Recent content by clifp

William Bernstein (who's written on retirement issues also) book "The birth of plenty" traced the growth of the marketplace from the Middle Ages to modern day. One of his main points is that American system of credit not only for mortgages, but credit cards, student loans is actually one of the...

I get why people don't like Elon. But I'm hard to pressed to think of any evidence that the SpaceX team isn't doing enough engineering. Falcon 9 has 99.3% success rate, that is better than any rocket system ever developed, except for the Saturn V, but there were only 13 Saturn V, vs the over...

When I first heard about this a few years ago, I was somewhat outraged, but I've come around. The specific example that I heard about went something like this. I read the story on Reddit a couple of years ago, so many details are sketchy. A programmer got a job to automate a very large legal...

Unfortunately, it has, which is why my posting, and lurking have dropped significantly in the last ten years. In reading the list of those of who moved on, I can honestly say that I appreciated every one of their contributions. Sure some could be obnoxious, and arrogant at times. Still, I...

I remember Gumby from the MF boards, what was your login? I think mind was ClifP but I'm not really sure. It was really valuable resource, since I think I retired the year after Trinity study was published. I know that forum that introduced me to the 4% SWR.

Nord's wife is no longer involved with Arizona Memorial, but he invited me to join the board, and I'm still a member of board of Pacific Historic Parks. I occasionally post about it. Although do more lurking than post on the ER boards. I miss Rich also, if IRRC he was in his 60s or 70s when...

My definition of financial failure in retirement is a broader than that. For most people, for most of their life money is a constants source of stress in their life, from the long-term question, how will I pay for the kids college, to short-term how will I pay for the unexpected $1,000 expense...

A very nice analysis of Ramsey's rant. https://portfoliocharts.com/2023/11/10/why-dave-ramsey-is-dangerously-wrong-about-withdrawal-rates/ The interesting thing is that more than 1/2 of the retirement plans succeed with an 8% WR which is way higher than I would have guessed Ramsey does more...

I was very happy with the Tesla service when I had my Model S for 7 years even though the last couple of years the S was in the shop a lot. In the bit over 2 years I’ve had the Model 3, I’ve only needed to go in the shop for a couple of minor issues, and the tech came to my house for one...

I found Morningstar ratings to be moderately useful over the years. I know for a long time they were hyping the performance aspect of how you were better of buying 5 star stocks and selling 1 star, but they seemed to have backed off. On the other hand, despite being a 40-year customer of...

I'm not sure the OP is still checking the thread. I have had some recent experiences as the executor of my mom's estate. She left $25,000 for each of her 4 great-grandchildren (ages 17-22) to be used for their college education. The 3 kids from my niece were mostly homeschooled and they are...

The english language is rich, but I've run out of adjectives to describe the project, and this forum bleeps out curse words. So I just say that It F*&%$&(##!() utterly and completely out of control. The project is at $11 billion and counting, wouldn't be surprised to see it eventually hit $15...

I'm sympathetic to your problem and there is no question that bond funds aren't the same as stock funds as you found out with BND. I avoid the problem of bonds by not currently owning it. However, I do chair the investment committee of non-profit, that has about $2.5 million bond portfolio...

Our Senator just tweeted this. Brian Schatz @brianschatz · Maui update. South Maui resorts (Lahaina is West Maui) NEED visitors. Furloughs and layoffs starting because people think the whole island is closed. It is not. If you are planning a trip to Wailea or Kihei, don’t cancel. If you want...

Asset-based mortgages are more complicated if for no other reasons, than that most banks and mortgage brokers haven't done many/any and so the process takes longer. By the time I did my 3rd one, it was pretty straightforward. As ERD says sometimes less is more. My mortgage broker...