what do you call T. Rowe Price?

David_Snowball

That's actually a question from one of their reps. In our TMSRX profile, I refer to them as "Price." They think of, and hence refer to, themselves as "T. Rowe" or "T. Rowe Price." They admit to seeing "Price" used occasionally in the financial media, but were wondering how investors thought of the firm.

A funny side note: we publish in WordPress and if the WordPress software sees the freestanding letter "T" as the first character in a paragraph, it interprets that as a command to create a bulleted list out of the rest of the article. On whole, Chip would rather prefer that I not do that.

Curious, as ever,

David

Mark

I think of them as T. Rowe most often or T. Rowe Price. I've never thought of them as Price.

hank

I call them different things:

- T. Rowe sounds more “official.”

- TRP is easiest to type.

- Price is easiest to say - but vague sounding and could be confused with fund manager Michael Price.

- When talking to one of their reps, it’s usually just “you guys“.

May I further submit ... Damned Good would fit just fine.

msf

I don't think that Price is right. I call them T. Rowe Price, though along with hank, tend to refer to them as TRP in posts.

Crash

Yes, TRP works for me. I've adopted that one.

Shostakovich

Another vote for T. Rowe.

"Price" sounds a bit New England prep school to me (i.e., "Choate", "Kent", "Groton").

MikeM

Yes, what msf and Mark have said. I think of and refer to them as T. Rowe Price but use TRP in an abbreviated form when posting.

joe74

I always call them T Rowe, but would also accept T Money

rono

Howdy folks,

I've been a major T. Rowe Price investor for going on 20 years. I call them T. Rowe Price. That's their name.

rono

Old_Joe

Must be a very slow day.

Crash

Old_Joe said:

Must be a very slow day.

LAUGHTER!

rforno

I type TRP and say T.Rowe.

I also say "the guys who run PRWCX, nyah-nyah...." /ducks

DaveSch

When I wrote them, I wrote "Dear Mr. Price".
The next time I write, I'll use the more "Dear Tom".

BenWP

I had a colleague whose family knew the founder of the firm. He was known as T Rowe, I believe, FWTIW.

MikeM2

TRowe.

hank

In my personal notes & records they’re simply TP along with D&C, Inv and PP.

johnN

Is Trow better than Vanguard Fidelity? What are their best qualities

For us we have Vanguard 13 years, schwab 11 years, and merrilledge 7 years. All are easy to talk to representatives, low cost trading, good bonddesks, schwab offers excellence research for stocks/mutual funds. All maintenance fees extremely low (for instance merrilledge charge you 0.7% annually fees but you need only 100ks And 1%if less 100k in acct [rest can be self managed without financial advisor])

Mama has Fidelity and we use it to buy etf and bonds, its reasonable but I heard they have best cd/ visa cards 2% cash back

Which firms do you folks prefer

rforno

I can't speak to their brokerage/advisory services but I think their funds are well-managed with solid allocations and diversity. Are there some that overlap needlessly? Sure. But on the whole, for an active-management shop, TRP's funds are at the top of my list.

Shostakovich

I can't speak to whether they act as a true fiduciary or not; but I think TROW is well above average, even if they are publically traded.

I think Vanguard, D&C, possibly Tweedy, FPA, IVA, and FMI are at the high end of the fiduciary scale. TROW and Grandeur are above average. Royce is at the low end.

johnN

Thx found this article on email. Don't remember if its posted

Best trow funds for retirement

https://money.usnews.com/investing/funds/slideshows/best-t-rowe-price-funds-for-retirement

msf

johnN said:

For us we have Vanguard 13 years, schwab 11 years, and merrilledge 7 years. All are easy to talk to representatives, low cost trading, good bonddesks, schwab offers excellence research for stocks/mutual funds. All maintenance fees extremely low (for instance merrilledge charge you 0.7% annually fees but you need only 100ks And 1%if less 100k in acct [rest can be self managed without financial advisor])

Mama has Fidelity and we use it to buy etf and bonds, its reasonable but I heard they have best cd/ visa cards 2% cash back

Which firms do you folks prefer

A decade ago I looked fairly closely into different brokerages' bond services. What I found at the time was that while offerings were of course different, they tended to rely on third party services for inventory. So their offerings at any given time, while different, were similar. Fidelity would offer the same bonds at a lower price than Schwab.

