Recent content by Bluetrekrider

Take the full pension amount and buy term. At your age it will likely pay off in the long term.

17 ETFs in a portfolio is way too many. You get overlap from that many which is not necessary, plus you have to consider brokerage costs of buying those. I use 5 iShares Index ETFs in my portfolio through Fidelity and do not pay brokerage costs. Fidelity has an arrangement with iShares...

And now? Illinois is broke! Just a joke of a state as far as fiscal management.

Ethanol content will indeed affect mileage. Some gasoline has 0% ethanol while others contain up to 10% in regular or premium grade gasoline. I doubt that the station delivery driver mistakenly put 85% ethanol in the tank but that will decrease your mileage by 4 mpg. In a more extreme...

The Dyson DC40 is excellent. I have one and highly recommend.

You're in like flint. No worries.

I have the Equinox with the 4 cyl with 8500 miles on the 2012 model. Mine is a front wheel drive but very pleased with the fuel economy 32 mpg on the highway; 22 - 24 in the city. It has much passenger room for its size and drives very smoothly. Very pleased with our decision.

STAR is a well diversified fund. Seems that you have quite a bit of overlap with those additional funds.

I've tried the slice and dice approach after studying the couch potato portfolios. After worrying about whether bonds were going to tank from my 3 bond funds, dealing with Congressional non-action concerns, etc., I switched to Vanguard Target Retirement 2015 fund one year ago. Couldn't be...