Archive for January, 2008
Most hardcore independent travelers will agree that you can pack for a year ’round the world in just one carry-on. Being able to fit your life into one backpack is almost a meditation exercise for me. It makes me feel free. But since this is a money blog, here are some financial benefits of packing light:
- More fun time. You don’t have to arrive to the airport as early, and you don’t waste time waiting around at the baggage claim after arriving. Now you have more time to soak in the culture!
- No lost luggage. You don’t have to worry about lost or damaged checked luggage, and spending money replacing items in a foreign country.
- Increased airport flexibility. Being one unit allows you to easily be “bumped” onto another airline, or you might go standby on an earlier flight. Similarly, if you miss a connection, you don’t have to pray that your luggage will still show up.
- Cheaper transportation. You can take public transportation everywhere with ease - subways, crowded trains, even hanging off of a farmer’s truck. You can also walk longer distances without suffering.
So I thought I’d share some of the somewhat specialized gear that I actually don’t mind spending money on. I would have to say 75% of my stuff was bought at either the REI Outlet or Columbia Outlet stores.
Luggage - REI Tour Pack
I don’t think REI makes this anymore, but it’s a pretty simple bag and cost about $125. It’s basically a big squarish backpack exactly the size limit of a carry-on, with nice padded shoulder straps and compression straps too. Good quality, YKK zippers. There is also a small detachable daypack - perfect for carrying your rain jacket, maps, guidebooks, and bottle of water when out and about. A similar bag would be Rick Steves’ Classic Back Door Bag
Clothing
The general idea here to have it be lightweight, look casual, and be fast-drying. That way you can just hand wash them at night in the hotel room and have them ready to go in the morning. I love my REI Sahara Convertible Pants. They convert to shorts easily, so it’s one less thing to pack. You can also buy hiking or “travel” shirts, socks, and even underwear that can be hand-washed and will dry overnight. My next purchase will be some nice travel boxers of Ex Officio. Technically, you could simply buy one of each of these, and just wash as needed! I think I’ll spring for at least 3 of each.
I always bring a good fleece jacket, but since I own one already that isn’t an extra expense.
Silk Money Belt
This “personal lockbox” allows me to sleep in hostels and walk around busy areas while keeping my passports and credit cards safe. It’s highly unlikely someone will poke around there without me noticing. Besides, it’s actually pretty comfortable. Here’s an example for $13.
Extra Toiletries Kit
I basically bought some cheap travel-sized (and TSA approved) plastic bottles, and made a duplicate of all the personal products I use everyday. I don’t move things in and out of my toiletry bag, it’s always 100% packed. Contact lenses, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, comb, whatever. So when I need to pack, I just grab it and go.
Electrical
I would like to say I have a sleek 3 lb. laptop and some nice GSM cell phone/internet hookup, but I actually don’t pack anything electrical with me besides my camera. Just about everything I need can be accessed by finding an internet cafe. I can post to blogs from anywhere, or even log into my computer remotely if desired.
More Links
Packing Light & Right - Rick Steves
Carrying off the art of one carry-on - SF Chronicle
The Travelite FAQ
Please share your own tips as well in the comments! Right now I’m trying to figure out how to fit in a week in Thailand in March or April. Gotta work on my mid-term goal 
Posted in Frugal Living, Travel | 29 Comments »
When deciding on your portfolio’s asset allocation, another option beyond broad stock funds in domestic or international markets is to invest in is real estate. Besides directly owning a home or office complex, an easy way to get exposure is to own Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs.
What is an REIT?
From the National Association of REITs website:
A REIT is a company that owns, and in most cases, operates income-producing real estate such as apartments, shopping centers, offices, hotels and warehouses. Some REITs also engage in financing real estate. The shares of many REITs are freely traded, usually on a major stock exchange.
