4 Lessons from the 2024 Bogleheads Conference

I recently attended the 2024 Bogleheads Conference. This was my second time attending. 

You may not be familiar with the Bogleheads. In my write-up of the 2022 conference, I explain what a Boglehead is and how this group came to be. You can start there for some background.

For the rest of you, here are my biggest takeaways from the 2024 conference…

Start With a Solid Foundation

Three of the most valuable talks simplified topics that can be overwhelming. I’ll share each of the videos in a future “Best of” post once they are released. Until then, here are the high-level points that resonated with me.

Jim Dahle on Asset Protection

Asset protection can be scary because we live in a litigious society. This can cause people to pursue unnecessarily expensive and often ineffective strategies out of fear. Conversely, it can trap people from taking reasonable actions because they become trapped in analysis paralysis.

Dahle’s talk emphasized easing fears by providing statistics on the rarity of judgments that exceed liability policy limits. He then offered actionable advice to mitigate the real risks that do exist.

• Be aware of why people are sued and mitigate those risks. These are often simple actions like driving less and driving more carefully when you do, taking care of your property, and if you are in a high-risk profession like medicine being competent and being nice.
• Have an appropriate amount of insurance. This encourages the insurance company to fight for you if sued and encourages people to settle for a reasonable amount rather than fight for above policy-limit judgments.
• Understand the laws of your state which vary considerably and develop your plan accordingly.
• Utilize your retirement accounts which offer creditor protection.
• Title assets appropriately and use corporate structures for potentially toxic assets like rental real estate.

Mike Piper on Roth Conversions

Mike Piper talked about Roth IRA conversions. This topic is complicated because of all the assumptions and uncertainty involved in the analysis. It is also a topic that gets more attention than it deserves. 

This combination can cause people to pursue the strategy for the wrong goals and/or at the wrong time due to unrealistic expectations about what the conversions can accomplish and an overeagerness to pursue conversions.

Piper’s presentation was excellent from start to finish, breaking down the analysis behind Roth conversions. The most valuable part was clarifying reasonable expectations for Roth conversions.

Piper explained Roth conversions can decrease or eliminate excessive required minimum distributions (RMDs) later in life. Roth conversions can also reduce or eliminate tax drag on taxable accounts (by spending taxable dollars to “buy more space” in tax-advantaged accounts when doing the conversion).

Equally importantly, he explained what Roth conversions are unlikely to achieve. They are unlikely to substantially improve your chance of not running out of money in retirement. In cases when people run out of money they tend to burn through taxable accounts quickly. This minimizes tax drag. When they reach RMD age, they need those RMDs to pay expenses.

The causes of retirement failures are:

• A bad early sequence of returns.
• Spending shocks (health issues, housing, divorce, etc.)

Roth conversions don’t help any of those issues. Hearing this stated so clearly was valuable. It will help me better frame discussions around Roth conversions when writing about this topic and working with clients. 

Jenny Rozelle on Estate Planning

Jenny Rozelle is an estate planning attorney. She provided a framework for understanding the foundations of developing an estate plan.

I appreciated the clarity with which she outlined the “Core 4” components everyone needs in an estate plan.

1. An advanced directive/living will,
2. A medical power of attorney (health care representative),
3. A financial power of attorney, and
4. A last will and testament.

She also discussed the essentials of properly titling accounts and naming beneficiaries on retirement accounts and insurance policies to avoid probate.

I got the opportunity to speak with Rozelle after her talk. I asked for her opinion of online tools like Trust & Will and Wealth.com as lower-cost estate planning options. She offered me nuanced takes on each, but generally supported using these lower-cost options to help more people establish basic estate plans.

At the same time, she noted that if you have more complexity in your life (i.e. having minor children or children with special needs, a business, or real estate investments) then not meeting with an estate planning attorney to develop and periodically reassess an estate plan can be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

I appreciate her perspectives and honesty. Asking an estate planning attorney if you need complex estate plans and documents can be like asking a barber if you need a haircut.

She provides a helpful framework to think through this complex topic.

Common Principles Can Lead to Different Tactics

The Bogleheads conference also features panels and interviews. These sessions feature thought leaders across investing, financial planning, and retirement research.

Karen Domato moderated “Investing Experts” and “Financial Planning Experts” panels and Jon Luskin moderated the “Withdrawal Rate Rumble.” All were excellent.

Among my favorite interviews were Christine Benz and Jonathan Guyton discussing retirement spending strategies and William Bernstein’s conversation with fellow financial historian Richard Sylla about market history and long-term trends with interest rates.

These sessions provide an opportunity to see how the same common set of principles that unite people at the conference and the same data and historical information available to us all are used to develop different individual tactics and philosophies. 

