Bogleheads.org

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One that often gets overlooked is FNBODirect.com currently with 2.25% savings and 0.65% checking (with no hoops.) Back in 2005-6, I was a serious rate chaser for whatever reason. I opened accounts with no less than five different online banks trying to get the best rate. Of those, most have lowered ...

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Faraday key protectors can be had cheaply enough.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=faraday+key+ ... b_ss_i_1_6

Also Faraday bags for phones are available.

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Very interesting.

While my usual Amazon return location is a UPS Store one mile from my home, and the nearest Kohl's is maybe five miles, I do project this feature may bring me to Kohl's more often than my current one trip or so a year. I think the market excitement is warranted.

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I was actually thinking similar to the OP that I might buy a little bit before May. I buy regularly at the end of every May and November, adjusting the purchase amount according to the new fixed rate. I also assess how the 5-month old I-Bond rate compares with current 1-yr CDs every April and Octobe...

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The role of bonds in my portfolio: To keep me from making bad mistakes in a downturn. (1) To answer the direct question about rebalancing: I follow the Swedroe 5/25 rule (2) Thanks for the interesting reply. Here's my questions. (1) So, effectively avoiding the mistakes meant that the bond allocati...

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When I first started investing in 2005-6, all of the reading materials I was into were telling me I needed some bonds, but I didn't understand why. I was young - early 30s - and added a token 15% allocation to bonds just to appease the gurus. In fall of 2008, stocks dropped a lot, and I responded wi...

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My employer uses Fidelity, so most of my retirement funds are with them. I've also always had my Roth IRA at Vanguard. When I started investing at both about 15 years ago, Vanguard's expense ratios were the clear winner, and I was sad but willing to make-do with most of my portfolio being at Fidelit...

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They call me once, at most twice, a year. Every time I tell them how much I enjoy using their software and I'm sorry to have to tell them I'm a DIY index fund guy and I actually enjoy the small work of maintaining my current portfolio. It's a pleasant, short conversation every 6-12 months with no pu...

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We got this Cuisinart Coffee Maker a couple years ago with 20% Bed Bath & Beyond coupon for a good bit cheaper than is currently on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DCC-3200-PerfecTemp-Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B00MVWGQX0/ref=sr_1_6 Replaced a similar model we had for many years previo...

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I must be doing something right. I just checked myself and they had so many things incorrect it was laughable. Political views - wrong Ethnicity - wrong - I'm German and they have me listed as Middle Eastern Religion - hoo boy way off Marriage status - wrong People I associate with - wrong Parental...

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You can do this in Adobe Acrobat Reader: https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-search-for-text-inside-multiple-pdf-files-at-once/ Also, I believe what was mentioned earlier about Macs will work. Not just opening individual PDF files, but using the Mac OS Finder to search content. If ...

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The IRS has a great withholding calculator. Break out your latest paystub and give it a try. It gives you precise W-4 instructions for Federal at the end. I wish my state offered something similar. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-withholding-calculator How does that help the OP figure out his N...

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I've always done my own taxes. Did them by hand until late 1990s. Typed out the IRS' PDF forms and printed and mailed until about 2004. Used Turbo Tax from then until maybe 2012, then switched to TaxAct because they were cheaper. Now that TaxAct has raised their prices, I'm planning to try FreeTaxUS...

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The IRS has a great withholding calculator. Break out your latest paystub and give it a try. It gives you precise W-4 instructions for Federal at the end. I wish my state offered something similar.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-wit ... calculator

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I was hoping this article would shed some light on a question I was recently pondering, but it didn't. My wife and I are in our 40s. I enjoy maintaining a target asset allocation; she does not. My target allocation is relatively conservative 70/30 across a small handful of asset classes, and she use...

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GIS software? You can use the free open source QGIS, with a bit of a learning curve. Might be able to trace everything you mentioned from an aerial photo. Download https://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html Intro https://docs.qgis.org/2.8/en/docs/gentle_gis_introduction/ If in US, you could fin...

