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Need a solid, good, consistent, un-flashy AA fund. (Closed thread.)
PRWCX is closed. Am aware of MAPOX and DODBX. Tried to search for additional prospects last night, but all the numbers just made my eyes glaze over. Thank you for any responses. I am, however, singularly unwelcome toward the idea of Vanguard funds. Also know of BRUFX, but I'm wanting something less risky. "Moderately Aggressive." (Morningstar.)
Great, Thank you both. I'm going looking, now. ....Dang. I wish these animals were not all full of the stocks I love to hate. But I might have to take a big gulp and swallow my pride. Actually, it's an ethical filter. But I must keep reminding myself: if I had a conscience, I could not invest at all. ORK!
FMSDX? Monthly income. I can find no cap gains at all. Huh? Too many front-loads, sadly. Otherwise, they look great. This is for my son. A first dabble into serious investing. Age 30.
Boston Trust/Boston Trust Walden (or however they style it) might have something more up you alley. But you would have to go to their pages to find out anything about their bond portfolios.
@Crash. BTW. Just set up #1 child's Roth using proceeds from a 1000$ UGMA gift from my parents when she was born. Went a little flashier with an equal distribution of IHI, IXN, IYK, RWJ, SYLD, and SPGP.
Still working on what to do with her taxable account.
Fidelity. Great reputation, available 24/7. The website? i was just on it tonight attempting to do a simple thing for a friend who has money with Fidelity. That website is the clunkiest, cranky, user-unfriendly piece of junk I've run into in quite a while. I did not do what we had intended. Nothing was clearly shown, so that we could even have confidence enough to know that we were not screwing the whole thing up, irretrievably.
Value Line. VLAAX. I waited three months just for prospectus and application. By then, I'd already selected another fund house. With my son--- the one this thread is all about--- we won't open a brokerage. Just KISS it: choose a fund and deal with them directly.
Right now, I'm leaning toward TRP RPBAX. Balanced Fund. .....Late here. Pick it up again soon. Thanks, everyone.
I like FBALX as well. I know what you mean wrt holdings, but the fact is that it has done well over a LONG period of time. It seems to me that it does precisely what one would want of an allocation fund: moves with the times/evidence, and (largely) employs 'safe' bonds - taking its 'risks' with equity; playing it safer with bonds.
Btw, RPBAX is a decent choice if you specifically want some foreign exposure; i.e., world allocation. Otoh, so is TIBIX.
@Crash, FWIW, some might think opening a brokerage account, especially for a young person, is KISS. A lot more flexibility and choices as his nest egg grows. And at 30, why not a straight equity fund like TCAF, the new Giroux managed T.R.Price ETF? Balanced/Allocation funds are for us "old fogies"
A lot depends on whether you want a fixed allocation balanced fund or a true asset allocation fund that shifts between asset classes. VBIAX is a simple very low cost 60/40 stock/bond balanced fund—a good fund for beginners. But I don’t think of it as an asset allocation fund.
FBALX, hands down. It can be a little more volatile than some AA funds at times but always bounces back. I’ve owned it for about 25 years and it’s my largest holding. I have never considered selling it because it’s consistently excellent. It also has very low expenses and team management, so you don’t have to worry about it faltering when a top manager leaves.
A lot depends on whether you want a fixed allocation balanced fund or a true asset allocation fund that shifts between asset classes. VBIAX is a simple very low cost 60/40 stock/bond balanced fund—a good fund for beginners. But I don’t think of it as an asset allocation fund.
If a Vanguard fund will be considered, how about VWENX which has significantly outperformed VBIAX over the past 30 years.
With my son--- the one this thread is all about--- we won't open a brokerage. Just KISS it: choose a fund and deal with them directly.
@crash, I believe you can "gift" one share of PRWCX to your son as long he has an account at T. Rowe Price. At Fidelity brokerage, it is straight forward. Here is the instruction at Fidelity. https://fidelity.com/customer-service/how-to-gift-shares
But you are dealing with TRP... I would call TRP and get the right form to submit for initiating the transfer of a single share.
Fidelity. Great reputation, available 24/7. The website? i was just on it tonight attempting to do a simple thing for a friend who has money with Fidelity. That website is the clunkiest, cranky, user-unfriendly piece of junk I've run into in quite a while. I did not do what we had intended. Nothing was clearly shown, so that we could even have confidence enough to know that we were not screwing the whole thing up, irretrievably.
Yes, if used to TRP and most mutual fund sites it’s a challenge breaking in on Fido. There’s more of everything - in spades. Pages appear more crammed. But I find their website easier than their app to work with. Still some things I can’t accomplish on the app. Be careful putting trades through - ie: If you’re working with more than 1 account it’s easy to buy something in a Traditional IRA you meant to put into a TOD or Roth. Trying to correct an error like that by selling something right away can cause even more serious problems and might lead to a 90 day restriction. If new, best to call and make sure it’s safe to sell something you bought within the last day or two.
Rest assured @Crash, overall it’s a great site. Just go slow. AAA bond funds? Looks like plenty of help from folks. There are of course some low cost index funds that would provide that exposure. I tend toward good ETFs / CEFs when it comes to fixed income which are easy to buy / sell whereas there are minimum holding times on most mutual funds. GNMA (etf) is an interesting AAA quality choice.
@hank, MBB has more volume (and AUM) than GNMA if liquidity is a criterion.
Maybe recommend that one to @Crash? Own neither. Haven’t compared them, except noticed that MBB has a much lower published ER. Not sure GinnieMaes would fit his needs. They do have some unique features / behavioral characteristics compared to treasury bonds. Best to read up on them first.
