Personal MBA (Josh Kaufman) & Permanent Portfolio Investing Strategy

[Bonafede]

I haven't seen this posted here yet, but for those familiar with Josh Kaufman he's got a very positive write-up on the PP, and advocates using it. Nice to see the love!

http://personalmba.com/permanent-portfolio/

[MediumTex]

That is a nice write-up.

It's nice to see the PP described in terms of what it actually does, rather than someone's opinion about the idea or the individual assets.

[blancalily]

Has any one used Folio Investing, as mentioned in Josh's post?

https://www.folioinvesting.com/

What do you think about it?

Edit - Oh, I see there was already another post about this.  In the words of Emily Litella "Never mind."

http://gyroscopicinvesting.com/forum/ht ... 119#p16119

[craigr]

Has any one used Folio Investing, as mentioned in Josh's post?

https://www.folioinvesting.com/

What do you think about it?

I have looked into them and folioinvesting and Share Builder are both good ways to do easy ETF investing for the portfolio. You have two options:

1) Set it up to buy four ETFs on each deposit for the stocks, bonds, cash and gold.

2) Set it up to buy the stocks, bonds and cash only. You buy physical gold and store securely yourself.

The above two options can be modified depending on account size, etc.

Big thing really is to keep transaction costs under control. If you have small amounts being deposited you may find the fees are eating away too much into your buys. In that case, I'd just wait to get a good sum of money and do the buys every quarter, six months, whatever.

But yes they are an interesting option for people that want that convenience.

[blancalily]

Thanks Craig. 

[Ad Orientem]

Bonafede
Excellent article.  Thanks for posting.

[HB Reader]

Has any one used Folio Investing, as mentioned in Josh's post?

https://www.folioinvesting.com/

What do you think about it?

Edit - Oh, I see there was already another post about this.  In the words of Emily Litella "Never mind."

http://gyroscopicinvesting.com/forum/ht ... 119#p16119

They are one of three brokerages we use for our PP.  I've used them for eleven years and have experienced very good service.  You pay a flat fee for an unlimited number of transactions that can be conducted in two "windows" during the day -- one at 11:00 and the other at 2:00.  You can also trade outside the windows for a small additional commission.  The only major disadvantage I've run into is that they will not buy or hold bonds.   

I haven't used their allocation tool because I don't balance everything in every account -- only in our total holdings.     

[Alanw]

That is a nice write-up.

It's nice to see the PP described in terms of what it actually does, rather than someone's opinion about the idea or the individual assets.

Being fairly new to the PP, it's comforting to receive additional validation.  I believe there was an article posted previously from this author.  But then again, maybe not.

[Tyler]

I actually ran across Josh's blog post before I read Fail Safe Investing or discovered this forum.  It's one of the major things that turned me on to the PP in general. 

[Lone Wolf]

Nicely done there, Josh Kaufman.  That's a very good intro to the PP's core concepts.

The simplicity of literally going with 4 ETFs and automatically rebalancing them makes me smile.  While I personally choose to employ a bit more complexity with hand-purchased T-bills, T-bonds, physical gold secured by drop bear and mini-gun turret, etc. I love that you can do something as simple as buy 4 ETFs and get results that are virtually identical.  That really lowers the barrier to entry.

Thanks for posting, Bonafede!

[hedgehog]

http://personalmba.com/permanent-portfolio/

Quote from the page:

Here’s the asset allocation:

• 25% Total Stock Market Index – via the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (Ticker: VTI)
• 25% Long-Term Government Bonds – via the iShares Barclays 20+ Year US Treasury Bond ETF (Ticker: TLT)
• 25% Gold – via Central Gold-Trust, which holds gold bullion (Ticker: GTU)
• 25% Cash – via the iShares Lehman 1-3 Year US Treasury Bond ETF (Ticker: SHY)

My question is what do you think of the particular choice of vehicles (ETFs)? If you want to go for a low fee stable variant are these 4 exactly good or would you exchange this for that?

For the gold part, as an example: I see some prefer Zurcher Kantonalbank gold but I am not overly paranoid. For me Canadian gold looks perfectly fine, too.

Low fees win!

[Ad Orientem]

• • http://personalmba.com/permanent-portfolio/

    Quote from the page:
    
    Here’s the asset allocation:
    • 25% Total Stock Market Index – via the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (Ticker: VTI)
    • 25% Long-Term Government Bonds – via the iShares Barclays 20+ Year US Treasury Bond ETF (Ticker: TLT)
    • 25% Gold – via Central Gold-Trust, which holds gold bullion (Ticker: GTU)
    • 25% Cash – via the iShares Lehman 1-3 Year US Treasury Bond ETF (Ticker: SHY)
    My question is what do you think of the particular choice of vehicles (ETFs)? If you want to go for a low fee stable variant are these 4 exactly good or would you exchange this for that?
    
    For the gold part, as an example: I see some prefer Zurcher Kantonalbank gold but I am not overly paranoid. For me Canadian gold looks perfectly fine, too.
    
    Low fees win!
  <- bug: can't remove this:

No real heartburn here with any of the listed ETF's. It has been pointed out that TLT lends out a rather large percentage of their shares. But that is true of most if not all of the LTT ETFs. It's is unlikely to become a problem barring an SHTF event. But if you want the last word in safety go with Treasury Direct. Personally I'm fine with ETF's for everything except the gold which I believe should be held physically. That's your SHTF insurance.

Very minor quibble... I lean towards VGLT vice TLT. It's a tad less pure LTT and it's notch down on the duration scale, but I trust Vanguard a bit more than Black Rock. And when you own Vanguard funds you are a shareholder in Vanguard itself. So if someone is going to benefit from the fees from lending out shares it will be you.

[hedgehog]

Let's play that you do not reveal the LTT acronym to me. How do I find what it means from Google? My searches so far resulted with no luck, including search on this very forum

Many thanks.

[Jan Van]

Let's play that you do not reveal the LTT acronym to me. How do I find what it means from Google? My searches so far resulted with no luck, including search on this very forum

Many thanks.

etf TLT

workes for me. brings up a performance graph and all...

[rickb]

Let's play that you do not reveal the LTT acronym to me. How do I find what it means from Google? My searches so far resulted with no luck, including search on this very forum

Many thanks.

etf TLT

workes for me. brings up a performance graph and all...

The request seems to be LTT, not TLT.  Various lists of financial abbreviations found by searching for "financial abbreviation ltt" don't seem to provide the answer - which is "long term treasuries".

[Ad Orientem]

Sorry about that. I too often fall into the habit of using acronyms assuming everyone knows what I mean. LTT = long term treasuries.

[Jan Van]

The request seems to be LTT, not TLT...

Oops. Feeling a bit dyslexic now. Sorry...

[above the herd]

I use Folio Investing for my IRA and have been happy with the service.

They charge 4 bucks a trade and 15 bucks a quarter if you don't trade in that quarter.

They let you make trades in dollar amounts rather than shares which I find convenient.

[PP67]

Just curious for an update on people's experience with FolioInvesting...

Thanks!