Does anyone have a fav fund or two LOOKING FORWARD ”
Started to nibble at hstrx. “
Not a bad pick if you can buy NTF. There’s a fee at Fido. I looked at that one yesterday and was surprised it hasn’t done better this year with both gold and bonds having a decent year. Your question doesn’t define the time frame. For most nowadays a year seems an eternity. Some have much shorter and will eject after a month or two or three when a fund heads south.
I must not have any favorites because I have 20 different holdings. The largest 4 come in at 10% of portfolio each. They represent different variations on alternative and asset allocation type funds where I’m most comfortable at my age. While each could loose
5 or 10% in a terrible year, as a group they are fairly stable - very much “set it and forget it” type holdings. I rationalize a somewhat expensive L/S alternative by considering the overall cost of my funds and also by holding a few individual stocks to reduce costs.
You mention EM funds. I have a very small 1-2% hold in one. Bought in at the depths last year, so it’s already gained some. Before it gets back to any kind of reasonable valuation I will sell and roll the $$ into a broadly diversified balanced fund at the same house. In that case you’re paid to wait because by most accounts EM valuations are still compelling. I have a very small 2% bite on SPDN - an 1X inverse S&P. That’s to moderate volatility on down days. I think there are many other areas that will perform much better than the S&P over the next several years. With that inverse offset it allows taking on a bit more risk in other areas. International funds plus a few individual
socks stocks are some I like. Japan is a long-shot. But exposure there might add a bit of diversification relative to domestic markets.
Inserted later - Non dollar-hedged Japan adds a currency play. I suspect that’s the better way to go at this point. Check back in a year.
Whoever said PRPFX in
@MikeM’s thread made good sense to me. With some funds, throw away the performance numbers and look at what’s inside. If you see a case for precious metals, foreign currencies, real estate, and some AAA government bonds for defense in the future you might like the fund. I do. Albeit, some criticize it saying fees are too high for what amounts to a passive investment approach.
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T. Rowe Price New Horizons and Emerging Markets Stock Funds reopening to new investors I stand corrected again. It used to be $50, but Fidelity would blame that on HIGH inflation.
CDs versus government bonds Don’t know about your finance situation and risk tolerance. So here it goes for your questions on CDs:
1. As of today the only CDs that yield 5% are those with shorter duration ones, 9-12 month. Creating a CD ladder is necessary in order to maintain cash flow (income) as you desired. For example, a one-year ladder consisting of 4 CDs with each maturing every 3 months would provide income every 3 months. So it boils down to how much extra income you want from your CDs. Don’t forget that the interest accrued from CDs is taxed as ordinary income with both federal and state tax applies. Treasury bills/notes are federal tax-exempt but state tax is still applied.
2. CDs are safe (FDIC insured) but they are not liquid during the investment period. Some bank CDs pay interest monthly, but they pay at lower yield. Brokered CDs at your brokerages pay higher yield, but majority of them pay at maturity, not monthly. Treasury bills (1 -12 months), on the other hand, are highly liquid and one can sell them on secondary market if necessary. Creating T bills ladders will provide periodic income just as CD ladders.
3. At current inflation rate (CPI as of Feb 2023 is at 6.2% y-o-y), you are losing future buying power each year by investing in CDs alone. Thus, other investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds, and others are required as part of the “growth” component of your retirement income.
Within this MFO discussion forum, you are getting opinions from other investors. The best answer should come from your financial planner. At least you have something to consider as a starting point. Best wishes.
T. Rowe Price New Horizons and Emerging Markets Stock Funds reopening to new investors I just checked and Fidelity charges $75 for Vanguard and Dodge and Cox funds. A $50 fee would have been a real investor improvement for Fidelity but I guess Abigail Johnson needs to keep her net worth over $20 billion !
CDs versus government bonds Just don't put all of your eggs in one basket. 5% guaranteed is pretty damn good. DO IT. Keep at least 50% in safer market instruments. Maybe funds, rather than in single stocks. Look at BRUFX. and MAPOX.
CDs versus government bonds I’m 70 and still working. I have about 700k in savings and CDs, home is paid off and I plan to retire in a year.
I am considering putting a portion of the $ into long-term CDs since the interest rates are near 5%.and relatively safe.
I figure if the worst possible scenario happens, I can always withdraw from the CDs and pay the penalty, From what I understand government bonds could be less forgiving in that if the interest rates fall I would have to sell the bonds at that price.
I just want to have some extra income coming in after I retire and am tempted to invest in 5 or even even 10 year CDs.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Do others have a favorite fund, or two? Yes, after bottom fell out of Tremx, I invested $5k, up to about $7k.
