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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.
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    At Schwab $1.00 minimum. SWVXX 1 YEAR +5.27. Their prime money market, should be similar to VMRXX.

    SWVXX is not currently paying 5.27%--it resets every 7 days, and is currently paying 5.16%. Its rate has been dropping for about the past 2 months. SNAXX is the Institutional Class counterpart, that is currently paying 5.3%, but requires $1 million investment to purchase it. If you intend to buy any MMkt rate currently, it is highly unlikely it will stay that high for the next 12 months, given the recent performance trend of it going lower. Everyone has an opinion, that may or may not be accurate, but I think MMkt rates will drop around .5% over the course of the next 12 months.
    You may be right. How I handle this is while putting a good chunk of the income segment of my portfolio in money market funds, I have also put money into bond funds rather than CDs, so if money market yields go down from interest rates going down, bond funds (at least investment grade) will go up in value. I had been buying CDs starting a few years ago, once they matured I put them into money market funds and bond funds (some investment grade, some multisector or high yield). I now prefer the flexibility of money in money market funds and not locked into a CD, and my bond funds have exceeded what I would have received in CDs. If anything, a good substitute for a CD would be the ETF MINT (and not be locked in) or a good short term bond fund. I could turn out to be wrong, but that’s what I have been doing.
    Chinfist in Fund Discussions
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    At Schwab $1.00 minimum. SWVXX 1 YEAR +5.27. Their prime money market, should be similar to VMRXX.
    SWVXX is not currently paying 5.27%--it resets every 7 days, and is currently paying 5.16%. Its rate has been dropping for about the past 2 months. SNAXX is the Institutional Class counterpart, that is currently paying 5.3%, but requires $1 million investment to purchase it. If you intend to buy any MMkt rate currently, it is highly unlikely it will stay that high for the next 12 months, given the recent performance trend of it going lower. Everyone has an opinion, that may or may not be accurate, but I think MMkt rates will drop around .5% over the course of the next 12 months.
    dtconroe in Fund Discussions
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    At Schwab $1.00 minimum. SWVXX 1 YEAR +5.27. Their prime money market, should be similar to VMRXX.
    Art in Fund Discussions
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    Any investor with $3,000 can BUY VMRXX paying 5.29%.
    Looks like a Vanguard Money Market Fund--I can't get it at Schwab, where all my brokerage assets are located. I can get a comparable fund, with that interest rate, at Schwab with a $1million cash investment. I don't know if it is available at other brokerages, or what comparable funds are available at other brokerages.
    dtconroe in Fund Discussions
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    What is the difference between VMFXX and VMRXX, except for the 1 or 2 basis points 7-day yield difference?
    VMRXX product summary from VG website: "The fund invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in cash, U.S. government securities, and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized solely by U.S. government securities or cash (collectively, government securities). The fund invests more than 25% of its assets in securities issued by companies in the financial services industry, which includes securities issued by certain government-sponsored enterprises. The fund is considered one of the most conservative investment options offered by Vanguard. Although the fund invests in short-term U.S. government securities, the amount of income that a shareholder may receive will be largely dependent on the current interest rate environment. Investors who have a short-term savings goal and are interested in a fund that invests in securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies may wish to consider this option." [Bold added]
    The sentence in Bold is not there in product summary for VMFXX, their default sweep fund. Is that the only difference between these two products?
    BaluBalu in Fund Discussions
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    Any investor with $3,000 can BUY VMRXX paying 5.29%.
    stillers stillers in Fund Discussions
  • Nvidia “Leapfrogs” Apple in Value
    Per Jesse Felder
    Over the past 32 trading days, NVDA has gained more than $1 trillion in market cap. To put that into some sort of perspective, the 6-week gain is greater than the total market cap of BRKA, which Warren Buffett has spent 6 decades in building.
    While it sells for PE of 70 it's 5 year average is 68.
    What happens when everyone who thinks they need NVDA chips has bought enough?
    sma3 in Other Investing
  • Reality check
    We have been on guided tips and almost suffered casualties. One was pure stupidity by an experienced woman.The other an almost drowning in a big whirlpool.
    On the trips we have taken with guides, they all have had Sat Phones and guns for emergencies, because they have a responsibility to their customers. We have been camping in wilderness national parks, self guided and had the people next to us admit the had guns. It was not a good feeling and we did not talk politics!
    Since 1983, my wife and I and then with son have done 19 trips to BWCA, Quetico or another canoe wilderness in Canada, Algonquin Park. There have no major incidents other tan on badly sprained ankle (mine, fortunately on next to last day) and a fish hook in an arm.
