I personally manage my taxable accounts (brokerage, savings) as one PP, and my tax-deferred accounts (401k, IRA) as another. I find it simpler that way, and like how it keeps both my near-term money and long-term money equally less volatile.

Just for perspective, a RBD for the PP (down a little over 1%) is just another day and totally unnewsworthy for most other portfolios. If it hurts now, keep that in mind when evaluating alternatives.

Thanks. Indeed my total returns have been the same as the PP up until last year. Only thanks to this year I succeeded in outperforming the PP, but that is how it goes in speculation and entrepreneurship. You are mostly behind the ones that take the safe route, failing and paying a lot for hard earn...

Sure.  Thanks for the data.  Looks like you did alright in 2008 -- nice work. Still, if you invested $10k in the traditional PP and $10k in your portfolio in January 2008 (I presume when your data starts), then by January 2013 the PP would have $14k while your portfolio would have under $13k.  You b...

Yeah, yeah, you can laugh and suggest they don't exist. I know better. My average return is currently 18% per year since 2008. That's between 5 and 10 times more real return than the PP. And only 2%/yr  better than VTSMX over the same timeframe (not including your trading fees & taxes).  Now wh...

It's really great to see that I am not alone in my view that the PP is only for preservation, not growth. ... I would prefer to outsource this and find a bunch of newsletters, hedge funds or mutual funds that have proven to outperform the PP in the past. But they are so hard to find.  I fully admit...

My PP is standing alone just fine. I just have a different definition of independence.

LTTs are an important part of the PP regardless of whether they're held directly or via TLT. They will help protect your total portfolio should the other volatile assets plunge. So reducing exposure to LTTs actually makes your portfolio LESS safe, not more. It sounds like you fear rates rising soon....

Update from the article: It is clear that these regulations are being enacted for three different but equally plausible reasons, all of which contribute to the ultimate goal of sacrificing the global economy on the altar of derivative monster zombie banks. 1) Capital controls to prevent money leavin...

(Laughing maniacally as I look at the gold ticker today and run my hands through my imaginary pirate chest full of gold coins)

If you're gonna look at the portfolio often, you might as well pay equal attention to the good days as the bad. 

I'm not sure exactly how this will impact the average Chase customer, but I'm pretty sure it can't be a good sign.

http://www.infowars.com/chase-bank-limi ... transfers/

The beauty of a mid-term prediction is it's close enough to possibly come true soon enough to make you famous but is far enough away to avoid exposing your pet theory tomorrow. In any case, there's a big difference between predicting how something will generally do 3-5 years out and recommending imm...

I feel hopeless. I have been thinking about how to unwind my positions in the permanent portfolio. One should not invest in something that makes them feel hopeless.  That said, one should also have realistic expectations when it comes to investing.  If a gradual decline of less than 5% over one yea...

I've been back and forth on this about 100 times. I'm naturally inclined to pay off my mortgage, as I'm nearing an early retirement (within a year if I play it right) and really like the ideas of minimizing necessary cash flow and having zero debt from an antifragile perspective.  That said, I lucke...

Take the anthromorphic connection of your question out of the picture for a moment, and think of it in terms of natural selection. "It seems to me that a large amount (not all) of the mutations and adaptations that we put so much stock into create no real lasting benefit to the species. We expe...

This portfolio is a gem...down when the equity markets are up and when the equity markets are down. Definitely consistent. An investment portfolio that historically generates reasonable returns with low volatility while remaining largely decoupled from any one dominant market is one feature I reall...

I grew a stubble beard and never looked back.  When I first grew one it itched at first, but there are 2 tricks to help that: 1) The itching really goes down after you trim the beard a few times with clippers.  If it starts to itch again, just trim it.  I trim mine about once a week. 2) Trim the mus...

IMO, every child has a particular motivator or deterrent. Spanking definitely kept me in-line when necessary and I have no real issue with it. My parents would only resort to that once they had tried every other means to effectively discipline me, and never hit me in any other way. Once I was old en...

Naive question from a non-techy: If it's just a peripheral, how does Apple stop an unauthorized product that is engineered to connect to an Apple device? Is there some permission that needs to be unlocked? First, they control exclusive production of their proprietary connectors (lightning, MagSafe,...

Just for perspective, I sometimes like to remind myself of relative risks. Physical gold certainly has far less counter-party risk than a gold ETF.  But IMO the counter-party risk of a gold ETF is still a lot lower than many popular high-yield stocks, munis, and international funds.  And it's also l...

Makes me think we'd probably still all have traditional Blackberrys if governments tried to standardize technology (thus preventing innovation). Regarding innovation, one of the side effects of the licensing arrangement with Apple connectors is that they effectively have veto power over any product...

True, but micro-USB is inferior to what they built... Fair enough.  I'm just pointing out that Apple also has a huge business model built around controlling access to their products that goes beyond the quality of the connector.  Even if a new high-quality USB standard came out tomorrow, Apple won'...

If you look at the Lightning cable, it's a perfect example of what he said. Apple didn't develop it just to give the finger to people with million of Micro USB chargers; it was to address a variety of deficiencies with Micro USB cables: From my experience in the Apple accessories business, that's n...

Welcome! I personally use VTI/TLT/IAU/SCHO, but have no issues with your choices. I like VTI as a total market fund vs a typical S&P500 fund, and Vanguard has been in that business forever. TLT is best-in-class from a PP perspective (other than buying bonds directly, of course) and I do like it ...

Meh -- I think Cruz/Palin wouldn't get very far.  Regardless of whether you agree with her, I personally think Palin on a ticket is a total non-starter.  Hillary would have a field day with her. I'm more inclined to think about who would be a strong VP on a Rand Paul ticket.  Interestingly, Obama's ...