Things may have changed, but a very small spot check (1 bond) suggests that this pricing differential remains. Calif (Sacramento) muni, callable starting in two years, maturing in five, CUSIP 786073BG0. Schwab price: 118.636 (2.394% YTW), Fidelity price: 118.536 [sic] (2.407% YTW). Both charge a $1/bond commission. I've bought bonds at Fidelity. Because of the higher cost, I haven't at Schwab.

If you're looking at keeping $100K at Merrill, BofA credit cards can come out better. Their cash rewards cards (with the $100K balance) pay 5.25% on the category of your choice (e.g. online purchases), 3.5% on grocery and warehouse purchases, and 1.75% on everything else. (The higher rebates are limited to $2500 in purchases/quarter). Of it you travel a bit (which can include mass transit, zoos(!) and other oddities), there's a cash back card that pays 2.625% on everything. The catch there is that the rebate must be used to cover travel costs.

With respect to mutual funds, Merrill Edge is limited in its offerings. Essentially, just NTF share classes are available. So you can't buy lower cost institutional shares even if the total cost of ownership would be less for you. Fidelity and Schwab are better in this regard. Fidelity also enable you to buy additional shares of a TF fund for $5 while at Schwab it's still $50. Vanguard's advantage is that it offers some institutional shares with lower mins than at Fidelity or Schwab. My impression is that T. Rowe Price's third party fund offerings are slim, but TRP hasn't posted its "catalogue" for years.

ETF and stock trading are free at Merrill, Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard. At TRP they can cost $20, unless the ETF is on their NTF list.

IMHO where TRP shines is in it broad offering of fine mutual funds. Essentially what @rforno said. In addition, it offers a free individual 401(k) plan with Roth option, as does Vanguard. Schwab doesn't allow Roths, nor does Fidelity. Merrill doesn't offer a free individual 401k.

I've found TRP's service to be on par with Fidelity and Schwab. I have found service at Merrill and Vanguard wanting.

johnN

Hi sir MSF...BOA credit probably one if best credit card around, give 5_10% off on certain places frequently use (this quater starbuck dumkin donuts and LaMadelin)...also 3% cash bsck gas restaurants and 2% everything else. We like our merrilllynch advisor know him for many yrs charges 1% annually and only minimal in managed acct

rforno

The whole rotating-discount/cash-back thing is a turnoff to me. Every quarter or month you need to remember which card to use to maximize which benefits ... too much work! I stick w/my Amex Plat and Amazon Prime Visa and keep things simple so I can worry about other more important things.

johnN said:

Hi sir MSF...BOA credit probably one if best credit card around, give 5_10% off on certain places frequently use (this quater starbuck dumkin donuts and LaMadelin)...also 3% cash bsck gas restaurants and 2% everything else. We like our merrilllynch advisor know him for many yrs charges 1% annually and only minimal in managed acct

Old_Joe

Exactly.

msf

rforno said:

The whole rotating-discount/cash-back thing is a turnoff to me. Every quarter or month you need to remember which card to use to maximize which benefits ... too much work! I stick w/my Amex Plat and Amazon Prime Visa and keep things simple so I can worry about other more important things.

I obviously wasn't clear. I did write: "on the category of your choice". No rotating categories (though you can change it yourself). It appears that John is using "gas" as his chosen category (that's the default). I use online purchases.

John wrote that he is using Merrill as a brokerage. Assuming that he has at least $20K in that account, he should be getting 3.75% (or better) back with BofA's preferred rewards.

With other rebates, I believe he was referring to special one-off promotions. These are not rotating categories, but rather one-time or limited promotions for individual stores. For example, I can get 5% in addition to the usual cash back for purchases at Starbucks up to $30. The nice thing about this particular promotion is that I can load $30 on my Starbucks card now and get that extra $1.50 back. I don't have to remember it at all.

The BofA travel card gives a flat 1.5% back. After you multiply it by the preferred rewards bonus, it can be as much as a flat 2.625%. No rotating categories.

