@ MFO Members: Based on State Farm's decisions in 2017, I wouldn't be surprised they will soon exit the mutual fund business.
If you have any investments with State Farm, you should probably move them. As of April 2017 their 12,000 agents stopped offering funds and other retirement investment products to their customers.
M* State Farm Family Of Funds:
http://quicktake.morningstar.com/fundfamily/state-farm/0C00001YTU/fund-list.aspx

Thanks to both of you for your input. I was debating yesterday whether to post the WSJ article, but decided not to because of the paywall, and the entire story was far too detailed to summarize in a quick excerpt / recap. Here's a few choice excerpts from the WSJ article:
"When a fund pays a fee that aims to result in the sale of fund shares, either directly or indirectly, securities laws require it to be part of what is known as a 12b-1 plan and to be disclosed to investors."
"In the internal Fidelity document, the company indicates that it doesn’t consider the infrastructure fee to cover distribution services. Rather, it categorizes the agreement between Fidelity and funds on its platform as “shareholder services”; such fees may not require a 12b-1 plan."
Sleaze in the financial markets, as usual. No, no... not a "distribution fee"... it's a "shareholder service" fee.
Right.

Welcome to the board @Lego_Sweeper -
Good find. Unfortunately I’m not qualified to address it. Many here are highly qualified and might comment now that I’ve plucked your query out of the somewhat obscure section here I affectionally call the bone yard. :)
Will say that fees are deadly to profits and come out out of the investor’s pocket one way or another. This sounds to me like a legal spat over whether disclosure is required of the fees a fiduciary (ie mutual fund house) pays to a brokerage or other platform that than distributes the purchased shares to investors. (I stand to be corrected on this point!)
My limited interest is that I don’t buy and sell thru brokerages but have always invested directly with a few different fund houses. I’m always unhappy to see that shares in a fund I own directly thru the fund house are being peddled for “no fee” by Schwab, Fidelity or some other broker. I know that to some extent that “no fee” transaction others are receiving is coming out of my pocket by promotional fees my house or fund is paying the distributor for marketing.
There was another issue a decade or more back when funds that sell short weren’t displaying as part of the ER the interest they were paying on money borrowed to fund the short sales. Eventually that got settled in favor of full disclosure and the published fee schedules for funds that short the markets rocketed higher. My guess is that this will also be settled in favor of fuller disclosure.
While the WSJ which you linked and FT have stories, it’s hard for some of us to read them. So, I’m linking an article on the issue that’s easier to read (no pay wall).
http://fortune.com/2019/02/27/fidelity-fees-labor-department/

FYI: Whenever I do a town hall about Social Security, one issue invariably rises to the top: cost-of-living adjustments (or COLAs).
Retirees across America consistently tell us that their annual COLAs simply are not adequate. And they have a reason to be concerned. Though the 2019 COLA is a decent 2.8%, these adjustments historically have not kept pace with seniors’ rising expenses. In fact, for three of the past 10 years there were no cost-of-living increases — zero. In 2017, the COLA was a scant 0.3% — or a meager $4 a month for the average beneficiary.
Simply put, retirees need a COLA that accurately reflects the effects of inflation on their cost of living. The current index, the CPI-W, is pegged to urban wage earners’ living expenses, and tends to underestimate what seniors spend on big ticket items like housing and medical care. By the same token, retirees purchase less gasoline than working-age Americans, even though the cost of gas figures prominently into the current inflation index. As the Center for Retirement Security explains, “In 2016, retirees received no COLA specifically because the cost of oil plummeted. The low cost of gasoline offset [actual inflation] in other areas.”
Regards,
Ted
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/improved-social-security-cola-would-help-seniors-stay-ahead-of-inflation-2019-02-28/print

Hey folks this is a pretty good read. The six are as follows: 1) Trend Following 2) Momentum 3) Seasonality 4) Carry 5) Betting Against Beta and 6) Value.

