Bogleheads® Chapter Series –Taylor Larimore’s 100th Birthday Celebration (audio only)
00:00:00.000 | We are celebrating Taylor Laramore's 100th birthday today, and he is the coordinator,
00:00:05.360 | he lives in Miami, he is the coordinator, the, you know, the driving force behind our
00:00:11.360 | South Florida chapter. I am Miriam, the coordinator of the South Florida chapter.
00:00:16.320 | I would like to introduce the Vogelheads who have helped me tonight with this meeting.
00:00:22.400 | Gauri is from New York City, he's the head of the New York City chapter, co-coordinator. Jim
00:00:30.560 | is the coordinator of the Chicago chapter. Carol is the coordinator of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter,
00:00:38.080 | and Lady Geek is the Vogelheads administrator and chief moderator. Okay. And I would also like to
00:00:48.240 | give special thanks to Kathleen Ryan, who put out the very warm happy birthday thread on the forum,
00:00:56.640 | and to Annette, who put out a wonderful post about what Taylor means to me in honor of his birthday.
00:01:06.320 | And I'd like to acknowledge Professor McHugh, who put on the forum a very nice historical analysis.
00:01:17.920 | Miriam, can you pause for a second? For those not speaking, can you please mute?
00:01:21.440 | I muted the person I thought it was. Okay, thank you. First, let me point out that Taylor's hand
00:01:30.160 | is raised. His hand will be raised throughout the meeting, because that way he's in everybody's
00:01:35.680 | upper, he should be, in your upper left hand corner of the screen. And also, if you notice
00:01:43.040 | that Taylor, when he speaks, he will use a amplifier, a voice amplifier. So sometimes it
00:01:49.600 | may be hard to hear, but we worked it out, and we can hear him fine. We'll hear him fine. Taylor,
00:01:56.320 | you can switch your mic. Remember, you can switch your amplifiers. You have the two amplifiers,
00:02:00.800 | you can switch those if you want. Let me see. Oh, yes, this meeting will be
00:02:11.040 | audio recorded. It will not be video recorded. So you can, you know, keep your videos open if
00:02:19.600 | you would like. And we'll try to get a transcript posted on the forum of the meeting. Let me see
00:02:27.840 | what else. If you want to change your name, and you don't know how to do it, just post it in the
00:02:33.520 | chat, and Jim or someone will help you to change your name. Basically, you just hover over your
00:02:38.720 | little window, and there are three ellipses, and there's an option to change your name.
00:02:46.400 | Just put your new name in, click OK, and you're all set. The chat will be saved for Taylor
00:02:52.960 | to read later. You can save the chat also. If you don't know how, it is in the lower, where your
00:02:59.600 | chat, you have to bring up your drop down menu for the chat, and at the bottom, it will have three
00:03:04.960 | little dots. If you click on that, there will be an option to save the chat. It saves it as of that
00:03:12.000 | moment. So wait more to the end of the meeting, and you can save the chat with everything in it.
00:03:18.320 | We will keep the meeting open for you to be able to do that. If you have any other Zoom questions,
00:03:24.000 | put them in the chat. Anything else, Carol, Goree, Lady Geek, that I forgot to mention?
00:03:31.840 | I'll be publishing the unanonymized version of the chat, as I do for all the chapter meetings.
00:03:38.640 | Say we're recording audio only, but Zoom will also save the chat too. So in case anybody really
00:03:44.240 | misses it, or I miss it, it'll be available. I just have to publish it.
00:03:49.440 | Our agenda for tonight, we're going to first have birthday wishes from many people who are here,
00:03:58.880 | and we also then have a very special happy birthday greeting for Taylor from the United
00:04:06.000 | States Army. Then there is a special award for Taylor from his Bogleheads. We're also going to
00:04:14.800 | show a short three-minute video, a beautiful video of Taylor's life. We've shown this before,
00:04:22.000 | but it is beautiful. You will love it. We'll have a birthday cake, sing happy birthday,
00:04:29.120 | and then we'll open up the meeting for everybody to raise your hand if you'd like to speak.
00:04:34.960 | We'll call on you when you raise your hand. For those who just arrived, welcome.
00:04:42.960 | Well, I don't have to go over that again. Okay. Taylor, I'd like to introduce you tonight. We're
00:04:54.960 | celebrating Taylor's 100th birthday. We are honoring the man who for the last 26 years,
00:05:03.360 | since 1998, has been helping all of us understand personal finance and achieve our financial goals.
00:05:12.960 | It was Taylor who started the Vanguard Diehards. He started the Bogleheads,
00:05:20.560 | what has become the most successful and highly regarded and useful personal finance forum
00:05:26.880 | anywhere. He started the Vanguard Diehards in 1998 on the Morningstar website. We have
00:05:33.760 | since moved out onto our own standalone website, bogleheads.org/forum. He still
00:05:42.720 | posts on the forum regularly at 100 years old, helping others to achieve their financial dreams,
00:05:48.800 | create a sensible portfolio, save and invest for a secure retirement,
00:05:56.240 | enjoying your family while your portfolio is on autopilot. It's not on autopilot, we check it,
00:06:05.840 | but at least we know it is safe. We will not do worse than the market.
00:06:10.800 | Jack Bogle called Taylor the king of the Bogleheads.
00:06:16.160 | Taylor, would you like to say a few words before we get going?
00:06:21.920 | Okay, start over again, Taylor, please.
00:06:30.560 | We can't hear you. Can you maybe use...
00:06:38.320 | I'm talking loud here.
00:06:42.640 | Start. Now we can hear you. Start over again, please.
00:06:45.920 | Okay. One, two, three. Can you hear me?
00:06:48.320 | Yes.
00:06:49.760 | So good. I'm glad to see so many of you that I've learned to love on this forum.
00:07:04.000 | Some of you I have met personally, and I guess I think of you as my babies.
00:07:14.960 | But I don't think any man has said to himself that we're having right now, and I thank you.
00:07:33.200 | Thank you, Taylor.
00:07:42.080 | Okay.
00:07:42.560 | Yeah.
00:07:47.600 | Could everyone hear him?
00:07:54.400 | No, we couldn't hear the last. He was just asking if everyone could hear him.
00:07:59.120 | No, we could not hear him.
00:08:01.120 | We heard much of it, but not the end.
00:08:06.800 | Not at the screen.
00:08:12.400 | Just can't believe I've been so lucky as to deserve a video like this.
00:08:22.480 | I can't even... I don't even have a computer, so how you manage this is foreign to me,
00:08:33.920 | but my love comes out and my own.
00:08:39.520 | Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Taylor, I'm going to introduce your partner with the Bogleheads,
00:08:55.280 | Mel Lindauer. Mel joined the Vanguard Diehards in 1998 also, and he quickly became Taylor's
00:09:05.360 | co-partner in answering questions and educating investors about index fund investing and
00:09:12.000 | portfolios, and he also coordinated the Bogleheads conferences for many years.
00:09:19.120 | Jack Bogle called Mel the prince of the Bogleheads.
00:09:22.720 | So, Mel, would you like to say a few words to Taylor?
00:09:27.600 | You have one minute, except that you're a prince, you can have two or three.
00:09:33.120 | I'm getting feedback here. Let me shut down the second computer.
00:09:42.160 | Okay, we'll try again.
00:09:51.600 | We can hear you fine.
00:09:53.280 | Happy 100th, Taylor. I don't know if Taylor realizes that I usually get the best of him.
00:10:00.800 | He can't outthink me. I told him we'd make a deal a number of years ago. I said, "Taylor,
00:10:06.800 | I'll promise to come to your 100th if you promise to come to mine."
00:10:12.080 | So, Taylor, you've got a lot of years to make up and hang in there before I hit 100th.