To qualify as a REIT, a company must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to its shareholders annually. A company that qualifies as a REIT is permitted to deduct dividends paid to its shareholders from its corporate taxable income. As a result, most REITs remit at least 100 percent of their taxable income to their shareholders and therefore owe no corporate tax.
Since the REIT income essentially “passes through” directly to the shareholders, you are getting relatively direct exposure to commercial real estate. You’re not investing in a builder, or some other funky derivative. There are both domestic and international REITs, but lots of the following is based on US REITs.
Characteristics of REITs
Long-term historical data for REITs are not directly available, as there was not necessarily a consistent index to track them, or actual broad mutual funds investing in them. I’ve read various estimates from varying companies and academic studies via different books for returns (annualized).
To generalize, the performance of REITs is a little less than that of broad stock indexes, but higher than the return from bonds.
However, the main reason why many investment professionals and institutions all invest in REITs is that they have a historically low correlation with the overall stock markets, and also the bond market. This diversification benefit allows you to incorporate Modern Portfolio Theory and try to construct a portfolio with a better return/risk ratio than you had previously.
Read the rest of this entry…
Posted in Investing | 27 Comments »
We’ve been slowly moving forward with the home-buying process, but I’ve fallen behind on the updates. We are far from experts and we might have done it all wrong, but here’s how we found our buyer’s agent to represent us. We started by essentially interviewing ourselves.
Preliminary Research
First, we had to see what was out there. We went on Open Houses every single weekend for months. We looked at houses in “bad” neighborhoods, “good” neighborhoods, and everything in between. We looked at homes priced from $260,000 to $3,800,000. High-rise condos, nice townhouses, detached houses, even a shack with no water heater (but great lot). Close by and far away.
Next, we used online resources such as MLS listing websites. These days you can get a ton of information online in most metro areas, including e-mail updates of new listings. However, I am always suspicious that these sites are somewhat delayed compared to what real estate agents who pays hundreds of dollars for “real” MLS access gets. But by poking around online you can find recent sold data, tax records with previous sales history and home sketches through the city or county, and more.
By combining the real-life visits and the data available online, we started getting really good at doing our own home appraisals. By taking careful note of prices, price drops, whether the house sold or not, and for how much they sold for, we got a feel for the housing markets in different areas. We would predict whether a new listing would be sold within a week, or if it would languish for months. This allowed us to help narrow down what we cared about, and how much each separate feature might cost us.
Oh, and we asked our friends a lot of questions. 
Deciding On Our Needs
This helped us figure out what we wanted from a buyer’s agent:
- Access to homes. Real estate agents will often give each other lockbox codes with no problems, but not just random people calling them up. This can get us in faster, and often with less hassle.
- Shield us from other agents. When a listing agent sees a buyer without an agent, what they see is potential client to show other houses too. They start asking more questions about what we do, what neighborhoods we’re looking at, and so on. We just want the facts on the house.
- Guidance after offer acceptance. Our parents, brothers, sisters, friends - they all have bought houses. I’ve read enough books to know what the steps are and what the terminology is, but it’s still good to have someone who’s done it 100 times before and seen all the potential hiccups.
- Patience. I would be upfront with the fact that we were going to be direct and picky buyers. We don’t want to see every house, just the select few that meet our criteria. We want to see a house, decide on a price we were willing to pay, and make an offer the same day. If they refuse, then we move on. If we don’t see a house we like for months, then that’s also fine with us. In that way, we didn’t need to be called every day or feel pressured. But if something did come up, we would be willing to move fast. We have the down payment and mortgage pre-approval ready to go.
- A second opinion and another set of eyes. I have a father-in-law that can just about build a house by himself, so that helps us a lot. But just having an experienced person point out flaws or features can be great.
Now, could we find such a person, and perhaps even get a commission rebate? I mean, we are talking about a $500,000+ home here. It turns out we could, and we did. (To be continued in Part 2.)