The LT, consistently HIGHEST M* rankings of PRWCX, FBALX and FMSDX in their respective categories should tell an investor just about everything they need to know to make a proper decision.
FBALX, hands down. It can be a little more volatile than some AA funds at times but always bounces back. I’ve owned it for about 25 years and it’s my largest holding. I have never considered selling it because it’s consistently excellent. It also has very low expenses and team management, so you don’t have to worry about it faltering when a top manager leaves.
If one has $250K or more invested at T. Rowe Price, one can invest in PRWCX. To help meet that threshold one can include the amount planned for PRWCX by first moving cash into a TRP MMF.
There is a commonly held perception that if one transfers a share of a closed fund to another investor, then that other investor will be able buy more shares. Maybe, maybe not. It may not even be possible to transfer the share.
When Vanguard closes a fund, it prohibits new accounts from being opened in that fund. That includes opening a new account to receive a gifted share. This is based on personal experience. The first time I did a partial conversion of a closed fund from a T-IRA to a Roth IRA, Vanguard balked. It was only when I pointed out that I already had an account with this fund in my Roth that Vanguard permitted the transfer (convesion) to be performed.
Other funds/families may explicitly exclude owners of accounts opened with a gifted share from purchasing additional shares. Or they may state that to qualify for additional purchases, the current owner must have owned some shares continuously from the date the fund closed. I've seen both of these in prospectuses but can't recall where at the moment.
T. Rowe Price is a bit more ambiguous but may also prohibit share recipients from purchasing additional shares. PRWCX's prospectus says that "Transferring ownership to another party or changing an account registration may restrict the ability to purchase additional shares."
With respect to gaining access to PRWCX by rolling over a 401(k) to a TRP IRA, this too is at best ambiguous. I had a (solo) 401(k) administered by TRP. When rolling assets over into a TRP IRA, I asked about opening PRWCX. I was told then that if there had been 401(k) money in PRWCX I could move it to PRWCX in the IRA. Otherwise I could not open a new position even when doing this rollover. Does TRP treat "regular" 401(k)s differently from solo 401(k)s? I can't say.
Comments
....Dang. I wish these animals were not all full of the stocks I love to hate. But I might have to take a big gulp and swallow my pride. Actually, it's an ethical filter. But I must keep reminding myself: if I had a conscience, I could not invest at all. ORK!
FMSDX? Monthly income. I can find no cap gains at all. Huh? Too many front-loads, sadly. Otherwise, they look great. This is for my son. A first dabble into serious investing. Age 30.
Add>> BTBFX, and WSBFX.
Still working on what to do with her taxable account.
fairly close correlation, but still
plus a third in tcaf
The only other Allocation funds I would own are
Group 1: CBLAX, VGWAX, FMSDX, SGENX
Group 2: FPURX, TIBIX
Good luck!
Right now, I'm leaning toward TRP RPBAX. Balanced Fund. .....Late here. Pick it up again soon. Thanks, everyone.
Btw, RPBAX is a decent choice if you specifically want some foreign exposure; i.e., world allocation. Otoh, so is TIBIX.
USBLX
VTMFX
If so, and if your son is able to rollover anything from a 401(k) to an IRA, then you can get access to PRWCX through TRP.
https://fidelity.com/customer-service/how-to-gift-shares
But you are dealing with TRP... I would call TRP and get the right form to submit for initiating the transfer of a single share.
Rest assured @Crash, overall it’s a great site. Just go slow. AAA bond funds? Looks like plenty of help from folks. There are of course some low cost index funds that would provide that exposure. I tend toward good ETFs / CEFs when it comes to fixed income which are easy to buy / sell whereas there are minimum holding times on most mutual funds. GNMA (etf) is an interesting AAA quality choice.
Edit: I own neither.
The LT, consistently HIGHEST M* rankings of PRWCX, FBALX and FMSDX in their respective categories should tell an investor just about everything they need to know to make a proper decision.
There is a commonly held perception that if one transfers a share of a closed fund to another investor, then that other investor will be able buy more shares. Maybe, maybe not. It may not even be possible to transfer the share.
When Vanguard closes a fund, it prohibits new accounts from being opened in that fund. That includes opening a new account to receive a gifted share. This is based on personal experience. The first time I did a partial conversion of a closed fund from a T-IRA to a Roth IRA, Vanguard balked. It was only when I pointed out that I already had an account with this fund in my Roth that Vanguard permitted the transfer (convesion) to be performed.
Other funds/families may explicitly exclude owners of accounts opened with a gifted share from purchasing additional shares. Or they may state that to qualify for additional purchases, the current owner must have owned some shares continuously from the date the fund closed. I've seen both of these in prospectuses but can't recall where at the moment.
T. Rowe Price is a bit more ambiguous but may also prohibit share recipients from purchasing additional shares. PRWCX's prospectus says that "Transferring ownership to another party or changing an account registration may restrict the ability to purchase additional shares."
With respect to gaining access to PRWCX by rolling over a 401(k) to a TRP IRA, this too is at best ambiguous. I had a (solo) 401(k) administered by TRP. When rolling assets over into a TRP IRA, I asked about opening PRWCX. I was told then that if there had been 401(k) money in PRWCX I could move it to PRWCX in the IRA. Otherwise I could not open a new position even when doing this rollover. Does TRP treat "regular" 401(k)s differently from solo 401(k)s? I can't say.