    Our last trip was in 2017, when I was 65. Now at 71 I am thinking of buying an Emergency Response Beacon just in case.
    That is still not a cell phone. I will use mine to take pictures
    sma3 in Other Investing
  • Reality check
    @sma3 & @Sven
    I have been fortunate in my life time to have made several trips into the BWCA (or BWCAW as it's labeled now). A handful of those trips were made well before cell phones or even SAT phones were in existence. To me the BWCA is called a 'wilderness area' for a reason and you accept that knowing that it's the price you pay for admission. I go there to escape all of societies(?) conveniences and to experience life by one's skills, wits and knowledge. It's glorious.
    I can see where it gives many pause however and just within the last month SAT phones were used to summon Search & Rescue assistance for two groups of canoeists HERE. The first ended tragically while the second fared better. My guess is that many more SAT phones will be rented out to canoeing parties in the coming years.
    As for cell and/or smart phones, I've always left mine in my vehicle upon entry. Cell service in the BWCA is very spotty at best and most definitely should not be relied upon. Smart phones are good for taking great photo's though and they tend to be small and light weight.
    Mark Mark in Other Investing
  • Reality check
    From this week’s Barron’s:
    ”the top three stocks in the S&P 500—Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple—have accounted for 20% of the index for six days in the past two weeks. May 28 was the first time on record that the S&P 500’s top three stocks were worth more than 20% since at least 2000 …”
    ”Just 3 Stocks Rule the Market. Why You Should Be Worried.” - Teresa Rivas in Barron’s - June 10, 2024
    Wouldn’t ”Index investing” yield even better returns if these 3 accounted for 100% of the S&P?
    hank in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)

    If you've got at least $10K in cash in your IRA, you can open up a position in FZDXX ($10K min for retirement accounts). It's currently paying 5.15%. Fidelity officially requires one to maintain at least $10K in the fund, but generally it is quite forgiving so long as you don't bring the balance down to zero.
    This is not a core fund, so any time you have cash in the IRA (e.g. non-reinvested divs), you'll have to move it to FDRXX yourself or the cash will sit in your "Cash, Held in Money Market" fund.
    To answer the original question: click on the cash link as described above. You may see a "Change Core Position" button if other options are available.

    Thanks for the tip on FZDXX...I've had retirement accounts at Fido for a very long time and never heard of a reduced minimum for such accounts, until now. Just made the switch!
    wxman123 in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    @FD1000 how did you get Schwab to waive the $49.95 fee on transaction fee funds?
    Mona in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    Just a quick comment: If you were fortunate enough to have been on the ThinkorSwim platform originally, Schwab will honor the $15 trading fee TOS was charging. Presumably this is not new news to anyone who qualifies.
    racqueteer in Other Investing
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    Stillers: "I find nothing compelling about a 1-yr CP CD rate of 5.45% when VMRXX is paying 5.29%. On a $100K investment, the difference over the 12-months is ($5,450-$5,290 or) $160 IF the MMkt rate holds steady for the full period. That piddly difference is not a compelling difference that would cause me (at least, and I trust manty others) to lock up $100K for a year, regardless of our age................ I trust many others) notion that we won't be seeing anything near 4.70% rates in 2029 when the 5-yr CD matures."
    I do not believe that MMkt rates will hold steady for the next 12 month period, and most investors can't get a MMkt paying 5.29%. Many investors prefer a more secure government MMkt fund that pays under 5%. For the past 2 months, my MMkt rates have been dropping, and I expect them to continue to drop over the next 12 months. As far what CD rates will be at the end of the next 5 year period, that is just too speculative for me to guess. When MMkt rates went to zero in 2007/2008, I doubt anyone expected them to stay at zero for the next 15 years.
    dtconroe in Fund Discussions
  • Vanguard Website
    I gave Vanguard a chance too, but they said they would ignore all of our existing low cost basis stocks so I though that was a no go.
    Years ago I suggested to a friend what became Vanguard Personal Advisor Select. (At the time there was only one tier, with a $50K min.)
    Vanguard was good about preserving investments with large gains and only selling them off gradually over several years. It was a pleasant contrast to TIAA, where this person had watched as an "advisor" immediately sold off everything at the start.
    TIAA compounded the problem later by harvesting a loss in a taxable account while purchasing the same security in an IRA - thus generating a wash sale and permanently destroying the ability to declare the harvested loss.