Posted in Real Estate | 34 Comments »
Earn more. Save more. Those are the two ways to get out of debt or build wealth. I’m a big proponent of doing both, but I think for many people it is easier to cut back on some luxuries rather than look for a raise or more work. It’s also more effective, and here’s why: Let’s say you are single and your (taxable) gross income is $50,000 a year. If you were to go out and earn another additional $1 at as an employee, here’s how that $1 would get broken down:
You’d only keep 58 cents. On top of that, a lot of extra or freelance work is done as an independent contractor. That means you’re self-employed and get the happy task of paying another 7.65% of payroll taxes (the employer share), which brings your total tax hit to 49.6%! So in order to keep $1 in your pocket, you’d have to get someone to pay you $1.99. Then your choice becomes:
This fact helps me visualize the balance between spending and saving in my head. Now when you save $1, you can feel good knowing that you’d have to have earned $2 of income to equal that. But on the flip side, when I get a check from a project for $500, I know I’ll only keep $250. 
The Small Print
- This is a specific example, your tax situation may vary. Also note that this isn’t the average tax rate on all your income, but for the next $1 you might earn.
- You might get a portion of your Social Security or Medicare taxes back in the future, even though your taxes aren’t being saved or invested anywhere; it’s being paid out immediately to current retirees. In any case, the return on investment certainly won’t be that great.
- Some states don’t have an income tax, but may have higher sales tax or property tax rates. But remember, a sales tax is basically a tax on income that you spend!
- You’re allowed to deduct half of your self-employment tax from your adjusted gross income, which saves you a bit in taxes.
Posted in Frugal Living, Taxes | 58 Comments »
State Farm is again offering TurboTax Online for for free to their customers. It’s a pretty good deal, including both Federal and State software with eFile. You must be registered on StateFarm.com and have “at least one product (Bank, Insurance and/or Mutual Funds) displaying on [your] My Account page”. To check, just log into your account and look for this link:
Click on the “FREE tax filing” link and you’ll get a popup with a special link to TurboTax (always go through this link in the future as well). Here is a screenshot of the free pricing page.
If you’re not a State Farm customer, you can still get Federal + eFile for free at TaxAct, with State filing being an extra $13.95. No rebates required!
Posted in Deals & Offers, Taxes | 18 Comments »
Two, count ‘em two, of my old hard drives died last week. And this web site went haywire (multiple times). I had the major files backed up, but my need for a better backup system became apparent. Ideally, it would be free, automated, and online. So what’s out there? Here are the best options I found:
- Online Backup. The leader in automated, online backups seems to Mozy Online Backup. They have paid plans, but still give you 2 GB free with MozyHome Free. Another site, iDrive, also offers 2 GB free.. Transmission is encrypted, but security during storage may be a concern for very sensitive files. This isn’t really a concern for me, as I don’t have much sensitive stuff. Another downside is if this start-up dies, then so do your files. Recently, a similar site called Omnidrive shut down abruptly with little warning.
- Gmail via Gspace or Gmail Drive. - Use your 2GB+ of free storage with a Gmail account. Gmail Drive lets you use it as as drive within for Windows, and Gspace lets you transfer files using the Firefox browser. To automate transfers to Gmail is a bit trickier, but here is a guide at LifeHacker.
- FTP to existing server. If you have a web-hosting service, try combining that with Syncback Freeware to make an automatic backup system. You’re already paying for the hosting anyway, and most give you a ton more storage than you really need. (Another LifeHacker guide for Syncback)
Having good backups both directly and indirectly saves me money in the long run. I just need to invest the time to set things up now.
Posted in Frugal Living | 25 Comments »
Amazon Prime, in case you don’t know, is a premium service where you get free 2nd-day shipping on most items with no minimum, even if you’re just spending $5. Very convenient. The normal cost for turning Amazon into your impulse-buying superstore is $79 per year (not available to Alaska, Hawaii, P.O. boxes, APO/FPO and U.S. territories).