00:10:18.880 | Seriously, I'd like to say that Taylor was most generous.
00:10:27.760 | When I joined the Vanguard Diehards shortly after it was founded, I kind of laid in the
00:10:35.920 | background and wanted to see who knew what and see what was going on. It was obvious that Taylor
00:10:42.000 | was the leader. There were some posts on annuities and nobody would answer them, so I started
00:10:50.560 | answering them because I knew about annuities. And then Taylor got in touch with me and said,
00:10:56.000 | "Mel, maybe we ought to work together." And that's when we wrote your first post,
00:11:02.800 | 3321, on the Morningstar Vanguard Diehards Forum. That was a post that anybody could refer
00:11:13.760 | new people to, which told them what to expect, how to format their questions, and so forth.
00:11:21.440 | I guess it was in 1999 when I made a post on Vanguard Diehards about Happy Thanksgiving,
00:11:32.800 | and we were like a small family. Everybody chimed in and what they were thankful for.
00:11:38.080 | Taylor chimed in and said he was thankful for his kids and so forth. He said, "I'm thankful for
00:11:48.640 | Jack Bogle because I live in the house that Jack built." And that's when we got a handwritten note
00:11:57.440 | from Jack asking if there was any interest in getting together with him at a non-resort. Jack
00:12:04.720 | specifically said at a non-resort place. So Taylor and I started working on figuring out how we could
00:12:11.360 | make this happen because for us that was like getting an audience with the Pope or an invitation
00:12:17.840 | to the White House. So in 2000, Taylor got in touch with me. I was a snowbird at that time.
00:12:25.680 | Taylor got in touch with me knowing I was going to be in Florida, and Jack was the keynote speaker
00:12:31.200 | at the Miami Herald Making Money Seminar. So we decided that this would be a good time to try to
00:12:37.040 | get together with Jack. So I called the Miami Herald people and asked if they could give us
00:12:43.600 | a place for maybe an hour to have lunch with Jack or something. And they kind of shooed us away like
00:12:48.160 | we just didn't belong and didn't fit in. So I got in touch with Jack and told him that
00:12:57.120 | my Miami Herald people said they couldn't work it out. He said, "Well, I'll go wherever you want me
00:13:02.880 | to go." So that's when Taylor and I decided to invite the forum members to join us in Miami
00:13:11.680 | with Jack for an evening. And we said, "Well, what if we get 100 or 200 people? What are we
00:13:21.120 | going to do?" So we decided we would have a small gathering with Jack and we hired a maid and a chef
00:13:28.800 | and had an evening with Jack at Taylor's Condo. And that was the start of the
00:13:36.960 | annual Bogleheads Conferences. We thought it was a one-time-off. What a beautiful
00:13:41.840 | evening we had with Jack. And just as an aside, the Miami Herald people came
00:13:46.880 | hand-in-hand and asked if they could send a photographer and a reporter instead of being
00:13:51.680 | jerks like they were to us. We let them come and we ended up with a nice front page story on the
00:13:56.960 | Miami Herald business section and carried over to the inside. But Jack went online at the end of the
00:14:04.320 | evening on Taylor's computer. And that was very confusing because people couldn't understand
00:14:11.360 | that they thought Taylor was impersonating Jack. And Jack was talking about the wonderful evening
00:14:19.040 | he had with Taylor, the king of the Bogleheads, and Mel, the prince. And that's where I became
00:14:26.080 | the prince of the Bogleheads, officially anointed by Jack, which was a total surprise to me. But
00:14:32.080 | what a pleasure. And after that meeting, people started saying, "When's the next one?" And when's
00:14:39.360 | the next one? We thought this was it. So that was the start of the Bogleheads Conferences and
00:14:46.320 | our relationship with Jack. And Jack would go wherever we wanted him. We tried for a number
00:14:54.160 | of years to go where he was appearing. Morningstar Conference hosted us for the third one at the
00:15:02.720 | Morningstar Conference because Jack was a keynote speaker. And then the CFA Conference in Denver was
00:15:09.040 | our fourth one. But then after that, in 2005, Taylor and I were busy writing the first book.
00:15:15.920 | And Jack got in touch and said, "Mel, when's the next conference?" And I said, "Jack, we couldn't
00:15:22.800 | find any place that you were appearing at." He said, "I'll go wherever you want me to go." And
00:15:28.320 | that was the start of our own independent conferences. And we started moving around the
00:15:32.720 | country, using the local chapter people to help us out with various meetings, taking care of the
00:15:44.880 | hotels and things like that. So it's been quite a ride, and it's hard to believe, Taylor. I just
00:15:51.840 | figured out that was a quarter of your life that we've spent doing this. We're going on 26 years
00:15:58.480 | now. And time really flies when you're having fun, and it's been a great ride. It's hard to believe
00:16:06.160 | that with all the people that tried to publish books that can't get them published, we got a
00:16:11.760 | publisher calling us up and asking us to write a book. And I hung up on him several times because
00:16:17.520 | I thought it was a hoax. But it turned out to be a real joy. And, in fact, Taylor and I now,
00:16:25.120 | the publisher has asked us to update the first book in the book, which we've written.
00:16:31.680 | We are having a difficult time hearing you, Mel.
00:16:33.920 | We've got a deadline on that now, June the 30th, Taylor, or June the 1st. So we've got
00:16:41.120 | to get to work and work on updating the book. But it's been a hell of a ride, and I couldn't
00:16:47.360 | ask for a better partner than Taylor to ride along. Taylor, it's been a real pleasure,
00:16:52.640 | and I hope you're around for my 100th.
00:16:55.280 | Thank you so much, Mel. Taylor's holding up a sign that says...
00:17:01.440 | It's hazy. I can't see what it said, Taylor. It probably says you love me, and I know that.
00:17:09.040 | Thank you, Mel. I'd like to introduce Christine Benz from Morningstar. Hi, Christine.
00:17:20.880 | Hi, Miriam. Thank you for organizing this wonderful get-together.
00:17:24.800 | Would you have a little something to say for Taylor?
00:17:27.040 | Well, I would.
00:17:27.840 | I've got no audio.
00:17:28.800 | Can you hear me, Mel? I hope everyone can hear me.
00:17:33.120 | We can all hear you.
00:17:34.240 | Okay, wonderful. So, Taylor, happy 100th birthday. I just put in the chat that I always say that it
00:17:41.760 | was one of the great privileges of my career to get to know Jack Bogle a little bit, but it's been
00:17:46.960 | an equally great privilege to get to know you and hear about your amazing life and get to really
00:17:53.680 | call you a friend. I look at the people who are here tonight, and it's really kind of a who's who
00:18:00.320 | of people I respect in this industry, but I think the really fantastic thing is that you've made an
00:18:08.880 | impact on so many people whose faces we don't see, but just thousands of people helping them
00:18:16.240 | figure out how to invest well, manage their money reasonably, but most of all, sleep well at night
00:18:24.240 | and have peace about their financial lives. So, I just really treasure your impact. I
00:18:32.240 | treasure our friendship and wish you many more years of success and happiness. All the best to
00:18:40.960 | you, Taylor. Thank you, Christine. Thank you, Christine. I think you have probably done more
00:18:52.400 | than anyone else except Jack to bring
00:18:56.640 | successful personal finance to the ordinary person. I try to do it the more awful way, but
00:19:08.640 | it's the best. Thank you, Taylor. Thank you. Mike Piper. Hi, Mike. Hi, Taylor. Happy birthday, firstly,
00:19:21.920 | but also thank you for being a teacher to me personally and to the rest of us,
00:19:26.560 | a mentor to me as a writer. That has meant a lot. I know that so many other people on the forum
00:19:33.760 | have learned from you with your personal finance, but I've learned from you as a writer, and that's
00:19:37.520 | something that I think has been a joy to share. Thank you for being a friend. Having somebody
00:19:44.080 | rooting for me and rooting for all the rest of the Vogelheads has just meant so much to me.