FYI: Interest rates are on a wild ride. Thanks to the vibrant economy, rates on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond briefly topped 3.2 percent in late 2018, and mortgage rates hit their highest levels since 2011. But concerns over a trade war with China and the impact of the prolonged government shutdown took some of wind out of investors' sails and rates on the 10-year are at about 2.6 percent – a substantial drop, and a sign that the promise of higher rates may not be as certain as previously thought. Here are nine U.S. Treasury-focused exchange-traded funds that offer a variety of ways to invest in the evolving government bond sector.
Regards,
Ted
https://money.usnews.com/investing/funds/slideshows/9-ways-to-buy-treasurys-with-etfs?onepage

@Starchild: It's me again. I pulled Dr. Madell's recommended funds form his recent newsletter. They are listed below for your review. It looks like VWIGX is his recommended international choice. You might wish to look at TBGVX as it is also on his short list. And, VTMGX looks interesting as well.
My Recommended Stock Funds:
-Vanguard Extended Market Idx (VEXMX)
-Vanguard Small Cap Growth Idx (VISGX)
-Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX)
-Vanguard Equity Income (VEIPX)
-Vanguard Windsor II (VWNFX)
-Vanguard Energy (VGENX)
-Vanguard Growth Idx (VIGRX)
-Vanguard Pacific Index (VPACX)
-Vanguard International Growth (VWIGX)
-Vanguard Europe Idx (VEURX)
-Vanguard Emerging Markets Idx (VEIEX)
-Tweedy, Browne Global Value (TBGVX)
-Vanguard Total Stock Mkt Idx Inv (VTSMX)
-Vanguard Developed Markets Idx Adm (VTMGX)
My Recommended Bond Funds:
-Vanguard California Interm-Term Tax-Exempt (VCAIX)
-PIMCO Total Return Instl (PTTRX)
-Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX)
-Vanguard High Yield (VWEHX)
-Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade (VFSTX)
-PIMCO International Bond Adm (PFRAX)
-Vanguard Total International Bond Index (VTIBX)
Some Tips Form Skeet
You might wish to visit how much risk you have within your portfolio. I have seen, through the years, some of my buddies taking on too much risk in an attemp to meet targeted returns. Have you done a risk assessment of your portfolio? And, is it set to your tolerance? If in doubt then you might wish to do a risk profile on yourself. I have linked one below just in case it might interest you.
https://www.calcxml.com/do/inv08
In doing a look back into Dr. Madell's October 2018 newsletter below are his published model asset allocations.
Overall Allocations to Stocks, Bonds, and Cash
Recommended For Moderate Risk Investors
Asset Current (Last Qtr.)
Stocks 57% (57%)
Bonds 24 (25)
Cash 19 (18)
Recommended For Aggressive Risk Investors
Asset Current (Last Qtr.)
Stocks 73% (73%)
Bonds 14 (14)
Cash 13 (13)
Recommended For Conservative Risk Investors
Asset Current (Last Qtr.)
Stocks 20% (20%)
Bonds 35 (35)
Cash 45 (45)
While my asset allocation of 20% cash, 40% income and 40% equity might not be right for you it is what I have recently moved to being 70+ years in age and retired. This asset allocation affords me enough cash reserves should I need a cash infusion, enough income generation from my income area along with enough growth from my equity area to grow my principal over time. Generally, I take no more than one half (in dollars) of what my five year annual average returns have been. In this way principal grows over time. And, as my principal grows so do my distributions.
In addition, I'd do an Instant Xray of my portfolio before I add new positions and then with the proposed changes to make sure the changes reflect the way I want to head.
Morningstar's Instant Xray tool is linked below. In addition to looking at your portfolio as a whole you might wish to look at each fund in Xray to see how it is compiled. This should help in making better fit choices.
https://www.morningstar.com/portfolio.html?requestUrl=/RtPort/Free/InstantXRayDEntry.aspx?dt=0.7055475
Again, I wish you good investing in the years to come.
Old_Skeet

It's very hard to argue against FMIJX, but I've usually planted a foot in the door of closing funds in case they continued to out-perform. This has not been markedly successful, but it's more due to my lack of attention (or additional funds to invest) than to underperformance. If you can afford to meet the PRIDX minimum (and it's not a hard close), consider doing so and investing in FMIJX (which has its top 5 holdings located in Britain or Japan [1], so Brexit may have an impact) next. While I am a Vanguard enthusiast for the ERs, VWIGX will always be open (and it is is 5* on M*, while the others or one rank lower), and the ER will almost always be lower.
The other funds I was going to suggest are closed, but keep an eye open for JOHAX, if it reopens. SFVLX is open, small and from a good company, with a reasonable ER, despite an initially unimpressive performance.
Consider putting a fragment of your funds at some point (or at multiple points) in an emerging markets ETF, such as the 4* IEMG, since it's likely that these companies (those who survive) will be the dominant foreign companies in your old age.

