I was in the same situation, we just had a total bond fund.  If your company allows it, set up a 401K brokerage account.

If they do not, then try to put the long term bonds in an IRA.  This will avoid taxation on the interest each year.

If you can't use your 401K for the treasury bonds, then a non-deductible IRA would be a better place to house them than a traditional since the interest wouldn't be taxed each year. 

I'd buy what's on sale. Occasionally some coins are relatively cheaper compared to the normal premium over spot.

I was looking for an way to compare the PP against a conventional stock-bond blend and saw the Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 fund (I have about 11 years until I can retire so I thought this would be close enough). I noticed that this fund is 65% equities That is pretty scary indeed. My company, w...

After observing gold in a deflationary (sorta) recession, I guess I'd have to say that while it's number one factor would be troublesome inflation, negative real interest rates also seem to have a pretty solid effect on golds price.  Remember, gold isn't an industrial commodity (at least not at cur...

I was listening to some of the old HB radio shows and he is very clear that gold only reacts strongly to high inflation.  Obviously we are not there, so does anyone have any thoughts on how to reconcile HB's thoughts on gold and inflation with the run up in price over the last few years?  If LT Trea...

I was looking for an way to compare the PP against a conventional stock-bond blend and saw the Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 fund (I have about 11 years until I can retire so I thought this would be close enough).  I noticed that this fund is 65% equities -- seems way too high for someone with tha...

I agree with some of the previous posts -- the HB PP is, IMHO, safer than any single investment no matter what that investment is.

We don't have to speculate: We had it, with the Rodney King riots and Katrina.  Ref: Korean shop owners/L.A. and "Drunks with Guns" defending their neighborhoods, Katrina.  Lawlessness like the rioters will not spread to suburban neighborhoods in America (especially in Texas!) because the...

Brazilian savings accounts actually have an inflation adjustment that is in addition to the rate.  But I am not well-versed enough to know if it is equal to the rate of inflation or just a partial adjustment.

I am a fan of having some FX, but I don't count it as part of the PP cash piece.

Moda, good point regarding EE bonds.  I haven't considered them in the past since FDIC savings account rates were higher, and I Bonds included inflation protection.  Now that short treasuries yield near zero, and savings account rates are typically no more than 1%, maybe we should take another look...

If you are sitting on a pile of cash I wouldn't let the recent run-up in the price of gold (or long term Treasurys) prevent me from jumping in.  If, on the other hand, you are going to go from stocks to a PP, then I personally would average in over time (others may have different opinions).  For exa...

I can't speak to the speculative aspects of platinum, but I think the last five trading days has demonstrated quite effectively why gold is by far the best precious metal to have in the PP. 

My recommendation for you is to put all new contributions into cash. *All* contributions. If this contribution into cash triggers a rebalancing event, then perform it as scheduled. You stated you are overweight in cash, but not whether this new $15k would push you past the 35% rebalancing band. By ...

Here's the brighter side: we'll most likely see better equity valuations over the next 5 years (inflation adjusted).  PE10 was as high as 24 recently.  Today's shellacking took it down to 20.8.  The median rests around 16 and secular bottoms have been around 10.  We won't see prosperity again until...

Once you are up and running buying Tbills is pretty simple.  You can buy a mix of Tbills (one-year, six-months, 30-days) to create your own preferred average maturity, and have them automatically reinvest if you wish.  I can't speak for how easy or hard it is to sell them though.  I think a blend o...

I admit, today is a terrible day, but the simulated PP I started on August 1st is still up 0.8%. I am not second guessing the PP, but rather questioning my timing in rebalancing the portfolio with new money. That is why I decided to just add to cash and rebalance once per year, or perhaps just wait...

Saw this on Yahoo finance http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Dow-average-plunges-513-worst-apf-169769799.html;_ylt=Avq3xihLiZvznRTyxn1vKm.7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE3MjM2cGN1BHBvcwMxBHNlYwNicmVha2luZ05ld3MEc2xrA3N0b2Nrc3NpbmthbQ--?x=0 Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott, an inve...

Thanks All I ended up mixing a few of them, including BIL and SHV, as I have an account at www.foliofn.com which has unlimited trades ($270 a year) and allows fractional share buying etc. I have never actually bought treasuries directly but sometimes the obvious answer is overlooked - thanks. Maybe...

While anytime may be a good time to begin a PP, March of 2009 (for example) would not have been the ideal time to start one.  But of course only with hindsight can you know this. A quick look at PRPFX shows that March of 2009 would have been a near perfect time to buy it. Why are you saying March o...

If already in cash I would have no qualms whatsoever about starting a PP now.  If, on the other hand, I was mostly in stocks I would be more hesitant.  While I freely admit that I can't predict the future, I would feel much better if it were stocks that were up double-digits while moving into other ...

I say do it with money you can afford to lose -- so take money from the VP, if you have one, to invest in FX.  I would not take it from the PP.

Usually the next tool to stimulate the economy (whether you think that's a good thing or bad thing) is fiscal stimulus. Who thinks we'll see much more of that any time soon? That's a joke right? Didn't we already do all of this back in 1937?  That was when Congress got it in their heads that what t...

Why not just buy T-bills from TreasuryDirect since outside the 401k?

I will continue to stick by my prediction that it won't happen.  Of course after today's abysmal GDP report, my prediction looks less certain, although I still think that the Fed will sit this one out.

But feel free to remind me how lousy my predictive abilities are if I'm proven wrong.