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.
The elimination of income tax by substituting a VAT tax would not seat well with Roth IRA owners unless all previous income tax paid for these Roth investments could be clawed back, along with any opportunity costs for those collected tax dollars. J…
@MJG That's why knowing market history is important when investing.
Thanks MJG, one of your most succinct entries.
Your 20% (lean writing) made an 80% (my approximate mental capacity) impact on me.
These annuity sales sharks usually search for prey in the teacher's lunch rooms before returning to deeper waters where their bosses yachts are anchored.
As an employee, you have to fight for no load, non annuity options with your employer (if the…
@Junkster:
Hate to cherry pick dates, but since you brought up recent success with bank loan funds, take a look at PTIAX since August of 2013. I believe this was a favorite of yours with its concentration of HY Munis back in Dec of 2015.
@AndyJ …
Not an expert, but looking back over the last 2 years (S&P 500) I would say it has been range bound between 2100 on the upside and 1850 on the downside.
Just wanted to chime with regard to Roth 401K plans.
Roth 401k plans grow tax free and can be withdrawn tax free, but must follow RMD (required minimum distributions) rules after age 70.5.
Individual Roth IRA plans do not have RMD requirements.
@MikeM said:
So lets see, 6% estimated portfolio returns going forward in retirement - 3% inflation on average - 1% financial adviser fees - 1% mutual fund expenses... Now is the safe number a 1% withdrawal?
An Investor takes on 100% of the risk...m…
I believe Target (allocation) funds can be used quite effectively to not only get you to "work retirement", but also as a tool to get you through until your "earthly retirement" aka death. Something I have shared before and I am still refining are t…
M* study reveals that, in every case, low cost funds and or high star funds beat high cost / low star funds:
Article:
news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=347327
Rolling 5 year Results:
How Expenses and Stars Predict Success
It appears…
The poor state of CT wants a piece of the Yale endowment too:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-23/yale-endowment-tax-proposal-eyed-by-cash-strapped-connecticut
I saved an investment strategy I formulated that this interview reminded me to reread it.
Here's the jest of it:
I've often thought there are really two target dates, one targeting retirement from "work" and one targeting retirement from "earth".…
I started an H.S.A. with Bruce Funds in 2014. I funded the account the first year by using the one time rollover provision from my traditional IRA. For 2015 and 2016, I decided to simply use my banks bill pay option making monthly contributions that…
@BobC and othersUsing the life expectancy calculator referenced above, I should live at least to age 94. In our client retirement projections, we use age 100 for every person
Interestingly the calculator seemed to reward older drinkers (not that I w…
A somewhat separate comment:
I have often wonder why state, city workers and non-profit workers aren't offered the government's simple but successful Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) as their sole option, much like Federal workers. Instead, TIAA-CREF and …
There is a fund company that by its very design is fiduciary. Designed to offer shareholders low fees, little or no manager risk, and return the average risk of the market without the need to stock pick. But they also seem to have issues with D.O.L …
I have vnmfx and ottrx in small amounts but some days wish entire equity allocation was there
These two funds are linkable if entered as caps...VMNFX (I had to rearrange the letters) and OTTRX. Hope that helps.
GDMZX seems to fit into this L/S met…
@msf, Good point: An H.S.A. income tax credit reduces any form of taxable income. Also, only earned income can be contributed to Traditional or Roth IRAs where as any income (earned or unearned) can be applied as a tax credit to fund an H.S.A.
From…
I also read somewhere that Roth 401(K)s do have RMD at 70.
Not technically a conversion, but another "strategy" to help reduce RMD at 70 would be to consider using Traditional IRA dollars to fund your H.S.A's (Health Savings Account) yearly contri…
Please check my math:
With $5.5 Billion AUM, SEQUX with its 1% ER nets $55 million in annual fees. These annual fees are obviously impacted by recent poor fund performance, but in a year when shareholders absorb a 25% share price loss, management …
Does anyone own Jensen Quality Growth fund, JENSX?
Fund Mojo describe this A+ fund (Mojo ranking system) this way:
"Jensen Quality Growth J Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. Jensen Quality Growth J Fund primarily invests in equity secur…
Thanks @ducrow for the discussion on this fund. GDMZX should help readers hyper link for research.
I came across these links on their website:
guidestoneinvestments.com/Funds/Listing/Select/Specialty/DefensiveMarketStrategies.aspx
and,
guidesto…
thanks so much for sharing this Ted. Yes the Old S&P has been quite good to us.... Sometimes its easier to keep it simple... Ted, I had a question. could you please tell me the fund you use for your cash equivalent? Why do you like it? than…
It's so flimsy it won't even serve to get a fire going in the fireplace.
That's funny...I remember as a kid when generic brand products were sold in white packaging with simple black lettering like, "Macoroni & Cheese"... or,
Bruce's fund and…
@Old_Skeet,
I believe I have asked you this question before, but was hoping you could help me re-remember.
As you move in and out of these managed funds aren't you "managing the manager's" decisions to do exactly what you are attempting to doing.…
Thanks @hank. I own PRWCX as well as another moderate allocation fund BRUFX.
Just received the Bruce Fund's End of Year Report and their management analysis included this:
"We believe that the worldwide economy remains fragile, and is likely to p…
Spending, whether in retirement or any other time along life's continuum often doesn't net out as zero. Money spent on real items verses services retain some tangible value. This is why there are auctions, estate sales, and tag sales. Obviously we a…
As an alternative view is this study introduced to me by MFO's @jstr (thank you):
"The popular 60/40 Stocks/Bond portfolio performs well over the past 24 years, but adding a simple moving average to this portfolio has increased returns, reduced the…
