Search found 72 matches

by alvinroast
Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:53 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: $100k Annuity + FL/TX Home = "Security"
Replies: 3
Views: 1434

Re: $100k Annuity + FL/TX Home = "Security"

You should keep us posted about whatever your plans are that will involve creditors coming after you. :D
by alvinroast
Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:49 pm
Forum: Variable Portfolio Discussion
Topic: If You Thought Food Prices Were Going to Rise
Replies: 31
Views: 10721

Re: If You Thought Food Prices Were Going to Rise

I just found out my favorite gas station has a 100% ethanol-free 91 octane gas pump... this is the first time I've been glad I have a car that sucks Premium gas.  Lest I be left with a head scratching budgetary query every time I refill gas. I'm jealous. Driving through Oregon a couple months ago I...
by alvinroast
Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:37 pm
Forum: Cash
Topic: Does anyone buy treasurys directly in Vanguard?
Replies: 8
Views: 5429

Re: Does anyone buy treasurys directly in Vanguard?

Thanks dualstow. It must be my browser settings because it didn't work for me and says I need to call to set it up. Since that was in my wife's account I didn't feel like calling and impersonating her. Maybe we'll try to get that working this week.
by alvinroast
Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:27 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Gray Swans on the horizon?
Replies: 8
Views: 3377

Re: Gray Swans on the horizon?

Which do you think is more likely/imminent and what short term/long term impact do you think either would have on the PP: 1. Israel bombs Iraq's nuclear facilities... 2. Greece officially defaults... I personally think both are an eventuality and also think either would be a significant test of the...
by alvinroast
Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:52 am
Forum: Cash
Topic: Does anyone buy treasurys directly in Vanguard?
Replies: 8
Views: 5429

Re: Does anyone buy treasurys directly in Vanguard?

We've got 80% of our financial assets at Vanguard. I haven't even set up the bond desk there, but can totally imagine it being clunky so I'm in no rush. I love the ease of buying (and selling) bonds through Fidelity. I'm actually planning to sell the funds at Fido and use them just for bonds.
by alvinroast
Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:14 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: How Old Are You And What Is Your Goal Using The PP?
Replies: 82
Views: 37785

Re: How Old Are You And What Is Your Goal Using The PP?

44, married, no kids, wife is 51. She's got the stable job and desire to work forever. I've got the wacky business ideas that (so far) haven't paid off and a desire to retire to Belize (or any number of other places) :P. I've got pretty much complete adrenal burnout and really need to cut the stress...
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:56 pm
Forum: Variable Portfolio Discussion
Topic: The Stock Picking Bug: Help Cure My Latest Disease
Replies: 16
Views: 9070

Re: The Stock Picking Bug: Help Cure My Latest Disease

TripleB (you're the TripleB from fatwallet, aren't you?) I agree with the other responses about why to keep the stock picking in your VP.  I also have another reason. The correlation between the stocks you pick and the other categories of PP. I have a portfolio of conservative stocks that were not a...
by alvinroast
Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:40 pm
Forum: Bonds
Topic: position bonds in taxable to take advantage of tax loss harvesting?
Replies: 11
Views: 4338

Re: position bonds in taxable to take advantage of tax loss harvesting?

Interesting idea. If I was really convinced that LTT will be the laggard in the short term I might put it in the tax-deferred since the IRS already owns twenty-some-odd-percent of that. On a somewhat related note, I'm thinking if I wanted to bet on a particular part of the PP doing well I would put ...
by alvinroast
Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:08 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Important News: A New Permanent Portfolio Book Is On The Way!
Replies: 116
Views: 52907

Re: Important News: A New Permanent Portfolio Book Is On The Way!

If it's not too late I'd like to make a couple of suggestions. First, one thing that I've noticed I don't have in common with many people in the forum is that my portfolio is only about 1/3 in taxable. Many of the objections I hear to specific strategies seem to focus on the tax issues. The tax issu...
by alvinroast
Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:26 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Build a house for less than $5000
Replies: 16
Views: 5530

Re: Build a house for less than $5000

My wife and I were seriously looking into the tumbleweed tiny house option a few years back. The plan was when she lost her job we would sell the house, travel New Zealand and Australia for a year and then build a tiny house someplace in the US Southwest. She started a new job the day after losing h...
by alvinroast
Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:37 pm
Forum: Cash
Topic: Holding some foreign currencies?
Replies: 33
Views: 16962

Re: Holding some foreign currencies?

I will re-post a Yoda-ized speech from a while back that is responsive to a foreign currency tweak of the cash portion of the PP: http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/the-force-unleashed-2-yoda.jpg My head against the wall rather than banging because things are not unfolding the way I think t...
by alvinroast
Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:29 pm
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Equal Weight S&P?
Replies: 10
Views: 6380

Re: Equal Weight S&P?

