachings?  As an aside, the sermon really is good, might be worth the 10 minutes or so it would take you to listen. I did go back and listen to the w...

Yes, this is a big problem, even with target date funds. The managers are so intent on beating other target date funds that they make risky bets with their asset allocation, leading to reduced performance when Mr. Market lowers the boom. IIRC, several years ago the manager of a Vanguard bond fund m...

I discovered the secret last year.

Don't look.

I resolved to not look for one full year and when I did last February I had WAY more money than I thought I would.

I'm thinking maybe it's a quantum mechanics/Schrodinger's cat thing. Looking at it affects the outcome so just don't do it.

What good is squeezing out that last 0.01% of heart attack risk.... Reminds me of the first time I had my cholesterol checked. I think I was about 55, so about 11 years ago. I remember when the test came back the lab had written in bold letters in red ink so the doctor didn't miss it that I had a 1...

lordmetroid wrote: I simply haven't found the topics to be very interesting as of lately.

I think it's mostly a case of being nothing new under the sun, as the Bible said. Seems like just about every thing has been discussed to death and everybody knows where everybody else stands.

I've been looking into Instacart, and in my area you can use it to order from Costco without the need for a Costco membership (!).  And the $3.99 delivery fee is a much better deal than the $12 car service or the $18 parking.  Not only that, but I can pay for the Instacart order online with my Blue...

Sometimes (often?) the cashback that you get varies.  It may be you get no cashback at Costco. Cash-back on my Fidelity Amex doesn't vary at all. It's been 2% on every thing since I've had the card, for about 5 years now. I use it wherever I can and have been averaging about $700/year since I've ha...

Immigration and the tax burden on the middle class. Am I the only one to think these might be contributing factors?

I had algebra and 3 semesters of calculus.  While I was proficient at that, I don't know that it did anything for my ability to think critically.  Critical thinking (unlike algebra) is a skill that would be helpful to everyone, and it should be taught to everyone.  Well a good deal of educational c...

It's just not that straight forward. Amex doesn't get the whole 1% you refer to; it is shared with the merchant's processing bank and maybe other intermediaries. Also, Amex makes money on interest, fees, co-branded offers and other avenues. They've never gotten a penny in interest or fees from me s...

Could have said the same thing about buying IAU at around $16 when I first jumped in. Some said gold was going to the moon and others said it was in a bubble and about to crash. In hindsight, it would have been better to have waited but my crystal ball was in the shop at the time. The only HB radio ...

Google says many retailers pay 1/3 to 1/2 more to American Express than to Visa. That is also true. We only accept V,MC,Discover at 2%. If we want to add Amex, the fee for Amex would be around 3% as of my last quote IIRC. With my Fidelity Amex I get 2% back so at 3% Amex would be pocketing 1%. At ....

my GF and ex-wife both drink a 2L bottle of diet pepsi about every 3 days. I keep telling them how unhealthy it is, but neither will listen. Off topic, but it turns out Pepsi is removing aspartame from Diet Pepsi and replacing it with sucralose and ace-k. Idk why they don't just use stevia? http://...

Agree with GT. My mom and dad both lived through The Great Depression and both sacrificed a lot in WWII (my dad four years of service and my mom lost her first husband). After that to be able to live in a simple home on a half-acre lot in the suburbs with a company car, and to be able to do all thi...

I know of at least one group that is still doing well and achieving the American dream - Asian immigrants. I was at a banquet the other day where a Filipino immigrant gave a speech and he bragged about the fact that Filipinos had the second highest median family income of any immigrant group, behind...

Second, I learned to always make sure to check to see if you need a Visa to get into any foreign country. Me, being young and ignorant, didn't realize I needed one for going to China for 5 days. No one else on the trip told me I'd have to worry about it. I ended up stranded at the Los Angeles airpo...

Yeah, one thought is that something like a 40/20/20/20 portfolio with the 40% being in stocks is still probably a great asset mix in the long run. It will be more volatile than a 4X25 PP, but if that 40% in stocks also makes one comfortable with large gold, LTT and cash allocations, then it's a goo...

Good 12 minute sermon on the resurrection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiBkgMly9j4 ... Mountaineer I didn't listen listen to the sermon but I did click on the link and the picture that accompanied it was thought provoking. Are you aware that this is generally agreed to be the the last authentic...

Some interesting information on Dr. Oz from Cracked.com....

#6. Dr. Oz: One of the Most Brilliant Doctors of his Generation
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-dumb-cele ... you-think/

I think the "it takes a village to raise a child" comment of years past by Hillary is just symbolic to me of the pending downfall of America, at least the America that I knew and treasured. ... Mountaineer That's just a part of getting old, I think. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who h...

Here's a piece that I believe perfectly nails Hillary's platform and I don't expect it to change much. Probably will work too.

http://takimag.com/article/all_you_need ... in_mcinnes

And on a somewhat related note, here is a story claiming that the first person to live to the age of 1,000 may very well be alive today (Methusaleh in the Bible was only 969, BTW). http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/researchers-believe-a-biological-revolution-enabling-humans-to-experience-eve...

I just know heart disease and diabetes are bad for quality of life and longevity. Elevated blood pressure is a contributing factor to heart disease and elevated blood sugar is more or less the definition of diabetes. Taking your blood pressure at home takes seconds. Testing blood sugar takes second...

I'm sitting at 19% gold after doing my yearly checkup in February and this post confirms my instincts to stay lazy and not tinker too much. Will probably buy a little gold mid-year.

But if we were in another period of gold doing well would we be having this conversation? I suspect not.