@sma3 & @Sven I agree that having a cash bucket makes sense. Mine is held outside the investment accounts described above. It currently equals about 13% of the total held in those accounts. It is intended to temporarily provide funds to mitigate the effects of a prolonged downturn in investment portfolio returns and to temporarily help fund significant required expenditures like replacing a leaking roof. It is also intended to provide transition funds to cover the waiting period before long term care benefits become available if my wife or I suffer from a rapid decline in health status. The buffering benefits of exclusively using dividends to fund investment account releases potentially helps limit the necessary size of that bucket. But, perhaps it would be prudent for me to increase it to at least 15%. Thanks for your comments.
@bee Yes. And a link to Portfolio Visualizer's Monte Carlo portfolio simulator may be useful too.
https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/monte-carlo-simulation

dividends are 99.9% tax exempt in my state

@Fred495, if I am correct, treasury bonds/ ETFs are federal tax-exempt, not state exempt. TFLO invests in floating rate treasury similar to that of USFR, WisdomTree treasury floating rate ETF.

Not Federal tax exempt.

dividends are 99.9% tax exempt in my state

@Fred495, if I am correct, treasury bonds/ ETFs are federal tax-exempt, not state exempt. TFLO invests in floating rate treasury similar to that of USFR, WisdomTree treasury floating rate ETF.
Edits: @fred495 is correct that TFLO is exempt from state and local income taxes, not federal tax.

For accounts at Fidelity,
FSIXX has a minimum of $1M. FRSXX is the Institutional class of the Treasury Only MM fund and pays slightly higher than FSIXX. FRSXX does not seem to say what the minimum required is but I presume it is not accessible to retail clients. Is that right? I invest in FDLXX, another Treasury Only, has a 4.97% (vs 5.25% for FRSXX) (7 day) yield as of 1/19 and does not have a minimum. Why does Fidelity make it less advantageous to keep money at Fidelity, rather than move to Merrill Edge? Is it record keeping costs and convenience that Merrill offers to Fidelity?

Thanks @Fred495 Easy pease 100% tax exempt.

From NPR,

shipping industry experts hope lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Suez Canal disruption in 2021 and Somali pirate attacks more than a decade ago will help mitigate widespread problems this time, should the conflict widen in the Red Sea.

https://npr.org/2024/01/20/1225716149/houthis-yemen-redsea-ships-israel-hamas
A figure in the article indicates an alternative shipping route ( a long way around); almost 3X the distance. How will this impact the global inflation ?

Besides CDs at major national banks, I still keep most of my cash in TFLO (iShares Treasury Floating rate Bond ETF) which currently has a 30 Day SEC Yield of 5.40%. The dividends are 99.9% tax exempt in my state. So far, so good.

SNOXX will likely be fully state-taxable to you, because (at least at as of Sept 30th) only 10% of its portfolio is in Treasuries. The rest consists of repurchase agreements which makes the entire fund state-taxable for a few states (and mostly state-taxable for everyone else). It is currently yielding 5.03%.
https://www.schwabassetmanagement.com/resource/snoxx-scoxx-fact-sheet
A couple of imperfect alternatives are:
VUSXX - current SEC yield 5.30%. Vanguard used to keep this fund 100% in Treasuries. Last year it changed its practice and seemed to hover for a time around the magic 50% mark (below which all dividends would be taxable to you). Since then it seems to be holding around 98% Treasuries.
The final "score" for 2023 was 80.06% state tax-exempt, well above 50%, though that still means 1/5 of the divs are state taxable for everyone.
https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vusxx
https://investor.vanguard.com/content/dam/retail/publicsite/en/documents/taxes/usgoin-2024.pdf
FSIXX - current SEC yield 5.21%. Pure Treasury. The imperfection here is that access to this share class is via Merrill Edge ($1K min), and Merrill is abysmal when it comes to handling pennies. Its system thinks in terms of whole shares, which for MMFs is whole dollars. Otherwise, Merrill seems easy to work with - definitely easy to move money in and out of.
https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content/application/pdf/GWMOL/ICCRateSheet.pdf
https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/summary/233809300

