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
The SEC said in the filing it would require Vanguard to disclose on its website the identities and quantities of the portfolio positions that would form the basis for the fund’s calculation of net asset value at the end of the day.
Interesting and V…
Iran is working uranium enrichment-similar to US back in the Manhattan's day. So they have a way to go. It could be Russia or some rouge Russian nuclear scientists who want a quick payday.
That is nuts that both sides are pushing for a confrontation. It appears China has little influence on NK. Wonder where the new technology came from so quickly?
That is my exact point. The motivation of saving for retirement through IRAs is good, but the initial contribution limit of $2,000 is too small to have large impact. Then came 401(k), 403(b) and other deferred retirement vehicles that have higher …
Thank you for the examples. Question is how to assess funds with short record such as Seafarer Oversea Growth & Income, SIGIX and including his old record when he was managing Matthews Asian Growth & Income, MASCX?
@hank,
If and when the government tries to tax before And after, there has been a grandfather clause for those Roth IRAs that exist before changes being made. IRAS that exist before will follow the old rules and new Roth that come later will be dou…
Love both Apple and Samsung stocks. For now I am using my 4 years old iPhone to full capacity and until it dies I am too cheap to chase after their $1,000 cell phones.
Similar to hank, Samsung is the largest holding in several international and e…
Great posting on Warren Buffett and Bank of America. I recall one of his investment philosophy is buy great stock at a right price and hold on to it forever.
Along the way he also made many mistakes that did not fare well including IBM and Wells…
@Kaspa, Many diversified iShare ETFs that David posted are widely used by institutional investors and thus have high if not the highest daily trading volume. Powershares and Vanguard follow closely. Really need to look at them on case by case bas…
I use unsecured wifi at hotels and coffee shop for browsing only. Otherwise, I set up my iPhone as a hotspot so that I use the iPad securely. As careful as I use my device, my Samsung phone was compromised awhile back. My family has switch to Mac …
I use my iPhone for information and limited trading while I am on the road. Otherwise I use Macs and Linux for everything else. Much secure than Windows PC.
We left our brokers years ago as we embrace the coming of the information age. The in…
If the underlying stocks, bonds, and etc are thinly traded, the lack of liquidity may impose challenges as ETFs. Closed-end funds would be better vehicles.
the fund will have an expense ratio of 0.07 percent and expects to launch it in the fourth quarter, it said in a press release.
Very competitive ER even with two layers of management fee.
@AndyJ, Concur with your assessment. USD has been declining versus other currencies since Jan 2017 and it negatively impact funds which use currency hedging strategy for this year.
Last I reviewed VWVFX, it has over 30% allocated to mid- and sm…
Wish he spend his time focus on running the DoubleLine funds instead. Bill Gross went down that path and his funds lagged badly before his departure from Pimco. The flagship fund, Total Return fund, is only performing so so this year.
Even though TRP is a good firm. It comes down to the fact they are losing customers to the lower cost index funds and ETFs. Something has to give and that include nickeled and dimed the fee structures.
At one point, one can gain access to M* X-…
@LewisBraham, So what is all the talk of US being the highest corporate tax rate?
I agree with rforno. There was hope of reducing regulations that would increase corporate earning (and bonus).
Agree. Seafarer Overseas Growth & Income fund, SIGIX, has a sizable exposure to India. Also Mr. Foster gave a detailed (internet) stock analysis between India and China.
seafarerfunds.com/funds/ogi/portfolio-review
I keep track of my ER on spreadsheet with respect to % allocation, overall ~0.40%. Large allocation to ETFs and index funds helps to keep it reasonable. For taxable account we switched to all index funds, ETFs, and individual stocks for tax efficie…
@Old_Joe, The whole point of traveling aboard is to enjoy other cultures including their food. Some tried to do a better job by modifying their menu to accommodate the locals as one can get beer at McDonald. We also like Turkey strong coffee. On…
Quality of Starbuck coffee has declining for years while their cost has increased considerably. Also in the Pacific Northwest holding a Starbuck coffee cup has become a status symbol, and that is silly. So is Starbuck stock. I have been buying fro…
@msf, you are talking about me, except our family drive Honda. Interesting analogy to investing choices and consideration. Would drawdown and recovery be equivalent to crash test?
@davidrmoran, like I said I am not an experience CEF trader. So here is my understanding. Unlike ETFs where there are mechanisms to keep the price price close to the underlying net asset value, CEFs do not. CEF shares typically trade well below (…
401(K) is a long term investment for 30-50 years horizon. Unless one is invested in target dated funds, rebalancing on a regular basis (quarterly or annually) is necessary rather than leaving it on autopilot.
@davidrmoran, MikeM2 is referring to when the % spread between premium/discount becomes larger. My recollection is that the discount of PCI was closed to 10% relative to the NAV, and now it is near a single digit. So it is less attractive for buy…
The new plans will make sure over 20 millions people without any human care. Hey, think about all the saving (and campaign contribution they will get afterward).
By the way, I went with my wife to these meetings and asked questions including the …
it will take many years before US interest rate reaches 5-6% range. That is one of the reason the higher risk bond sectors are attracting investors who in the past invested in largely in treasury.
It is important that TSP participants to educate themselves early in their career so that they won't be fool into rollover over their 401(k) money into expensive annuity. This sort of stuff happens more frequently than reported with inurances compan…
