I'm in Tampa Bay FL.

Wow is right my friend! Happy days are hear again...!

dualstow wrote:It bears repeating: Harry Browne was a smart man.

Amen. It's days like these when I thank my lucky stars I ran across Fail Safe Investing and this forum.[/quote]

Ditto. Most solid portfolio out there.

I also use the leveraged ETFs (as part of my Variable Portfolio) and find them to be the best choice for a leveraged PP. Yes there’s decay, but as KBG points out, it does seem to balance out. Plus it’s the cost of doing business. I don’t buy the ETFs on margin, so I never worry about margin calls.

Yup, I agree with the article too.

Cheer up PP'rs, 2015 was a rough year for all portfolios:

https://insights.openfolio.com/in-2015- ... .xwhe2nolw

I Shrugged – I'm in your camp too.  Aside from my emergency fund, I don't hold any cash in my portfolio.  That said, I'm in the accumulation phase with steady employment.

what you have to wonder is if harry could see 40 years off in to the future would he have allocated differently . harry likely never imagined a world of zero interest rates , or bonds and stocks both being in what some call a bubble at the same time  . or gold having so few opportunity's to do its ...

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm sure the chart's purpose is to illustrate that in the VERY long run, stocks are the most profitable.  But if you examine the stock graph closely, I see some very long stretches of bear markets, some lasting over 20 years. So, for stock-heavy investors, returns are d...

Hi all,

  I came accross this chart and thought I'd share it.  Its shows the 200 year performance of the PP assets adjusted for inflation (Real Returns).  To me, the scariest part is the declining dollar.

I think investing in assets you like and minimizing assets you don't is more important than we've all thought, because the assets you hate are the ones that make you question your plan at the worst possible time, and the ones you love are the ones whose wild rides you're more easily able to tolerat...

I've been using IAU for years, its fine in my opinion.

Warning – get ready for a deluge of gold bugs telling you to only own physical. 

I like Doug Casey, but all these doom and gloom guys do is preach the same thing year after year.  And even a broken clock is right twice a day.  I would not take any investment advice from him, although I agree with most of his ideology.  I bought his book Totally Incorrect and enjoyed it.  Inciden...

Sam, I totally agree with all your points.  My own research shows much better performance and diversification with the inclusion of Small/Midcaps.  But the expense ratio on RSP is a whopping 0.40%!  Yikes! Why not use individual Small/Midcap ETFs instead?  For example, replace RSP with IJR, IJH, VTI...

Thanks Tyler.

Hi rickb, Thanks for the feedback.  I'm personally comfortable with my heavy dose of iShares.  That said, I certainly have no problem with your suggestion of using similar funds.  Depending on your broker, various funds are commission-free, so that needs to be considered too, especially if you're in...

And now people are piling back into TLT.  I guess it just goes to show its all noise.  Just stick to one passive portfolio allocation and ignore all the hype. "Without the Federal Reserve pulling the trigger on an interest rate hike, overseas fixed-income investors have piled into more attracti...

Mathjak- I totally agree that Small/Midcap increase long-term performance.  Which is why I use them in my JuicyPP:  http://www.tightwadweb.com/customportfolio.html Tyler, PointedStick- Here's the results of Small/Mid vs Large (S&P500).  Chart below shows the difference from 1972-2014.  I realize...

The Desert Portfolio looks pretty solid to me.  I just ran it through PortfolioVisualizer.com and it shows a 9.06% CAGR:

I also use the PP because I believe in the theory behind it.  After studying the PP for a couple years I realized its the only truly diversified portfolio.  A 50/50 Boglehead portfolio just doesnt cover all the bases. Of course I have fiddled with the percentages and made mine more juicy, but I’m co...

40

Thats a good article from Hedgewise.  I also believe that LTTs wont be clobbered by rising rates over the long run.  I think its a lot of worry over nothing.  No doubt LTTs will decline temporarily, but stocks and gold will likely pick up the slack.  They always have. Plus, if your LTTs are in a fun...

Nominal.