Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Schwab did not carryover my cost basis settings and defaulted stocks and ETFs to FIFO and mutual funds to average cost basis. Strangely, the cost basis settings at Schwab look very primitive relative to how they were at TD. I do not see a way to c…
The San Francisco Chronicle is today reporting that State Farm has raised their rates across California, with the amount of the raise dependent upon Zip codes
Nice piece. However, the article doesn't say that State Farm is setting rates by zip cod…
Regarding Progressive and USAA lowballing fair market value of totaled cars, here's a non-paywalled version of the SF Chron story:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-insurance-scheme-undervalued-totaled-vehicle…
I have lost al hope that most organizations can keep up with hackers. The only hacks we probably hear about seem to be health care institutions that are probably legally mandated to report.
Unless one lives in California ...
California law requires…
Looking at the portfolio data, a couple of top line figures stand out. (Yogi also commented on much of this; he posted as I was composing.)
M* reports that FMSDX has 45% of its assets in its top ten holdings, but that's misleading. Its top 4 hol…
However, there was caveat, which is the minimum initial investment amount is $100,000. This is on Schwab's website.
https://www.schwab.wallst.com/Prospect/Research/mutualfunds/summary.asp?symbol=ARTKX
Perhaps that page was just changed, but it no…
The CD in the TOD account could be covered for even more if you've got multiple beneficiaries on the account. As I described above, that CD gets $250K coverage for each beneficiary, up to a max of 5 ($1.25M). That's in addition to the $250K for…
The FDIC coverage is for all personal assets held at a bank with the new max $1.25 million considering various tricks.
That's the bank limit for all trusts only. Each ownership category still gets its own $250K per owner, except trust coverage …
Is it working for you? When did you switch?
If it was on Dec 29 (Dec 30, 31 was a weekend), then yes, it is working for you.
If it was 6 months ago, then you're behind, +7.33% vs. 10.67%.
If it was 3 months ago, then you're behind, +1.13% vs. …
I put in an order pre-market this morning at Vanguard to transfer cash to Fidelity. By the time I checked Fidelity at 2PM today, the cash was not only there, but was available for withdrawal (not just internal trading).
How far does $1M go in to NYC (Manhattan)? Not very. A $50K salary elsewhere would need to be $150K in NYC. Use this Calculator (linked below) to compare costs to where you live now.
cost-of-living/index
Doesn't that figure really depend on where …
I had always assumed that when they said "Fidelity charges a short-term trading fee each time you sell or exchange shares of a FundsNetwork NTF fund held less than 60 days." they meant actual share lots. Is there a Fidelity link where the FIFO logi…
Yes. Your lot selection is for tax purposes only. STTFs at Fidelity are FIFO.
For example, if you purchased lots on Jan 3 and Feb 22, and sold the Feb 22 lot on April 12, you would not incur a STTF even though you held those particular shares f…
Merrill? 4.71%, but that's non-sweep and requires a $100K min.I think this is in reference to their Preferred Deposit account. If so, this is only an initial investment min, hence one would conceivably put in $100K then take them out leaving, say, …
Until the FDIC stops protecting uninsured depositors, this change is largely form without substance.
A few sentences from a NYTimes subscriber-only opinion piece (May 1, 2024)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/opinion/fdic-insurance-banks.html
Whe…
You can't buy life insurance for some random person off the street - that invites fraud and homicide. Rather, there must be some economic interest you are insuring. Studios may insure their actors because the studios have money on the line. Th…
Federal protection for rollover IRAs (i.e. where the source of money is identified as an employer-sponsored plan) only applies in bankruptcy cases.
Outside of bankruptcy, traditional contributory IRAs and Roth IRAs and inherited IRAs, have protect…
From the Artisan statutory prospectus:
You may open a new account in a closed Fund only if that account meets the Fund’s other criteria (for example, minimum initial investment) and:
- you beneficially own shares of the closed Fund at the time of y…
You will only be charged a transaction fee when you buy a FundsNetwork TF fund, not when you sell one.
The charge wasn't a transaction fee.