00:19:50.640 | Thank you. Happy birthday. I have two books, and I think there's just one of you and I like short
00:20:00.560 | books. My last book was pretty short, but some people like my book better, but
00:20:11.440 | I try to keep everything down to a minimum. Likewise. Thank you, Taylor. Thank you, Taylor.
00:20:25.040 | Bill Bernstein. I'm going to unmute myself here. Well, Taylor, again, happy birthday. I'm in awe
00:20:38.080 | of the life that you've lived. You served your country 80 years ago. As a slightly older man,
00:20:46.800 | you served your country again in a different way. You've touched the lives, I don't know,
00:20:52.400 | hundreds of thousands, millions of people in much the same way that Jack did. I think that I'm
00:21:01.040 | grateful to you, and I think that the country is grateful to you for so many different reasons.
00:21:07.920 | Happy birthday and many more. Thank you, Bill. Alan Roth.
00:21:15.200 | All right. Unmute. You guys have said it all. Happy birthday, Taylor. A century of a life
00:21:27.600 | well lived with many, many more years to come. As Bill said, you defended all of our
00:21:34.480 | freedom in World War II. You have helped so many people achieve financial freedom.
00:21:41.680 | I suspect directly and indirectly, it has been millions, not thousands or hundreds of thousands.
00:21:50.320 | You've meant so much to me, Taylor. Thank you for everything.
00:21:54.080 | I inspire to be 0.1% as good a person as you are. Thank you, Alan.
00:22:02.080 | Taylor, we have, and also for our guests here, we have a very special happy birthday greeting for
00:22:10.320 | you. We wish to thank Boglehead, old computer guy, for obtaining for us this special greeting.
00:22:19.840 | This is from the U.S. Army, expressly in honor of your service in the Army
00:22:25.120 | during World War II in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, which was the heavily forested region
00:22:34.800 | between Belgium and Luxembourg. The Battle of the Bulge took place there from December 1944 to
00:22:41.360 | January 1945. Everyone here knows the story. Taylor has written about it many times on the
00:22:48.880 | forum and told us. The U.S. Army and the 101st Airborne were snowed in. The Germans demanded
00:22:56.560 | the Americans surrender, and Brigadier General McAuliffe replied, "Nuts." The next day, the skies
00:23:04.720 | cleared, and General Patton's Army broke the siege and reached Bastogne on December 26, 1944.
00:23:12.640 | While Taylor was on duty, huddled in a snowy foxhole, which he had to dig himself in the yard
00:23:22.800 | of a farm in Bastogne. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought
00:23:30.000 | by the U.S. in World War II. Taylor, this is the birthday wish that is given to you
00:23:36.000 | by Major General Leslie Purser, U.S. Army, retired. She is the civilian assistant to
00:23:46.400 | the Secretary of the Army. Gorrie, can we show the Army? >> Yes. And I'll just -- thank you,
00:23:53.840 | Miriam, for that intro. I'll just tee up what folks should expect. You'll see a static photo
00:23:57.600 | on your screen and a minute of audio, and we've adjusted the volume for an average experience.
00:24:03.520 | You should raise or lower it as needed. >> Greetings, Mr. Larimore. I am Major General
00:24:15.280 | Leslie Purser, U.S. Army, retired. It's my pleasure to wish you a happy birthday and my
00:24:22.720 | honor to know someone who has served in Bastogne. As part of the biggest single battle in World War
00:24:28.880 | II and the most confusing, you helped to keep a huge logistics supply hub from German hands.
00:24:35.360 | You all went in with insufficient supplies, and the Screaming Eagles fought valiantly. Despite
00:24:43.680 | being outmanned and outgunned, you held Bastogne. The 101st Airborne Division lost many men,
00:24:50.480 | but apparently God had a different plan for you. He clearly wanted you to continue to serve,
00:24:56.720 | and that you did. We are so thankful for you and wish you the very best on this huge milestone,
00:25:03.920 | your 100th birthday. Happy birthday, sir, and many more. >> Thank you, Glory. Taylor, you're on mute.
00:25:18.880 | >> Say go ahead. >> Try again. >> Probably a good thing to put me on mute,
00:25:26.960 | but I thank the General. >> Okay, thank you. The family who lived in the farmhouse in Bastogne
00:25:34.560 | where Taylor lived in his foxhole was so grateful they brought him hot food and cocoa.
00:25:41.040 | Taylor was 18 years old at that time. Taylor has kept in touch with that family since then,
00:25:50.960 | since 1945. He has visited them in Belgium, and their descendants came this past week to Miami
00:25:59.520 | for Taylor's 100th birthday. One of the men spoke at Taylor's family birthday party and said,
00:26:06.800 | quote, well, this is the best quote I have, "It is hard to convey how much we, our family, values
00:26:19.040 | what you did for us. You risked your life for us, and without your valor,
00:26:25.520 | we would have been overrun by the Germans who were right over the hill."
00:26:31.120 | This is who Taylor is. He has kept up with a natural kindness and decency to others.
00:26:44.560 | Taylor, would you like to say something? >>
00:26:47.320 | Okay, thank you. I would like to call on Jim Dolly, the White Coat Investor.
00:27:08.880 | >> Hey, thanks for giving me a chance to speak. I'll keep it short and sweet. Thank you, Taylor,
00:27:15.440 | for everything you've done. But I wanted to highlight not what you're most famous for,
00:27:20.160 | which might be Bastogne or maybe the Three Fund Portfolio, but another important principle that
00:27:25.600 | I think I learned from you, which is a quote from a popular poem in earlier days that many roads
00:27:34.000 | lead to Dublin. And I think the reason why that idea is so important is because it encourages
00:27:40.800 | tolerance of other people and their ideas and variations and a focus on what really matters
00:27:49.200 | rather than the little things that we get hung up sometimes, particularly on the Bogleheads Forum.
00:27:54.720 | And Taylor's calm reminder that there are many roads to Dublin, I think, is a call to tolerance
00:28:02.560 | for the slight variations that we see among all of our investing styles and personal finance
00:28:07.840 | decisions. So I'm grateful for finding your Bogleheads more than two decades ago. And it's
00:28:16.240 | made all the difference in my life, certainly, and now the lives of those that I'm trying to touch
00:28:21.280 | myself and share that same message across the country and the world with doctors and other
00:28:27.200 | high-income professionals. Thank you. Thank you. I saw Mike Nolan. Mike, are you still here?
00:28:34.720 | I am. Thanks, Mary Ellen. Hi, welcome. Mike is Jack Bogle's,
00:28:42.560 | well, one of Jack Bogle's assistants for many years. What, seven years, eight years, nine years?
00:28:50.640 | Eight years. Yes. Eight years. We used to see Mike at the Bogleheads conferences.
00:28:55.600 | He's delightful. So Mike, do you have anything, do you have any birthday greetings for Taylor?
00:29:02.160 | Absolutely. Happy 100th birthday, Taylor. This is an incredible event. And if I may be so bold,
00:29:08.800 | I'd like to read a couple of words that Jack wrote about you years ago. "Taylor Larimore is
00:29:14.560 | as fine a human being as I've ever met. Warm, thoughtful, intelligent, investment savvy,
00:29:20.720 | and eager to help others. A combat veteran of World War II and an exceptional sailor are only
00:29:27.600 | a few aspects of Taylor's background. I mention them because the first demands courage and
00:29:33.040 | discipline. The second, careful planning and staying the course one has set, all the while
00:29:38.880 | adjusting to the winds and tides. These traits, as it happens, are the principal traits of a
00:29:44.880 | successful investor." End quote from Jack. And Taylor, I think you've done as much as anyone
00:29:52.080 | in this great country to help others become successful investors. And for that, I thank you
00:29:58.000 | and wish you a happy birthday. Thank you, Mike.
