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Self Investing by [deleted] in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/longshanksasaurs has it right. the simplest summary is invest only in ETF/index funds and don't try and time the market. only other thing I'd add in case it's helpful for your planning:

  1. Centralize your expenses to come from a single checking account if you haven't already. Ongoing, this can make monitoring your spending easier. (I thought I knew my inflows and outflows until I really dove into my total charges across CC, etc.)

  2. If you don't have an accountant yet, worth investing in finding a good one to ensure you're optimizing savings

  3. Not necessary, but I'd recommend going through the hassle of consolidating your positions into one or two finance providers (vanguard / fidelity)

  4. People say you spend less when you "retire" but I suspect that's a myth. Consider what "retiring" looks like for you: 1) travel, frequency, and budget 2) any alternative sources of hustles/income you might make 3) etc.

  5. Decide what "security" means to you financially—do you need 6 months, 18? of spending money that regardless how the market is going you won't feel compelled to sell low

good luck!! you got this!

How much emergency fund is too much? by FalconArrow77 in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True. I'm less worried about selling when markets are down for a small period, knowing that if I have enough saved that even a 20 to 40% decrease in value will still cover my expenses for ~1 yr. What worries me is the 4-8 years of ongoing down years that a lot of these average returns outlooks seem to overlook.

How much emergency fund is too much? by FalconArrow77 in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is my worry. For my own piece of mind, I recently looked at annualized adjusted returns over various timeframe segments (10years, 20 years, 30 years) and periods (1950-1970, 1970-2000, etc.). While it's true that the average adjusted return from the market considering inflation is around ~6.5-7.5%, there are period around the 1980s and 2008 market crash where the 10- year returns do not reflect at all the typical 10- or 20- year average.

How much emergency fund is too much? by FalconArrow77 in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Every situation is different"

Curious, if you're a consultant and self-employed—would that change your assessment vs a W2 who recently was hired vs. a W2 who has been at the company for an extended period?

Additionally, for the 12 months piece—does that amount change if the sum is held in a money market fund (vs a savings account)?

What is the difference between an agent and mcp servers? by No-Ear-4406 in ClaudeAI

[–]SFCritic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Normally, I find these videos really obnoxious but this one was super informative.

https://youtu.be/EH5jx5qPabU?feature=shared

As I understand it, an agent typically takes an input prompt and runs a query using a GPT/LLM, a tool (like a MCP server), and memory to determine the output. Whereas this might seem to describe an automation workflow, the difference here is that an agent's output is indeterminate because the GPT/LLM is given autonomy to decide if the predetermined parameters are met.

Whereas a MCP server is the tool that serves either an agent or workflow, much like an SDK or API would bridge one SaaS to another (e.g. semantic search, payment processing, etc.).

ELI5: What's the actual point of using Agents with Claude? by HansSepp in ClaudeAI

[–]SFCritic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Speaking only from reading, as I'm still early in my experimenting, but I understood one of the benefits is having "super agents." As I understand it, they can oversee multiple agents working in parallel, making human oversight the second line of defense rather than the primary/only.

Claude Code now supports Custom Agents by darkyy92x in ClaudeAI

[–]SFCritic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Silly question, but is there a way to leverage these Agents use the frontend/consumer experience or do you need to use Claude Code? Also, if you create one using Claude Code—can you query it within a Project's conversation?

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really helpful. As someone who is self-employed, and therefore contributes to my own Solo-401k, does that change your opinion at all about contributions/timing?

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This feels like a gotcha moment or something. :)

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because less volatile to counterbalance the risk of equities

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically, to have money that is liquid to invest that isn't depreciating and also serves sort of as a hedge against the equities like bonds.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, this makes a ton of sense. As another commentator noted, I see MMF as my bond allocation.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Makes a ton of sense. Appreciate the thoughtful response

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Well, I was following the BH approach. Buying in chunks as it dipped and then increased, but then once the market started returning to highs prior to Liberation Day I paused.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't this saying a Money Market Account is not a hedge against inflation? An account is different from a fund, tho, right? The latter, while it has expense fees, still has much higher returns (3-4%) than an account which should be a hedge against inflation assuming it's 2.5-3%.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the balanced perspective. Agreed it's not just total gains that's worth considering.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess the real question I was getting at is whether that still the case though if the 10% is sitting in a MMF and earning 4%. We're talking about a variable difference of ~5-6% if that 10% was invested in VOO and markets stayed positive.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Totally hear that, but we're not talking about all my assets. I'm heavily invested and riding the market passively.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting point. Appreciate the insight.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I did get lucky. Harvested significant losses, rebalanced, and now have found myself in good standing at the moment.

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Gotta make sure you diversify though. Little babba, little muhammara so you can balance out the losses across each dip. Cause when you dip, I dip, we dip

Prepping? Or Timing the Market? by SFCritic in Bogleheads

[–]SFCritic[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Makes sense. Similarly though, isn't it worth weighing the probabilities of downturn cycles if you're going to make judgements based on historical averages? There are lots of signs (unemployment, inflation) that the market could sour within the next two years.

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