As I posted previously, I have a majority of my investments in the PP with the remainder in VWINX which is conservative, has an excellent track record and pays a 3% dividend. I don't really look at it as a VP because I don't consider this fund as a speculative asset. This reduces my gold allocation ...

I am retired with approximately 80% in HBPP with 20/30 rebalancing bands. Most of the rest is in Wellesley because I wanted a slight tilt toward stocks and bonds and because I wanted to hold a little less than 25% gold. The PP was set up in early 2011 and has been working quite well (except for 2013...

Alternatively, you could achieve an overall allocation very close to that, but in a PP-orthodox way, by putting about half your portfolio in a vanilla 4x25 PP, and the other half in a Variable Portfolio holding a mainstream conservative vehicle such as a 40/60 Boglehead portfolio or Vanguard Welles...

I moved my cash out of SHY into an FDIC insured MM account with check writing privileges paying .65%. Not as safe as T-Bills but still backed by the Government and I am earning something rather than nothing.

Decide how committed you are to the HBPP. If totally, go in 100%. If only half sure, go in 50% and use a VP for however you want the other 50%. You can decide the %. I have found the rebalancing easier if I keep my HBPP funds separate. Personally, I have a large % in HBPP and a smaller % in Wellesle...

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=147418 "Several days ago, I sold GLD to reduce my allocation to gold and purchased All World ex-US with the proceeds. I was convinced that the decision was rational, but it was market timing plain and simple. Today, I reversed the trades...

After a rough week with the PP, some great long term insight.
Thanks

I don't have better ideas, myself.  I like the PP, in principle, but watching it tread water for 3 years has done little for my confidence in the strategy. In 2012 it was up 6.5% and it's up 6.8% YTD in 2014. 2013 wasn't great, but it was only down 2%. That's not what I would call treading water. I...

I'm curious what others think of Tyler's suggestion of VWINX? I don't know much about that fund but I have seen a lot of you post good things about it in other threads. Looks like it was down 25% or so in the crash of 2008, so not as bad as a straight equity fund. I just mention that because Neo16 ...

With TLT approaching 118, S&P index at 2,000 and the Dow over 17,000, do bond traders know something we don't? The economy, GDP and unemployment all "appear" to be improving. So why the drop in yields on LTT's?  Still seems to be very uncertain times and a great time to be diversified ...

Neo 16 Just wanted to comment on your situation and the other posters. Your mother is in a very good place right now and I understand your concerns with wanting to be conservative with her portfolio.  I went through a similar experience during the 2008 crash and fired my financial planner and educat...

That and to curtail money laundering efforts.

You would need a paper trail for the purchase and the sale of the gold.  Receipts for the purchase and the same for the sale. The dollars would then be used for the down payment.  I doubt that any lender would accept gold for a down payment. Why do you need the paper trail? Will they ask to see whe...

You would need a paper trail for the purchase and the sale of the gold.  Receipts for the purchase and the same for the sale. The dollars would then be used for the down payment.  I doubt that any lender would accept gold for a down payment.

I agree with AlanW, banks mostly care about your income, other debt payments, and credit rating.  They also care about where the down payment comes from.  So if you'll need to sell physical gold to make a down payment, you'll need to keep good records so you can show where the money came from.  But...

VWINX has benefited greatly from the 30+ year bull market in bonds. Im not sure how well it will do in a rising interest rate environment. Not sure about the rising interest rate environment.  Even with rising rates, Wellesley still pays about 3%.  If I never sell, do I really care if rates rise. T...

Ad Orientem wrote: VWINX has benefited greatly from the 30+ year bull market in bonds. Im not sure how well it will do in a rising interest rate environment.

Not sure about the rising interest rate environment.  Even with rising rates, Wellesley still pays about 3%.  If I never sell, do I really care if rates rise.

Wellesley throws off a ton of dividends that are taxable, which doesn't make it ideal for taxable accts. With the PP you could keep most bonds and some stocks in tax deferred accts and hold your gold ETF's and cash in taxable, which is very efficient if you're not selling. My LTT's and VWINX along ...

What, you don't think gold in the form of an ETF wouldn't count as an asset?  Funny. Do banks even care about your individual holdings within brokerage accounts? I don't believe they do.  They just look at the total.  In general, lenders are not so concerned with your assets as they are with your c...

Yes. It uses a variety of bonds, a variety of stocks with an emphasis on large cap, blue chips, some gold and some cash.  Also, it was easy to explain; conservative without putting everything into one distinct portfolio.  Diversified without slice and dice. ER of .16. She thinks I'm a genius.

I think that this type of diversification is almost bullet proof under almost any circumstances. Not being that good with charts and math, I wonder how the numbers would work out for a portfolio of these three parts over the long term in terms of CAGR and MaxDD. Will leave that to one of the charti...

Possibly a diversification of the money you can't afford to lose into three different portfolios consisting of one part PP, one part Boglehead, and one part Vanguard Wellesley is a better way to go? All are low cost, proven over time and tend to complement each other well. I used this philosophy la...

Several years ago I was looking at the same SS situation.  After plugging in the numbers every way possible, I deducted that if you were not earning over the SS minimum and you did not need SS to live on, it would be better to take it early and invest it in the PP or another investment of your choic...

HB did not adhere strictly to rebalance bands of 35/15.  You could choose 30/20, 33/17, etc. or whatever suits your comfort level.
But you should probably stick to the one you choose or you could be guilty of market timing.

Even though my stock portion is still below 35%, I am getting ready to rebalance. Being newly retired, I feel that this will lessen my risk if there is a major correction (or worse). After all, it is almost "sell in May" time anyway. Besides, TLT and gold both seem to have settled down ni...