In my Vanguard taxable brokerage account I use a combination of Vanguard’s Developed Markets mutual fund and FRDM to avoid investing in China. But like many people I have a substantial amount of money invested in retirement accounts (in my case, with Fidelity), and the issue I am running into is that my 401(k) and 457B only offer a Total International fund for international investment options. So until I retire and can roll my 401(k) over into an IRA, I am either stuck with exposure to China or with investing only in US stocks, and neither of those options are prudent. It is very frustrating!
Fortunately there are always people who want to trade, either because they must, they enjoy it, or they believe they CAN beat the market (and a few of them are actually right!). I have faith in the power of optimism + greed!
I met you at the very first White Coat Investor Conference in Park City, and have followed your work ever since. I am so very sorry to hear this news. Mortality catches us all in the end, no matter what we do, but that is no consolation when the endgame comes earlier than we expected. Thank you for all you have done to educate me and millions of others on the ins and outs of personal finance. You have made the world a better place, and in the end that is the best memorial any of us can have! I hope you and your family can find peace and even some joy in the time left to you.
It is possible to time the market in some cases. It's just not possible to do it in most cases, so (unless you own individual stock shares instead of indexed mutual funds/ETFs) why bother?
I know a few people who made some money on the last GameStop move - but they were experienced investors who saw the short squeeze for what it was and knew that 'having diamond hands' was folly. They all sold early, and made some nice money in doing so. I don't have the time, energy, interest, or nerves to play those games, though, so I just buy and hold index funds. Regular investment in those funds plus patience has managed to get me to where I need to be in order to retire, and that's good enough for me!
I am going to ignore Jack Bogle's advice and do something when the markets drop again. I am going to buy more shares of my stock index funds! That could of course to run out to be the wrong move relative to just holding tight, but it paid off in 2008, and it's certainly more like to pay off in the long run than panicking and taking my money out (which is a fool's move 99% of the time).
I agree with the PIN, but the process of generating one every year needs to be a LOT simpler than it currently is. I had technical problems getting mine 2 years in a row, and while I was sorting them out I realized that a lot of people (like my elderly father) could never have managed to unsnarl the mess I was fixing. The onus needs to be on the IRS to get the PIN to the taxpayer, not the other way around!
The problem, of course, is that some people (due to unavoidable mental incapacity) NEED to rely on someone else to manage their investments for them. In the future I could well be one of them, as I have no husband, children, or nieces/nephews who could assume that job, and my mother and maternal grandmother both died from Alzheimer's. The hard part is finding someone both honest and qualified to fill that role. A discussion on another board about settling an estate has again reminded me of just how many seemingly-honest people are anything but. It's depressing, and a real problem when someone has to hand control of their finances over to another person.
Comments
In my Vanguard taxable brokerage account I use a combination of Vanguard’s Developed Markets mutual fund and FRDM to avoid investing in China. But like many people I have a substantial amount of money invested in retirement accounts (in my case, with Fidelity), and the issue I am running into is that my 401(k) and 457B only offer a Total International fund for international investment options. So until I retire and can roll my 401(k) over into an IRA, I am either stuck with exposure to China or with investing only in US stocks, and neither of those options are prudent. It is very frustrating!
Post: China Market Risk
Link to comment from January 18, 2026
Fortunately there are always people who want to trade, either because they must, they enjoy it, or they believe they CAN beat the market (and a few of them are actually right!). I have faith in the power of optimism + greed!
Post: Invested in My Opinion
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
Very few people buy and hold until they die. Most will sell at least some of their shares eventually, and that is when they make their profit.
Post: Invested in My Opinion
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
I met you at the very first White Coat Investor Conference in Park City, and have followed your work ever since. I am so very sorry to hear this news. Mortality catches us all in the end, no matter what we do, but that is no consolation when the endgame comes earlier than we expected. Thank you for all you have done to educate me and millions of others on the ins and outs of personal finance. You have made the world a better place, and in the end that is the best memorial any of us can have! I hope you and your family can find peace and even some joy in the time left to you.
Post: The C Word
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
It is possible to time the market in some cases. It's just not possible to do it in most cases, so (unless you own individual stock shares instead of indexed mutual funds/ETFs) why bother?
Post: Should We Worry?
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
I know a few people who made some money on the last GameStop move - but they were experienced investors who saw the short squeeze for what it was and knew that 'having diamond hands' was folly. They all sold early, and made some nice money in doing so. I don't have the time, energy, interest, or nerves to play those games, though, so I just buy and hold index funds. Regular investment in those funds plus patience has managed to get me to where I need to be in order to retire, and that's good enough for me!
Post: Should We Worry?
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
I am going to ignore Jack Bogle's advice and do something when the markets drop again. I am going to buy more shares of my stock index funds! That could of course to run out to be the wrong move relative to just holding tight, but it paid off in 2008, and it's certainly more like to pay off in the long run than panicking and taking my money out (which is a fool's move 99% of the time).
Post: Should We Worry?
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
If we greatly simplified our tax code, we could set up the same system here. I'd happy give up a lot of deductions in order to do so!
Post: Beyond Our Grasp
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
I agree with the PIN, but the process of generating one every year needs to be a LOT simpler than it currently is. I had technical problems getting mine 2 years in a row, and while I was sorting them out I realized that a lot of people (like my elderly father) could never have managed to unsnarl the mess I was fixing. The onus needs to be on the IRS to get the PIN to the taxpayer, not the other way around!
Post: Beyond Our Grasp
Link to comment from June 19, 2024
The problem, of course, is that some people (due to unavoidable mental incapacity) NEED to rely on someone else to manage their investments for them. In the future I could well be one of them, as I have no husband, children, or nieces/nephews who could assume that job, and my mother and maternal grandmother both died from Alzheimer's. The hard part is finding someone both honest and qualified to fill that role. A discussion on another board about settling an estate has again reminded me of just how many seemingly-honest people are anything but. It's depressing, and a real problem when someone has to hand control of their finances over to another person.
Post: Many Unhappy Returns
Link to comment from June 19, 2024