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.
I’ve had poor results from concentrated funds, the few that I’ve owned. However, I’ve had good results from some funds have more limited holdings— not concentrated but not sprawling either. Example, PRBLX. The problem with concentrated funds, IMHO, …
Most of my trades are between Fidelity or TR Price funds, so there is no time out of the market. Buy and sell occurs at the same time. In cases where I trade between different fund families, waiting a day for trade to complete is generally no big de…
@FD1000 — Rear view mirror investing is such a great strategy! I wonder why nobody has thought of that before. BTW, I could cherry-pick a number of 10-year periods in which small caps have outperformed the Nasdaq or S&P.
This week is why I always maintain small cap exposure in my portfolio. My small cap fund (FDSCX) has made huge gains this week, over 3% today alone. Big gains (and losses) tend to happen very quickly with small cap funds.
When I first started buying CDs for a ladder in early 2023, I bought a bunch of callable CDs, not realizing the distinction. So far, only one has been called in, and I was able to reinvest at the same or a higher rate. So, I’ve been benefiting from …
You guys like my kind of beer, @hank and @MikeM . Founders Porter and Elliot Ness amber are two of my favorite beers, when I can find them. Unfortunately, the local stores seem to think that everyone only wants IPAs. It has become increasingly diffi…
I’ve had bad experiences with concentrated funds and try to avoid them. You have to be very patient investor with them. They’re either very hot or very cold.
My wife and I have been retired about 8 years. We both have pensions and are receiving Social Security, so we are investing more aggressively than many people our age (70). We haven’t had to tap our IRAs since retiring, but required distributions wi…
Like almost everything else, it’s best not to generalize about pensions. My wife and I both have pensions with the state of North Carolina. It is very conservatively managed, although I’m sure it has some private equity. The pension is funded roughl…
My main credit card problem is that the chip readers don’t work much of the time. However, the machine won’t let you swipe the card until you’ve tried the chip reader three times. The tap function usually works but isn’t always available.
I share your enthusiasm, but my CD ladders extend out 5 years. I also include Treasuries in my ladders for shorter term holdings. CD yields have been on of the bright spots in the inflation dilemma.
We’ve got about 15% of total assets in our IRAs invested in foreign stock funds. Largest and longest term holding is ARTKX, which is closed to new investors. Other foreign funds are FTIEX, FVIFX and FMIJX, all relatively new holdings with good long …
Another option to consider is an annuity. We are considering investing my wife’s IRA in an annuity to simplify matters. It accounts for about 15% of our total retirement accounts, so we wouldn’t be locking up everything. An annuity would satisfy the…
One of the reasons why I consolidated all of accounts at Fidelity was t simplify the RMD process. Although we haven’t started distributions yet, Fidelity will tell us when RMDs are needed and do all of the calculations.
Anyone who gets their information from Faux News or other conservative news outlets would think our economy is tanking and the worst ever. Unfortunately, that’s the case for a large segment of the US population.
Apple. One of the biggest reasons why I’m a huge Apple fan is their customer service. Their staff in stores are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Over the years, I have sought assistance many times through the Apple help line by telephone, and th…
I agree with @stillers. I tried investing in commodities through various stock funds and Pimco’s offering with no success. I’m a buy- and-hold investor, and all it seemed to do is add more volatility to my portfolio. Fortunately, I didn’t lose my sh…
Funny, instead insurance costs might be what finally drives many climate change deniers to accept reality. Many of the red states are most at risk from weather conditions affected by climate change— wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts. Of cou…
We’ve had the Fidelity rewards VISA through Elan for several years with few problems. We use our credit card for almost all purchases, so the rewards add up — $1,245 over the past year. Our account has had false charges several times, which were imm…
Completed the reinvestment of another Roth IRA conversion. I transferred shares of PRBLX from my Rollover IRA to my Roth a few weeks ago. A few days ago, I sold those shares and reinvested in TCAF and PRCFX, completing my approximation of PRWCX.
The main reason it is underperforming is I doubled my position last fall.
never fails
I was going to take the blame, but I’ll let you be the fall guy. Although I don’t own PRWCX, I’ve added quite a bit of TCAF and PRCFX to our accounts over the pa…
Mona, I am somewhat confused by your description of the situation. However, I will offer an explanation of how I handled a situation that might be comparable. I have Rollover IRA and Roth IRA accounts with Fidelity. My Roth IRA was originally with T…
Personally, I find the Fidelity website more useful than M* ever was. I can compare funds, analyze holdings, asset allocations, etc. I have found M* ratings and analyses to be poor predictors of future performance, giving users a false sense of secu…
I sold all of our I-Bonds last fall when rates for CDs and Treasuries equaled or exceeded them. For me, the cumbersome buying and selling process for I-Bonds was a big factor in selling them. Also, I got in trouble at tax time because they do not ma…
Interesting thread. Our auto insurance rose 33% in January, from $270 to $360 a month. I was led to believe that it was because we had made several claims over the past couple years— all accidents in which we were not at fault. I probably should sta…
As the CDs in my ladders mature, I’ve been reinvesting the proceeds in Treasuries if the yields are comparable. With the recent spike in interest rates, I’ve been able to buy Treasuries with yields equal to or higher than CDs. Treasuries also have t…
I used to hold FRESX and FRIFX in my portfolio with excellent returns during my period of ownership. Several years ago (before the COVID real estate crash), I sold both funds. Instead, I have much larger holdings in FSDIX, which typically has about …
I’m also taking advantage of the recent spike in interest to add more Treasuries to my ladders. Some of the shorter term CDs in my ladders are starting to mature, and I’m reinvesting the proceeds in Treasuries since their yields are similar with tax…
Took advantage of the recent market swoon to do another Roth conversion, my third of the year. Simply moved shares of PRBLX from my Rollover to Roth IRA, but I plan to sell and reinvest in TCAF and PRCFX.
Has anyone had any CDs called in? When I first started buying CDs, I didn’t realize they could be called unless listed as uncallable. I soon realized my mistake and have only bought noncallable CDs or Treasuries since then.
However, I initially bo…
If you own GE, then you know own GEHC and GEV. We’ve got GE shares that we’ve own for 40-50 years. It’s finally starting to regain some of the value it lost over the past 20 years. My wife’s grandfather gave her the original shares, and she hasn’t w…
Nobody knows where longer term rates are headed, despite all of the punditry. The so-called experts have wrong repeatedly. I deal with the uncertainty by covering all of the bases. My CD ladders extend out 5 years, and when issues mature, I reinvest…
Almost all of the brokered CDs I’ve bought are non-callable. There are no additional fees, unless you cash out early— which is the same for almost any CD.
@Crash - Why not buy brokered CDs? I can easily search for and buy the highest yielding CDs at Fidelity, and I assume Schwab has similar offerings. They are all FDIC protected.
@yugo - The yields on my 5-year CDs are 5.0-5.1%, all non-callable. I bought them when rates peaked in 2023, so they have 4+ years left until maturity. Some of the shorter term CDs will start maturing in May, and I doubt if I’ll be able to buy new 5…
I don’t ever buy CDs with automatic rollover. When they mature, I either reinvest in CDs with the highest rates, Treasuries or short-term to intermediate bond funds. I also have set up several CD ladders extending out 5 years, with yields averaging …