The graphic is set for the 5 days ending January 19, Friday; for the best to worst % returns in select etf categories. One may then also select the one month column to align the one month return best to worst; or for the other listed time frame columns.
ADD an etf performance of your choosing, if you desire.
*** Requested ADD: For the week and YTD
--- EWW = -1.9% / -4.0% (I Shares, Mexico)
MMKT note: Fidelity mmkt's remained steady this week,with core acct's yields at 4.98 and 5.01%.
NOTE: Growth area quite happy right now. Especially tech. and chips in particular have picked up 2023 out-performance. Sample, SMH, VanEck semi = +8.2% for the week.
***** Hell, Michigan air temperature, 8:30 am, Saturday = 1 degree, while Paradise, Michigan is 13 degrees.
Remain curious,
Catch

I have a financial link between my Schwab Taxable Account and my Capital One Bank Account. I will transfer money back and forth, between these two financial institutions, depending on where the best CD rates are available--very fast and simple. For liquidity purposes, I do maintain a significant investment in SWVXX Money Market Account, which continues to pay well over 5%.

I started buying brokered CDs at Fidelity because the yields are higher, they are easy to purchase, and it’s a convenient way to build and maintain a ladder. My credit union used to offer very competitive rates but has not kept pace over the past couple of years. They are finally offering one-year CDs yielding 5.1%, but their longer term issues are running 1-2% lower than Fidelity’s offerings. Their money market account is still paying a pitiful 1.5%, so I moved nearly all of our cash holdings to Fidelity.

I can appreciate the simplicity of having all T-IRAs in one place if one is of a "certain age" :-) I'm not, but I have likewise moved my T-IRA to one house.
Though that's largely because after having done Roth conversions for 15 years (income restrictions were lifted in 2010), there's not so much left in the T-IRA.

One way, popularized by AAII is to hold x number of years expenses in cash ( you pick the number… at least 5)
In years where SP500 or Wiltshire or ur index of choice is within 5% of all time high, withdraw living expenses from equities. When index below 5% take money out of cash. Refill cash bucket over 2 to 3 years. This way u never sell equities at bottom

Thanks @Derf. That helps.
However, I get the sense this goes beyond the simple question in your referenced quotation: (“Does anyone remember why …?”)
Here’s a couple excerpts from Morningstar’s analysis of RSIVX:
“David K. Sherman brings over 13 years of portfolio management experience to the table. It is encouraging to see that the strategies managed by Sherman have outperformed on a risk-adjusted basis, with an average Morningstar Rating of 4.7. Isolating the analysis to the fund at hand, David Sherman has delivered a mixed track record, leading the average category peer but lagging the category benchmark for the past 10-year period ….
“Undergoing some change … Co-founder and co-chief investment officer Mitch Rubin departed the firm in November 2022 on the heels of weak performance across the firm’s equity strategies. Meanwhile, RiverPark’s assets under management has declined 35% since December 2020 as outflows across most of its products have been persistent in recent years.”
-
Since Mr. Sherman ( @davidsherman ) sometimes posts here, I’m assuming @BaluBalu’s question is intended for him. ISTM an informal / mostly anonymous / lightly moderated forum like this may not be the appropriate setting for an extended dialogue with a fund manager. Likely, the reasons the fund did not meet @BaluBalu’s expectations are complex. I suspect they may have already been addressed in the fund’s Annual / Semi-Annual reports from that period. In the absence of such, than it would seem appropriate for past or current clients to contact Mr. Sherman or one of his subordinates directly.
Link to M* https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/rsivx/quote

