An interesting historical phenomenon is that in Europe different gold coins, with the same weight in gold, traded at different values in the free market. They traded at different premiums to their metallic content. This flys in the face of the idea that gold was the determinant of the currencies val...

Speaking of MachineGhost, I contacted him a few weeks ago and he is fine. He is in relaxation mode and, yes, has found companionship in the opposite sex! ;) Nothing like a girlfriend to ease the mind and pull you away from an internet forum. Hah. My GF would probably appreciate if I spent less time...

I like to think of cash vs. bonds as a continuum. The only real difference between cash and bonds is the duration. They are both fixed income, cash just has a really short maturity. The bond fund you are proposing is going to have a return profile similar to what one could expect from a blend of cas...

I think robotics will allow the pie to grow much faster, but I think the distribution of that pie will become far less equal. However, the political system can redistribute some of the pie if deemed socially necessary, but I think the country is moving in the opposite direction. I doubt these effici...

Interesting idea. Personally, I like the vanilla PP because it has clear macro drivers that can explain the price movements of the assets. From my observation, bitcoin has unique price movements that are more related to speculative mania/depressions than the actual economy. Personally, I would worry...

I wouldn't necessarily say it is "supposed" to be 10 years, but I will say that a PP consisting of 50% 10 year Treasuries, 25% stocks, and 25% gold is nearly identical to a vanilla PP. Having a targeted maturity instead of the barbell gives you a higher expected return if interest rates st...

A lot of the US companies that do business abroad hedge their foreign revenues back into dollars. Whereas a foreign company that does business in the US might be hedging their US business out of dollars back into the local currency.

I think that what some  people need is a reiteration of the basic strength and soundness of the PP strategy. Almost like a rehashing of the original Boglehead thread where we can illucidate the benefits and help overcome doubts using facts, charts, and graphs. I can start with the charts  ;) http:/...

Budd, You are the master of your portfolio. If you want more equities than there is nothing stopping you. In the past I have toyed around with the idea of... 20% US stocks 20% Int stocks 20% LTT 20% T-Bills 20% Gold However, don't you have a stock heavy VP? I am not sure why you are even upset right...

The sheer volume of these zealous right-wing posts make me worry, for example, because they imply that other posts on this forum are subject to lurking biases.  When intelligent people come to different conclusions one one topic, and the same conclusions on another topic, it makes you wonder which ...

The point is not what gold does verus inflation. The real question is does gold, bonds, bills, and stocks combined into one portfolio give you smooth real returns. Looking at assets in isolation never makes sense. For something as abstract as gold it makes even less sense.  :) I only care about what...

Man, that country is a train wreck.

Perhaps you should check more often so that you can empathize with those of us that are concerned. If you look once or twice per year and the portfolio is down 15-20%, what, if any, action would you take? I am concerned that I would capitulate. I can't imagine a scenario short of nuclear war where ...

What are your... impurities? 

Yeah once you start folding in a bunch of assets it gets really messy. I have contemplated allocating some of the equity piece to HY debt or emerging market bonds before, but it is kind of overcomplicating things and those funds have higher expense ratios. Also industrial commodities are more equity...

Budd,

You might enjoy a copy of Zvi Bodie's book "Worry Free Investing." You might be an investor that should be 100% short-term TIPS.

Now I kind of want to party with Burt.

I think wbern's article is quite timely:
http://www.efficientfrontier.com/ef/0adhoc/harry.htm

The PP is doing what it has always done. The real risk is not within the PP, but within yourself.

What about total market, FSTMX?

I would probably just go for whatever index fund has no transaction fee. Also, if you are sold on the idea of total market investing, keep in mind that the "total" bond market indices exclude TIPS! If you are not holding gold in a portfolio I think TIPS are better than no TIPS. Another thi...

For me it would be VT. Owning a slice of the world's capital assets is very appealing to me. I think global equities are one of the most resilient long term asset classes out there. Even the PP could potentially lose everything in a currency/bond collapse because you would be rebalancing into a blac...

Another great thing to keep in mind is human capital. Spikes in unemployment often occur at the same time as huge market declines. For most of us, the market value of our human capital has a positive correlation to the stock market. Harry Browne put human capital front and center, stating that the m...

I don't disagree that indexing is a wise path to take compared to investing by the seat of your pants.  I disagree with settling for being just average with the storms that are coming.  Thats what I feel a lot of people are doing, especially those with the time to be above average.  But maybe I'm p...

At this point TSLA might just be undergoing a REALLY fat short squeeze. Can you imagine being short TSLA? I would have nightmares about the stock becoming a microcosm of the tech bubble all over again. If this is true, a lot of shorts still have to cover (40% of the float!) so it could still skyrock...

Utah the 10th freest state?  Aren't their liquor laws ridiculous?  State-run stores and all that? Not that alcohol regulation is the best measure of freedom, but I think one person's inconvenience is another person's inexcusible offense... measuring freedom has to be somewhat difficult when differe...