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Chrome saves my credit cards encrypted. I can select one and it prompts me for the CVC code on the back of the card and then autofills the rest (sometimes the exp date doesn't autofill). This way they aren't saved at the merchant but I can access them quickly without pulling the card out (if you ca...

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I only talk investing with one other person, a co-worker/friend of mine. Ironically, he's the one who introduced me to Bogleheads.org but by no means does he follow the philosophy. Otherwise I tend to keep money/investing to myself and simply listen (and wince) when I hear my friends/peers openly d...

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Using a virtual credit card number instead of the real number for online purchases would help, if your card issuer has that option. Read through the entire thread saying to myself, if nobody else mentions it, I'm going to suggest virtual credit card numbers. Lo and behold, McDougal beat me to it! :...

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Looks like Admiral Shares of the Total World fund were made available a week or so ago:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... ance/vtwax

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Add my vote to those recommending LG washer/dryers. Just purchased ours two months ago to replace ancient ones from the 90s in our upstairs laundry room. We had nicknamed the old washer "Thumper" to give you an idea of why. :happy We briefly considered front-loading washer but went with le...

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I happen to be a FamilyTreeDNA customer and received this email from them Sunday. In summary, they are saying they aren't doing any special sharing with the FBI as seems to have been reported. They are simply letting them have a user account to allow them to see what any Family Tree DNA customer see...

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Are there any financial "perks" of getting married? I'm not a traditionalist by any means (neither is my partner), I hate how overpriced weddings in my areas are (it's disgusting, 50K is a "cheap" wedding - never happening), hate how overpriced rings are ... I love her and all t...

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I locked in a 30% discount with TaxAct for 2018 via email offer last summer, but I'm considering forgetting about that and downloading H&R Block from Amazon now for $23, which is still about half of TaxAct's price with State even after the discount. However, the recent Amazon reviews are full of...

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I learned that I apparently learned a lot from 2008-9. The markets in the latter part of 2018 weren't fun or anything, but didn't really register as much of a shock for me as all of the buzz I was reading on the internet about it.

Stay the course. It can get way worse than 2018.

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If you will be making a similar decision every January, maybe the best "split the difference" option would be: * one-quarter in January at the current Nov-Apr fixed rate * one-half in May at the new May-Oct fixed rate * one-quarter in Nov at the new Nov-May(following year) fixed rate Or ju...

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I thought it might be a good idea for Bogleheads to post to a wish list thread for potential upgrades to the Vanguard website. If there are changes you wish Vanguard would make, post them here. Then if other Bogleheads agree, they can mention items they took note of in this thread next time they com...

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Have you tried the browser plugin Social Fixer? It's available as a Chrome extension, Firefox add-on, or for otherwise at https://socialfixer.com/ It includes several things you can do to filter posts. A lot of people use the top recommended filter to get rid of (most) political posts, but it can fi...

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What makes you think there isn't already a negative ER fund? VTWO (from Vanguard) & IWM (from iShares) already have negative effective ERs. The world has long since moved past ER at the truly meaningful number thanks to confounding factors like securities lending. What really matters is trackin...

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The above posts are correct; this is how credit cards work. I just wanted to add that messing up on paying in full has happened to me twice in my two decades or so of playing the maximize-cashback game with multiple cards. The two times were with two different companies, several years apart. Both ti...

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Approximately 11% of my retirement portfolio is in my Roth IRA. Just short of 80% is in tax-deferred accounts.

Scrolling through this thread, I'm realizing I'm on the low end of Roth percentage among Bogleheads.

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2019 Financial Goal: Work on spending in preparation for adopting a child We were always in the pay-yourself-first-and-feel-free-to-spend-the-rest camp. Instead of a budget, we allowed ourselves to spend anything leftover after saving each paycheck. But looking at how much we're spending, when my wi...

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A couple of my observations: -I've never heard FIRE mentioned outside of the internet. And rarely outside of Bogleheads or Reddit. +1 Nor have I. Until last summer/fall, neither had I. But then I saw a bunch of stories posted in non-financial forums, even on Facebook by friends who normally don't t...

