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.
@ron, The tax managed approach is great for taxable accounts, but you mentioned Roth choices. VTMFX achieves tax management by owning tax free munis. Great fund.
A fund like VLAAX spreads its bond exposure over many sectors (Corp, Muni, Gov, Secur)…
@ TheShadow,
If a HECM is set up earlier rather than later the HECM's Line of Credit (LOC) grows over time and it grows irrespective of the property value. Waiting to open a reverse mortgage until you have no other choice (late in life) doesn't give…
Roth money is often mentioned as the last pool of money that one should draw from.
I agree , but I tend to also see Roth money as a pool of money that one can pull from at anytime in retirement. Spending these Roth withdrawals as income has the ad…
@TheShadow
The disadvantage with HELOCs is they can be called in by the bank at the very moment they are most needed (such as during sequence of return risk). Many banks called in HELOCs during the GFC. The Line of credit of a HELOC can also be low…
The bee represents the wise use of nature, not just the exploitation of it, and the wise application of industry and intelligence by a community.
Big wings to fill,
bzzzzzzzz
Beyond Politics...maybe some shifting of markets:
From Iian Little:
After such vastly different equity sector performances in 2020, how will a Biden Presidency affect sector trends? A consensus is emerging that Biden –the bookies’ favorite–will lea…
It's interesting to look at 10 and 15 year performance of different mutual funds. If a fund has an impressive 10 and 15 year return (above average), but has struggle over the last three to five year period I look for reasons why. Sometimes it's a re…
Remember; If one needs "x" number of dollars to meet a living expense or one time cost, one will need to withdraw those dollar amount, regardless of strategies. Lowering living expenses can be the best way to lower rates of withdrawal.
Most of us w…
@BenWP
Seem like they should make a calculator for this. Oh yeah, they do.
Thought this link might help you run some scenarios:
https://mortgagecalculator.org/calculators/what-if-i-pay-more-calculator.php
@FD1000, your article's chart sure looks a lot like cart linked below.
FSRPX vs VFINX shown here since 1999:
Consumer Discretionary Sector has significantly outperformed the S&P 500
@msf, I added VWINX to your link...interesting performance:
Inflation Adjusted (Final Balance) VFINX / FBNDX is $846,764 and VWINX is $1,098,373.
Comparing Withdrawals & Performance - VWINX to a 50/50 allocation
Funding your HSA with your IRA :
A little-known rule buried deep on the IRS website presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for clients with a health savings account — the ability to make a contribution directly from an IRA.
Although this one-tim…
Research Paper:
An upside-down market is a market in which good news functions as bad news and bad news functions as good news. The force that turns markets upside-down is policy. News, good or bad, triggers a countervailing policy response with eff…
@Derf Portfolio Visualizer offers this information. After entering your mutual fund or ETF in the MaxDD column, the Max DD data has an "i" next to it. Hover over this symbol and it will open a dialog box that provides both the month DD and the recov…
Thanks @hank,
Nearly 94 percent of his wealth was earned after he turned 60 - 99 percent of his wealth came after he turned 50
There hope for all of us.
Again, Fed's Bazooka has yet to be fired:
As companies furloughed millions of workers and stock prices plunged through late March, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offered a glimmer of hope: The government was about to step in with a $4 trillion ba…
For people playing at home TCW Total Return Bond Fund ticker is TGMNX (TGLMX) and Portfolio Visualizer can be accessed here:
https://portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio
In New 60/40 Portfolio, Riskier Hedges Are Displacing U.S. Debt
Many investors have no choice but to stick with Treasuries because of fund mandates, or they do so since they’re unconvinced it’s worth taking a chance on something else. Yet others are…
@WABAC
-European Banks - EUFN
-International Value (LC)
-Taiwan and India with EM space - EWT & EPI
-High Quality Cyclicals - Semiconductor - PSI
-Overweight global banks versus technology, and value versus growth, since both trades have histor…
@msf,
Could you clarify? You suggest that Schwab is treating one class of customers (not potential customers) different from others. That sounds like you're saying that once TD Ameritrade clients became Schwab customers (via acquisition) they were …
@msf. In USAA's case, their customers are also their shareholders so in sense I should see some of these dollars making improvements at USAA.
Aside from that point, if a company is going to treat one customer differently than another (offer differe…
@Sven
What is your next adventure after selling the house?
I bought a condo in FL (Palm Beach County) a few years back. Paid $35K in 2012 which was a good time to buy. It does have an HOA (that includes Cable, water, maintenance, building insurance,…
Lithium battery packs may have some competition...Toyota debuted its first Fuel Cell powered passenger vehicle in 2016:
https://toyota.com/mirai/fcv.html
KBB Review:
https://kbb.com/car-news/2021-toyota-mirai-tech-look/
The legal rights and responsibilities of the renter verses the owner are also often quite different. @Old_Joe there are many subsidized housing situations for renter that disconnects the true cost of housing for the owner (landlord / housing authori…
Bloomberg covers the topic here:
Home buying isn’t for everyone. While there are financial benefits to owning property — the value could increase, and mortgage interest can be tax-deductible — you lose the flexibility that comes with renting. And pr…
Wouldn't VFINX or SPY be classified as a blend of Large Cap Value and Growth? Just own a blended fund and wait. A Russell 1000 index would cover an even larger number of both growth and value.
Over the last 20 years QQQ (Growth) has played catche…
