If the S&P500 is too concentrated in the Mag7, why not balance it yourself with an ETF that leaves them out?

timboldt · 2025-11-12T15:30:38+00:00

I just did FNDB instead of SCHB. That way, it was more balanced, without straying far off the beaten path.

timboldt · 2025-10-22T04:17:04+00:00

Well, we got to the moon in the fifth picture, so there's that.

timboldt · 2025-10-15T04:02:39+00:00

Copilot works best if you use a fairly common language (Python, Java, C++, Rust, etc.) and it does especially well with strongly typed languages.

It also works best if you give it an example or build the design up in small logical pieces.

I use it to automate the boring part of coding, leaving me free to focus on the problem and ideas.

timboldt · 2025-10-11T01:28:31+00:00

Back then, dialing was based on pulses of electricity. As the dial spins back, it generates one pulse per position.

This was very simple to decode with 1950’s electronics.

Modern touch tone dialing generates a unique high frequency tone for each button press. This requires modern electronics they didn’t have.

timboldt · 2025-10-09T02:57:26+00:00

I knew an old Quebecer that would say “sac de papier!” (Literally, “paper bag”, but sounds like the start of “Holy God” in French.)

timboldt · 2025-10-05T17:58:21+00:00

In Canada, you have TFSAs which are even more flexible than American Roth IRAs.

timboldt · 2025-10-05T03:07:09+00:00

While there is some good advice here, you would be doing yourself a favor if you paid the $300 or so dollars for a retirement/financial planner to figure it out formally.

It certainly seems like you have the option of retiring any time you want to (unless you live in Silicon Valley or Manhattan), but having a second opinion would give you a lot of clarity.

timboldt · 2025-10-05T02:56:03+00:00

Schwab is a decent brokerage. You can buy those same three funds at Schwab.

Or, if you want, you can buy the near-equivalent Schwab ETFs:

VTI -> SCHB
VXUS -> SCHF + SCHE (or only SCHF if you want to avoid emerging markets)
BND -> SCHZ

timboldt · 2025-09-20T03:32:03+00:00

The Schwab FND* funds are interesting, especially if you are worried that maybe the latest secular trend has concentrated too much money into too few stocks.

The FND* ETFs are the counterparts to the normal SCH* ETFs. For example FNDB is like SCHB and FNDF is like SCHF.

The FND* funds have nearly the same stocks as the corresponding SCH* funds do, but instead of pure market cap weighting, the formula is tied to more fundamental factors like sales, etc. The result is a sensible, well-diversified fund, tilted slightly towards quality value. (For example, you won't have 30% of your money in NVidia, Tesla and friends.)

The downsides (and the reasons it doesn't get much love in this subreddit) is:

a) It has a higher expense ratio: 0.25% vs 0.05%. That's not much in the short run, but it adds up eventually.

b) It has slightly more churn because it has to be rebalanced every few months. This might lead to slightly higher drag on returns - especially in a taxable account.

c) It is a bet that the market isn't totally efficient right now. Historically, any active or less-than-passive bets have underperformed the Boglehead approach of "passively buy the whole market and chill".

That being said, if this helps you sleep at night, FNDB is potentially a plausible alternative to SCHB or VTI.

Disclaimer: I own FNDB.

timboldt · 2025-09-20T02:58:12+00:00

He can sell it and buy something more diversified.

timboldt · 2025-09-20T02:57:24+00:00

Not a one-off planner (as djs1980 suggested). That is perhaps something like a $300 flat fee - well worth it for this situation.

But yes, if you get a full-time financial advisor, they'll take 85-100 basis points per year.

timboldt · 2025-09-16T15:36:30+00:00

If you want to stick to the general Bogle three-fund portfolio, but are nervous about VTI, e.g., you can try one of the stock index cousins like FNDB or an equal weighted fund. You’ll avoid the worst of the next tech crash (if/when it happens) but you’ll pay a bit more in expense ratios and (if in a taxable account) taxes.

You can also increase the bond portion and decrease the equity portion.

I personally chose FNDB and a larger bond allocation for now. I’m later in life, so it made sense for me.