Fidelity does not charge a fee when selling any mutual fund - even if there is one for purchasing - unless …
All are effective July 1, except for the IRA MLP filings. See thread:
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/62244/our-service-is-terrible-but-we-ll-charge-you-100-to-transfer-your-account
Many firms charge closeout and/or transfer fee…
But it also used to be that a Private Client customer at Fidelity was assigned a specific rep. No more at either brokerage. Fidelity still assigns you an individual Premier Services Advisor.
@msf did they also used to assign another kind of "…
Yesterday I was logged in looking at portfolio holding prices day-by-day for the past month. When I got to one date, I got that message. But it was transient. I moved on to the next day, and then went back to the day that had a problem. Ever…
It gives some hope for rate cuts sooner than later. Unemployment remains below 4% (not recessionary) while demand growth (as measured by the increase in people with paycheck money in their pockets) is tapering.
My error - Vanguard is adding the $25 phone fee for Vanguard fund trades. It already had a $25 fee for phone trades for non-Vanguard funds.
In comparison, Fidelity charges for fund trades over the phone:
- Fidelity funds - no charge
- Automated (…
In the case you described, "Exchange" would have worked fine for simultaneous overnight exchange. If "Exchange" involves non-VG fund(s), it may take 2 days, one day to sell, another to buy.
Vanguard and other brokers will do a same day exchange of …
There's a certain "fun element" in knocking Vanguard. While it's hard to find any upside to Vanguard's latest announcement, in itself it's not that big a deal. Most of the changes won't affect most people, as noted in the video Yogi linked to. I…
Comparison should be with 5-yr T-Note (4.64%) and 5-yr TIPS (2.25% + inflation).
I suppose that's as good a reference as any. I can infer the rationale for five years - that after five years one can cash out an I bond w/o penalty. But an argument…
Vanguard's funds are overwhelmingly low-cost.
However, it feels as though investors are now being nickled and dimed by Vanguard Brokerage Services.
A $100 account closure and transfer fee is excessive IMHO.
Is it customary for other brokerages to im…
Would they transfer Admiral shares to Schwab?
That's a question best put to Schwab. I have been able to transfer Admiral shares of non-index funds to Merrill.
In addition to live accounts at Vanguard, I also have a couple of dead (empty) ones t…
"Our service is terrible ..."
And soon to get worse. One of the changes effective July 1 is:
VBS reserves the right to resolve Non-Trade Inquiries exclusively on its website or other available channels as opposed to providing such information by…
if Marcus offers a different term (not 20 mo) RBCD at a higher rate after one invests in a RBCD, can one still request a bump in rate or does the term of the newer RBCD have to be the same as the RBCD initially invest in?
You wrote: "'Prior to mat…
Not sure where you live but I'm guessing you had to Google that info yourself.
Half right. Yes, I searched for this, but not because I had to. Rather, I searched because I often check data before I post. My recollection is that I was offered…
Currently, only a 20 month rate bump CD is offered. How is the rate increase implemented?
The rate offered on a 20 month bump CD is currently 4.4%. Suppose that come July 2, Marcus changes the rate offered on a new 20 month bump CD to 4.8%. You…
How do we solve / decrease the burden of rising insurance costs through targeted investments? Any ideas and discussion would be great.
OJ wrote: When entire large contiguous communities are at risk because of one single loss situation (especially w…
my question really is, is it possible to have a $50,000-100,000 deductible HO policy with any of the insurance companies available to you?
Clearly someone who has never looked at earthquake insurance (10%-20% deductibles) :-(
https://content.naic.…
Thanks. We already knew the variable rate, the question was whether the fixed rate would change, up or down. Since it didn't go up, it would be (or would have been) better to buy in April.
It may be too late to buy now. A year ago, the Treasu…
It's pretty certain that if an insurance company finds out about a loss it will affect your rates (unless you have accident forgiveness).
Except for the smallest of collisions, an insurance company will find out about an accident even if you don…
This doesn't help explain why M*'s ticker search can't pull up the ETF, but CCOR (Core Alternative ETF) is available on this investor.morningstar.com webpage:
https://investor.morningstar.com/quotes/0P00019XXB (login required)
That page seems to ha…