There is a gotcha with this card which I tried to explain tersely above. Say you spend $50K/year, and that earns you $1,312.50. So long as you have charged at least that much in "travel" expenses (which is a very broad category), BofA will credit the full amount against your credit card bill.

These days, that's the cost of a couple of round trip airline tickets. I know, who's flying?

Mark

@msf who said "Schwab doesn't allow Roths, nor does Fidelity" HUH?

I'm sure I must be misunderstanding something but I've had a full-scale Roth Brokerage account at Fidelity since they became available. Are you referring to some other type of Roth account?

rforno

msf said:

I obviously wasn't clear. I did write: "on the category of your choice". No rotating categories (though you can change it yourself). It appears that John is using "gas" as his chosen category (that's the default). I use online purchases.

MSF, thanks, I stand corrected for this discussion. (Though some cards do rotate their categories arbitrarily)

msf

Mark said:

@msf who said "Schwab doesn't allow Roths, nor does Fidelity" HUH?

I'm sure I must be misunderstanding something but I've had a full-scale Roth Brokerage account at Fidelity since they became available. Are you referring to some other type of Roth account?

This must be my day for not writing clearly. I was referring to individual 401k's - stated in the bracketing sentences, but omitted in the middle sentence. There is no Roth option in Schwab's or Fidelity's individual 401k.

I had written: "In addition, it offers a free individual 401(k) plan with Roth option, as does Vanguard. Schwab doesn't allow Roths, nor does Fidelity. Merrill doesn't offer a free individual 401k."

From Schwab's individual 401k adoption agreement:

Will Roth Elective Deferrals be permitted under this Plan in addition to Pre-Tax Elective Deferrals?
["No" is checked]

hank

rforno said:

The whole rotating-discount/cash-back thing is a turnoff to me. Every quarter or month you need to remember which card to use to maximize which benefits ... too much work! I stick w/my Amex Plat and Amazon Prime Visa and keep things simple so I can worry about other more important things.

johnN said:

Hi sir MSF...BOA credit probably one if best credit card around, give 5_10% off on certain places frequently use (this quater starbuck dumkin donuts and LaMadelin)...also 3% cash bsck gas restaurants and 2% everything else. We like our merrilllynch advisor know him for many yrs charges 1% annually and only minimal in managed acct

Yep - To each his own. 25-30 years ago I ran into debt & spending issues related to credit cards. Going to 100% cash (except where credit is absolutely necessary) really helped turn things around. That was than. This is now. Today, I still have the same “dirty” $100 in my wallet it held in early March, as credit is safer to handle in light of Covid-19.

To the ongoing discussion here, what I demand of my one credit card is: friendly 24-hour service, reps who speak English and are easy to access, honest dealing, no sales pressure or product promotions. My company (Elan) throws in a few hundred dollars a year as some kind of bonus. That’s nice, but not the reason I chose them. Now, just think of all the investment research and strategic decision making you might be doing with the time otherwise allotted to deciding which cc to use this week or next? An investment in knowledge always pays the best dividend.

catch22

Disregard.........I should have continued reading your earlier reply before posting my question.

Hi @msf

You noted:IMHO where TRP shines is in it broad offering of fine mutual funds. Essentially what @rforno said. In addition, it offers a free individual 401(k) plan with Roth option, as does Vanguard. Schwab doesn't allow Roths, nor does Fidelity. Merrill doesn't offer a free individual 401k.
I don't follow the meaning of the bold above regarding Roths at Fidelity.
Thank you.
Catch

FD1000

I don't bother with the name because I never call TRP. All my funds have been in the last 20 years at Fidelity + Schwab. The only TRP fund I have ever held was PRWCX, which is one of the best allocation funds for many years.

I keep a very simple system with credit cards.
Penfed for any gas at the pump = 5% cash back. I used this card abroad too with no fees.
Everything else Fidelity 2% cash back. I don't want/need more cards with more complication and calculation
Wait, Amazon has a 5% back so I opened an account last year but the card is not in my wallet. I buy more every year.
When abroad I use Schwab ATM for cash. Schwab pays for all fees globally and why I only take out small amounts several times.