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1006415/000119312524010953/d621557d497.htm
497 1 d621557d497.htm HARTFORD INTERNATIONAL/GLOBAL EQUITY FUNDS
JANUARY 19, 2024
SUPPLEMENT TO
HARTFORD INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS DATED MARCH 1, 2023
HARTFORD INTERNATIONAL/GLOBAL EQUITY FUNDS
PROSPECTUS DATED MARCH 1, 2023, AS SUPPLEMENTED TO DATE
This Supplement contains new and additional information regarding the Hartford International Equity Fund and should be read in connection with your Summary Prospectus and Statutory Prospectus.
Effective as of the opening of business on March 20, 2024, Classes A, C and I of the Hartford International Equity Fund (the “Fund”) will no longer be closed to new investors and will be available for purchase by all eligible investors.
This Supplement should be retained with your Summary Prospectus and Statutory Prospectus for future reference.

My experience over the last month is that I can find much better rates on CDs directly from Banks, than if they are offered through Brokerages. I have bought 12 month CDs from Capital One at 5.25%, but brokerage CDs through Schwab are under 5%. I only used Capital One because that is where I do my personal banking, and there are CDs even higher directly from other Banks than at Capital One. I am actually a bit frustrated with Brokerage offered CDs because they are so much lower than what is offered directly from banks. Go to depositaccounts.com or bankrate.com and you can find multiple bank offerings higher than what I can get through Schwab

@Sven Yes. Current Income Sources: defined benefit pensions = 45%, taxable investment account = 30%, social security = 25%. (Also have two smaller Roths that are not being tapped.) Taxable investment account has grown substantially since retirement. Exhausting it is not a significant concern (wife and I also have good long term care policies taken out during pre-retirement planning phase). Just don't appreciate fluctuations in account balance in years account balance does not end at new high. Restricting annual withdrawals to some or all of the dividend income already sitting in the account at end of year helps keep those fluctuations in perspective. It also simplifies the year end review.

"I also wonder if money flowing in / out of ETFs “at will” might pose some specials challenges for managers?"
Investors in certain ETFs may face challenges when selling shares.
If investors sells shares of ETFs with illiquid underlying holdings during a downturn,
the actual selling price may be much lower than anticipated.
There's a mismatch between the liquid ETF wrapper and the illiquid underlying holdings...
https://www.ft.com/content/fa3aa0bf-ed90-40e6-ac56-ca97d21856d3

@Old_Joe I took a quick peek & found only 3 month rates at 5%. Also rates for 1 & 2 months I couldn't find.

”There is something about my own perception or risk tolerance or some other phenomenon in my blessed psyche that has steered me away from ETFs. I do not appreciate the way they behave. What is it, I wonder, that points me to own open-ended funds (including, hypothetically, the INVESTOR class of PIMIX, for example)---- which I do NOT actually hold?”

I voiced similar concerns a while back @Crash. Here’s the thread.
I have both ETFs and open-ended mutual funds. (Actually, more of the open ended type). When I raised the question (similar to yours) most who voiced an opinion seemed to think ETFs were better. Some of the reasons given: Transparency, Ease of trading, Lower fees. Hard to argue there.
- Still, I wonder whether the same in-house resources are devoted to an ETF that garners one-half the fees for the firm as to a similar open ended mutual fund that generates a much better return?
- I also wonder if money flowing in / out of ETFs “at will” might pose some special challenges for managers?
- Some who work closely with retail investors think ETFs encourage more frequent trading and that this negatively affects returns as they chase the “hottest” funds.
- An old adage says fees are more crucial when applied to bond / income funds because as a % of your expected gain they are much higher. Example: a .50% ER on a bond fund yielding 3-4% is a greater cost burden than it would be on a growth fund expected to churn out 8-10% annually. That might be a reason to go with a lower fee ETF bond fund over a higher fee open ended one.
I think it’s too soon to know for sure. One consideration right now is that with Fido if I buy a new NTF open ended fund, I’m committed to not selling any of it for 60 days or I’ll get hit with an excessive trading fee. This time of year, when I typically pull IRA distributions (from across the board ), that’s enough to dissuade me from buying into a new OEF.