I was kinda curious what would happen when the US Markets took a dive like they did today. I am pleased to report that the Wylie Portfolio won, losing hundreds of dollars, but not losing as much as the "Lazy Portfolio" of Vanguard funds or the ETFs.
5.10.2007
Oh yea... and Managed funds win again!
I was kinda curious what would happen when the US Markets took a dive like they did today. I am pleased to report that the Wylie Portfolio won, losing hundreds of dollars, but not losing as much as the "Lazy Portfolio" of Vanguard funds or the ETFs.
Saving money on home improvement
I have several posts mulling around in my noggin but I have been too tired at night to get them out this week as we have been getting home from work and going straight to work, scraping the old peeling paint off the side of our house.
You can tell from the second picture how high I up I have to go to clean up the second floor windows and and digging into the old paint with a hand scraper that high up is kinda not cool.
But we have been scraping and painting one side of the house each year for three years. I have not priced out how much we are saving, painting ourselves, but I imagine it would buy a Wylie fund or two...
I just realized I do not have a good picture of either of the two sides we are done with. This one shows the front which we painted last year. The new color we are using is similar, but a bit more blue. You can also see the bags of leaves and pine needles we raked up, waiting to be taken to be composted by our town. Yes, we also do our own 'landscaping' which probably saves us enough for a few months of subsequent investments in a Wylie fund or two.
You can tell from the second picture how high I up I have to go to clean up the second floor windows and and digging into the old paint with a hand scraper that high up is kinda not cool.
But we have been scraping and painting one side of the house each year for three years. I have not priced out how much we are saving, painting ourselves, but I imagine it would buy a Wylie fund or two...
I just realized I do not have a good picture of either of the two sides we are done with. This one shows the front which we painted last year. The new color we are using is similar, but a bit more blue. You can also see the bags of leaves and pine needles we raked up, waiting to be taken to be composted by our town. Yes, we also do our own 'landscaping' which probably saves us enough for a few months of subsequent investments in a Wylie fund or two.
5.08.2007
Managed funds beat index funds and ETFs!
Nice title eh?
On 5/01/07 I hypothetically invested in a portfolio of mutual funds you can buy through a single brokerage for no commissions with a $2500 minimum in each. For comparison I invested in corresponding portfolios of Vanguard Index Funds- the "Lazy Portfolio" (which you can't do- they require $3000 each to start) and ETFs (which require commissions). I also invested in a single fund from the 20 mutual funds and plan to add an additional fund each month for 20 months.
I have not decided how often I will provide updates or in what format exactly so for now I will keep it simple and once a week.
For the first week, the Wyliemoney portfolio of mostly managed mutual funds, available through Etrade, beat the Index and ETF portfolios. Note that year-to-date, the ETF and Index portfolios win. I am not paying too much attention to the single fund or "Wyliemoney Slowly" portfolio until I add a few more funds.
5.07.2007
Walk for Hunger photos!
Yesterday, my wife and I did the Walk for Hunger. Click on any of the images for a larger version.
We got up at the crack of dawn and took the pike into town.
We saw big French dogs!
Then we walked under Mass Ave.
Some chipper volunteers guided us through Kenmore square...
...past Fenway Park.
We ran into a friend from Berklee!
Near Boston College, we saw some geese.
All along the 20 mile walk there were signs teaching us about hunger...
...about ouch...
...and about Soylent Green.
I never did figure out what "sunscree" was.
But I always knew how far we had traveled.
This sign was at about mile 10, the halfway point. If the "It" he was referring to was "walked half way", then he spoke the truth! Hard to argue with a pointer like this, regardless.
Soon after, the trail leads to the Charles river, where Harvard and MIT teams practiced rowing.
The views of downtown Boston were amazing, even in cloudy, windy weather.
Along the Charles River, there is a place where water fowl rule!
It never rained, despite the dark clouds.
We approached the Mass Ave bridge and prepared to cross it.
Once across the bridge, we were in the home stretch.
Back down Comm Ave, we passed statue after statue.
I was jealous of this guy, and ready to sit down!
Near the end, the sun started to break through.
We could see the finish line. Where did all these people come from? (cheaters!)
At each checkpoint, we got a mark or stamp.
And in the end, we made it. There were 43,000 walkers
and together we raised over $3.3 million!
Until next year...
We got up at the crack of dawn and took the pike into town.
We parked the car and registered at the Boston Common. When you get up this early, the crowd is pretty small. 43,000 people did the walk yesterday.
We walked down Comm Ave and saw some dogs.
We saw metal dogs. See the ball?
We saw metal dogs. See the ball?
We saw big French dogs!
Then we walked under Mass Ave.
Some chipper volunteers guided us through Kenmore square...
...past Fenway Park.
We ran into a friend from Berklee!
Near Boston College, we saw some geese.
All along the 20 mile walk there were signs teaching us about hunger...
...about ouch...
...and about Soylent Green.
I never did figure out what "sunscree" was.
But I always knew how far we had traveled.