All of the moderators and interviewers respectfully challenge other positions and facilitate interesting conversations. This helps the rest of us find strategies that match our own needs and personalities.

The FIRE is Spreading

I was the lone FIRE voice when I spoke at the Bogleheads conference just two years ago. I opened my talk with a joke about how appreciative I was to be invited because outside of the FIRE community, FIRE types are often viewed with the same amount of respect and prestige as the GameStop investors and influencers making TikTok videos. Both were prominent in financial news at that time for all the wrong reasons.

Two years later there were individual talks by FIRE content producers Leif Dahleen, Jordan Grumet, and Paula Pant and a “FIRE All-Stars” panel with Grumet, Pant, Jackie Cummings Koski, and Karsten Jeske. Jeske was also on a panel about safe withdrawal rates.

When I wrote about my experience at the Bogleheads conference two years ago, I received a few comments critical of the Bogleheads forums as often “closed minded” and “dogmatic.” I do not get that sense at the conference.

In addition to the increased FIRE focus, a variety of other topics not typically associated with the Bogleheads were discussed at the conference this year….even cryptocurrencies. Only time will tell what topics and sub-groups of the Bogleheads will have staying power and long-term validity.

For now, I appreciate the open-minded discussions and the Bogleheads’ willingness to be open to exploring new ideas at the conference. This includes FIRE principles which have a lot of synergy with the Bogleheads’ philosophies on investing, thrift, and thinking about “enough.”

Investors are Human

This year’s conference focused a lot on technical topics including factor investing and safe withdrawal rates. Whether on purpose or by chance, the final few sessions of the conference provided an important reminder of the human side of investing and personal finance.

Paula Pant delivered a light, fun, but simultaneously thought-provoking talk about different psychological prototypes. They subconsciously impact, and if we’re not intentional can dominate, the role money plays in our lives.

In the Financial Planning Experts Panel, Carolyn McClanahan shared a few simple yet profound questions she frequently asks clients. They are questions we should all consider. 

• While others on the panel focused on optimal asset allocations or investment strategies, McClanahan reminded everyone there is no way to determine those things for an individual without answering a prerequisite question. What is the goal of your investments?
• She also shared simple, yet profound, questions she asks clients who get overly retirement-focused. Are you happy now? What’s working? What’s not?

In that same Financial Planning Experts panel, Harry Sit emphasized the value of simplicity in your financial plan. He had a few great lines. One in particular stood out to me.

With regards to using a TIPS fund vs. building a bond ladder, he said the following in effect (I’m paraphrasing). I could build a TIPS ladder. I literally wrote a book on it. But I use a fund because it’s good enough and I prefer the simplicity.

The final sessions provided a reminder of underappreciated types of intelligence and wisdom that are at least as important to being a good investor as being able to rattle off statistics or cite academic studies:

• Know yourself and develop your plans accordingly.
• Be humble and always try to ask better questions rather than rushing to show how much you know.
• When there are multiple options, choose the most simple one unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.

* * *

* * *

[Chris Mamula used principles of traditional retirement planning, combined with creative lifestyle design, to retire from a career as a physical therapist at age 41. After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, he educated himself on investing and tax planning. After achieving financial independence, Chris began writing about wealth building, DIY investing, financial planning, early retirement, and lifestyle design at Can I Retire Yet? He is also the primary author of the book Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. Chris also does financial planning with individuals and couples at Abundo Wealth, a low-cost, advice-only financial planning firm with the mission of making quality financial advice available to populations for whom it was previously inaccessible. Chris has been featured on MarketWatch, Morningstar, U.S. News & World Report, and Business Insider. He has spoken at events including the Bogleheads and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants annual conferences. Blog inquiries can be sent to chris@caniretireyet.com. Financial planning inquiries can be sent to chris@abundowealth.com]

* * *

[Chris Mamula used principles of traditional retirement planning, combined with creative lifestyle design, to retire from a career as a physical therapist at age 41. After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, he educated himself on investing and tax planning. After achieving financial independence, Chris began writing about wealth building, DIY investing, financial planning, early retirement, and lifestyle design at Can I Retire Yet? He is also the primary author of the book Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. Chris also does financial planning with individuals and couples at Abundo Wealth, a low-cost, advice-only financial planning firm with the mission of making quality financial advice available to populations for whom it was previously inaccessible. Chris has been featured on MarketWatch, Morningstar, U.S. News & World Report, and Business Insider. He has spoken at events including the Bogleheads and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants annual conferences. Blog inquiries can be sent to chris@caniretireyet.com. Financial planning inquiries can be sent to chris@abundowealth.com]