Nov 23, 2007

you found us... now what?

hello:

mndiehards@comcast.net for even more details/info or to be added to our mailing list

thanks for your interest in the MN diehard group! i’ve received several emails asking about our group, so here’s some standard answers... apologies for the ‘generic nature’ of this reply.

there are no fees, dues, or investment money needed to become a MN diehard. just a desire to do it yourself investing to keep costs low, taxes manageable, and risk to be where you need it to be, done in a buy-and-hold, stay the course, non-market-timing manner. we don’t invest anything together as a group.

we’re a very informal group that gets together 4 times a year to discuss investing over a lunch at some metro restaurant, usually on a saturday at 12:00, for a few hours. most (but not all) use low-cost funds and ETFs, through vanguard or other brokerage firms. several of us also post and discuss finances at diehards.org, but that isn’t a prerequisite, either.

the only requirement is that we do not accept solicitations of any kind from brokers, financial planners, life insurance sellers, etc. and we are not a ‘stock pickers’ investment club. we discuss asset allocations, risk, rebalancing, % international, etc. feel free to review past agendas on our blog to see if these topics interest you. if they do, we’d love to have you join us.

part of the benefit of our current group size is that it’s relatively small at any given meeting, and relatively easy to find a private room for free somewhere. if we double our size, logistics may be more difficult... so, stay tuned, our next meeting will be sometime in march, most likely.

thanks again for your interest. feel free to visit our nationwide forum (diehards.org) or re-visit our MN blog, mndiehards.blogspot.com, or reply back if i haven’t answered your questions fully. the http://diehards.org/forum/ forum is free to register, and i find it to be the best, most professional, helpful site on the internet, regardless of your current investing knowledge (of course, i’m biased!). posting your current portfolio (in percentages only) on the board and asking for advice is some of the most powerful, useful outcome of diehard interaction, in my opinion. and reading as much as you can from the reading lists and the forums...

best regards,
jeff (aka ‘chuck D’ on the diehards)

Nov 21, 2007

MN boglehead story in the strib

kara mcquire did a great job with this story, imo. http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1566568.html

for any new bogleheads out there who may want more info, feel free to email us at MNdiehards@comcast.net for details. we'll probably meet in march-ish, maybe in bloomington.


Photo illustration by Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune

which 529 state plan to use?

diehards:

i stripped out all names from below email responses on the 529 email. thanks for the input! very solid info given...

also, i started a poll on the board... seems most folks like their own state, and then nevada: http://www.diehards.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8556

happy thanksgiving!

=================
original email request:

mn diehards:
peer pressure from the mn diehards has us thinking that it's finally time to open a 529. about 3/4 of the group last time said they have a 529, but i didn't ask through which state. i want to tap into your experiences. i'm thinking utah's plan http://www.uesp.org/ (low fees, vanguard funds, seems to be near the top of most lists i've seen)
if you have an account, what state do you do it though? any reason to go w/ minnesota's plan? or some other state's plan? anything you would do different w/ your 529s in retrospect? thanks for any and all advice.