This might be old, but it appears that if you are signing up for a new account with a new e-mail address, you will be offered a 1 month free trial right now. You’ll need to supply a credit card number, but you can set it so you don’t have to remember to cancel if you take the following steps:
- Click on Your Account.
- If you’re not there yet, scroll down and click on Subscriptions Management > Manage Your Amazon Prime Membership.
- Look for green text. Click on the Do Not Upgrade button and you won’t automatically be charged $79 anymore. You’ll still get the entire 1st month of free Amazon Prime shipping.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 3 Comments »
Reader’s Digest has an article titled Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires. The “secrets” aren’t exactly groundbreaking:
- Set your sights on where you’re going
- Educate yourself
- Passion pays off
- Grow your money
- No guts, no glory
- Stop spending
… but I always enjoy reading such stories anyway. In addition, sprinkled throughout the article are several interesting quotes which hit home for me.
They are motivated by freedom
What motivates them isn’t material possessions but the choices that money can bring: “For the rich, it’s not about getting more stuff. It’s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,” says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Wealth means you can send your child to any school or quit a job you don’t like.
Most did not start out rich
The reality is that 80 percent of Americans worth at least $5 million grew up in middle-class or lesser households.
They have a passion for what they do
According to research by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, over 80 percent of millionaires say they never would have been successful if their vocation wasn’t something they cared about.
They don’t flaunt their wealth
But many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us. […] According to the 2007 Annual Survey of Affluence & Wealth in America, some of the richest people “spend their money with a middle-class mind-set.” They clip coupons, wait for sales and buy luxury items at a discount.
All of these characteristics are ones that I aspire to have!
The idea that “millionaires are all around you but you just don’t notice them” reminds me of the popular book The Millionaire Next Door. In fact, Stanley above was a co-author. (Sadly, the other author Danko now speaks at get-rich-quick seminars.) The book has been bashed at times as being statistically flawed and simply telling people what they want to hear. Perhaps, but I think there is more than a little truth behind it as well.
Posted in Entrepreneurial, Frugal Living | 9 Comments »
TradeKing is offering a $100 bonus (edit: may be targeted to specific people only) for new households opening an account with at least $2,500, and making one trade. You must keep $1,000 in the account for the first 6 months. I could not find a related TradeKing promotional code for this offer, but it appears to be valid. Check out my TradeKing review for some of my experiences and account tips.
OptionsXpress is also offering a $100 bonus if you open an account and fund with at least $500 by 3/31/08. They will also cover any transfer fees up to $100 if you move your entire account (of at least $2,000 value) to them. They have some cheap options contract prices if you are a very active trader. For equity trades, their commissions start at $10 which isn’t too special. $100 might convince me to check them out, though.
Posted in Deals & Offers, Investing | 2 Comments »
If you leave your job and have a 401k or 403b left behind, the common advice is to roll it over into a Rollover IRA. There are several benefits to doing so, but here are the biggies:
- You maintain the tax-deferred status of the investment. For a traditional 401k, you would still be subject to ordinary income tax upon withdrawal, but along the way it would continue to grow tax-free. If you took the money as a lump sum, you would be subject to both taxes and penalties right away (with specific exceptions).
- Increased flexibility in investments. Most 401k plans have relatively limited investment choices, but you can open up an IRA at a variety of places. You can the invest in individual stocks, different mutual funds, bonds, ETFs, annuities, or even just a bank certificate of deposit.
- Save money by paying less fees. Along the same vein, many 401ks contain mutual funds with relatively high expense ratios compared to what is available on the open market. Many would recommend switching to low-cost index funds.
- You can consolidate accounts. You can combine the Rollover IRA with your other IRAs of the same time (Roth or Traditional Pre-Tax). One less thing to manage.
- Estate Planning perks.With an IRA, you have the ability to create a “Stretch IRA”, where your child can inherit and IRA and have the distributions “stretched out” across their longer life expectancy. This allows for more time to tax-free growth.