00:30:02.000 | Laura Dogu. Laura is the, well, we have the king of the Bogleheads, the prince of the Bogleheads.
00:30:13.280 | Jack Dogu, well, was it Jack? She is now the queen of the Bogleheads. Laura is one of the,
00:30:19.120 | Laura is the Boglehead who created our post that we use every day, many, many times on the forum
00:30:27.520 | that putting your portfolio, that lays out your portfolio so that other Bogleheads can see your
00:30:35.520 | portfolio and answer your questions about your portfolio. And that post is still being used,
00:30:42.480 | Laura, over and over again, every single day. Every Boglehead will say to newbies when they come,
00:30:49.760 | please use this format that Laura has written in this post. And we thank you for that.
00:30:56.080 | Do you have words for Taylor? Oh, of course. Happy birthday, Taylor.
00:31:02.800 | I'm really excited that I can celebrate this important event with you. It's not anybody that
00:31:07.920 | just gets a shout out in Christine Ben's weekly email to everybody. I was just reading that
00:31:13.120 | earlier today. So congratulations on that as well. I wanted to comment on a different aspect.
00:31:19.280 | I really am impressed with the fact that when the internet arrived on the scene, when you were
00:31:25.680 | probably approximately 75 years old, you managed to jump online, learn all of this new technology.
00:31:32.800 | And for 25 years, as the world has changed rapidly, you personally kept up with all of
00:31:37.760 | those changes. And I think it's a struggle to do that. And you've done a great job. And the result
00:31:43.200 | of that is that you've been able to share your wisdom with so many people around the world and
00:31:48.480 | all of your experiences. And I just think back that you may have lost the easy ability to speak
00:31:54.560 | with your voice, but you still have a very powerful voice that you've been able to share
00:32:00.800 | through the internet all of these years using that technology. So thank you for taking the
00:32:07.600 | time to learn that. Thank you for sharing all of your time over these last many, many years.
00:32:13.600 | You impacted me. I stumbled across the Vanguard Diehards, and then I moved over to the Vogelheads
00:32:18.640 | like most of us or many of us did. And I really wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my
00:32:23.840 | heart. I too live in a house not only that Jack built, but really, honestly, that Taylor built.
00:32:28.640 | Happy birthday, Taylor. Thank you, Laura.
00:32:56.560 | Thank you. I'm going to introduce Taylor. Several Vogelheads who have made the forum,
00:33:03.760 | the special forum that it is. In addition to Laura, we have here tonight Alex Fracht,
00:33:09.840 | a Vogelhead administrator who was instrumental in creating our current website,
00:33:17.280 | vogelheads.org, as we know it today. Hi, Alex.
00:33:22.560 | Hey. Let's sit here and find a place to sit. All right. Would you like a few words?
00:33:30.400 | Yes, please. All right. Well,
00:33:34.080 | happy birthday, Taylor. I always let people know that the forum was, I wrote the forum rules
00:33:46.400 | to try to create a place that operated the way Taylor operated. He's welcoming. We just try to
00:33:57.680 | keep things on topic, keep things civil, keep things polite, treat everybody with respect.
00:34:03.920 | And really, the fact that that's the way he created or he set the tone for the Morningstar
00:34:12.480 | forum, that's what I wanted to do with the Vogelheads forum. And that's why we have,
00:34:18.480 | that's why we operate the way we do. And I think that's why we've lasted so long and continue to
00:34:25.600 | grow over the years as so many forms of what have disappeared, absorbed by Reddit or Facebook or
00:34:35.600 | whatever has taken over. But it's really, the site is, the whole site is a tribute to, like I said,
00:34:47.840 | the civil tone that Taylor set and the way that he jumped in on every, in the early days, every
00:34:53.600 | question, every portfolio question, he was one of the first ones to answer and really let people
00:35:00.000 | know how things were, you know, how things were done there. So yeah, I just tried to recreate
00:35:08.000 | that. Thanks, Taylor, and happy birthday. >> Thank you. In addition, we have one of the
00:35:15.760 | early Vogelheads here who, Tashina. Tashina, welcome. Tashina is the original admin,
00:35:25.360 | the original moderator for the forum, one of two, I believe. And Tashina also has another special
00:35:34.240 | signature for the Vogelheads forum. She is the lady who designed our logo. Every time you log
00:35:45.120 | into Vogelheads, you see this beautiful compass. I guess it's a compass for a ship's compass
00:35:52.160 | in the corner that's beautiful. It looks like a pie chart with a compass put together.
00:35:56.240 | And it's in colors, and it's just, you know, beautiful and perfect. That was designed by
00:36:02.560 | Tashina. Hi, Tashina. I don't know if she's going to speak, but -- >> Hello. >> Hi. Welcome.
00:36:11.200 | Thank you for coming. >> Thank you for inviting me. And thank you, Taylor, for everything you've
00:36:16.400 | done for our forum. He's worked on the advisory board with us for many years, which is the board
00:36:22.160 | that helps decide the direction of the forums and whether or not people will stay on the forum or
00:36:29.600 | not. And I can tell you that Taylor, that's where I mostly worked with him. And he has always been
00:36:34.880 | so kind and rational and reasonable in a world that often isn't. That's one constant that you
00:36:42.080 | always have with Taylor is that he's always going to be kind. And I think that's one of the most
00:36:46.960 | important things you can say about somebody. So thank you, Taylor. >> Thank you, Tashina. Very
00:36:56.080 | nice. Okay. Lady Geek, is there anybody else that I should introduce from other people? I mean,
00:37:08.720 | we have -- I see a number of forum members I recognize. David Grabner, Bruce Steiner.
00:37:15.840 | So, yeah, I don't know if -- >> Okay. So let me just then give a shout out to the moderators.
00:37:25.600 | And Lady Geek, of course, is our admin and our chief moderator. In addition, the moderators do
00:37:36.960 | so much work on the forum, and they help to keep it civil and working smoothly. Many of them are
00:37:43.920 | here tonight. Clay Cord, JCA, German Expat, Kendall, Misen Place, MKC, Old Computer Guy,
00:37:55.840 | Pops 1860, Pruden, and then we also have one of the original moderators, Arete,
00:38:05.360 | who also comes on board sometimes. Thank you for all you do for the forum.
00:38:10.080 | Okay, Taylor, we now have an award to give you from the Bogleheads.
00:38:17.120 | Okay. We would like to present this to you. I'm going to show it. Lady Geek, can you queue it up
00:38:24.720 | for the -- Chris, let me show it and read this. Taylor likes awards. Okay. The Bogleheads award
00:38:33.440 | certificate honoring our friend and mentor -- now, Lady Geek is going to show this in large.
00:38:40.160 | Our friend and mentor, Taylor Laramore, for his signature achievement in creating the Bogleheads
00:38:48.960 | three-fund portfolio. Our appreciation and congratulations, Taylor, awarded
00:38:55.920 | on Taylor's 100th birthday, January 25, 2024. Thank you, Lady Geek. Okay.
00:39:11.600 | And we also have to go with this award. Not all awards come with a birthday pie,
00:39:18.480 | but Lady Geek has created the birthday pie. Okay, yeah. Because what I want to say was the
00:39:25.200 | three-fund portfolio, you always talk about asset allocation as a pie chart. Well, here is the
00:39:35.680 | three-fund portfolio pie. So this is the pie chart as a pie. And to be fair, we spent quite a bit of
00:39:44.240 | time discussing where those asset allocations should be. U.S. versus international is probably
00:39:50.240 | our number one -- let's say we have lots of -- many, many pages of disagreements and disagreements
00:39:57.760 | are still not settled. So I just made, okay, equal. You're all equal. And we're done. So
00:40:05.440 | here is Taylor's birthday pie of a three-fund portfolio. And I'll post in the chat links of
00:40:15.200 | everything we share here. So, okay, so that's -- so we can post links to this. It's all on
00:40:22.720 | the Vogel Center SharePoint site. >> Thank you. Thank you.