and the responses:
=================
I am using the Minnesota College Saving Plan http://www.mnsaves.org/ The distributions are free from federal and MN taxes. The contributions are not tax deductible; however, if the family income is less than $80,000, the State matches the contributions by a percentage in a matching account. The expenses are low and there are several plan options, including one where investments vary by the age of the child. A number of years ago I purchased EE Savings Bonds in my name with the intent of using them for my daughters' college expenses. However, my income became too high to benefit from the federal tax benefit. I did learn that you can roll over EE Savings Bonds into a 529, which I did, without incurring a tax liability for the accrued interest. With one daughter having recently finished college and my second one just starting as a freshman, my only advice is the usual--save as much as you can as early as you can! Good luck.
=================
Hi
About a year ago I set up 529's for the grandkids. I researched the diehards site and went with Ohio. Vanguard and low fees. There was a specific reason I thought Ohio was better than Utah but I don't remember what it was.
=================
I opened a 529 for my granddaughter this year. I strongly considered the Utah plan ( plus a couple of other as I remember) but finally went with Minnesota's plan with TIAA CREF, with the 100% equity option. There was not tremendous rationale, TIAA CREF is a pretty good company. I can always change plans if, for instance, down the road I would be interested in specific options.
=================
We are sustaining two 529 plans for two grandsons. Both are Vanguard Iowa. There is a deduct from the State of Iowa income tax. It is not a big deal but every penny counts when you are a Diehard. =================
I have a 529 for my 5 grandkids with the MN plan. I am trying to remember why I went that way. Your email has prompted me to look at it again. So yes, in retrospect, I think Utah is the way to go. Will have to see if I can switch. I have had this plan for about a year now. Would be interested in hearing what kind of comments you get concerning this subject.
=================
I have used the MN plan for all 4 of my children. You do get a matching grant from the State depending upon income level. So the matching grant is sort of a refund of one's taxes that helps with the tuition etc.
=================
I will be making the same decision on a 529 plan for my newborn son. I was thinking Utah, Ohio or Iowa but I'm still researching. I would like to hear the responses you get from the group on your question. Please share what you can. Have a great day!
=================
I was actually thinking the same thing - not the Utah plan, but the 529 for my sister's kids and maybe for mine someday, (do not have any yet or planning to-but you never know) Anyways, isn't it ironic that these thoughts come up when a new year is approaching. (But these thoughts are so important! with time on our side) So- if you don't mind - let me know what the other guys are using, I'll look up Utah and some others and get back to you.
=================
I have a 529 for my Grandson. Vanguard, Nevada. At the time I started it there were fewer programs offered by Vanguard than now. I choose Vanguard Moderate Growth, which is about 25% bonds. I have not changed it. The funds will have 5 years. That is I put in the max each year for 3 years (His Freshman year is already taken care of.) He will have 1/3 of the funds for each of the last 3 years of college. I feel his parents can contribute for those last 3 years and he can also work (and borrow). I don't think it is wise to GIVE everything to kids on a silver platter.

His brother is a special needs child and I hope to set up some sort of "Trust" for him that will not hinder his getting help from the various agencies that help special needs. That is a whole different ball game and if I ever figure it out, I would be willing to share my findings if there is interest. I believe I will be using an attorney for this.
=================
We opened up a MN 529 account last year because of the matching grants they offer to MN residents--which in my mind more than makes up for a slight difference in fees and non-Vanguard fund options. Last year, the match was 15% of deposits for households making up to $50,000 and 5% for those making over that. This year, they upped it to 15/10. TIAA-CREF offers the investment options, so they're more than reasonable.
=================
We have 529 with MN, through TIAA -CREF, they do OK job, exp. 0.65, I chose an option when they adjust investment choices automatically based on the age of the child. In our case we are 4 years away, so conservative, with not very exciting rate of return. If I would go back and do it again - Utah or Iowa plans. Take a look here
http://collegesavingsiowa.uii.upromise.com/content/details/planDetails.html
- through Vanguard, also you can use Upromise system, when ? 2% or so of certain credit cards used amount goes into the account - I do not know details.

Good luck, and here is MY philosophy of successful higher education: make sure your kids know both fun and discipline from early childhood-> push them to be straight "A" students starting with elementary school(bribe with interesting stuff...eventually they get used to the idea) -> get merit scholarship to the in state school for undergrad-> choose the best school you can get into for graduate program, and the kid pays for it him/herself, but maybe you can help too with leftover 529 money that was not used for undergrad school...certainly sounds much easier on paper than in real life ;-)
=================
Great idea . . . Information on 529 Plans is a good topic for discussion, insight, etc. I have not opened any yet, but with a first grandchild on the way in a month, I suspect a 529 is not too far in my future.
=================

Nov 10, 2007

10-nov-07 mtg minutes

13 attendees: paul, ken, anna, steve a, sue, jim, kara, chuck, deb, carol, arleigh, steve s, myself

davanni's in st. paul, 12:00 to 2:40

a great meeting of the diehards this time around. steve from 180 miles out made it, as did arleigh (5 hours away!). only downside is that our jack the boglehead was kidnapped! will we ever see him again?!? stay tuned...

==============
agenda:
1) "formal" intro your name, why are you here, and what the bogleheads mean to you

2) breakout 2A) ETFs. who is using them? why? happy with the decision?
2B) OR rebalancing: to do or not to do. how and when?