But many of these perks get overshadowed when you have a small 401k balance. My wife has an old 401k with only $2,000 in it at Fidelity. She gets to choose from a variety of Fidelity funds, including their Spartan index funds with 0.10% expense ratios, all with no minimum investment requirements. In addition, I don’t believe she is being charged any sort of administrative fees. We haven’t rolled it over to an IRA because:
- Lonely IRA. We have no Traditional-type IRAs to merge it with at this time. We’d just be left with a $2,000 IRA.
- Flexibility? If we moved it to Vanguard with the rest of our IRAs, we would not meet the $3,000 minimum for most of the funds. The only fund we could buy would be the Vanguard STAR fund.
- No money to be saved? At most brokers, paying a commission for every trade on only $2,000 would really eat into the balance. We could move it to Zecco, which has free trades but also a $30 annual IRA fee. We can do better staying put, although if our existing investment choices were worse, finding a low-cost brokerage and switching to buying ETFs might be an option.
- Itty-bitty estate. Again for small balances, this isn’t much of a factor in my opinion. No kids, anyhow
We could also move it to her new 403b, but it also has less-than-ideal investment choices. For now, it seems like the best move is really to stay put at Fidelity until there is a better opportunity. However, I would agree that our situation is a relatively rare case.
Posted in Investing, Retirement | 4 Comments »
Credit Card Debt
If you’re a newer reader, you may have some concerns about my high levels of credit card debt. I’m actually taking money from 0% APR balance transfer offers and instead of spending it, I am placing it in high yield savings accounts that actually earn me 5% interest or more, and keeping the difference as profit!
Along with other things, this helps me earn extra side income of thousands of dollars a year. Recently I put together a series of step-by-step posts on how I do this. Please check it out first if you have any questions. This is why, although I have the ability to pay the balances off, I choose not to.
Cash Savings, Unknown Goals
These numbers are as of January 1st, but I didn’t post them because I was hoping to announce new goals at the same time. But I haven’t pinned them down exactly yet. I know that do want to create a formal emergency fund, as opposed to just relying on the existing cash cushion we have right now from our future house down payment. So that’s where the cash increase will go towards. We also still need to re-examine our insurance needs.
(Added) Again for newer readers, this is the total net worth for both my wife and myself. We are (now) both working professionals in our late 20s making sizable incomes in the six-figure range. Until recently I was still in school (again). Our expenses are low right now right now, not having a huge mortgage to support… yet. But we do want a house and want to put 20% down if we can, so that is what the large amounts of cash savings are for.
Retirement and Brokerage accounts
Our investments overall have dropped another 2-3% since last month. As reported in our retirement portfolio update, we have both placed $15,500 into each of our 401k/403b plans this year. For 2008, I think we will try and make the contributions more spread out across the year in order to dollar-cost-average and make our cashflow more consistent.
You can see our previous net worth updates here.
Posted in Goals | 5 Comments »
Okay, so I’ve decided upon an asset allocation plan. Now for my least favorite part - juggling and cramming all those asset classes into several different accounts. First, I’ll list my existing accounts, their estimated current balances, and my flexibility in investment options.
