I found a few books I want to read (like Jim Cramer's books), but ultimately did not answer my question of whether or not I should invest in bonds when the MM Savings rates on cash are so good at the moment. I know I don't like a portfolio of 100% equities, but are bonds the way to go? And what about a preferred stock fund, is that a good substitute for bonds? I'll keep it in cash until I figure these things out.
One interesting thing I learned was that Vanguard offers a Pacific Stock ETF which is part of the MSCI EAFE Index (28% I think). It's the pacific part, VGK is the European part.
I'll leave with a few words about Europe. The article is about 50 years of the new Europe, this is a snippet I liked.
"Europe, Old and New" Published March 24, 2007 in the WSJ.
"Fortunately, the EU's power of attraction has been effective closer to home. What begun as a club of six has grown to 27. From Greece, Spain and Portugal in the 1980s to the new members from the old Warsaw Pact, the EU has smoothed the path from authoritarianism to free-market democracy.
The bloc's economic record is mixed. This is still a Europe of wasteful farm subsidies, low growth and high unemployment, with rising protectionism and a regulatory zeal unmatched anywhere in the free world. Yet the bad ideas tend to come from bad leaders. When the Brussels bureaucracy and dreams of creating a super-state are checked by a vigilant media and national governments, the Europe construct itself can be market friendly. In the past two decades, the EU on balance has done more to open the door to greater competition than provide a back door, as Margaret Thatcher feared, for welfare policies.
Why? Most crucially, the 1957 Treaty of Rome was inspired by free-market principles. The EU is the world's largest zone for the free movement of goods, capital and people. When individual countries have tried to blunt those freedoms, Brussels has often fought back with vigor. The euro, the world's most successful currency union, has lowered interest rates, promoted internal trade by removing exchange-rate risks and -- especially in the Latin countries -- made it impossible for governments to inflate their way out of trouble.
Europe's diversity and growing size are also strengths. For each dysfunctional Italy, there's a booming Britain or Estonia or Denmark showing how market-friendly policies pay dividends. In a wider Europe, good ideas squeeze out the bad. The Eastern Europeans have popularized low and flat taxes. Boom-town London is home to hundreds of thousands of Poles and Frenchmen, whose departure is an electoral issue in their native countries, where politicians are realizing they must compete to keep their brightest at home.
On the edges of the Continent, a half-circle running from Spain to Ireland to Finland and down to Eastern Europe is a zone of strong economic growth. In the middle, the big powers of France, Italy and Germany cry out for deeper overhauls. As long as those economies are weak, voters will be anxious about global competition and, in turn, skeptical about opening Europe further. This explains the current unease about further EU enlargement, particularly to Turkey, and the backlash against freeing trade in services and cross-border takeovers.
The Continent's leaders could do worse than use their Berlin party this weekend to send the message that Europe's traditional openness -- to trade, people, new countries -- is the cornerstone of a half-century of success. These first principles from 50 years ago are still worth fighting for."
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