00:40:26.320 | >> That's awesome pie. Wow. >> Thank you. For those of us just joining us,
00:40:33.680 | welcome. I'd just like to point out that Taylor's hand is raised to keep him in the upper left
00:40:39.520 | corner of your screen. The meeting is being -- is not being video recorded, but it is being
00:40:47.440 | audio recorded. It's okay to keep your video off or on. The chat will be saved and you -- for you
00:40:55.440 | to read later and also the chat, you can save it yourself at the end of the meeting. And please
00:41:00.640 | sign and post your birthday wishes in the chat. Okay. I'd like to introduce Taylor's family.
00:41:10.960 | Taylor's son, Michael, and is Jeff here yet? He has a son, Jeff. He'll be here. And Taylor's
00:41:24.480 | partner, girlfriend, Taffy, who is sitting next to him. Hi, Taffy. Michael has prepared a video
00:41:36.320 | of Taylor's life. And as I said, we've shown this before, but it is wonderful and we're showing it
00:41:42.720 | again. Please note that the first slide you're going to see is a black and white slide from the
00:41:48.880 | air. That photo is a photo of Taylor's boyhood home in Miami where he moved during the Depression
00:41:58.720 | in 1932. And he grew up in that house in Miami on Brickell Avenue. Ironically,
00:42:06.800 | he lives now in the house that Jack built, which is literally one property away from that house,
00:42:17.440 | only now Taylor lives in a large condo, condominium. But he literally lives right
00:42:24.240 | next door to where he grew up in 1930, where he started in 1932. The home is on Biscayne Bay.
00:42:31.760 | It belonged to his grandfather. And Taylor has said that his parents and his grandparents
00:42:36.880 | lived in the Northeast. They lost their businesses during the Great Depression.
00:42:42.720 | He has said that his grandfather was in investing and in a mutual fund actually,
00:42:52.160 | but he was 100% stocks. Didn't work out well during the Depression,
00:42:56.560 | but his grandfather did have many homes and he was able to keep this one home in Miami.
00:43:02.800 | Gauri, are we ready with the video? >> We are ready. Thank you, Miriam. And
00:43:08.240 | similar to last time, just folks, we tested for the optimal volume. So you may hear it too loud
00:43:15.120 | or you should adjust the volume on your end. And starting. >> Thank you. Thank you, Gauri.
00:43:24.080 | Let me get back here to my... Okay. Some other people to introduce today. Mel Turner is here.
00:43:34.160 | Mel is one of the original Vogelheads who helped Mel Lindauer with the Vogelheads conferences. Hi,
00:43:42.400 | Mel. >> Hi there. Happy birthday, Taylor. It was a privilege to serve on the board several years
00:43:50.480 | and put on the conferences with Mel Lindauer as our leader. But the other leader was Taylor,
00:43:59.440 | making sure that we not only were financially independent, but we helped others,
00:44:05.120 | which is from the leadership of Taylor that we have that attitude. So thank you very much,
00:44:10.880 | Taylor, for all your guidance. >>
00:44:13.640 | Okay. We are now ready for Taylor's birthday cake, baked by the Vogelhead chief baker,
00:44:22.720 | Lady Geek. Lady Geek, can you present the birthday cake? And then when she presents it,
00:44:29.840 | we can all unmute and sing happy birthday to Taylor. Okay. Ready? One, two, three. Happy
00:44:40.000 | birthday, Taylor. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Taylor. Happy birthday to you.
00:45:09.520 | Okay. Now we would like to open -- oh, Taylor, you have any -- we're pretty good, right,
00:45:16.480 | on the happy birthday? Okay. Now we can open up the forum, the meeting for anybody who would like
00:45:34.240 | to speak out loud. You can raise your hand, and we will call on you. Net said. Net said.
00:45:48.080 | >> Okay. Happy birthday, Taylor. And I want to thank you for everything that you've done for us
00:45:54.320 | on the forum, and I very much enjoyed all your posts. So I always read them, and I know you read
00:46:00.640 | mine. Happy birthday. >> Thank you, Net. Sasank? >> Happy birthday, Taylor. And I'd like to say
00:46:13.280 | thank you very much for your kindness, and thank you very much for teaching me how to sail and
00:46:19.360 | treating me like a member of your family. Thank you very much. >> Oh, I thought you were one of
00:46:27.040 | my sons. >> He truly trusted me like a son. He even writes to my mother, Taffy and him write
00:46:36.880 | to my mother. >> Sasank, is it true that when you moved to Miami, and Taylor invited you to go
00:46:46.160 | sailing to teach you how to sail, that you didn't even know how to swim? >> That's true. That's
00:46:52.000 | true. I went and took swimming classes, and he taught me how to sail. He always encouraged me to
00:46:57.920 | do different things. He was the one who pushed me. He insisted that I go to the Bogleheads conference,
00:47:03.120 | and I'm so happy to have done that, to meet a lot of people right now on this call. It's wonderful.
00:47:09.520 | He always encourages people to do positive things, and he's always very kind. And he has good humor.
00:47:16.640 | >> Kindness doesn't mean power. It's good wit and humor as well. >> He has a nice wry sense of humor.
00:47:23.120 | Ned said, do you want to speak some more, or can we put your hand down? That's okay.
00:47:30.640 | Anybody else? Would anybody else like to speak?
00:47:41.040 | We had some questions that were posted, and I don't have them in front of me,
00:47:50.000 | but I do remember, Taylor, that one of the questions was, what was your worst investing
00:47:57.600 | mistake? >> Look up. >>
00:48:08.760 | Look up. We can't hear you. >> The light.
00:48:11.920 | >> We're not coming through at all. I know what he's saying. His worst investing mistake was
00:48:19.680 | having children. >> No. I thought he wrote in his book, his worst investing mistake was that he made
00:48:27.120 | so many, he can't even figure out which is his worst investing mistake.
00:48:30.640 | Taylor, why don't you try your different amplifier that you have? Just look up at the light.
00:48:39.200 | >> Does that help? >> Now it's working. Be close.
00:48:57.280 | >> I'm going to an investment club. We would make the best stock. We were investing in
00:49:16.880 | that about a year ago. I made so much back loss money, so I realized that making individual stock.
00:49:28.080 | >> Okay. Thank you. Anybody else want to speak?
00:49:42.880 | >> I just wanted to share from time to time, Taylor and I have been among those
00:49:56.080 | suggesting that single premium immediate annuities are useful. Taylor has mentioned
00:50:05.840 | from time to time that he has one, as do I. I want to share with you a very short quotation
00:50:11.520 | from Jane Austen. Some of you may know it. She wrote, "If you observe,
00:50:17.440 | people always live forever when there is an annuity to be paid them."
00:50:21.760 | >> I think that Taylor has two single, he had two at one time, so I guess that's why he lives so long.
00:50:35.440 | Thank you. >> [ Indiscernible - low volume ]. >> Okay. Speak closer, Taylor, and look up.
00:51:04.560 | >> Yes. >> [ Indiscernible - low volume ].
00:51:21.840 | >> [ Indiscernible - low volume ]. >>
00:51:25.200 | [ Indiscernible - low volume ]. >>
00:51:31.520 | [ Indiscernible - low volume ]. >>
00:52:00.720 | Okay. There is a post on the Bogleheads forum where the person said, "I guess the insurance
00:52:07.680 | companies that sold Taylor those single premium annuities fired the agents who sold them to him."
