I joined Boglehead today - but will stay here also :-)

[veremchuka]

BH, love hate affair! I joined BH before ER but once I found ER I really cut back on BH visits to the point I seldom go there but once a month.

If you like to spend hours discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin they may well be your cup of tea. I swear there must be hundreds of threads started a day. They tend to be intolerant of views not 100% in sync with theirs as mentioned, they censor heavily which I detest, posts are pretty much limited to financial issues, oh there's a lot of reasons I don't like them, too many to go into. Lsbcal said many things I agree with and would have said. So for those reasons I don't spend much time there anymore, they drove me away with their heavy handed intolerance.

All that said, their philosophy is sound but a bit rigid like a 12 step program. I have gotten some good advice but also a lot of snarky replies. You just can't win there unless you drink the kool aid.

I like ER much more. The atmosphere here is much more relaxed and we can discuss all sorts of things more freely so censoring here is not as much of a problem.

Both sites are good and I monitor BH but since I check in about once every 3 or 4 weeks the volume of new posts is over whelming! I ignore 99% of the topics and just look at ones that sound interesting.

 

[LOL!]

As haha's experience demonstrates, BH's is a great place to get advice on your portfolio and investments, but once you have gotten that advice, you know it is probably not going to change.

So unless you want specific new advice, there is probably no reason to spend time there. I mean, the answer to "What funds should I use in my 401(k)?" is not going to change unless your 401(k) fund selection changes.

 

[Aiming_4_55]

I've found BH to be more investment focus with of course... Vanguard mindset/funds which works fine for me. Lots of good information, but I don't visit the site much after I determined my adjusted AA. YMMV with your investment approach

 

[Accidental Retiree]

I just started here in mid-Feb and checked BH a couple weeks ago.

I knew I had found my tribe here when I read about reusing coffee filters/grounds.

I get info and a sense of community here. BH is a cacophony, TMI, stuff I already know .

Here I learn something new every day!

 

[tmm99]

I came from there. I still go there once in a while when I need answers to specific investment/fund questions in a hurry, but some of the people there are almost abrasive...they seem stressed out. It's still a great place to visit though if you need help in rebalancing your asset allocation and such ( assuming you like the boglehead way of investing.)

Personally, I'd rather hang out here. It's more like an extended network of friends sharing information and learning from each other here.

 

[steelyman]

It's been a couple of years since I dropped in on them (before finding e-r.org), but I recall getting a different vibe there versus here. I chalked it up to the different focus - the people at Bogleheads are into accumulating wealth (nothing wrong with that) and many are not retired, while I have gotten the feeling here that members are more concerned with "life-type" issues. I suppose E-R.org could also stand for "Enjoy Retirement . org"?

 

[Redbugdave]

but some of the people there are almost abrasive...they seem stressed out .

It used to not be like that years ago. It was more of a likable group. I noticed it too.

Oh well, birds of a feather flock together...Looks like we roosted here...

 

[unclemick]

I have noticed the VG bias also.

I left a couple of posts at Bogleheads a few months ago under a different screen name, but I "officially" joined today with the same username as the one I use here...

I have already seen a couple of threads there which are very similar to the ones we have here... I hope to learn as much there as I have learned here.

You are not biased if you know you are right.



I too am a Boglehead. Yes my eyes sometimes mist up when I think of the good old days: pssst - Wellesley, DRIP dividend stocks and the doughnuts/pastry at the old New Orleans chapter American Association of Individual Investors.

heh heh heh - VG Target Retirement(since 2006) with auto deduct to Prime MM for checking. Boring.

BUT the bad boy in me has a few stocks /mutual fund (VG Total World Stock), world real estate(VG also) to keep hormone outbreaks in check when it's not football season. I will admit my humor falls flat a the BH forum. .

 

[LRDave]

sscritic knows his stuff........

(this is a friendlier place.....)

 

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)... I will admit my humor falls flat a the BH forum. .

Psst... I think many appreciate you here.

 

[Brat]

Appreciate... no LOVE it.

 

[target2019]

One forum is tolerant, the other is intolerant.

One forum is progressive, the other is reactionary.

One forum censors dissent, the other has open-minded mods.

One thing about Buy and Hold is that once you get it, you really have no need to discuss it any longer. Buy. Hold. Rebalance. Repeat.

I prefer the Morningstar forums, as there are generally fewer posts. The interface is sub-par, but there are forums where you can discover and discuss subjects like tactical allocation without feeling as if you are in the Spanish Inquisition.

