Search found 16 matches

by huskerdoc2035
Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead golfers - Big Cedar Lodge
Replies: 10
Views: 1895

Re: Boglehead golfers - Big Cedar Lodge

Hi MDfan, I cannot fully answer your question but I live about 4 miles from Big Cedar and go up there to eat and do activities quite a bit. In general Johnny Morris (owner of Cabela's/Bass Pro) is who owns Big Cedar and he is trying to turn it into a golf destination. You are correct most things are not cheap at Big Cedar however almost everything he does is top notch and if things aren't perfect he tears them down the restarts. I personally am not a golfer so hopefully others can comments as well who have maybe done the courses. From talking to others, he has several courses out at Buffalo run and the most recent to open was Tiger Woods first designed course, Payne's Valley, which from all accounts is quite amazing and I would highly reco...
by huskerdoc2035
Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead golfers - Big Cedar Lodge
Replies: 10
Views: 1895

Re: Boglehead golfers - Big Cedar Lodge

Hi MDfan, I cannot fully answer your question but I live about 4 miles from Big Cedar and go up there to eat and do activities quite a bit. In general Johnny Morris (owner of Cabela's/Bass Pro) is who owns Big Cedar and he is trying to turn it into a golf destination. You are correct most things are not cheap at Big Cedar however almost everything he does is top notch and if things aren't perfect he tears them down the restarts. I personally am not a golfer so hopefully others can comments as well who have maybe done the courses. From talking to others, he has several courses out at Buffalo run and the most recent to open was Tiger Woods first designed course, Payne's Valley, which from all accounts is quite amazing and I would highly recom...
by huskerdoc2035
Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Why Bother With Bonds" -- A Gem
Replies: 35
Views: 15750

Re: "Why Bother With Bonds" -- A Gem

I was lucky enough to win a free copy of his book from his website. I had never invested in bonds because I'm young and I never really understood them. Overall this is an easy read and really makes sense. I am glad I took the time to read it and think that anyone who is just beginning to start investing or doesn't really understand bonds should take the time to read this book.

Thanks Rick!
by huskerdoc2035
Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!

Bump for any other possible answers to my questions. Any thoughts/ideas are much appreciated! What did you find out about whether your current 403b will accept a transfer of your traditional IRA? For me, the choices for solo 401k would boil down to either Fidelity or Vanguard, because both have a selection of broadly diversified low expense funds. If your 403b will not accept the transfer of the trad. IRA, then use Fidelity for the solo 401k because it will accept the transfer. Then use only their very low expense Spartan index funds, there are about a dozen you can choose from. If your 403b will accept the transfer of the trad. IRA, then you could use Vanguard for the solo 401k, with their very much broader selection of low expense funds ...
by huskerdoc2035
Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:29 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!

Bump for any other possible answers to my questions. Any thoughts/ideas are much appreciated!
by huskerdoc2035
Thu Sep 25, 2014 1:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: New investor advice, thanks in advance!

JDDS wrote:The wiki gives a good comparison. It suggests that a person needs to decide which of the factors they favor. I chose MFs due to the ease of purchasing, i.e. NAV at end of day, no bid-ask spread, fractional shares. Since I hold Vanguard MFs at Vanguard, there's nocommission. For any Vanguard MFs with an ETF class, I can ask Vanguard to convert my MF shares to ETF shares if I ever favor ETFs for some reason. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/ETFs_vs_mutual_funds

Much appreciated, I'll read the wiki but that gives me a great basis. I had noticed issues with the ETFs and I had to trade them during the day and also like the idea of fractional shares. Thanks again!
by huskerdoc2035
Thu Sep 25, 2014 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: BIG ($180k) student debt!! Strategy needed.
Replies: 54
Views: 21174

Re: BIG ($180k) student debt!! Strategy needed.

Just checking this quickly over lunch so not sure if it has been talked about but consider refinancing the student loans. Sofi.com is one option to get a lower rate, I used drbank (though not super happy with the service it works) but on quick check I did not see it available to Vets but it is for MBAs, advanced nursing etc so maybe you could give them a call. I was at the standard 6.8% with my loans and refinanced to a variable 15 year rate at 2.74% with a 9% cap. I am making good enough money now that if rates got up in the 7-9% range I could throw quite a bit of money at them if I needed. But now that I have this it provides me a little more flexibility to save for a down payment and build up my retirement accounts. They do offer fixed r...
by huskerdoc2035
Thu Sep 25, 2014 7:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: New investor advice, thanks in advance!