3) full group want do you want to learn and/or change in next 12 months?


4) breakout 4A) asset allocation reviews (%s only)
4B) OR intl as % of AA. intl bonds? (ongoing fall of US$)


5) full group economy in 2008. predictions on US & intl equity & bond returns


6) full group wrapup, next meeting timing / location / format
=========











Oct 18, 2007

MN - minnesota mtg - november in bloomington?

hey, folks... i posted this on the new diehard forum earlier... so, please let me know which date you prefer. either reply here or on the forum about either nov-10 or nov-17. thanks.

hope to see everyone soon!

=============

http://www.diehards.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7128


Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:14 pm Post subject: MN - minnesota mtg - november in bloomington?

it feels about that time again... how about either sat. nov-10 or sat. nov-17, at 12:00? and how about back to major's sports cafe in bloomington? they have a nice (free!) private banquet room for discussions, w/ full menu options and no minimums, and is somewhat centrally located in southern metro. (i can hear carol already... when will we meet in north metro?!?)

for anyone new to this forum or to MN (or WI or IA) but interested, feel free to join us. our last meeting had a great mix of old and new diehards.

agenda (very drafty):
1) entire group: introductions. order and eat lunch.
2) small groups: topics TBD
3) entire group: investing plans and changes for 2008
4) small groups: topics TBD
5) entire group: open discussion / next meeting logistics

we usually wrap it up after 2 - 2.5 hours. for questions or to vote your date preference, post your reply here, PM me, email me, or visit our MN blog http://mndiehards.blogspot.com/ any suggestions and/or changes to format, date, time, location, topics, moderator, etc. are more than welcome, of course. i'll post back here when there's a consensus.

Jul 21, 2007

meeting minutes - 21-july-07

diehards:

we had a pretty good turnout (a great turnout when thinking about the gorgeous sat. afternoon we had). 11 of us. 3 new diehards: welcome shane, jason, and russ! and as a bonus, if we ever need a diehard bouncer or bodyguard for the boglehead, i'm sure jason will step up.

be thinking about location and timing for next meeting. probably in oct-nov and central or south central metro area (bloomington's major cafe again?). we've always done saturday, 12:00, but we can certainly think about changing it up to sunday at 3:00 or later saturday (5:00?) or whatever. maybe i'll do a poll

http://www.diehards.org/

talk soon







Jul 19, 2007

confirmed... july-21 mtg

formatting is all wrong... but too lazy to fix... anyone see 200 missing paragraph indicators?!?
======
i just sent out final email reminder to the mn email list... i copied it below for any interested diehards who aren't on that email list. if anyone wants to be added to the minnesota diehard email list, PM me or drop an email to mndiehards@comcast.net.
=====
hey mn, ia, and wi diehards... final reminder of our get together this sat (7/21), 12:00, at throwbacks in woodbury. we'll be in the back (free) private banquet room. as always, it looks like a great mixture of diehard vets and some new folks, too. we have our first wisconsite... joel p from western wisconsin... welcome to the group, joel! (altho he can't make it this saturday). also new to the group who will be joining us: jason, shane, and russ. welcome! jim and i will co-moderate. if anyone has any other topics they want to discuss, reply back to this or just wait and bring them up sat. we're a very informal group. but below is a strawman. link w/ map to throwbacks (formerly majors, marg. murphys, ol' mexico, purple people eatery, etc): http://tinyurl.com/2kl3qa Throwbacks: 1690 Woodlane Dr, St Paul, MN 55125, (651) 379-9211

=== agenda ========== 1) “formal” intro 1) name and 2) your worst investing mistake. 2) during lunch: Q&A with star tribune reporter, kara mcquire: “How the public invests” & other topics 3) breakout 3A) investment purchases or sales since last meeting & any planned changes & why 3B) OR interesting threads and poll results on diehards.org 4) full group how you found vanguard and/or the diehard forum and/or this group 5) breakout 5B) asset allocation reviews (%s only) 5A) OR rebalancing from high to lower performing asset classes (intl outperformance, FI treading water, etc). the psychological battles waged vs. momentum vs. risk 6) full group % in stocks (115-age in stocks?) rationale for your most important allocation decision. 7) full, wrapup next meeting timing / location / format ========= other group discussion ideas (for third group, or as time allows) - pros / cons of retirement accounts (401ks, roth IRAs, SEPs) vs. taxable accounts - direction of market next 12 months. (election season. tax laws, interest rates, deficit, economy) - want do you want to learn / change in next 12 months - diversifying retirement accounts (roth? 401k? after-tax? 529s?) ====================

see you soon!

