Yesterday’s blog entry reported on an e-mail sent to me by Academic Researcher Wade Pfau on May 31, 2011. My response, sent the same day, is set forth below.
Wade:
Thanks much for sharing your thoughts.
There was some good stuff in the Bogleheads thread. I of course think that there would have been a lot more good stuff in it if honest posting were permitted there (I don’t mean just for me, I mean for everyone).
I especially liked the chart that Fred Flintstone provided with the various stock allocation percentages that would apply in different circumstances. Except it appeared to me that all the TIPS yields listed were the same! Did I just misread that? I have a feeling that I am not reading the chart right. I love the concept.
I wish you the best of luck in your exam!
Rob
Wade responded the same day. He said that I was reading Fred’s chart properly but that it was not complete, only a slice of a chart to demonstrate the idea behind it. Regarding my comment on how the Ban on Honest Posting limited the discussions held at the Bogleheads Forum, he said: “Mel [Lindauer] continues with his criticism, which does have some merit, but which means that we can’t really use historical data to study any issue at all.”
My response, sent later the same day, appears below:.
Wade:
Okay. I love that chart idea. I am going to try to write a column on that. I like it that he is showing a practical application.
There’s of course nothing wrong with Mel’s point. It is the dismissive tone that is the problem. In my mind this idea of being dismissive of new ideas is the OPPOSITE of what Buy-and-Hold was all about once upon a time. It started out being about data and research and science and learning. Now it’s about BLOCKING efforts to learn and letting appeals to emotion overrun the science. Too sad!
Rob
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