    On the tax front, Vanguard seems to be doing okay. Someone else I know with them was told that an account had recently crossed the designated allocation ranges and Vanguard could rebalance. Given that this was in a taxable account and rebalancing would recognize gains, Vanguard provided the option of rebalancing or not.
    Maybe you just got hold of an inexperienced person at Vanguard or someone who was having a bad day.
    msf in Fund Discussions
  • Vanguard Website
    @sven
    Fido was wife's 401k custodian so most of her retirement money is there.
    Our joint taxable account we started in 1988 at Schwab when we had an advisor for mutual funds. He used Littman-Gregory " No Load Fund Analyst" ( anybody else remember them?) so I finally decided I could do it myself with the newsletter. Then they stopped the newsletter and I didn't think it was worth a 0.7% fee on top of MF fees. Fortunately Fund Alarm was available.
    While the advisors at Schwab changed frequently in the past, they have been stable the last 10 years. I can email the guy we have and he responds quickly.
    I don't use them for investment advice but they are helpful with paperwork etc. I did explore their financial planning but decided I could do just as well with investments for now.
    We never really connected to someone at Fido. I gave them a chance last year to demonstrate their ideas about financial planning and they kinda blew it. The rep didn't seem interested in following up and all they offered was Fido mutual funds.
    I gave Vanguard a chance too, but they said they would ignore all of our existing low cost basis stocks so I though that was a no go.
    I am sorta in the "paranoid" level of account security ( like Andy Grove) and I think having about a 50/50 split in brokerages is not a bad idea.
    If they have good analytics, I have missed them, so I use M* and Quicken and a lot of the stuff people use here.
    sma3 in Fund Discussions
  • Vanguard Website
    over this weekend, we will consider to transfer the remaining Vanguard mutual funds in our joint account. Since I can buy the ETF equivalents,
    Generally at Vanguard if there's an "equivalent" ETF for a fund, the ETF is just another share class of the same fund. The same way that Admiral shares and Investor shares are just difference share classes of the same fund.
    For example, VOO (ETF), VFIAX (Admiral class), and VFINX (Investor class) are just three different share classes of Vanguard 500.
    You can have Vanguard convert your OEF shares into ETF shares of the same fund with no tax consequences before transferring assets. This can usually be done by other brokerages after a transfer, but one needs to make sure the brokerage does it "right" - not via a buy and a sell.
    msf in Fund Discussions
  • Vanguard Website
    Thanks to all for the information, both here and via PM. Years ago, Fidelity used to offer various tiered bonuses. Here, e.g. is its 2018 promotion:
    https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/fidelity/Cash-Offer.pdf
    Since then, Fidelity limited its public promotions to $1M+ transfers, and subsequently hid promotions altogether. So Fidelity fell off my radar and I hadn't considered them. I'm now encouraged to check directly with them to see what they might do.
    Similarly, I've received enough of a nudge regarding Schwab's willingness to deal that I'll check with them as well. It's a solid firm, one I've used off and on for many years.
    Going either way I'm still left with the question of what to do with bank cash and Treasury cash. (I still keep a modest amount of cash in a bank just in case of another liquidity freeze; the latter is to keep state income taxes down.)
    I could use an internet bank for FDIC-covered cash (many still paying 5%+), and something like SGOV or USFR for liquid Treasury cash.
    Finally, regarding the transfer process, I did read The Finance Buff's piece when it came out. It's a good guide in general for doing transfers even though it contains some Vanguard-specific info. Having moved assets back and forth over the years, I am familiar with the process. In fact, it's Vanguard's adding a new fee to do this that is motivating me to look around.
    Again, thanks.
    msf in Fund Discussions
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    @Mark, I posted that question to FD since he stated in #4 above that he doesn’t pay the transaction fee. SMA3 also mentioned that too. Is that a special arrangement but that is NOT in Schwab fee policy ? I am not a Schwab customer either.
    My understanding at Fidelity is what you stated. One pays $49.94 to buy Transaction fee funds but there no fee to sell. Also I particularly like to add more to these funds at a later days for $5 using their automatic investment feature. You get to pick the dates and the $ amount.
    Flagship clients with Vanguard get a fixed number of no fee transactions on TF funds per account. It was a nice feature but we tend to buy and hold for a long time.
    Sven in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    @Mark, it's all about platform fees.
    Schwab NTF has the highest platform fees.
    Then, Schwab TF has 2 tiers - those who pay some platform fee and Schwab charges $49.99 for their funds, and those that pay zilch and Schwab charges $74.95 for their funds.
    https://www.schwab.com/mutual-funds/costs-fees
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Other Investing