 

[Boglehead213]

Great to see my fellow bogleheads here as well! I"m a member of both forums and I feel bogleheads is more finance and here is more "life". I like both and will continue to post in both. No need to pick and choose

 

[Lsbcal]

Great to see my fellow bogleheads here as well! I"m a member of both forums and I feel bogleheads is more finance and here is more "life". I like both and will continue to post in both. No need to pick and choose

I agree. Still it's fun to bitch.

 

[obgyn65]

I have posted a couple of times only since I registered. So far so good

Appreciate... no LOVE it.

 

[rescueme]

sscritic knows his stuff........

Agreed.

For those of you that don't know sscritic, h/she's the BH resident expert on all things related to Social Security and how it is applied in different situations...

 

[eytonxav]

BH leaves me numb by their over analysis of minutia. No sense of humor from the extreme anal retentives, but no question lots of smart statisticians there. ERF has a much more holistic and easy going feel, just like comfort food

 

[MichaelB]

BH leaves me numb by their over analysis of minutia. No sense of humor from the extreme anal retentives, but no question lots of smart statisticians there. ERF has a much more holistic and easy going feel, just like comfort food

Comfort food without the calories

 

[eytonxav]

Comfort food without the calories

LCHF

 

[obgyn65]

And today I joined the Money Mustache forum it looks quite good also. Wondering if many participants here are also on Money Mustache and what they think of that forum compared to this one.

I am keeping the same username there - too lazy to change it

For those who are members of both forums, what do you think are the main differences and similarities between the two ?

 

[Ronstar]

I registered at BH a long time ago. I don't go there very often but I may in the future as I move stuff to VG. Seems very analytical and impersonal over there.

 

[photoguy]

BH is more dogmatic and less open-minded in its views, yet informational.

Bogleheads list it's membership as just shy of 30,000. With that many you'd think there would be a huge diversity of investing styles. But there is a sort of unwritten bias that tends to be enforced by some decent and unfortunately also some intolerant types.

I wouldn't describe bogleheads as being more dogmatic, rather I see them as being very analytical and they require *solid* evidence for claims. There's a gazillion references to research papers on that site. So if you were to go on there and say I have a new stock picking methodology or market timing method you will get trashed unless you have IRONCLAD evidence which almost no posters can produce unless they can do statistical research at the level of academic journals (In fact they have academics who are posters there). I think this is a good thing in general -- we should require evidence of claims and finance/investing is an area that is well developed enough that you have to do a careful study to conclude anything meaningful.

some of the people there are almost abrasive...they seem stressed out.

The snarkiness level at bogleheads is a real turn-off. I think some people there live to shoot others down in the nastiest way possible without tripping the censors with obvious ad-hominem attacks.

 

[Helen]

Many posters at BH seem to be anti-retirement or at least anti early retirement. I've been shocked to read opinions that people should continue to work for five more years when they clearly have more money then they need to retire. One guy had $5 million plus a future pension plus future SS payments and fairly low espenses.

 

[Mulligan]

Many posters at BH seem to be anti-retirement or at least anti early retirement. I've been shocked to read opinions that people should continue to work for five more years when they clearly have more money then they need to retire. One guy had $5 million plus a future pension plus future SS payments and fairly low espenses.

I read their forum often, but do not post. I occasionally read a comment from a poster in reference to this forum. Usually in a positive manner, but I laugh when several will over generalize that the ER Forum is full of "retired military and police/firemen with pensions". I always thought this forum to be fairly well diversified career wise.

 

[Mill]

I am a member of both forums. ER.org will always be my first love, but BH is quickly becomming a younger, very attractive mistress. I really enjoy debates between bogleheads in responding to a new posters situation. (SO LONG AS ITS DONE IN PROPER FORMAT!!!)

As an accumulator, I think the BH site is more useful to me personally. A lot of topics here regarding "what did you do in retirement today?" and "Only x more weeks until retirement" have their place here, but I cant relate, but only hope to attain one day.

There are some seriously super-intelligent people who post over there. Tons of analysis, charts and graphs, all posted immediately after an original post. Some of the information they post, I dont even know how they found, but the researcher skills over there are astounding.

You have to really buy into the BH philosophy to appreciate the site. But as someone previously mentioned, a true Boglehead wouldnt have much to say. Probably why Jack doesnt post much.

I will say though that the site could lighten up a lot! Everytime something starts to get interestingly off topic, the thread gets locked, citing some stupid bylaw.