| Account Type |
Est. Value |
Fund Choices |
| Roth IRA #1 |
$46,000 |
Vanguard funds w/ no transaction fee (NTF) |
| Roth IRA #2 |
$13,000 |
All Vanguard funds |
| Traditional 401k #1 |
$23,000 |
All Fidelity funds+ ETFs w/ $20 commission |
| Traditional 403b #2 |
$14,500 |
Limited low-cost fund choices (S&P 500 index fund, DODGX)
|
| Traditional 401k #3 (old job) |
$2,000 |
Select Fidelity funds |
| Total Value |
$98,500 |
|
So I’ve got 7 asset classes to fit in 5 accounts. Below is a chart that shows the major asset classes sorted by tax efficiency:
Next, I combine my chosen 86% stocks/14% bonds with my asset allocation to find the breakdown below:
| Asset Class |
Percentage of Total Portfolio |
Est. Value |
| Short-Term Treasury Bonds |
7% |
$7,000 |
| TIPS |
7% |
$7,000 |
| Real Estate |
8.6% |
$8,500 |
| US Small Value |
8.6% |
$8,500 |
| Emerging Markets |
8.6% |
$8,500 |
| International Large |
25.8% |
$25,500 |
| US Large |
34.4% |
$34,000 |
| Totals |
100% |
$99,000 |
For example, with 40% of all stocks as US Large, I get 40% x 86% = 34.4% US Large over my entire portfolio. You might notice that I also sorted them in the tax-efficient order given above.
But in this case, I also need to consider the availability of low-cost index funds as well as placement, especially since all my money is already in tax-deferred accounts. My Roth IRAs are all with Vanguard with a wide variety of index choices, but my Traditional 401ks are limited to a few select index funds. After spending some time with a pencil, paper, and good eraser, here is the compromise I have worked out:
Roth IRA #1
$7,000 Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Fund (VFISX)
$3,000 Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VGSIX)
$8,500 Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index Fund (VISVX)
$8,500 Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (VEIEX)
$19,000 Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX)
Roth IRA #2
$7,000 Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX)
$6,000 Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VGSIX)
Traditional 401k #1
$23,000 Fidelity Spartan International Index Fund (FSIIX)
Traditional 403b #2
$14,500 Diversified [S&P 500 Index] Fund (DISFX)
Traditional 401k #3 (old job)
$1,000 Fidelity Spartan Total Market Index Fund (FSTMX)
$1,000 Fidelity Spartan International Index Fund (FSIIX)
On additional reason for this particular set up is to accommodate future growth. As the year progresses, I can continue to buy more shares of the largest asset classes (FSIIX and DISFX) in our 401ks. To retain the target asset allocation if things get out of whack, I can sell VTSMX in my Roth IRA and buy other funds as needed, with only a $3,000 minimum for most funds. I avoid any other low-balance fees at Vanguard by choosing electronic delivery of statements. In the future, I may switch my IRAs to an brokerage account to simply buy ETFs, but I don’t think that is necessary quite yet. I like the current simplicity and good service.
(By the way, I have such large Roth IRA balances because I did a Traditional-to-Roth conversion while our tax brackets were lower than they are now.)
Posted in Investing, Retirement | 8 Comments »
Over the last year or so, I’ve learned a lot of new things about investing and asset allocation. At the same time, I know that changing your asset allocation too frequently is often a response to recent market activity (aka performance chasing, or market timing). In addition, I’m a highly analytical person and I love for things to have a correct answer to 5 significant figures before committing… which is pretty much impossible here. But at some point I know I just need to take action if I truly believe it is an improvement.
Previous Asset Allocation
In April 2006, I moved from the all-in-one Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund (VTIVX) to a portfolio with more asset classes in an attempt to better optimize risk/reward factors based on historical data. You can see the asset allocation breakdown here. This asset allocation is pretty much what I have right now, except that I added a Micro-Cap stock fund and we moved money into a 401k with limited investment options.
Interim Asset Allocation
I’m still continuing my series on building my portfolio, so I won’t explain all my actions here, but here are some quick summaries:
- Stocks/bonds allocation. I am shifting to a age-based formula for my stocks percentage. Using 115 minus my age, I am at 86% stocks and 14% bonds.
- Domestic/international allocation. I am increasing my international allocation to better match the world market. It’s essentially 50/50 if you think REITs are a separate asset class.
- Small/Value/Emerging Markets. These sub-classes are riskier than their overall market, but have been shown to have diversification benefits. Even if they don’t in the future, I am okay with them simply being more risky along with higher returns. Essentially, I am taking the total markets, and increasing the portion of one additional asset class which I think has the highest diversification benefits. For example, Small Value is a subset of Total US market, and Emerging Markets is a subset of the Total International market.