Jun 15, 2007

ETFs - star tribune

interesting story about ETFs in today's star tribune (june15), w/ a nice diehard philosophy cooked in...

http://www.startribune.com/karamcguire/story/1246529.html

======
Kara McGuire: The ABCs of ETFs (exchange-traded funds)

An exchanged-traded fund is a basket of stocks that tracks an index instead of being picked by an adviser. The funds have gained a lot of followers -- from big-bucks advisers to small-fry investors and a growing number of 401(k) plans.
By Kara McGuire, Star Tribune
Last update: June 14, 2007 – 10:33 PM


Print this story
E-mail this story
More from Kara McGuire
Kara McGuire: The ABCs of ETFs (exchange-traded funds)

There's a fast-growing type of investment that's gaining a lot of money and fans. I've yet to write about these ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, because they aren't a great fit for people who invest a little bit of money over a long period of time -- which pretty much sums up most of my readers.
Who has a lump sum to invest? But after the 100th person hit me over the head with a rolled-up list of the virtues of ETFs, I realized it was time for a primer.
Here's how they work. An ETF basically is a basket of stocks that tracks an index instead of being picked by an adviser. But unlike traditional index funds, which are priced at the end of the day, ETFs are traded throughout the day on an exchange, the same as stocks.
Since they were introduced in 1993, ETFs have gained a lot of followers -- from big-bucks advisers to small-fry investors and a growing number of 401(k) plans -- because they are relatively cheap and tax-efficient and give investors an affordable way to diversify around the globe.
And the numbers are growing to meet the demand. There are now about 500 ETFs, plenty to confuse the average investor, but certainly nowhere near the thousands of mutual fund choices.
Jeff McComas of Woodbury is a "huge fan" of ETFs, using them in his IRAs, his taxable accounts -- anywhere he can. He's an indexing devotee and wisely believes that "costs matter."
Take one of his holdings, the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF (VWO). It has an expense ratio of 0.3 percent, whereas you can pay well over 1 percent for a mutual fund investing in developing countries. No wonder investors are rushing into ETFs.
However, like stocks, every time you buy and sell an ETF, whether through your personal broker or online through a brokerage account, you'll pay a fee ranging from a few dollars to more than $20, which can add up. For this reason, most advisers recommend ETFs for investors with a few thousand to invest. McComas waits until he has $1,000 or more to lock away.
Those with less to invest would be better off from a cost perspective with a low-priced index fund that doesn't charge a purchase fee, although McComas rightly points out that some funds require large minimum investments and ETFs don't.
So who should use ETFs? Here's an example from Tim Gunderson, an adviser with Tradition Wealth Management in Edina: "Let's take a 35-year-old couple who just inherited $100,000" with no short-term plans for the money. For them, ETFs "are a great choice."
Anyone with a lump sum to invest from a 401(k) plan, a bonus or the proceeds from a screenplay also may find ETFs appealing.
Gunderson also likes ETFs for clients with taxable accounts because the capital gains hit typically is smaller than from mutual funds.
Say ETFs are right for you. But which? Some track the S&P 500 and other broad, mainstream indexes. Others invest in a sliver of the market: Euro ETF, anyone? How about one that invests solely in Russia or buys water-related companies?
Narrowly slicing and dicing the market by sectors and countries can be fun. But it's risky -- although at least you're more diversified than when you buy a single obscure stock.
Scott Oeth, a principal with Midwest Investment Advisors, said some of those ETFs are "really interesting," but he advises people to keep the ones with limited scope for their "satellite portfolio, where you give yourself a budget of money" for fun. Think no more than 10 percent of your portfolio, if that.
McComas, 37, sticks with the broader ETFs. "There are too many niche ETFs available now," he complained in an e-mail. His advice: "Keep investing simple, avoid single-country investing risk and stop trying to time the market."
How do you use ETFs? Tell Kara McGuire at 612-673-7293 or kara@startribune.com.

