Langston Holland

Comments

• "Critics of index funds also confuse correlation and causation." This is the best summary of the index fund squabble I've ever read. Index funds are probably the best thing that has ever happened to the stock market and its participants. They behave like a weighted flywheel on an internal combustion engine. They add inertia to the intrinsic efforts of companies and the extrinsic efforts of stock pickers. They don't have a mind of their own, they follow the torque from these two engines. Government and fraud provide friction and heat, thus prescribe the proper lubricants and coolants required. I could go on and on with this, but I haven't had my coffee yet. A final thought, since index funds are followers, they actually provide a form of leverage to the stock pickers. They give their votes more power, not less. Their whining is the result of having their posteriors handed to them by the market. Thanks to Dr. Sevcik for bringing this bit of Adam's art to the homepage.

  Post: Index Fund Bubble

  Link to comment from January 29, 2026

• I know people with more than $1M in Merrill Lynch sweep accounts. They say it pays interest, but just enough not to be sued for lying at 0.01%. Not one of these people I talked to about it changed anything. At first I was mad at ML, now I've decided I'm impressed. They understand human nature. No wonder they have gorgeous buildings. I'm into Fidelity. Fantastic features and service. Reasonable sweep account rate (SPAXX currently 3.33%, exp. ratio 0.42%). I transfer excess cash to Vanguard's default VMFXX (currently 3.63%, exp. ratio 0.11%). VMFXX is the reason I have a Vanguard account. I cannot begin to imagine how much money the vast majority of brokerages are making on their sweep accounts. Brilliant and stupid, depending on the party under consideration.

  Post: Brokerage profit drivers

  Link to comment from January 27, 2026

• That was a fun read. First Ramsey article for me, but of course I've heard about him. Not a big fan of debt, is he? : ) Me neither. He implies a good point about ongoing minimum checking/savings balances that idles money that should be making market rate interest (see my Fidelity post in this thread). The fees, repayment schedules, and minimum borrowing amounts he mentions are an issue. A HELOC or any kind of debt should be entered into with care, but this doesn't preclude its use when the costs are considered. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ - Luke 14

  Post: Advice I give to anyone who’ll listen!

  Link to comment from January 25, 2026

• Just for fun, the current prime rate is 6.75%, add 1.5% = 8.25%.

  Post: Advice I give to anyone who’ll listen!

  Link to comment from January 25, 2026

• Excellent advice. I used to have a HELOC when I used banks until about 5 years ago, now I use a Fidelity CMA for banking. The HELOC required minimum balances making almost no interest with the bank. It really bugs me to have money I worked for not working for me. After I closed my last bank account, I modified my Fidelity brokerage account for margin to simulate a HELOC. Current rate is 7.5% if you have over $1M with them and scales up to 11.875% for accounts with less than $25K. No tax deductibility unless you use it to buy investments (not me ever) and itemize. I did use it to deal with a temporary shortfall when I fell in love with a sailboat. Didn't want to sell stocks at the time, so I just withdrew the money needed and the interest began. When I deposited enough back to the brokerage, the interest immediately reversed directions from 7.5% debit to 3.3% credit (using current rates for illustration). Banks have some real work to do to see me darken their doors again.

  Post: Advice I give to anyone who’ll listen!

  Link to comment from January 25, 2026

• I do this for largely for entertainment you whippersnapper. : ) You're right, SS is insurance, but it's weird insurance. Unlike a contract with a private company, the benefits are a moving target. Every payment I get, of which I'm sure I'll receive some at this point, I'll consider icing on the cake I worked for because I don't trust the icing mfg. That's one of the greatest comments ever about Medicare. Part B for my wife and I just went up 10% to $202.90 each, Part G just went up 17% to $270.70 each (NW FL). At $5,683.20 annually I consider that a gift. May your wish come true that we don't use it beyond checkups and my favorite; colonoscopies!

  Post: My Social Security IRR

  Link to comment from January 23, 2026

• This just cleared moderation (required with two or more links), but didn't show on the homepage because it immediately aged out of view since it was submitted four days ago. A similar thing happened on the final Part III of my real vs. imaginary returns series. I need to figure out how to throttle my love for links! This reply is a shameless "bump" to get it seen. I won't do it again. : )

  Post: My Social Security IRR

  Link to comment from January 23, 2026

• #2 on Adam's 2019 article concerned Swensen (Yale, lots of private equity). This morning's daily email from Adam concerned Swensen's book "Unconventional Success", which recommended "equity-oriented, broadly diversified portfolios without the active management component." My take: "All the cool kids say you can get home quicker taking a shortcut through a dark alley instead of the longer path that's got street lights everywhere and even goes past the police station." Walking is good for you.

  Post: Private Equity Investing

  Link to comment from January 21, 2026

• Great review of the sunk cost fallacy! This is something we need to be reminded of regularly.

  Post: Irrational Financial Choices

  Link to comment from January 18, 2026

• Yes! Grok AI helped me find it, this is the first time I've thought about it. It would require time travel or a prophetic gift to apply this, whereas you can be a dummy like me and avoid missing the best days. If I only had next week's stock prices I could beat Elon to Mars! : ) This article looks at both sides, missing the best and worst. It ignores real returns as usual.

  Post: Real vs. Imaginary Returns – Part II

  Link to comment from January 17, 2026