- Real Estate. I’m still holding REITs, as they are a way to invest in commercial real estate, and have also been shown to provide diversification benefits. Will give more references later.
- Micro-Cap, International Value, and Large Value. I think all of these potentially good asset classes to hold, but I think they are of lesser overall importance than the others. So in an effort to simplify, I am dropping them as separate funds. I still continue to have exposure the asset classes within other funds.
- New Bonds Allocation. I’ve been meaning to this for a while. I’ve been holding an intermediate-term corporate bond fund because it used to have a lower expense ratio after various fees. Inflation-protected bonds are still pretty new, but I’ve been convinced of their utility. I’ve also been convinced that bond ratings agencies just aren’t that good at their jobs, so I’m sticking with the highest quality bonds (Treasuries). The book Unconventional Success was a big influence here.
I call this my interim asset allocation because while I’m very confident this new setup fits my needs and preferences better than my previous asset allocation, I know that I will continue to learn and read. But just like with football coaches, this interim asset allocation might just become my permanent one.
In addition to all the books that I have read (and am still reading), I’d also like to say thanks to the many smart and helpful folks over at the Diehards.org forums for all the indirect and direct help. (I post anonymously at both forums.) Even though they sometimes feed my tendency towards complexity, I love the wealth of information that is available.
Posted in Investing, Retirement | 5 Comments »
I am a proponent and investor in low-cost, passive-managed mutual funds, but even within that philosophy there can be a dizzying array of choices. Although this has been taking a lot longer than I had hoped, but here is an updated compilation of posts about my thought process when re-building my portfolio.
Section 1: Simplified Theoretical Stuff
- Disclaimer and General Philosophy
- Consider Simply Buying The Entire Market
- Efficient Frontier and Modern Portfolio Theory
Section 2: Choosing An Asset Allocation
- Deciding On The Stocks/Bonds Ratio
- Deciding On The Domestic/International Ratio
- Considering The Diversification Benefits Of Small and Value Stocks
- Equity Asset Allocation: Comparison of 8 Model Portfolios
Posted in Investing, Retirement | No Comments »
Here are some follow-ups on some recent posts:
Cast Iron Skillet: The Ultimate Smart and Frugal Cookware?
- Amazon actually sent it separately by 2nd-day Air, I can only assume to make sure it arrived without damage. But sending a $15 pot by 2nd-day air? Curious.
- I’ve used it twice to cook steaks and then again for some veggies for fajitas. Seared and delicious! My only comment is that the 12″ model that I got is a beast. If I had to do it again, I’d go for the 10″ model or even the 8″ one to reduce the weight. At least I already own a 12″ lid that fits my skillet perfectly.
Merry Christmas Sweetie! I Got You… Nothing.
- I ended up stumbling onto something small but thoughtful that my wife would like. It’s something that I would have bought her anyways even if it wasn’t for Christmas, but it made me feel a tad less guilty. In any case, I still think it’s better to have unexpected displays of affection.
U-Haul vs. Penske Moving Truck Rentals: Share Your Story
- We ended up going with U-Haul for the local move. The U-Haul truck was pretty beat-up, but I carefully recorded all the dings (most were already marked with stickers) on the contract. Brakes were really mushy, but everything was in working order. We only ended up racking up about 32 miles, and it was pretty uneventful. I would use them again for another local move, but I would have gone with Penske for a long-distance move.
What Are We Saving For, Anyways? Our Life Goals and “Retirement” Plans
- I like these goals so much better, that I’m thinking of getting rid of my $1,000,000 status bar on top. Who cares if I’m 1% closer to a million every couple of months anyways? It doesn’t really even motivate me. I just need to think of a way to measure my progress that’s not simply an income number.
Posted in General | No Comments »
