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June 10th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Vanguard Visionaries

12 Pillars of Boglehead Wisdom

I'm a Boglehead. What's a Boglehead you ask? I'm glad you asked! I could get pretty detailed but it's simply an investment philosophy. A Boglehead is against market timing, performance chasing, expensive mutual funds, and putting one's eggs in a single basket. At the core of this philosophy is the term "long term." I invest for my future, not for short term profits. The ultimate goal of a Boglehead is to mitigate risk, invest wisely, make a solid return and eventually retire early. It's as simple as that. Being a Boglehead is something that I'm proud about and something that I feel more people need to be educated on. At the core, a Boglehead lives by 12 main principles. These principles are known within the investment world as the 12 pillars of Wisdom. These pillars were created by John Bogle, a visionary and founder of the Vanguard group. There are people out there that slam this type of investment philosophy. I let the numbers speak for themselves. If you follow these 12 pillars of Boglehead wisdom, you WILL make above average returns and beat 75% of mutual funds. Here are the 12 pillars and my take on each of them: 1- INVESTING IS NOT NEARLY AS DIFFICULT AS IT LOOKS No one, I repeat, no one should hire a professional investor. Markets are extremely efficient and they will try their hardest to convince you that they know things that you don't. It's really not that complicated. Focus on the basics and you will make good returns, if not better than the pros. 2- WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, FALL BACK ON SIMPLICITY Do not readjust your holding constantly. Hold just a few funds and call it a day. Let me tell you something. It's amazing to only have to check my account once a month and see it grow. Now that's freedom. 3- TIME MARCHES ON Whip out your calculator and you will see that time is always on your side if you start investing now. The sooner you start, the bigger that nest-egg will be at retirement. 4-NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED Sometimes it's worth it to rebalance and take responsible risks for a percentage or two higher. Long term, this could mean the difference between $10k and $100k. 5- DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY Spread your assets across as many industries as possible. This way, if an industry is down one year, it will barely make a dent in your portfolio. 6- THE ETERNAL TRIANGLE This triangle is comprised of risk, return and cost. Unless you have justification for high expense mutual funds, keep costs low and choose low-cost index funds. It's the Boglehead way. 7- THE POWERFUL MAGNETISM OF THE MEAN Sooner or later, the highs and lows arrive at the mean. The market might have large swings in either direction in your lifetime, but if you shoot for the market average, you're set for retirement. 8- DO NOT OVERESTIMATE YOUR ABILITY TO PICK SUPERIOR EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS, NOR UNDERESTIMATE YOUR ABILITY TO PICK SUPERIOR BOND AND MONEY MARKET FUNDS I don't care about a mutual fund's past performance. Past history is no sign of the future for financial markets. However, when it comes to picking bond or money market funds, take your time, do your research, and pick low costs over past performance and you will be one successful Boglehead investor. 9- YOU MAY HAVE A STABLE PRINCIPAL VALUE OR A STABLE INCOME STREAM, BUT YOU MAY NOT HAVE BOTH At the end of the day, you need to make your own choices for the type of volatility you accept. It's up to you how you want to diversify your money. Keep it simple fellow Boglehead! 10- BEWARE OF "FIGHTING THE LAST WAR" Trends never last. They come and go. If a mutual fund has had a long streak of success, that's your sign that it's time to get out. Ignore the warnings about the future. Ignore the warnings from the past. Don't get stuck in the "fighting the last war" mentality. 11- YOU RARELY, IF EVER, KNOW SOMETHING THE MARKET DOES NOT Everything you hear, see on TV, emotions in life, and worries about the future are already priced into the market. You may think you know something, but you really don't. 12- THINK LONG TERM Who cares about what the stock prices do in a single day? If you are a long term investor, your horizon is 10, 20, maybe 40 years out from retirement. Ignore the noise on CNBC, stay the course, and invest regardless of what the markets are doing. Well, there you have it folks. Now you know how I invest my money. The 12 pillars of Boglehead wisdom is quite possibly the best kept secret within the investment world. Kick stock chasing to the curb. Think long term, turn off the television and invest for your family's future. Why take more risk than you have to?
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www.freemoneywisdom.com

Need help on my Mono Green Elf deck. Need suggestions.?

4x Elvish Champion
4x Talara’s Battalion
2x Elvish Vanguard
4x Priest of Titania
1x Immaculate Magistrate
4x Imperious Perfect
1x Oracle of Nectars
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Jagged-Scar Archers
4x Elvish Visionary
4x Wellwisher
2x Elvish Lyrist
2x Changeling Titan

12 x Forest
2x Wirewood Lodge
4x Elvish Promenade
4x Blanchwood Armor

Any other suggestions would be appriciated.

60 cards - check

40% mana - You only have 14 lands, I would increase this by 6. Right now, only 23% of your mana base is land, so you will have a very good chance of getting mana screwed in your opening hand. You will need to draw a land and a Llanowar elf to play the Priest of Titania, if you draw her, and even then, if someone kills her, you may be short mana. Also, the Blanchwood Armor relies on you dropping lands, so if you aren't playing a lot of land, then you shouldn't waste your time with that particular enchantment. In adding the 6 lands, I can then vouch for keeping the Blanchwood Armor. I would drop the 4 Elvish Champions (or put them in my sideboard) for the simple reason that they also give your opponents elves (or changelings) the elf bonus and giving your opponent Forestwalk is not a good thing. With the extra mana, you can also drop 2 of the Priests of Titania or if you keep the Priests, I would drop 2 Blanchwood Armor and pick up 2 Hurricanes or Squall Lines as the mana that X spells produce for damage can be a game winner. I might even trade the Blanchwood Armor for Loxodon Warhammers as gaining life to offset damage from Hurricane or Squall Line can be a good thing and you also get Trample from the hammer as well. Also, if the equipped creature dies, the hammer doesn't go to the graveyard like an enchantment would.

There are some suggestions, I hope they help.

Vanguard Visionaries
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