This sign was at about mile 10, the halfway point. If the "It" he was referring to was "walked half way", then he spoke the truth! Hard to argue with a pointer like this, regardless.
Soon after, the trail leads to the Charles river, where Harvard and MIT teams practiced rowing.
The views of downtown Boston were amazing, even in cloudy, windy weather.
Along the Charles River, there is a place where water fowl rule!
It never rained, despite the dark clouds.
We approached the Mass Ave bridge and prepared to cross it.
Once across the bridge, we were in the home stretch.
Back down Comm Ave, we passed statue after statue.I was jealous of this guy, and ready to sit down!
Near the end, the sun started to break through.
We could see the finish line. Where did all these people come from? (cheaters!)
At each checkpoint, we got a mark or stamp.
And in the end, we made it. There were 43,000 walkers
and together we raised over $3.3 million!
Until next year...
5.04.2007
5.03.2007
The Real Scoop- Managed Funds, Index Funds or ETFs?
I just invested $152,824.12. (Hypothetically)
As promised, I have invested $50,000 in the Wylie Portfolio, $50,000 in a portfolio of Vanguard Index funds, $50,000 in a portfolio of ETFs, and $2500 in the first Wylie fund of the Wylie Portfolio. By first fund, I mean the first fund I picked: NTIAX. The extra $324.12 comes from fees required for the ETF portfolio and the exact cost of each ETF position being a little more or less than $2500.
So we have a portfolio of assorted managed funds and a few index funds you can buy through etrade for no fees, a portfolio of Vanguard index funds that you can't buy through Etrade or Vanguard for any fee because each fund has a $3000 minimum. I only invested $2500 to make the comparison simple. We have a portfolio of ETFs you can buy through Etrade for $12.99 each. And we have a version of the mostly managed portfolio I will add to one fund per month.
The purchase dates for all these portfolios is the price as of closing on 5/1/07. So if you have your own portfolio you want to compare to these, go to morningstar and create your own portfolio and enter your purchase at the price from 5/1/07. It is easy to look up historical prices. One way to do this is to go to Yahoo Finance and look up your fund or stock and click the "Historical Prices" link.
So far, the Wylie Portfolio invested in just one fund is in the lead, up 1.44% and the entire Wylie Portfolio of 20 funds is up 1.09% compared to the Vanguard Portfolio which is up 1.02% and the ETFs which are up .46%. Note that Year to Date, the Wylie Portfolio is in last place:
Some of the ETFs have not been in existence since 1/1/07 so I am not going to put too much creed in that figure as it is not an equal comparison. I'm also not going to put much creed in performance of two days. We'll see how things look in a bit.
Here are the portfolios. Click the image for a larger view:
As promised, I have invested $50,000 in the Wylie Portfolio, $50,000 in a portfolio of Vanguard Index funds, $50,000 in a portfolio of ETFs, and $2500 in the first Wylie fund of the Wylie Portfolio. By first fund, I mean the first fund I picked: NTIAX. The extra $324.12 comes from fees required for the ETF portfolio and the exact cost of each ETF position being a little more or less than $2500.
So we have a portfolio of assorted managed funds and a few index funds you can buy through etrade for no fees, a portfolio of Vanguard index funds that you can't buy through Etrade or Vanguard for any fee because each fund has a $3000 minimum. I only invested $2500 to make the comparison simple. We have a portfolio of ETFs you can buy through Etrade for $12.99 each. And we have a version of the mostly managed portfolio I will add to one fund per month.
The purchase dates for all these portfolios is the price as of closing on 5/1/07. So if you have your own portfolio you want to compare to these, go to morningstar and create your own portfolio and enter your purchase at the price from 5/1/07. It is easy to look up historical prices. One way to do this is to go to Yahoo Finance and look up your fund or stock and click the "Historical Prices" link.
So far, the Wylie Portfolio invested in just one fund is in the lead, up 1.44% and the entire Wylie Portfolio of 20 funds is up 1.09% compared to the Vanguard Portfolio which is up 1.02% and the ETFs which are up .46%. Note that Year to Date, the Wylie Portfolio is in last place:
Some of the ETFs have not been in existence since 1/1/07 so I am not going to put too much creed in that figure as it is not an equal comparison. I'm also not going to put much creed in performance of two days. We'll see how things look in a bit.
Here are the portfolios. Click the image for a larger view:
5.01.2007
The Walk for Hunger is Sunday- Thanks again!
The Walk for Hunger is Sunday and I just want to say thanks again for the donations! I'm not sure if I'll hit my goal, but you have already contributed more than we have raised in the past so I'm excited!
I did not explain the walk very well and got some grief for it so here goes:
Last year about 43,000 of us did the walk.
The route is 20 miles long. It starts and stops in the Boston Common and goes out to Newton and back.
I'll take some pictures and write about it next week!
I did not explain the walk very well and got some grief for it so here goes:
Last year about 43,000 of us did the walk.
The route is 20 miles long. It starts and stops in the Boston Common and goes out to Newton and back.
I'll take some pictures and write about it next week!
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