If the Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VGSIX, or its EFT share class VNQ) were a person, I’d say he must have bipolar. In the past few weeks, its prices changed from one end to another in rapid cycles. It could not make up its mind whether it wanted to go up or go down. One […]
Latest Blog Posts
Risk Tolerance Metric: Loss to Income Ratio
A common asset allocation advice is by the age of the investor. There is that rule of thumb “age in bonds” which says a 30-year-old should have 70% in stocks and 30% in bonds and so on. That of course does not take into consideration the investor’s risk tolerance. However, risk tolerance is somewhat vague […]
Joe Four-Pack
During the summer when food inflation was high, there were a lot of news reports about package shrinking. Instead of raising the price, companies just give you less and sell for the same price. That makes it easier for them to hide the price increase. This is still going on even though the inflation pressure […]
Old Money Versus New Money
If you make a change to your portfolio, say you add some more money into a fund, do you check the price the next day and see if your move made money? I do, and it doesn’t make much sense. If I have some money in a fund, I don’t check the prices every day […]
Too Many Banks
Do you think we have too many banks in the United States? There were 8,451 FDIC-insured banks as of June 30, 2008. Canada, on the other hand, with 1/10th of the population as the U.S., only has 81 banks, which can be listed on one page. On a per capita basis, we have 10 times […]
Solo 401k For Part-Time Self-Employment
Calculate how much you and the business can contribute to your solo 401k plan when you also contribute to a 401k plan at a different employer.
How Much Should You Put Into Flexible Spending Account (FSA)?
My company is doing open enrollment again for next year (for more info on what to choose in open enrollment, see previous posts). I’m not going to make any changes except I have to re-enroll for flexible spending account (FSA). If you use flexible spending account, you should be familiar with the use-it-or-lose-it rule. If […]
Bond Proposals on Ballot
I have quite a few bond proposals on my November 4th ballot. I voted (by mail) for one measure for public transportation, another for public schools and against the others. What’s interesting to me is that the proposals all say there is no tax increase because the bond repayments will be paid out of the […]
Tax Loss Harvesting and Missing the Best Days
When news about the $700 billion bailout plan first came out last month, the U.S. stock market staged a big rally on September 18 and 19. The S&P 500 index rose 8.5% in two days. Respected author Larry Swedroe posted this on the Bogleheads forum on Sunday, September 21: “It is often discussed about TLH […]
TIPS During Deflation
[Updated on Oct. 28, 2008. All yields are real yields, after inflation/deflation adjustments.] While the stock market was in turmoil, the real yields on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) rose to an attractive level. The real yield on 10-year TIPS broke the magic 3% number, a level that hasn’t been reached for many years. Many […]