Jun 8, 2007

next minnesota diehard mtg: july 21


it feels about time again... let’s plan on getting together sat. jul-21, at 12:00. we'll be meeting at throwbacks restaurant in woodbury. they have a nice (free!) private banquet room for discussions, w/ full menu options and no minimums. for anyone new to this forum or MN but interested, feel free to join us. our last meeting had a great mix of old diehards and several new ones, too.

agenda (very draft-y):

1) entire group: introductions (your name & worst investing mistake). order and eat lunch.

2A) small groups: discussion w/ kara mcquire (star tribune business/money columnist), OR

2B) asset allocation reviews (bring ~10 copies of AA - %s only)

3) entire group: mid-year checkup (your personal investing summary for 2007 ytd and any additional changes planned).

4) small groups: ISPs OR when to retire OR recent boglehead/diehard posts/polls that have been interesting

5) entire group: open discussion / other issues people want to discuss. next meeting timing / location

we usually wrap it up after 2 - 2.5 hours. for questions or to vote your preference, post your reply here, PM me, email me, or visit our MN blog (in signature below).

our numbers have been steadily rising over the years, which is great... at our last meeting, we had 21 diehards + 2 special guests (boglehead jack! and kara from the strib). several diehards have brought their significant other or neighbor, etc. the more the merrier! i’m really looking forward to it.

_________________

regards,

MNdiehards@comcast.net

Apr 2, 2007

mtg supplemental - reading lists / sites from minnesota vanguard diehards

hey, folks:

i respond back to every email i get. if i don't, that means comcast's spam filter caught it. i've now disabled that spam-filter. sorry for any 'earlier unintentional ignoring' of you!

great turnout at the mar-31 mtg. 20 folks. and a special guest, kara mcquire, a star tribune money/investing reporter/columnist. i especially enjoy doing the asset allocation reviews. thanks, jim and carol, for bringing copies of your asset allocation (%s) to share, get some peer reviews / ideas, and help us all figure out how to improve our own AAs.

i also put a quick note on the diehard forum about the mtg http://www.diehards.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=363 .

next meeting july-august timeframe... ideas of location, dates, format, etc. are welcomed.

joe sent me the below list to pass on to all of good finance blogs and also how to set up RSS... thanks, joe!

sandra sent me an article (which i attached) about bonds that the a breakout group was discussing. thanks, sandra!

as i said during the mtg, if i were more organized, i would have captured the books, websites, and magazines that everyone reads. as it was, i just jotted down a few... there's always next time, i guess

MN reading list:
magazines: the economist, smart money, money, kiplingers, kiplingers retirement newsletter, dan weiner's newsletter

books: http://www.diehards.org/readbooks.htm stocks for the long run, 4 pillars..., henry blodget's book, the wall street self-defense manual.

sites: http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm http://pfblog.org/ http://www.bloomberg.com/ http://money.cnn.com/ http://finance.yahoo.com/ of course vanguard.com, diehards.org, morningstar

until next time... 'see' you on the forum.

and good luck (stolen shamelessly from garage logic)

chuck D
MNdiehards@comcast.net

---------------
Here is some information to pass on to the MN Diehards group.

To setup RSS (Really Simple Syndication) for Google go to this website, create an account and start searching and adding these desired RSS URLs: http://www.google.com/reader/

The only financial podcasts I RSS are from NPR's Marketplace and Marketplace Money
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/RSS/

Yahoo, Bloglines and others have RSS feed collection websites also.A sight with Personal Finance blogs is http://pfblog.org/Personal Finance Blogs I've found worth RSSing:

http://allfinancialmatters.com/
http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/
http://www.getrichslowly.org/
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/kablog/ Karen McGuire from StarTribune
http://mndiehards.blogspot.com/ MN Diehards
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/Scott Burns
http://www.pfadvice.com/
http://johncbogle.com/wordpress/John Bogle
http://savvysaver.blogspot.com/index.htmlhttp://www.stopbuyingcrap.com/
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/content/Home/Digital/RSSLandingContent.jspVanguard RSS
http://youngandbroke.typepad.com/

Regards,Joe

Mar 30, 2007

mtg #6... 31-mar-2007 (bloomington)

attendees: 20 of us
logistics:- started at 12:00, everyone left by 3:30
next mtg: july-aug
agenda: (click below to enlarge it)

the requisite pix (click to enlarge):








even jack bogle made it!