This is as murky as the mutual fund world gets. Something seems amiss.
I never did place my 10% investment in this fund due to complications over at Vanguard. I'd be ticked off if they closed right after I had moved $$ in there.
Per msf's comment....maybe it WAS something we said?
Perhaps David Snowball called them for an interview and the jig was up?

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679960/000116204419000108/state497201902.htm
497 1 state497201902.htm
SUPPLEMENT DATED FEBRUARY 27, 2019 TO THE
ENHANCED ULTRA SHORT DURATION MUTUAL FUND PROSPECTUS
DATED MARCH 29, 2018, AS SUPPLEMENTED
On February 20, 2019, the Board of Trustees of State Funds (the “Trust”), upon the recommendation of New York Alaska ETF Management LLC, the investment adviser for the series of the Trust, approved a plan to liquidate and terminate (the “Liquidation”) the Enhanced Ultra Short Duration Mutual Fund (the “Fund”), a series of the Trust. It is anticipated that the Liquidation will be completed on or about March 6, 2019 (the “Liquidation Date”). A shareholder vote is not required to approve the Liquidation.
Any shares of the Fund outstanding on the Liquidation Date will be automatically redeemed on that date. Effective as of the regularly scheduled close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 27, 2019, the Fund will no longer accept investments from new shareholders. Redemption orders received in proper form as described in the Fund’s prospectus after the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 27, 2019 will not be subject to any contingent deferred sales charges or other sales charges imposed by the Fund, except that shares held through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, such as omnibus accounts, may be subject to sales charges in accordance with the protocols of the financial intermediary.
At any time prior to the Liquidation Date, shareholders may redeem their shares of the Fund pursuant to the procedures set forth in the prospectus under “How to Redeem Shares.” A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of their redemption proceeds. Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
It is expected that as soon as practicable following the Liquidation, the cash proceeds of the Liquidation will be distributed to shareholders of the Fund in complete redemption of their shares, after all charges, taxes, expenses and liabilities of the Fund have been paid or accounted for. For federal income tax purposes, the automatic redemption on the Liquidation Date will generally be considered a taxable event like any other redemption of shares. Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors for more information about the tax consequences of the Liquidation to them, including any federal, state, local, foreign or other tax consequences.
In order to provide for an orderly liquidation and satisfy redemptions in anticipation of the Liquidation, the Fund will no longer pursue its investment objectives and strategies between now and the Liquidation Date.
For assistance or more information, shareholders can contact their registered representative or contact the Fund by calling toll free 1-800-523-8382.
* * * * *
Please retain this Supplement for future reference...

FYI: U.S. stocks wobbled for the second consecutive session Wednesday, pausing their early-year rally as analysts weighed comments from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the latest batch of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 72 points, or 0.25%, at 25985, after earlier falling as much as 181 points. The S&P 500 dropped less than 0.05%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also swung between small gains and losses and was recently down less than 0.07%.
Although patience from the Federal Reserve and optimism about a U.S.-China trade agreement have boosted stocks recently, some analysts say the recovery has gone too far. The Dow industrials entered Wednesday’s session up 12% for the year and within 3% of last year’s record.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 2.684%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.636% a day earlier. Bond yields rise as prices fall.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 dipped 0.3%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.5% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed less than 0.1% after climbing earlier in the session.
The majority of the S&P 500 Sectors, led by Communicationn Services lagged, while Energy led the winners.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-27/your-evening-briefing
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-decline-as-violence-erupts-in-kashmir-11551258388
Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-26/asia-stocks-set-for-modest-gains-treasuries-rise-markets-wrap?srnd=premium
IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-stock-triggers-sell-signals/
Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-edges-lower-after-lighthizer-comments-on-trade-talks-idUSKCN1QG1R1?il=0
CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/stock-market-dow-futures-in-focus-ahead-of-trump-kim-summit.html
U.K.: FTSE Down .61%
Europe:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/europes-indexes-sink-as-geopolitical-tensions-between-pakistan-and-india-escalate-metro-bank-plunges-20-2019-02-27/print
Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-rise-as-trump-kim-set-to-meet-2019-02-26/print
Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/bonds-traders-await-another-powell-speech.html
Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/forex-markets-dollar-the-fed-british-pound-in-focus.html
Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/oil-markets-opec-us-crude-inventories-in-focus.html
Gold
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/gold-markets-the-fed-dollar-palladium-in-focus.html
WSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/us
Major ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitor
SPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker
SPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectors
Current Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx

I agree with the conclusion, but with little else here. Slott plays to his crowd: the government is bad, the government is out to get you, the government lies.
Look at the quote Gary gave (gov said SS would never be taxed). Here's what SSA says about that:

Originally, Social Security benefits were not taxable income. This was not, however, a provision of the law, nor anything that President Roosevelt did or could have "promised." It was the result of a series of administrative rulings issued by the Treasury Department in the early years of the program. ...
In 1983 Congress changed the law by specifically authorizing the taxation of Social Security benefits. This was part of the 1983 Amendments, and this law overrode the earlier administrative rulings from the Treasury Department.

I suspect Slott would be bringing up notch babies, except that nearly all of this part of his crowd has died off. (They'd be over 100 years old.)
He said that people who had already made Roth contributions would be grandfathered in. IMHO he's being too generous here. Previous contributions and previous earnings would be grandfathered in, but not people. Future earnings in Roths by people who already had Roths could be taxed easily.
The reasons why I believe that, and not what he described would be the worst case are twofold:
1 - Government honesty (seriously). Governments (federal, state, local) may individually tax the same income (e.g. fed and state tax the same W2 income), but a single government entity does not tax the same income twice. (The IRS may tax corp. earning and then tax dividends paid out of those earnings, but those are taxes levied on two different taxpayers, at two different levels.) Roth contributions have already been taxed as personal income; they will not be taxed again.
2 - Pragmatics. No one is required to maintain records of contributions or earnings in Roth IRAs (at least once the five year requirements have been met). So it would be difficult for the government to tax past earnings on contributions. It would be very easy for it to tax future earnings. Just change the law so that people (and financial institutions) are required to keep track of those earnings.

Talked about Bob Evans as I remember they were over priced and didn't last long in our community. The menu was full of descriptive BS that made You feel like you were buying something special. Only thing special was the bill as I remember. About like Boston Market. Thaler's mutual fund 2 month's track record don't know about it. Will come back in 10 years and look at it.

FYI: The fourth quarter of 2018 was undeniably terrible for U.S. equity markets. Under pressure from politics, earnings and interest rates, markets pulled back, obliterating their year-to-date gains. But a group of companies with a simple yet distinctive mark of quality—the longest track records of consistent dividend growth—fared far better than their peers.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.etf.com/sections/etf-industry-perspective/proshares-why-dividend-aristocrats-are-king
M* Snapshot NOBL:
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/bats/nobl/quote.html