00:52:15.920 | >> They keep sending him letters requiring a signature proving that he is still here.
00:52:25.760 | >> Is that right? Oh, my goodness. Isn't that interesting? How do you prove that he is signing
00:52:32.960 | it? >> He just signs it. I may continue when he is gone. >> Okay. I know it is getting late. We
00:52:44.760 | are going to wrap up the meeting. Remember, everyone, this meeting is being audio recorded.
00:52:53.680 | We will put it out in the forum once we get a transcript or a link. Again, special thanks to
00:53:00.960 | my Zoom team, Lady Geek, Gori, Jim, and Carol. Also, just a little shout out for those of you
00:53:07.920 | who would like to join the Zoom team. It is good to help as part of helping the Boglehead community
00:53:18.720 | to organize these Zoom meetings and hold them. They were wonderful during the pandemic because
00:53:25.280 | we could meet. We could meet everybody all over the country in all the different chapters in the
00:53:31.120 | new life stage chapters, the starting out chapter, the retired chapter, have had meetings. We meet
00:53:38.160 | people around the country. As Jack Bogle has said, the real value of the Bogleheads that Taylor saw
00:53:48.720 | while he created an internet forum, which, by the way, Morningstar, I believe, said
00:53:54.960 | wouldn't work. It has worked beautifully because people want to talk about their investments and
00:54:03.200 | they want to talk about what they did right and what they did wrong. These Zoom meetings allow us
00:54:09.600 | to speak with each other and to have presentations. If you would like to join up, send a private
00:54:16.080 | message to me or to Lady Geek or to Gori. If you don't know Zoom, that's okay. If I can learn Zoom,
00:54:23.520 | everybody can learn Zoom. It's really not difficult. You'll enjoy it very much.
00:54:28.800 | Gori, you have a question? >> Not a question. I wanted to share
00:54:33.200 | my thanks and best wishes to Taylor. You're exceptional in so many ways, your character,
00:54:39.200 | integrity, sense of humor, determination to help others. Something else exceptional is the
00:54:44.960 | community you helped create. That community not only helps empower people in the first degree,
00:54:51.280 | but it also helps empower people that those people go on to empower. There's this aspect
00:54:58.160 | of perpetual motion to it that continues long after any of us. Thank you for all that you do,
00:55:05.280 | and especially for inspiring such a civil, respectful community. Happy birthday.
00:55:10.800 | >> Well said. >> Lady Geek.
00:55:14.720 | >> Okay. I just want to recognize that in addition to the United States, we have representation
00:55:22.480 | members here who are also Bulk Aheads Forum members from our Canadian sister forum.
00:55:26.320 | You have people from Canada, and also want to make sure that this is worldwide.
00:55:31.600 | We have a non-US investing section now, and there's a considerable amount of posts on that.
00:55:38.960 | They call it a simple -- outside the U.S., they also call it a simple portfolio,
00:55:42.960 | three or four funds. The concept's been around a while. I just want to mention that everybody
00:55:48.800 | here -- don't just focus on U.S. We have Canadian here, and I'm not sure I do see some perhaps
00:55:55.680 | Japanese. I just want to bring that perspective online. Thank you, Taylor. It was wonderful
00:56:03.280 | meeting you a few years ago, you and Taffy. >> Yes, we do have a Japan Bulk Aheads
00:56:08.880 | group, and the lady who runs it worked for Vanguard in Pennsylvania, and she told me that
00:56:15.360 | she used to see Mr. Bogle on campus, and he always remembered her and talked to her.
00:56:20.320 | >> Okay. I couldn't read the Japanese, the katakana, but I know her. Thank you. Nice to see
00:56:26.560 | you. >> Yes.
00:56:27.360 | >> Good morning. >> And also, we have Bilo Selhai here
00:56:31.520 | from Canada. I'd also like to thank all of you who came to this meeting and who participate on
00:56:42.720 | the forum, making it the wonderful, wonderful forum that it is. No more questions? No more
00:56:50.320 | comments? Okay. Taylor, we wish you all the best in the -- oh, Kathleen Ryan, hi.
00:56:56.800 | >> Hi. I just figured out how to raise my hand. How embarrassing. Well, anyway,
00:57:02.640 | Taylor, it's so nice to see you. I love you, and happy birthday, and I won't be long-winded here
00:57:10.880 | because I was at the forum, so it's so nice to see you, and sending lots of love.
00:57:16.880 | >> Thank you. Thank you. >> I'd like to say something new,
00:57:23.760 | Kamri. You made a post about my birthday, and it had, I think, 400 replies,
00:57:34.800 | all of them complimentary to me. Most of them overstated because I'm not that good,
00:57:43.840 | and sometimes I'm a bad boy, but it was your post. It's on right now.
00:57:52.560 | It was all these lovely remarks, which may be the nicest thing that's ever happened to me,
00:58:00.560 | that may be something I'm here to have a picture of yourself. Come on, stand up and show them.
00:58:11.680 | >> Hi, everybody. >> Taylor, I'm going to
00:58:17.920 | wish you the best in the coming year. May you continue to have good health, have your warm
00:58:24.720 | smile, your good spirits. We hope you have good times with your beautiful family and your many
00:58:30.960 | Vogelhead friends. We look forward to your financial wisdom and helpful posts on the
00:58:36.880 | Vogelheads forum, the forum that you created now 26 years ago. As Jack Vogel's son, Andrew Vogel
00:58:47.920 | said in his speech in 2022, when he inducted you into the Vogelheads Hall of Fame,
00:58:55.280 | "You have likely assisted hundreds of thousands of people and two generations
00:59:05.120 | through your advice, guidance, your online posts, and your books." Taylor, what a splendid
00:59:14.000 | 26 years it has been. We thank you, and happy birthday. Thank you, everybody, for coming.
00:59:24.880 | We're going to stay here for a few minutes to give you time to save the chat and to chat,
00:59:31.440 | if you wish to chat. >> Thank you, Miriam, for organizing a
00:59:36.640 | wonderful UNLADY GIG, and the pie, and the birthday cake, and the certificate. Wow.
00:59:45.440 | Shall we ourselves give a big round of applause? >> Thank you. Thank you.
00:59:58.880 | David, hello. David Grabener, we didn't get to introduce you.
01:00:02.880 | David is on the board of, what is it? >> I'm on the advisory board of
01:00:08.960 | the Vogelheads forum, and I'm the DC chapter coordinator,
01:00:12.400 | although I didn't really have that much to do with the DC meeting. I did some scouting of sites,
01:00:17.840 | but really want to thank the Vogel Center for all the work they did in organizing the conference.
01:00:25.760 | >> Yes, absolutely. The Vogel Center. >> Yeah. I already wished Taylor a happy
01:00:32.320 | birthday in the chat. I'm one of many people who thank the Vogelheads, because I also live in a
01:00:37.040 | house that Jack built. I remember at the 2013 Vogelheads meeting, I talked about the fact that
01:00:45.680 | as an investor, I'm not just trying to accumulate numbers. I'm trying to do something with this
01:00:50.960 | money. Now I'm actually making use of all that I've done. It's thanks to people like the Vogelheads,
01:00:57.120 | I've been able to do this. >> Well, we've been able to do it
01:01:02.000 | because of your wonderful posts about taxes and asset location. David is really good on asset
01:01:12.240 | location. >> Even there, I've always said the
01:01:17.200 | collective wisdom of the forum is so much more than any one of us. I've learned a lot. I've been
01:01:24.160 | corrected when I get something wrong or miss some points, even once when I was asking the forum
01:01:29.600 | about one of my own financial decisions. >> Well, one of your financial decisions is
01:01:35.920 | you were 100% stocks in 2008, right? >> I was the risk of 100% stock. I was
01:01:42.800 | 90% stock and I overrated with your stock. I lost 60% of my portfolio in that crash.
