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.
@Hank. Regarding AOK. At one time it was my benchmark fund I measured my small ball 30% equity portfolio against. AOK made me look like an investing genius. According to Portfolio Visualizer AOK has a CAGR of 3.17% from 1/1/19 thru 2/28/23. Di…
@ Sven… “ one needs to consider the after tax consequences.” Damn right. Tax year 23 will be vastly more expensive than tax year 22 if one holds lots of taxable interest bearing stuff. Playing around with TAX CASTER is an eye opener.
Guys,,,,, thanks for all your replies… Perhaps no explanation exists, perhaps nobody knows nothin or perhaps it’s just market forces in action. But in about the last thirty days MM fund is flat and 60 month CD’s have increased by 1.0%. 48 month CD’…
Thanks for your thoughts. As I move toward mid retirement I find my need for income is less than anticipated but my loss aversion is greater than before. Thus my interest in lower risk investments.
@Lewis,,, higher costs for participants… like lots of other maga/repug actions the suckers continue to vote against their own dwindling pocketbooks. They never learn. They even vote for tax cuts for their own oppressors. At least Covid thinned t…
On the other hand I get prescriptions by mail and the USPS keeps me notified every move my Rx makes and lets me know within a few hours when it will be delivered. Then I get a message the moment it is dropped in my mailbox. That is meaningful when…
@ LewisBraham. I have a cousin who has a 56 Chevy nomad and has a lifestyle built around that. He travels all over the west to classic Chevy events. They meet at a hotel and stand around looking at each other’s cars..Then they do it all over again…
@ Hank. Great reference to a terrific writer. That might be something the Bogleheads might quote if they were literary. A natural rationalization for staying the course. I remember Chauncey Gardner as an empty suit,,, had the right look and mum…
Check out the Pointe System on THE OTHER AMERICA.COM. From an article from Time and the New York Times in 1960. In some places long before one could apply for a mortgage the would be buyer had to achieve a certain score to be acceptable to buy. Ac…
crash. Your post rues the day redlining went away. And who are “the criminal element “ you speak of? Or is “criminal element “ just another of your euphemisms you pepper your posts with?. Words matter and once they are out there you can’t take th…
@crash. Re: your take on Redlining. Very. Very. Very offensive. When I was a kid and our family was driving around my Dad would point out the communities where our family COULD NOT LIVE. Yes. We were REDLINED. I don’t miss that practice like…
@Catch. As always thank you for your efforts. I notice you mentioned that MMKT have “mostly flat lined for two weeks.” I have noticed this and wonder if the plateau in rates has any significance. Other rates have continued upward during the same…
@ Junkster. I would also take exception to your characterization that “everyone” had life like the Nelsons and the Cleavers. In 1982 I was in the very isolated fishing village of Bahia Tortuga on the west coast of Mexico. Quite by accident I met…
@ Junkster. The Detroit suburb I grew up in the fifties was on the surface just like Wally and the beave. But one didn’t have to travel very far to see that the larger society was not like my own happy corner of the world. By the time I was ent…
The collective group will give questionable or even incoherent investment choices a pass but doesn’t let bragging go unnoticed. That’s pretty good. How to deal with blatant bragging has been on my mind this week. Spoke to an old work colleague fo…
Nobody knows nothin, most of all me. But it seems like market wants to ignore lots of potentially bad stuff and often does. But the market doesn’t like to fight the fed and it seems like higher for longer is trending again. And that scares the he…
@LewisBraham. I want to thank you for your consistently thoughtful and well reasoned contributions to this and other threads. I am sure I speak for many others as well who look forward to your remarks.
@LB. “ Wall Street doesn’t care.”” Perhaps this isn’t the appropriate place to talk about it but how should caring guide our own investment policy? Build our own ESG fund? Find the best ESG fund? Skip Wall Street completely? That would have been …
@Hank. The past round of inflation had its moments but everyone’s circumstances were different and often changed. After two years living in Mexico we returned to the states. I found myself the sales manager of the car dealership. Flooring, the in…
“Everyone lives in their own little world”. My old man told me that a hundred times. When I was a young man inflation was very, very good to us. We had no kids and lived very simply. We had a couple rentals that were appreciating and rents were g…
@Old_Joe. + 1. All three of your points are right on. Particularly the last. They don’t even bother with “ thoughts and prayers “ anymore cause they realize how hollow that sounds.
If we want to talk about “ Low Road Capitalism “ we can discuss the private equity firms buying up Emergency Room practices, Pet Hospitals and Hospice services and reducing staffing to increase the bottom line. So when the state of California pensio…
Please excuse my ignorance but why the in depth comparison of SCHD with FXAIX? The fact that Schwab’s dividend fund has kept pace with the SPY index since its inception is icing on the cake. Nice but not the reason people invest in a dividend fund…
@PressmUP…. I appreciate the discussion. Another factor for my circumstances is to minimize the moving parts in case I depart the scene early. I use VTINX as a 30% equity benchmark as a one fund solution. I could use VWIAX but that has more equity…
@ PressUP… I I thought about those two missing sectors many times. Just ran 80% SCHD, 10% VPU and 10% VNQ vs 100% SCHD. SCHD won but the next ten years may be entirely another story.
@ LB….. as far as I am concerned the index just works. As it has turned out I have not needed the income but it’s nice to know it’s available. And it is growing nicely. LB
@Davidrmoran. +1. Having first invested in SCHD in 2012, it has ultimately become my entire equity position. I have been retired since 2019 and have a conservative asset allocation. I question the appropriateness of a single holding all the time …
