Search found 319 matches

by drumminj
Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Privacy
Replies: 10
Views: 2632

Re: Privacy

Perhaps one of the biggest things we can do to maintain some semblance of privacy is to use cash payment at retailers. I only use cash in restaurants / bars. By keeping cash alive, at least a small amount of privacy can be maintained. +1. It also keeps the banks from taking a cut of the transaction...
by drumminj
Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:00 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: I need to buy some gold!
Replies: 31
Views: 9180

Re: I need to buy some gold!

I Shrugged wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:28 am
Now I need to learn the details of where I would be wiring money to, and whether the cash account with them is a foreign bank account.
I just use the bill pay function of my local credit union to get funds there...haven't had an issue with it/need to use wire transfers.
by drumminj
Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:58 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: I need to buy some gold!
Replies: 31
Views: 9180

Re: I need to buy some gold!

sophie wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:14 pm
But you still have to file FBAR and the income tax form when your holdings hit the appropriate thresholds.
My CPA advised me otherwise. Not saying the IRS will agree, but when I inquired about bullion held overseas I was told such reporting wasn't required.
by drumminj
Tue Mar 23, 2021 2:15 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: I need to buy some gold!
Replies: 31
Views: 9180

Re: I need to buy some gold!

For those of you who have gold offshore, or even further than a drive, do you have something in place where your spouse or heirs can recover it without complications? Recover doesn't have to mean taking physical possession; recognition by the company you're working with is enough. Does having the a...
by drumminj
Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:37 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: I need to buy some gold!
Replies: 31
Views: 9180

Re: I need to buy some gold!

I looked at them a lot. I never like to be a pioneer. So I take it you like them? So far I've been happy, but it's easy to be happy in "good" times. I've never withdrawn money, or physical metal, so I can't speak to that. For now, they're just a place I've sent money and they tell me they're holdin...
by drumminj
Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:10 am
Forum: Gold
Topic: I need to buy some gold!
Replies: 31
Views: 9180

Re: I need to buy some gold!

Would you consider something like BullionVault, which has storage in Singapore, Switzerland, etc? You can have your holdings in specific reserved bars (by serial#) vs generic allocated storage, if you like.

I'm not affiliated, but am a customer.
by drumminj
Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:15 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Let's debate the Permanent Portfolio
Replies: 105
Views: 19268

Re: Let's debate the Permanent Portfolio

I think if we peel the onion back, most thread back and forths on the PP (or any portfolio on this and other boards) come down to a discussion of whether history will hold or if "this time is different." I think this completely explains the gold vs. BTC threads that have popped up as of late. So I ...
by drumminj
Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:54 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Safe Withdrawal Rates
Replies: 28
Views: 4030

Re: Safe Withdrawal Rates

I'm a lot more worried about unforeseen expenses than about prolonged market conditions that might cause issues with a 4% withdrawal rate. If your budget includes a healthy dose of discretionary spending and generous budgets for things like groceries, you can temporarily cut spending if there's a m...
by drumminj
Sat Feb 06, 2021 9:01 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Safe Withdrawal Rates
Replies: 28
Views: 4030

Re: Safe Withdrawal Rates

Maybe the mods can split off the last page or so into a separate SWR thread since it relates only very loosely to the thread topic of “Milestones to Financial Freedom”? Which post do you want the new thread to start with? Thanks for forking this, dualstow . I should have just started/linked another...
by drumminj
Sat Feb 06, 2021 7:13 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Safe Withdrawal Rates
Replies: 28
Views: 4030

Safe Withdrawal Rates

BTW, if you're running a PP the equivalent SWR is closer to 5% than the 4% the classic studies found by only looking at stocks and bonds. So you may be even farther along than you realize. Congrats! Does everyone here think these SWRs still hold true in the current climate? My SO and I are on the g...
by drumminj
Fri Jan 01, 2021 8:01 am
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: 2020 Permanent Portfolio Return Poll
Replies: 15
Views: 6042

Re: 2020 Permanent Portfolio Return Poll

Right at 15% here, but I don't bother doing the actual math to deal with contributions during the year as they're small compared to the overall portfolio size.
by drumminj
Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:25 am
Forum: Politics
Topic: Whoa: Nearly a Third of Democrats Believe the Election Was Stolen From Trump
Replies: 134
Views: 24416

Re: Whoa: Nearly a Third of Democrats Believe the Election Was Stolen From Trump

Wow, what's happened to this forum? It used to be a place filled with intelligent, well thought out discussions on a wide range of topics. Now it's an echo chamber where the crazies reign supreme. I've gotten the same impression, and honestly stopped reading here for the past few weeks. The folks e...
by drumminj
Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:07 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Coronavirus General Discussion
Replies: 5196
Views: 1777188

Re: Coronavirus General Discussion

MangoMan wrote:
Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:35 pm
ctest.jpg
Who knew I've been administering self-testing protocol during the entire pandemic!
by drumminj
Thu Oct 08, 2020 9:12 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Why the push to register to vote?
Replies: 7
Views: 1185

Re: Why the push to register to vote?

