You may be interested in this discussion we had a few weeks ago about alternative fully private monetary systems: http://gyroscopicinvesting.com/forum/ht ... ic.php?t=0

You really are onto something here but probably the opposite of what you are saying. The second amendment gives us the right to keep and bear arms but congress also has an unlimited power to tax which apparently trumps all other rights according to Mr. John Roberts, so a tax of $5000 on gun owners ...

Probably constitutional under the logic of Roberts' opinion. To really test this, I suggest a tax on not owning firearms. Every gun you own reduces the tax by $100. I wonder how that one would go over? 

I've just gotten to the end of Ginsburg's dissent, and among many other shocking passages, these take the cake for me: As an example of the type of regulation he fears, THE CHIEF JUSTICE cites a Government mandate to purchase green vegetables. Ante, at 22–23. One could call this concern “the broccol...

For me, the lack of volatility is as big a feature as the good average return. I agree with craigr about stocks really delivering when they're hot, but a 45% stock allocation also opens you up to bigger potential losses during protracted slumps. If I were looking to juice the returns of a PP (and I'...

Malthusians and TEOTWAWKI-ers always have scary things to say, but they never seem to come true. I'm a firm believer in preparedness, but you can prepare without the paranoia, despair, and hysteria encouraged by these sorts of articles.

I pity the fool who's holding Stockton Muni bonds… STOCKTON – Years after betting on a sustained housing boom to bankroll a waterfront redevelopment and dole out salary and benefit perks to city employees and retirees, Stockton cashed in its chips Tuesday in a plan that will lead it into bankruptcy....

MediumTex, I think one of the paradoxes of human existence is that we simultaneously want individuality and community. We are a social species, but a social species full of individuals with private goals and motivations and desires. How we balance these dual needs is a personal question we must each...

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere [I searched the boards, but came up empty]: 1. If EDV is held in a taxable account, are you taxed annually on imputed income [which then increases your cost basis] like the American Century Zero-coupon funds [e.g., BTTRX] are? Is EDV any more tax effici...

I share much of the same healthy skepticism & cynicism here, but I have to say it: it's a wonderful thing that in countries like the UK, US, Canada, etc, we can actually have shows in which we criticize the govt so scathingly, and in which we can portray them as the enemy. Amen!  I love that th...

Yeah, those of us that were in before the debt ceiling fiasco had a great year, while those that got in afterwards have pretty much been treading water.  I don't expect this flat trend to continue.  The market will either break towards recession or growth sometime soon. At the very least, I'm sure ...

I expect more from you, craigr.  In what world is inflation guaranteed?   Don't we hold 25% cash in case of deflation? Inflation is virtually guaranteed by living under a debt-based monetary system in which new money is constantly being created by the banking system and a low level of inflation is ...

I could at least make you the mug right now!

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24464

http://techpaladin.com/store/#ecwid:cat ... ct=8939895

Thanks craigr, that makes me feel more confident. I'm also happy to switch it out since it makes the total asset allocation across all my PPs a little bit less Vanguard-heavy.

Thanks for the kind wishes everyone! It's been a heck of a ride. The low startup costs were primarily because I'm doing it as a sole proprietorship and was already into hobbyist 3D printing, so I'd already built a few machines that I repurposed for business use. I basically just had to buy merchandi...

My 401(k) is getting rid of one of my favorite funds--VITSX. It's being replaced with VIIIX, which has a slightly lower ER but tracks the S&P 500 rather than the whole stock market. I rather prefer the total market funds, so I'm considering switching it out for SCHB, Schwab's total market fund. ...

But yes I think when you are young and can do it, take risks on your career. Heck, even when you are older I always encourage people to try out that crazy idea they've always wanted to do. As long as they are risking money they can afford to lose (and not getting sucked into financing an idea that ...

I agree FarmerD. My problem with zealots like them is that they seem to have no ability to weigh costs and benefits. GMO food has both, but they only ever look at the costs. It's the same with environmentalists who look at dirty coal plants and don't realize that good solutions include natural gas a...

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen :) Yield on cost works when it is 25 years or more. Please be patient... The math certainly adds up, but I still don't see where we're going to find a stock with the required characteristics. Or were you thinking of continuously swapping the money out into whatever stock e...

If an orthodox 4 x 25% PP has a losing year, it's hard to imagine a portfolio that would do better without being a lot riskier. It's possible that PRPFX could outperform a PP in any given year, but I could say that about any ETF or mutual fund, so at that point you're not really talking about a PP a...

Jackh, I think the 50% of Americans that identify as conservatives have little to do with the GOP tax policy that ends up with the 1% paying a smaller share of taxes than the 99%.  We should also not forget that the current system was created by both parties.  No matter who is elected in November, ...

I don't see gold as just an inflation hedge. It's also a hedge against shenanigans in the banking system and government, and it's also a small and convenient storehouse of real value. It's also been discussed before that gold doesn't necessarily respond to inflation, but to negative real returns--th...

I just watched "Artois the Goat", a charming indie film about a young man's quest to make the perfect goat cheese, and was pleasantly shocked to discover an extreme anti-government slant, including referring to the FDA as the "Fascist Drug Administration" and an actual raid by sc...

Not sure I would bail on PRPFX just like that.   The main problem with PRPFX is that the bonds it holds are only 10 year US Treasuries.  They just don't have the duration to keep the fund from taking losses during deflationary periods.   Rather than selling the fund into a loss of 5.5%, you could j...

I'm wondering where you're going to find this stock that will, over the course of 25 years, maintain its share price and increase its dividend yield by 10% annually!