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.
My interest in posting this thread:
At some point in life one may have to make a decision to simplify their investments for the benefit of lovingly clueless relatives.
Even Warren Buffet has had to face this question:
Buffett describes advice he…
@MrRuffles,
Just a teacher being a (retired) teacher. Details matter. Thanks for the shout out. Wish I had acted on this, but owning Primecap (POAGX up .5% tonight and VHCOX up slightly tonight) helps soothes the wishful "gain pain" or "investors r…
Thanks @msf for sharing of your similar story and your link to such bad news. I guess the only way around the IRS's assertion is to let these shares ride until I pass allowing my heirs to receive these shares with a "stepped up basis upon death".
f…
Maybe its me, but I am an allocation guy when it come to paring down choices.
My H.S.A (@ Bruce Funds) will be BRUFX
My Roth IRA (@ TRP) will be PRWCX
My SD IRA (@Vanguard) will be VWINX or maybe even Global Wellesley, VGWIX
My Taxable account will…
From an one eyed bandit to another (hoping you feeling better...seeing sharper).
Is this the link?
https://visualcapitalist.com/hours-americans-pay-mortgage-map/
My comment:
I don't believe this maps calculations includes taxes and insurance. Som…
More thoughts...If you had no income and had no assets and inherited $1M today tax free..... would you invest it all in the market today at a 4% withdrawal rate (many people are 4-5.5%)?
This article sheds some light on the topic and one fund …
Thanks @msf,
Fuss said that investors should exercise caution by building reserves, and that they position themselves for an environment of rising interest rates
Seems like floating rate funds (Bank Loan Funds) might be a place to start:
MWFRX, PRFR…
One interesting holding of PARNX is Mattel (MTTL).
Hurt by troubles in toyland (Toys R Us) as well it its own restructuring MTTL is off almost 50% this year.
Vanguard Primecap (VPMCX) holds an almost 6% stake in MTTL. In September, PARNX added 25…
Thanks @Ted,
If you ever have an opportunity to read or listen to a Dan Fuss Interview, do so. Like Bogle, Fuss is a grandfather like figure that is both engagingly dry and full of financial wisdom.
From @Ted's article on owning bonds in today's m…
Q: Where are you finding stocks these days that meet your criteria? How does today’s environment rank on the scarce-to-plentiful/easy-to-hard scale and how does it compare to other times?
A: Japanese small caps are the single biggest pocket of gre…
On the Contrarian side Energy Services (maybe FSESX) might be ready for upward revision. Down 20% (down over 40% for 3 yrs) according to Ted's link.
Or, Select Energy (FSENX) down 9.7%:
Also, long term (10 yr) being long:
Oil Distribution Se…
Employer Plans
The Act keeps current 401(k) contribution limits in place, the much discussed reduction of them is not proposed. The bill does include provisions that are friendly to employees by easing the rules on in-service and hardship distr…
As an FYI....I posed a question earlier about whether the medical expense deduction would survive this latest action. Unfortunately, no. This deduction is eliminated. This will by itself, increase my taxes by several thousand...even with the increas…
@msf, I came across this on Ed Slott's IRAhelp discussion board:
Beware of Sec 1501 of the House Tax bill. This is the summary from the ASPPA:
IRA Contribution/Conversion Recharacterization Rule Individuals are currently allowed to recharacter…
You know @Catch22 and @davidmorin...maybe there is hope for @Paul_Katzeff, but his track record is overwhelmingly self promotion! Of Paul_Katzeff 65 discussions 64 are links to his own articles. This most recent link here is the outlier. Not someone…
Author and poster are one in the same... hence self promotion.
Edit: My apologies to Ms Chandler the author of @Ted's Link.
I believe Ted's issue is with Mr Katzeff's use of this discussion board as a platform for exclusively promoting his articl…
This has to be disheartening to Billionaires (or even Millionaires) when the very thing (their financial valuation) is trash. What are future Trillion-aires to do?
I still think many Hundred-aires and Thousand-aires find cash a necessary part of th…
@Kaspa,
Lost medical receipts might be retrievable by finding past checking statements (my bank keeps these available online electronicly in pdfs going back multiple years). Once you identify a lost payment save as a pdf (download to a storage devic…
From @msf linked article this seems to be what I am experiencing:
Marketplace enrollees with incomes 250-400% of the poverty level – who are eligible for premium subsidies but not cost-sharing subsidies – could in some instances be better off. They …
My ACA premium increased 25%. My subsidy nearly doubled. This seems to be bringing my out of pocket premium costs down (less) by about 66% for a Bronze level HSA eligible plan when compared to last years out of pocket premium costs.
Not disagreeing @LewisBraham, Obama seemed to lacked the leadership to guide the House and Senate to consensus and broker a deal (turning a bill into law).
Trump prides himself on "the art of the deal" but,
Trump has continued in the Obama traditi…
@Lewisbraham,
Obama finish his terms in office with 277 executive order. Historically there have been many more by other presidents.
and more recently the list is:
Then there is the power of the seating president,
The interesting thing about …
@MikeM,
I began contributing individually to an H.S.A (I'm retired & PT self employed) a few year ago. My first contribution was a one time rollover from my SD IRA account to the Bruce Fund (BRUFX). Its historical returns are pretty good:
An…
@PBKCM, O.K. let's narrow this down by deductive reasoning.
According to my screener (Morningstar Screener) It is 1 of nearly 15,0000 funds.
My first question...What is your fund's morning star rating (1-5*)?
Did you know that the Cleveland Browns Company LLC offers an 401K plan to over 300 participants and received a Brightscope rating of 83 which outperforms the Tampa Bay Rays Ltd. by over 14 points? Just trying to stay on topic.
Cleveland-Browns-Foot…
I do like the Story behind the Browns though:
The Browns isn’t actually that terrible of a team name. It’s not good either, but there exist much worse names. The reason the Cleveland Browns land on this list is the origin story of the name. The fran…
Seagulls are even better at dropping "bombs' and I am not too proud to say that if you are ever lucky enough to receive a gull hair tonic treatment you'd swear it grew hair.
I also think sector funds like Chemicals (FSCHX) serve investors well as petrochemicals are the feed stock (material) for many more products than merely fuel (Energy).
The chemicals industry, which directly touches more than 96 percent of all manufa…
Maybe I missed it, but does John Bogle discuss what impact stock buybacks have had on equities returns and dividend yields? This is especially important when a company finances these stock buybacks with a bond offering. Do we as investors own the bo…
Not a bad time to understand another retirement maneuver employed mainly by the wealthy, but might be even more strategic for lower wage earners if the 401K gets capped.
Funding a backdoor Roth and Avoiding Six Common Mistakes
news.morningstar.com/…
@Ted, I actually watched your embedded video and found the full episode at the end of your video and then just copied the embedded URL into my post. Hope that helps. I run Firefox.