I really appreciate your responses, I just need to find which funds I should invest in to balance those other accounts with bonds, international, etc No problem. Have you seen the 3 fund portfolio wiki page? It gives suggested funds at different providers: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio I'm not sure why it doesn't list TDA but here's that wiki page with details: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/TD_Ameritrade I considered TDA when setting up my solo 401(k). Eventually I decided I would stick with Vanguard. TDA does not offer VXUS commission free (Total International Stock); they do offer VEU + VSS which can easily substitute. I prefer mutual funds though. For me keeping everything at one place just seemed easier YMMV. Edi...
by huskerdoc2035
Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: New investor advice, thanks in advance!

5. At this point, which solo 401k firm do you think is best for my situation? I do like the idea of the Merrill Edge where you get the good credit card with the 75% bonus for platinum (when you hit 50k assets) that a few people on here have talked about but have also heard a lot of people with Fidelity and my current accounts are with TDAmeritrade which has 100 commission free ETFs. [/quote] I don't know if ME offers a solo 401(k), but any of the normal places is fine. Check WCI for a comparison chart of the different features. Good call, I do remember seeing a chat on that site and will refer back to that. 7. Is it a good idea to convert the traditional IRA to a roth IRA this year since we may potentially be in a lower tax bracket compared...
by huskerdoc2035
Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Who holds your Solo 401k?
Replies: 37
Views: 4185

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

JDDS wrote:Often the fund minimums are different in 401(k) accounts. Vanguard Individual 401(k) waves fund minimums where the general minimum is less than $10k. For example Vanguard Total Stock Market Investor Shares $3k minimum is $0 minimum within a Vanguard i401(k).
Thanks I appreciate that, I have a hard time teasing out those details from looking at their websites.
by huskerdoc2035
Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Who holds your Solo 401k?
Replies: 37
Views: 4185

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA Few points. First, you don't pay trading fee when purchasing F...
by huskerdoc2035
Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:44 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Who holds your Solo 401k?
Replies: 37
Views: 4185

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
by huskerdoc2035
Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: New investor advice, thanks in advance!

Thanks again ruralavalon. That makes sense, this is just such a random year with all of the changes in my life so hopefully with a more set income next year I can get a better grasp of things and get things distributed appropriately. Do you think I would get more responses on this if I titled it "portfolio review" or it wasn't so long?
by huskerdoc2035
Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Re: New investor advice, thanks in advance!

Thanks for the response ruralavalon! I'll read through those links. I was a little disappointed with the options in my retirement plan.
by huskerdoc2035
Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!
Replies: 15
Views: 2208

Help with portfolio for new investor, thanks in advance!

Longtime lurker and now new to posting. I have spent a lot of time on here and whitecoatinvestor learning lots of concepts but now it’s time to try to put this all into practice and hoping from some help from anyone will to be kind enough to read this novel and put forth their suggestions. I tried to fill this out the best I can using the template. Overall I am a pretty blank slate with things. Emergency funds: 16k in a Discover high yield savings at 0.8% interest Debt: 11K on 1 car at 1.9% (roughly $450 per month for 2 more years), 134k in student loans (refinanced to a 15 year variable rate which is currently at 2.74% and has a cap of 9%) Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly Tax Rate: 28% Federal this year (hope I can deduct enough f...
by huskerdoc2035
Sat Apr 19, 2014 6:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Darien Rowayton Bank
Replies: 3
Views: 1587

Re: Darien Rowayton Bank

I am in the process of refinancing/consolidating with them now. I was initially concerned about those reports as well but overall I have had very good luck with them and there have been phone calls both ways to get things finalized. Because my loans are "relatively" low, I went with a 15 year variable rate because I could likely pay them off in a year or two if needed without much difficulty. I was awarded the lowest rate 2.99% and will get another 0.25% off if I use autowithdrawal from their checking account to bring me down to 2.74%. Because of my "tier" likely my good credit and good debt/income ratio I was awarded the 9% cap for free. The variable rate loans normally cap at 18% (doubt they would ever get there) but e...