Imagine if everyone refused to vote for the lesser of two evils and only 1% of the country voted. Wouldn’t that send a strong message the system is screwed and needs change? It may send a message, but it's a "someone aught'ta do something" message, which of course no one will. The political class w...
by drumminj
Sun Oct 04, 2020 4:39 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Trump has Covid-19
Replies: 202
Views: 32795

Re: Trump has Covid-19

Technically, they are more important than us. If that wasn't just shoved in my face all the time, though, I'd probably be ok with it. Sincerely trying to understand here, since you didn't respond to my previous question..... You're upset with the people who are making personal choices and going abo...
by drumminj
Sun Oct 04, 2020 11:39 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Trump has Covid-19
Replies: 202
Views: 32795

Re: Trump has Covid-19

Again, I look at the "normalcy" portrayed by these pictures, and not afforded to the rest of us peons and that more than anything is what upsets me. I believe the point was made earlier, but it's not the president nor the federal government who is denying you such "normalcy". It's your governor/loc...
by drumminj
Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:53 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Without 2A, What Good Are the Other Amendments?
Replies: 134
Views: 22761

Re: Without 2A, What Good Are the Other Amendments?

tomfoolery wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:37 am
Whereas the people who hate guns or are afraid of them are the ones in favor of gun control and make comments like a woman's breasts feel like a bag of sand
Nice, subtle movie reference!
by drumminj
Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:00 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: 700 Miles For Heartbreak: An Alberta Story
Replies: 92
Views: 14341

Re: 700 Miles For Heartbreak: An Alberta Story

Smith1776 wrote:
Tue Sep 29, 2020 10:37 am
Here's the ring and us holding hands.

IMG_7036-1.jpg
Smith, trust me...I've dated my share of unstable women and let me tell you...from the pic I can tell that's definitely a crazy woman's hand >:D

Someday soon you'll realize you dodged a bullet there!
by drumminj
Tue Sep 29, 2020 9:33 am
Forum: Variable Portfolio Discussion
Topic: An odd choice for a VP: Wellesley
Replies: 24
Views: 9535

Re: An odd choice for a VP: Wellesley

Appreciate all the insights offered in this thread. I don't have anything of substance to contribute to the discussion here other than to share that over the course of the past few years I've invested in Wellesley in addition to the PP, mainly for a bit more diversification (strategy and institution...
by drumminj
Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:54 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Effect of delayed election results
Replies: 24
Views: 6107

Re: Effect of delayed election results

This year I’ll have to stay up and watch the returns. Last time I didn’t want to see Hillary’s win so I just went to bed. I guess I missed some fun TV. Last time I was up until at least 4 AM. I don't think Trump came out until about 3:30 AM? It was all somewhat surreal. I think Trump felt the same ...
by drumminj
Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:52 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Bonds and the PP -- still make sense?
Replies: 59
Views: 13733

Re: Bonds and the PP -- still make sense?

Kriegsspiel wrote:
Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:37 pm
I'm thinking about getting a mortgage.
Isn't that basically shorting the dollar, with leverage?
by drumminj
Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:41 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Daily "Check In" Thread For Us
Replies: 2246
Views: 1148239

Re: Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

So my home internet has been down for about a week and I've been tethering off my phone for an internet connection. I have an LTE speed data cap of 8GB and I get throttled down to 3G for anything past that. So, basically, I've been living in the year 2008 for the past couple days. You're living the...
by drumminj
Fri Aug 28, 2020 7:04 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Jeff Bezos is Now Worth 200 Billion
Replies: 101
Views: 14807

Re: Jeff Bezos is Now Worth 200 Billion

Would it be so hard for the 99 percent, if they really cared, to stop buying from Amazon? Problem solved. Exactly. IMO it's consumers who killed all the small-town, mom-and-pop stores, as they chose to stop spending money there. The market "spoke". Jeff Bezos and Sam Walton didn't do that. Whether ...
by drumminj
Sat Aug 22, 2020 9:06 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Racial IQ Gap, Nature versus Nurture
Replies: 35
Views: 6256

Re: Racial IQ Gap, Nature versus Nurture

There's an additional explanation. A much simpler one. As someone who lived in Kenya as a child, I can speak from firsthand experience that most of the rural tribes run as a basic mode of transportation. Seriously, the idea of getting somewhere in a jeep or a car is not an option, so if you have to...
by drumminj
Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:10 pm
Forum: Politics
Topic: Some 2020 General Election Polls
Replies: 439
Views: 101873

Re: Some 2020 General Election Polls

As for the DACA recipients, that is on their parents and those who encouraged them to come here illegally. Giving them amnesty will just make the problem worse. Here's the problem with anything other than deportation: I would be okay with giving them permanent residency and no path to citizenship, ...