VTTVX holds four funds. Along with their weights and ERs, they are:
Total stock mkt index VTSMX (Inv shares): 37.49%, 0.14% ER
Total bond mkt II index VTBIX (Inv shares): 26.38%, 0.09% ER
Total int'l stock index VGTSX (Inv shares): 24.95%, 0.17% ER
Total int'l bond index VTIBX (Inv shares): 11.12%, 0.13% ER
None of this is changing. While you, as a retail investor, will have your Investor class shares converted to cheaper Admiral shares, and while new retail investors will be able to buy Admiral shares of these underlying funds for a $3K min, VTTVX will continue to hold the more expensive Investor class shares of these four funds.
So the cost of owning VTTVX remains: 37.49% x 0.14% + 26.38% x 0.09% + 24.95% x 0.17% + 11.12% x 0.13% = 0.1331%
Were VTTVX's holdings to be moved to Admiral class shares with ERs of 0.04% (VTSAX), 0.09% (VTBIX - no Admiral shares for Bond II), 0.11% (VTIAX), and 0.11% (VTABX), this fund's expenses would be reduced to 0.0784%.
Were VTTVX's holdings to be moved to the cheapest share class of each underlying fund, the ERs it would be paying would be: 0.015% (VSTSX, Institutional Select shares), 0.02% (VTBNX, I shares), 0.043% (VTISX, Institutional Select shares), and 0.025% (VSIBX, Institutional Select Shares), the fund's expenses would be a mere 0.0244%.
By keeping the Investor shares around, and by using those Investor shares in VTTVX, Vanguard is able to collect an extra 0.11% in fees while claiming to have a 0% management fee on VTTVX. This is deceptive. It's using overpriced shares to get paid for managing this fund of funds. I have no issue with Vanguard collecting a nominal fee for running this fund. It's the way it hides the number that is disturbing.

Curious to hear thoughts/comments on this...
Government Probes Fidelity Over Obscure Mutual-Fund Fees
Boston-based firm characterizes so-called infrastructure fee as solution to ‘broken’ business model
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fidelitys-fees-on-low-cost-funds-eyed-in-government-probe-11551263401

Unfortunately, PRIDX is closed to new investors.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313212/000031321218000042/idfpta-march11.htm
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Effective at the close of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 2, 2018, the fund will be closed to new investors and new accounts, subject to certain exceptions. Investors who already hold shares of the fund at the close of business on Monday, April 2, 2018, will be permitted to continue to purchase additional shares.

"This marks the first time that the ETF share class will charge less than the Admiral share class." (That is, no cuts in the ERs of other share classes, including Admiral class.)
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/915885/vanguard-cuts-etf-fees.html

FYI: Not to be left out of the fee conversation—the first zero-fee exchange-traded funds were filed on Monday—Vanguard Group’s ETFs reported lower expense ratios, annual prospectuses filed Tuesday show. However, fees were cut by one to two basis points at most, suggesting there isn’t much more juice left in the continuing fee wars.
The 10 ETFs that show lower expense ratios are:
Regards,
Ted
https://www.barrons.com/articles/vanguard-group-makes-tiny-etf-fee-cuts-51551203965?refsec=funds
WSJ Article:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/vanguard-ups-the-ante-in-an-etf-race-to-zero-11551184467

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/225997/000093247119006422/ps_adm112018final.htm
497 1 ps_adm112018final.htm ADMIRAL SHARES MINIMUM
Vanguard 500 Index Fund
Vanguard Balanced Index Fund
Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund
Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund
Vanguard European Stock Index Fund
Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund
Vanguard FTSE All-World ex- US Index Fund
Vanguard Global ex-U. S. Real Estate Index Fund
Vanguard Growth Index Fund
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index Fund
Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation Index Fund
Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund
Vanguard Large-Cap Index Fund
Vanguard Long- Term Corporate Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Long- Term Treasury Index Fund
Vanguard Mid -Cap Growth Index Fund
Vanguard Mid -Cap Index Fund
Vanguard Mid-Cap Value Index Fund
Vanguard Mortgage -Backed Securities Index Fund
Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Short-Term Inflation -Protected Securities Index Fund
Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index Fund
Vanguard Small- Cap Growth Index Fund
Vanguard Small- Cap Index Fund
Vanguard Small- Cap Value Index Fund
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund
Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
Vanguard Value Index Fund
Supplement to the Prospectuses and Summary Prospectuses for Investor Shares and Admiral"Shares
Effective November 19, 2018, (i) Admiral Shares have an investment minimum of $3,000, and (ii) Investor Shares are generally closed to new investors. Investor Shares will remain open to existing investors and certain new institutional investors. You may convert your Investor Shares to Admiral Shares at any time by contacting Vanguard.
It is anticipated that all of the outstanding Investor Shares will be automatically converted to Admiral Shares beginning in April 2019, with the exception of those held by Vanguard funds and certain other institutional investors. At that time, Investor Shares will be available for ongoing investment only by Vanguard funds and certain other institutional investors.
© 2018 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
PS ADM 112018