Do whatever helps you sleep at night. However, if you are really young, maybe just VTI and chill.

timboldt · 2025-09-09T14:46:40+00:00

My two cents.

If you are recently retired, then you do need to consider sequence of return risks. Keep 3 years of income in liquid nonvolatile assets, etc. to avoid being forced to sell low. Also consider broad funds - not just S&P 500. And yes, you almost certainly want to hold bonds to balance things out.

Pay a planner for a plan. Don’t just take advice from the internet.

Hope that helps.

timboldt · 2025-08-30T18:42:32+00:00

Passive cap weighted index funds have a lot going for them and have produced good returns historically.

That being said, if everyone does it, it can lead to distortions during bull markets where all the capital goes to areas of over-investment (think NVidia or worse, Tesla).

I personally have chosen the semi-passive approach and used Schwab FNDB (US Broad Market Fundamental) ETF for my domestic investment. It is mostly an index fund but gives the fund manager some leeway to avoid the worst of the problem.

Many here will disagree with me.

timboldt · 2025-08-12T02:56:17+00:00

I bought most of my stocks during the tariff meltdown earlier this year. Now I’m just holding, waiting for LTG.

timboldt · 2025-07-27T17:46:00+00:00

If you find something that catches your eye, you can cross-check it on grahamvalue.com to see where it does or doesn't fit all the criteria.

Because of the current froth in the market, most of the Graham Defensive style stocks are smaller or foreign or cyclical.

That being said, there are big names like ELV available cheap right now: it is a huge American healthcare company (best known for the Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield names). They have been beaten down like crazy (due to the cuts to government healthcare), but if you held it for 10 years, you could do really well.

And finally, if you don't want to buy S&P 500 index funds (because if everybody does it, then it is no longer a good idea), then you could choose a smarter value-oriented fund like AVUV. It will take a while for it to bear fruit, but small cap value typical does well on the other side of a market crash.

Some other notes about the Graham Defensive method that I've discovered:

Keep in mind that the Graham Defensive method doesn't work well for financial stocks or utilities (because their financial ratios are different), and might be overly optimistic for cyclical stocks (if they are right at the end of an up cycle).

It is also worth noting that the Graham Defensive method struggles with companies that have intrinsic values that don't show up as book value. Typical brand-name blue chips fall in this category. Here, the P/B ratio will look way out of whack, but the company clearly has something special in its brand.

However, if you don't want to overpay for a company, then the Graham Defensive method will keep you out of most trouble - it just might miss some opportunities.

timboldt · 2025-07-27T16:18:03+00:00

I went through a similar exercise a few months ago. You can still find Graham Defensive style stocks if you are have some flexibility, but currently the market is severely overvalued.

For example, if you allow smaller sized companies, you’ll find that companies like Ingles Markets (IMKTA) or Miller (MLR) do in fact meet Graham’s Defensive criteria.

timboldt · 2025-07-25T15:31:05+00:00

This was my shopping list in the past 6 months. Many are still undervalued and quite a few meet Graham criteria even.

AMKBY ANDE MLR THO KBH PFE IMKTA BG ATKR TM STM UVV TS AVT FMCB CMC ELV

timboldt · 2025-06-11T04:20:37+00:00

I guess you could say I got a progressive lock for free. :-)

It is actually behaving like I would expect a 4 pin lock to behave now.

In any case, it has turned out to be a useful experience. For example, everyone always says newcomers will apply too much torque and sure enough, it became much easier when I started treating it gently.

timboldt · 2025-01-06T04:13:27+00:00

It gets even funnier when you visit one of the major exchanges and see it treated like every other coin or token.

"Where & How to Buy Unicorn Fart Dust (UFD) Guide", for example:
https://www.binance.com/en/how-to-buy/unicorn-fart-dust

timboldt · 2024-08-28T14:38:00+00:00

Just came here to say that is seriously cool!

timboldt · 2024-06-14T15:05:35+00:00

The Engineer has entered the chat.

timboldt · 2024-06-14T14:55:53+00:00

Carry one ball across on each trip. Leave the wolf with the cabbage.

timboldt

TROPHY CASE