Your example is greater risk for less expected reward. I don't think that when people are speaking of being an aggressive investor that what they are seeking is the widest dispersion of returns without any addition of expected return. I'm pretty sure they mean that they'd like to maximize their ev, while paying less attention to dispersion.

All right. I'm not going to argue with your definition. I would say that if I ranked 3 funds in terms of "aggressiveness", let's say a biotech sector fund, an S&P 500 index, and VT, I would say the biotech fund is the most aggressive, the S&p 500 is second, and VT is third. It doesn't mean I recommend investing that way.

Both bets have the same ev, but with much greater variance.

That is correct. For some reason I was going to say that since we (probably aren't worried about a single bet) the geometric mean comes into play, but that would be wrong as well since the payouts are asymmetric. Stupid math.

I have tax advantaged retirement accounts as well as a regular taxable brokerage account. Most of my overall portfolio is in stocks (higher risk / reward), but some is in bonds (lower risk / reward).

Traditional advice is to keep the bonds in the tax advantaged accounts, but the way I see it is this: If an immense cost were to suddenly arise in my life and I had to liquidate some of my portfolio for cash, the first account I would begin liquidating is my taxable brokerage account. Therefore, wouldn't it be better to keep my bonds in my brokerage account so that the "break in case of emergency" portion of my portfolio is steadier and less prone to massive swings?

What do you guys think and suggest?

Hi,

I'm an Isle of Man resident, and currently have a brokerage account with Barclay's Stockbrokers in the UK. They tell me that they no longer want my business.

Does anyone have a stockbroker (ideally in IOM but I'd settle for UK) who is comfortable with people who are active in the online gaming world? My only investments are index funds (50% Fidelity Index Emg Mkts, 50% Fidelity Index World)

If you have an accountant ask them what they recommend.

If you are without an accountant, then I'd recommend that moving forward, as you add to your two investment accounts, add some bonds to your regular taxable brokerage account and some stocks/mutual funds to your tax advantaged retirement accounts.

Municipal bond funds are good for taxable account if that sort of thing floats your boat.

Seems like we had a long discussion around the topic of emergency funds ITT not that long ago, but I couldn't find. Anyway, I wouldn't exactly say there was a consensus, so you are going to have to do what makes sense for you. One thing I would point out is taxes are a certainty, every year. You may never have a disaster that requires you to start liquidating investments.
What works for me, I have a large checking account as my emergency fund. If I have to go deeper than that I would have to either sell stocks in taxable or sell bonds in non taxable, depending on the overall state of the world markets.

Hi,

I am in the UK. I have never once been asked by a share or fund broker/platform what my source of funds is nor do they have any way of finding out without asking. I am a huge gambler and they don't care.

I presume from what you said that Barclays handles your banking as well and that is why you got closed. You can take your pick from any of the platforms that will service you in the IOM going forward.

Have a look here although you will have to check with them yourself about availability for you.

http://www.comparefundplatforms.com/

Why do you need a stockbroker to invest in 2 funds? As above - just use a platform.

Many people keep small amounts in their checking/savings accounts and instead keep money in taxable accounts that are diversified and are easy to get to in an emergency. This isn't a good idea for many, but keeping a big emergency fund in cash/CDs is used by too many people who shouldn't.

Thanks both!

LOL gold gtfo how'd it do in the last recession? Awesome, pretty great, above-average, okay, or **** the bed and puked blood up everywhere?

Long-term investors should be long volatility. The odds are much greater of a 1982-1999 CAGR randomly appearing than a permanent 25 or 50% loss over the decades.

That looks kinda like the "Permanent Portfolio"

25% US Stocks
25% Cash (T-Bills)
25% US Long Bonds
25% Gold


written about and compared with other allocations here:

http://mebfaber.com/2013/07/31/asset...-strategies-2/


It kinda gets similar results to more standard portfolios but I'm not really a fan ... keep in mind comparison is only over 40 years.

Hey all,

I'm going to be taking a part time job and my prospective employer has offered me to be either 1099 status or will tax my income for me as W2 or whatever. How do I determine which will be financially in my best interest?

Not sure it matters, but wife earns $50k, my FT job is $65k, I'm starting as 1099 earning about $1k/month PT for someone else, and this would be a flat $600 daily rate that I'd earn 3x / month.

TIA

Ask an accountant if you want the right answer.

I said:

I don't think he was saying all that. His point was that I'm most likely a noob (I am) and your suggestions, as it would apply to me, would be foolish to partake in on my part. You kind of said the same thing giving an if-then scenario.

Sorry. I posted info that was incredibly outdated.

Current info for VT, VTI, and VXUS.

Yes.

Interesting, thanks for this. It looks like the case made is to not worry too much about diversification, but be diversified enough. After that, it's a focus on keeping taxes and fees at a minimum.

It is almost always better to get a W2.

Here are the two times it is better to get a 1099:

1) If you are allergic to "10"

2) If you are allergic to "99"

What does the Fed raising interest rates and unwinding QE mean for Bonds?

Idris Elba will probably still not get the role.

It also doesn't mean much for bonds that don't require capitalization.

(I'm very proud of this post.)

You must have been the correct amount of drunk?
I have to confess, I don't get the joke. Even after googling Idris Elba.

Idris Elba was rumored to be considered for the role of James Bond.

Thought it was a pretty funny joke.

Thanks.