01:01:48.400 | >> What did you do? >> Well, since I was 90% stock,
01:01:53.760 | I had to rebalance when the market went down and harvested a lot of losses. I've had $3,000
01:02:01.520 | capital losses every year, plus they've offset gains from things like when I sold stock to buy
01:02:06.400 | my house. >> What did you do?
01:02:12.720 | >> Here also, I must reiterate something I say repeatedly on the forum. Whenever I post my
01:02:17.600 | portfolio, I never recommend anybody match my portfolio. If a portfolio like mine is right for
01:02:24.240 | you, then you know enough to ignore that advice. >> What did your emotions say to you when you lost
01:02:32.640 | 65%? >> I was used to these things. This
01:02:36.000 | was not my first bear market. I had a portfolio like that since 2002. That is after I'd been
01:02:45.440 | through a bear market with a lot of stock. As a percentage of my portfolio, I have a much larger
01:02:52.080 | portfolio by 2008. I'm used to this. I'm a mathematician. I wrote my thesis on random walks.
01:03:01.920 | I'm used to these things. I'm willing to take a risk that's mathematically reasonable to take.
01:03:11.520 | I recommend other investors do this only if they know that they're going to stick with it.
01:03:16.640 | I was on the forum in 2008 and saw a lot of people who discovered that they did not have
01:03:22.640 | the risk tolerance when they actually lost half their portfolio to stick with it.
01:03:26.960 | >> I cannot -- >> Stay the course. One of Taylor's
01:03:33.680 | mottos is one of the most important things. Find a course you can stay. There's nothing wrong with
01:03:38.080 | being a conservative investor. If the most important thing is to have a strategy that you
01:03:44.720 | can stick to and get money invested. >> Right. Get it in that.
01:03:50.960 | >> Get it in that. Get it in there. Make sure that -- if you need to, just make sure that money
01:03:59.680 | from your checking account automatically goes into your IRA.
01:04:03.360 | >> Silence. Do good.
01:04:10.880 | >> Taylor, we can't hear you. Look up at the light.
01:04:33.920 | Try again. Bye-bye.
01:04:39.600 | Lori, you have something to say? >> Yeah. I just like to add to my earlier
01:04:47.600 | comments in that how extraordinary is it that Taylor, you're 100 and you're still so engaged
01:04:53.360 | and 100% there. A lot of times we have these discussions about a meaningful retirement and
01:05:01.520 | engaging with community and finding purpose and meaning for others and a life dedicated
01:05:06.560 | in service of others. You still at age 100 exemplify all those things. You're a role
01:05:13.520 | model in so many ways. I think we could follow in your -- we'd be fortunate to follow in your footsteps.
01:05:20.640 | >> Silence. >>
01:05:29.040 | And he still posts on the forum. I mean, he'll post four or five posts a day.
01:05:35.440 | And they are meaningful posts. He brings in quotes. He helps people on his three-fund
01:05:45.920 | portfolio thread, which has 3,000-something posts on it. Not all Taylor's. He's maybe half of them.
01:05:53.440 | And he's up to 60,000 posts on the forum or something. It's incredible that at age 100,
01:06:02.720 | a person can create help for another person on personal finance. Logical help for a person.
01:06:13.520 | >> He's muted. >> Taylor, you're muted.
01:06:20.240 | >> [inaudible] >> [inaudible]
01:06:40.960 | >> Okay. Now we can hear you. What are you doing now?
01:06:53.120 | >> Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.
01:07:05.360 | >> He's saying he is having difficulty finding the words telling you all how much
01:07:11.280 | all of this has meant to him. >> Thank you, Tabby.
01:07:21.120 | >>
01:07:36.080 | Nobody else wishes to speak? Hello, Bruce Steiner. Are you doing your work in your law office?
01:07:41.520 | >> No, I'm home. I'm in my office like half the days and at home half the days,
01:07:53.440 | and on the weekends, I'm home. >> How many clients do you have
01:07:57.440 | who have reached 100? >> I had an estate of somebody who was 110,
01:08:06.640 | and I had another one of somebody, a man even, who is 102, I think, and people are in the 90s.
01:08:17.280 | It's not so unusual anymore like it was years and years ago. It's amazing.
01:08:21.600 | >> So, Taylor, you're a spring chicken. >>
01:08:30.600 | Actually, Rick Ferry had a great idea. He said next year will be Taylor's 101st,
01:08:36.680 | and his division in the war was the 101st Airborne, so I told him the party next year
01:08:46.440 | is going to be 101st Airborne party. >>
01:08:53.120 | We'll see you there, Taylor. >>
01:08:58.040 | That's a really remarkable story about the Battle of the Bulge. It was wonderful reading about it,
01:09:05.640 | and Taylor posts about it a lot, and it's really incredible what our young soldiers, Taylor was 18
01:09:15.640 | when he went to Europe to fight. He was 17 when he enlisted, apparently, 17,
01:09:25.160 | and he went over there, and he had to dig his own foxhole in the snow, and what I read was that it
01:09:31.960 | was very cold weather, and that area of Europe was just heavily forested, and the soldiers were,
01:09:39.880 | you know, it was quite difficult, and here's this 18-year-old kid, Taylor, going to Europe,
01:09:50.680 | serving his country. It's really an emotional reading to read about that and to meet somebody
01:10:00.280 | who has been through that, and Taylor posts a lot on the forum about his experiences there.
01:10:04.760 | He has one experience where he lost his sleeping bag or someone took his sleeping bag
01:10:09.880 | when it was freezing cold, and I don't remember what he did, but I think it was like he,
01:10:17.720 | I don't, I don't remember what he did. Michael's there. When he lost his sleeping bag,
01:10:23.800 | I guess he slept with no sleep. Oh, I know what he did. He slept standing up. I believe he slept
01:10:29.000 | standing up, like leaning against a truck or something, because he didn't want to get on
01:10:32.440 | the ground. It was too cold. I talked about that gentleman,
01:10:45.000 | Taylor Laramore. Laramore, yes. Wow, that's a legend. Yes.
01:10:53.000 | He says you're a legend, Taylor.
01:10:57.320 | He's a legend, yes. He is, yes. It's unbelievable, one or two still doing investment.
01:11:12.920 | I'll add to Miriam's comments about Taylor's service. In the video that we played of his life,
01:11:18.440 | it showed that he won the French Medal of Honor. Is that right? Yeah.
01:11:25.320 | Well, he told me he went to Europe, you know, I don't know how long ago, maybe more than once,
01:11:36.120 | to actually visit the family and go back to the farmhouse where he was in the front yard during
01:11:42.120 | the war and met the family. I guess they were still living there at the time, so that's kind
01:11:49.400 | of interesting that they were still there in the same spot. But they're very, very proud of Taylor,
01:11:58.360 | very happy that the Americans were there and that Taylor was in their front yard. Apparently,
01:12:04.200 | they were very, really frightened of what was over the hill. Taylor, we can't hear you, closer.
01:12:14.040 | You cannot hear me? Yes, now you can hear you. Okay.
01:12:19.960 | That family you spoke of, the shelter that gave me a go-go during the war because I was in their
01:12:30.920 | front yard where I lived in my bustle and there was snow every night. That family,
01:12:40.280 | I don't know what you call them, the people that go, the people that their children came and
01:12:52.840 | visited me yesterday. Five of them came from Pasadena to Miami to celebrate with me my 100th
01:13:05.400 | birthday. I guess the rule is try to be nice to everybody. Sometimes it's hard, but you will feel
01:13:21.480 | so much better yourself and hopefully make others feel a little better themselves.
