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I am curious why failure rates increase (smaller balance) with shorter time periods. Example: Spending $10K a year Portfolio $500K 20 Years. Portfolio 50% Stocks 50% Commercial Paper. Results Min 385K Same calculation except time period is 10 years Results Min 284K This does not...

Just bought a new (for me) condo in FL. We've always kept a sinking fund for household/vehicle repairs but we've added a lot of new (possible) expenses. Golf cart (our first) garage door (always had car ports) much more expensive windows (Hurricanes) etc. My question is how do all of you...

Major problems with condos for 2011 Four Real Estate Market Predictions for Homebuyers in 2011 Check item #3. I am extremely aware of this as we just lost a sale on our MI condo because the number of delinquents are now too high. This dashes our hopes to retire in FL. We are currently in FL...

I am going over my retirement expense budget. We are looking at a permanent move and wanted to see the effects on our retirement plan. I'm finding a disturbing trend. Our personal rate of inflation appears to be about 7%. Increases in HOA, insurance and medical, utilities, taxes, travel, have...

I find that now, when I watch or read financial information from the experts, I tend to discard most of it. All I can think is that we just went through the most significant financial event since the great depression and ,arguably, no one saw it coming. (I know the permabears, did but a stopped...

No this isn't a new thread about the finance aspects of rent or own:laugh: We currently own a home in Michigan. We have been leasing a snowbird residence in Florida. We are now staying 7 months of the year in the sunshine state and have started to consider moving here full time. Our intent...

Etrade Bank sent me an email telling me that they were transferring my savings account to Discovery Bank next month. They have not announced anything about the checking account but I feel that it can't be far behind. It looks like they are leaving the banking business. I have been very happy...

From 3 strategies to guarantee income in retirement - Sep. 21, 2009 This is the way to make a variable annuity work - just have 150%!

With all the concern that the new rules on Credit Cards would limit or end rewards for those of us that don't carry a balance I may have good news. I just got a notice from Capital One on my travel rewards card. They changed the formula! I used to divide the points by 125 now by 100. That...

I want to increase my bond allocation. Most of my FI is currently in Prime MM. However the last time I had major allocations in bond funds was in the early 80's ( I discovered that it was possible to lose money in bonds - something I didn't know before) My question is how are the rest of you...

While claims of no inflation abound - my budget sheet says otherwise. This year: HOA increase Car insurance increase Home owner insurance increase All of my utilities have had a recent increase Add to this the price of fuel is going up - my grocery bill is increasing and they just raised the...

I recently added a chunk of cash to my 401K. I have invested the equity portion of my AA but I have delayed adding to my bond position. (5 year index and TIPS) It seems pretty clear that the next move in bonds is almost surely upward (Nobody knows but I am willing to bet my money on upward...

As part of our ER plans my DW has just retired from her job. Her boss told her to book a vacation with his travel agent as a retirement gift. We thought about a cruise but at the end of the day it will cost us a lot as you can't prepay many items - parking, tips, drinks, etc. So now we're...

I was going to add a little to my VGTSX tonight and then I realized that because US market was closed yesterday - Vanguard has not updated prices to reflect the Asian bloodbath. Now I can't buy at a price before end of business tomorrow and I expect some rebound. :rant:It's not fair I tell...

It seems that most discussions on the FI portion of an AA always use bonds or bond funds. It appears that the Vanguard MM fund (for example) is paying better than most bond funds and doesn't have the same problems when rates start to rise. Under the current situation -what is the advantage of...

Watching CNBC yesterday and was amazed at the number of experts talking about how they had gone defensive some time ago and how they saw the downturn coming. These were the same people that were telling everyone to buy just a very short time ago (at a much higher S&P) I find it remarkable that...

I am growing concerned about possible future inflation. It looks like the powers that be will do whatever it takes to try to ward off a possible recession regardless of the effects on the future economy. Most of the AAs that I have followed do not seem to have much to counteract inflation...

For my cash account - CD ladder I got a CD from World Savings a year and a half ago. They were bought out by Wachovia about a year ago. The CD matured on 12-19 and I need the money - so here goes my call to W-Wachovia: Call on 12-18 - Can I set this up in advance? W- No sir you must call...

OK - I have money in Etrade Bank and in Countrywide Bank. I am covered by FDIC but if events continue I may have to move. So I'm looking for suggestions. Need a bank with free bill pay - electronic transfers - free ATMs - decent rates - and no hassle service. I would love some suggestions...

As interest rates come down - I'm looking for a better place to park my cash. Countrywide bank seems to be a good choice based on rates and the ability for electronic xfer but.... they are probably the center of the subprime universe. I know the bank is FDIC insured but what happens if...

In Fortune Q&A, Greenspan answers critics, defends legacy - Sep. 17, 2007 What should we be worried about most right now in terms of the economy? Strangely enough, I think it's politics. We have a dysfunctional political system in the sense that there are very serious fiscal problems out...

We have leased a cottage in Florida and starting next year we will become offical snowbirds. Because we will be using different ISP's we will need an independant email service (I don't want to have to continue paying for a provider that I'm not using.) Does anyone have experiance doing this...

Kiyosaki and Ben Stein have just announced a new book. The basic idea is to delay SS to 70 but make up the difference by using a 4 bucket approach with the first bucket being a fixed lifetime annuity - the second bucket being a variable annuity - the third index funds and the last a bundle of...

trying to make up my mind which is the best way to go for my AA. I thought we had a previous thread on this issue but I have been unable to find it. What would be the advantage (if any) of owning individual tips vs. a tips fund or visa versa ?

According to Fidelity medicare costs are $551 a month per person with an estimated 7% CPI. http://personal.fidelity.com/planning/retirement/content/hc_svc_cost.shtml This seems a bit high to me. For those members on the forum that are collecting - does this seem accurate to you?