Joey

Comments:

• I'm not Kenneth (so please don't downvote me, lol!) but I think "TD" = target date" and "aim" is a fat finger mistype of "aum". So he's saying that (1) he doesn't want to pay 3% just to be put in a normal target date fund because they're al index funds and there's no value to 3% and (2) Fee-based advisors (by hour or year) are better than AUM (fee based on assets under management). All in all, not terrible or controversial points, but I agree that the statement is incomprehensible, and I only figured it out because I don't have much to do today, lol.

  Post: Making It Easy

  Link to comment from March 2, 2024

• > I decided to bet based on a sophisticated internal analysis—my gut. You bet based on your gut, and yort gut was rewarded with a steak! Seems right to me

  Post: Other People’s Money

  Link to comment from May 30, 2023

• Not only does opting for water save money on beverages, it saves money on health care costs! All that sugar can't be good!

  Post: How Far I’ve Come

  Link to comment from May 23, 2023

• > Is the American dream still alive? That’s not a question I can easily answer, given today’s high housing prices and often modest wages. But surely you've pondered the questions, since your own children will embark on their quest for the American dream in the next ~7 years! I would be interested in a follow up article from you discussing the specific ways that you try to get through to preteens and teens, who aren't always the most receptive to parental advice, even if it is essential to their financial success!

  Post: How Far I’ve Come

  Link to comment from May 23, 2023

• > Oakland hasn’t won a title since 1989. So although they may have bought into sabermetrics and analytics, it has not brought them a title, since we measure success in sports on wins and championships I have to disagree with the conclusion here on a few points: (1) The point of sabermetrics isn't necessarily to win the championship, as weird as that sounds. The goal is to generate excess value. And Oakland had a great run getting excess value out of their players/payroll. But there is a point at which if a team is not resourced (either because of small market or stingy owners), it cannot compete against teams with greater resources. Let's say you are a small hamburger shack. You might double your profit, which is a success for you, but you will never beat McDonald's. Did you fail? Not really. (2) After a few years, sabermetrics became widely accepted and practiced, so Oakland hasn't had the advantage for 15 years or so. Everyone now knows that OBP is more important than BA, so everyone will be chasing after the same type of players that Oakland used to be able to pick up om the cheap. But they still have managed winning seasons and playoff seasons in the 2010s. (3) The successful clubs are all in on analytics. The Astros (cheating scandal aside) and Tampa Bay have big analytic departments and have sustained success. So you can't diminish modern analytics. (4) Back to point #1, teams can have successful seasons even if they don't win the championship for years. Similarly, investors can have financial success if they don't beat the S&P 500 each year or come out #1 in their investment group. So I 100% agree with your later comment in this thread that the index fund is a better strategy--even if t doesn't "win the championship" per se. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm criticizing you too harshly, Kevin. And I know I do so at my own peril, since you were in the game and saw all the stuff behind the scenes that I can only imagine. That said, let me end by saying that I genuinely enjoy your posts, and wish you had the opportunity to post more often!

  Post: Beyond the Obvious

  Link to comment from May 12, 2023

• > The greatest population growth in this time will happen in Asia and Africa, not the U.S. or Europe. Too: other countries are blessed with abundant resources. David, I read this as a suggestion that we no neglect not only ex-US in general, but Emerging Markets in particular, since Europe and Japan, as developed international economies, dominate ex-US funds. That's a lot to o stomach as emerging markets have historically taken investors on a wild ride--but if that is your suggestion, I do agree with you from the diversification point of view. The question as always is what is someone's age? It realistically may take 20+ years for Asia and Africa to begin to realize the economic potential in its population. For someone who may not live that long, such speculation is more academic than actionable.

  Post: Not Crazy

  Link to comment from May 7, 2023

• With 55% stocks at age 70, hopefully your two cents will be four cents by age 80!

  Post: Time for a Ladder?

  Link to comment from March 27, 2023

• "directly related to an ESG philosophy"??? You've told me where you get your "news" without telling me where you get your "news."

  Post: Learning from Failure

  Link to comment from March 19, 2023

• Jonathan, regarding article comments, I am curious to know if you can/do separate out comments from other writers, subscribers, and the general public. I find that often other writers comment on a piece and while their insight is valuable (that is why they are HD writers, after all), I suspect that it would be better for HD's health if a grater proportion of commenters were the general public, to expand the audience. In other words, other writers already are in HD's intellectual ecosystem, so comments from them are not as additive (from a growth of readership standpoint) as would be casual readers who are not embedded.

  Post: A Difficult Year

  Link to comment from January 7, 2023

• Mike, the following line gave me pause: ”Whenever I check out from work—let alone take a vacation—I forgo income, which is hard to stomach. “ In this article and many previous articles, you’ve written about your financial independence, yet here you say that forgoing income is hard to stomach. So I’m curious to know what “financial independence” means to you, because I would have thought that FI would have relieved you of this discomfort of not having income for a period and would have given you the freedom and luxury to find income producing work if/when you want.

  Post: A Challenging Year

  Link to comment from December 7, 2022