I was just re-reading 'What works on wall street' last night. He uses equal weighting on ALL of his test portfolios. He also includes the S&P500 for comparison sake. Based on that it seems like you could get more volatility and a higher return with several of his portfolios. Most of them are 25 or 5...
by alvinroast
Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:23 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Warren Buffet Hates Bonds and Loves Stocks!
Replies: 33
Views: 15497

Re: Warren Buffet Hates Bonds and Loves Stocks!

Awesome chart! Short-Term Treasuries never looked so good. And I can buy them straight from the fed and don't need 100 grand. 8)
by alvinroast
Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:37 pm
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Low Volatility Index
Replies: 14
Views: 10274

Re: Low Volatility Index

Stocks: dividend paying blue chips and utilities Bonds: 10 year average duration corporate bonds Gold: TIPS Cash: CDs at FDIC insured institutions Corporate bonds have a higher risk of default. Overall whilst paying a higher yield, the periodic defaults will knock those gains back to being not too ...
by alvinroast
Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:46 pm
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Same old song: stock portion in a crappy 401(k)
Replies: 37
Views: 16357

Re: Same old song: stock portion in a crappy 401(k)

Churning is the opposite of the HBPP. :P It really is amazing that a firm can churn an account during a huge bull market run and still manage to rack up plenty of capital loss carryovers. :( WF really has a system of churning the worst funds that probably couldn't even be sold on the open market. I ...
by alvinroast
Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:30 am
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Same old song: stock portion in a crappy 401(k)
Replies: 37
Views: 16357

Re: Same old song: stock portion in a crappy 401(k)

The CFO is a woman with two teenagers and a kid in college. She spends four hours a day commuting and another couple taking her daughter to soccer practice, etc. She also has a mortgage on her vacation cabin  :o ??? as well as her house. I'm pretty sure she's not putting any extra money into the 401...
by alvinroast
Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:20 am
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Low Volatility Index
Replies: 14
Views: 10274

Re: Low Volatility Index

Thanks Alanw

The 2011 chart  seems like a strong statement for not adding EM to the mix right now. I could still definitely see including small value in the stock portfolio though.

I plan to hold back on most of the international stocks until I have a definite plan for where I want to move to. 8)
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:20 pm
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Same old song: stock portion in a crappy 401(k)
Replies: 37
Views: 16357

Re: Same old song: stock portion in a crappy 401(k)

foglifter, My dad had his money with a Wells Fargo advisor that had him in stock and bond funds between 1.3% and 2.3% in expense ration, with a 1% back-end load.  Their performance was pretty bad for the risk (the "income" fund (stock & bond mix) lost like crazy in 2008 but didn't recover anything ...
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:18 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Financial Times Article on "Closeted" Atheists
Replies: 95
Views: 34547

Re: Financial Times Article on "Closeted" Atheists

Great stuff.  This thread is an embarrassment of riches and it's difficult to know where to start. You folks just get more interesting every day.  And talk about raising the bar!  After this, who's going to want to hear my stories about experimenting with caffeine?  :) Wow! As a newbie on this foru...
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:53 pm
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Low Volatility Index
Replies: 14
Views: 10274

Re: Low Volatility Index

This is turning out to be my biggest problem area of the PP. I've in the process of shifting assets into a PP for the last couple of months. I really thought the tough part would be the LTT bonds given the both the low interest rates and the moral hazard of loaning money to an unworthy debtor. Now ...
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:42 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Funds
Topic: PERM vs. PRPFX - which is best?
Replies: 71
Views: 60270

Re: PERM vs. PRPFX - which is best?

I don't really see what the added value is here. It reminds me of those bags of fruit in the supermarket where you can get apples, oranges and bananas in the same bag. ;D I've never seen this in the supermarket, but probably only because my wife won't let me go in the store with her. Why? Because I...
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:33 pm
Forum: Gold
Topic: An argument for silver...
Replies: 12
Views: 5253

Re: An argument for silver...

As someone who had gold stocks, platinum and silver in their portfolio last year I have to say gold makes the most sense. :-[

I do agree that silver and gold both have monetary and non-monetary uses and also that silver would be easier to use if/when SHTF happens.
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:26 pm
Forum: Stocks
Topic: Low Volatility Index
Replies: 14
Views: 10274

Re: Low Volatility Index

This is turning out to be my biggest problem area of the PP. I've in the process of shifting assets into a PP for the last couple of months. I really thought the tough part would be the LTT bonds given the both the low interest rates and the moral hazard of loaning money to an unworthy debtor. Now t...
by alvinroast
Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:23 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Warren Buffett: Why stocks beat gold and bonds
Replies: 18
Views: 8552

Re: Warren Buffett: Why stocks beat gold and bonds

Warren Buffett is one of the largest precious metals speculators in modern times. In 1998 he accumulated a silver position that eventually reached over $600 million dollars at a price of $5 an ounce and was thought to represent a fifth of the world supply of silver at that time.  He later sold out ...