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Thank you for posting this. Just easily added beneficiary to two accounts.

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My target allocation in my investment portfolio is 70% equities, but I had never thought to calculate percent of net worth before.

The equity portion of my portfolio is a bit over 50% of my net worth right now.

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R11 Chromebook for $232. Always been a Mac person, and still use my iMac in the upstairs office for big things. But it's nice to have such an inexpensive option that I can use for internet things really quickly downstairs with the wife. I use "tent mode" all the time to read magazines. I u...

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Initially bought two Alexa devices in mid-2017 with the following purposes in mind, not intending to automate the home: 1. Replace bluetooth speakers so we could just ask Alexa to play whatever music we wanted instead of pairing with a phone every time 2. Use as an intercom between upstairs and down...

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Bogleheads networth levels: Level 1: include everything in one’s possessions in the net worth, including car equity, furnitures, bicycle etc. All investable/liquid assets. Level 2: only include the “big items” ie. house, vacation home, collectibles. And all investable/liquid assets. Level 3: only i...

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They are kinda neat looking. In the OP's situation, maybe scan them before redeeming?

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On my Roku box, I added the free apps for CBSN (CBS News) and NBC News to get national news. Also, Sling TV Blue Plan in my area gives local Fox and NBC stations. I also added the News Extra plan for an extra $5/month that adds a few cable news channels. Sling lineup page: https://www.sling.com/serv...

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I made the change from CFL to LED for the whole house over the course of 2011 to 2015 or so, and it was a lot more expensive to accomplish at that time than it is today. At some point, I charted my avg kwh per day for each billing period before, during, and after the switch, and it did generally mov...

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I also follow Swenson's 50/50 nominal/TIPS rule in my target asset allocation. I have self-directed brokerage window available in my workplace account, and I've purchased several CDs during the last decade at times when the yield seemed advantageous when compared to Total Bond Market's SEC yield. I ...

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Sorry for the novice question: What is meant by "5x5" and "20x10" breakeven inflation?

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Go on Treasury Direct to see what the bonds are worth and what interest rate it is earning. Cashing in paper bonds can be a bit of a hassle. If you are not cashing them in the immediately and/or if it is a hassle to cash them, put them online at Treasury Direct. You can specify a bank or 2 and then...

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For six-month rate periods that start during the time period from November 1, 2018 through April 30, 2019, the annual interest rate that applies to EE Bonds with issue dates from May 1995 through April 1997 is 2.41%. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ebonds/res_e_bonds_eeratesan...

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By far the biggest use of Amazon's Echo for me is to play music from my extremely large music collection. I can't think of the last time I actually put a CD in my stereo system. Thanks, I can see that use case (low cost networked wireless speaker). We bought two Echos in 2017 for: (1) The above lis...

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I don't think we're quite at the stage yet where it would make sense to sell any I-Bond to buy a new I-Bond rather than use new money. Even the 0% fixed rate I-Bonds are paying 2.22% right now and have all the advantages of I-Bonds: tax-deferral, state-tax-free, etc. Most online savings accounts are...

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I guess the answer to your question mostly rests on whether you prefer... (a) letting Vanguard handle the fund selection, asset allocation, rebalancing, and glide path for your portfolio or (b) setting up and maintaining all of the above on your own, with a few basis points discount to your overall ...

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We're all hosed if .pdf format becomes obsolete. I'm kind of joking and kind of not. Something I do think about. VHS anybody? Agree that would be a pain. But PDF has become so widely used for so long that I can't imagine that when something better comes along there won't be a long period where the ...

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I've been almost 100% paperless for a few years now. * Encrypted containers (VeraCrypt) for statements, taxes, health, and some specific purposes too. Most PDFs downloaded from websites, but occasionally I scan one too. * Veracrypt containers reside in a folder in my Google Drive folder, and VeraCr...

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