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
According to M* x-ray portfolio, I have about 10% exposure in EM, mainly through SFGIX and RNWGX (also some thru several diversified international funds). Active management is what I prefer in this asset class. Sold majority of Matthews funds and …
@bee, sorry that I missed your earlier question. I think they are similar in the portfolio makeup. Question is how frequent do they rebalance? Also which part if robo (algorithms driven) and which is human to justify the 0.5% fee?
Schwab's has…
The problem: We found that our spending increased when using the card to purchase everything from clothing to ketchup and that we paid less attention to price and value when shopping. Because increased spending translated into increased "benefits" i…
Oil service related jobs have been hit hard this year. Yet the month to month employment figures don't seem to reflect that. What other sectors are growing enough to compensate the loss figure?
@Old_Skeet,
Thank you for sharing your thinking and the detailed portfolio makeup. You have lots of patience. Tweleve funds and five stocks in ten accounts are plenty for me to manage.
While Greece took the spotlight this summer. Warning signs of China have been there all along until they devalued the yuan. Don't think that will be is a single event as the China market has not stabilized.
A colleague who worked at Kraft Food said that one of her main job is to find cheap substitute for key ingredients of process food as a way to boost their bottom line, i.e. quarterly earning number.
So what is in your beef burrito ? Taco Bell i…
@davidrmoran, I agree that value oriented funds tend to do better in drawdown period. In 2008, that view changed. Dodge & Cox stock fund suffered worst than the large cap value index. Few exception such as Yacktman, Vang Div Growth, and Fra…
Thank you. Paul McCulley always provide informative interviews from a macro-economic perspective. Another interview in April 2015 in Wealth Track was equally informative.
@davidrmoran, in severe drawdown period in 2008, few asset classes escape except cash and some bond sectors. I have been intrigued with DSENX's since inception, but chose Vanguard Global Min Volatility, VMVFX, in the end for all its simplicity and …
@little5bee, I apologize that I miss-typed. The $5K minimum investment is for retirement accounts, not non-retirement accounts as I stated earlier. The $100K requirement is common across many brokerages. Another approach is to buy direct from the…
@little5bee, All institutional shares of Thornburg funds are available for $5K (not $100K) for non-retirement accounts at Fidelity. These institutional shares are on the Transaction Fee platform, and thus require a transaction fee of $50. Like Bob…
Yes, they are good reminder. If the investor stay put rather than pull ot at the bottom, they have since recovered and gained more (actually a lot more if they have cash to buy at the height of fear).
@MIkeW, While TSP is great with its rock bottom fee index funds, you should think about opening a Roth IRA so that you can diversify in other asset classes.
@heezsafe, thanks for the video. Will watch it later. Here is my take on OSTIX. Osterweis is a conservative firm who invest much of the old money in the Bay area for a long time. OSTIX has the flexibility to invest in many bond sectors. Kaufma…
There are decent cash like choices to cover short term uses without dipping into bond and equity buckets. Cash Money market short term CD are reasonable choices as others on this board have noted on another discussion.
Many 401k plans have a stab…
@Catch, music is a wonderful way to learn the concept of preservence and delay gradification - something that is important in higher learning in both school and life. My daughter plays violin since she was six and now she performs in orchestra on a…
The expense ratio at 1.18% is a drag on the 2.85% 30 day yield. Also it holds 25% in cash. In this low yield environment, there are really few viable choices.
Hey VF, if what you said is true, I better invest in Pb (lead the .223 round) and lots of them. But my spouse may object.
My personal opinion is there will be World War in 2025 and then it does not matter what I invest in.
If one pick the appropriate asset allocation (i.e. risk tolerance), this downturn is not nearly as bad as it appears. It is when emotion and fear strike and the investors bail out at the bottom and lock in the realloss. We have seen this before du…
@johnC, Apple reported that China's demand on iPhone has not softened despite the market downturn. Same cannot be said for Samsung and HTC - both are sustaining decline on the high and low ends of their product lines.
In the longer term, AAPL w…
@catch, I am in a position to hire, train, and work with the millennial generation. Other than few gems I found, majority of them unfortunately are no different than the 10th graders you described above. Question is what have they learned in a fo…
Don't think FMIJX will see sizable outflow. They are conservative investors that hedge currency exposure similar to Tweedy Browne. The leveraged ETFs will take the biggest hits. Next are the ones with sizable emerging market exposure.
If I wou…
@mrc70, thanks for the reminder. I did read Tower's paper in DieHard's discussion forum (several times since then). But I am not fully convinced with his conclusion yet. Only time will tell.
Strange, it is not listed on Vanguard's website.
According to M*, the initial purchase is $250K (investor share). Hate to ask for the Admiral and Instiitute Shares. The ER is 0.40.
Conservative funds focusing on downside protection. Some made unpopular choices including large cash position (First Eagle and Tweedy Browne) and consumer staples stocks (Yacktman).
The funds on the list all go into the category "hold your nose a…
@Old_Skeet, I would pass on Rob Arnott funds. There is really nothing special about his approach. There are much better moderate allocation funds out there. Vanguard Wellington and Wellsleye, for example.
