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 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 …
FCNVX is my only bond fund that hasn’t disappointed me over the past year. At some point, I’ll start adding to my intermediate bond funds but they continue t lose value.
I do not understand all of the Apple haters, which is not to say that they are perfect. However, I am an unabashed Apple lover. In my home, we have iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, Apple Watch, an iCloud account and an old iMac that we no longer use. We se…
BTW, you can also create a ladder of US Treasuries extending out 10-20 years that now yields well over 4%. Treasuries are call-protected, and you can easily sell them if you need cash sooner than maturity dates. Treasury income is exempt from state …
@MikeM - You seem to be missing the point about CDs. I don’t recall anyone advocating investing all of your money in CDs, or even a substantial portion. The great thing about CDs right now are the relatively high yields with predictable, stable retu…
My I-Bonds were bought through Treasury Direct, and all transactions are online. At the time I sold them, I assumed they would send me 1099-Interest forms in the mail. They didn’t and I forgot about the I-Bond sales when I originally filed my taxes …
What exactly are you buying of any real value when you “invest” in cryptocurrencies? With stocks, you are buying shares in a company. With bonds, you getting a more-or-less stream of income. I don’t get it.
I’ve already moved a substantial portion of my bond/income allocation to ultrashort bond funds, CDs and money market's. I’m just surprised that intermediate bond funds continue to bleed money. I’ve still a fair amount of money in intermediate funds …
My problem is that bond funds that I bought 3 years ago are still losing money, even with higher yields and additional shares bought every month through automatic reinvesting. It is hard psychologically to keep putting money into investments that ke…
My portfolio has become unbound, surpassing its all-time high achieved in 2021. It was close at year’s end, but blew past the previous peak in late January— despite two years of modest withdrawals since 2021. The usual suspects (Mag 7) have accounte…
My most successful mutual fund is FCNTX, which I’ve owned about 25 years. I have sold portions over the years because it had grown so much that I was afraid it getting too large. Plus, I used to follow M* religiously, and they rarely have anything g…