Feb 17, 2007

mtg #5... 4-nov-2006 (woodbury)



hey, folks... what a great mix of diehards... new folks to the group and vets, the learning and learned, etc...

present (19):

logistics:
- started at 12:00, lots of people left at 2:30, everyone left by 3:30 (last breakout groups met on ETFs, small cap intl, and AA)
- throwbacks in woodbury
- see attached pic... 2 missing that had to leave early...

agenda:
0) noticed on the way in to the restaurant, there were 4 bald eagles flying and swooping around the restaurant... kind of cool. big birds
1) ENTIRE GROUP: “formal” introductions, e.g. your name, how you found diehard forum or this mtg group, where you live
2) asset allocation reviews by group (jim d, arleigh, paul s, phil, sandra, any others that volunteer... please bring 10 copies of your AAs [%s only])
3) pros / cons of investing in retirement accounts (401ks, roth IRAs, SEPs, etc) vs. taxable accounts
4) direction of market in 2007. (interest rates, inflation, economy, what congress changes may bring)
5) ENTIRE GROUP: investing changes each person is planning for 2006-07
5) open discussion / other issues people want to discuss
6) next meeting timing / location / format

note: for those diehards not present, don’t be fooled by the above rigid sounding agenda... these were just starting points / talking points. there were informal discussions of AA, changes, bonds / TIPs, int’l small caps, authors / books, etc

next meeting:
in 4-5 months, location to be determined, same (informal) agenda. any and all ideas for locations, dates, formats on the next meeting are more than welcome!
- phil suggested ensuring the next location has a wifi hot spot, so that we can be doing ‘instant x-ray’, and ticker lookups, etc. on laptops
- IPS... next meeting for anyone willing to share their Investment Policy Statement see http://news.morningstar.com/classroom2/course.asp?docId=4439&page=1&CN=COM for details on what an IPS is
- wes and diane volunteered to host another get together at wes’ place in chanhassen... altho very grateful for the invite, we don’t want to ‘use up our welcome’ too soon and make them work too much. so we’ll probably take them up on their offer for the late summer get together two meetings out. thanks, wes and diane! can’t wait to see what you cook for us (slow cooked ribs!?!)

personal thoughts
these meetings just keep getting better and better for me. having our own room (or place of business, ala wes’) really helps the meeting go well (instead of competing to talk in a loud restaurant. from here on out, we’ll try to always get a ‘back room’ or private meeting area. besides the ‘entire group discussions’, i don’t know the specifics of the other groups discussions. but on our end, it was a very good time. i was shocked to look at my cell and realize it was already 2:00... time flies when talking w/ diehards, i guess. looking forward to next one

best,
chuck d

mtg #4... 15-jul-2006 (wes's place chanhassen)


present (9):

agenda:
- bowing to the boglehead that diane got off ebay ;-)
- bbq pork shoulder that wes prepared, w/ all the fixin’s... a definite highlite
- informal discussions of AA, changes, bonds / TIPs, int’l small caps, authors / books, do-it-yourself investing vs. letting ‘professionals’ burn thru your money (no bias here, tho), individual stock investing, etc etc

next meeting:
in 3-4 months, location to be determined, same (informal) agenda. any and all ideas for locations, dates, formats on the next meeting are more than welcome!

misc thoughts
thanks again, wes, for the excellent set up and meal. for me personally, this was the ‘best’ mn diehard meeting yet... great food, not too loud for discussions, good turnout, we’re getting to know and remember each other’s asset allocations and investing philosophies better, and got us out of the 100 degree heat and into a very nice AC set of rooms. i scanned in page 213 of the boglehead book. john advised starting w/ this page. and THEN reading the rest of the book. attached find some pix of the event and p213.

mtg #3... 25-mar-2006 (billy's, grand ave)



MN (midwest) diehards:

great seeing everyone again, and great meeting some new DHers, too! we met for about 2.5 hours at billy’s on grand today.

