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.
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Sven
Lynn,
Thank you so much. I am planning on a 3-year ladder since I am a year away from retirement. Lots of spreadsheet work to calculate the income replacement needed. This ladder will create a steady income stream. So thank you for all your help.
I moved back to high quality bond funds this year. Some of which you covered in the SA article. For now, I will stay with agency bonds to the bond ladder. I will pick active managers for corporate bonds.
Sven
“ Why soaring gold prices could be a warning sign for the economy”
The flight toward gold has coincided with a depreciation in the value of the U.S. dollar. Its value against other currencies plunged about 11% over the first half of 2025, the bigge…
To add more content to the story.
https://pbs.org/newshour/world/madagascar-military-says-it-has-taken-control-of-government
Thanks to Old_Joe. Bad link above. Please use this one.
https://npr.org/2025/10/14/nx-s1-5574215/military-madagascar-gen-z
From LA Times that would add content and number behind China’s effort on solar energy, and the wattage power they can provide.
Chinese government officials last month showed off what they say will be the world’s largest solar farm when completed h…
It was cruel that UDSA eliminated free lunches for kids from low income families in March 2025. And now this cut is another assault on the unfortunate ones. I have no words for this.
Thanks @msf for your explanation. The challenges we have with I-bond is several folds. One is the small allocation annual allowance -$10K plus 5K from tax return per person (a total $30K per family of two). For us the amount is too small to move t…
Yellowjackets built nest everywhere and they are very territorial when disturbed. Detected them early and call exterminators is the best. Several times it came close when they invaded our home through the sidings. The exterminators wore thick suits …
Another ideas are value stocks, beaten down sectors such as healthcare, consumer staples, and REITs could help diversified away from AI related stocks. The article above is actually informative; certainly not click-bait if one read its content thoro…
These voters don’t appreciate what they have (soon to change to “had”) until it is taken away. ACA, despite all the flaws, provide people to gain access to private insurance at a better rate with government subsidy. Without the subsidy, many insura…
No surprise that this country is regressing on its health care system. Vaccination has been an effective practice to keep all citizens from preventable diseases. RFK and the HHS are beyond incompetent and should resigned immediately.
My family re…
Do you see anything remotely resemble war torn zones at Portland, OR and Chicago, IL.
Portland, OR
https://msn.com/en-us/news/politics/anti-ice-protesters-mock-trump-s-claim-that-portland-is-a-war-zone-in-silliest-way-possible/ar-AA1OaZ62
Chicag…
We invest in I bond in 2021 when inflation was more than 5%. Since then we have not add more since there are more attractive options. In spring 2026 the i bond will mature and we will invest elsewhere.
Here is the link to CNN. China’s approach on AI investment and utilization is a lot more practical and feasible to benefit the business. The US AI investment reminds me of fiber-optics as the vehicle to the information highway. The dot-com bubble b…
The trade war just began. All previous meetings have net no meaningful negotiation on trade. China has learned from the first administration trade war, and now they know where the US weakness are. The video that @Catch22 posted earlier summarized …
Here is his detailed medical history:
https://thehealthy.com/aging/healthy-aging/news-is-donald-trump-healthy-family-medicine-doctor-interprets/
His family has a history of dementia. Early onset sometime not readily detected, let alone publicly d…
@junkster, Congrat to your health. All that hiking has kept you in good shape as my doctor has recommended for good cardiovascular health. We stay active in hiking, swimming, and lately dancing (my wife really enjoy that).
My stock allocation is …
Probably the most important step is to set up alerts to your email and phone of changes in your profile ( ie email etc) and Deposits and Transfers.
Great suggestion for everyone. Automatic notification brings to your immediate attention to unusua…
The 6 months trend of dollar is declining. Today could be a flight to safety - dollar as the safe heaven.
Trimmed bank loan and tech last month and waiting patiently for better opportunities.
I did not find “locking in” option in Schwab website from outside. Perhaps Schwab customers can do a more thorough job searching within the site. Calling their customer support is another option. Please share your finding with MFO posters here.
Go…
This link is free for viewing.
https://dnyuz.com/2025/10/03/her-stocks-were-quietly-stolen-from-her-i-r-a/
Several months ago, we froze asset transfer in our Fidelity accounts including ACATS transfer. You can unfreeze it temporary to make withdr…
@bee,
My understanding is that wealth management fee is bases on AUM, not solely on the gain. Win or lose for that year, the management firm, say Schwab or Fidelity, still charges 1% of AUM.
We must talking about different arrangement or fee st…
We greatly reduced paper forms and statements when we switched to online payments awhile back. Everything is downloaded and saved on multiple drives. It is much easier to tame the paper tiger.
We own a shredder from Costco for the past 10 years.…
bee said:
In my world, management fees would only be allowed on positive performance (the gains), not the initial investment amount (the principal).
Are you referring to the asset management fee in wealth management that brokerages offer ?
Thank you for the informative Fareed’s reporting. China is no longer a manufacturer of low tech stuff. Far from it, the country’s long term objective is to becoming global competitor. This trade war plays into their hands as beef is imported from …
There is more than a pep talk.
"This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it's the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control," Trump told those gathered for the highly unusual event at Qua…
Senate left for the night. That guarantees a government shutdown tomorrow.
https://nbcnews.com/politics/congress/government-shutdown-deadline-democrats-republicans-trump-blame-rcna234516
Labor data will be available on Friday. Will the market be…
@WABAC, interesting that our oversea funds/ETFs far out-paced that of S&P500. Same goes for bonds too on dollar term. For now i will take a wait and see.
Excerpt from Barrons article,
One last caution from the committee related to retirement assets. Nearly a third of accredited investors today count their retirement funds toward the wealth test. Less wealthy investors might be less able to endure t…
@msf said:
And there are also family responsibilities assumed voluntarily - helping out with extraordinary medical expenses, education, and being available as a resource of last resort. Definitely not a complaint - I'm glad we're fortunate enough …
Don’t know what everyone experience has been. We notice our grocery bill has gone up 30% easily this year. Same for traveling. So we cut back accordingly for all discretionary spending. The consumers are actually paying for the tariffs.
Check ou…
@Vegomatic, nice example! The only difference is that Steve Romick is no longer part of management team in FPAG while the other two managers still run FPACX.
If Roth 401(k) is available in your company, it would be to your advantage to do so. Pay with after tax dollars now and future appreciation on the Roth account will be tax-free. The company matching $, however, still go your traditional 401(k). M…
