Greg Spears

Comments:

• The art historians believed that spurious works were attributed to Rembrandt, and they needed to weed them out. This was partly true, but they also weeded out some real Rembrandts, as one committee member admitted later.

  Post: Rembrandt or Not?

  Link to comment from September 9, 2024

• Harold, you have a good point. From what, I've read, Berkshire was viewed as a passive investor that was not trying to gain ownership control of banks. In my mind, that's the same role that Vanguard plays. I think it just goes to show that enforcement of this rule is proving to be arbitrary.

  Post: Unwanted Attention

  Link to comment from August 26, 2024

• Yes, I think diversification does win in the long run. It reduces risk and concentration in the largest U.S. tech stocks, which have so dominated market returns lately.

  Post: My Favorite Fund

  Link to comment from August 16, 2024

• Andrew, I'm sorry this happened to you. You may have been unlucky in the audit lottery. I've never had to face such questions myself. The trend seems to be to make 529s easier and more helpful. Unused 529 funds can be rolled over to a Roth IRA account penalty-free, for example, thanks to recent Congressional legislation.

  Post: A Man With a Plan

  Link to comment from May 10, 2024

• Tax-advantaged retirement schemes allowed me to save meaningful amounts of money throughout my working life. Often, my 401(k) contributions made the difference between owing taxes and getting a refund on April 15th. Plus, my employer matched a part of my savings, which I thought of as giving myself a raise.

  Post: What’s your favorite tax-savings strategy?

  Link to comment from March 30, 2023

• This is the first I’ve heard of this. There are a surprising number of features to this act, and because of its fast passage, we’ll all be learning more in the days to come.

  Post: 11 Retirement Changes

  Link to comment from December 25, 2022

• Dick, congratulations on your choices. Utilities were a good place to earn a solid yield in stocks when bond rates fell to near-zero. And munis provide the extra kick of tax avoidance, which raises their effective return nicely. My main complaint was with Treasurys, which had paid little more than cash for a decade and yet carried interest rate risk—as led to significant losses this year. With the yield now back to 4%, bonds are competitive again.

  Post: Worst Year Ever

  Link to comment from November 8, 2022

• The dividend yields of the three funds are: Total U.S. Stock Market Index 1.66% Total U.S. Bond Market Index 4.38% Total International Stock Market Index 3.52%

  Post: Own It All

  Link to comment from November 2, 2022

• They did seem awfully nice about taking it back, no questions asked!

  Post: Four Signs of Slowing

  Link to comment from October 31, 2022

• Bill, thanks very much for this resource--it's quite up-to-the-minute. In reading it, I had a laugh when it said if the SECURE Act 2.0 becomes law, it will delay these final regs for some time past 2023. It was ever thus.

  Post: Under the Tree?

  Link to comment from October 31, 2022