South Florida Local Chapter meeting, January 26, 2020

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Administrator

The following guest post is courtesy of South Florida Local Chapter member Lazy Nihilist.

We had our semi-annual South Florida Bogleheads meetup last Sunday 26th Jan. at Stirling Rd. branch library.

It was a special occasion as we celebrated Taylor Larimore’s 96th birthday. We had special guests attending including Mel and Marlene Lindauer, Gail Cox and a Senior Relationship Manager from Vanguard.

Bogleheads came in from the Florida Keys, Naples, Orlando, Alabama, Dallas, New York, Chicago and Tennessee. There were at least 84 participants signed in. It was a full house. There was a Bogleheads Guide to Investing book prize for the Boglehead(s) who came the farthest just for this meetup. The prize was given to the Boglehead who drove almost 700 miles from Alabama.

The meeting

We had the initial introduction by chapter president Miriam. There was a short video presentation from Vanguard showing their appreciation for the Bogleheads, along with a short clip from Jack Bogle about asset allocation.

Our primary topic of discussion was asset allocation. And the Senior Relationship Manager from Vanguard provided great clarity and background on decisions required for setting an appropriate asset allocation. Some of the topics covered include:

Bonds let you sleep, Stocks let you eat.
Start from your goals and work your way to asset allocation.
Risk appetite is important when deciding asset allocation.
Use of dollar values as opposed to percentages for asset allocation.
Setting asset allocation divided into multiple buckets based on goals.
Use of commodities in asset allocation. Majority of investors can skip commodities.

Book recommendations

The following books were recommended for learning the basics of investing:

If You Can – Bill Bernstein
Investing Made Simple – Mike Piper
The Bogleheads Guide to Investing – Taylor Larimore, Michael LeBoeuf, Mel Lindauer.
Further reading: Books: recommendations and reviews

Mel Lindauer’s presentation

Mel Lindauer talked about the ‘Mel’s unloved mid-caps’ and the history behind it. Mel still recommends the Total Stock Market approach to investing.

There were a few questions and discussions regarding specific scenarios of asset allocation and stretch IRA’s.

A couple of notices to finish the meeting included how to use the various features of the Bogleheads wiki and a recommendation to watch Stefano Massini’s three act play, The Lehman Trilogy .

Taylor’s birthday

We, along with Mel and Taffy, finished the meeting with a beautiful celebration of Taylor Larimore’s birthday. Bogleheads signed their best wishes on a poster showing Jack Bogle and Taylor Larimore, and it was presented to Taylor by his son, Michael Larimore.

Taylor spoke about how much the Bogleheads mean to him and his desire to strive to leave the world a bit better place.

Thanks

Thanks to all the Bogleheads who came to this meeting. And special thanks to Joyce and Michael Larimore for the sandwiches, drinks and cookies by Allison, Jim, Rebecca, Jean, Jesse and Ann. Technical assistance by Jim and Reggie, sign-in table by Paul and clean-up crew, Arthur and Jesse. Thanks to Miriam for the great organization of another perfect meeting.

I feel privileged to be part of this wonderful caring community.

Looking forward to the next chapter meeting. Below are a couple of pictures from the meeting.