01:13:29.080 | I think Taylor has taught many people how to discuss personal finance nicely or decently.
01:13:51.000 | Because his posts on the forum are-
01:13:58.440 | or they look up to the beautiful pond right in the middle of the stream.
01:14:22.440 | [inaudible]
01:14:49.560 | Move closer to the microphone, Taylor.
01:14:52.680 | I cannot describe how much I feel and gratitude for the program.
01:15:02.760 | Thank you to each of you for coming tonight.
01:15:14.120 | Taylor once told me, he said, "I often wonder why I lived as long as I did."
01:15:21.960 | And then he said, "I think it's because after I've been through a war, after I've been through a real
01:15:31.080 | war, I realized that little things don't matter and that there was no value at all, no use,
01:15:43.240 | no reason to get upset about little things." And he said, so he tried to live his life
01:15:50.120 | calmly without getting upset about little things. And we can see that he has done that.
01:15:58.520 | And one could see how after what he went through during World War II, and all our soldiers did,
01:16:04.680 | that that's a good- well, it makes sense, makes emotional sense.
01:16:14.680 | Silence do good.
01:16:20.520 | Taylor, it's difficult for me to express in words how grateful I am to you.
01:16:28.120 | I sent you a message in 2015. I remember the time I was in college still.
01:16:36.040 | I discovered the Bogle Heads 2010. I was 19, joined in 2011, 20 years old,
01:16:42.600 | and I'm 33 now. It's completely changed the trajectory of my financial life. I'm so grateful
01:16:49.880 | for all of your wisdom over the years, for the entire community. Thank you.
01:16:56.360 | Thank you, Silence.
01:17:01.880 | Any other comments?
01:17:13.880 | Dr. Bernstein, how are we doing here on the forum?
01:17:24.200 | Hold on. I think that the forum is probably the most valuable asset that the community has,
01:17:38.120 | and it's the most important thing that we do. It's a site where thousands- hold on a second,
01:17:44.200 | I need to- I didn't realize how dark I was. Okay, much better. Yeah, I think that the board is
01:17:53.240 | easily the most valuable thing that the Bogle Heads do. It's a place where thousands upon
01:17:59.880 | thousands upon thousands of people have come with questions and have gotten steered straight,
01:18:04.520 | and it's a legacy that will live on in Taylor's name. I think he'd be very proud at what he started.
01:18:21.000 | How did you find the Bogle Heads? Oh, that was easy. I wasn't attuned to the Bogle Heads
01:18:27.800 | until I believe 2000 or 2001 when Jason Zweig wrote a column, and I believe it was entitled
01:18:38.760 | Here Come the Bogle Heads. Yes, it was Money Magazine. Yeah, and I looked at it and I said,
01:18:44.760 | whoa, this can be a home for me, and so I came to the very next conference. I think it was 2002,
01:18:57.960 | and I've been to I think every single one except for one of them since, and I'm proud to be
01:19:09.800 | associated. Thank you. Taylor, you're muted.
01:19:36.600 | You're still muted, Taylor.
01:20:01.160 | You obviously, you actually probably never talked to my children, so.
01:20:05.720 | Well, that's a subject, Dr. Bernstein. How do you get your children on the forum?
01:20:20.520 | How do you get them investing, you know, simply all they have to do is put it on autopilot into
01:20:28.920 | their 401(k) and autopilot into their IRA. Now, it is hard for some people to contribute to both,
01:20:38.040 | but, you know, just auto-contribute like David Grabener says, and yet they're afraid of doing
01:20:46.520 | that because they won't have enough money to live on, they think. Yeah, well, investing is important,
01:20:53.160 | and I'll get to that in just a second, but more important than investing is saving. You know,
01:20:58.200 | you can be Warren Buffett, and if you can't save, you're still dead in the water, and the most
01:21:03.560 | important, you don't teach your kids anything about thrift by, you know, lecturing them about
01:21:08.440 | it. You have to live the life. You know, if you've got, if you've got a, if you've got,
01:21:14.600 | if your kids have gotten used to seeing you driving a Beamer and living in a McMansion
01:21:18.040 | and wearing, you know, Armani suits, you've probably ruined their financial prospects
01:21:25.640 | for life because they're going to want to live that lifestyle too. They're going to get used to
01:21:29.480 | it. You know, as far as investing goes, I mean, that's why I wrote If You Can, which is, you know,
01:21:35.160 | an adjunct to what, to what the small adjunct to what the board does. I mean, it's not rocket
01:21:43.000 | science. Invest in a light strategy fund or a target date fund, or if you must make things more
01:21:49.720 | complicated, do the three-fund portfolio yourself. You know, I think that for most people, just put
01:21:55.160 | the money in the 401k and the, and the target date fund and, you know, look at it once a year to make
01:21:59.880 | sure you're, you haven't been victimized by fraud and get on with your life. But the first thing is
01:22:06.760 | you have to be able to save. You know, it's real, it's understanding that a BMW is not a motor
01:22:10.920 | vehicle. It's an IQ test. Yeah. When my son moved out of the home here and moved into an apartment,
01:22:22.520 | he immediately looked for it to be furnished. Well, my husband and I, of course, when we,
01:22:28.920 | you know, had our first apartment, we lived, you know, on bricks and wood for shelves.
01:22:33.800 | And that was our dresser also. And we didn't, we had one chair and we had a dining, you know,
01:22:39.960 | a kitchen table left over from one of his friends and a bed also from his friends. So that was our
01:22:46.520 | first place. My kids now would be appalled at having to do that in their first apartment.
01:22:53.160 | It's interesting. I mean, I mean, bricks, that's, that's, that's idle luxury. We use cinder blocks.
01:22:58.280 | But, you know, if you max out your 401k every year, over several years,
01:23:14.280 | early in life, Jonathan Clements wrote about this, that one way to do it is rather than start out,
01:23:20.600 | you know, putting the little bits into your 401k. And then as you make more money, you put more.
01:23:24.280 | And then as you make more money, you put more. And by the time you're in your fifties, you're
01:23:28.760 | maxing out your 401k. Instead of that, try to invert it and try to max out your 401k in your
01:23:36.600 | twenties. So that by the time you're in your thirties, you have a giant pile of money in that
01:23:42.840 | 401k. It works on its own. Then it generates money for you. It works on its own. It has its own life
01:23:51.640 | with capital gains and interest. And before you know it, if something happens in your fifties,
01:23:58.120 | you want to change jobs, you get fired, you get laid off, or you get so tired of it. You just
01:24:03.720 | want to change a career into a lower income career, or just, you know, take a vacation,
01:24:09.960 | a long year vacation. You can do it because you don't have to panic that retirement is around
01:24:16.040 | the corner. You have that 401k, which is already growing at what, 10 average of 10% a year or 7%
01:24:25.400 | a year, just by the fact that you put in a big pot of money early in life. Yeah, that's true.
01:24:32.440 | - Taylor, you're muted. Yeah, I'll come in after Taylor.
01:24:47.720 | - I'm going to say goodbye again. I thank all of you for your kind remarks.
01:24:56.840 | - One more comment, Taylor. It's just, there's, you know, the old phrase,
01:25:06.280 | a man is known by the company he keeps. So I just want to recap how many amazing, accomplished
01:25:12.360 | people spoke so highly of you. It's an honor for them to be in your orbit, to have known you. So,
01:25:19.320 | whether it's Christine Benz, Bill Bernstein, Mike Piper, Alan Roth, the list is very long.
01:25:25.640 | So if Mike Dolan, Jim Dolley, I mean, such a phenomenal group of people feel honored
01:25:33.560 | to have known you and learn from you. It's really extraordinary.
01:25:37.160 | - You're welcome, Taylor. You're welcome. We'll say goodnight to you, Taylor.