2009 is over…as are those crazy deals in the stock market. I’ve never been a fan of buying stocks, but did in 2009, you had to jump in (at least in March)! I learned my lesson years ago buying crap stock like EMC and watching it dwindle down to nothing. Lost a ton trying to beat the market and “get rich”. It was around 2004 that I changed my overall strategy to Dollar Cost Averaging…but still with stocks (and some funds)! I didn’t know any better, I was a 20-something year old playing in the market without a clue. Fast-forward to today…today I’m lazy. I don’t have time to watch the market. I don’t have the desire to watch the market either. Friend tells me that blah blah stock jumped up 30%, I say “cool”…I’m buying the entire market anyways, doesn’t matter to me. I’m lazy in that regard. I’d rather “set it and forget it” than sit there constantly watching the market, listening to Squack Box and wondering what analyst is going to make or break my dream. The science shows that lazy investing works, here are the results (via MarketWatch)
Now my approach is going to be similar to The No-Brainer Portfolio from William Bernstein, with a few tweaks:
25% — Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX)
20% — Vanguard Small-Cap Index (NAESX)
20% — Vanguard Total International Stock Index (VGTSX)
20% — Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX)
15% — Vanguard Mid-Cap Index (VIMSX)
Basic concept, all low-cost index funds with a 80/20 split between Stocks/Bonds. Given that I just hit my 30’s I’ll roll with this mix for quite some time. I’ll update everyone if the mix changes, however I do not see that happening for quite some time.
Anyone else follow a similar approach to investing? Anyone hate this method? I’d like to hear both sides!
Have an ETrade savings account? You won’t for long! The troubled discount broker is selling off assets and will continue to focus on shoring up its core online trading business. ETrade also axed their mortgage business in 2009.
Discover acquires online savings accounts from ETrade – chicagotribune.com: “Discover Financial Services, whose online bank reached $12.6 billion in deposits last year, has acquired certain online savings accounts from ETrade Financial Corp.”
(Via Chicago Tribune.)
Until the past couple months all we ever heard about US currency was inflation. You couldn’t turn on the tube without hearing about inflation this and that, but what you rarely (if ever) heard about was inflation’s evil cousin…deflation! What is deflation? Rather than explain it here, Mint.com has created a solid visual detailing what is deflation, what causes deflation, and why we never want to hear about deflation again!
I’m a data freak. I love tagging, analyzing, and re-tagging data. It could be anything from what i’m spending my hard earned cash on to how many comic books I have that were drawn by John Byrne in the 80’s. I like seeing that data. That brings about my problem: What is the best tool for tracking, aggregating, tagging, analyzing, and editing this content? Over the next couple weeks I am going to be assessing and writing about various tools for capturing and organizing data. My short list includes:
- Evernote
- OneNote
- Yojimbo
- Together
- SoHo Notes 8
This is a list that I have thrown together based off initial research. If you guys have any other tools that you would recommend, please feel free to post them! Thanks!
After receiving a letter in the mail regarding Ally’s fee schedule, something caught my eye while reading: Checking! The document had language in it that made me believe an interest-bearing checking offering (not money market) was on its way. One phone call to Ally (took less than thirty seconds to get a real person) validated my assumption. While there is no information online, the rep stated that they just received training on the new account and that it will be announced (available?) on January 16th. Looks like I’m putting my switch on hold!
For those of you that do not know, I had to ship my first iMac back the week that I received it due to issues with the unit. I did not have a flickering screen, or yellowish tint, or loud drive; rather my issue was that the unit did not ship with the wireless airport card installed. After troubleshooting and discussing the issue with Apple, they shipped out a brand new unit.
Crossing fingers on this one.
After leaving ING and giving Charles Schwab a chance for the past six months, I have decided to change banks. Although Schwab has been decent, they have not delivered on many of their promises, most notably being able to move money between your checking and savings online – you actually have to call them to do this, or swap between your brokerage account! What a PITA! They have also had many issues aggregating to Yodlee-based aggregators. So after re-assessing my requirements, I am going to start my search all over again. ING would be my first choice, however they still block aggregators!?!? I wonder if they are still looking to support this functionality by EOY? Well back to the drawing board. Current front-runner for me is eTrade, due to their various offerings. Are you happy with your bank? If so, please share as I am open for suggestions 
Kathy Kristof took Mint, Thrive, Buxfer, Wesabe, and Moneystrands for a spin and the results were somewhat shocking as Mint blew away the competition, alot of which is based on adding financial accounts. What is really interesting about that is that Mint, Thrive, and Moneystrands all use the same Yodlee back-end, so as a nice old lady once said…where’s the beef?
Like the writer, I too have issues with accounts and Moneystrands. I would probably be using Moneystrands if they could hook into all the accounts Yodlee can. Regarding Thrive, I do not understand why the write gave a 2.5 when the only con that I could read was that they called and spoke to Matt @ Thrive. Having spoken with Matt on the phone prior, I would not have deducted that many points
Still a good read an another viewpoint on the various PFM tools out on the interwebs.
Read the full review @ http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/article/money-management-the-best-online-personal-finance-sites/369257/
Amazon now has Virtualization Blogger Scott Lowe’s new book, VMware vSphere 4 Administration Instant Reference, in stock. I’ve been reading Scott’s blog for years now and would highly recommend anyone who deals with vSphere 4 to pickup this book. Here is a summary of what it covers:
All your VMware vSphere 4 questions answered—on the spot!
If you need quick answers and real-world solutions as you administer VMware
vSphere 4, keep this indispensable guide on hand. Designed for busy IT professionals, it’s the perfect go-to resource. You’ll find easy-to-read lists, quick-reference tables, helpful thumb tabs, and much more in a handy, compact format that puts what you need at your fingertips, fast.
Topics include:
- Understanding new as well as legacy features
- Installing and configuring ESX, ESXi, and vCenter Server
- Creating and managing virtual networks
- Handling licensing, storage, high availability, and business continuity
- Managing virtual machines, including security and performance
- Upgrading from VI3 to vSphere 4
- Mastering the command line
In addition to the book , Scott also has Mastering VMware vSphere 4 
After its acquisition of Mint, you knew that Intuit had one too many online PFM tools and Quicken Online had to go. Given that the purchase of Mint was less than two months ago, you wouldn’t have expected Inuit to throw both in the Thunderdome and have the crew chant “Two Men Enter, One Man Leave” this quick, however that is the case as Intuit announced that they are weening their users off of QOL and moving towards the new “Mint from Quicken”.
Here are some of the features we should expect to see from MfQ:
From Mint.com, we will incorporate:
• Extra money management power: from the ability to track investments, to additional budgeting functionality to help you save and do more with your money.
• Access to Mint.com’s Savings Engine, which uses a patent pending algorithm to analyze spending trends and finds ways to save money – on average at least $1,000 on the first visit – by showing you the best checking and savings accounts, optimal credit cards, the best interest rates on CDs and more, all tailored specifically to your financial situation.From Quicken Online, we’re going to continue to offer the tools you’ve grown to love:
• The ability to enter and manage cash purchases or checks that haven’t yet cleared
• The combined product will support all 14,000 financial institutions currently served by Quicken Online – up from roughly 8,000 currently supported by Mint.com.
• An upgraded iPhone application that includes the popular ATM finder.
To read more, check out the blog post by Aaron Patzer, VP and GM of Intuit’s Personal Finance Group
My one question: When will we see the fall of the desktop version of Quicken? With everyone wanting to work in the “cloud”, that application seems like it has a target on its back.