11 attendees (left to right):

steve s went to fidelity as part of his trip north... the fidelity guy told him to ‘save and invest less money’! that fidelity guy must not work w/ many diehards...

also, steve s showed some software he uses to manage his portfolio: the bailey fund manager... http://www.beiley.com/fundman/index.html free for first 30 or 90 days, then $60, i think he said...

i won’t rehash the entire meeting, but we had lunch, then moved into a quieter room, broke into two tables, and discussed everyone’s portfolios that wished to share theirs, along w/ other investing issues / questions. lots of talk about i-bonds and general bonds, as well as tax deferred investing, rebalancing, etc. very good info and topics, i thought.

for mark and other ‘new’ diehards, here’s link to diehard forum
http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/asp/AllConv.asp?forumId=F100000015

and the DH page that lots of folks use to view the morningstar page:
http://www.diehards.org/

diehard chapters
http://www.lostsprings.com/diehards/chapters/

wes volunteered to host the next midwest diehard meeting at his business in chanhassen (thanks, wes!). in about 3 months, give or take... june-july-ish. stay tuned for future emails as we get closer to summer.

if anyone has additional ideas for future topics, formats, ways to organize the meetings, i’m all ears. i’m pretty informal (too informal?) during these, and just like the discussions to flow naturally and go where they may...


best regards,
chuck D <<< and the mystery of my moniker was solved, too. i signed up w/ morningstar back in ’99, almost as a fluke. i used as my username an old school rapper, chuck D of public enemy, thinking it would be a one-time use / visit to the site... well, 7 years later, i’m still visiting the diehard forum.. as chuck D... whoda thunk it? too late to change now! (and as always, if you want to be removed from this email list or change your email to another account, just reply back to this, and i’ll make the change)

mtg #2... 25-jun-2005 IGH, appleebees

all: once again… i had a great time chatting w/ everyone. there were 7 of us. for those not able to make it… here’s the ‘mtg minutes’:

steve (from worthington) brought along his vanguard printout of ‘everything you wanted to know about your funds but were afraid to ask’ report. we also discussed asset allocation, investing in retirement (jim just retired 6 months ago… great perspective), the new roth 401k, % international, ‘worst investing mistakes’ we’ve made. (wes and his can of oil that still sits on his desk was a great lesson/reminder story). a pretty free wheeling discussion all over the map of investing / health of economy / deficits / strength of dollar / AA / etc. hope it was worth the trip for steve (3 hrs… ONE(!) way… now that’s a dedicated dieharder!)

started at 12:00, wrapped up about 2:15

next get together: september/octoberish, on a saturday, 12:00… we need restaurant and city ideas for next meeting… i’d throw out the ideas of majors sports cafĂ© in woodbury (great, quiet meeting rooms w/ lunch), or ferns on selby in saint paul (no special rooms but big restaurant) or doolittles in eagan (seating may be crowded/loud). and the dates of sep 17 or oct 22. anybody care to ‘vote early and often’ on place/date?

chuck D

mtg #1... 12-mar-2005

who: MN Diehards… all spouses, significant others, friends, etc. welcome to also attend
when: march 12th, 12:00,
where: at bonfires on grand ave, st. paul,
what: kickoff meeting of MN Diehards
why: discussions about diehard topics, some good (reasonably priced) food, etc

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i guess we're 'official'... thanks for the quick responses. here's some info and questions:

- we're chapter #14, MN/Twin Cities.

- we're listed on the official, unofficial chapter website here, and have our 'pushpin' on the map > http://www.lostsprings.com/diehards/chapters/

- there's 7 of us (so far), mostly from metro area and one from worthington (gets the award for longest possible commute

- 1st get together, march 12th, 12:00, at bonfires on grand ave, st. paul, w/ all spouses, significant others, friends, etc. welcome to also attend (i think i can safely put my wife in the 'no' column... she's already sick of discussing finances w/ me!)

- then, we could generate some topics of conversation, or just wing it (possible starters: how did you find the diehards website? how did you find vanguard? your biggest investing mistake? (i enjoyed that thread on the board last month), etc.

- what are your ideas for organizing, for communicating (any webmasters out there?), for meeting locations, dates, times, formats, etc? can you make it on march-12, if that works for most others?

chuck D